Outside the temporary infirmary built by the Blood Priests, Alexander stroked his chin and walked in with some hesitation.
Lager was dying.
When he heard this news from Sanguinius, he truly couldn't believe it.
His old friend, whom he had known since Ashford, might not have had many other skills, but his ability to survive was first-rate.
The chaos of the hive city hadn't taken him, gang fights hadn't taken him, and two Tyranids invasions hadn't taken him.
In fact, because he had once taught gang members in Ashford how to survive on the battlefield, allowing many to live, he had become a symbol for the Ashford refugees.
As long as Lager was there, there would always be a way to survive.
But according to Sanguinius' report to Alexander, Lager was indeed on the verge of death when he was found.
As a symbol of the Ashford refugees and the Saint Doraemon Sect, Lager's situation quickly attracted the attention of the Blood Angels, especially Corbulo's.
To Alexander's surprise, Corbulo actually had a personal friendship with Lager; their relationship was good. It was said that Lager had even provided his own blood to Corbulo for research, though he didn't know what was worth researching.
Corbulo quickly reconstructed the entire sequence of events.
Alexander had previously given Lager two bottles of wine brewed by One-Eye back then.
After the Battle of Baal, Lager took those two bottles of wine to One-Eye to celebrate One-Eye's successful bionic transplant. The two of them drank and smoked, and both ended up drunk.
Lager left in a semi-conscious state, stumbled onto the Angel Keep's wall, and accidentally stepped into an unrepaired section, losing his footing and falling dozens of meters from the Angel Keep's wall.
But Lager didn't die from the fall!
A pool of Water of Thirst happened to be directly beneath the wall. Lager fell into it, and the Water of Thirst, whether out of respect for Alexander or Lager, surprisingly didn't drain Lager's body of water. Instead, it helped cushion his impact.
At this point, although Lager was injured, it wasn't fatal.
The problem was that Lager, half-asleep, mistook the Water of Thirst for ordinary spring water and started gulping it down, almost drowning in the Water of Thirst.
Fortunately, the Water of Thirst itself activated, urgently carrying the nearly-drowned Lager to the main gate of the Angel Keep, preventing him from dying immediately inside it.
The warriors of the Flesh Tearers were guarding the city gate at the time. When that Flesh Tearer saw this scene, he thought he was suffering from the Black Rage, stunned for two seconds before remembering to save him.
Then Lager was carried before Corbulo.
Corbulo marveled at this fellow, who, at over eighty years old, had fallen dozens of meters from a high wall, plunged into the Water of Thirst, nearly drowned in it, yet stubbornly refused to die.
Alexander could only lament that Lager was still Lager, still so unreliable.
However, Alexander estimated that Lager still wouldn't die this time.
Corbulo was his doctor now, and he was the Chief Blood Priest of the Blood Angels, meaning the chief of the Blood Angels' apothecaries. There were few better doctors in the entire galaxy than him.
As long as Lager didn't want to die, even if only half his body remained, he could probably be saved.
Alexander walked into the infirmary building. Some mortals injured after the Battle of Baal were also receiving treatment, and some mortals were undergoing medical-related training.
Lager's room was at the end of the hall. Alexander saw One-Eye, whose arm had been replaced with a bionic, standing there.
"Alexander, you're here." One-Eye smiled slightly when he saw Alexander: "Corbulo and Mephiston are inside."
Alexander noticed that One-Eye's blind eye had been replaced with a mechanical bionic eye.
One-Eye noticed Alexander's gaze, reached out, tapped his bionic eye, and said, "It's new. Still getting used to it. There's some rejection."
Alexander nodded slightly, casting his gaze towards One-Eye's bionic eye.
A moment later, One-Eye showed a surprised expression, seemingly realizing that the discomfort in his bionic eye had disappeared.
"Praise be to you, original power of all machines, the great Saint Doraemon." One-Eye involuntarily lowered his head and said.
"Is there really a thick barrier between us?" Alexander's face showed a feigned sad expression.
One-Eye's only remaining flesh eye moved slightly, and a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth: "You can't blame me. You actively revealed your divinity in front of people. I am your devout follower, how could I not pray?"
"If you don't want to be treated as a god, don't do things like a god."
"Words of wisdom." Alexander nodded in agreement. He felt that the Emperor should hear this sentence.
Then Alexander paused, looked at Lager's ward door, and asked, "You said Mephiston also came?"
What was the Chief Librarian doing here? Did Lager's condition require Mephiston's involvement?
A strange look appeared in Alexander's eyes.
However, with Mephiston here, even if Lager died, his soul could be summoned back.
Just then, Lager's ward door opened.
Mephiston and Corbulo walked out from inside the door.
"Alexander." The two nodded slightly to Alexander, also noticing Alexander's confusion directed at Mephiston.
