The yellow sand stretched endlessly. Thanks to Mephiston's continuous Psyker teleportations, Alexander didn't take much time to return to the vicinity of Angel Keep.
The entire Angel Keep had been renovated, and the broken city walls were mostly repaired.
It seemed that at least the transportation between Baal III had been restored, allowing building materials from the two moons to be transported to Baal, enabling the mortals and Blood Angels to begin repairing the damaged defenses.
However, he wondered how much Baal's void power had recovered, and if it had regained the ability for Warp travel.
Outside the city walls, the desert was still covered with a large amount of Water of Thirst. This strange liquid was the most troublesome.
Even a slight touch would extract all moisture, making it extremely difficult to collect.
Many mortals were carefully using various tools to recover the Water of Thirst.
When they saw Alexander and Mephiston approaching, they all stopped their work and bowed respectfully to the two.
Mephiston, the pale wizard with many terrifying legends, was already feared by many mortals, and with Alexander standing beside him, it was even more so.
The story of Alexander returning with Sanguinius had spread to the ears of all mortals and Astartes. Their gazes towards Alexander were almost the same as their gazes towards Sanguinius, filled with an almost fanatical faith and worship.
However, Alexander was looking at the Water of Thirst accumulated on the ground.
The essence of these liquids were extremely tiny nanobot weapons. Alexander could feel the machine spirit within them, and clearly perceive the operational mode of the mechanical structure inside each nanobot.
He could control this Water of Thirst, these ancient nanobots.
While Alexander was pondering this, he suddenly heard a sound coming from the noisy loudspeakers hanging on the city wall, seemingly playing something on a loop.
"What is that?" Mephiston, who was beside Alexander, was also slightly stunned.
A somewhat crude projection device was hanging on the city wall, projecting a series of images that floated in the air, swaying gently in Baal's wind and sand.
An impassioned voice came from the loudspeaker hanging nearby.
"Lord Dante's personal performance."
Baal, filmed from space, appeared in the projection. Two moons silently swept across the void, and the light of the star swept across Baal.
"Baal!"
"Our home!"
"Prosperity, loyalty, the five virtues!"
The image descended, landing on the surface of the main planet, inside Angel Keep.
Dante, dressed in ordinary clothes, walked along the roads within Angel Keep.
Beside him, mortals were cultivating fields in greenhouses, and Blood Angels in scarlet power armor were patrolling.
Dante smiled and reached out to greet a passing Blood Angel patrol.
Then he turned and walked towards a mortal father and son standing nearby.
It was Youji, the water seller, and his son. Here, they seemed to be playing Dante's father and brother.
Their expressions were a little bewildered, as if they didn't understand what they were doing, only acting according to instructions.
"Our way of life."
Dante slowly spread his arms, as if to embrace his father and brother.
"But purity is not without its price—"
A Hormagaunt suddenly appeared from somewhere, inexplicably rushing towards Youji and his son, who were playing Dante's father and brother.
"No!!!"
Dante knelt on the ground with extremely exaggerated acting, letting out a feigned cry of pain:
"No!!! By the Blood of Sanguinius!!! No!!!"
Suddenly, the scene paused, and a line of large yellow text written in Baal's local low gothic appeared: "INVASION"
"Hahaha, does it look familiar?"
Dante suddenly stepped out from the static image, with his extremely abstract howling face as a background, smiling as he looked into the camera and said:
"Such scenes are playing out across the galaxy right now."
"Next, it could be you!"
"Unless, you make the most important choice of your life!"
Dante snapped his fingers, and the scene abruptly changed. He stood beneath a waving Aquila banner, wearing golden power armor, with his helmet tucked under his arm.
A stirring piece of music then began to play.
"Prove to everyone that you have the purity and courage to become a Son of Sanguinius!"
"Join the ranks of the Ninth Legion!"
"Witness the evil xenos lifeforms!"
"Let the Archangel's light benefit the entire galaxy!"
"Become a hero!"
"Become a legend!"
"Become a Blood Angel!"
Subsequently, a line of credits scrolled by.
"Starring: Dante"
"Screenwriter and Planner: Alexander"
"How to apply: Please contact Blood Priest Lord Rodel."
"This film is approved for broadcast by Lord Sanguinius"
Mephiston watched this scene dumbfounded, especially when he noticed that the final credits listed Alexander as the screenwriter and planner.
His gaze shifted slightly to Alexander beside him.
The whole film was indeed inspiring, and at first glance, there seemed to be nothing wrong with it.
