Warhammer: Saving Humanity Begins with the Resurrection of Horus

Page 14

An ordinary laser pistol, it looks so unremarkable. If Pike were to choose such a weapon as the standard issue for his guard, it would surely become a laughing stock among the upper echelons of Hive City.

However, this ordinary weapon, if someone holds it to the head and pulls the trigger, will have the same power and effect on an unprotected mortal as those rare, high-precision explosive guns.

I've been kidnapped.

Looking at the man with the gun in front of him and his two subordinates lying on the ground, their lives hanging in the balance, Pike immediately guessed the man's purpose.

He raised his hands, a practiced gesture proving that he was unarmed and posed no threat.

"Don't shoot! I'll agree to anything you ask! Don't shoot!"

Pike quickly spoke up, saying that assassinations and kidnappings were not uncommon at the top of the hive, but for them to do it in this particular setting, the person behind this robber was incredibly audacious.

After all, this was John Shermer's birthday party, and such behavior completely disregarded the Shermer family's status.

However, Pike also knew that now was not the time to focus on the other party's courage, but rather on their purpose.

In Pike's view, the fact that the other party did not choose to fire immediately meant that they wanted to use him to achieve certain goals, just like when he was kidnapped by some people before.

As long as the other party's demands are met, everything else will be fine. If he, as the Deputy Minister of State Affairs of Demoor, were to die suddenly, the consequences would be unbearable for any family.

With this thought in mind, Parker calmed down considerably. He swallowed hard and began to scrutinize the face of the man pointing a gun at him.

The man did not stop him, but looked at him calmly with his dark eyes.

This was a man who looked very ordinary, dressed in a black tuxedo. This outfit gave Parker a strange sense of familiarity, making him feel for a moment that he might have seen the man somewhere before.

Do we...know each other?

"Shut up and go inside."

The man spoke coldly, moving the gun in his hand toward the toilet stall next to him, but the muzzle remained pointed at his forehead.

Parker stopped talking and obediently went into the stall, then sat on the toilet as instructed by the man.

The man walked in and closed the cubicle door.

"There's no one else here, let's talk... Ah!!!"

Before Parker could react, the man suddenly fired four shots, the muzzles spitting out crimson lasers that pierced through his shoulder blades and knees, rendering him completely incapacitated and unable to resist.

Pain spread throughout his body, causing Pike's usually pampered face to contort in agony. He opened his mouth, about to let out a scream of pain, but a smelly white cloth was stuffed into his throat.

"Waaaaah... Waaaaah..."

The stench made Parker roll his eyes. Nausea and pain filled every corner of his body at the same time. Even though he couldn't move his limbs, he still convulsed violently on the toilet.

The man showed no pity. He holstered his gun, grabbed Parker by the neck with one hand, and placed the other hand on the top of his head.

The temperature in the cubicle dropped instantly, and a faint white light flickered in the man's eyes, with what seemed like indistinct flashes of lightning around them.

A wizard, or rather, a psionicist.

Pike instantly understood why his guards had fallen silently. Even though they were both elite soldiers, they were no different from chicks when faced with the unreasonable power of psionic energy.

And seeing the man's actions, Pike finally understood what the other party's purpose was.

That is to probe his memories and extract the information and intelligence they need from them.

Parker's body slowly stopped struggling. He tilted his head back, rolled his eyes, opened his mouth, and kept drooling.

The man, or rather Lin Qi, looked at him and sneered.

His psychic abilities to probe his memories failed; after a thorough examination, all he saw was a blank, empty space.

Even O'Glint knew there was a problem when he arrived.

"Horus, I'm counting on you."

A flash of white light appeared as Horus emerged from behind Lynch. He looked at Pike before him. Although he appeared as a young man, the coldness and killing intent in his eyes were far more intense than those of warriors who had spent years on the battlefield.

Horus stretched out one of his hands and reached directly into Pike's body. Then, with a sudden yank, a scream rang out, and a blue, scruffy bird with its neck being squeezed appeared in his hand.

A treacherous demon.

"How is this possible! Who exactly are you...?"

Horus loosened his grip slightly, and the blue bird, now able to breathe, opened its beak and exhaled perfectly fluent High Gothic words from its throat.

"It was this thing that caused the trouble. Don't worry, there's no obstacle now when you try to explore the memories."

Horus spoke, and the blue dappled bird turned its gaze to another person present, who in every way seemed to be an ordinary mortal.

It stared for a long time until white psionic flames began to burn on Horus's hand. Only then did it widen its eyes and, with surprise, fear, and madness, utter a single word.

"variable!"

Horus remained silent, but tightened his grip on the other's neck again, and then exerted a sudden burst of force, burning the other into floating black dust.

Chapter 19 The Black Legion

The blue dappled bird turned to ashes, and Lynch finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Horus and the Emperor's protection is not just empty words; even if it's a Tzeentch demon, it will still perish.

but.......

Lynch's expression immediately turned serious. He really hadn't expected that there would be such a treacherous demon hiding in Pike's soul. It seemed that the situation in Badab was much more complicated than he had thought.

After all, based on the situation of the Brotherhood of Blood, he originally thought that the evil god behind it would be Khorne, but now it is also related to Tzeentch.

Of the four evil gods, Lin Qi least wanted to face Tzeentch. Even though Tzeentch was a character who frequently made mistakes and was stubborn in the story, as a god with wisdom, cunning, magic and other powers, he was undoubtedly the most troublesome being.

