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

Fujimaru Ritsuka also thought for two seconds, and then suddenly took out a water-based pen from Jeanne Alter's pocket, and with Coze's consent, she tried to draw the emperor's facial features - she was indeed an amateur in sculpture, but she had been with Leonardo da Vinci for so long, she still knew basic painting techniques such as sketching and quick sketching.

The fact that Koz's burning eyes burned accurately at her back did indeed reduce her efficiency, but after five minutes, Fujimaru Ritsuka still expressed her idea as perfectly as possible. She couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief after completing the work, and was about to step back a little to see the overall effect, but at this moment, something no one expected happened:

The entire statue suddenly began to emit a golden light, and the air began to smell the inexplicable scent of scented ointment and candles commonly seen in Anglican churches. It seemed as if hymns were being sung intermittently from a distance, and phantoms of feathers and cherubs were revolving around the statue itself - and the facial features that had just been painted on also really "came to life".

The Emperor arrived here with psychic projection. Curze turned around and fled the room without hesitation, leaving Fujimaru Ritsuka standing there stupidly without reacting. After a while, he asked blankly:

“Is this some kind of finishing touch to the story?”

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 44: Fighting with the Emperor

"If you want to talk to him, I can go out and bring him back now."

Fujimaru Ritsuka glanced behind her, and the empty corridor was quiet. She turned back again, and the facial features she had drawn on the statue's face formed a "tired" expression:

"Forget it." The emperor sighed.

Fujimaru Ritsuka stared at the statue suspiciously for a while.

"I don't know if it's my illusion, but you seem to be much more reasonable now than last time." She looked left and right at the statue. "The psychic feeling is there. I don't doubt whether you are the Emperor, but I still feel that... the person I met this time is not the same person as the last time, right?"

"...Maybe this is one of the reasons." The emperor tried to evade the question with a wry smile.

"Don't try to fool me. It may be difficult for others to understand your mental structure, but I have seen similar things, so I can roughly understand what is going on through analogy." Fujimaru Ritsuka crossed his arms and asked mischievously, "'Changed people' is one thing, and the other is 'the condition has indeed improved', right?"

"...Indeed." Although he admitted this, the tired and helpless expression on the emperor's face became more obvious.

In the above conversation, most of the incomprehensible parts are based on one fact: the Emperor is an "immortal" who has existed since the beginning of human civilization.

The "immortals" will not really die, but they are also human. The human spirit cannot directly withstand more than 40,000 years of time, even if the "immortals" subspecies have been enhanced in this regard because of the ability to "not die", or the growth of psychic power has also led to the growth of spirit, it is still the same.

Human beings themselves are creatures that can only survive for a moment. If this is not the case, then the existence of the person concerned will gradually deviate from the concept of "human beings".

Most of the immortals therefore chose to live in seclusion, instinctively reducing their mental burdens by living a repetitive and simple life. However, the Emperor actively participated in the world for a long time, and even personally moved the nodes of human civilization many times. Under such circumstances, it was too difficult for a being with a life dimension far above that of humans to maintain human thinking as much as possible.

Therefore, during a certain period of time, the Emperor frequently and voluntarily gave up the continuity of his memory, rebuilt his personality many times in many blank lives, and naturally integrated into the crowd with the newly generated "young personality".

This was an effective way of dealing with things in the beginning, but it is by no means without problems. At least in the 40,000th year of human civilization, the problems it caused have become too serious to be reversed.

Even the Emperor himself cannot count how many personalities he has.

In actual situations, these countless personalities, each with different characters and experiences, will react synchronously to everything the Emperor encounters - many times the reactions are completely different or even incompatible, but the only one who can truly break through the chaotic thinking and make a decision is the personality that the Emperor chooses to express at the time.

A direct manifestation of this artificially caused severe "split personality disorder" is that his words and deeds often appear to be very disconnected from himself at different times.

This might be hard to understand for others, but Fujimaru Ritsuka had seen similar reactions in the aggregate of the 72 Demon Gods: without Goetia in the middle, they would choose a column to float up based on the person they were facing. If they talked to several people at the same time, they would look schizophrenic.

