49: Chapter 49 The Swordsman Before the Palace is a True Hero

When Seraphie left the interrogation room, her mental state was already abnormal.

Although from the outside, she had only been in the interrogation room for less than a standard hour.

But in Seraphie's own sensory experience, she had spent five whole years listening to songs and watching slideshows in there.

What the other party said and sang filled her head like mental pollution, forcing Seraphie to squeeze out everything about her life from childhood to adulthood, just like toothpaste.

The other party talked from Terra 41K all the way back to Earth 2K, and then traced back further from Earth 2K, talking about Earth's billions of years of biological evolutionary history.

From dinosaurs to anomalocaris, from anomalocaris to dunkleosteus, to the Cambrian explosion, and then the other party's train of thought, like an antelope hanging by its horns, suddenly shifted to a book called "Dream of the Red Chamber."

And the most hateful thing was... the other party stopped talking at the eightieth chapter, leaving Seraphie teary-eyed... and then there was no more content after that.

"Blech..." Seraphie vomited at the entrance of the interrogation room, and Overachiever Cheng Yu hurriedly patted her back.

"Master, watch your step."

Overachiever Cheng Yu supported Seraphie, sending her back while she could only giggle and mutter something about "the predestined affinity of wood and stone, yet in this life, it is him."

The sonic hell of the Followers of Pleasure was indeed well-deserved of its reputation.

If I ever encounter this situation one day... I'd better just give myself a quick death, Overachiever Cheng Yu thought to himself.

Inside the imperial palace hall, the lighting was deliberately dimmed; only a few beams of ghastly white spotlights fell from the dome, illuminating the central aisle as if a heretical mass were about to begin.

At the end of the aisle, Archmagos Ferrum Kanus of the Dark Mechanicum was walking slowly. His arrival itself was like a blasphemous ritual.

The Archmagos's form had long since transcended the category of "human."

His lower body consisted of four pairs of inverted-joint mechanical limbs, like the legs of a giant spider, with sharp tips tapping against the glazed floor, emitting a chilling, sharp friction sound.

Most of his torso was replaced by brass and adamantium mechanical structures, with intricate pipelines wrapping around biological tissues that were still squirming and beating... that might once have been a heart or a lung lobe, now soaked in a transparent nutrient tank, connected to humming pumps and gears.

His left arm was a massive power claw, with finger joints shaped like roaring demon skulls, and eerie green flames burning in the eye sockets;

His right arm was a set of multi-functional precision mechanical tentacles, with the ends flickering with the cold light of scanning probes and energy cutters.

Half of his head was a cold metal skull, with a scarlet mechanical eye ruthlessly scanning everything around him, parsing data streams;

The other half retained atrophied, grayed human facial muscles, with the corner of his mouth forcibly pulled by metal wires into a frozen, eerie smile, and a turbid flesh eye staring blankly ahead.

A low, binary chant mixed with the grinding of gears, the buzzing of electricity, and some kind of inhuman groaning constantly emanated from the speaker grille in his chest; it was his dark prayer to the Machine God at every moment.

"Welcome, Archmagos, to our dynasty. Your arrival brings great honor to my palace."

The patriarch of the Lie Gong Clan, Archer Cheng Yu, sat on the Throne of Thorns.

And the true Cheng Yu was hidden among the warriors in front of the hall. Firstly, this position was more convenient for observing the Archmagos up close, and secondly, Main Body's physical appearance was indeed not imposing enough; he lacked the aura of an overlord that Archer Cheng Yu had forged on the battlefield.

"Your country's cloning technology is truly astonishing. This art of genetic programming discards the shackles of corrupt morality and coincides with our path of seeking the True God."

Both sides exchanged hypocritical pleasantries, but it only lasted for a short while.

The Cheng Yu Empire was surrounded by powerful enemies, and the current situation of the Dark Mechanicum in the galaxy was also as precarious as a pile of eggs.

The Archmagos came to discuss cooperation, or else what, come to look at clones?

Archer Cheng Yu, following the points already instructed by Main Body, discussed the details of the cooperation with the Archmagos one by one.

The Dark Mechanicum would provide technical support; not like the Necrons who only provided finished products, but by actually establishing schools here to impart knowledge.

As long as it did not involve the Dark Mechanicum's core secret technologies, everything else could be taught.

The Cheng Yu Empire guaranteed that, under the premise of respecting the Dark Mechanicum's faith, it would provide them with shelter, labor, and financial support.

The most important point... the Cheng Yu Empire must no longer have any form of cooperation with the so-called "orthodox Adeptus Mechanicus."

Once any "orthodox" Tech-Priests were captured, these prisoners must be handed over to the Dark Mechanicum for processing, and if enough were accumulated, they could be exchanged for high-end technology and xenos artifacts.

The Archmagos even hinted in his words that he possessed technology to grant mortals eternal life, and Archer Cheng Yu, under the command of Cheng Yu, pretended to be very interested.

When the two finished talking, it was already sunset, and the Cheng Yu Empire's battle satellites were looming in the evening sky.

"..." Archmagos Ferrum was considering his wording; he was afraid that being too blunt would hurt Cheng Yu's feelings.

"We really do not understand this satellite, so please, Archmagos, do not hesitate to instruct us."

"Easy, easy." Since Cheng Yu had agreed to many harsh conditions, Ferrum could not be too stingy.

"It is getting late; send the Archmagos to his quarters to rest."

Archer Cheng Yu had finished discussing all the issues on the list and dared not say anything more.

"This way, Archmagos, watch the steps."

Palace Attendant Cheng Yu guided the Archmagos to sit on the Necron hovering vehicle, and Ferrum's mechanical tentacles paused in obvious surprise, but quickly returned to composure.

"What does the Archmagos think of our dynasty's monarch?"

Palace Attendant Cheng Yu held the hovering vehicle, his ghastly pale face filled with a creepy smile.

"Your country's Emperor is exceptionally magnanimous, but there is one man among the guards before the hall holding a power sword; that man is a true hero."

Late at night, Main Body was reviewing official documents.

The interrogation record regarding Seraphie was among them.

Judging from her confession, whether it was Vera, Seraphie herself, or Iron Fist's wife, who was stupid enough to show it on her face, none of them were the commander-in-chief of the empire's spies here.

They had a common superior, but this person was hidden very deeply, and Seraphie did not know the other party's identity either.

She only knew that the other party had arrived on Cheng Yu Planet very early; otherwise, it would be impossible to be so familiar with the environment inside the Hive City.

"Even earlier than Sophia?" Main Body was also puzzled; Sophia had "defected" very early, and there were few people who came earlier than her.

"Vera, do you also not know who that person is?" Main Body asked directly to his beloved concubine, Lady Istvaan, who was hanging on him.

"My dear, I really don't know, the mysterious superior always uses psychic communication to contact us."

Vera had long since defected; being a noble concubine here, beneath one person but above ten thousand, she would have to be crazy to want to go back and be an Inquisitor.