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

A dark figure, obviously a woman, was slowly and gracefully approaching the Night Lords from the bridge. During this process, she slowly drew out a slightly curved long sword from her waist.

There was another round of laughter from the crowd, mixed with some voices of confusion. Most of them did not take the simulated black shadow seriously - judging from its body shape, it was just a relatively tall mortal woman. Although the armor and weapons on her body could not be seen clearly due to various reasons, they could easily recognize that those things did not have any complex mechanical structures, and were obviously simple and primitive.

Only Sevatar realized the problem at the first moment: the feeling this black shadow gave him was very similar to that of Joan of Arc Alter.

——And this time, Fujimaru Ritsuka didn't give them any equipment in the simulation.

-

"Why is Sai in here?" Conrad Curze protested unhappily, "He can lead the team without any of this."

"——Yes, relying on your arbitrary favor." Fujimaru Ritsuka also retorted dissatisfiedly, "Sevita Leon can do it because he is Savita Leon! Do you realize that your arbitrary bias is your fault? How many hidden dangers are buried in your legion? You are also a Primarch after all, and I don’t believe that no one taught you the Imperial Science when you returned to the Empire."

Koz showed a rather disgusted expression: "The Emperor's mindset... those are nothing but a false illusion created by a pile of lies."

"I can understand that your excessive and unnecessary sense of justice makes you feel a little reluctant about lying, but let me remind you that the last Primarch who only told the truth was Rogal Dorn, and the Imperial Fists operated flawlessly. I advise you not to come up with these flimsy excuses to justify your inaction."

"You know everything, why are you asking me?"

"Another friendly reminder. It was your question that initiated this topic. If you really decide to 'do something serious', I strongly suggest that you first use your Primarch-level brain to think carefully about the consequences before taking action. You can also activate your prophecy talent when necessary - after the contract is solidified, the impact of the prophecy will be borne by us all."

Fujimaru Ritsuka paused for a second, then abruptly changed the topic:

"There is one more thing. After considering some of the things that happened before, I think it is necessary to set up a shrine to the Emperor on the Storm's Edge."

Koz didn't say anything, but immediately expressed his surprise in an exaggerated way through his body language and expression.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I don't think there's something wrong with my memory. Didn't you firmly believe before that 'the Emperor is not a god'?"

"This doesn't conflict with that." Fujimaru Ritsuka said confidently, "The Emperor is a human being, so it doesn't prevent the shrine from being useful. The Emperor himself doesn't mind this - although his indifference is purely out of practicality."

Fujimaru Ritsuka came up with this idea purely for practical reasons: conceptually, it could continue the foundation of the Empire's state religion, add a layer of protection within the alienated Storm Frontier, purify the chaotic forces that might sneak in, serve as a psychic base station to chat with the Emperor remotely, and also allow the Emperor himself, who occasionally wanders around on a whim, to have a place to stay when he secretly descends. It satisfies multiple purposes at once, and is economical and affordable.

She explained these reasons in detail to Conrad Coates, but unfortunately, the latter obviously did not understand this completely utilitarian idea. The expression on his face showed that he found it difficult to evaluate Fujimaru Ritsuka's behavior and was opposed to it.

But he also knew that he had no say in the matter. He could protest, but the ultimate result would be that Fujimaru Ritsuka would move the Emperor's shrine from a prominent public place to the depths of a ship where few people could go. At least he had clearly realized from the above explanation that this action would indeed have tactical significance.

The prerequisite is that all her ideas about the function of this shrine can come true.

"All right," Curze asked finally, "but if a single shrine can do so much as you say, then why aren't the cathedrals of the Imperium littered with signs of the Emperor's miracles?"

"Because the appearance of miracles is not a natural phenomenon, but a subjective behavior of the Emperor." Fujimaru Ritsuka said this as a matter of course, which could instantly drive one-third of the state religion crazy, make another third kneel down to her, and by the way, make the last third label her a heretic and excommunicate her. "Just like you obviously like Sevitarion more in your legion, I think the Emperor likes me more in the entire empire. I can be ranked in the top ten."

Koz was speechless for a moment. But first of all, he did not believe in the state religion, and secondly, he had already known this objective fact. He thought he did not need to comment on this issue again, so he simply decided to end the conversation. Unfortunately, Fujimaru Ritsuka still stared at him with a look of "seeking advice", which made him feel a little creepy.