As for now, the person projected onto this statue of the Emperor is probably a more talkative personality. At least he does admit that he is "getting better".

"And then?" After a few seconds of silence, Fujimaru Ritsuka urged, "You came here in such a hurry, you definitely didn't come just to talk about this, right?"

"..." The statue remained silent, and its painted facial features formed an expression of "accusation".

"What does this mean? I can't guess if you don't tell me--"

"...You should understand." The Emperor finally spoke helplessly, "At the beginning, I hoped that Curze could recruit new soldiers to supplement the military strength of the entire plan. The focus is not on 'outside the establishment', but on 'new conscription'."

Ritsuka Fujimaru suppressed the smile on his face.

"...Of course I understand." When it came to business, her tone naturally became serious. "You want to make sure that all the soldiers under my command are new recruits with 'shallow karma', so as to prevent me from inadvertently becoming too deeply 'connected' with this universe, right?"

Ritsuka Fujimaru, who came from another world, does not belong to this universe, so some rules originating from this universe will be greatly discounted when they fall on her - a typical case is that even a Chaos power like Tzeentch could hardly effectively pollute and assimilate her when she first arrived and without the protection of the Emperor.

If nothing happened, Ritsuka Fujimaru, who did not belong to this universe, would be thrown out again by the universe itself as a "foreign object" after a long or short period of time, but now, it is obvious that "something has happened".

First, the Emperor used his psychic power to pull her into the Astronomican with almost no knowledge, and they took the initiative to establish a connection between the two parties; second, Ritsuka agreed to use her special characteristics to "help the Emperor" and rearranged the rituals for this plan, allowing Conrad Curze to return to reality; and then there was the most serious one - the compilation of Jestal's affairs. Ritsuka Fujimaru's serious interference in fate this time was completely outside the entire plan, and her own destiny was inevitably woven into this universe.

To put it simply, she is gradually obtaining proof of her identity in this universe. When she gets her green card, her original right of entry exemption will also disappear.

"You should understand that completely integrating into this universe is not a good thing. You have already gone a little too far." The Emperor's tone was inexplicably full of earnestness, but Fujimaru Ritsuka interrupted the other party's admonition nonchalantly:

"It's not a completely bad thing, is it? Besides, we agreed that the prerequisite for the success of the plan is 'letting me fully integrate into this universe'." She said this in a relaxed manner, "I made this decision based on the premise of knowing 'what will happen'. Besides, the sooner I advance the progress, the sooner your condition will improve."

As a traveler from another world, Fujimaru Ritsuka brought the concept of another world with him when he fell into this world. Perhaps every drifter like this will bring some small "souvenirs", which will be corrected and obliterated after falling into the universe over time - but what if the drifter who fell in is the "savior" with a huge cause and effect?

Fujimaru Ritsuka brought a "magic" system that is completely different from psychic power. Intuitively speaking, many of the devices on the Storm Edge are still operating in a way that cannot be understood by the psychic power and spells in this world. She also brought her own "fate". Even if she crosses the barriers of the world, the heroic spirits who were originally connected with her can still lend a hand to her. The most important thing is:

She brought the concept of "humanity" - the concept of the origin, survival, development and prosperity of mankind itself. As long as the concept of "humanity" still exists, mankind will not perish.

Moreover, as a "savior" who once successfully protected human principles, she has sufficient cause and effect to re-prove these concepts here, and at the same time naturally restructure the relevant concepts that can ensure the survival of human principles.

"I successfully utilized the concept of 'human nature' when compiling the affairs of Jestal. Since it can be utilized, it naturally exists."

Fujimaru Ritsuka said in a tone like reporting work:

"Since 'human reason' exists, it will naturally promote the generation of a certain 'restraining force' in order to survive. Judging from the current situation, the 'alaya consciousness' composed of the collective unconsciousness of human beings' desire to 'survive' probably took shape first. That's why some of the unconscious hopes that were originally directed towards you turned to the alaya consciousness, and your condition improved."

