Chapter 702 Rebuttal

  Just like what Duanmuhuai said, Horus couldn't just let it go.

  The sixty-second expedition fleet is gathering again, however, it is almost impossible to find that mysterious fleet in the Istfan galaxy.

Horus now has a hideous face. Although he has already made a deal with those invisible existences in the subspace, the other party has promised to blind the brilliance of the Astronomical Torch and isolate them, so that the communication between those fleets will be interrupted, but Horus Russ didn't know if that worked for that fleet.

  Degenerate dregs, lackeys of evil gods.

   Horus clenched his fists, and the other party's curse still echoed in his ears, but this time, what arose deep in Horus' heart was not anger, but doubt. Obviously, judging from what the other party said, they knew exactly what the existence of those subspaces was, and thought that they had succumbed to those mysterious guys... No!

   Horus slammed his fist on the table.

  He is not some evil god’s lackey, this is just a deal, Erebus made it very clear that they cannot affect the real world, they just hope to maintain the safety of the two worlds and prevent the Emperor from becoming a terrible god. And what I did was just to use their abilities. They traded with each other and each got what they needed. It could even be said that Horus was using these evil gods to achieve his own goals!

  He is not the running dog of the evil god!

   "Boom...boom...boom..."

  Footsteps sounded, Horus looked up and saw Mortarion walking in.

   "The World Ones were furious. They demanded that the fleet be searched immediately. They vowed to avenge their Primarch."

   "They'll get what they want."

   Horus said coldly, without Angron, there would be no need for the Empress to exist in his plan. Those uncontrollable risks are enough once, and he doesn't want to have a second time.

   "Are they coming?"

   "This is their only chance."

   Horus gritted his teeth. The loss of the Sixty-second Fleet was not heavy, but several warships were sunk, and a large number of warships were damaged and needed repairs. The fierceness of the opponent's firepower exceeded his imagination. Not only that, but the gunnery commander also told him that the opponent's rate of fire, range and reaction ability were much stronger than his own fleet.

  This is also the reason why the mysterious fleet was able to fight four against one, and was able to retreat in the end.

   By the way, they also took away a large number of Loyalist fighters.

  Emperor Blessing?

  Thinking of this, Horus sneered.

   No one can bless you, not even that false god.

  You have only one dead end.

  At this moment, in the fleet of the Tribunal, the atmosphere is equally dignified.

   Loken, Tarwiz, and Garro met each other, with very serious expressions on each other.

   “Everyone is depressed.”

   Loken was the first to speak, his tiredness could not be concealed on his face.

   "We know that we need to escape from the Istvan galaxy, go to Terra, and report Horus's rebellion to the emperor. However, I am very worried now, whether there will be a second division among us."

  Hearing what Loken said, the expressions of the other two also changed slightly. In the past, the Astartes were like brothers, and it would never happen that an Astartes pointed its weapon at another Astartes. But now, everything has collapsed. The betrayal of Horus and the massacre on the third planet of Isstvan have completely defeated the rules that everyone originally relied on.

   But above all, their attitude to the Emperor.

The vast majority of Space Marines sent to the surface are veterans. Like Tarvez and Garro, they served in the Legion before the Emperor recovered the Primarch. They are the most steadfast Emperor. Supporters, but also regard the imperial truth as an absolute creed.

However, now that things have happened, it is clear that the Imperial truth that was supposed to be a belief is but a lie, their Warmaster was changed by the power of evil, and their kin and brothers were thrown into the arms of Chaos, They have become unspeakable monsters. In this case, it is obviously impossible for them to believe in the truth of the empire.

   Then, for veterans, another problem arises.

  If the Imperial truth is a lie, is the Emperor worthy of their trust?

  Before they didn’t have time to think about this issue. At that time, these Astartes just wanted to survive, and tried their best to protect themselves from the deadly poisonous gas and flames, as well as the pursuit of their own compatriots. So they fight and fight back without distraction. But now, as they sat exhausted and bruised in the silence of the cabin, they had to start thinking about it again.

  Is the Emperor worthy of our trust?

  Do we really still owe our allegiance to the Emperor?

   Imperial truth is a lie, so what's the point of all we've fought so far? What's the point of the Great Crusade?

   Now Loken found that he understood Horus' thoughts, but he did not choose to give up. Unfortunately, not everyone would make the same choice.

   "We need directions."

   "So you let that woman preach among them?"

  Garo frowned.

"You know what I saw? A mortal standing on a dais, talking nonsense like the Emperor is God, while hundreds of Astartes knelt before her. This scene reminds me of the planets we conquered during the Great Crusade, those preachers and audiences who preached the truth of the empire! Now that we have lost the truth of the empire, are we going to pin our faith on illusory gods?"

   "Perhaps we should talk to Your Excellency the Grand Inquisitor."

   Tarvitz spoke at this time.

   "Maybe... I think he can show us a way."

   "Do you trust him so much, Tarvitz?"

   Loken also looked at Tarwiz.

"To be honest, I suspect that the relationship between this fleet and the Empire may be unusual. You have all heard that during the battle, they shouted 'for humanity' and 'for the Tribunal', but they never mentioned a word Speech on 'Empire' or 'Emperor'."

"I know."

  Taviz nodded.

   "But what we have to do now is to find the target. We have seen what the Astartes who lost their target will do, and none of us want to do it again here."

  After making a decision, the three rushed to the main hall again, but to their surprise, when they entered the main hall, they saw Hindman and the woman sitting on chairs, chatting with the grand judge.

