Chapter 56: The Cold Sun
After arranging matters, Lucan returned to his room in the palace.
Two days of non-stop administrative work had left his head spinning. Truly sitting in the position of a ruler in Warhammer, Lucan keenly felt the hardship involved.
"No wonder those High Lords all die of exhaustion. A single planet has this many problems, to say nothing of the innumerable worlds within the Imperium. Relying on manpower to handle all this is just absurd. No amount of life-extension treatments would be enough! To be able to keep sitting in that position… loyal, truly, utterly loyal!"
Lying on the bed, Lucan couldn't fall asleep for a long time. His mind was filled with thoughts of the Genestealer Cult that might be in the underhive.
Since he couldn't sleep, Lucan closed his eyes, wanting to observe his projection in the Warp.
The acquisition of a large amount of Psy-crystals, coupled with getting a piece of the Machine Cult's faith, made Lucan want to see if his psychic projection had undergone any changes.
However, when Lucan closed his eyes and linked his consciousness to his Warp projection, a giant, dark, and cold sun occupied his entire field of vision.
That sun just hung there, motionless, next to his Warp projection.
"This… this… It's not that you weren't watching me, and your holy icon wasn't unresponsive… you were waiting for me here?"
Lucan certainly knew what this cold sun represented; it was the God-Emperor's manifestation in the Warp.
Lucan had seen it from afar when he first arrived in the Warhammer universe, passing through that transport channel.
But observing this cold sun at such close range, Lucan truly appreciated how powerful it was.
It was the agglomeration of the faith of countless humans from across the entire Warhammer galaxy.
The sun continuously radiated a massive amount of golden psychic energy. Even though the Emperor wasn't deliberately releasing it, the sheer scale of it terrified Lucan.
At this moment, Lucan's projection's ability to devour Warp power also came into play.
Compared to the free-floating energies of the Warp, filled with negative emotions, the power emanating from the Emperor was much purer.
As he continuously absorbed it, Lucan found his projection directly grew by a whole size. But not long after, as if it were full, it could no longer absorb any more psychic energy. The projection even seemed to be faintly veiled in a layer of gold.
Lucan didn't know if his Xel'Naga projection, if it continued to develop, could also become like the Emperor's sun, or even surpass it. But right now, his projection was far too weak before the cold sun…
If the Emperor wished it, he could completely devour him, and Lucan would have no room to resist.
"Emperor, are you there? Your venerable self, what do you want with me? I am loyal!" Lucan asked tentatively.
Lucan knew the Emperor could definitely hear him. Since He could influence humans in the material universe through various means such as dreams and possession, his consciousness would only be clearer here in the Warp.
For the Emperor on the Golden Throne, the Warp was his home turf.
And this cold sun wouldn't have appeared beside him for no reason.
Lucan guessed the Emperor probably had no killing intent towards him; otherwise, he would have been eliminated long ago.
And with Lucan's call, the sun really did seem to react slightly.
Lucan just felt an idea appear in his mind.
And the content of this idea made Lucan want to cry…
The Emperor said He was very satisfied with this pure human soul from another world. Although Lucan's Warp projection was very special, He was very fond of Lucan's ability to devour and purify Warp energy, so He wanted to invite him to Holy Terra as a guest.
The Emperor would spend vast resources, at any cost, to make Lucan powerful, and then have Lucan sit on that "Golden Toilet" for him for a while, to help him block the daemons of the Warp constantly trying to bubble up from beneath the throne.
This would free up more of His power to look after humanity in the material universe.
You've got to be kidding me! Lucan didn't want to become a toilet seat cover, nor did he want to become a withered corpse… Whether he would die was unknown, but he would definitely go mad.
Being drained 24/7 without a break, who could withstand that?
Watching the cold sun draw ever closer, Lucan was truly panicked.
He shouted at the sun.
"Wait! I really can't sit on the Golden Throne for you! But I have technology for long-distance travel without needing the Warp! It can be achieved without relying on the Webway!
Even if I sit on the Golden Throne for you for a while, letting you get up and stretch your legs, you can't fundamentally change the Imperium of Man. And it's not even certain if you'll still be you after you get up. But this technology is different!"
When Lucan finished speaking, the cold sun actually began to release an unparalleled brilliance.
The immense psychic power almost dissipated Lucan's Warp projection.
If humanity truly no longer needed to rely on the Warp for FTL travel, then mutants like Navigators and Astropaths would no longer be essential for maintaining the vast human empire.
The Emperor could then perhaps, without any worries, attempt to use genetic technology to eliminate psionic mutations in future human generations, thus completely severing the human race from psionic abilities.
Deprived of humanity's positive and negative emotions, the Chaos Gods in the Warp would also be weakened on an epic scale.
Although this process would be very long and would take the efforts of countless generations, at least there would be hope, right?
However, the Navigator Houses and the Astropaths would surely do everything in their power to prevent such a thing from happening.
All their wealth came from the Imperium's dependence on them. Once this jump drive technology appeared, they would be completely abandoned by the Imperium.
An intent from the Emperor once again appeared in Lucan's mind.
"Human from another world, is what you say true?"
"Of course, it's true!"
"Where exactly are you from… What is your dimension like? Do you also have a Warp there?"
"Uh… I don't know if there's a Warp, but I've certainly never seen any gods. The country I lived in advocated materialism!"
"No Warp… no gods… materialism… how wonderful."
"Wait a minute… weren't you the one who conscripted me here?"
"Conscripted? No. I do not yet have the ability to break through dimensional barriers. But I have indeed heard some voices from other dimensions. Those voices piously said they wanted to come and serve me.
Although I don't know why people from other dimensions would believe in me, if I had the ability, I would definitely let them come here to strive for humanity's great cause!
But I have also heard some blasphemous voices from that world. Have the people of that world also been corrupted by Slaanesh?"
The Emperor's voice echoed in Lucan's mind.
"Alright, alright, the loyalists and those with heretical nicknames have all been noticed by the Emperor. If you guys really get pulled into this world, don't come crying!" Lucan prayed for his fellow netizens in his heart. After all, when asked, they were all loyal, but when it came time to act, none would show.
"I also know about actions that Chaos or other xenos might take against the Imperium! I can tell you!"
But just as Lucan was about to speak, he was immediately stopped.
"I only need to know, does the Imperium still exist? Has humanity perished?"
"That, no. The Imperium still exists. Humanity's population is still the largest. But life… is definitely not good. But extinction? That's impossible!" Lucan said in his heart.
As long as GW is still around, the Imperium will never be written out of existence in this lifetime, rest assured!
"That is enough. If I were to change certain destined futures based on this unknown prophecy, who knows what uncontrollable events might occur. Certain changes… are what Tzeentch loves most."
(End of Chapter)