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

Chapter 359: Questions and Answers from the Imperial Saint

After the Taotie Ring, there is the outermost Greed Ring. Unfortunately, the experience of the two imperial visitors in this ring was not much more exciting than a short hike on the plains near the city, so there is really nothing worth describing in detail.

"This teaches us that the difficulty of the game should be gradually increased, so that you can feel a sense of accomplishment after completing the game." Fujimaru Ritsuka commented after getting All Clear in the Slaanesh Six Rings Challenge. "Otherwise, it will be like... For example, right now, I feel very lost and lack a sense of reality."

Mephiston thought about it and decided not to respond. So he asked, "After leaving the core area of ​​the Chaos God Realm, has the connection between you and the Emperor been restored?"

"I'm not sure if calling the Emperor so close is a good idea." Fujimaru Ritsuka looked back with a little suspicion. They might have walked out of the range of the Sixth Ring, but not far enough. With the unenhanced vision of ordinary humans, Fujimaru Ritsuka could still vaguely see the mountains of gold and silver treasures in the Ring of Greed.

She quickly retracted her gaze. Even though those external objects had no appeal to her, they were still decorations in the Six Rings, which made the person concerned always suspect that Slaanesh had given them some kind of divine power. "Although time and space in the subspace do not operate according to the normal logic in our concept, since we can still glimpse that location - I think we should try to reverse this teleportation locator."
-
The way time passes in the subspace has different rules than the real universe. If this law causes something, unfortunately, in most cases, it will be some kind of trouble. But even so, a rule that causes trouble is still a rule, and as such, it can be used -

On the wasteland of Baal Prime that was designated as a battlefield, after the magic vortex caused by the shattering of the remains of Xaraxi Demon Disaster subsided, a signal that had just been disconnected came online again in the communication line:
"What time is it now?" asked Fujimaru Ritsuka in a tired voice. "Vasilian hasn't started to dismantle the things on the ground yet, right? Is it appropriate for me to make such a joke now?"

There were a few slightly distorted gasps or exhalations from the communicator - it didn't matter. After this short "silence", the first to roar was Hastings, who sounded like he was about to collapse: "Anyway, please put away your inappropriate sense of humor! Where are you now?! Are you injured or attacked -"

"Well, I'm in the transporter room of the Storm's Edge right now, and Mr. Mephiston is with me. We're both fine, and we didn't suffer any serious physical injuries. Basically, we can recover after taking a shower and sleeping." Fujimaru Ritsuka quickly summarized, and then switched to a pitiful tone, "So, that is, um, can everyone pretend that this didn't happen-"

"--You! Wish!" Hastings slammed his hand on the console table with a bang, and the loud noise also caused a burst of piercing static noise to echo throughout the channel. "Stand there and don't move! Captain Brother Stern! Please lend me two people to conduct a psychic purity test. I will lower the ship now."

Then there was a beeping sound from the Chaldean control room panel in response to the operation, and Storm Edge soon began to execute the landing procedure. During this period of quiet time, Odysseus' voice also sounded from the communicator:
"Master, I think we really need to talk."

To Fujimaru Ritsuka, this was like a death warrant. Unfortunately, the Master of Chaldea had experienced countless storms and had many tricks for similar problems, so she replied calmly: "...You know, there is a saying that 'escaping is shameful but useful'."

Odysseus seemed to have guessed what she was going to do. When responding to this statement, his tone sounded very helpless: "...Master, please don't do this."

"Then don't be like that. It's not that I don't want to talk. I still say the same thing. Can't we just talk about it behind closed doors? I can only bring one Sibylla. That's the limit. I have to save face." Fujimaru Ritsuka replied with a groan. "Besides, according to the built-in counter of the spirit base exoskeleton, I may have been in the subspace for more than seven hours, and Medea's spirit base was loaded the whole time. I have already injected two injections of spirit base stabilizer. I really need a good sleep physiologically."

