Greylina's eyes widened as she looked at the holy communion that appeared before her.
As a former noble, she could discern that this holy communion, called dorayaki, was made from natural, refined flour, inherently carrying a wheat aroma. Greylina had only smelled this scent when tasting luxurious delicacies and in the rice paddies of garden worlds.
Besides this aroma, the dorayaki also emitted a wonderful sweetness. It wasn't the monotonous, cloying sweetness produced by industrial sugars, but a natural sweetness mixed with the aroma of some kind of bean, and faintly, the rich scent of dairy products.
Saliva subtly secreted in Greylina's throat, drawn by the aroma.
But at the same time, a hint of hesitation arose in Greylina's heart.
So-called holy communion was not food for a select few, but for every believer.
If the holy communion was made from such precious ingredients, it would be difficult to produce in large quantities and share with all believers.
But as if seeing through Greylina's thoughts, the sacred figure slowly spoke:
"This tablecloth is my tool. Whenever holy communion is needed, simply thinking 'dorayaki' and waving it will create dorayaki."
"I am the eternal dragon, the master of hunger. I hate the hunger of all living beings as I hate my own hunger."
"But you shall hold a holy rite once every twenty-two days, and each time you consume it, you may be up to seventy percent full; more is extravagance."
Exchange a little less! Exchange a little less!
Alexander roared in his heart.
The dorayaki exchanged were all costing him money! Although Alexander could limit the Gourmet Tablecloth to only exchange dorayaki, and the price of dorayaki wasn't expensive, accumulating small amounts would eventually become a significant expense.
If it weren't for the goods Guilliman sent, which had been converted into billions of funds, Alexander wouldn't dare to spend like this.
His current state of mind was truly numb. Sanguinius urged him to manifest a few times quickly to guide his faith.
But Alexander felt awkward and couldn't bear it.
So Sanguinius silently handed Alexander two books, telling Alexander to follow what was in them.
One was Lorgar's Holy Word Records, which documented the Imperium's words and deeds. The other was a scripture that recorded the words and deeds of an Ancient Terra divine child. Well, according to the analysis and judgment of Sanguinius, Alexander, and Guilliman, that divine child was probably the Emperor's alter ego.
In other words, it was to let Alexander learn how the Emperor did things.
After Alexander finished reading these two books, he felt completely bewildered.
He could only say that Lorgar and the Emperor, father and son, were truly masters of religion.
Lorgar's methods had already been used by the Emperor thirty millennia ago.
He picked and chose from them, made a few modifications, and it became his own doctrine.
However, Alexander now felt that his experience was still shallow.
The Emperor's choice of cheap, unleavened bread for holy communion was truly practical. He even freeloaded five barley loaves and fish from roadside children for meals, not even wasting the crumbs.
In comparison, his choice of dorayaki was still too extravagant.
Greylina was unaware of Alexander's inner thoughts; she was merely shocked by the miracle Alexander displayed.
"And, this is my blood."
Alexander whispered softly, taking out a glass petri dish from his four-dimensional pocket.
He gently bent down, picked up a fallen leaf from the ground, and placed it into the petri dish. It instantly decomposed, turning into an orange-yellow liquid.
Alexander handed the petri dish to Greylina and motioned for her to taste it.
Greylina dazedly extended her finger, gently dipped a little into the petri dish, and put it into her mouth.
A burst of sweetness erupted between her lips and teeth. It was unimaginable that this liquid was made from the most ordinary fallen leaves.
[Item Name: Fallen Leaf Decomposition Bacteria]
[Origin: Macragge]
[Production Time: 999. M41]
[Function: Bacteria capable of decomposing all plant fallen leaves and forming sweet fruit juice. Designed and produced by Nobi Nobita using the item: Bacteria Maker, and saved as one of the Bacteria Maker's default settings.]
[Value: 196,487 credits]
"This is my blood, a sharing of my digestion and consumption of all authority. It can decompose all fallen leaves into fruit juice. The liquid thus produced, along with dorayaki, shall be my holy communion."
Mainly, this had no cost and was rich in sugar, providing a lot of satiety, which could quickly fill up believers, thus saving Alexander more money.
Alexander thought, a twitch in his heart.
He even started to think that he should have only used fruit juice produced by these bacteria as holy communion from the beginning.
But Sanguinius suggested that the holy communion and rituals Alexander devised should best be related to Doraemon.
He sighed inwardly, then handed a bag of bread covered in text to Greylina.
"This is memory bread. It records the rituals and hymns for worshipping me. You will remember them after consuming it."
"You may only perform sacrifices according to this ritual, and only praise me with this hymn. You may not use any other method."
"Any who violate this will be worshipping false idols."