"What for?" he asked unhappily. "If you want to do it, why don't you go to Somni and ask for money to start the work? Jestal is a civilized world now. There is no shortage of craftsmen who can complete a small shrine in a few days."

"No, this kind of thing, which has a meaning in the magical sense, also requires a bit of ritual in the production process." She said, "I think it's better for us to do it ourselves."

The plural first person in this sentence gave Coze a bad feeling.

"This is your ship. You can certainly order whoever you think is necessary to do things." Coze quickly stepped back, trying to get into some dark shadow and escape before his bad premonition came true, but then a golden chain appeared out of nowhere and wrapped around his waist - under the control of the "Heavenly Chain" of the Divine Special Attack, because he was a demigod, he was completely unable to break free.

"That's what you said." Fujimaru Ritsuka pulled the chain with a very happy tone, "Then let's start making a small statue of the emperor with marble and gold foil!"

Nonsense.jpg

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 42 Golden Corn Growth Diary

After the Storm's Edge docked in the hangar of the Lion's Mane, Somney, who temporarily did not need to maintain the operation of the entire submarine, had no work to complete.

This does not mean that he will be idle: there is no end to work, it just depends on whether people want to do it.

Although Fujimaru Ritsuka said that he could take this opportunity to have a good rest for a few days, the word "rest" has a completely different meaning for humans and for ships.

Somni did take a brief break to do some self-inspection and maintenance and make sure he was still in top condition—and then he took it for granted that his “rest” had ended perfectly.

After restarting, Somni briefly looked around the furnishings in the main control room, and after realizing that there would be no more work for him to handle here for the time being, he turned and left.

There is never an end to the work, especially on a small ship with an overstretched operations and maintenance staff.

Somni walked quietly in the white corridors of Storm's Edge. The golden armor should have made all kinds of noises when moving - the sound of the servo system running, the sound of the joints moving and rubbing, the sound of heavy footsteps landing - but it didn't.

This has nothing to do with skill, it's just that the various concealment devices carried on the Emperor's Dream perfectly eliminate all the sounds he might make while walking.

If he wanted, he could even eliminate his own figure for no reason, but inside the Storm Edge, such behavior would not only be meaningless, but might also cause unnecessary misunderstandings.

He walked along the corridor towards his destination. The interior of Storm's Edge was much larger than it looked from the outside, and the paths were complicated and sometimes changed for some reason, but this did not bother Somni.

Sometimes he could vaguely feel that the ship itself had consciousness, and he could obtain knowledge related to the ship from it.

Considering that after the 40th millennium of mankind, things like "machine souls" are well-known and their existence is taken for granted, Somni was not too surprised that the Storm Edge was "conscious".

He had just been "born" not long ago, so he had no idea whether other ships would gradually develop consciousness during use. He could not judge whether it was normal for the other party, as the conscious body of the "Storm Edge", to claim that his name was "Nemo". He just recorded this individual name after a brief exchange with the other party and confirmed that they could cooperate in a friendly manner, and transmitted the knowledge and records needed by the other party to each other.

Overall, Somney and Nemo have a pretty good relationship. Although they occasionally have meaningless disputes about "who is better in terms of ship functions", generally such disputes will end in vain, so it cannot be said that they have ever had a conflict. At least, when Somney consults Nemo about exploring the need for a suitable workplace, he always gets a concise and correct answer.

Just like now, if there is no corresponding prompt, I am afraid he will follow the "tailor room" or "warehouse" marked on the ship's floor plan in the data and interpret it literally. But after consulting Nemo, the other party said that if he wants to make clothes for the master, he should go to the "Da Vinci Workshop".

All of Fujimaru Ritsuka's ceremonial costumes so far were produced there.

Although the first contact with the Lion's Mane has been blurred in public memory due to the compilation of events, it still reminded Somni of the issue of "dress for formal occasions."

Although under the militaristic background of the Empire, various combat uniforms including power armor are naturally regarded as a kind of "formal clothing" and will not be criticized in most occasions, firstly, as their activities are gradually known by more Imperial institutions, they will always encounter occasions where "military dress is more appropriate"; secondly, many of Fujimaru Ritsuka's magic costumes that can actually be used in actual combat are not considered "combat uniforms" by the Imperials - even the Orthauth Spiritual Exoskeleton is good, at least it can clearly see the structure of the "exoskeleton".

