"If you follow me, I will lead you to the truth—no gods, no need for faith."
"In this revolution, humanity has nothing to lose but its chains, and we have a whole world to gain!"
… …
"Should we continue deeper into the Low Desert?"
Erebus asked.
Logar: "No, we turn back. Aimlessly searching for The Rejected is too inefficient, even the tribes of The Rejected don't know each other's locations. We need to raise a flag and let them join us voluntarily!"
Erebus asked, "What kind of flag?"
He had a hunch, but no concrete ideas.
"Resistance against the Covenant."
Erebus warned him, "You should know that most of the population in this world are followers of the Covenant. Vahadish alone has millions!"
"Vahadish doesn't just have millions of believers, but also three million slaves."
Logar said, "The Covenant occupies the most fertile lands in this world, yet greedily hoards all resources. As long as we overthrow the Covenant's rule and distribute land to the slaves and The Rejected, they will join us."
History has proven more than once that giving land to the poor truly wins their support.
Napoleon gave land to the poor, which is why French peasants were willing to fight with him; this was his capital to sweep across Europe.
During the American Civil War, the Northern states gave land to farmers, and all the small farmers who received land firmly supported the North because they would not give up the land they had gained.
They were willing to shed blood and sweat for these lands, fearless of death; this was more effective than any faith.
Erebus: "But we only have over a thousand people, and only a hundred warriors. We can't even take a single town."
"With me and Worp here, we will quickly take the towns."
"Is there a part for me too?"
Worp was surprised.
"Why not?"
Logar looked at Worp, his violet eyes filled with anticipation.
Worp: "It's not that it's not possible, it's just that Koz didn't ask for my help when he liberated Nostramo."
"Because he didn't need you, but I need you."
Although Worp suspected Logar was badmouthing Koz, he still nodded: "Alright, just say the word when you need my help."
Worp didn't help Koz because he didn't want to deprive a Primarch of the credit and glory of liberating a world.
Otherwise, what if Koz blamed him later for stealing his glory?
There are precedents for this. Mortarion, what are you looking at? I'm talking about you!
Koz also lived up to expectations, climbing to the top little by little and controlling the entire hive city without Worp's help.
But Logar had already said so much, and Worp couldn't bring himself to refuse him.
Logar himself didn't care, so why should Worp be coy?
Erebus was very uncomfortable. He asked, "What about faith? How do you plan to destroy their faith?"
"Replacing faith with faith is the simplest, but humanity must break free from the poison of faith. We must burn all religious texts to ashes; all faiths should be purified in fire. If they refuse to abandon their faith, then let them burn to ashes with it!"
… …
Atlantis, a mining city 140 kilometers away from the Covenant's capital, Vahadish.
Its main work was excavating underground granite and transporting it by truck to the coastal Covenant cities.
A circle of towering watchtowers stood on the dark red walls, casting jagged shadows on the barren sandy ground.
When Logar's massive landship led the convoy slowly approached, the watchtower guards immediately sounded the alarm, and the array of bronze mirrors on the tower's top reflected dazzling warning lights.
Erebus: "They don't seem to welcome us."
Worp rubbed his bald head hard, "We're invading them, did you expect them to give us a warm welcome?"
Erebus lowered his head, secretly pleased.
Logar glanced at Erebus, not exposing his little thoughts, and said indifferently, "They are here."
Dozens of armored vehicles streamed out of the checkpoint. These precious war machines emitted the unique roar of steam engines, and their efficient power systems allowed them to speed across the sand sea like centipedes.
The armored convoy carved dozens of winding tracks on the desert, and the stirred dust formed a continuous yellow curtain behind them. On the fine steel forged mesh shell, spear-shaped turrets gleamed with a cold metallic luster, and the black flags draped over them were etched with the emblem of the Covenant's Burning Book.
It was by relying on these iron behemoths passed down from ancient times that the Covenant was able to maintain its transcendent rule on Colchis.
They cooperated tacitly with hooting whistles and flag signals, encircling the giant landship in a fan shape.
The crowd began to panic. Although the landship could contend with these iron behemoths, the land skiffs and solar-powered vehicles driven by the faithful were fragile before these armored vehicles; one shot from an armored vehicle could blow them to pieces!
People cowered on the deck, cautiously observing the Covenant's armored formation through the gaps in the railings.
"I want them."
Logar suddenly spoke, his voice carrying the joy of a child discovering a new toy, "Can they be preserved intact?"
Worp: "That's like asking me to pull out someone's internal organs without damaging their skin."
Logar tilted his head slightly, a hint of confused innocence flashing in his violet eyes.
"Can't you?"
"I can try,"
Worp couldn't stand his gaze; besides the eye color, an adult Logar looked exactly like Nios. "But you have to tell me first, why do you need these armored vehicles?"
Logar's slender fingertips gently rested on his chin, "We cannot rule the world by personal force alone; we also need followers to perfect our system of governance. But we cannot let them fight the Covenant with their flesh and blood; we must arm them."
Logar asked, "Is this reason acceptable?"
Worp nodded: "I will block the incoming artillery fire for you, but how to capture them intact is for you to consider."
The Covenant's armored Crawler raised a long green negotiation flag. Logar turned to Worp and asked, "Do we need to respond to them?"
Worp: "You decide for yourself, don't ask me. I cannot rule in your place; this is something you must learn."
Logar tilted his head, "No matter what decision I make, will you support me?"
"It depends on the situation; it depends on whether your decision aligns with my interests."
