In a small room in the settlement, Alexander met the genestealer bishop.
As a reward for Alexander, a devout believer, punishing the "assassin," he was granted an audience with the bishop after the sermon.
Mont and Joan also followed him.
The bald bishop, with her beautiful face and slightly upturned eyes, was observing Alexander with a gentle gaze.
Alexander, with his serious and handsome face from the Ultramarines Primarch Guilliman, sat solemnly opposite the bishop.
His face exuded authority, inspiring awe, and an outsider might even think he was the one in charge of the room.
"Devout believer, the Four-Armed Emperor has witnessed your righteous deed. Now… tell me your name."
As the bishop spoke, she used Seducer's Whisper, projecting her will into Alexander's mind, attempting to control him.
Alexander feigned a dazed look, pretending to be affected by the Seducer's Whisper, his thoughts racing.
My name?
Alexander? My real name won't do.
Leman Russ? That sounds too easily suspicious.
Sanguinius would be even more suspicious!
Alexander blinked lightly and said without hesitation:
"My name is… Neoth."
"Neoth, a devout believer of the Four-Armed Emperor!"
Alexander declared with a booming voice, emphasizing the name Neoth.
As he spoke, he struck a pose of devout prayer.
Joan, standing beside Alexander, twitched her eye imperceptibly, barely managing to keep her expression straight.
The name Neoth was one of the Emperor's earliest names; he once used it to woo women.
Of course, it was impossible for the genestealer bishop of the Four-Armed God-Emperor Cult to know this.
"Neoth, devout believer, you punished the sinner in your own way, proving your faith."
The bishop nodded approvingly and continued:
"Are these two your family?"
The bishop looked at Joan and Mont,
lingering for a moment on Mont's horns.
"Yes, this is my brother, and this is my daughter."
Alexander pointed to Mont and Joan respectively, saying:
"They are both devout believers, faithful to the true God in their hearts."
As he spoke, Mont and Joan both cooperatively bowed their heads in prayer.
Alexander and the bishop followed suit.
As for who they were praying to, and whether it was the same entity, that was another matter.
The four people in this room probably had four vastly different faiths.
Mont prayed to Nurgle, Joan prayed to the Emperor, the bishop prayed to the Four-Armed Emperor,
Alexander pretended to pray to a flying spaghetti monster.
After a brief prayer and silence, the bishop looked at Alexander and the two behind him with a scrutinizing gaze.
"Devout believer, how did you come to understand the true faith and follow the guidance of the Four-Armed Emperor?"
This was asking Alexander why he believed in the Four-Armed Emperor.
Alexander pondered for a moment, feigning to organize his thoughts, then said:
"My brother didn't choose to become a mutant."
As he spoke, Alexander sadly patted Mont's shoulder beside him.
Mont blinked blankly.
"Was becoming a mutant his fault? Before he was seven or eight, we were just ordinary children in the hive city."
"My father was a small foreman in the hive city, quite wealthy in the Lower Nest, and my mother was a kind and devout good person."
Alexander said with deep sorrow in his voice:
"When my brother's scalp bled and swelled, she frantically applied medicine for him."
"But when the swelling broke, revealing horns, she went mad."
"She tried to file off my brother's horns with a file. When that failed, she even tried to chop them off directly with a knife or pull them out with pliers."
"If I hadn't protected him, he might be dead by now."
As he spoke, Alexander sadly patted Mont.
Mont's body twitched uncontrollably, suppressing the urge to punch Alexander.
Alexander had basically just adapted what Mont had told Joan, replacing Marquite's role with his own.
The story's source was absolutely true and credible; even the genestealer bishop in front of them was moved.
She seemed to interpret Mont's trembling as a genuine emotional response.
"When my mother discovered that my brother's horns couldn't be removed, she completely lost her mind."
"She stuffed my brother into the sewer, and me along with him for protecting him."
"Just because she suspected I might also have a hidden mutation. If we hadn't been lucky, we might have died."
Alexander took a deep breath, his face filled with sorrow:
"Contaminated water, toxic food or air, the toxic light of the star—any of these could have triggered my brother's mutation."
"But what did he do wrong?"
Alexander vigorously patted Mont's back several times.
Mont gritted his teeth, suppressing his emotional fluctuations, and nodded in cooperation with Alexander.
His distressed expression made the bishop believe him even more.
This was clearly a painful expression of not wanting to recall that past,
further proving the truth of Alexander's account.
"Since my brother did nothing wrong, why wouldn't the Emperor accept him?"
Alexander's tone became questioning, as if he were questioning the Emperor himself:
"When I learned about the Four-Armed God-Emperor Cult, I had an epiphany, I awakened!"
"It turns out the Two-Armed Emperor is false faith, heresy, a shameless and cruel oppression of mutants."
"Only the Four-Armed Emperor is the true faith, the embodiment of all-encompassing tolerance!"
Alexander spoke with such passion that the bishop couldn't help but stand up and exclaim, "Oh, devout believer, you will no longer be lost."
"Because you have found the true faith, and believed in the great God."
"Once you receive baptism, you will be able to hear the voice of the Four-Armed Emperor and become one with us."
As she spoke, the bishop made another devout prayer gesture and asked:
"Do you desire a reward, devout believer?"
"Loyalty needs no reward; loyalty itself is the reward."
Alexander humbly lowered his head:
"If I were to speak presumptuously: it would be the hope of receiving the blessing of the First Prophet, to be baptized by him."
The bishop was clearly stunned by Alexander's words, then she nodded with satisfaction:
"That is not a reward; now every devout believer can receive this honor, to receive the baptism of the First Prophet."
"You will contribute everything to the Four-Armed Emperor."
The bishop smiled:
"I will arrange accommodation for you. After the sermon, you will return with me to the First District to receive baptism and blessings."
The First Prophet, the genestealer patriarch, will personally inject corrupting genes into everyone?
Alexander couldn't help but be stunned for a moment.
What exactly happened that made the genestealer patriarch personally corrupt every single person?