Ugh.

Lin Qi sighed. After thinking about it carefully, he realized that it was impossible for him to never run into Jian Qi in his entire life. The blue scraggly bird had also used the word "variable" to refer to itself.

And variables are undoubtedly what attracts Tzeentch, this galactic entertainer, the most.

At least for now, with the Emperor's protection, he doesn't need to worry about being discovered by them in the short term, nor does he need to worry about his soul and will being corrupted by them.

"Is that Tzeentch demon completely gone?"

"In this world, a father's power can completely kill a demon."

Horus noticed Lynch's concern and took the initiative to explain.

“Although I was the one who destroyed that demon just now, its conceptual significance was also erased by Father at the same time. Don’t worry, Tzeentch will only be confused about why one of his subordinates disappeared completely, but he won’t be able to trace it back to us.”

After hearing Horus's explanation, Lynch felt relieved and reached out his hand again, placing it on Parker's skull.

The psionic energy began to operate, and the memories of the person in front of him were rapidly read. Horus, seeing all this, voluntarily left the cubicle and came to the outside of the restroom to help keep watch.

Although his current state prevents him from affecting reality and he can only bully the same subspace entities as before, it is still fine if he is just observing the surrounding situation.

Meanwhile, with the continuous use of psionic energy, Lynch finally saw Pike's life memories.

The second son of a family, of lowly status, neglected by his parents, despised by everyone, assassinated by enemies, his entire family wiped out, yet he inherits the family business, ruthless and ambitious, rising step by step, ambitious, ambitious...

Lin Qi was speechless. The previous parts were completely devoid of any substance. He quickly fast-forwarded to the parts he needed.

Lin Qi began to accelerate, and the scene in front of him changed rapidly. Soon, with a flash of an image, his eyes lit up, and he immediately paused the playback of the memory.

The scene depicts a small, secret chamber. A tall giant stands in the center of the chamber, while a strange red magic circle is drawn on the ground. Pike stands beside the giant, bowing his head and speaking respectfully.

Lynch started the video playback and listened to what the other person had to say.

"...My lord, as per your request, I have prepared the offerings."

"Yes, you did a good job."

"But sir, is this really the right thing to do? If the State Religion finds out about this, we'll definitely be labeled traitors, and even the lords of the Weeping Clowns and Mantis Warriors..."

"Then we should just keep it from them. We only got that notebook as a form of insurance in the first place. Now that we're using the things recorded in it, it's all because the Empire forced us to this point."

The giant said this, his tone tinged with anger and coldness.

Pike dared not say anything more. He turned around and called out towards the outside of the secret room.

The small door to the secret chamber was opened, and two burly men escorted nine shackled people into the chamber, making them kneel down one by one according to the nine nodes drawn on the magic circle.

"As you wish, all nine of them are illegal psychics, making them perfect sacrifices."

"Ah."

The giant nodded, then raised his hand, and powerful psychic energy began to reverberate in the secret chamber. Then, accompanied by a shrill shriek, all nine people who were sacrificed let out violent screams. Their eyes, mouths, and noses emitted intense white light, giving people a strong sense of blinding light at first glance.

The magic circle on the ground began to glow with a crimson light. Lin Qi stared intently at it, wanting to know what would happen next.

The bodies of the nine sacrifices quickly shriveled up, like dried corpses—their flesh and blood had been drained by some being. Just like the conversation between the giant and Pyke earlier, their identity was that of sacrifices, and the fate of sacrifices was to offer their lives or even their souls to some being.

The white and red lights intertwined and finally formed a "bridge" in the middle of the magic circle. The giant stood on one side of the "bridge," while on the other side, another giant appeared, whose figure was blurry and whose face was indistinct.

"Huron, he should be the one talking to me."

The blurry giant spoke first, his voice traveling across the entire "bridge" to reach the ears of the giant on this side.

"The warband leader has his own matters to attend to; it is I who will speak with you now."

"...Your name."

"Almenus Valsus, the master craftsman of the Claws of the Stars."

"So Huron is willing to agree to our conditions? He can't fight the Empire on his own; only our Black Legion can provide him with the help he truly needs."

"Hehe, wait for our news. I'm just here to inform you that the warband leader hopes you can prepare a fleet. It doesn't have to be too strong, just a few ships will do. Leave the rest to us."

"Is that so... No problem, tell Huron we welcome him to the team."

The scene ends there; then, Almenus drives Pike out of the secret room, and the subsequent memories no longer contain the same scenes as before, providing Lynch with such important information and intelligence.

Lynch abruptly withdrew from the exploration of his memories, then let out a long breath and summoned Horus.

"How was it? Did you get enough?"

"Yes, although we can't directly differentiate them, I do have a plan. Now it depends on Gawain. If he can find that notebook, we can solve the problem on Badab much more easily."

Lynch spoke, and Horus nodded after hearing his words before dissipating into the air and returning to the subspace.

Lynch walked out of the bathroom, threw the two unconscious guards at the door into the stall, then took out a pistol, wiped off the fingerprints, held it in one of their hands, and shot Parker in the forehead.

A large hole appeared on Parker's forehead, emanating a burnt smell.

After doing all that, he used his psionic powers to restore his altered appearance, then crossed the corridor, turned a corner, and rejoined the banquet's dance floor.