"Lord Pluto, long time no see."
Hades blinked and stared at the sage in front of him in deep thought.
He remembered... Jin didn't look like this
Hades had just had fun at the Technical Sergeant Base, enjoying the attention of the crowd and the arrival of the big boss. Before he had enough, Malcador took Hades to the Lava City without stopping.
In a corner of the huge city, without waiting for Hades to react, Malcador went into a huge building, and when he came out the next moment, the old man motioned Hades to go in.
Hades entered the building suspiciously—
At this moment, in front of Hades, a giant beast of iron and steel was standing respectfully. Compared to his original thin and flexible figure, the current King was even bigger than the transformed Hades.
Layers of scarlet silk were dotted with star-like black particles, golden threads woven into hymns that sang the praises of the gods' mercy, and candlelight and wax were quietly burning above the towering steel structures.
And in the dark space, Hades caught a glimpse of Charon and Hefa.
Hades blinked again, perhaps his silence was too deafening, Jin's electronic screen stretched down, revealing an emoticon smiley face that Hades was familiar with.
":) Lord Pluto?"
Hades swallowed his saliva. Even if the great sage Kirkland came today, he would have to kowtow to Jin.
"Jin... who are you now?"
A laughing emoji appeared on the screen.
"Thanks to Master Malcador's support, I have found my own place among the many Martian sects so that I can better serve the Empire and Om Messiah."
Jin bowed deeply, like a great beast lowering his head before Hades.
"For Pluto—"
"stop!!!"
Hades was getting goosebumps as he thought of bad things, especially when he recalled Malcador's previous words...
"First of all, I'm not a god. Secondly, Jin, I remember you're not that kind of person? Are you learning this from Kirkland?!"
Jin looked at Hades and was quiet for a moment.
Then, he stretched the screen almost to Hades' ear, and a tiny electric current sound rang in Hades' ear.
"Lord Hades, I believe you are not a god."
Hades' left eyelid twitched. This was even weirder than Kirkland telling him he was a god in front of him.
"I have been following you since you first arrived on Mars. Before that, you were more like a human being than anyone else I have ever met. Sorry, this sentence may be ambiguous. I just want to say that you are a human being. If you ask me to define what a human being is like, I will faithfully use the records of your behavior in the database as the definition."
As King's screen got closer, Hades could see a stick figure drawing of a puppy chasing its tail on the side of King's screen.
"but,"
The symbols on the screen were jumping, and the smiley symbol looked more and more weird and creepy.
"Lord Pluto, Lord Hades, this era and this race need a place to place their faith and a place to place their emotions - and only a perfect person can take on this mission."
Jin's whispers echoed in Hades' ears like the devil's persuasion.
The language lingered on Hades' tongue, and he began to think about it. If Malcador knew about the followers of Hades, it meant that the Empire and the Emperor knew about it.
And Malcador also helped Jin gain a foothold on Mars...
… No way
Hades belatedly realized that... he himself seemed to be covered with a yellow robe and roasted on the fire.
Could he, could he refuse
Hades was sweating profusely inwardly. As a serious old Earthling, although he knew that Warhammer was different from the original world and that the concepts of the subspace and gods did exist, he could accept this point -
But that doesn't mean he can accept a bunch of people going crazy at him. Take the current Martian religion for example. The sages who believe in it will really make robot servants specifically for prayer. When he thinks of those robot servants with empty eyes mumbling his name Hades...
Or look at the case in the original book, where the emperor became the God Queen... Those ignorant and blind believers who seek inner peace through asceticism...
Perhaps the examples Hades gave were too extreme, but when religion is combined with Warhammer, the probability of extremes is obviously greater.
What's more, Hades himself doesn't want to debut as a god (?) and lose his privacy. People will also make up all kinds of weird rumors about him and throw everything at him.
Hades's brain was working frantically. It was obvious that the Empire didn't care about his likes and dislikes. As long as it was in the interests of the Empire, it would be fine...
