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

In fact, I feel it should be earlier, at least before Parmenio, because the book "God's Plague" is about Guilliman recalling the hero Felix from government affairs and immediately interrogating T-daemon, and Felix stayed in the fleet afterwards, and then there was the section in "Plague War" where he led the team to destroy the Nurgle temple factory. But in this conversation, the Eldar prophet mentioned Parmenio's saintly little girl and the miracles she caused, which means it was obviously after Parmenio... (very confusing, the result is that I gave up thinking and decided to read GW's book)

I've finished eating. If there's anything wrong, please bear with me! (Very loud)

As for why the regent brought Donas Maximus, the recorder of the Aurora Warriors, instead of Digris when discussing this topic, I don't know. This question may be asked to Guy Harry, who wrote "The Plague of God".

original:

"Then why show me this?" Maximus asked. "Why tell me this secret, and why not Digris or some other higher wisdom bear the burden of knowing this secret?"

"You are here. I want to discuss this matter now. You are the best person to do it," Guilliman said. "Do you need any more reasons?"

(Just casually)

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 148 No Wine but Talking about Gods

The first person to answer this question without hesitation was Think Tank: "Everything I encounter that claims to be God is my enemy. That's enough for me to know."

This is a typical answer that an Ultramarines would give. But Prophet Natus obviously disagrees with this: "Does this mean that your master is also your enemy?"

"The Emperor is not a god," the Librarian retorted. "The Master of Mankind would always deny that."

"He denies it, but he still is." The Prophet Natus turned his gaze to Guilliman for advice. "I take this to be the crux of this discussion, am I right, Regent?"

Guilliman did not reply, but cast his eyes on Fujimaru Ritsuka, who leaned forward slightly in his wheelchair and said, "Don't look at me. My words don't count. I am a person who practices sorcery with the power of the Emperor all day long. You can't expect someone like me to say that the Emperor is not a god. This view will be convincing to others."

The Imperial Regent frowned and asked, "What if we ignore the Emperor in this question and only discuss the divine being itself?"

"Gods are 'natural disasters'," she said. "They usually cause unavoidable losses to human society, and attempts to fight against them are often thankless. But as long as we find the right method, we can also use the energy they bring to a limited extent. In the long run, the negative impact will be greater than the positive impact. Although their sudden disappearance will cause chaos, fundamentally speaking, human prosperity does not need such things."

Prophet Natas laughed. "It's a good metaphor, but it's just a metaphor after all."

Fujimaru Ritsuka shrugged nonchalantly: "Then Prophet Natas, would you be willing to share the ancient wisdom of the Eldar on this matter?"

"This is a complicated question even for my people." Prophet Natas thought for a moment before speaking again, "We first categorize gods into two general categories: gods of the material world, which you call star gods, and we call Yangol; gods of the other side of the sea, which we call 'images of the material world'.

"The gods of the Material Plane are one of the foundations of the veil of reality. Because of their close connection to the Material Plane, the C'tan can influence its structure, but they are also bound by the laws of that reality; the gods of the Warp are more short-lived and more varied, many being little more than a collection of emotions, some of whom were mortals before being transformed by the faith of others.

"But these are very rough classifications. Are they correct? Even within our tribe, there are often objections to this. Facts change, phenomena change, and the original theory is always easily overturned by the counterexamples that follow. Therefore, the origin of God cannot be classified. They have no history, only the history imposed on them by people."

The overly abstract and vague introduction made the Imperial Regent frown. He did not say anything immediately, but turned his gaze to his heir.

"Power defines God, but they are all lies," the Librarian said. "I am not familiar with the C'tan, but the Chaos Gods bring only fear. They see us as playthings, and will destroy us in the end. There is no doubt that they are evil, every one of them. Man does not need God. The Emperor is right."

The think tank has used some cautious words, but the prophet Natas still sighed and shook his head, with an expression of "a child who cannot be taught": "When you agree that 'power defines God', how can you exclude your master from the discussion?"