Logar's lips curved slightly upward, and his violet eyes shimmered with a starlike brilliance.
"My interests and yours are always aligned."
His smile was like a starnight flower blooming in the desert, pure and bright, carrying a sincerity beyond his age and the innocence unique to a child.
Worp looked away; he couldn't bear to see this. Oh, Primarch, stop it, I'm really scared!
Logar: "Erebus, respond to them, stop the landship."
"Boom!"
The landship emitted the unique roar of a steam engine, leaving deep tracks in the sand, slowly stopping. A green pennant was raised on its mast, signaling a response to the Covenant.
The Covenant's Crawlers surrounded the landship, and they disembarked a squad of warriors in front of the landship.
The Covenant warriors stood on the scorching dunes, their bronze armor plates gleaming with a dull metallic luster under the late afternoon sun of Colchis. Their plain grey robes hung from the armor's seams, swaying slightly in the dry hot wind, like withered grass in the desert.
The Covenant's female commander stood at the forefront, her golden and ruby-inlaid exoskeleton armor reflecting dazzling light under the scorching sun of Colchis.
She held a scimitar engraved with ancient runes, and an ancient pistol hanging at her waist glowed with a faint blue energy.
"I am Armorer Deacon Esperia, commander of the Third Holy Tower. Halt your advance! You are forbidden to enter Atlantis, otherwise, I will guarantee your heresy!"
The helmet's loudspeaker amplified the Covenant commander's voice, ensuring that everyone in the caravan could hear her authoritative tone, which further intensified the people's panic.
A dark figure leaped from the deck like a night owl, bending its knees to land on the sand, kicking up a circle of fine dust.
The Covenant warriors instantly tensed, dozens of guns and spears aimed simultaneously at the uninvited guest.
"I am Logar."
Logar stepped forward slowly. He said softly, "I have come to negotiate with you."
Esperia's gaze, through the golden faceplate, met Logar's divine purple eyes, and her body couldn't help but tremble slightly.
"You… Your Excellency, what do you want?"
Her voice came through the loudspeaker, but it had lost its previous authority, trembling.
"Truth, and liberation."
Logar said.
Worp had told him stories about his brother Koz, though it was always Logar who asked for them.
His brother's hands were stained with blood; at least hundreds of thousands had been personally killed by him, and all of this was for the sake of reshaping order.
Logar could understand the environment his brother was in; in such a city of sin, slaughter was necessary.
But Logar didn't like his brother's method of rule; it was too barbaric.
Logar didn't reject war and bloodshed. Even if he were in Koz's place, he would have no choice but slaughter; sinners don't understand other languages.
However, Logar believed communication was more effective than war; this was something he had learned from Worp's teachings.
Just like him and Worp, they treated each other sincerely, and there would never be any estrangement between them.
"What truth?"
Esperia asked.
"The Gods weave lies with faith; They promise eternity, yet impose chains; They proclaim salvation, yet bring suffering."
"And I will grant you liberation!"
Chapter 61 Emperor: No one understands me better than Logar!
Logar's voice echoed in the desert, and his violet eyes burned with fervent determination.
"Heretic!"
In response, the Covenant warriors angrily aimed their guns at Logar.
"Bang!"
"No!"
The female commander's voice was drowned out by the loud gunshot. She could only watch helplessly as the bullet tore through the dry air, speeding towards Logar's brow.
Logar stood silently in place, his violet eyes as calm as the desert's starry sky, because he trusted Worp to protect him.
"Buzz!"
Just an instant before the bullet was about to hit, it suddenly froze less than an inch from his face, as if trapped in invisible amber.
Faint blue ripples appeared in the air, like a lake surface stirred by a gentle breeze. The metal bullet head floated in the psychic field, vibrating slightly with an almost imperceptible amplitude, emitting a faint hum.
Logar slowly raised his slender finger, gently probing into the faint blue ripples as if touching water, and pinched the bullet with his fingertip, his movement as delicate as plucking a petal covered in morning dew.
"You shot me because of the Gods' lies."
Logar's voice was very soft. The sand wind swept the loose strands of hair from his forehead, revealing his divine violet eyes. "But I don't blame you. The Gods have deceived this world for too long, clouding your perception. I am here to guide you back from your misguided path."
If one only looked at the surface, Colchis was actually more normal than most Imperial worlds, including Holy Terra.
Because Colchis not only had no traces of Chaos corruption, no Mutants, but not even Psykers!
The Covenant's rule over Colchis also relied on the technological superiority of ancient ancestors, rather than using psychic powers to deceive the world.
This was intentionally done by the Four Gods, because They needed to make the Primarch and the Emperor believe that Colchis was very normal.
Deceiving a Primarch was simple, but deceiving the Emperor was difficult, so Colchis had to be truly normal.
Colchis was a lie meticulously woven by the Gods. The existence of the Four Prophets was like a veil, perfectly isolating mortals from the true nature of Chaos.
Believers devoutly worshipped the powerful beings in the starry sky, but they could never touch the twisted truth behind the veil.
Only Psykers were uncontrollable; they might inadvertently hear whispers from the Warp, and then unconsciously perform bloody sacrifices, perhaps offering livestock for a rain shower, or slitting a child's throat to cure a disease.
The Four Gods would, of course, not destroy their own wall, but the Warp is not only home to the Four Gods. What if some short-sighted fellow inadvertently ruined the Four Gods' plan?
Every successful sacrifice would carve a crack in the veil, revealing the hideous fangs beneath, allowing the corruption of Chaos to seep in like venom.