If you offer to open a window for Zhou Ye, he might refuse. But if you offer to blow the whole roof off, he'll probably agree.
Looking at the disgusting creature of Slaanesh, Zhou Ye found himself thinking that even Nurgle's creations seemed almost cute in comparison.
So...
Snap!
Zhou Ye snapped his fingers, tossing out a small Constraint Barrier.
To be honest, he disliked using this particular Authority. The main problem was that it was indiscriminate. Not only did he have to pay the energy cost to maintain the barrier, but it also had a tendency to trap his own allies, making its destructive potential a bit too high.
However, a small, throwable barrier like this wasn't much of a problem. It wasn't powerful enough to paralyze the creature directly.
But it was more than enough to shatter the veil of perception. Zhou Ye was genuinely curious to see how this thing would react once it saw its own state.
Frankly, both Nurgle and Slaanesh cultists operated under a very thick filter of delusion. Compared to them, the followers of Khorne and Tzeentch were much better.
Especially the daemons from Old K's house; they were actually quite good-looking. As for Slaanesh and Nurgle, Zhou Ye could only say... blegh.
Nurgle was just straightforwardly disgusting, but the creations of Slaanesh...
"Trust me," Zhou Ye said. "In a moment, you will be begging me to grant you eternal rest."
"That voice... could it be you..."
Hearing the familiar voice coming from the giant figure before him, Sokk froze.
He had heard that voice before. It belonged to that lucky young man.
A sense of absurdity washed over him. Even though he had thrown himself into the embrace of the great Prince of Pleasure, he still found the situation utterly ridiculous.
An Astartes pretending to be a fruit merchant, and he had actually ordered his men to board an Astartes vessel...
But just then, Zhou Ye snapped his fingers again, and the Constraint Barrier instantly shattered.
"I'll let you die with the truth. This area is now sealed by me. The blasphemous thing behind you can no longer see what happens here. So... break!!!"
"AAAAAHHHHH!!!!"
A sharp, piercing shriek echoed through the chamber. Sokk stared at his own body, fused with rotting chunks of flesh, and let out a terrified scream.
Unlike the Emperor's Children, who were already deep in their depravity and knew exactly what kind of wretched things they were, this one still retained a conventional human perception.
Now, looking at his tumor-ridden corpse and the remains of his entire family whom he had sacrificed, he screamed in horror. This was not what he had been promised. Not at all.
His honor, his supreme honor...
Why had it become this? Why...
Just as a Genestealer feels terror when cut off from the Hive Mind's influence, Sokk, his distorted perception shattered and forced to see his true form, was instantly terrified by his own reflection.
Zhou Ye wasn't surprised. Back when he had interfered with that other sacrificial ritual, the woman's cognitive filter had also shattered, and the other Inquisitor had taken that opportunity to shoot himself.
As expected...
"Kill me... quickly, kill me! KILL ME..."
"As you wish."
Looking at the twisted figure, Zhou Ye pinched his nose and tossed it into his conversion device.
In the eyes of daemons, that device was akin to a woodchipper from a horror movie.
But for those who had fallen but not yet completely lost themselves, it was their only salvation.
Zhou Ye felt a surge of rich energy, and then flames erupted from his body, incinerating all the flesh in the room to ash.
From the very core of the filth, he found a warrant. It had been the source of the corruption.
"It really was you, Fulgrim. What, still think you can corrupt me?"
Zhou Ye sneered at the document in his hand, then directly separated and destroyed the blood staining it.
This was now a ten-thousand-year-old warrant. In time, he would find a way to sign other things onto it.
And so, the plan was a success!!!
"Excellent. See? The plan is now complete."
"My Lord, isn't this a bit..."
Watching Zhou Ye store the Rogue Trader Warrant, Ashira finally lost his composure.
He truly could not comprehend his master's thought process. So, creating a Space Hulk capable of corrupting an entire sector was all for this single piece of paper?
"Lord Captain, I have completed a simple scan of the hulk's composition."
