Chapter 489 Traveling upstream
"That's me." Perturabo's opening made several people feel abrupt. The tall original body leaned down slightly and talked with Mors, Waldo, and Olanie. Us approached John who was huddled in the corner, and his eyes passed over these different extraordinary people.
The deep annoyance was still etched on his face, making his facial contours so hard that they looked a little gloomy. A kind of thought resides in his diamond-like eyes.
"I didn't know you came to your father before you were born," Morse said.
"I thought it was an illusion," Perturabo said, crossing his arms over his chest like an iron lock. He breathed silently for a moment, then continued: "In Ultramar, at the Pharos Lighthouse in Sosa, with the power of a fragment, I saw some fragments, including the laboratory where I was born, and the early days of my life in Olympia. Something to spend time with.”
Morse raised his eyebrows: "But you really crossed time at that moment, so that day the Emperor suddenly came to help you catch the fragment. It's very unusual."
Waldo spoke firmly : "The Lord saw it, so he built..."
"The palace for the Primarch, you just said it once, Grand Commander. There is no forgetful person here." Morse said, looking at it. Waldo's body.
After the battle with Erda, some essential changes seemed to have occurred in the commander of the Imperial Army. No, this has nothing to do with his personality and appearance. Some of his elements closer to the source of his birth are no longer the same. Morse couldn't tell what it was.
"The master will not do anything without reason, and all his actions must be well-founded." Waldo concluded coldly and directly.
"Excuse me, some... big shots," John Grammaticus, who was at the back of the queue, raised a hand, attracting the attention of several people, "you know that I worked for Erda for a while, right? Right?"
"I'm not sure." Orr said.
"Farewell," John slowly stretched out his hand, weakly pressing Waldo's Apollo spear that was suddenly at his throat, "farewell, I have changed my ways. I even accepted the commission. I have worked hard to bring Eulanius here.”
The look Waldo gave him back was only indifferent.
"You'd better be more straightforward," Orr said politely. His temper had already been tempered by the mystery of Hydra during the time he spent with the leader of the Alpha Legion.
John swallowed cooperatively, hoping that this would make Waldo feel that his intimidation was effective.
"Erda often said that your master changed after Molech..."
"The master did change. He had no intention of granting the original body free will at first..."
"Your Excellency Constantine, we know that you want to cut Aurelion into pieces, why don't you be quiet for a while?"
John cast a grateful look at Morse: "Erda It is said that the Emperor had no intention of taking advantage of the original body. According to what you said, there must be a basis for what he did. What is the basis for this? ”
"He saw the shadows he saw," Orr repeated.
"Yes, yes, so who is the shadow reflected in the cave?" John's eyes stayed on Perturabo, "Why would anyone think that the Emperor seeing you is the same as seeing the shadow? It’s the same thing, what do you think, Waldo?”
Waldo was silent for a moment.
“Once again.” He lowered his eyes. “After the Lord saw Pharos’ No. 4, he said ‘again’.”
“So…” John spread his arms. With his hand, he scanned the few people staring at him inquiringly. The dripping water in the cave they were in fell silently from the stalactites and hit the ground lightly.
"Continue." Perturabo looked down at John Grammaticus and gave his order. He stood here almost as a monarch.
“Well, I think you understand what I mean. You immortals—except Mr. Morse, who unfortunately knows nothing about anything—you all know that your Emperor said that he The revelation comes from the beginning of the 31st millennium. Isn’t that right now?
“This is why Erda came to guard the gate. This is why Commander Constantin Waldo came here. It just so happened that we came here. There are two extra people here who came here by coincidence, what do you think? "
"Continue. "Morse said, staring at John. John began to feel that six holes had been pierced through his body by the gaze.
"I don't know what's going on going forward. Everyone, I think we should listen to Olan. Speaking of Neuus. "John decisively handed over the narrator's position to the next person.
Three pairs of eyes moved towards the mentioned veteran at the same time.
Or Persson's fingers trembled: "You...what else do you want to hear?" He sighed.
"His transformation." Morse said, he squinted his eyes slightly and found some things in his memory... some things he had never paid attention to for many years, those things he had found deep in the Crystal Maze. possibilities seen in the library. For example...his birth. This is almost an accident. Among the countless stories told by the Lord of Change, he is the only one who relied on the spell to be reborn.
Another example is Neos's change in the concept of subspace... He is the founder of too many sects. The tree of life took shape under his pen. The analysis of "Ka" and "Ba" day and night, Luger The celebration of Nash Day and the return of the elves, the legend of clinking glasses in Valhalla, the shadow of the snake swimming on the long steps of the temple tower... He traveled to a thousand places, until one day he suddenly sent a message to Orr Persson That short note...
