"The Archangel showed us Ashford's future."
Mont lit an lho cigarette in the shack outside the mutant settlement and leaned back in a chair made of discarded synth-wood.
"Mont."
Marquite reached out, took the lho cigarette from Mont's mouth, and extinguished the Mars with his fingers.
Before Mont could speak, Marquite glanced at Joan, who was next to Alexander, and said:
"There's a child here. A child's life is precious. Don't poison them with lho cigarettes."
Facing Marquite's gentle gaze hidden behind his messy horns, Joanseemed to recoil in disgust, shrinking behind Alexander.
Marquite merely assumed the child was afraid of his mutant appearance.
"Is this your daughter? You have a daughter already? Where's the mother?" Mont smacked his lips, trying to savor the taste of the lho cigarette he had just had.
"I picked her up from the junkyard," Alexander said, patting Joan's somewhat dry hair.
He had indeed picked her up from the junkyard, though the method was a bit violent.
"The child's body doesn't look very healthy, and she's accumulated a lot of fatigue… This won't do for a father!"
Marquite looked at Joan, shook his head somewhat sternly, and said:
"Being a good father is very important."
"I completely agree," Alexander nodded in approval.
Marquite nodded slightly: "I won't criticize your family matters, but if this child gets sick, you can come to me. I know some medical arts."
Joan trembled in fear.
Medical arts? Nurgle's medical arts, which allow humans and viruses to coexist?
Alexander muttered in his heart, then shook his head.
Marquite sighed, no longer insisting: "Let's talk about serious matters then."
"You said you don't believe in the Emperor, so we can be frank."
Marquite spread his arms, revealing his upper body, which was covered in rot, ulcers, and pustules.
These disgusting signs of disease formed three interwoven rings on Marquite's body, resembling a giant fly-like lump or boil.
Tapeworms, poisonous mites, and maggots were constantly born, died, rotted, and reborn within these three rings, repeating the endless cycle of life.
"Ah!"
Joan let out a sharp wail, as if she had seen something extremely repulsive, and completely hid behind Alexander.
"Don't be afraid!"
Marquite said in a low and gentle voice:
"The god I serve is a benevolent god, far more benevolent than the Emperor."
"He lacks the Emperor's cruelty and prejudice; He loves all life equally and benevolently, seeking the coexistence of all beings and spirits."
"He is the Father of Life, the Lord of Healing, the God of Peace, Compassion, Happiness, and Care. He has blessed me!"
"Rotten bloated fatty, disgusting virus aggregate, old man addicted to being a father," Joan whispered behind Alexander.
He wondered who taught her those words.
Alexander merely nodded at Marquite: "Very impressive, very impressive."
Marquite lowered his head and said softly: "We are all His children, and all beings are our brothers."
"I think you've guessed it; the Archangel I spoke of is not that Archangel of Baal."
"The Archangels I speak of are the messengers of the Father God, eternally joyful Holy Spirits, and they showed me Ashford's future."
"Wait." Alexander raised a hand to interrupt Marquite.
He said calmly: "Are you going to say next…"
"…that you saw a group of insect-like monsters falling from the stars, devouring the entire Ashford?"
Marquite was stunned for a moment, and Mont, sitting nearby, couldn't help but blink.
"How do you know everything?"
Mont said with some vigilance:
"The Archangels warned us to be wary of people who know too much, and even more wary of things that are blue, related to nine, and have feathers. You…"
Mont scrutinized Alexander, seemingly trying to find anything blue, the number nine, or feathers on him.
Alexander's mouth twitched.
How did he know? Wasn't this all a trope?
He even suspected now whether all Ashfordians knew that the Tyranid hive Fleet was coming.
"Don't worry, the blue-feathered bird you mentioned has already been dealt with by me in the Upper hive," Alexander said, waving his hand.
"Dealt with?" Mont raised an eyebrow beneath his horns.
"I sold it," Alexander said with a slight chuckle.
"Sold it?" Mont's eyes held doubt, but Alexander just gave a perfunctory smile.
He also didn't find anything on Alexander that warranted suspicion, so he withdrew his wary gaze.
"Since you know those soulless beasts are about to descend, you must also know the poor creatures they drive and control, right?"
Marquite nodded slightly, looking at Alexander and asking.
"genestealer, the Four-Armed God-Emperor Cult, right?" Alexander counter-questioned.
"It seems we have common enemies."
A look of relief appeared on Marquite's face; the worms in his festering flesh also seemed to twist their bodies in joy.
"What about you? What's your purpose? To help us fight the Four-Armed God-Emperor Cult?" Mont asked, looking at Alexander.
Alexander pulled Joan, who was hiding behind him, out, then met Mont's gaze and asked: "Where's the map I asked for?"
"Here."
Mont took out a crude scroll made of some kind of animal hide from his pocket.
The scroll unfurled on the table, revealing a hand-drawn map. Though somewhat rough, it was detailed enough to show various parts of the entire Bottom Nest.
The entire Bottom Nest was built around the early abandoned pipelines of the hive city. These abandoned pipelines were complex and narrow like a labyrinth, occupying most of the Bottom Nest.
No one knew how many complex passages and hidden areas the Bottom Nest truly had.
This map only marked the areas that Mont and his group had already explored.
However, near the center of the map, there was an unusually spacious and neat area, like a cleared space within a tangle of complex lines.
Alexander patted Joan's head, signaling her to use her precognitive abilities to find the location of the Warp Engine.
Joan's hazy, fawn-like eyes looked at the map.
Her eyes seemed to be flickering with points of light.
Mont's throat moved; he seemed a little uncomfortable.
The worms on Marquite's body also seemed to feel fear, curling up in his flesh.
The two exchanged a bewildered and surprised glance.
"Here…"
Joan pointed to the wide area near the center of the map, even precisely pointing to a building within that wide area.
"Some kind of precognitive ability?" Marquite looked at Joan with a hint of surprise.
"Where is this?" Alexander patted Joan's head with one hand and took another large melon seed from his four-dimensional pocket with the other, giving it to her.
This time, Alexander helped her crack it open.
Joan hid behind Alexander like a hamster, secretly nibbling on the melon seed.
Mont looked at the map, then at Alexander, and said:
"…This is the First District, Ashford's first human settlement."