The third point, which Somni believes is the most important, is that Fujimaru Ritsuka is the emperor's personal envoy to the throne. In some occasions, her words and deeds represent the emperor's will. Therefore, whether she likes it or not, she must dress appropriately in such occasions. It would be too late to prepare for such an occasion when she actually encounters it.

Somni, who had served as the Emperor's flagship for a period of time and was therefore familiar with the various relevant etiquette and regulations, believed that he needed to prepare for a rainy day.

There is no Leonardo da Vinci in the current "Leonardo da Vinci Workshop", but the workshop itself still maintains the distinctive personal style of its owner when he was still alive.

It was not the first time that Somni entered this room, but he still had the illusion of entering another world because of the strong impact of the contrast of decorative styles: in contrast to the simple and cold design style in the corridor, which was completely contrary to the mainstream decorative style of the empire, the colors and furnishings inside the workshop were filled with a warm chaos. There were all kinds of strange finished products, semi-finished products, and even half-drawn design drafts placed everywhere, and the raw materials used to make these things were just randomly placed.

Somni could see the specific functions of a small number of these things, and that another small number was left there simply for the sake of aesthetics or commemorative significance, but he really couldn't make a meaningful analysis of the other "magic-related" things, which accounted for the majority of the number in this workshop.

Fortunately, he was not looking for these things, he just wanted to find some "actual" raw materials: the cloak he made for Fujimaru Ritsuka was completely woven with his magic. It was not difficult to use the clothing room on the Emperor's Dream to do this quickly, but it was another matter if it needed to be preserved for a long time.

This room might have been large, but the crowded furnishings made the actual usable space a bit stretched, especially for a giant like Somni. So he stood cautiously in the open space at the door, first scanned the entire room as a whole, and only went deeper after confirming where the things he needed were. Finally, he took his target without damaging the original furnishings here as much as possible.

This was a bit difficult for such a large man, but Somni finally succeeded. He left with the cloth and threads he needed, ready to find a space more suitable for his body to carry out the next work. As he turned around, he caught a glimpse of a few childlike shadows peeking out of the door.

There shouldn't be such children on the ship, but Somney knew that they were something like an extension of the will of the Storm's Edge itself - the specific number was a little vague, and the models were difficult to distinguish immediately, but they were indeed all part of "Nemo".

It is these small dark shadows that perform excellent maintenance and repair work on the Storm's Edge on a daily basis. After all, the ship itself knows better where the problems that may hinder its operation lie.

Considering that Fujimaru Ritsuka could make the Emperor's Fantasy transform into the appearance of the Imperial Guards and walk around, it was not surprising that she could make the Storm's Edge transform into many small black shadows to protect itself. Somni accepted this very quickly. He calmly nodded to these small fellows who seemed to be hidden in the black fog and whose facial features could not be clearly seen. He then walked past them and left the room, ready to continue his work.

However, after he walked about twenty meters and passed a fork in the road, he finally realized from the sound of footsteps behind him that he seemed to be stuck by these little creatures.

Somni stopped and turned around. Four people - upon closer inspection, they should be "Sailor Nemo" models - were neatly following behind him. They also stopped, raised their heads and stared at him silently.

It took him a while to remember that such "shadow servants" seemed to have no language communication function and could only execute some simple preset commands. And the silence in this corridor lasted as long as this period of time lasted.

Then, Somni realized that his kind did not have as many expansion functions as he did, and the task of the "Nemo Series" itself was only to maintain the Storm Edge itself. When the ship was temporarily stored and did not need maintenance, they would naturally be idle. It stands to reason that they should naturally retreat at this time and wait for Fujimaru Ritsuka's next call, but why...

"Are you out of work for the time being?" Somni asked tentatively.

The shadow followers of the Nemo series nodded in silence, and gathered around Somni in the center. The latter didn't quite understand why this happened, but he did inexplicably read the obvious curiosity from the raised faces of those small black shadows.

This made him swallow his next question: it was normal for an old-fashioned small ship to be curious about a large ship like his that was made entirely of cutting-edge imperial technology.

Somni, who thought he had found the answer, hesitated for a moment and decided not to make any special arrangements for the four Nemos. He turned around and continued to work on his own project. In the eyes of the Nemos, this was a tacit agreement of "let's do it together" - so in the empty corridor, the golden giant dragged four small black shadows behind him and moved towards Somni's personal room, which was a larger size for all furnishings.

