Hades smiled politely, although his smile concealed more helplessness.
He originally thought that the Emperor... at least... would keep a certain distance from him, or a sense of mystery.
Just like the letter from the past.
In Hades's expectations, the Emperor would be more like a monarch than... ahem.
Based on the Emperor's series of smooth social moves just now, Hades suddenly had a bad guess in his mind.
The Emperor, Neos, seemed to genuinely wish to just have a chat with Hades—on a nearly equal footing (Hades couldn't quite say it was a complete equal).
From the way he repeatedly corrected Hades's way of addressing him to his initiative in asking for honesty, the Emperor seemed to be genuinely trying to communicate with Hades.
Hades blinked heavily. Before this, he mainly respected and admired the Lord of Mankind - not like the Primarch.
But now…
Hades took a deep breath and spoke.
"Nyos... I gave you my loyalty and honesty, so... I want to ask, why me? Why do you trust me?"
The Emperor smiled, as if Hades had finally asked the question.
"Then why do you trust me?"
Hades swallowed his saliva and decided to test it out.
"We just agreed to be honest, Neos. Due to my cultural background, I cannot understand rhetorical questions, metaphors, similes, parallelism, allusions, and other languages that require a high level of comprehension."
The Emperor's smile deepened.
"I admire your sense of humor."
Hades nodded.
"Thank you for your appreciation, but I think it's unnecessary to change the subject."
The Emperor's smile froze for a moment. He paused, as if he was not used to this, but he still spoke.
"I chose you because I know you will only choose humans, just as you know that I will only choose humans."
"We cannot accept or tolerate anything other than humanity and the Empire."
Although Hades was sad about entering Warhammer, it was indeed the truth, and Hades could only affirm the Emperor with silence.
The Emperor continued, thinking about how to use no metaphors, which was perhaps a trivial challenge, which meant more words, more explanations.
"You were not in my original master plan, but your growth and ability have proven yourself, so I chose to change my plan."
Hades stared at the Emperor and said softly,
"What was your original master plan?"
"Webway, Imperial Truth."
The Emperor said calmly, his expression becoming serious again.
"And now?"
"The Webway, the state religion."
Even though he had prepared himself mentally with Malcador, Hades still felt a chill on his back when this middle-aged man, the Emperor, personally mentioned the state religion in front of Hades.
Hades spoke slowly, choosing his words.
"So... this time when you go to the Perfect City, you hope to... establish a state religion?"
"Yes and no."
The Emperor spoke naturally.
"State religion has been one of our many backup plans, but for various reasons, we have put it on hold."
"And you enabled it again, because of me? Why?"
The Emperor paused for a moment, stood up from the end of the conference table, walked to the opposite side of Hades, and then sat down again.
He stared at Hades, his arms folded, his olive wreath gleaming in his black hair.
"I envy you, outsider. The laws of physics are the fundamental laws of the world you live in."
"But here, on my homeworld, the Warp and the physical universe mingle together to give birth to life."
"The Imperial Truth confuses you because it's very similar to your old habits, isn't it?"
Hades coughed. He had been modified so that he could not cough. The Emperor was not sure whether it was because he had hit the nail on the head on Hades' psychology or because he had just violated the rules by using a rhetorical question.
But according to his usual speaking habits, he should continue speaking instead of pausing.
"The Great Crusade is accompanied by a heavy and vast negative emotion that continues to tear at the veil and catalyze the erosion of the warp into the physical world."
"The promotion of the Imperial Truth has slowed down this process, gaining the few remaining grains of sand in the hourglass for the expedition."
"Do you understand, Hades?"
Hades did not cough this time, so the emperor attributed Hades' cough to the first guess, and at the same time classified Hades as a person who was not rigorous.
"I understand,"
Hades' voice was a little low.
"As long as the Great Crusade gathers enough resources and builds a webway, humans will have a place to temporarily avoid the erosion of the warp."
"But if my memory is true, you have failed on the path of Imperial Truth and the Webway, Neos."
"You only remember one ending? I thought you knew enough routes that they were all real."
"Even if it was the path of failure that you believed in, I once held the blade of victory."
Hades blinked. He was indeed thinking, but thinking about the old path seemed rather boring now, because they all knew that the Empire had found a new and completely different path.
"Neos, since you knew the original plan could also succeed, why did you change it?"