"Nios has changed his decision." He said at last. "Tell us what you know."
"I can't list them. You know there are too many, Remus..."
"Then tell me why I was reborn, Orr." Morse stared into the eyes of the veteran, he Knowing that this was the Emperor's first Warmaster, and perhaps the only one he truly chose. Even though he favored Perturabo, he still had to admit that in the Emperor's heart, the Lord of Iron was the second choice.
"That was an agreement." Orr recalled slowly, gradually walking to the front of several people, as if he was unconsciously chasing someone in front of him. "On the Tower of Babel, he swore to the lightning that he would not use this dangerous power."
The veteran's fingers clenched and unclenched, as if he had stepped into the extremely dangerous period again. The ancient years, and a dagger that almost stabbed out fell from his hand. He shuddered silently, and even though he was just remembering, guilt still came to him again.
"He once said that he would find an individual who could keep the curse, and that this power would not be used by him without restraint. I swore to him that I would never feel any more betrayal." Or Shaking his head, "I was really lost at that time. I can't imagine if I hurt him at the Tower of Babel..."
"Of course, you didn't do anything," Morse's eyes became even more distant. "From this point of view, I should thank you."
"Oh, Neos said you would have been an immortal. ," Orr said honestly, "You just weren't dead at that time and didn't know about it."
"No matter what, accept my thanks," Morse repeated.
"And Waldo," John boldly interjected. He bet that Waldo would not kill him in front of this group of people. In fact, he did it to Constantine. Waldo smiled and said, "I'm afraid the birth of the Commander of the Forbidden Army is also one of the things that my old boss will never forget, such as 'he created another killer' and similar words."
Waldo's eyes were just Its existence is enough to pose a threat. "I can kill an immortal," he said nonchalantly. "Yes, just look at Erda and you will know. Then, having said that, you can't be born specifically to murder the immortals, right, Commander?" John shrugged, and they had already reached the depths of the cave. The light behind him was distant and dim, as if he were at the other end of time.
Constantine Waldo held the Spear of the Sun tightly on his side without leaving any trace. "I will inform you of the orders I know after you make your decision. This is also the Lord's request."
The seriousness on his face rarely relaxed slightly.
“The Emperor is not easily trusted, and he will not participate in bets that have little chance of winning, but what he sees can make him change his mind and place a bet. Even the Imperial Chancellor is surprised by his decision, Little does he know that he has clearly seen the consequences of his decision. Although he has great ambitions to conquer the stars, he is by no means a reckless person."
Constantin Waldo said that he rarely made decisions against the emperor. When commenting, or he was still repeating the commands and voices that had already been given: he will always be the arm of the Emperor, even if the Emperor has temporarily left.
"However, the prelude of the past still has not dropped the final note. The right to choose is not in my hands, because only the ignorant can become that shadow, and in those eyes that have not observed the truth, the world has not yet been cast. Taking shape."
They were approaching the end of this long passage, and the contemplation on John's face became more and more obvious. "Hey," he turned to Morse, "are you..."
"Be quiet, Grammaticus," Morse turned his head, his eyes flashing with the light of a large number of runes. , the overflowing power attached to a word instantly prevented John from making any more sounds. The man in black robe realized his mistake and casually untied John's restraints. "I need to calculate feasibility."
John raised his hands in surrender, found the next person who was meditating, and lowered his voice: "This respected Primarch, do you want to think about it again? Do we really have to rely on these five minutes of discussion to determine the direction of humanity?”
“What do you mean?”
"No, I just feel...well, it's a bit awkward." John said, "I have indeed guessed a little bit, but in the end we don't know the truth about the past. These are..."
"My dictation." Orr said, "I can hear it."
"Then let's chat together," John patted Orr's shoulder affectionately, "Let's assume that The imperial craftsmen on the other side really figured out a way to go back to the past here..."
"The stone of the Hrud...the subspace..." Morse said softly, falling into his thoughts again. , floating gently in the channel. He reached his hand into the void, and a stasis box fell into his palm. He stared at the iron box glowing green in his hand, his expression condensed.
"Look, he's got some results," John whispered, "I'm just going to assume this is really possible. What I'm trying to say is, are you really satisfied with where things stand now?"
He glanced at Perturabo's gloomy face in awe: "If we really do it the way we think, then the result we get will probably be like this - I see that you are sad, the original body Petu Labo, I'm not sure what you've lost, but it's not a good thing. Let's see what we have gained in the current situation."