"That's not the point." The Emperor sighed, "We don't know what impact this will have on future events. You're being a little too aggressive."

"Hmm? Are you worried about whether there will be problems with the operation of the large magic costume you are going to use later? It doesn't matter. Even if the rules of the outside world do not allow it, the secrets that were once mastered will never slip away quietly. It will just become difficult to pass it on."

"…You know that's not what I meant."

"I know, but I don't know." Fujimaru Ritsuka looked up at the sky, "I don't know even if I can guess what you don't say. Only by being honest can we improve the efficiency of communication."

This time, the silence lasted a short while, until the Emperor sighed with difficulty: "...I am worried about you."

"Thank you, but let me remind you that you are the one who has no right to say you are worried about me." Fujimaru Ritsuka shrugged, "You are not the kind of person who will get down from that chair if someone advises you, right?"

"It's not the same thing—"

"——Indeed, no matter how you look at it, I have it much easier, right? At least I don't have to be tortured by the electric chair for ten thousand years."

"..."

The expressions that can be created by combining the painted facial features are unexpectedly vivid. At least Ritsuka Fujimaru clearly read the meaning of "I don't want this kind of efficiency" from the "wrinkled" face of the statue.

The silence lasted for a few seconds, and finally Fujimaru Ritsuka sighed and took a step back. "Okay, I understand what you mean. It's just that I don't have to coexist with this crappy universe or empire. There are other choices. But I am the kind of person who likes to meddle in other people's business. This matter has nothing to do with you or the empire itself, or even the trillions of humans in the entire galaxy. It's just that I have nothing to do, so I just picked a topic that I am familiar with to pass the time. Does this make you feel better?"

"...No, but I understand." The Emperor sighed again, "It seems that we are the same kind of people."

This time it was Fujimaru Ritsuka's turn to frown in disgust:

"I don't really want to be defined as the same type of person as you. My interpersonal relationship environment is much better than yours." She teased, and then asked the question at the beginning of the conversation again, "Are you really not going to talk to Conrad?"

The emperor's expression turned a little aggrieved: "He didn't listen to me."

Here, Fujimaru Ritsuka made a very interesting rhetorical question: "Have you ever listened to what he said?"

"……what?"

"He said, 'I don't want your forgiveness, because I deserve to be punished for doing something wrong.' He also said, 'I am a sinner, and giving me a second life is equivalent to ignoring the meaning of punishment itself.' He also said, 'Sinners cannot take on the responsibility of leading and ruling, so I don't want to accept new blood like a blank slate to join my army.' Although you heard these words before, you ignored them all and dealt with him on your own, right?"

After Fujimaru Ritsuka said this, the Emperor thought carefully for a few seconds:

"I'm pretty sure there are things in this that he didn't say."

"He's your son, do you expect him to tell you everything clearly? You and your son both express things in the same obscure way, so of course we have to guess. I can guess you, and of course I can guess Conrad."

"In that case——"

"——It's nothing. I'm on the same side as him on this point. I'm seventeen years old, I'm in my rebellious period, and I can empathize with the disgusting feeling that children feel when facing a father who tries to have the final say at home."

Fujimaru Ritsuka once again folded his arms, raised his head and chest, and playfully expressed that he would fight to the end, which made the emperor laugh and cry:

"...So at that time you just went along with him and said 'then don't draft', even though you realised that this draft was mainly for your convenience."

"It's not that convenient. If we recruit new soldiers, the training period of Astartes will be very long. Wouldn't I be idle in the Astronomical Torch?" Fujimaru Ritsuka complained. "Besides, Conrad was dragged up by us unwillingly, and he must give an explanation for his past. Whether it's his original legion or what he did in the past. Both the victim and himself have this need emotionally."

The Emperor was silent again for a moment.

"Even though it was a long road full of thorns with no end in sight, you stood beside him without a care?"