These five people, one big and four small, will spend the whole day doing other work. If someone sees this, it would be quite interesting.

Useful but useless daily life.jpg

It is filled with some misunderstandings from personal perspectives that are unique to Hammer.

Storm Border was originally Captain Nemo's Noble Phantasm, the Nautilus, but after being modified by Xion and Da Vinci, it became able to exist in reality and be used at any time (?). Therefore, even if it crosses the border, it still contains a little bit of Captain Nemo's spiritual base (which was then recognized as a machine spirit by Somni).

Black Shadow Nemo is the Shadow Servant Nemo (bulk version) that Ritsuka pulled out of the Spirit Base Portrait. His behavior is more mechanical than that of a real Heroic Spirit. He rarely shows up because he has tasks to maintain the ship, but his curious nature will emerge when he is free.

Still yang, but the fever has finally subsided, and I am not in good spirits. All in all, it will take two days (in terms of word count).

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 43 How to make a psychic base station by hand

Although Conrad Coates was forced to start the work, Ritsuka Fujimaru actually did not know how to make sculptures.

The best she has achieved in this area is to make some small things with super light clay. Now she claims to start directly from stone carving. It's just like a child who can't even walk well and wants to start running a 30-kilometer weighted obstacle course. It's ridiculous.

——Then, she frankly admitted this in front of the prepared marble, frankly accepted Conrad Coates's ridicule, and finally said frankly: Otherwise, why would I have to drag you into this?

Koz fell silent.

If the question is whether he can make stone statues, then he can. It is better to say that all Primarchs have a natural grasp of this kind of knowledge that the Emperor considers to be "basic", and at most only need a little practical experimentation to fully activate it.

Although the skills of each Primarch vary due to personality, interests, and areas of emphasis, for example, if we only talk about stone sculptures, the finished products made by Fulgrim, Sanguinius, Dorn, and Perturabo in the past are obviously in the first echelon (the objective skills are impeccable, so the specific order is more influenced by the subjective influence of the evaluator), and the rest have to stand aside. But if the standard is lowered to the point of "just getting it done", even Russ can do it with some time.

But it should be noted that this “standing aside” is the result of the evaluation dimension between the original bodies. Even Conrad Coze, who was “standing aside”, was not lacking in “the technology of carving statues” in this matter, but in the vision of “selecting themes” and the method of “artistic expression”.

At least the last time he decided to work on the statue seriously, what troubled him was not simply the technical problems, but the inability to make the emperor's expression lifelike... Considering the last creative experience which was painful and full of problems, he decided to just let that matter go.

He also had no interest in the self-abuse of repeating similar things over and over again.

Curze hissed in dissatisfaction in Nostramo: "I won't do it. Anyway, even if you tie me up here, you can't force me to make the statue."

First, he didn't want to worry about the Emperor's face anymore; second, he doubted that the Emperor would suddenly use the statue to tell him something that would not help the current situation but would only make him irritated and crazy. He didn't want to hear it.

At this point, Fujimaru Ritsuka really couldn't force the Curze statue down - the Heaven's Chain didn't have such a flexible function. But she didn't seem to be worried about this problem, just folded her arms and smiled:

"Conrad, you know, people always compromise."

"What are you talking about?"

"It means that it's okay if you don't want to do it. You can just stay there and watch me, a beginner, do it."

Conrad Coates stared in confusion as Ritsuka Fujimaru began to prepare for the carving in a messy manner. At this time, he did not realize the problem:

When he was faced with a piece of intact stone, he refused to do it. But what would happen when he found out that the stone was about to be ruined by a beginner and the final product would be called "Emperor"?

——Three minutes later, amid Koz's angry roar of "You want to get started without even making a beginner's draft? Get out of here!", Fujimaru Ritsuka was happily driven out of the empty room that they were temporarily using as a construction site.

-

In fact, if Koze is as stable as an old monk and enters samadhi, Fujimaru Ritsuka will not have a backup plan like Galatea.But things were going so smoothly, so there was no need for her to reach out and disturb them.

After being kicked out, Fujimaru Ritsuka happily ran to the cafeteria, looted the snacks and drinks in the refrigerator, and harassed Jeanne Alter, who was hiding from drawing comics.The two girls hid in a room where no one else could find them. They complained to the manuscript paper, "It's so hard to draw men." One of them slowly drew lines, and the other slowly painted in black and pasted dots. It took two hours. The time disappeared so quickly.