"Furthermore, I have three prophets: one is Reyna, she is the first to believe, the commander of Cadia; the second is Belisarius Cawl, he is the Archmagos of the Adeptus Mechanicus, the most virtuous among my believers; the third is Inquisitor Greyfax, she initially did not believe, but converted after witnessing my miracles."
"If you have doubts about your faith, you must obtain permission from one of these three."
Alexander solemnly declared to the believers before him.
This was to prevent these believers' faith from going astray. All questions of faith must be reviewed by Reyna, Belisarius Cawl, and Greyfax.
Reyna was most familiar with Alexander, knew his thoughts, and had strong Warp resistance.
The Archmagos was virtuous and wise, best able to prevent faith from going astray.
Inquisitor Greyfax, as an Inquisitor, was best at detecting hidden corruption in faith.
Greylina's eyes brightened slightly.
So Ms. Greyfax was a prophet of the Saint Doraemon Sect! No wonder she stood on the side of the Saint Doraemon Sect!
She held the memory bread, piously offering twenty-two prayers to the sacred voice, her vision almost filled with tears.
"Finally, I am not a god." The sacred voice rang out before Greylina.
Greylina was momentarily stunned, then looked up blankly, only to see that the sacred figure had disappeared from its original spot.
"Finally…"
In the middle of the night, after touring twenty-two temples that worshipped him, Alexander leaned against a wall in Hera Fortress, sweating profusely, his face unable to maintain composure.
Accepting faith was still too awkward for him. If Sanguinius hadn't urged him, Alexander really wouldn't want to do this.
However, this seemed to really work.
After completing the manifestations in these twenty-two temples, Alexander strangely found that his power in the three domains of the Warp was increasing little by little.
His own flesh and the flesh of Greater Daemon were both slowly strengthening. This was probably the effect of faith.
After hesitating for a moment, Alexander pulled out a set of machines from his four-dimensional pocket.
This was an orange-yellow, large-headed machine, covered with various dials, and a small cabinet on the side.
[Item Name: Unplanned Bacteria Maker (with complimentary lamp for eliminating useless bacteria)]
[Origin: 22nd Century Earth — Future Department Store]
[Production Time: 231. M3]
[Function: A maker that can produce any bacteria. The functions of the bacteria produced have infinite possibilities, but the effects are completely random and may not have any particular use. The produced bacteria can be eliminated using the complimentary lamp for eliminating useless bacteria.]
[Rental Price: 177,777,777 / 10 uses]
[Status: Used five times]
[Item Name: Lamp for Eliminating Useless Bacteria]
[Origin: 22nd Century Earth — Future Department Store]
[Production Time: 231. M3]
[Function: A complimentary item for the Unplanned Bacteria Maker. By shining its light, any type of bacteria can be eliminated.]
[Price: Complimentary]
The 170 million-credits item, the "Unplanned Bacteria Maker," which could only be used ten times, was called by Alexander the high-end Nurgle experience card.
It could create bacteria with different effects ten times, but the effects were completely mystical.
Except for the first time, when Alexander experimentally created the default "Fallen Leaf Decomposition Bacteria," the other four times Alexander drew bacteria that seemed completely useless.
"Bacteria that can make people grow two centimeters of hair," "Bacteria that, when stuck to the stomach, will cause diarrhea all day," "Bacteria that, when touched, will make one want to drink water for a day," "Bacteria that can wake a person from sleep for an hour."
All were meaningless things. Alexander hoped this time he could draw something useful.
He casually flicked the control lever on the Bacteria Maker and clicked the create button. The machine hummed a few times, then the side cabinet opened, revealing a clump of bacteria sealed in a petri dish.
Alexander stuffed the bacteria into his four-dimensional pocket.
[Item Name: Bacteria That Can Eat Knowledge from Books]
[Origin: Macragge]
[Production Time: 999. M41]
[Function: Bacteria capable of eating knowledge from a book. Books contaminated with these bacteria will have their internal knowledge digested and decomposed into a meaningless jumble of code.]
[Value: 336,300 credits]
Alexander's expression twitched slightly.
Still meaningless bacteria.
It could eat knowledge, but only from books, and only one book at a time.
This effect was really too meaningless.
He shook his head, having originally thought that faith could also increase his luck.
Never mind, anyway, this item was initially exchanged for the complimentary "Lamp for Eliminating Useless Bacteria." The ten chances to draw bacteria were, in Alexander's view, the real complimentary gift.
After all, the "Lamp for Eliminating Useless Bacteria" could eliminate any bacteria, which meant that bacteria cultivated by Nurgle would also become ineffective. It was just a pity it had no effect on viruses.
Alexander sighed, stuffing all these items into his four-dimensional pocket. He still had one more thing to do.
That Astartes Chapter that Guilliman wanted him to meet.
The successor of Sigismund, the scion of Rogal Dorn, the Black Templars.