"And so, deceit spread in the imperial court; alchemists concocted poisonous elixirs, and generals grew increasingly hungry for military achievements and war."
Joan, following Alexander and the surging crowd towards the First District, continued her story:
"But even as the passage of time, the burdens of governance, and disagreements with his offspring eroded the Emperor's energy, he remained as ruthless and sharp as a wolf or an eagle."
"He ultimately resisted the most vicious corruption and saw through many of Chaos's schemes."
"He burned corrupted books, buried alive scholars secretly worshipping the Lord of Change, and used ignorance to fend off the erosion of knowledge."
"He executed alchemists who offered false elixirs, refused the plague God's blessings, and instead built large ships to search for the secret of immortality overseas."
"He constructed towering walls spanning the borders, reined in the Blood God's armies, and protected his empire with millennium-old fortifications."
Joan whispered:
"Chaos still constantly plagued him and his empire. He often woke in nightmares at midnight, often sought truth in endless fantasies, and often sifted through bamboo slips for traces of corruption. Chaos inflicted much harm upon his empire, but he still wearily and arduously held on."
"He even overcame the madness constantly pouring from the Empyrean, personally banishing a Great daemon that invaded from the Sea of Souls with an ancient psychic bow."
Personally shot and banished a Great daemon.
Alexander's eye twitched slightly when he heard that sentence.
He seemed to see an Emperor in black standing at the bow of a ship, with waves crashing against it, shooting a Great daemon that invaded reality from the Warp with a psychic-glowing bow.
It was as preposterous as a medieval knight riding a steed, charging to defeat a Void Dragon and imprisoning it on Mars.
Was Ancient Terra really so full of talents?
"But his empire still collapsed," Joan continued, her head bowed. "Not in his hands, but in his son's hands."
Hearing Joan's words, Alexander's urge to complain grew stronger.
An Emperor who ended division, an Expedition for unification.
In the later stages of the Expedition, roads were built to connect the empire, yet it was constantly plagued by Chaos.
Ultimately, this great empire was destroyed by the Emperor's son.
While it was largely true, Alexander, from the perspective of storytelling, felt the Emperor's strong personal emotions.
You're inserting your own bias, you yellow-skinned scoundrel!
"The Emperor resisted the corruption from Chaos throughout his life, struggling to maintain his empire."
"But what he didn't know was that his eighteenth son had already been corrupted and eroded by the three Chaos Gods, imbued with their power."
"He also didn't know that one of his eunuchs was a transformed Lord of Change, waiting to bring chaos to his empire."
"They concealed the Emperor's death, forged a false imperial decree, and sent it to the heir on the empire's border."
"That false imperial decree, in the Emperor's name, demanded the heir commit suicide."
"The Emperor wanted to warn the heir that it was a treacherous plot, but the heir was deceived by the Lord of Change's magic in the false decree and died by suicide."
"The Emperor's empire was thus corrupted by Chaos and plunged into turmoil."
Joan finished the story and looked at Alexander timidly.
Alexander looked at her with interest.
He was very familiar with this story, but the Warhammer world's version had a unique flavor.
"So, is this story trying to tell me something?" Alexander asked, rubbing Joan's head.
"Always be wary of Chaos's corruption, even after death, continue to be wary," Joan said softly, her head down.
Alexander nodded in agreement, then tapped the little bug by his ear: "Did you hear that?"
After a few seconds of silence, the little bug's wings vibrated slightly, forming a sentence:
"What are you talking about? I didn't understand a single word."
Alexander paused, then remembered he had just communicated with Joan in english.
Mont couldn't understand it at all.
"We were praising your intelligence. Joan had nothing but praise for you, and she advised me to trust you more."
"I don't believe a word you say," Mont cursed.
Then, a commotion came from Mont's side.
"I've already infiltrated the front of the line and can see the First District."
Hearing Mont's voice, Alexander also raised his head and looked into the distance.
The narrow path between the pipes ahead suddenly opened up, revealing a vast underground space.
This space was generally cylindrical, about sixty to seventy meters from the rubble-strewn ground to the pipe-entwined ceiling.
At a glance, it looked like a vertical shaft extending from the ground to the sky.
And in the very center of the shaft was a simple town surrounded by steel walls.
Various weapons and force field generators lined the walls, and some genestealer were patrolling the ramparts.
At the very center of the town was a tall building with a portrait of the Four-Armed Emperor hanging on it. It was square, neatly covered with metal, and looked very futuristic.
The tall building overlooked the First District of Verdian city, Ashford's earliest human colony.
The entire colony's architecture still retained its appearance from ten thousand years ago, uniform and almost perfectly preserved.
No wonder Mont and his forces, despite creating so many plague zombies, still couldn't deal with the genestealer.
A colony with perfectly preserved technological artifacts from before the Great Crusade; not to mention a group of cultists, even a squad of Cadian Shock Troopers probably wouldn't find it easy to breach.
If they attacked forcefully, they would probably be blasted to smithereens by the high-tech weapons on the city walls.
Without using the Geller Iron plague, Mont and his Nurgle followers would absolutely be unable to defeat the genestealer.
A strange look appeared in Alexander's eyes.
But if Mont and his forces were willing to perform large-scale sacrifices to summon the Geller Iron plague…
The Geller Iron plague could cause infected individuals to merge with surrounding metal and machinery, forming special zombies.
In a place like the First District, filled with many ancient technological artifacts, it would be unstoppable.
With the genestealer' flesh and ten-thousand-year-old technological artifacts, Alexander could easily imagine how powerful the resulting Iron plague zombies would be.
Yet, in Alexander's memory,
When the Tyranids arrived at Ashford, the entire Verdian city didn't have a single plague zombie.
Could it be that Mont and Marquite were so easily crushed by the genestealer?
The triangular sword, sacrificed from the entire Old Eight District, also seemed to be missing.
Just as Alexander was pondering whether the butterfly effect he brought had altered Ashford's historical trajectory,
The little bug by his ear began to vibrate its wings, transmitting Mont's voice:
"I've entered the First District. I'm currently mixed in with the first batch of believers receiving baptism."