"Olanius, I guess it's not a good thing. I don’t know anyone else, but you should definitely know that the emperor you knew is no longer there. In the current situation, we have lost your emperor.”
Or. He looked at John blankly, as if he didn't understand what he was saying for a moment. "Isn't he still..."
"I told you in the webway that the Emperor has passed away, and you interrupted me," John said quietly, "Don't think that he is still on Terra. Looking forward to meeting you again, soldier."
Orr was silent.
Waldo ignored or acquiesced in John's behavior, even though John felt for a moment that the commander was chewing him in his mouth with gnashing teeth.
"And the original body, Perturabo, I think the current situation is not what you want. Many people have died, and those who died must be important people, otherwise the Dark Throne would not be where it is today." John said that he couldn't tell why he had to say this. Maybe he just felt that he had done something wrong before, so he was now obliged to propose a second possibility. "Do you accept all this?"
"You mean, all this can be avoided." Perturabo said, his eyes fell on the back of the black-robed man in front of him. The golden runes wrapped around him became brighter and brighter.
“The past has not yet been decided, we can still modify it to change the future.” John said, “The only thing that is really decided is your meeting with the Emperor in the laboratory, and nothing further will be decided. Definitely. For example, if you didn't show the Emperor what the Webway could do, you wouldn't have been created as a fixed node, and the Emperor wouldn't have ascended to the Dark Throne."
"It sounds like Erda is obsessed with that day," Perturabo said sharply.
"You are right, my lord, I have heard it many times. Of course, the power of choice is yours." John's voice was filled with sighs, "If the Emperor had only stolen the fire to create the Primarch on that day, what would have happened? What happened? I don't know."
"There will be no Tyrant Star," a dreamy voice of Morse joined the conversation, which was just a small, almost instinctive fragment of his thinking. Dumped among them, he himself was still immersed in complex calculations.
"Warmaster Horus will be crowned... We will return to Olympia, child... You will not be hurt, and I will not let the enemy blade be stolen... No, there is no reason for Omegon to take action... ”
He could not forget the fact that Perturabo was injured by the power of the Dark Lord in the Temple of Devon. The many futures he had seen flashed before his eyes one by one, and he chose from ten thousand. There is the possibility of hope, and his nature cries out for a better, unwritten story.
"Aurelion will continue to worship the Emperor himself, a mad believer, but Nyos will keep one eye on him..."
Another voice also came from Morse, and the second fragment peeled off gently from his mind, "In the established history, if everything returns to normal... we just need to never show up, then the world will Back to the original track... I have seen that kind of future... There are trade-offs and decisions to be made."
The third voice was liberated: "Just like Waldo said, I think. He never told us his experiences in the past. He did so intentionally...because by doing this, the unnoticed past has room for change in our eyes. This is the bifurcation of time...ha , he still left too many traces, but we have not seen all the fragments..."
"As for you, Orr, if you hurt him at the Tower of Babel, he will forgive you, and The spell will no longer work for him, as you said, I am still immortal... Oh, I still don't know where my lost arm ended up... Make a decision, Perturabo, maybe you I also want to try to meet a craftsman in Olympia who is more...who has no resentment and cannot forget his past destiny..."
At the end of the passage, the vague light hidden deep in the planet became clearer. The surging light pierced the mirror-like door like a sharp blade. The surrounding reality was eclipsed by the brilliant light of the Warp, and the pure golden light undoubtedly came from the former Emperor himself.
"What will we lose?" asked Perturabo at last, his eyes looking straight into the light. "What will we deny?"
"The choice is yours, Perturabo. I will not accompany you," Morse said, speaking fully this time.
He waved his hand, and the fragments returned to him, blending into his broken, whirling void soul. His physical body has been broken down as he progresses, used to maximize the use of his power.
He stretched out his invisible hand, and the outlines of the scattered stone bricks became clearly visible. The dark coal-like stones were painted with zigzag golden lines, and the luminous door was framed in the lines.
"...It's your turn," he said, murmuring to Perturabo, "What a beautiful seal, no weapon can disarm the protection here, except one thing. Perturabo, You have the blood of the Emperor, and this door is destined to be opened only by the Emperor's own children."
"What about you?" Perturabo asked.
"This is your journey. I will shine on you and reflect your shadow on the other side of the curtain of time. I will be the light outside the cave." Morse said, the Hrud stone was suspended in the His empty palm. "Relax, you can still hear my voice."
(End of Chapter)