After a brief pause of two seconds, the person who made the sharp explosion in the communication again was Arjuna: "Please disconnect the connection with the spirit-based exoskeleton immediately! I, an outsider, don't need to explain the damage this high-level spirit summoning technique has on the mind--"

"Right now, immediately, let me go to 'that' lounge first." Fujimaru Ritsuka dragged Mephiston, who had become as quiet as a chicken for some reason since boarding the ship, and dragged him out of the teleportation room little by little with the latter's connivance. "Inquisitor Hastings, I told you where I was going. Remember the new location when you bring people here. Even if I fall asleep after the link is released, I will fall asleep in front of the Emperor."

"...'Inquisitor' in public, 'Sybilla' behind your back, right?" Hastings' voice sounded sinister in the communication. "I don't remember when we became so familiar with each other."

Well, probably since I realized that you had made 26 assassination plans against me, but you hadn't even tried to put one into practice? Fujimaru Ritsuka thought uncertainly. But in this situation, she was very sure that she didn't have enough energy left to do so.
-
After reverse-engineering the teleporter and using the anti-summoning spell to arrive on the Storm's Edge, Mephiston has been very quiet.

This kind of silence was not difficult to understand, because shortly afterwards, Brother Captain Stern, who had forcibly freed himself from the Dread Knight of Heavenly Punishment and led the team aboard the Storm's Edge, and several other Grey Knights were all very quiet. For powerful psykers, it was very normal to show such a nervous reaction after boarding the ship: earlier, Varro Digris of the Ultramarines also behaved like this in the first few minutes of boarding the ship, and Inquisitor Hastings, who was also a psyker, was even nervous for a long time.

The reason was very simple: if they had not known in advance that this was the vehicle of the Imperial Saint, with a special organization authorized by the Throne Room, they would first think that they had entered a closed maze with completely different rules, in which there were all kinds of spirits whose natures were to be discussed. Even if they felt these things under the above premise, they would still feel nervous because of these problems that were obviously beyond their control.

Just like all relatively accomplished psykers would feel nervous after boarding the ship, all these psykers who were nervous for various reasons would choose to give up exploring all the above very warp-like and perhaps impure issues after entering that particular lounge with the Emperor's statuette. After all, just as they were able to realize that the Storm's Edge was an "abnormal" place blessed by various spells, they were also able to realize that what was placed in this lounge was not just a statue that showed the Emperor's appearance in a slightly unorthodox way.

That is the real "statue of God".

Then, as they reflexively knelt in the ray of light placed there by the Lord of Mankind, they realized that Fujimaru Ritsuka was arguing with the "idol".

"I don't know!" The little girl sat on the ground angrily, with several cushions piled around her and one in her hand. "First, I don't have the same cosmic perspective as you do. It's normal for me not to know what's happening a hundred meters away from me. Second, I won't do that kind of stalker-like investigation on my friends. First of all, it's disrespectful, and secondly, I don't have the energy. Third, Tezcatlipoca is a mature god with certain behavioral codes. You could have sat down and talked peacefully and reached a series of deals. Fourth, Emperor, you are over 40,000 years old! You should understand that people have mouths to talk in addition to eating! Don't think of asking me to be your mouth for everything, okay?!" Excluding Hastings, who was already used to it, and Mephiston, who had expected it, the few Grey Knights who had just arrived wanted to express their feelings about this scene. But before they opened their mouths, their psychic senses had already told them that the light in the statue "spoke".

——It is difficult to understand this sound as "speaking". It is different from the long-distance psychic sound transmission technique that the Grey Knights are familiar with, and it is also different from the form of sound that Mephiston experienced in the Cathedral of the Holy Blood, where the statue of Sanguinius used psychic energy to vibrate the air. The Emperor's will descended at this time, and its manifestation was nothing less than a storm in the field of consciousness in this not-so-large room. Most of the unrelated people can only interpret pain and torture from it, but Fujimaru Ritsuka is obviously not the case. The little girl did frown after this indescribable "sound", but it was obviously not due to physical discomfort, but dissatisfaction with what the other party expressed:
She seemed to want to lift the cushion in her arms at first, but after a brief hesitation, she just held it tighter in her arms. Instead of venting her emotions, she muttered in a bad mood: "One day, when you get up, I will smash your statue with a hammer in front of you."