"The Emperor is not a God," Fujimaru Ritsuka retorted in a firm tone, "Although he has come very close to that line, if you look closely enough you will realize that he has not really crossed it yet."

"This is a conclusion that cannot be proven or disproven, because no one can look, as you said, 'carefully enough'." Prophet Natas continued to shake his head gracefully, "In the warp, all eyes cast on that person can only see the bright light of the Torch and feel the pain and torture coming from it. Who can clearly know whether what they see from that light is true or false? Every thread of destiny leading to the throne has been burned, and no one can predict His future path..."

As he spoke these words, he seemed to realize something and gradually lowered his voice. Prophet Natas began to observe the girl in the wheelchair with a cautious attitude - there are some things that vague prophecies and ambiguous omens cannot reveal, but at this face-to-face distance, some facts began to emerge in the Eldar prophet's cognition after the person concerned realized them.

He began to realize that there was a faint light in Fujimaru Ritsuka's soul that was very similar to the Star Torch. This light was like a sharp blade that had not been unsheathed, temporarily restrained, and he could not - and it was best not to explore its full picture. Prophet Natas carefully avoided this part and tried to use his psychic senses to detect more clues, but at this moment, a thunderstorm that existed in the material world came up and completely blocked the prophet's "sight".

The senses of the prophet Natas who were responsible for receiving the situation in reality told him that this was caused by the white-clad attendant beside Fujimaru Ritsuka who had moved a little closer to her seat. He therefore withdrew his psychic senses and began to think in shock: What on earth is this?

On the other side, the master and the servant exchanged glances briefly, and Arjuna, who was obviously unhappy, stayed where he was. But Fujimaru Ritsuka was obviously not prepared to let this matter go, and he said sarcastically: "I don't know what you see in me? I'm quite curious about how the aliens see me."

The current situation is clearly stronger than the people. While feeling frustrated at the carelessness of his own behavior, Prophet Natas apologized: "Please forgive my presumptuous behavior, but I see some signs in you that are...reflective of the throne."

This sentence aroused Guilliman's concern and worry from another perspective. He frowned and said to the Prophet Natus: "I hope you can express yourself more clearly."

But it was not the Eldar who answered him on this question, but the think tank beside him: "It is the light of the Astronomican." He said, "Director Digris has informed the entire Psionic Council of this. The power of the Emperor is contained in the soul of this girl. Normally, it looks like looking at the distant stars under the night sky, but when needed, it will quickly become brighter."

Speaking of this, Fujimaru Ritsuka seemed a little frustrated: "Ever since I received complaints from the navigator and astropath on the Lion's Mane, I have been practicing controlling this problem. It seems that it will still be discovered..."

"Not only that." Prophet Natas said, "The thread of fate that should have been connected to you was either burned as well, or confused into a mess that is difficult to distinguish between true and false. This should be why my people cannot accurately predict your fate, and can only deduce your possible future through various indirect means."

"...I won't ask about the results of your deduction." Fujimaru Ritsuka said, "I always feel that I would feel better if I didn't know some things."

Prophet Natas did not comment on this and directly changed the subject: "But please forgive me for asking this question. I am really curious: As a favored person who has received many favors from the Lord of Mankind, why can you ignore the facts in front of you and say so confidently that 'the Emperor is not a God'?"

"Perhaps it's because I'm standing close enough to see some details that others can't see." Fujimaru Ritsuka said calmly, "Bowls are very similar to cups. They are both semi-circular containers and can hold water for drinking, but you can't say that a 'bowl' is a 'cup'. The current emperor may be very similar to a god, and even the things he can accomplish are almost the same, but..."

She paused, thought for a moment, and started a new topic:

"In your eyes, my power undoubtedly comes from the Emperor." She confirmed this statement to everyone present, and received unanimous agreement. "In normal times, for the convenience of expression, I would also say this myself. But if you are serious, all the witchcraft I use, tracing back to the end, will it really only stop at the Emperor?"

