Magnus gazed up at the sky. It was azure, clear, pure, and unobstructed.
Prospero lay on the edge of the Ultima Segmentum. The Eye of Terror was not visible from here.
But that scar on the material universe existed nonetheless, hidden within the dark cosmos.
It lurked, watching the material universe, like a ravenous, greedy beast coveting its prey.
Yet, paradoxically, the fate of all humanity, and even the entire universe, was pinned on this very beast.
Magnus asked, "Father, will humanity never be free from the shackles of the Warp?"
Caelan fell silent.
The beast wanted to devour reality, but reality was symbiotic with it, unable to shake it off no matter what.
And humanity, even knowing it was poison, had to drink it to quench their thirst, simply because humans were born from that poison.
The more one understood, the clearer it became: this was an insoluble knot.
A month later, Caelan had finally returned to Prospero from Macragge.
Guilliman had returned to the Imperium. His life's trajectory was now on the fast track. Caelan no longer needed to worry about him.
Now, he could focus solely on Magnus.
Magnus might not be the smartest of the Primarchs, but he was the most learned.
The truths of the Warp had raped his brain like a powerful enlightenment. The other Primarchs' understanding of the Warp combined was less than his.
How could Caelan teach him?
"My understanding of the Warp is even less than yours. But based on my knowledge, such a method likely does not exist."
Humans cannot live without air. Fish cannot live without water.
This is the basic guarantee for their survival.
A person will starve to death in seven days without food, and die of thirst in three days without water.
But if a person cannot breathe, they will die of oxygen deprivation in minutes. Yet pure oxygen leads to oxygen toxicity.
Humanity dies if they enter the Warp, and dies if they leave it.
"Yes," Magnus murmured. "The Primordial Annihilator, Void Whales, Psychneuein, Enslavers, they are all born from the Warp. Even the four Chaos Gods are no exception."
"If we understand it that way, are they all children of the Warp?"
Caelan understood. Magnus had fallen into a misconception.
A person's knowledge is like a circle. Inside the circle is the known. Outside is the unknown.
The larger the circle, the more known inside, but also the more unknown outside.
Because the unknown is infinite, but only the unknown bordering the known inside the circle can be perceived by people.
So the larger a person's circle, the more they understand their own ignorance.
And the smaller a person's circle, the more they are immersed in a world of ignorance, thinking themselves omniscient.
Magnus was the former. He understood too much.
But his circle had not been expanded step by step by himself. It came from the Warp's enlightenment.
His circle of known had expanded tens of thousands of times. Truths that others dreamed of were readily available to him.
But because the circle had expanded too quickly, it left patches of ignorance inside the circle. Magnus was now troubled by this.
Caelan asked, "Little Mag, what is a human?"
Magnus thought. "A human is a combination of body and soul. Neither can be lacking."
"If we subdivide further, what are humans composed of?"
Magnus answerd, "Cells."
Caelan nodded, "Correct. The human body is composed of trillions of cells. Millions of cells are renewed every second. Tens of billions of cells die every day."
"They are all born from the human body. Do you consider them your children?"
"No."
Magnus looked up. He considered the Thousand Sons his sons because their genes came from him.
They were not father and son in the secular sense, but at the genetic level, the gene-seed similarity between an Astartes and his Primarch is even greater than that between a child and his biological father.
But cells were different.
Cells were even closer to him than the Thousand Sons. They were in his body. He provided the nourishment for their growth.
But how could they be considered his children?
He would grieve the death of a Thousand Son, but he felt no emotion whatsoever for the death of a cell. Otherwise, he would be constantly immersed in the pain of his children dying.
A glimmer of understanding appeared in Magnus's eyes. "I understand, Father. Chaos are like the cells of the Warp."
Caelan raised his hands. "What do you see?"
"You raised your hands."
"What is on my hands?"
"Nothing."
"Says who? There are clearly hundreds of thousands of bacteria on my hands, and they double every half hour."
Magnus fell silent again.
Caelan added, "There are trillions of cells in the human body, and the number of bacteria parasitizing the human body is even greater than the number of cells."
"We don't consider cells our children. Are bacteria worthy?"
So you're trying to tell me that Chaos itself is a bacteria?"