"It's a contractual relationship, that's what 'bond' is. He wants to do the right thing, and I have no reason to stop him, so of course I'll go along with him." Fujimaru Ritsuka replied vaguely, "Besides, if there is anything more difficult than 'saving humanity', I really want to study it."

The Emperor fell into a longer silence. Fujimaru Ritsuka waited for a while, but nothing in the room responded, which made her yawn in boredom, and then decided not to waste time doing nothing like this:

She picked up a small brush and prepared to start applying gold leaf to the statue.

Yi Yue made up a story about why the emperor had thousands of faces.

I quite like this setting, after all, it can explain in the story why the Emperor looks so schizophrenic in different authors' writings. But the setting that "the Emperor is the soul aggregate of many shamans who sacrificed themselves" is too early, and it seems to have been eaten, so I made up a new one.

In addition, the concept of lunar humanity seems to have been expanded by the professor's remarks in 2.65 (from humanity to humanity of all intelligent creatures), but I don't care, I will use the old setting, which is relatively suitable for the xenophobic empire.

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 45 Lanmarok's Blood Pressure Problem

In the strategic command room of the Lion's Mane, a "simple" discussion about the next route is taking place:

"...In summary, my suggestion is to go to Ulan Huda for the most basic supplies."

Facing Lanmarok's disapproving gaze, Fujimaru Ritsuka said, "I know you have heard of the name of this Forge World, and I know you must have a lot of prejudices against it. I admit that more than 80% of all your prejudices are correct, but under the current circumstances, this is one of the few options we have."

"I don't think - there must be others -"

"——Indeed, but those more reliable forge worlds require at least three months of warp travel to reach them, while Ulan Huda only takes seven to ten days."

"Even if Conrad Curze were here, it's been ten thousand years since the Midnight Treaty. There's no guarantee they'll still abide by the old... 'supply agreements,' if you can call them that."

"I have enough bargaining chips in my hand. No Forge World can refuse the lost technology, especially this Forge World whose research direction is relatively 'radical'. Besides, we only ask for the most basic ammunition supply."

Lan Malok cast a look of great distrust at Fujimaru Ritsuka. However, this behavior of adding more weight to "strongly disagree" did not succeed in changing the latter's mind. The ginger-haired girl still insisted on her opinion:

"If the Lion's Mane was fully armed, I would never have made such a suggestion. But the problem now is that her reserves cannot withstand a void war of medium intensity or above, and this galaxy has never been peaceful."

"This galaxy is huge," Lanmarok insisted angrily. "It's only three months of warp travel. We may not even see a common merchant ship."

"Let me remind you that this is a hypothesis that relies heavily on probability." Fujimaru Ritsuka frowned, "Probability is becoming increasingly unreliable in today's universe. Considering what just happened on Jestal, I dare say that this voyage will definitely not be peaceful."

"…This is also a hypothesis that relies heavily on probability. Why are you so sure?"

"Because Tzeentch is watching, he will never give up any opportunity to have fun. The Warp has always been the home of these Chaos powers. He will definitely be happy to stir up fate and make everything change in ways that we cannot predict."

Fujimaru Ritsuka sighed in annoyance:

"Because there are always remnants of the Emperor's psychic power on the Storm's Edge, He cannot get His prying eyes too close, but on our next journey, He must have prepared various coincidences, and will use them to lead us step by step into the trap He has prepared long ago - I have already suffered once."

Lanmalok still seemed skeptical.

After acknowledging that Fujimaru Ritsuka had the most basic command over the Lion's Mane, he knew roughly what happened on Jestal through intelligence sharing, but he was not clear about what happened on the planet. At the time of the compilation, he and all the crew members on the Lion's Mane were outside the singularity formed by the Chaos Ritual, so they had almost no memory of the time before the world line was changed.

Things like "chaos" and "demons" were just superstitions or legends to the Dark Angel veterans of the Great Crusade. It was hard to believe that these descriptions in books would suddenly sneak into the real world and cause terrible damage in this era - even if there were indeed similar things on the planet where Lanmalok was born.