"-or is it true that the Emperor's abnormally increasing psychic powers over the ten thousand years since he ascended the throne are simply due to the quality of his own soul and the strength of his spirit increasing over time?"

Meow (six o'clock)

These two chapters are setting chapters (.)

I strongly suspect that GW itself doesn't understand the settings of the Warp and the Gods. They also keep changing the relevant content. Sometimes they say the Warp is a reflection of the material universe, sometimes they say it is a high-dimensional world created from outside the universe and try to introduce the multiverse. Sometimes they let Chaos believers brag about the Four Gods creating the world, and sometimes they say that if the Emperor completely ascends to God, he can beat the Four Chaos Gods...

Whatever, I'll just use the moon setting to directly pollute the subspace with memes, and feast on GW's setting! (Peaceful)

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 149 Innocent Monster

"Are you suggesting that the Emperor's glory is being hijacked by something else?"

Perhaps for any loyalist Space Marine, this is an unbearable accusation. Even though the person who said this was a girl who was certified as an "important person" by the head of the think tank of the Ultramarines, the think tank present still couldn't help but question him. Guilliman, who was also in the room, stopped him from expressing his emotions inappropriately, but the Primarch also said: "You should explain this issue in detail."

"First of all, I'm not 'implying' that what I said is true - at least, the Emperor and I both believe it is true." Fujimaru Ritsuka said calmly, "Secondly, the thing that holds him hostage is out there. As long as you live in the Empire, you will be exposed to it to some extent."

The girl gestured to the tattered old book that the Librarian had returned to its box. The faded Gothic letters on the cover looked like jagged fangs.

"The Word of the Emperor." Guilliman took the hint, but his instincts made him look for a corporeal source for the whole thing. "You mean, the Ecclesiarchy? But that doesn't make sense—"

"To be precise, it is faith." Prophet Natas nodded, "That makes sense."

"Explain, what 'makes sense' now?" Even though he hid it well, the Imperial Regent did begin to feel a little irritated when faced with too many vague topics.

"Faith is perhaps the most powerful force in the universe," the Prophet said. "It can even shape a god and is the food of the gods. Not all gods need faith to survive, like the Star Gods and the four overly powerful Chaos Gods, but even those who are powerful enough to sustain themselves will often not refuse this power that can enhance them. For some smaller, lesser gods, faith is important. Without worship, they will collapse into formlessness, turning into a vortex of unconscious emotions. If they become unstable, they will die.

"As for other gods, they were originally mortals with the same flesh and bones as ordinary people, but due to certain circumstances, they became the source of faith for more people. Beliefs gradually emerged from beliefs, and faith was added to them after gathering, relying on them, improving them, and changing them. If the total amount of faith is large enough, this will eventually make a mortal become a god."

Prophet Natas gave a slightly mean smile in the direction of Fujimaru Ritsuka: "The faith gathered by trillions of mortals in the entire empire should be enough, I think."

The girl in the wheelchair ignored the other party's provocation and began to use another more popular explanation: "Remember the greenskins' psychic field? As long as many greenskins think that a car can drive fast, then even if the car itself has difficulty starting, if there are enough greenskins nearby, it can still drive fast. What happened to the Emperor is similar to this."

This obviously shocking analogy made everyone present show a little resistance, but Fujimaru Ritsuka didn't care at all: "To explain it in a more 'logical' way, that is, 'humans also have the potential to become a psychic race.' The existence of psykers and the fact that their number has increased dramatically after the Great Rift has proved this. Although the vast majority of people have basically no psychic talent, as the prophet Natus said, when the number of people who 'believe that the Emperor is a god' expands to the scale of 'all mankind', the will of the Emperor himself is not so important."

Here the prophet Natas interjected: "So your master is also a god."

"I didn't say that. He did become very close to God, but not yet." Fujimaru Ritsuka retorted, "Ascending to God has a special meaning in mysticism. It is not a change that can be caused by a simple quantitative change leading to a qualitative change. It also requires corresponding rituals. Let me explain it more clearly. Don't force me to remind you what the Eldar encountered when that person ascended to God."