Caelan said, "No. We are the bacteria."
"We are not only the bacteria of the Warp but also the bacteria of the material universe."
"We don't consider cells and bacteria our children. Naturally, the universe doesn't consider us its children."
"Planets are its cells. We are just a bunch of parasitic bacteria."
"But there are also probiotic bacteria and pathogenic bacteria. Some bacteria have achieved symbiosis with the human body. They live in the intestines, helping humans absorb nutrients better, and also resist infections and the risk of autoimmune diseases."
"But there are also bacteria that cause various diseases. Once they enter the human body, they lead to death."
"The same applies to the universe. Humans, Aeldari, Orks, all are bacteria."
"Which kind of bacteria do you think humans are?"
"I don't know." Magnus was honest.
Humanity's impact on the material universe is still very small. If the universe is compared to a human body, then humanity's range of activity, limited to the galaxy, is at most a tiny cluster of bacteria living on a single hair.
Although humanity has destroyed many worlds, what is that compared to the universe as a whole?
Humanity is still too weak now to be considered beneficial or harmful.
Caelan said, "With Chaos in the Immaterium existing, we are probably harmful."
"The Veil is like skin, protecting the material universe from invasion by external pathogens."
"We bacteria originally lived under the skin, having a negligible impact on the material universe, maybe just harming a few cells."
"But with humanity's acquisition of Warp travel technology, we began frequently drilling through the skin to explore the Warp. This harms the material universe."
"Every Warp jump leaves a wound on the skin of the material universe."
"But the skin of the material universe can heal itself. The impact of a single Warp jump is very small."
"Compared to us, the Aeldari are downright pathogenic bacteria."
"Because they have drilled unhealable wounds into the material universe's skin, and these wounds are constantly spreading bacteria and viruses into the material universe, seeking to expand the wounds further and tear the material universe apart."
"Humanity depends on the material universe. We are parasitic bacteria on the material universe. We would die if we left it."
If Caelan openly spread such theories within the Imperium of Man, it would probably hurt many people's dignity.
But this was the truth.
Lies don't hurt. The truth is the sharp blade.
Perhaps one day humanity will spread throughout the universe, becoming its masters, with even the material universe depending on them.
But for now, humanity is just bacteria parasitizing the material universe.
Caelan said, "The Warp is also a gigantic human body. The Aether is its blood. Neutral Warp entities are its cells."
"Back then, the material universe and the Warp did not interfere with each other. Even when they occasionally contacted, it was very peaceful."
"But sixty million years ago, the Warp 'stopped loving'. It became cancerous."
"The once gentle cells all turned into cancer cells. These cancer cells continuously generate new cancer cells."
"The four Chaos Gods are the cancer. Chaos are the cancer cells."
Magnus asked, "Then what are the bacteria of the Warp?"
"Still us. We, the Aeldari, the Orks, and all other psykers are bacteria."
Whether good or bad, cells are the natives. Bacteria are the outsiders.
Psykers are outsiders in both the material universe and the Warp, plundering nutrition from both worlds. Isn't that an apt description of bacteria?
Caelan asked rhetorically, "Bacteria or cells, which is more harmful?"
"Compared to normal cells, bacteria are naturally more harmful."
"But compared to cancer cells, bacteria can instead become allies."
"The number of probiotic bacteria in the gut flora can significantly suppress the probability of colon cancer and also help the efficacy of anticancer drugs."
"Some anticancer drugs can destroy the gut mucus layer, allowing bacteria to enter the circulatory system, thereby promoting the birth of immune cells, and immune cells then attack cancer cells."
"Little Mag, what kind of bacteria are humans?"
Magnus gave a cautious answer: "We are not yet qualified to decide what kind of bacteria to become."
Caelan nodded, "Precisely. Humanity is still too weak. Before we ascend into a psychic race, even as bacteria, we can only be the weakest bacteria."
"We cannot change anything. We can only go with the flow."
"Only when we become a psychic race can we decide whether to be probiotics or pathogens."
"The Old Ones were once probiotics, maintainers of the material universe and the Warp."
"But they also caused the Warp to become ill. So they turned into pathogens."