Most Astartes are very stubborn, and those who can become the Grand Master of the Fire Wing are often the best in stubbornness, so the discussion about the next destination has come to a deadlock. So, just like what happened many times before in many other places, in order to make things move forward instead of standing still, Fujimaru Ritsuka took a step back.

"Okay." She stretched out her hand and swiped the holographic star map in front of her, sighing and saying, "Then I suggest that we don't go to the Forge World - we go west from here to Baal."

Lanmalok looked in the direction of her finger suspiciously, carefully examining the route that seemed almost unobstructed.

"Baal." He vigilantly checked the coordinates marked on the star map again and again, comparing them with his memory, to make sure whether Fujimaru Ritsuka's proposal was what he thought.

"Yes, Baal, the home planet of the Blood Angels. If everything goes well, the journey will take about two and a half months."

Fujimaru Ritsuka leaned back tiredly, letting himself fall into a hard armchair used by operators nearby, and recited the relevant background information:

"After the Great Rift opened, the warp storm cut off the light of the Astronomican, and the Empire was actually split in two. We are now on the side where the Astronomican is invisible, which is customarily called the 'Dark Side of the Empire'. During the Indomitus Crusade launched by the current Imperial Regent Roberto Guilliman, the current Chapter Master of the Blood Angels Dante was appointed as the Dark Side Regent, responsible for coordinating the defense of this half of the Empire as much as possible... In short, Baal is now equivalent to a hub world due to the above-mentioned messy reasons, and all kinds of military supplies will gather on the home planet of the Blood Angels. It should be no problem to discuss with each other and ask them to share some of their conventional reserves."

Lanmaroc was silent for a while. He needed some time to process this information "10,000 years later" - too many things were too hard for him to accept.

The tragic result of the Heresy, the Codex Astartes, the splitting of the Legions, the end of Caliban, the loss of the Primarch, the changes in the Dark Angels structure, the State Religion, the Inquisition, the Imperium's uninterrupted decline for ten thousand years, the never-ending quagmire of war, Abaddon's thirteen crusades, and then again - the Great Rift.

When Lanmarok read these in the information shared from the Emperor's Dream, he had spent a lot of time trying to make himself accept the current situation. But every time he was reminded of the relevant facts, he couldn't help but ask in his heart: How did the empire become like this?

It was useless to sigh like this. Lan Malok forced himself to concentrate and bring his attention back to the current problem: "Although I know the character of the angel descendants, how can you be sure that they will definitely help us?"

"I think the Blood Angels' own style of doing things is enough to endorse them, but if you think this is untrustworthy, I do have something more solid." Fujimaru Ritsuka said helplessly, slumped in the chair, "I have a special decree signed by the Throne Court and the Torch Court. I can requisition land on the surface of Baal Prime at any location I think is suitable."

Lanmalok looked at Fujimaru Ritsuka in confusion - it was nothing, it was just that this matter sounded very wrong: even if the charter was jointly signed by two important imperial agencies, it sounded too outrageous that the Imperial Center would order the expropriation of land on the home planet of a chapter (even a founding chapter) without going through the Astartes itself.

"Conquering land on Baal Prime," the Dark Angel repeated unconsciously, "Are you sure we won't disappear from the universe inexplicably after we mention this?"

"It's the Emperor's mission. Besides, the current Chapter Master Dante is a good man. This is what Mr. Sanguinius said when he was in a good mood. Don't speculate on others based on your own behavior." Ritsuka Fujimaru, who was slumped in the chair, said some heavy words in a very relaxed tone. "If I explain it to him in detail, I think he has no reason to disagree. Besides, the plot of land I need is not big, at least much smaller than the Hollow Mountains."

I don't know if she did it on purpose, but the information revealed in these words is really shocking enough. Lanmarok's instinct told him that he could continue to dig deeper under these clues, but his precarious reason still successfully put the brakes on his thinking, clearly stopping him before he had the desire to continue exploring.

The loyalist dark angel Lanmalok forced himself to stop thinking.