123: Chapter 123 The Ring of Six Desires

Consort Cheng Yu originally thought that recruiting a group of people to serve as envoys to the Slaanesh Court would take a long time. Unexpectedly, while the esteemed officials in the imperial court were all terrified of it, the people in the Hive City were eager to sign up. One could only say that there were too many clones pursuing progress.

In just a few days, the delegation was assembled. This was even after a simple screening examination; otherwise, the number of people might have been five times what it was now.

Considering that anyone who steps into the palace of Slaanesh must endure the trials of the Six Rings of Slaanesh, Consort Cheng Yu was targeted in his selection. He basically chose clones who had a certain social status, no bad habits—or even no hobbies at all—and were already married. Those who had married a Slaanesh Nun were given special priority.

Furthermore, the Empire wasn't just letting them go like that. The research institute had recently developed a new drug. After taking one, a person's interest in all surrounding sensory stimuli would drop. Eating? No appetite. Listening to music? It sounds like noise. Dancing? Too lazy to move. Seeing a beautiful woman? So what? I am a scholar... The sustained-release effect lasts for seventy-two hours.

The delegation of over three hundred people boarded the black ship that would traverse Warp. Not to mention how they were all a mess, dizzy and vomiting along the way, at least everyone persevered. They were, after all, clones with a certain social status.

The Slaanesh Court had arrived.

The palace of the Prince of Pleasure, Slaanesh, floated in the deepest part of Warp. Its entire body was built from treasures of indescribable magnificence and skulls of indescribable appearance. The outer walls were made of constantly proliferating flesh-pink nerve cords, pulsing like blood vessels.

The spires spiraled and twisted, piercing the sky. Hanging from the tower tips were elongated metal statues that emitted high-frequency shrieks.

The air was filled with a sweet, cloying, rot-like fragrance. The ground was as soft as a tongue coating, and every step oozed with some unknown, viscous liquid.

The perimeter of the palace was surrounded by a six-layered Mobius strip-shaped labyrinth. Each layer was spliced together from different pale limbs, eternally staging the paradox of bliss and torture.

Many of the over three hundred envoys had shared a bed with a Slaanesh Nun. Although they felt a chill in their hearts upon seeing this terrifying sight, fortunately, they didn't embarrass themselves and didn't faint.

"Everyone, take your medicine!"

Following Consort Cheng Yu's order, the clones began to take out their medicine bottles to take their pills. In addition to the desire-suppressing drugs distributed by the Imperial Research Institute, these clones had also purchased various inhibitors that were said to be life-saving. Some were even bought from Slaanesh churches; since they had paid protection money, they should be treated with a little courtesy, right?

The gate to the Slaanesh Court was an indescribable thing. The clones were all decent people, so naturally, they didn't examine it closely and just filed inside one after another.

The first ring, the Ring of Greed.

Here, there were all kinds of jade, jewelry, Moutai, graphics cards, Hecheng Tianxia cigarettes, resuscitation ventilators, the Heart of the Ocean, and so on... As the number of clones flooding in increased, the illusions appearing within the Ring of Greed became increasingly tailored to the hobbies of Cheng Yu's clones.

Fortunately, everyone knew this was fake. Furthermore, after Cheng Yu split extensively—two becoming four, four becoming eight, and so on—the clones developed a large number of hobbies that the original body did not originally have. This led to more and more things appearing, with an increasingly chaotic variety.

What Clone A found interesting, Clone B might not even recognize. After a large amount of supplies appeared, the dizzying array of goods meant that most people were not blinded by greed. A few who wanted to reach out and grab the Moutai were slapped awake by others.

First trial, passed by everyone.

The second ring, the Ring of Gluttony. This level was very simple; everyone had come full, and they had taken so many inhibitors that they felt like vomiting just smelling the scent of food and alcohol, so they passed smoothly as well.

And to be honest, this level wasn't as formidable as the previous one. The previous level could peer into the human heart and create wealth illusions specific to the individual. But this level... perhaps Slaanesh thought that people from small places wouldn't have seen much in the way of fine cuisine, so the illusion given to everyone was the same... Warhammer-style food.

How should one describe those things? They looked lively and wild, very suitable for hosting guests to save face, but not suitable for eating. At the very least, they didn't look as appetizing as KFC.

The third level, the Ring of Lust. This level returned to the customized difficulty of the first level. The delegation, which had been orderly and cooperative, was suddenly scattered.

Consort Cheng Yu scanned the area, and with a rough count, almost every beautiful woman he had ever seen in his past and present lives appeared, whether they were real or from fictional works. There were even male characters from fictional works; he didn't even know he was that perverted.

More than half of the Cheng Yus Clones were left behind on this level. Fortunately, the Empire and Slaanesh had an agreement in advance. After these people suffered here, they would be thrown back to the Empire by the Slaanesh demons. At worst, they would be missing an arm or a leg, but they could save their lives.

Consort Cheng Yu was extremely fortunate. First, a small portion of people actually had firm wills and made it through, so he would have an explanation for His Majesty the Emperor upon returning. Second, the illusion that appeared before him was truly his wife, Aria, so he would also have an explanation for his wife upon returning.

The Slaanesh Ring's method of achieving the best of both worlds—betraying neither the Emperor nor his wife. Consort Cheng Yu did not lose control before the illusion of Aria. The love was real, but the body's inability was also real.

The fourth ring, the Ring of Dominion. This ring did not leave anyone behind. Saying earlier that these clones had a certain social status was actually a humble way of putting it; these clones were actually elites from all walks of life, and on average, they each had ten thousand people to manage.

They had long since enjoyed the so-called majesty of dominion. Now, all that remained was the torment of power. Every day upon opening their eyes, they had to figure out how to arrange food and drink for ten thousand people. If they couldn't manage it, others would wipe the smiles off their faces and let them die by a thousand cuts. You say you want to escape, but you are destined to land here.

The fifth ring, the Ring of Vanity. Although this ring was also customized, it was still useless against the clones.

Because the Empire's achievements were all attained under the leadership of His Majesty. Even if they had ability and means, it was all due to the boundless good fortune of His Majesty. If you kept trying to butter up His Majesty in front of me, I could only say, "Yes, yes, yes, you're right, you're right." But expecting me to fall into depravity because of this was just too ridiculous.

The sixth ring, the Ring of Ease. Consort Cheng Yu fell. He just wanted to sit down and take a short break; after all, he had walked for so long and endured so many trials, so what was wrong with sitting on the ground and resting for a moment?

Then he fell into a deep sleep. No matter if the deputy envoy slapped his face, pinched his philtrum, used an electric baton, or poured medicine into him, it was useless; Consort Cheng Yu simply would not wake up.

Deputy Envoy Cheng Yu was anxious. He turned his head and wanted to call for someone to help, but discovered that he was the only one still standing.

Except for himself, everyone else was sleeping peacefully.