Early the next morning, countless Bottom Nest residents formed a long, seemingly endless human tide, crowding the narrow roads.
Genestealer guards lurked within the crowd, secretly observing anyone attempting to leave the line.
The bishop stood at the very front of the procession, overlooking everyone from a high tower-cart.
"Pious people, once you reach the First District, you will receive true baptism."
"There, you will shed the impure parts of yourselves and gain new life."
"You will integrate with us, no longer hungry, no longer afraid, no longer in pain!"
"Pray devoutly to the Four-Armed Emperor!"
The pronouncements, mixed with Seducer's Whisper, resonated, stirring the emotions of this mighty procession.
Even those who had joined merely for food couldn't help but feel some faith awakened within them.
Looking at the boiling, noisy crowd, a strange thought popped into Alexander's mind: What a group of plump biomass.
He calmed himself and began to ponder the current anomalies with the genestealer.
Why were they expanding so eagerly?
Why did the patriarch personally inject the corrupted genes?
Why were all of them to be corrupted in the First District?
Eager expansion was understandable, but the patriarch personally corrupting and all of them being corrupted in the First District was highly suspicious.
This clearly carried great risks; Mont and he had already infiltrated, and they even planned to assassinate the patriarch through Mont.
What kind of matter required that cautious Hellworm to take such a risk?
Did it absolutely require the patriarch's personal involvement?
This couldn't help but raise doubts in Alexander's mind.
"What did you do when you went to see my brother last night?" Mont asked, subtly moving closer to Alexander.
Joan, who was next to Alexander, subtly flinched, creating a little distance between herself and Mont.
"I brought your whole family with me," Alexander said sincerely, looking at Mont.
Mont's expression stiffened slightly.
"If you don't want to say, just say so. Why resort to insults?" Mont complained.
He figured Alexander didn't want to talk, so he didn't press further.
"Once we reach the First District, I'll try to mix in with the first few batches to receive baptism."
"You two try to stay a bit further back… put this by your ear."
With that, Mont opened his hands, revealing three tiny, millet-sized bugs.
These bugs wriggled their bodies, vibrating their small, thin wings, emitting an imperceptible hum.
"Put them by your ear. These bugs can synchronize vibrations, allowing us to communicate even at a distance."
Alexander nodded slightly and picked one up.
He also kept a trick up his sleeve, scraping off a bit of Body Clay from his fingertip and sticking the bug firmly behind his ear.
He wanted to prevent this thing from crawling into his brain or anything similar.
Joan hesitated for a moment, then reached out her small hand and picked up another small bug…
Then she grabbed it and crushed it instantly.
Mont's cheek twitched.
He noticed Joan's disgusted look and, not wanting to make a fool of himself, obediently distanced himself from the two, blending into the front of the line.
"You, you," Alexander chuckled helplessly, rubbing Joan's small head.
"Is this bug dangerous?" he asked.
Joan raised her hazy eyes, glanced at the bug, then shook her head.
"No problem now, but hard to say later," Joan whispered.
Alexander patted her head and took out the worm jelly he had bought yesterday from his four-dimensional pocket, breaking off a piece for Joan.
The walk from here to the First District was not short, so he had prepared food in advance.
Joan ate the worm jelly in small bites, her mind seemingly pondering something.
A moment later, Joan suddenly tugged on Alexander's clothes and whispered:
"Is your hometown east of the Terra Imperial Palace?"
Joan spoke in english, a language only she and Alexander understood in this vast sea of people.
She spoke it a bit awkwardly.
"Yes, actually, where the Terra Imperial Palace is located is also part of my hometown," Alexander replied in english, blinking, unsure why Joan was asking this question.
"Hmm, I once heard Him tell a story about your hometown…" Joan whispered.
"Oh? Him? The Emperor?" Alexander asked softly.
"He even told you stories?" Sanguinius couldn't help but say, even though Joan couldn't hear him.
Alexander detected some surprise and a slight hint of sourness in his tone.
"Hmm," Joan nodded gently, whispering, "It's a story about an emperor."
"Many, many tens of thousands of years ago, there was a brilliant and ambitious man on the war-torn world of the Old World—before the rise of the great empires."
"The Emperor was not born an emperor; when the Emperor met him, he was merely a tribal warlord who had inherited his ancestors' lands and their endless feuds."
"In that era, in that realm, there were six other equally powerful warlords, commanding six great tribal confederations."
"Among them, there were also many secondary chieftains, independent settlements, and vassal clans, all divided by blood, by ambition, and by the savage wilderness that separated them."
"The warlord, who was still merely a king among kings, had a grand vision: he wanted to reunite this fractured world, he wanted all humans across the vast earth to speak the same tongue, be ruled by the same government, and answer to the same throne."
"Thus, he embarked on a great Conquest. He trained disciplined soldiers the likes of which the Old World had never seen, traversed that vast and dangerous land, and conquered all the divided kingdoms and warlord realms."
"The warlord chose administrators and generals he deemed most capable, rather than merely his own blood relatives, to govern the conquered territories. He established a unified language for all peoples to use. He even built great roads and fortifications, connecting this land completely and ensuring his vision would endure."
"And so was born the Empire."
Alexander blinked.
When Joan started her second sentence, Alexander basically guessed whose story she was telling.
'Is the emperor you're talking about surnamed Sigmar?'
It's just that this story, coming from Joan, seemed a bit…
Unification, Expedition, forging powerful soldiers, and emphasizing descendants and roads.
Tsk, this doesn't feel right.
When the Emperor told Joan this story, did he perhaps mix in some personal feelings?
"And then?" Alexander asked with some curiosity.
He was very curious about that emperor's story within the Warhammer worldview, curious if Chaos had intervened, and also curious what Joan was trying to tell Alexander by suddenly telling this story.
"But when the emperor achieved the great feat of unification, Chaos also began its endless corruption."
"The emperor craved wisdom, wishing his mind to always be clear to handle state affairs, and so the Lord of Change's whispers came."
"The emperor craved immortality, wishing his body to forever rule the empire in health, and so the plague God's caress came."
"The emperor craved strength, wishing his generals to forever bravely guard the borders, and so the Blood God's war cry came."