The Emperor stared into Hades' dark pupils with golden flames burning in his black eyes.
“This path has a higher success rate.”
The Emperor said,
"That's all, Hades."
Hades understood why Malcador and others were willing to follow the Emperor. When it came to the subject of the Imperium and Humanity, the Emperor had an amazing, dazzling confidence - he really sounded confident of success.
If coupled with that gleaming psychic halo... Hades couldn't imagine if there was a human being in this world who could refuse the Emperor.
But the good news is that Hades is immune to the Emperor's psychic aura... At the same time, he felt that these words sounded like the pie in the sky that his bankrupt boss had painted for him before running away.
Now Hades has updated the Emperor's image into a boss who crowds the subway.
Hades thought about it and realized that if he continued like this, he would have to listen to a speech, which he was very familiar with, and it was the kind that was full of big promises, so he decisively changed his way of asking questions and started asking about the details.
"I seem to understand, Neos, but I still want to know why your master plan chose to burn the Perfect City and not talk to your offspring Lorgar?"
Hades was very happy to see that the pyramid-like passion of the emperor faded away. He refused to make empty promises and started with you.
"The Word Bearers..."
The emperor paused.
“They gain power through their ideas and beliefs, but their beliefs also bite them back.”
Hades pondered, and he knew what the Emperor was referring to.
"Their faith has twisted you, Neos? They think you are solemn and ruthless, so you really start to become indifferent? Faith gives you strength, but at the same time makes you no longer yourself?"
The emperor nodded calmly.
"Not only that,"
He said,
"The beliefs of the many mortals under the Word Bearers' command also distorted Lorgar and the Word Bearers. They began to forget the original mission of the Legion and became obsessed with their own religious world."
"As a concrete representation of faith, the Perfect City needs to be burned down, otherwise the Word Bearers, who have been distorted by their faith, will eventually be removed from the list."
Hades blinked and said in a low voice, uncertainly,
"Why not just eliminate the Word Bearers?"
On the emotional side, if Hades were the decision maker, he would firmly believe that all rebel factions should be shot before the great rebellion, or at the very least, the size of the legion should be reduced.
...although this will most likely lead to a change of leadership in the rebel faction.
The Emperor was silent, but he finally broke his silence.
"I created Number 17. He was originally the Primarch who was most obedient to me. He was the candidate prepared for the State Religion. In that hypothesis that no longer exists, I believe he has the ability to change himself. He will be reborn from the ashes and lay the foundation for the establishment of the State Religion in the future."
"I know that every Primarch has the potential to fall into the abyss. I can see the turbulence of the future, but I never thought that they would choose my most docile offspring as the first. From a strategic perspective, the Word Bearers and Lorgar were not the best choices for the Four Gods at the time. I thought they would choose..."
The Emperor's voice lowered.
"Now it seems that this is nothing more than a naked mockery."
The Emperor said lightly. Even without the psychic perspective, he could feel that Hades was in deep thought, so he remained silent until Hades' somewhat relaxed voice sounded. But Hades' words were more like an attempt to ease the atmosphere, rather than him finally finishing his thoughts.
"I didn't expect you to have so many feelings for the Primarch?"
The Emperor looked at Hades calmly. He obviously disagreed with what Hades said.
"I created the Primarchs, firstly to ensure the smooth progress of the Great Crusade, and secondly, I allowed them to call me father."
"Number Seventeen, Lorgar, the Word Bearers, as long as they have not fallen into the abyss, then I am happy to use them, even if they need to be warned."
Hades pondered, if we follow the Emperor's logic... the current route is the Webway and the state religion, which means -
"The Perfect City won't burn down, Neos?"
"No,"
The Emperor shook his head.
"They still need to be corrected. If Seventeen still can't see clearly, then I will send the First Legion. Ryan will perform his duties faithfully."
"I will show you the Empire's current plans, Hades, and you won't have too many questions."
"first step,"
The Emperor averted his gaze, he lowered his eyes, staring at his reflection on the desk, his black hair hanging down, he saw the reflection of an ordinary middle-aged man.
"I will tell Number 17 from the ashes of the perfect city that I am God."
Hades gasped.
MD, the conversation with the Emperor involves the core plot. We have been talking for a long time and still haven't finished it. Why the hell are you talking so much
No more today
(End of this chapter)