How can a retired savior be considered retired if his price drops to 40,000?

Chapter 308: Real Luxury (Part )

"Humans are creatures that exist in linear time in reality." Fujimaru Ritsuka repeated the most basic common sense to Sanguino:

"Based on this premise, humans are born only once, live once, and die once, even before this species emerged from the chaos of biological evolution. This has been the case for billions of years. The physical universe has already written this iron rule into the genetic code of Earth's creatures before humans existed, and it has been passed down to this day. This is one of the important elements that make up 'what makes us human'."

"I know this sounds offensive, but please allow me to express my point of view." Sanguino, who was a nearly pure Warp creature and existed in a completely different form of life, tilted his head slightly in confusion. "Isn't this a defect that should be overcome?"

The listeners could not tell whether this was a speech based on compassion and love for the fragility of human beings, a visionary speech for the future elevation of the entire species to a new level, or pure blasphemy. However, Fujimaru Ritsuka knew that it was meaningless to try to distinguish the two under the premise that Sanguino's own thinking was not on the right path.

"Of course this is a defect, even humans themselves think so. Since the beginning of the history of this species, humans have been driven by desire to seek eternal life, which has been an enduring topic. But from the current situation, it is obviously too early to talk about "overcoming" it - it is not a technical problem, but the human spirit is not ready for this." Fujimaru Ritsuka chose a subtle angle to approach this topic. She knew that Sanguino's own life was not unique: he had no real beginning and end, so he could not understand the weight of the only life. The same is true for issues related to life and death.

"…'Not a technical problem'?" Sanguino asked in confusion.

"There are precedents in the universe for real races based on the physical universe to avoid death in some way." Fujimaru Ritsuka simply pointed out, "The nobles of the Necrons use the Bio-Transformation Protocol to preserve their consciousness in their metal bodies. The Eldar have Soul Stones and Soul Circuits. Even humans themselves have produced and preserved blasphemous technologies such as the 'Key to Hell' during the Dark Technological Age. I will not attribute the ultimate extinction of these three once-prosperous historical stages in the galaxy to 'reckless manipulation of life and death', but I cannot say that there is no connection between them:

“Death is the only and correct end of life. Even if one only knows that ‘there are ways to avoid this end in the world’, the awe of living creatures towards it will naturally disappear, and arrogance will naturally grow from the bottom of their hearts - and arrogance is always the most important stone that will cause anything to slide into failure. Once it becomes big enough and starts to roll down…”

She did not continue her words, but everyone present understood what she had left unsaid. Sanguinor was silent for a while, as if he had used this time to think. But he obviously did not really understand the meaning of this passage, because he immediately caught up with an argument he had made before: "But you did 'resurrect' a lot of people in the Cursed Legion."

"That's because they know for sure that they have passed that 'end point'," Fujimaru Ritsuka answered. "To put it more simply, they have been dead for a long time - so long that their relatives and friends have long passed away, their names and experiences have become old things piled between sentences, and their ties with the world have become subtle and thin. Even if they appear again at this moment, after revealing their true names, they will only be regarded as a legend that can speak. The most important thing is that they themselves understand and accept this."

This sentence made Sanguino enter a new round of contemplation, and it seemed that he really figured out something. He raised his height a little bit, and turned to Fujimaru Ritsuka more clearly: "If the entry standard of this technology is linked to the time of death, then you-"

He suddenly stopped talking in the middle of his words, and a breeze carrying the scent of traditional Baal incense blew through the hall. There were no psykers among the people present, so there was no way to observe what was happening behind the curtain. The mortal senses could only tell that Sanguinor did not seem to be abnormal, as if he had suddenly changed his mind in the middle of his words, cut off his sentence, and descended from mid-air, landing on his feet:
"If you encounter this kind of thing again, you should tell me directly." His voice still came from the vibrating air in all directions in a way of psychic conversion. The timbre and texture did not sound much different, but a sense of transcendence and reality was enough to make people understand in an instant: at this moment, the person speaking was no longer Sanguinor.

"I didn't think it was necessary to trouble the Primarch for such a small matter." Fujimaru Ritsuka sighed and swallowed back all the further arguments he had prepared.

