Warhammer 40k: Shattered Steel Soul

After Perturabo left Lokos, Morse finally decided how to complete the left hand of his statue, the one missing the relic's mark.

He used a zigzag solid wall to form a notched circle similar to a theatre, with gears, hammers and mountains carved in the middle. This was undoubtedly inspired by Perturabo.

As for the face, he just wants to carve a mask and put it on in the future, even if he has completed this work.

In this way, he would later give it to Perturabo as a gift, so as not to annoy him further with the statue that took up too much space in the room. He could also tell the child inscrutably that the mask symbolized the change in his image due to observation. It changes depending on the person, so you can treat it like anyone.

During this period, he met with Andos and Callifon respectively. During the meeting, while chatting and greetings, he silently searched the souls of the two people with the attitude that politeness is social morality and morality is clay in the hand. situation.

Their minds were as clean as ever, so much so that Morse had to wonder if he himself was being overly paranoid.

The next moment this thought occurred, Morse denied his hesitation.

He was not an ignorant person who had not seen all kinds of evil behind the curtain. After witnessing the fire-stealing madman entering the highest sky and returning home with a full load, he knew very well that he could not make a big mistake due to a moment of negligence.

Human civil war is the most ridiculous manifestation of human beings choosing their own evolutionary path. Even so, it is still an internal matter for the development of human civilization.

However, if it involves malicious manipulation of external creatures or even the will, Morse does not think it would be wise to stay out of it at that time.

"Did we do anything wrong?" Andos sat down at the other end of his desk uneasily, watching Morse flip through the paper documents of the entire naming ceremony process.

On the left hand side of the man in black is the documentary summary and graphic description of the royal naming ceremony in the past years in the Lokos collection album. The entire pile of documents several inches high has been memorized in his mind for the process of this ceremony. Detailed comparison.

"In the past, the priestesses of the religious cult presided over the naming ceremony?" Morse asked.

"Yes, Mr. Morse. But Lokos's relationship with the cult fell to a freezing point a few years ago. They even threatened us with the selection of the ceremony master. Califon proposed to directly use the local people of our country. The Ceremony takes the place of the Priestess... everyone agreed," Andos replied respectfully.

"The right choice, no one cares who is hosting the ceremony, as long as they are elegant enough."

Morse turned over a page of information, and the thin paper made a clear rustling sound. He accurately found the corresponding description from the pile of ancient parchment next to him.

"In the past, this kind of ceremony was held in the inner hall of the palace. Why should it be open to more people and held in the public theater this time?"

"This is what Perturabo requested..."

"Okay, next question." Morse said without much expression, "Is there any reference to the old model of the Golden Mask of the Honorable Officer?"

"The information is all at your fingertips...Except for a few documents that are poorly preserved and difficult to read due to moisture or insect bites, we have brought all the relevant information."

"No one recorded what the mask looks like?"

"The cult believes that the golden mask of the priestess is equivalent to the face of the goddess Hephoni, so it cannot be desecrated or recorded. Andos sighed.

"The drawings of this batch of masks... were made according to the golden masks I had in mind during my brother's naming ceremony. I also considered the opinions of many courtiers and chamberlains who had gone through the naming ceremony. They should not be too different from before. What a difference."

Morse raised his eyes and scanned his expression, "The expression and details of the mask have not changed?"

Andos thought carefully about it, which helped the gentle prince regain a little confidence.

"No," he said firmly, "I try my best."

After saying that, his momentum became weaker again, he folded his two large hands together, and asked doubtfully: "May I know...what went wrong with the ceremony we arranged?"

"I'm looking for a problem." Morse turned the document to the next page. "I also hope that any problems this time have nothing to do with you. Of course, it is best that there is no problem at all."

As all the members of the Lokos royal family, including Harkon, have emphasized, they treat the naming of Perturabo with an extremely solemn attitude, without a trace of neglect. The record of this ceremony is also the most detailed one in history.

From the overall scene layout, catering, band, sound effects, admission, etc., to the names of all personnel in each position, as well as the corresponding relationship between personnel and venue effects, all are recorded one by one, forming several thick volumes of paper. book.

As for the six female officiants who presided over the ceremony, they wrote down all the records from their ages, life stories, family relationships, and interpersonal interactions, without omitting anything. They even included information about how Perturabo has grown from scratch in recent years, starting from a port in the industrial chain. There are morphological photos taken by an artificial camera.

Yes, Perturabo invented the camera again, and emphasized to Morse more than once that his camera had better image reproduction capabilities and was far more efficient in shooting than Morse's daguerreotype.

Morse declined a request to return the original photo of him to the owner of the image rights.

He checked the information of the six female ritual officers one by one, but still found no problem, and the entire ritual process, such as bleeding, worshiping gods, etc., was also very different from the process in previous years.

There is a difference. In the past, the priestess used a knife to draw blood from the palm of the person being named. This time, she offered a silver blade and asked Perturabo to do it himself. It is not difficult to guess that this is also Perturabo's own request.

"Then let's move on to the penultimate question, Prince Andos. Why are there six ceremonial officers in this ceremony?" Morse leaned back and pulled up the back of the new adjustable rattan chair a little.

"The number of people in the previous ceremony seemed to be changing according to the rules of the cult... My father had seven priests, my brother had five, and so did I. After discussion, we decided to take the middle number according to the suggestion."

Morse closed the book and tapped his fingertips on the surface of the book cover with the royal emblem printed on it, making the emblem seem to flow out from his fingertips covered with black cloth.

"Then I guess our last two questions are merging into one." Morse found that he was not good at concealing the coldness of his words that he had cultivated for a long time.

"After you and before Kaliphon, there was a strange naming ceremony recorded."

"Similarly, the record of the entire ceremony is without any errors or ambiguities, and the identities of the invited guests are reasonable, except for one point that makes people suspicious."

He read a kind of tangled escape from Andos's eyes looking down.

"Who is the one being named?" Morse asked, "Who is the person named Cruz? His naming ceremony was so sparse and pathetic that the guests were only Damex, Harkon, Andos, the chief priest of the branch of the cult, and the young Kaliphon?"

"Interestingly, the number of priestesses assigned to him by the cult was also six."

Andos's face wrinkled with pain and guilt. The prince grabbed the robe on his knees and took a deep breath of air to ease his almost speechless hesitation: "Cruz is the younger brother of Harkon and me, the third elder brother of Kaliphon, the son whose father was expelled, and the shame we cannot speak directly."

He turned his face to the side, letting the shadow of light cover his pain: "He is a lunatic."

"He is deep in this palace. I occasionally go to see him and tell him about some things outside..."

"Who proposed the suggestion of six female ceremonial officers?"

"It was him." After speaking out the secret of the royal family, Andos's mentality was no longer tense.

The prince revealed his melancholy: "He said that maybe everyone would remember that he still exists. I think... six people won't make a difference."

After saying that, he hesitated again: "Really? Did we do something wrong?"

Morse smiled and patted Andos's shoulder with ease.

"It doesn't matter. If any number can bring about a decadent laugh like the first cry, then some guys will be too busy and work all year round."

He then stopped smiling. "I need to see Cruz."