   "Oh, here you are."

  Seeing the three Astartes warriors, Duanmuhuai chuckled, and raised his chin towards Hindman and the woman.

   "These two people have been trying to convince me that my arrival is part of the Emperor's plan. I have to say that their logic is quite self-consistent. It is still logical when written as a novel, at least it can be justified."

  Hearing Duanmuhuai's words, Loken and Tarwiz looked a little helpless, while Garo frowned. Even if the imperial truth is a lie, he doesn't like these preachers who talk about it.

   "Because this is the truth, Your Honorable Grand Inquisitor."

  The woman spoke again, her voice soft and calm.

   "The Emperor's brilliance guided you to come here, to find a new future for us..."

   "To be honest, I think I've heard enough."

   Duanmu Huai waved his hand.

   "I never got a high score in my reading experience in Chinese class, so you don't need to be so far-fetched to give my actions some meaning... And... I suddenly thought of a very interesting thing."

   Staring at the old missionary and the woman in front of him, Duanmuhuai suddenly thought of a joke that is very famous among players.

   "You say you believe in the Emperor and that he is the true God, right?"

   "Yes, Lord Grand Inquisitor, the Emperor is indeed the true God of this universe..."

   "I don't object to this, but what proof do you have that the Emperor you believe in is the Emperor?"

   "...?"

   I have to say that Duanmuhuai's question really confused several people.

   "Of course we believe in the Emperor..."

   "Emperor is just a title."

  Duanmu Huai interrupted the woman's defense.

   "A noble title, but more than one person in the universe can be honored as Emperor."

  “…………”

Hearing Duanmuhuai's words, Loken's expression was a bit strange. He clearly remembered that before the Shadow Moon Azure Wolves captured a civilized star system, the leader of that civilization also called himself the Emperor at that time, and he even set a A trap was set up to lure the Astartes, but in the end Horus himself slew him.

  So for a long time after that, the joke "I was there when Horus killed the Emperor" was indeed very popular among the warriors of the Luna Wolves.

   Now it seems that it is more like a prophecy.

   "So, you can't prove that the emperor you believe in is the emperor of Terra."

  Duanmu Huai spread his hands and looked at the woman with a half-smile.

"Right?"

   "But I felt his power, the light from Terra guided me, dispelled the fog, and foretelled the future for me..."

  The woman clasped her hands tightly and placed them on her chest, while Duanmu Huai remained unmoved.

"Well, I agree with this point. As I said just now, the birth of many gods comes from the power of will. If there are enough believers and people in the empire, they think that the emperor is a true **** and will protect mankind forever. Then it is indeed possible for such a true **** to appear—a **** named the Emperor."

   Speaking of this, Duanmuhuai laughed.

"So, you are the emperor who intends to replace the ruler of the human empire with a **** called the emperor, um... interesting, isn't it? From this point of view, you and Horus have nothing to do with each other. Too big a gap."

   “………!”

  Hearing Duanmuhuai's ridicule, the woman's complexion changed drastically, the old missionary next to her also trembled, and the three Astartes warriors were equally stunned.

   "No! Your Excellency the Grand Inquisitor! We believe in the Emperor of Terra! No one else!"

"You are only his worshipers. If it is a fictional god, it is naturally in your imagination, because it is your idea that created it. But the Emperor is actually there, you see, just like those worshiped Idols, artists, and their admirers will also regard these artists as perfect, even the pinnacle of existence, but you should be very clear that there is actually a gap between the artist in the eyes of the admirers and the artist in reality. Right?"

"this………"

  The woman stepped back, she wanted to deny Duanmuhuai's words, but she had to admit that what Duanmuhuai said made sense. She is a recorder herself, and she also has many friends of artists around her. She knows that many mortals admire these artists, and are even willing to dedicate everything to them. In the eyes of those admirers, these artists are noble, handsome celebrities. But she knew that most of the time those colleagues were alcoholics, and often even gave up on themselves...

"No!"

  The woman screamed and collapsed to the ground trembling.

   "I'm not, I didn't mean that...!"

  At this moment, she has completely lost her usual eloquence. She has never thought about this question. Is the Emperor she worships and the one who is really in Terra really the same person?

  If they are not, then what do they represent?

   "Well, it looks like that's it for now."

   Duanmu Huai spread his hands.

   "Go down and think about your life carefully, and don't talk about boring things in front of me every now and then."

Duanmuhuai’s question was actually a very famous joke among players. At that time, a very serious player posted a complaint and said, “After reading the Holy Words, I feel that the emperor in it and the one on Terra are not the same person at all. ", and then some players replied, "Then what do you use to prove that the Emperor is the Emperor?"

  So this became a matryoshka stalk.

  You can't prove that the emperor you believe in is the emperor, that is to say, the emperor of Terra may not be the emperor of the state religion... Laughing.

   At most, it can only be said that they have the same name and surname.

  So the soul in the skeleton rack sitting on the golden toilet may have long been not the Emperor of Terra, but the Emperor who became the state religion.

   This is a civet cat for the crown prince. It took Lorgar 10,000 years to successfully usurp the throne. Congratulations, congratulations.

   To Duanmuhuai, he was just making a joke, but it seemed to hit Hindman and the woman very hard. They supported each other and left the hall trembling. And the three Astartes looked at them, feeling a little sympathetic in their hearts for no reason.

   "Okay, the boring things are over."

  Duanmu Huai looked away, patted Augis's little head beside him, and looked at the three of them.

   "So, what do you want from me?"

  (end of this chapter)