"I examined Brother Lager's gene sequence and found that his genes have strong radiation resistance mutations. His radiation resistance is thirteen times that of ordinary people. Moreover, the radiation of the Scarlet Scar essentially comes from the Blood God in the Warp. Here, radiation resistance is equivalent to resistance to minor Khorne corruption."
"This is very unique, and it's probably why Brother Lager was able to live so long in the hive city of Ashford."
Corbulo began to explain:
"But besides that, Brother Lager has no more obvious beneficial mutations. His gene sequence is no different from an ordinary person's, which cannot explain why he is so resilient to death."
"Even during the examination, I found that Brother Lager's illnesses and injuries gradually became apparent, and even previously healed diseases began to reappear, such as the illness he contracted on his way to Baal, and the old wounds he sustained in the Battle of Pluto. These diseases suddenly began to manifest."
"I suspect this may be the effect of some Warp power. To prevent corruption, I invited Mephiston."
Alexander raised his eyebrows slightly.
Lager's resilience to death was related to the Warp?
That seemed reasonable, but which bored entity would bless Lager?
"I studied Brother Lager's situation, and it's very interesting."
Mephiston raised his voice slightly and said:
"We usually think that only Adeptus Astartes or beings in the Warp can manipulate Warp power in the real universe, but this is wrong."
"Humans are essentially a Psyker race. Almost all humans possess slight Psyker power. Although these Psyker powers are weak, when gathered together, they can create echoes in the Warp."
As he spoke, Mephiston looked at the ward behind him, his gaze seemingly falling on Lager:
"Brother Lager taught many people how to survive in war and truly saved many lives. Coupled with his near-death escape in the Battle of Pluto, all of this created a wonderful consensus among people: Brother Lager is very difficult to kill."
"Then, when the Saint Doraemon Sect appeared, this consensus, mixed with faith in Saint Doraemon, initially acted upon Lager, helping him suppress his original diseases. This further reinforced people's perception that Brother Lager truly became difficult to kill."
"After all, Saint Doraemon himself also has the authority over death. You probably understand, right?"
Alexander, somewhat bewildered, pointed to himself.
He probably understood. He had unconsciously blessed Lager, and this, mixed with humanity's consensus that Lager was hard to kill, had taken effect, making Lager truly acquire a certain resistance to death.
"Then why did Lager's original diseases reappear?" Alexander asked, raising an eyebrow slightly.
"The Warp is essentially idealistic. If Brother Lager himself no longer wished to live, this consensus gathered by mortals would not be enough to sustain him." Mephiston shook his head gently.
"This also exceeds what I can do." Corbulo also shook his head: "Brother Lager's body has long reached its limit; it's just the power of the Warp barely sustaining him."
"Alexander. I have examined Brother Dante's body countless times and know the power of aging. A thousand years of burden is enough to crush an Astartes."
"And mortals are even more fragile. They can bear less burden, yet they often have to carry burdens far beyond their limits. Brother Lager is eighty-seven years old. For a mortal, he has endured enough."
Corbulo said softly:
"Just like Brother Dante back then, Brother Lager no longer yearns for life."
Alexander was silent for a while, then nodded to the two and said, "I'll go talk to Lager."
Mephiston and Corbulo made way, allowing Alexander to enter the ward.
"Alexander." Lager saw Alexander, his ugly face twisting into a smile.
"You fellow."
Alexander couldn't help but smile as well, taking out a bottle of wine from his four-dimensional pocket and placing it on Lager's bedside:
"A bottle of Amasec, brewed by the genestealer. I've tasted it; the flavor is pretty good."
Upon hearing it was Amasec, Lager perked up slightly, couldn't help but pick up the bottle from the bedside, and took a swig.
"It tastes good. It seems General Drost's taste wasn't up to par back then." Lager showed a brilliant smile, then took another sip, placing the bottle back on the bedside.
Alexander watched Lager, realizing that Lager's condition had not improved.
A bottle of delicious Amasec didn't seem enough to make him want to live again.
"Corbulo and Mephiston told me you don't want to continue living."
Alexander sat by Lager's bedside, staring at Lager and asking:
"I still remember when I first arrived in Ashford, it was you, old man, who pulled me, unconscious, out of the trash heap."
"Although after you pulled me out, you secretly took the six buckets of instant noodles, two packs of Coca-Cola, and twenty bags of Lay's chips I had just bought from the supermarket, and even tried to strip my clothes off."
"Heh heh, back then, didn't I think you, old man, were an important person from the Upper hive? But that stuff called Lay's was indeed delicious, just a bit too much air."
Lager chuckled and said:
"Are you looking for trouble with me for what happened back then, or are you thanking me? Forget the thanks, we've been brothers for so many years, and you were almost awake back then anyway, so I still profited."
"Since that's the case, for the sake of all these years of friendship, old man, I have a question for you."
Alexander stared at Lager and asked:
"Do you still want to live? If you do, I have many ways to help you live."
"It's also fine if you don't. In this unfortunate world, living to eighty-seven and finding peaceful rest is definitely a good thing."