Unable to refute, the Natas prophet closed his mouth reluctantly, so Fujimaru Ritsuka was able to continue her speech: "The one currently trapped on the throne, well, leaving aside the Emperor's own mental problems, most of his threads are occupied by difficult-to-handle pain and prayers, and he does not have the spare energy to interfere with reality every moment. And when too many prayers converge on one person, even if they cannot directly create a god, they can more than distort a person's own way of existence. I have seen many such examples.

"After leaving aside those mysterious things, some of the so-called 'Emperor's miracles' may indeed be the result of his own will, but some have nothing to do with his own will. They are just natural phenomena caused by the devout prayers of the locals that created ripples in the warp, triggering a certain 'automatic reply' mechanism of the Emperor. The psychic witchcraft I use in my daily life using the Emperor's psychic power is based on the latter principle. If it weren't for Parmenio's special situation, he would have died before I arrived. I wouldn't even try to contact him, because even I can't be sure which 'him' I'm contacting."

After this, there was a brief silence in the room. Then, Guilliman, who had sorted out everything as best as possible, confirmed again: "You mean that some of the Emperor's thoughts and actions may not be his own, but are influenced by the beliefs pointed at him?"

"That's basically it." Fujimaru Ritsuka confirmed, "I have indeed made some attempts to solve this problem. I can be sure that there are some effects, but it's hard to say what the final result will be."

"What did you do?" Surprisingly, the person who asked this question was not Guilliman, but the Prophet Natus who suddenly became alert.

"Nothing, just saving one or two planets without anyone noticing." Fujimaru Ritsuka obviously didn't want to give a direct answer, "The entire galaxy is a huge mess, and the choices we all face are just picking and choosing between 'bad option A' and 'bad option B'. Since they are all bad options, why bother about how bad it will end up?"

——She was indeed trying to prove human reason, and then extracted the concept of "the collective unconsciousness of mankind's desire to survive" from the Emperor, and made it work as the restraining force Alaya-vijnana. But this is another universe after all, and the rules it runs on are significantly different from the one that Fujimaru Ritsuka was familiar with. Even she herself sometimes couldn't help but question: Will the whole thing really go so smoothly?

Perhaps this will be an act of separation of faith from the Emperor, pulling him back from the brink of godhood. Or perhaps this act will create another nearly godlike Warp being, bringing new troubles to humanity.

But if she did nothing, would she just let the Emperor sit on the Golden Throne and be worn out by countless beliefs, pain, pleas and prayers? Fujimaru Ritsuka asked herself, she couldn't do that. She was very aware of the fact that she was at the gate, and no matter how many times she came, she would choose to take responsibility and try to pull the lever.

At least for now, everything seems to be going well. At this point in time, Fujimaru Ritsuka can still comfort himself in this way.

"... like an egg hitting a rock." Prophet Natas seemed to have understood something from Fujimaru Ritsuka's vague reply, and surprisingly made some suggestive suggestions, "I don't know the specific details, but from the few words you revealed, I can think of some stories circulated among my tribe - the protagonists in these stories usually don't have a good ending."

The latter did not have any negative reaction to this, but just smiled and said: "If I was looking for a 'good ending', then I would not appear in this world."

"Excuse me," the think tank who couldn't stand it anymore interrupted, "In our measurement, generally speaking, 'dying for the empire' is also considered a 'good ending'. No matter what the final destination of the person concerned is within this framework."

"I don't know. I think I'm more likely to die on the way." Fujimaru Ritsuka said lightly, "After all, as a supplementary device used to maintain the survival of the human race, the Emperor estimates that my useful life will be around 20 years."

As Mortarion said before, the Emperor's overly violent psychic energy will indeed wear down its carrier unconsciously. But this does not mean that "Fujimaru Ritsuka can only live for twenty years". The body and soul reinforced by the pseudo-third law are not that fragile - this "service life" actually means:

Twenty years later, is she still really Fujimaru Ritsuka?