After killing some time, Lixiang guessed that Koz had probably calmed down, so she went back to the door of the room where she was kicked out before and looked inside openly.

In two hours, perhaps a mortal artist skilled in stone sculpture could only barely create a prototype of the sculpture in such a simple working environment on the Storm's Edge, but it was another matter for a Primarch. Curze's own strength was the best hammer, his nails as sharp as adamantium were the best chisels and carving knives, and his brain with extraordinary computing power simulated the effect of each chisel fall for him, allowing him to work almost non-stop. After these two hours, the small statue was almost in the final stage.

The stone that Fujimaru Ritsuka prepared at the beginning was not very large. Her original idea was to refer to the popular shrine style of the Empire and make a small statue of the Emperor holding a sword and standing solemnly - she guessed that if she chose from the current mainstream shapes of the Empire, the Emperor himself would probably prefer the image of a dead body on the throne. She also believed that the sacrifice implied in this image was more religiously sacred. But this statue was not made just for preaching: when the Emperor left the throne and descended into the statue, he would be reminded of the burden of sacrifice all the time, which was a bit... um...

Put yourself in his shoes, Fujimaru Ritsuka wouldn't want this to happen anyway.

However, the person who was actually responsible for the carving obviously had different ideas about this: Conrad Coates obviously did not take the state religion seriously, nor did he make this small statue with the mentality of "carving a statue of God". He was just reproducing a scene in his memory - as if this scene was already sealed in the stone, and all he needed to do was take them out.

Coates used almost all parts of the stone to the extreme. He carved an entire scene with a marble the size of a single statue: at the bottom were many little figures, some in tattered clothes, some in silk and satin, with faces that expressed either fear or joy vividly. Without exception, they were all kneeling or falling to the ground, with faint traces of tears gently carved on their tiny faces.

These small and delicate statues are works of art, but they are only the most inconspicuous part of the whole, the base that exists to support and set off the main body of the statue. Among these little people, there is an overly majestic emperor, and behind the emperor is a huge and exaggerated light effect. The Primarch's craftsmanship is so exquisite that the countless overlapping circles of light between religious fiction and depiction of reality, even if they are still the original color of marble, can still give people the illusion that "the statue is really glowing."

Fujimaru Ritsuka was also aware of this impressive scene.Given a simple title for the statue, she would have chosen The Emperor's First Arrival at Nostramo.

Conrad Kurtz could not help being impressed by this scene: it was the beginning of everything for him, but it was also the end of everything. His responsibility truly began, and his prophecy came to an end.

Fujimaru Ritsuka had naturally seen the same thing in his illusion, and it must have been exactly the same scene as Curze had seen. This emperor was not wearing some kind of gorgeous and huge power armor as shown in the more mainstream emperor statues, but was covered with some kind of soft and draped robe. The entire statue was still the original color of marble, so perhaps only those who saw the scene with their own eyes could know how luxurious the robe was originally. Others could only barely imagine it through the small dark patterns he engraved on the marble cloth.

From the modeling of the common people on the base, the details of the emperor's clothing and the treatment of the halo behind, Curze's carving skills are undoubtedly impeccable, learned from Fulgrim. But the part of the statue that should be carefully carved is still blank:

The face of the Emperor.

As for why the Emperor's statue does not have the Emperor's face, one can still explain it away. There are many ways to explain it, and it is not impossible to stop here, but from Curze's expression, he does not intend to do so.

Fujimaru Ritsuka could see that he was trying hard to recall something. She also understood: under the influence of psychic energy, the Emperor's facial expressions would be slightly different in everyone's eyes, and when someone wanted to describe the details in detail, they would flow away from their minds naturally like water.

The Primarch's memory was comparable to that of an amnesiac, so this ambiguity was always very difficult for them to tolerate.But for Ritsuka Fujimaru, who is an ordinary person who is used to getting by with memory, she has some lies to say here:

"It's just 'artistic creation', there's no need to be purely realistic." She consoled him, "Just make it what you think he looked like at that time. It's obvious that he's an emperor, so don't take it too seriously."

Coz glared at her in dissatisfaction, but after thinking for two seconds, he still condescended to ask for some references: "You must have seen this. What do you think it should be like?"

"It's hard to say, how do you want me to put it..."