Hades swallowed.
"Jin, if it's just what you just said, that humans need a place to believe... then maybe there is someone who is far more perfect than me, and he has already started to do so."
Jin held the "Sacred Words" in front of Hades, and Hades could clearly see Lorga's signature on it.
"Lord Pluto, it is not enough to have only the Divine Emperor. Your gifts to humans are not the same."
Wait…?! The Divine Emperor? !!!
Hades collapsed. Is he really in 30k now? Instead of the leading version of 40k? Or is this actually some kind of pilot area, a test server, right
If Hades hadn't seen Charon and Blackfa here, he would really suspect that Jin had joined the Word Bearers.
What about the Perfect City? The Emperor is going to admit that he is a god
After a long time, Hades shuddered and thought, could it be that the Emperor is the final boss? !
He doesn't want to see this kind of pseudo-meridian!!!
Even though Hades was complaining in his heart about how the script was completely different from what he had received, on the surface he still maintained a tense attitude.
"Jin, you just said... the Divine Emperor?"
Jin stretched out the huge screen again, and he bowed deeply to Hades again.
"Although I have never met that great man, I think he must be a human being who is helpless but carries a lot of responsibility."
"…Yes, the God-Emperor is human, and Om-Messiah is human—whichever it is."
Jin said calmly.
Hades stared at Jin, and he whispered something...
"Then why ..."
But this sentence soon faded away until it disappeared.
Yes, why
Hades certainly knew why. Humans believed in gods to gain certain bonuses and also to prevent those ownerless thoughts and emotions from falling into the hands of evil gods.
But isn't the 30k Emperor Points National Focus [Imperial Truth]? By making humans believe in scientific truth, the effect of saving the warp is achieved.
When did the Emperor change his mind? Why did he change his mind? And what role did Hades himself play in all this
Hades' head was buzzing. He had never brainstormed like this before when he was persuading Mortarion. Countless possibilities filled his mind.
Hades looked at Jin hesitantly. Never mind. He had never seen the Emperor, so he probably didn't know why... And Malcador... that guy could only tell riddles.
Realizing that Hades had been silent for too long, Jin spoke again, still with a standard smile.
"Lord Pluto, perhaps you don't need to worry too much. In my opinion, this is just a name, and there are some ripples in the warp space."
… Jin's words alerted Hades again. If he really founded a religion, wouldn't Hades's Black Domain expand with the influx of faith? Now it can still be barely suppressed by the Emperor's psychic power - what about the future
You won't just throw Hades into an uninhabited galaxy, right
Seeing that Hades was becoming visibly depressed, Jin realized that his consolation seemed to have backfired, but it didn't matter. Malcador just asked him to be mentally prepared for Hades and tell him what might happen next.
As for the rest, Malcador said that Hades would have to figure it out on his own.
Jin obviously did a good job on this task. Although it made him feel guilty, after realizing that it was also good for Hades, Jin chose to block these signals of guilt.
Jin regained his calm expression, and he felt the candles on his body burning quietly.
It can be said that without Hades, there would be no Jin-306 today. Jin went from being an abandoned child on Mars to a position higher than that of the Great Sage of Kirkland...
Even Hades did not mock him like others. He possessed unimaginable kindness and the virtue of helping others in his spare time.
And most of the people Jin met... had the habit of kicking someone when they were down.
Jin doesn't believe in God, he believes in people, in the human Hades.
While Kirkland was praising Hades, King was praising the human Hades.
For such a perfect person, it is reasonable to establish a religion for him.
Jin felt the symbols dancing on the screen, and they once again formed a friendly and kind expression.
"Lord Pluto, things have come to this point and it is difficult to change them. Perhaps you should take a look at the new equipment I have prepared for you and prepare for what you will face next."
"To act solely as a Death Guard commander - sorry, no offense to the Death Guard, but that is clearly not worthy of the crown you are about to wear."
Yay!
None, 4.8k.
(End of this chapter)