A gaunt man brushed past Alexander.
He pulled out the crude automatic pistol hidden under his clothes and squeezed the trigger, aiming at the genestealer bishop on the tower cart.
Bang!!!
The smell of gunpowder filled Alexander's nostrils, flashes of fire lit up the corner of his eyes, and heat spread across his cheeks.
Panicked sounds erupted from the surrounding crowd, and the thick smoke temporarily obscured Alexander's vision.
Assassination? Someone wants to assassinate the genestealer bishop?
Could this be a repeat of what happened with the legendary assassin Yamagami Tetsuya in the third millennium of humanity?
This was the first thought that popped into Alexander's head.
He instantly felt it was too reckless; fighting a powerful psykers with just a homemade automatic pistol?
The genestealer bishop wouldn't open her heart so easily.
Then, through the slightly thinning smoke, Alexander saw the genestealer Guardian standing in the distance, cloaked in a grey-brown robe.
He stood motionless, staring in this direction.
Alexander paused, then looked at the assassin who had fired the shot next to him.
The assassin hadn't covered his face, and his gaunt face showed no hatred for the genestealer bishop; instead, he looked nervously and worriedly at the tower cart.
Fake!
This assassination was fake!
The assassination itself was arranged by the genestealer!
Why would they arrange this assassination?
Could it be that —
Alexander's mind raced, and an idea instantly popped up.
Above the tower cart,
The genestealer bishop slowly stood up. She was unharmed. She turned her head to look at the assassin who had shot her.
Under the astonished gaze of the surrounding residents, the genestealer bishop slowly spread her arms.
"The Four-Armed Emperor whispered in my ear, allowing me to avoid disaster and continue spreading His gospel."
"Sinner, how dare you obstruct this sacred duty?"
The moment her voice rang out, a feeling of conviction arose in everyone's hearts.
"What kind of trick is this?" Mont subtly covered his head, sensing the psychic power mixed in the voice.
He noticed that Joan and Alexander were unaffected.
"Seducer's Whisper."
The same trick as Reyna, a ploy to project will with psychic power and manipulate minds.
Alexander already had resistance to it.
Joan seemed to have it too.
After all, her spirit might have been tempered by the strongest psyker of the current era.
Alexander narrowed his eyes, watching the bishop and the assassin continue their act.
The assassin feigned surprise, retreated a few steps, and aimed the automatic pistol at the genestealer bishop again.
Bang!!!
A bullet whistled out, once again flying towards the genestealer bishop.
The genestealer bishop merely waved her sleeve, and an invisible wave of air rippled in front of her.
The bullet seemed to have shot into a viscous gel, slowly decelerating in mid-air and stopping.
The residents present all held their breath, watching this almost miraculous scene.
"I have the protection of the Four-Armed Emperor, sinner! You won't harm me —"
"Damn it! Bastard! How dare you assassinate the bishop!"
Before the genestealer bishop could finish speaking, an angry curse erupted from beside the assassin.
The assassin turned his head, somewhat bewildered; this wasn't in the script —
Then he saw a shoe sole getting bigger and bigger, kicking him in the face.
Amidst the bewildered gazes of the surrounding crowd and the genestealer bishop, Alexander rushed out from the crowd and kicked the assassin in the head.
"How dare you assassinate the messenger of His Majesty, the Four-Armed Emperor!"
"If you dare assassinate the bishop today, you'll dare assassinate the Emperor tomorrow!"
"Heretic! You're damn dead!"
Alexander cursed vehemently, kicking the assassin repeatedly in the face, making him howl in pain.
The nearby residents were frightened by Alexander's fanatical actions and dared not approach for a while.
Even the genestealer bishop didn't react immediately, and the genestealer Guardian was too far away.
They watched in bewilderment as Alexander pulled out a dagger from who-knows-where.
Before the assassin could react, he plunged the dagger into his neck, pulled his head close to his ear, and said,
"Deep breaths, deep breaths, don't be scared."
"Dizziness is normal."
Alexander whispered in the assassin's ear, then deftly pulled out the dagger.
The assassin's pupils dilated, and he immediately fell to the ground, dead.
"Pah!"
Alexander spat on the assassin's face and kicked his head.
The air was deadly silent.
Joan blinked her deer-like eyes in confusion; this was completely beyond her predictions.
Mont's mouth hung open, like a fool, he looked around, not understanding what Alexander was doing.
The genestealer bishop was equally bewildered. How did the person she sent to pretend to be an assassin die?
And who was this man?
Golden hair, a rather imposing face, which even made the genestealer bishop feel a little intimidated.
Could he just be a fanatical follower of the Four-Armed Emperor?
The genestealer bishop's thoughts were muddled, but the reactivity brought by genetic modification kicked in.
She took a step forward and shouted loudly:
"A devout believer has punished the assassin for me!"
"The Four-Armed Emperor will bless him, and he shall be rewarded!"
Saying this, the bishop looked at Alexander, giving him a gentle smile and a nod:
"Devout follower, after the sermon is over, I will listen to your faith."
"Now, return to the crowd."
As she spoke, the bishop used Seducer's Whisper.
Alexander was unaffected, but still smiled slightly and returned to the crowd.
"What were you doing just now?"
Mont quickly leaned close to Alexander and asked in a low voice:
"Could it be that the assassination was self-directed?"
He vaguely sensed something was off, but the surrounding residents didn't.
They fully regarded it as a manifestation of a miracle, becoming even more fanatical.
Alexander nodded slightly to Mont, indicating he had guessed correctly.
Mont's expression froze for a moment.
He was stunned by Alexander's quick reaction.
"As soon as you realized this assassination was fake, you immediately decided to kill the assassin, making the bishop suffer a silent loss, and at the same time, making her believe you're a fanatical believer?"
Mont couldn't help but click his tongue.
Alexander had acted in the blink of an eye, easily gaining an opportunity to speak with the genestealer bishop face-to-face.
His initiative and reaction speed were simply too strong.
Alexander nodded slightly, pretending to be devout as he looked at the genestealer bishop on the tower cart.
This bishop began her sermon, her voice, full of seductive power, amplified through the loudspeakers of the surrounding missionaries.
"The Day of Ascension is near! The great Divine Emissary, the exalted First Prophet, has arrived in the First District!"
The genestealer bishop shouted loudly:
"Believers! The time for final salvation has come!"
"Convert to our true faith, and the First Prophet will personally baptize you!"
"You will become the ladder to welcome the Ascension, and your souls will be saved!"
The First Prophet? Divine Emissary? Personal baptism?
Hearing these words, Alexander paused slightly.
The patriarch of the genestealer was in the First District, and he was going to personally inject corrupted genes into the new converts?