"Because Magnus was too clever for his own good, if I don't sit on the Golden Throne, the Human Empire will be destroyed. Similarly, even if I leave the Golden Throne, I can certainly possess, but like your fallen brothers, I cannot guarantee whether the possession will be successful, and it is difficult to find a body strong enough for me to walk in the material world. When I return again, am I still the Master of Humans, or have I become something else? I cannot bear such consequences."
"Now, thanks to you, my son, after I acquired the technology left by the Ancient Saint, I already have a way to permanently close the gaps of the Net Dao." The black-haired man, or rather the Human Emperor, finally reached out and gently stroked Laine's head: "In the temptation to become a god, you were able to stick to your heart and ensure your loyalty to me, I am proud of you."
"You're welcome, father. I just want to know when you're going to give me a helping hand?" Laine said with a forced smile. Being patted on the head by his own father was not a nice experience; he was twenty-four years old and still being patted like a child.
"I need enough time to close the gap in the Net Dao and digest this energy, you will still have to fight alone for a while." The Emperor gave Laine an answer that did not satisfy him.
"Then... the third question, father, why did you appoint Horus as Warmaster back then?" Laine asked in confusion.
"Was there another choice?" The Emperor countered.
"For example... Kiliman?" Laine was momentarily speechless and then casually mentioned a name.
"Robert Kiliman is full of rules and principles. He always emphasizes that everything must follow regulations, and for this, he has formulated extremely complex codes of conduct. However, he never knows how to use his rock-solid head to think; things will not always develop as he wishes, so although he has excellent leadership skills and political acumen, under these circumstances, he is not suitable to be Warmaster."
"Uh... Zhuangsen?" Laine blurted out another name.
"Zhuangsen is more like an orphan than like my creation. Although he is full of courage and faith, he is solitary, he is arrogant, and he never bothers to explain his ideas to others, nor does he bother to listen to others' opinions. I cannot appoint him as Warmaster." The Emperor continued to shake his head.
"Then... Saint Gile?" Laine felt a bit awkward.
"Saint Gile... he is a hawk child filled with fantasies all day... never mind, I won't talk about him, he ended up dead because of me." The Emperor again rejected Laine's suggestion.
The father and son both fell into silence, until the tall figure of his father suddenly began to shimmer.
"I must go, Laine, the last question."
"Father, what kind of world is this world?" Laine stood up, having fully recovered under his father's sacred radiance.
"This world is very special; it was once the playground, later experiment site, and final refuge of the Ancient Saint. This world is enveloped by an eternal massive Subspace storm and can only be reached through the Net Dao's Interstellar Teleportation Gate. The Ancient Saint hid the last and purest secret in this world. I don't know what that is, but what I know is, Laine, you must stop the Moment of Destruction, otherwise... I foresee something extremely terrifying happening, Laine, you must stop it!" The Emperor's tone was very serious and heavy.
"I will!" Laine raised the Warhammer, making a promise to his father. Newest update provided by NoveI-Fire.ɴet
"The future era will face a new chapter! An endless warfire will sweep across the entire universe! No living being can escape it, and the path forward will be filled with flames of war. For us humans, under the efforts of my beloved son, hope will be rekindled! Even if the future path is filled with fog, even if darkness surrounds us, humans will eventually stand atop the tide of blood!"
"My plan has already unfolded, grow rapidly, Laine." The father's figure vanished in the basement.
"Leave it to me, Father! I won't let you down... provided you hurry up and spare some time to help me~" Laine complained to the air.
Shaking his head, Laine left the basement.
By the time he came out of the collapsed manor and returned to Mijordenhaven, it was already dawn.
He keenly sensed that something was wrong with the atmosphere.
Heading toward the direction of the town, there was a family of civilians, carrying their belongings along the road on a cart towards the town.
This was too unusual, at this time of night, the wilderness is so dangerous, why are these farmers risking danger coming out in the middle of the night?
Laine hurried toward the road.
"Grandma? Why do we have to leave our home?" A little girl, whose face was covered with dust and was wearing thin clothes even in winter, asked her grandmother, her little face flushed red from the cold, with a puzzled look.
This was a simple household of six, consisting of grandparents, parents, son, and daughter, with a simple cart carrying all their belongings.
"Clara, the Barbarians are coming. If we don't leave home, they will break into our house, steal our food, and eat all the children alive!" The elderly woman said in panic, holding the little girl's hand: "Only in the town are we safe."
Even though she said that, the grandmother's face was full of fear.
"Alright, let's hurry up! We must quickly get to Mijordenhaven!" The middle-aged man urged: "Quick! Hurry up, if we're too late, there won't be anywhere to stay even if we get into town!"
"But Dad, I'm so tired, and my stomach is so hungry!" The boy said miserably, his thin body shivering in the winter night, his face showing signs of malnutrition.
"Hang in there, just a bit longer, okay? Once we get to town, I'll buy you some milk, come on Lucas, hang in there a bit longer!" The mother secretly calculated, taking out a small bag containing some coins, she thought that if everything goes smoothly, after settling the family, perhaps she could squeeze out a little money.
However, if that's the case, next year's days will have to be lived more tightly.
Fortunately, those damned Barbarians came at this time, if they had come two months earlier during autumn harvest, this family would have been done for.
"But I don't want to drink milk! I want to eat ham, I want to eat bread!!" The boy said sullenly, two clear snot trails ran down his nose and quickly froze into ice.
"Lucas! Stop fussing! We must hurry into the town!" The grandfather quickly reprimanded.
"I don't want to I don't want to! I'm so hungry, I'm so cold! I want to eat bread, I want to eat ham! Wah!!!" In hunger and cold, the boy cried aloud in the wilderness.
The girl seeing this, also sat down on the ground, crying along with her brother: "Wah!!!"
The loud crying was very penetrating, and the children's parents were horrified, quickly setting down the cart and desperately comforting the two crying kids, even stuffing clothes into the children's mouths: "Stop crying, stop crying!!! You'll attract raiders!"
"Wah! Wah!!!" Who knew the kids didn't listen and cried even louder, their feet in straw shoes kicking around, leaving several black marks on their parents' pants.
"Stop crying! Ufric is coming, Ufric is coming!" The mother immediately began telling the scariest story.
Only then did the two children stop crying.
But it was already too late, attracted by the children's cries, a group of black shadows appeared on the horizon.
They were raiders! Raiders really came!