Brother Abel froze in place like a bird in a state of stress, motionless, like a piece of wood. Sanguinius, who manifested here in the form of Sanguinius, was the first to notice the emotional problems of his offspring. After affirming his previous series of work and comforting him a little, he successfully coaxed the Blood Angel, whose soul was almost not in his body, out.

After he left in a daze, Sanguinius, with his wings folded, turned back and repeated to Fujimaru Ritsuka with a hint of blame: "You really should have told me directly. You know what Sanguinho is in essence. It is a thankless task to expect an unconscious natural phenomenon to understand human logic and emotions. I thought this was obvious enough."

"But his current operating logic is trapped in a pseudo-personality." Fujimaru Ritsuka retorted, "I think if he can develop a little bit of correct empathy, it will be beneficial in the long run. Even if you have the authority to control him in a certain sense, it is unlikely that you can control him all the time."

"I don't think highly of this kind of effort that won't produce any results," Sanguinius said "euphemistically." His words were very straightforward, but the emotion expressed in this sentence had indeed been handled very tactfully.

Fujimaru Ritsuka obviously didn't understand this processed euphemism, and shrugged slightly mischievously: "Has anyone ever told you that you are really pessimistic?"

"After dying once, I have indeed become more open-minded, but I am still far from being completely open-minded." Sanguinius' tone was not very happy. "You know I am not saying that there is a problem with your efforts in this matter. Sanguinius's thinking logic is far from that of humans, but we can still communicate. I don't disapprove of this attempt to explain human morality and ethics to him. I also believe that sooner or later he will gain understanding and progress on this issue, and I think it is indeed necessary. What I don't approve of is 'you' doing this. Human logic does not make sense to him. You can't predict what he might say next, and some of his unintentional words may be very dangerous to you."

This was a clear rebuke, so Fujimaru Ritsuka's expression became serious, but she obviously had no intention of admitting her mistake: "I know what he meant by the sentence you cut off. But if my self-awareness could be shattered by a few words from a friendly subspace creature, then I would definitely not be able to make it this far."

"I understand, but I dare not gamble." Sanguinius sighed and moved away from where Fujimaru Ritsuka was. He walked around Sergeant Ganon beside him and walked step by step between the coffins of his offspring. "I know how fragile human thoughts and cognition are. I believe your will is as firm as the walls of Terra, but that is not a reason to allow it to be exposed to danger. No matter how strong the wall is, it will always collapse one day. Of course, the less wear and tear it may produce, the better."

"I appreciate your concern, Sanguinius, but you underestimate the circumstances of my life. His questioning has little impact on me."

Sanguinius turned back suddenly, looking a little angry: "You don't know what he wanted to ask you." "I know. He just wanted to ask why I didn't put myself up to the standards I set." Fujimaru Ritsuka shrugged nonchalantly: "'If you get back to life within ten minutes of cardiac arrest, it's not called 'resurrection', it's called 'successful rescue'. I've never died once.' That's what I was going to reply to him."

Sanguinius froze in confusion. "Wait a minute... is that okay?"

"I'm already 'forever seventeen', so why can't I say that? I don't mean to complain, but you're a little too nervous about this issue." Fujimaru Ritsuka caught up with Sanguinius with brisk steps, "You know, the reason why the Emperor can maintain the cognition of 'I am human' is not because of his toughest mouth in the universe. You've got the cause and effect reversed. It's because he first firmly believes that 'I am human' is a basic fact that he emphasizes to anyone he meets that 'I am not a god' is an axiom in his eyes."

That might be a little convincing, but there was still a hint of worry in Sanguinius' voice: "You, too?"

"Not quite. I'm not as noble as he is." Fujimaru Ritsuka leaned closer to the body of Sanguino left here, and lowered his voice unnecessarily. "I'll only tell you these words: I'm an ancient human born in the 21st century. My body is very fragile compared to today's standard humans, so I can write on my schedule that I need to sleep eight hours a day and eat three meals a day of ancient food that has been genetically cultivated and confirmed to be non-toxic. Of course, even alcohol is banned. This is a small side effect of 'forever seventeen years old'. It doesn't matter. Anyway, I don't think alcohol tastes good, but being able to eat a hot meal with a familiar taste often is really important to maintaining my personal morale."

