68: I'm not here to rob you, I'm here to reunite with my family.

[Moon - Underground Seventh Gene Vault]

Time stood still.

In the air, only the low hum of the cryogenic storage tanks, beating like a heart, and the monotonous breathing of the power armor's internal circulation system remained.

C-19 knelt on one knee, his Bolter lowered, but his finger did not leave the trigger.

His tactical visor was fixed on that massive cultivation tank, all scanning modules running at full power, attempting to analyze this incredible life form before him.

Scanning Subject: Unknown... Warning: Gene sequence complexity exceeds current analysis limits!

Energy Level: T4... Error... T5... Data Overflow!

Vital Signs: Stable.

Heartbeat: Steady.

Mental Fluctuations: ...Vast as a star.

Inside the cultivation tank, that golden figure curled like an infant fully opened his eyes.

Those were a pair of golden vertical pupils.

No whites, only pure, brilliant light like molten gold.

There was no infant's ignorance in those eyes, nor a beast's ferocity, only a god-like indifference that looked down upon all living things.

He just quietly watched these black Men of Iron before him, his gaze carrying a hint of... curiosity?

"Commander."

C-19's voice rang out in the internal channel, carrying a hint of unbelievable trembling for the first time.

"We... might have made a mistake."

...[Holographic Operations Cabin]

Li Cang felt his own heart skip a beat along with the golden infant's heartbeat.

A mistake?

Looking at the T4-level warning on the screen, Li Cang felt no fear; instead, he burst into a fit of uncontrollable, suppressed laughter.

"No, C-19."

"We've hit the jackpot!"

[Gene God-Child]!

A living, though 'premature', but genuine [Gene God-Child]!

What did this mean?

It meant he had a trump card in his hand that could flip the entire game board!

It was an ultimate fortuitous encounter sufficient to make his civilization level soar directly from LV.1 to LV.3!

"Report, Commander! Adeptus Mechanicus ground forces have arrived at the outer layer of the gene vault! They are breaching the door!"

N-05's urgent voice interrupted Li Cang's ecstasy.

"Ul-02 has sent a final ultimatum: share the 'Sacred Sample', or the 'Data Purification Protocol' will be initiated!"

The smile on Li Cang's face vanished instantly, replaced by cold calculation.

He knew these greedy metal-heads had caught the scent and come to snatch the child.

Fight? Don't be joking. Never mind the three Mars warships outside, just those Skitarii and Imperial Knight Mechs on the ground could crush his First Legion and their ship into scrap metal.

Hand him over? Even more impossible. This was the [Gene God-Child]! The future of the Empire! The foundation of twenty legions!

"I can't fight, and I can't give him up..."

Li Cang's fingers tapped frantically on the control console.

"In that case, I can only... execute the 'Oracle Declaration' protocol."

He pulled up the data of the Blood of the Emperor sample that he had been treasuring like a holy relic.

Then he pulled up the incomplete but extremely similar gene fluctuation profile just scanned from that golden infant.

"C-19."

Li Cang's voice became unprecedentedly solemn and sacred, as if he himself were the god seated upon the Golden Throne.

"Do not fire."

"This is not spoils of war."

"He is... the 'Prince'."

"The lost scion of the Emperor."

"Now, execute the 'Kinship Recognition Protocol'."

...[Moon - Underground Gene Vault]

C-19 was stunned.

Prince? Scion of the Emperor?

His logic core was nearly overwhelmed by this massive amount of information in an instant.

But he did not question it. Because it was an oracle from the 'Emperor'.

He stowed his Bolter.

Then, under the shocked gazes of all the First Legion warriors, he slowly and solemnly knelt on one knee toward the cultivation tank, bowing his proud head.

"First Legion, C-19."

"Welcomes... the return of my Lord."

Though the Astartes behind him were puzzled, the absolute obedience etched into their genes made them make the same choice.

*Clang—*

Dozens of black-armored giants knelt on one knee simultaneously.

The scene was like a most sacred coronation ceremony.

And the golden infant in the cultivation tank seemed to sense something.

In those indifferent golden eyes, a ripple appeared for the first time.

He reached out a tiny hand, pointing at C-19 through the thick crystal wall.

BOOM!!!

The blast door of the gene vault was violently breached. Archmagos Ul-02 rushed in with a group of murderous Skitarii.

"Blasphemers! Hand over the sacred..."

His words caught in his throat. Because he saw this inconceivable scene before him.

A group of black Astartes were prostrating themselves before a cultivation tank radiating golden light.

And the 'thing' inside that cultivation tank was emitting a familiar yet strange... sacred aura that made their logic circuits tremble.

"This is..."

Ul-02's electronic eyes flickered frantically, trying to analyze everything before him.

C-19 slowly stood up and turned to face him.

The previous coldness was gone from his face, replaced by a sacred, unquestionable majesty.

"Archmagos."

"You misunderstand."

"We are not here to rob this place."

C-19 pointed to the cultivation tank behind him.

"We are here to... welcome His Highness the Holy Son."

He sent an encrypted data stream directly to Ul-02's receiver. The content of that data stream was simple.

On one side was the genetic fingerprint of the Blood of the Emperor.

On the other side was the genetic fingerprint of this golden infant.

Between the two, the core gene sequence matching degree was extremely high.

"Logic... contradiction..."

"Data... incomprehensible..."

Ul-02's processor completely crashed.

The scion of... the omnissiah?

A son of the omnissiah, created by flesh-and-blood heretics?

In the creed of the Adeptus Mechanicus, this was the highest level of heresy, and also the highest level of holy relic!

What should he do? Execute the 'Purification Protocol' and destroy this blasphemous creation?

But that would be equivalent to deicide. Or execute the 'Recovery Protocol' and study this living holy relic?

But that would also be equivalent to sacrilege.

"He is not a 'sample', Archmagos."

C-19's voice was like a final judgment.

"He is 'His Highness'."

"The successor in whom flows the blood of the omnissiah."

"The future master of your... Mars."

"Now, do you intend to raise a hand against your master?"

Ul-02's mechanical claws trembled violently.

The Skitarii behind him were already at a loss, their guns raised and then lowered.

Ultimately, this Archmagos who had lived for thousands of years made the most difficult and only correct decision of his life.

He issued a new command:

"Seal the site. Designate this area as a top-level forbidden zone."

"Invite the Divine Envoy and... 'His Highness', back to the Mars Ark together for the highest level of 'protective research'."

His massive body, driven by anti-gravity devices, slowly and laboriously descended.

All his mechanical tentacles retracted into his body. He bowed that head composed of alloy and crystal.

"Praise... the omnissiah."

"Mars... shall ensure... His Highness the Holy Son... is absolutely safe."