Miu (no more)

(He whistles and escapes into the ice cave)

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 150 The Savior's Wheelchair Throne

After that, the conversation quickly ended as the leader lost interest.

After the Regent announced that he had gotten the answers he wanted from this "very beneficial conversation", the Prophet Natus left a few vague riddles that probably meant "you should examine yourself more", and then left tactfully; after Guilliman expressed a little concern for the Primaris surgery that the Librarian was about to undergo, he let him return to the position he was supposed to be at.

Fujimaru Ritsuka also wanted to slip away, but she had just said the words "Then I will also..." when another majestic sentence caught up with her: "Fujimaru Ritsuka, please stay for a moment, I want to talk to you alone."

This wording sounded too much like the prelude of the dean's anger, and the crown master instinctively shuddered. But she changed her mind and realized that she had not caused any trouble recently, so after confirming that everyone except Arjuna had left, she turned around with confidence and took out another apple peach from the fruit plate like a hungry tiger.

Facing Fujimaru Ritsuka, whose face was full of "overtime pay for processing", Guilliman felt sad, angry and amused. He waved his hand casually, indicating that the other party could do whatever he wanted, and then Fujimaru Ritsuka happily handed the fruit to Arjuna. While waiting for the peeling, he dragged a large enough chair from a distance and sat across from the coffee table.

He had seen how powerful Arjuna could be on the battlefield. For Guilliman, the scene of "Arjuna peeling fruit" actually gave him a sense of magical realism of "using a shadow sword as a construction vehicle". But this was not his primary concern at the moment.

"So, what Mortarion said on the battlefield was actually true?" He chose to get straight to the point. "You really are my father—"

"--Stop!" Fujimaru Ritsuka made a cross with both hands in front of his chest to emphasize his tone, "That's not true! I have both parents and they are still alive - probably - and I have no interest in personally joining the Emperor's galactic-level family ethics drama!"

After she said this under pressure, she realized something was wrong: it seemed that ever since she was forced to become Conrad Coates's psychiatrist, or in other words, his resocialization counselor, she had been on the cast list of this family ethics drama.

"What I mean is that I deny that I have any blood relationship with the Emperor or the Primarch." She urgently added to this, and took a piece of cut fruit from Arjuna. "It is easy to see that from various angles, I am just an ordinary human being who has not been transformed in any sense. In fact, my basic conditions are even weaker than the 'ordinary people' born naturally in this era."

"We generally do not call those who can trigger 'miracles' and determine the success or failure of a battle 'ordinary people'." Guilliman was skeptical. "In my opinion, you may have undergone some psychic transformation from the throne that I do not understand, so you have gained extraordinary advantages in channeling the 'Emperor's psychic energy'. The rest is the side effect of this transformation."

"That's not the case. Speaking of 'psychic transformation', I can't say that I haven't experienced it, but it has nothing to do with the Emperor... Let me think about how to explain it." She took two bites of fruit while thinking about the wording, and then continued, "After thinking it over, I still have to start from the beginning: I am actually a person who 'drifted' from another world."

Guilliman raised his brows noticeably: "You'd better tell the truth."

"If the Emperor wanted me to keep it a secret, I would have told you directly that I cannot tell you. Besides, I have reason to suspect that you are using this to question my ability to make up stories." Fujimaru Ritsuka pointed at the Regent of the Empire with the half-eaten piece of fruit in his hand. "If I really want to make up a story, I will of course make up a more reasonable one instead of telling you this fact that sounds completely nonsense - stories need logic, but reality does not."

"Okay, you continue."

Although the Lord of Ultramar said this, there was still a clear expression of distrust on his face. This made Fujimaru Ritsuka eat the fruit produced in Ultramar in revenge, and then continued:

"The cause is long, so I won't go into it here." She took the second peeled apple from Arjuna. "In short, in order to successfully survive this 'drift', I accepted the transformation of the pseudo-third law. This is to prepare me to be able to access the knowledge 'outside the universe' and 'that humans should not understand'.