Just then, Ai-chan's voice sounded in Zhou Ye's ear, grabbing his attention.
"The core of this Space Hulk is an Ork Battle Moon. It's possible that at some point, an Ork was flying his Battle Moon through the Warp without its Gellar Field active."
"Fuck!!!"
Zhou Ye was stunned. Those Greenskins were truly something else.
"There are also a large number of Imperial ships. According to my scans, it seems some method was used to lure Genestealers onto these ships, which then entered the Warp without Gellar Fields."
"..."
Zhou Ye was speechless, an utterly strained expression on his face.
This universe was simply too insane. But...
"Two distinct powers have been detected on this Space Hulk. One is purple, the other is golden. It seems this Space Hulk was thrown here as a result of the joint action, or perhaps a power struggle, between two entities."
"Holy shit. So the Emperor really does have a thing with Slaanesh? Does that mean the rumors about the Emperor visiting Aeldari brothels are true?"
Zhou Ye listened, dumbfounded, to Ai-chan's external scan results. He knew this was most likely related to Slaanesh.
He couldn't figure out if Slaanesh was playing some grand game of chess or was just insane. But with things as they were, he didn't know what to say.
"I won't run into a Sororitas, will I? It'd be interesting if even the Headless Sister showed up."
"Whatever. We're already here. Let's go get some fries. This thing has to be dealt with one way or another. You said the core of this Space Hulk is a Battle Moon, right? Lock its position for me. I'll destroy that thing first, then figure out how to handle the rest of this hulk."
"No problem. I have shared the information with you."
As Ai-chan finished speaking, a rough structural map appeared on everyone's display screens.
Zhou Ye then led his men toward the core.
---o---
Meanwhile, in another part of the Space Hulk.
"Good. Very good."
A suppressed, furious voice echoed. Sometimes, the truth is what cuts the deepest.
Zhou Ye's verbal assault had completely shattered Fulgrim's composure.
It took him a long while to recover. He simply could not comprehend where such a foul-mouthed brother could have come from.
That's right. Before he arrived, Slaanesh had told him.
The entity's power level was no lower than his own; it was very likely a Primarch.
As for how Slaanesh knew... while manipulating a Warp storm, she had come face to face with a golden middle-aged man.
He had immediately landed a few hard slaps on her, asking if she was scheming against the Primarchs.
Slaanesh was utterly baffled. What Primarchs? What was going on?
She coveted the un-fallen Primarchs, but they were impossible to get. Unless a Primarch chose to fall, they could never be forcibly corrupted.
Khorne had spent centuries trying to corrupt Rogal Dorn to no avail, finally kicking him out in frustration.
Wait a minute... a Primarch.
It was only then that Slaanesh realized: the gaze that had made her tremble belonged to a Primarch.
If it was a Primarch, then everything made sense.
No wonder he could look directly at her without being corrupted. No wonder his soul was so rich and vibrant.
So, when had the False Emperor cooked up another Primarch? But that was no longer important.
Because the False Emperor had an anchor in the material world, he could not move freely within the Warp. As long as she stayed away from that dark sun, the False Emperor couldn't harm her.
So, after a brief struggle with the Emperor, she had thrown this hulk out.
Naturally, she had passed this information to Fulgrim. While his true body had not come, this vessel was one of his most powerful sons. And though his main body wasn't here, he had brought his artifacts with him. He wasn't afraid, even if he was facing a Primarch.
But that mouth... it had delivered a precision strike right to his ego.
He could ignore the rest, but the last sentence was his sore spot. He had noticed Slaanesh's affection for him waning. He knew that Slaanesh constantly sought new and greater stimulation.
Once a thrill was experienced, an even greater one was required.
In other words, he was truly in danger of losing Slaanesh's attention.
That sentence struck him to the core. Beside him, Lucius didn't even dare to speak.
"Find him. I will make him share Guilliman's fate, to become a fine exhibit on Macragge. I feel that our connection has been lost. He should be over there..."
With a murderous look on his face, Fulgrim took the lead, starting from the tail of the Space Hulk and heading toward the middle.