"Why are you telling me this? With your position in the Empire, you don't need to label yourself as a so-called 'fragile ancient human' to enjoy this kind of life. You are completely avoiding the issue." Sanguinius' tone became unhappy again, but this time from a less serious angle. "By the way, do I need to remind you that your average daily sleep time in the past week has been less than four hours?"

"You talk like Asclepius." Fujimaru Ritsuka took a step back. "I believe this is definitely temporary. Once the Claw of Destruction sent by Mr. Ferrus successfully docks with the airport, my workload will drop significantly. Believe me, you will regret advising me to rest more today after I get enough sleep."

"Hmph." This meaningless nasal sound probably meant that Sanguinius didn't really believe this statement, but he refused to let the conversation continue in this direction. Instead, he abruptly brought the topic back to a direction that was more in line with the atmosphere that should have existed in the mourning hall: "You know, according to Sanguinius's records, he was supposed to survive."

"You've changed the subject so abruptly." Although Fujimaru Ritsuka complained, she did not dwell on the question that was deliberately omitted by the other party. Instead, she obediently followed Sanguinius's line of sight and cast her gaze towards Sergeant Ganon's coffin, "Would you like to hear more about it?"

"When the Sanguinius descended upon Skelos before my sons, Ganon was still alive." In between these few words, Sanguinius's surging anger quickly subsided into a calm sadness. "He heard behind the veil that Ganon did not believe in his existence, nor in the legends of the Deus Ex Machina circulating in the Chapter - so he appeared."

"Very 'Sanguino'." Having roughly guessed what would happen next, Fujimaru Ritsuka sighed, "But even if he is angry, he won't take the initiative to lose his temper over such a matter. His operating rules will not voluntarily give up any warrior who is loyal to the empire."

"But he is a Sanguinius. A Warp entity created largely by religious worship and prayer." Sanguinius sighed. "He - technically he did nothing wrong, he just..."

"He was just too 'Sanguino'." Fujimaru Ritsuka realized something. "When a devout soldier sees a living saint with his own eyes, he believes that his life journey has reached perfection at that moment. If he valiantly dies in this decisive battle, it will be a perfect end to his life. Sergeant Cannon may have thought so. Sanguino sensed this, so he let the brother he instinctively saved die on the battlefield... To be honest, it's a little hard to judge whether this is good or bad, but at least from the appearance of Sergeant Cannon's remains, he had no regrets when he passed away."

"It's pretty close to what actually happened," Sanguinius said noncommittally. "But there are actually some dramatic details to this incident: As I mentioned, Ganon didn't believe in the existence of Sanguinius at first, until he saw with his own eyes that the living saint appeared out of thin air."

Fujimaru Ritsuka thought about it for a moment, and only vaguely grasped the edge of the emotion hidden in the other party's expression: "Does this make you feel uneasy about the power of religion?"

"A proper miracle can indeed affect a person's spirit to such an extent, even an Astartes." Sanguinius replied restrainedly, "In fact, I can't define the emotions I have about this matter. It's not a serious matter, and as you said, it's really hard to judge whether it's good or bad, but it really makes me unhappy."

If it was Sanguinius himself who appeared in front of Sergeant Cannon at that time, he would choose to affirm the other's will: compared to believing in an illusory idol, of course, the grenade launcher in his hand is more realistic and more reliable. Ten thousand years ago, his father tried to teach this truth to all humans with the Imperial Truth, but he failed. Ten thousand years later, even the descendants of the angels themselves would place their hopes on an illusory legend in desperate situations - it's not that hope is bad, people should have some hope in desperate situations, but... he still felt a little uncomfortable about it.

It was inappropriate to bring up this topic completely, even if Sanguinius was sure that Fujimaru Ritsuka was a good listener who could keep secrets properly. After he revealed a little clue, he actually regretted it a little. It would be better for him to hide this dark thought. Fortunately, Fujimaru Ritsuka did not delve into the details behind this clue. She just looked at the calm face of Sergeant Ganon under the transparent window from another angle again and sighed:

"It's all over now, and I think it's good." She comforted Sanguinius, "At least he died without regrets. In any era and any situation, this can be regarded as the most luxurious ending in the world."

At this moment, Fujimaru Ritsuka also happened to have something in her heart that she had not revealed to Sanguinius: she herself, obviously, would not have the opportunity to enjoy such a true luxury at the actual end of her life.

(End of this chapter)