"The Lord of Ultramar, Roboute Guilliman."
"Uhh... Master Builder, Zeke."
Guilliman clarified his purpose. "I request an audience with my father, the Emperor of Mankind, together with this human."
The enormous sanctum was now silent as the grave. The Shield-Captain of the Aquilan Shield said nothing, scrutinizing the Primarch and Zeke.
Cypher revealed an expression of anger. He also wanted to meet the Emperor, but before he could make a further scene, he was suppressed by two Custodians.
Then, the Aquilan Shield exchanged a glance with the other Custodians. "No. The only one who may have an audience is the Primarch."
Shield-Captain Kalim's words left no room for refusal.
Guilliman sighed. These Custodians were extremely difficult to reason with.
Guilliman stepped forward. Shield-Captain Kalim raised his Guardian Spear, stopping the Primarch from advancing any further.
But this distance was enough. Guilliman moved his lips, transmitting his words into Custodian Kalim's ears.
"It was him," Guilliman pointed at Zeke, "who saved me from death."
As soon as these words came out, Shield-Captain Kalim looked at Zeke, his originally contemptuous gaze changing.
"That's right, it was me!" Zeke patted his chest. Look at the Armor of Fate on me. This new outfit is pretty nice, isn't it? Except the noise is a bit too loud.
During the few days Zeke had been wearing the Armor of Fate, he had discovered some flaws in this armor.
The noise was incredibly loud. An ordinary person wearing it wouldn't even be able to sleep peacefully.
"It was also him who liberated Cadia from Abaddon's hands."
Guilliman continued, adding a thoughtful explanation to articulate the importance of Cadia.
Kalim's lips moved slightly. He hadn't expected the human beside Guilliman to have such a significant achievement.
Guilliman engaged in a verbal battle. The Nether Portal is too useful. We cannot lose Zeke.
Shield-Captain Kalim struck the ground three times with his Guardian Spear, granting passage.
The crack of the door slowly opened. All the believers could see was profound darkness and permeating mist.
The misty substance wrapped around Guilliman and Zeke's bodies like a swarm of snakes. Accompanied by a long, deep breath, Guilliman stepped into the Throne Room.
Then came Zeke.
Bang! The great door slammed shut with a boom.
"Is this a portrait of Sanguinius?" Zeke raised his head, looking at a huge portrait of a pure white angel.
The next one depicted the ash-skinned Lord of Drakes (Vulkan), and the one after that was Guilliman.
Huge portraits hung on both ends of the corridor, and at the end...
There was light and fury. Light that pierced through bones and scorched the soul. The sound of endless eternity.
There were the silent wails of Psykers, drained dry to satisfy His terrifying majesty.
There were gods, demigods, and an image of a calm-faced man with brown skin.
Guilliman saw Malcador among them, the First Regent. He saw his brothers.
What Zeke saw was a dusty room.
On a machine the size of a Titan sat a corpse with a skull face, devoid of a single trace of life.
Zeke rubbed his eyes. The image began to shift. This time, it was a king with unlimited power, contemplating for a moment on His throne.
Once again, Zeke saw the scene change. An evil power capable of rivaling the Chaos Gods.
No wonder they say the Emperor looks different in everyone's eyes. Zeke yawned.
"Father," Guilliman said. "Father, I have returned." Guilliman forced himself to look up and stare directly into the pillar of light.
The Emperor on the throne looked at Guilliman. The voice was very strange—hanging by a thread, yet incredibly thick and heavy.
"Son."
"Thirteen."
"Lord of Ultramar... Savior... Hope."
Suddenly, the Emperor's voice became incredibly piercing, thousands of voices overlapping.
"Failure... Disappointment... Liar... Thief... Betrayer..."
Zeke saw sadness and anger flash across Guilliman's face, transforming into bewilderment.
"Roboute Guilliman!" Guilliman roared his name.
He denied the address the Emperor used for him. "Guilliman, Guilliman, Guilliman! My name is Guilliman!"
"A name. A tool. A product." The Emperor continued.
"Please, Father," Guilliman pleaded.
Zeke, who had read the lore, knew what Guilliman was hearing. His big reaction was within expectations.
Emperor, your mic is peaking a bit.
Guilliman, this psychic muggle, heard the Emperor's psychic speech intermittently.
"Look on the bright side, Guilliman. The Emperor is a powerful Psyker. Maybe because your psychic potential is too weak, the Emperor's words are breaking up a bit on your end."
"What He wants to express might be this:"
Zeke cleared his throat, filling in some transitional words between the terms the Emperor spoke.
"My son, the 13th returning Primarch, Lord of Ultramar. You are the savior of the Imperium; you are the hope of humanity. Do not fail. Do not be disappointed in the future. Be careful of thieves within the Imperium. Resolve the betrayers. Everything depends on you, Guilliman."
Guilliman raised his head. "Is that true?"
Zeke didn't hide it and shook his head. "My conjecture. Only the Emperor himself could possibly know what He said."
A voice rang out from the bottom of His heart. "You have come, traveler from another world."
See? I told you it was Guilliman's problem. The Emperor speaks to me just fine.
"Zeke."
"Creator God."
"Or rather... a Minecraft player."
Minecraft?
Since coming to Warhammer, Zeke had always abbreviated "My World" as "MC." He was certain he hadn't revealed the full name "Minecraft" to anyone.
"I have heard of this game. At the very beginning of my long life, in the era when the stars were not yet so dim and humans still looked up at the night sky."
Perpetual. The Emperor is a Perpetual. Zeke recalled this setting.
If the Emperor truly originated from the ancient past, tracing back to the M2 millennium, then it was really possible He had come into contact with Minecraft.
This possibility was so absurd that Zeke didn't know how to react for a moment.
There was also another possibility: maybe what the Emperor said was fake.
Maybe there was no game called "Minecraft" in Warhammer at all, and the Emperor used His vast psychic power to read what Zeke wanted to see.
He constructed this lie to draw closer to Zeke.
Time to bring out 10 obscure facts only Minecraft players would know to test the Emperor.
Zeke held his hands flat and asked, "How do you obtain a Music Disc in Survival Mode?"
The Emperor was silent for a while, then spoke:
"Lure a Skeleton to shoot an arrow that accidentally hits a Creeper. If the Creeper dies from this damage, there is a probability it will drop a Music Disc. This method can obtain most discs except for '11' and '13."
No way, you actually answered.
Zeke looked at the Golden Throne, listening to the most ancient existence of humanity solemnly narrating obscure Minecraft trivia.
Such a heavy 'NPC' feel. Normal people wouldn't use such rigid phrasing to communicate.
Zeke only asked this question to probe the Emperor.
He didn't expect to get such a formal answer. This also indirectly confirmed the Emperor's attitude toward him.
Exceptionally patient, and seeming to simulate human-to-human communication as much as possible.
His purpose was self-evident.
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Goal: 750 Powerstones.
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