Lucius could only follow with his warband, a little curious as to who their target was.
---o---
On the other side, the Dark Angels.
"We must find that ten-thousand-year-old Fallen Angel before anyone else! The Emperor guides us! All units, move!!!"
Asmodai was leading a squad of Terminators, carving a path of destruction through the Space Hulk. He felt the Emperor's guidance.
Surely, the great and holy Emperor is guiding me to protect this secret, he thought.
He did not doubt that someone would dare to impersonate the Emperor, because anyone who did would essentially create an anchor in the Warp, directly drawing the Emperor's power to them.
For ten thousand years, forget claiming to be the Emperor, even the Chaos Daemons didn't dare impersonate the Primarchs.
Don't underestimate the depravity of Chaos Daemons. Especially those of the Tzeentchian variety, there was nothing they wouldn't do.
So, their refusal to impersonate the Emperor or the Primarchs was not a matter of unwillingness, but of fear.
Since the Emperor himself was supporting them, then CHARGE!!!
Just then, Asmodai charged forward with his squad. Along the way, neither Purestrain Genestealers, nor Greenskins, nor daemons of any color could stop them.
They blasted through a series of obstacles almost unopposed. Finally...
BOOM!!!
With the sound of an explosion, tears welled up in Asmodai's eyes.
He saw his target. The ultimate secret of the Dark Angels.
The being they had hunted for ten thousand years, the one they wished to grind to dust and erase from existence forever.
A Fallen Angel.
Black armor, golden sword, bearing no insignia. A hidden Fallen Angel, and a very powerful one at that.
In that instant, a tear unknowingly fell from Asmodai's eye. Finally, he was about to capture a high-value Fallen Angel.
He would make him repent. Repent for ten thousand years of betrayal, and for all the sacrifices and costs the Dark Angels had paid to keep their secret.
"REPENT!!!"
In that moment, Asmodai led the charge himself, rushing toward that very Waaagh-looking big guy in black, his great hammer crackling with dazzling sparks.
---o---
Perspective Shift...
"Buurp..."
Zhou Ye let out a small burp. It was obvious this Space Hulk had been thrown here while a grand free-for-all among daemons was already in progress.
So, there was a smorgasbord of daemons here: Khorne, Slaanesh, Nurgle, and Tzeentch, not a single one was missing.
There were even many neutral daemons, belonging to no faction.
Now, they had all been thrown here together.
At this moment, he felt... like he'd finally had a decent meal.
Look at the garbage he'd been eating before. It was either Nurgle or Slaanesh.
Even among daemons, those two were the most sanity-draining.
In comparison, the ones from Khorne and Tzeentch were quite delicious. At this moment, Zhou Ye held a Bloodletter in one hand and a Tzaangor in the other, and smashed their heads together violently.
Then, while the two daemons were still dizzy, he tossed them directly into his Thousand-Person Theater.
The landing point in the theater had been removed. Below was now a giant conversion device.
The two daemons were completely devoured amidst a series of screams. They could not naturally resurrect.
Of course, if their masters were willing to pay a great price, they could be brought back.
But that was obviously impossible. Khorne wouldn't give a second glance to a failure, and you'd be lucky if Tzeentch didn't stab you in the back. So, Zhou Ye nodded in satisfaction.
Then he glanced back. The squad he had brought with him had been left far behind.
It was just like when Guilliman boarded a ship, scaring the Custodes half to death, and when they finally charged in, they could only stare dumbfounded as Guilliman rampaged through the enemy ranks.
Don't let Guilliman's combat record fool you; he was still a Primarch.
Zhou Ye was naturally the same. Seeing the huge swarm of Tzeentch and Khorne daemons, he finally couldn't hold back.
But just at that moment...
"REPENT!!!"
Zhou Ye stared dumbfounded as a squad of little green men charged right at him. He then looked down at his own black armor, which he had forgotten to change.
"FUCK YOUR MOTHER, TZEENTCH!!!"
---o---