"Just as the content of E. coli in the human body is very low, accounting for only 1% of the gut flora, it is a normal resident of the human body."
"But once E. coli exceeds the standard, it causes disease or even death."
"The same goes for the Aeldari. They are pathogens to both the Warp and the material universe. They can never wash away this label."
"But humanity still has the chance to choose. We can be probiotics for the material universe, helping it repair wounds and resist the encroachment of the Warp."
"When we are strong enough, we can also be probiotics for the Warp, helping it treat its cancer."
Caelan stared at Magnus. "So I ask you, are humans more like children of the Warp, or are the original annihilators more like children of the Warp?"
Choose bacteria or cancer cells?
Magnus was not stumped. It was like choosing between chocolate-flavoured shit and shit-flavoured chocolate.
He chose to eat neither.
"Humans and Chaos are just parasites of the Warp."
A pleased smile appeared on Caelan's face. "The four Gods and Chaos are natives of the Warp. So what?"
"They are the ones who caused the Warp's disease."
Caelan paused briefly, his eyes deep as he stared at Magnus. "If anyone is a child of the Warp, it is you and your brothers."
The Primarchs' essence is the Warp. They are the Warp.
The Emperor stole the Primarchs' Warp essence from the Warp. These essences absolutely do not belong to the four Gods.
Because the Emperor is not strong enough to steal from the four Gods. He couldn't even steal from Them.
He could only have stolen the sparks from the Warp itself.
These sparks belong to the Warp, but the four Gods have always coveted them.
Each of the four Gods wants to expand their domain. Either by stealing from the other three or by plundering from the Warp.
They have always been jointly feasting on newly born minor Warp gods. Essentially, they are plundering the Warp's domains.
The Emperor's ability to steal the Warp essence might have been with Their tacit approval.
The Emperor wanted to use this to free humanity from the four Gods' control. The four Gods wanted to take the opportunity to feast.
Perhaps this is because the four Gods cannot directly plunder the Warp essence represented by the Primarchs. They can only let the Emperor steal them away, then have the Primarchs willingly hand over their domains to the four Gods.
The Emperor is a thief. The four Gods are robbers. Only the Primarchs are children of the Warp.
The Primarchs are neither bacteria nor cells. They are flesh cut from the Warp's own body by the Emperor.
This is the Emperor's gamble with the four Gods. Whether or not the Emperor intended to gamble with Them, the gamble was established the moment he stole the Warp essence.
And regardless of who wins or loses, the Primarchs and the Warp are the biggest victims.
Caelan said, "We are human. Even if humans are bacteria, we want to be the biggest bacteria!"
"We will climb higher, step by step, step by step!"
"Even if the Emperor is a thief, he is no more shameful than a robber."
"Whether it's 'position determines viewpoint' or 'choosing the lesser of two evils', we are naturally on humanity's side."
"If humanity wins, whether we become probiotics or pathogens in the future, we will be the ones to decide."
"But if humanity loses, we will all be doomed."
Magnus listened intently. Father had not been raped by the truth like he had. He didn't know as much as Magnus.
But Father was using simple principles to teach him, resolving the knot in his heart.
Magnus's potential for being conflicted had only just begun to sprout, and Caelan had already nipped it in the bud.
Magnus asked, "Father, if we are to contend with the four Gods, who will help us, the material universe or the Warp?"
His brothers couldn't ask this question, because their understanding of the world was not as profound as Magnus's.
They wouldn't yet understand that the material universe and the Warp could also have a 'Will'.
"The material universe is already helping us. As for the Warp, I don't know who It would help."
"But if there truly is an 'It', It would definitely not help the four Gods."
"Why?" Magnus pressed, as if wanting to get to the bottom of it. He wasn't usually like this.
"To the material universe, humans are at most bacteria. The material universe can tolerate the existence of bacteria."
"But to the Warp, the four Gods are rebels who constantly want to usurp the throne!"
"One mountain cannot accommodate two tigers, let alone five?"
Magnus pondered the analogy of 'one mountain cannot accommodate two tigers'. After a moment's thought, he suddenly spoke: "Father, I want to teach you something."
Caelan asked, "Alright. What do you plan to teach me?"
Magnus replied, "Concealment."