"A little background knowledge: In my original universe, the 'third magic' refers to the 'materialization of the soul'. It's difficult to explain in detail, so just understand it as 'the magic that makes humans immortal'. If it is a true 'finished product' of the third magic, the body should be able to freely transform into any appearance, shape, or object. At the same time, it will also gain endless magic power because of the perpetual motion of the soul. The price is that it will become free of desires.

"For me, 'becoming desireless' is not an option. I must keep moving forward with a purpose, and of course there are other reasons of cost and preparation... In short, the 'third magic' I accepted can only be regarded as a degraded version. It fixed my mind, body and soul at the moment I accepted the ritual. Even if I don't achieve true 'immortality', my 'time' has been frozen at that moment forever. No matter how many ten or twenty years pass, I will not grow naturally, nor will I die naturally due to problems such as the spontaneous decline of functions - although if I am killed, I will still die."

“…I see. This is consistent with what Mortarion said.” Guilliman decided to believe it and thought, “Is this also why the Emperor’s psychic energy can affect reality through you?”

Fujimaru Ritsuka had an incomprehensible expression, biting a piece of fruit and thinking for two seconds, and then said vaguely: "I remembered, he seemed to have said this. But I must say, although he is psychic He has inexplicably sharp senses, but he also has an uncanny reasoning ability that can "sew two completely unrelated things together and still make a self-explanatory explanation."

"But this is illogical," Guilliman retorted. "I have heard Digris's report, so I know what happened to the 'saint' girl you recruited in Parmenio. In the report of the Librarian, she is a psyker herself, and her power band is very rare and highly compatible with the Emperor himself, so she can 'manifest herself in front of others' through psyker resonance. But you are not even a psyker. If it is not due to some kind of transformation, then why can he use you to exert his power?"

After finishing the fruit in his hand, Fujimaru Ritsuka answered slowly, "I admit that I am a little special in this regard, but this has basically nothing to do with the Emperor. If you want to delve into this issue, my 'specialness' in this regard mainly comes from the causes of 'drifting' that I didn't mention before, plus a little magic trick. Anyone with a little bit of magic talent who has experienced all of the above can probably become a carrier of the Emperor's spiritual energy through 'corresponding' means of magic."

Guilliman became alert. "You mean this isn't an isolated case?"

"It's replicable in theory, but I don't recommend it in practice." Fujimaru Ritsuka shook his head and explained, "The key point of this matter is not the final 'correspondence', but the 'conditions for achieving this 'correspondence'. In magic, this is even an entry-level concept, which means 'if A and B are similar enough in multiple senses, then they can be linked through magical means and A can be regarded as B'.

"After establishing this connection, we can directly communicate and transmit psychic energy remotely. Although the Emperor's psychic energy is very violent, if I am regarded as the 'Emperor' in a sense when using it, then 'the Emperor's psychic energy should certainly not cause harm to the Emperor himself', and I can get a very large damage immunity.

"But the key to establishing this kind of connection is to establish those conditions that are 'sufficiently similar in multiple senses'. Generally speaking, the more conditions that can be met, the more similar the two are, and the more solid the connection is - if you want to achieve a sufficient 'correspondence' with the Emperor, at the very least you must be a 'savior who saved mankind'. I think."

Guilliman didn't say anything. Perhaps he needed some time to digest the information he had just heard. Fujimaru Ritsuka didn't rush him, but just took the third piece of fruit to eat - until she realized that the Imperial Regent was staring at her wheelchair.

She suddenly had a bad feeling and felt the need to make an urgent statement:

"This has nothing to do with it! Don't let your imagination run wild!" She slapped the armrest of the wheelchair in frustration. "This is only temporary! It's not like I can't stand up! You can't make strange associations just because the Emperor sits on the Golden Throne and I sit in a wheelchair! This kind of mere resemblance will have no effect on magic at all!"

Guilliman looked away, somewhat guiltily.

Meow (six o'clock)

(End of this chapter)