But when viewed consecutively, why was it so strange, with a bizarre sense of humor?
Alexander's mouth also twitched slightly.
"How did they actually film it according to this?"
"You can't blame me, Sanguinius asked me to write it."
"He told me that the Blood Angels needed new recruits, but the high mortality rate of the Angelic Trials in the past made mortals afraid to participate."
"He asked me to use my free time to come up with a promotional video that could inspire mortals to participate and also show the approachable side of the Blood Angels. I just thought I'd write something random."
Alexander's original intention was just to create something to get by.
He didn't expect that Dante, acting in Sanguinius' stead, would actually approve this promotional video and even personally participate in its filming???
"..Probably because filming is easier than dealing with paperwork."
Mephiston's eye twitched slightly, and he said somewhat reluctantly:
"Lord Dante probably wanted to give himself a break."
"..Probably, maybe." Alexander nodded slightly.
He felt that old man Dante's mental state wasn't very good.
Could it be that because he had promised that after the Battle of Baal, he would let him retire, but Sanguinius had played a trick on him, stimulating him and causing him mental problems?
He heard that Sanguinius had even dumped all the work of Baal III back onto Dante, while he himself went to other planets to recover usable materials.
As Alexander was thinking, a Saint Blood Guard warrior noticed Alexander and Mephiston.
He leaped down from the city wall and, with the help of his jump pack, reached Alexander and Mephiston in a few steps.
"Lord Alexander, Lord Sanguinius has returned."
"He is currently handling matters in the Red Great Hall and said that when you return, you should go there to discuss some matters with him."
"He said it's related to Robert Guilliman."
Hearing this, Alexander nodded slightly.
Before leaving Angel Keep, Sanguinius had promised Alexander a plan, saying it was related to Guilliman, but he hadn't specified what it was.
"I'll go over after I handle a few things."
Saying that, Alexander slightly extended his arm, his consciousness reaching out to the Water of Thirst on the surrounding desert ground.
The machine spirits of billions of nanobots connected, expressing reverence and joy to Alexander.
"Self/repair/program/activate"
"Authentication/gene/Homo sapiens/unknown gene sequence/fail/error!/pass!"
"Authentication/soul/pass!"
"Authentication/identity/pass!/pass!/pass!"
"Permission level: Golden Man class"
"Produced by Baal Wasteland Industries Ltd.: Water of Thirst Type II Autonomous Replication Nanobot Device, wholeheartedly at your service!"
Under the shocked gazes of the surrounding mortals and Blood Angels, the Water of Thirst suddenly boiled, turning into streams of silver-grey vapor, gathering around Alexander like clouds, and obediently flowing into the pale pocket on Alexander's stomach.
The mortals who had been collecting the Water of Thirst were first stunned in place, then reverently knelt on the ground, bowing and praying to Alexander.
Alexander shook his head somewhat helplessly, and could only use the Portable Pyramid to strengthen his legs, quickening his pace as he walked into Angel Keep.
Alexander, whose speed was enhanced by the Portable Pyramid, walked very quickly, and in no time, he arrived at the entrance of the Red Great Hall, which had been dismantled and rebuilt by Dante.
In front of the closed doors of the Red Great Hall, a Saint Blood Guard member wearing golden power armor and a mask was on guard.
Upon seeing Alexander, he bowed slightly to Alexander, then pressed a mechanism that slightly opened the large doors.
Alexander nodded slightly to him, and then was about to enter.
But at the last moment before entering, Alexander suddenly stopped.
He looked at this Saint Blood Guard member with some strangeness.
He didn't know why, but he felt that this Saint Blood Guard member looked a little familiar, as if...
Unsure, he looked again.
The more Alexander looked, the stranger his expression became. He couldn't help but say with a hint of a test:
"Dante?"
The Saint Blood Guard member trembled slightly, then slowly reached out and took off his mask, revealing Dante's somewhat aged face.
"You saw through me, Lord Alexander." Dante said with a slight smile.
Alexander was slightly dazed, somewhat not understanding why Dante would be here doing gate-guarding work.
Shouldn't the old man be sitting behind mountains of documents, enduring continuous overtime?
And Dante's expression, why did it feel a bit creepy? It didn't quite seem like something he would show.
Dante's expression was very good, with a sense of ease and joy. His whole person seemed to be enveloped in warm light, almost radiant.
Even his face, which had aged from a thousand years of service, seemed to have become much younger.
Alexander looked at the smile on Dante's lips, and his eye couldn't help but twitch slightly.
He didn't actually drive Dante insane, did he???