"Only saints can clearly interpret the meaning conveyed by the emperor through the statues." Hastings, who has accepted and gotten used to this reality, acted as a temporary commentator on the side. "But there may be differences in qualifications among saints: Kaelia can only interpret metaphors such as mottos or short sentences. But if it were Fujimaru Ritsuka, you would have seen it all."

She quarreled with the emperor without any scruples.

"I don't know anything about Ahriman. It's better to say that I have never seen the real, living Azak Ahriman." Fujimaru Ritsuka frowned and replied to some previous text that no one else could hear. "If you were here, I wouldn't consider the taboos of words. During the time I disappeared, I went to the domain of Slaanesh for a tour. There's nothing special worth mentioning. It's normal that you can't find me. The realm of God is like this: just like when I was in the Astronomican, Tzeentch couldn't find me either."

Then there was another burst of unbearable so-called "sound" that could almost be called psychic noise.

After hearing this sound, Fujimaru Ritsuka made a confused expression: "Aidalad? Who?"

The Emperor's will sounded in a gentle and short manner for a few seconds, but it did not eliminate the confusion on Fujimaru Ritsuka's face: "It's not the first time you know that I have a memory problem with the names of the Eldar - and I didn't see any Eldar along the way? It's better to say that I fell into the realm of Slaanesh, and it's more problematic to see the Eldar, right?"

Another shorter storm of thoughts. This time, Fujimaru Ritsuka finally revealed a look of sudden enlightenment: "Oh, that very... that prophet. Now I remember, the first thing he said when he saw me in the simulation was to call me 'World Slayer'. I won't comment too much, after all, I really can't say anything good about it."

Based on Hastings's understanding of Fujimaru Ritsuka, he believed that the suspicious pause in her first sentence was because when the words she wanted to say were about to come to her lips, she remembered the issue of etiquette and had to withdraw a swear word on the spot.

"First of all, I don't want to meet and talk with the Eldar prophet at all. I don't have Mr. Robert's level of patience to face a group of arrogant and unyielding... antiques (obviously, in the original plan of the person involved, the word placed in this position should be more offensive); secondly, if you have really been friends with this Aidalad in your long life, I must say that you have a very poor eye for choosing friends."

In the next echo, in addition to the pain and suffering it brought to others as usual, even Hastings, as a mortal, could easily distinguish: there was also a hint of emotion that could be called "grievance".

"That's not what I meant. I have some bad friends, but they're all at least trying to be better. But the Prophet is clearly bad at the 'no improvement in years' angle - do you really want me to continue on this topic?"

The emperor shut up. Because from this perspective, he was obviously no better than the others. The only thing to be thankful for was that among the people present, only Fujimaru Ritsuka was aware of this problem. He didn't lose face on this.

"Let's go over it again: the matter of Longlin Star and the Exorcist Dead Zone; the matter of Tezcatlipoca; the matter of Ahriman coming to throw something; the mysterious disappearance of the Eldar prophet." Fujimaru Ritsuka counted on his fingers and reviewed this conversation (quarrel), "Anything else?"

The statue gave a short but clear no.

"Okay, that's fine. You can go back to Macragge." Fujimaru Ritsuka waved his hand to see him off naturally, "My affairs here are nothing too important, I can handle them myself."

Not to mention the crowd watching, the Emperor himself obviously had some complaints about this attitude. Although the direction of the "complaints" between the two was probably different, the storm of spiritual energy in the statue did indeed buzz in everyone's mind for a long time. During this period, Fujimaru Ritsuka's expression once again became more and more confused, visible to the naked eye:
"...No, why should I call you?" She asked in confusion, "Can I and the people around me handle these things? You still have such a big empire to look after, there is no need to keep an eye on me all the time, right?"

The Emperor once again roared in his consciousness, and Fujimaru Ritsuka immediately showed resistance and shook his head vigorously:

"You'd better not pay attention to me all the time, because I may secretly curse you behind your back at any time, and it will be too embarrassing if the real owner finds out." The Imperial Saint said righteously, "Also, you shouldn't have found out earlier. When I really can't handle it, I will slide to my knees faster than anyone else. If something really happens, I will definitely call you first. You can go back and look after your children without worry. They need your attention far more than I do, both mentally and materially."

(End of this chapter)