When Erebus initially mentioned that Kossolax was not to be underestimated, Luther harbored some doubts.
After all, Erebus was an extremely arrogant, conceited, and foolish individual, rarely genuinely praising anyone. If Erebus wasn't lying, it was because Kossolax was truly dangerous.
Now, seeing that Kossolax, whom Erebus claimed to have killed, was actually alive, Luther could only think of two possibilities.
The first was that Kossolax had evaded Erebus, escaped the pursuit of Khârn, Sarojin, and their group, and successfully fled with the Conqueror.
The second possibility was that Kossolax had gained the recognition of Saint Doraemon, was resurrected by Saint Doraemon, and now served Saint Doraemon.
Whichever it was, it was enough to prove Erebus' words.
And now, it seemed the second was the most likely.
This Regent of the World Eaters, once merely an adjutant, had now become the Lord of the World Eaters and a Chosen of Saint Doraemon. He was indeed ambitious and deeply cunning, reminiscent of Guilliman's style ten millennia ago, who, by arriving late, managed to swallow the entire Imperium.
Not to be underestimated! Not to be underestimated!
He was deliberately not using star-destroying weapons now, but rather orbital bombardment and communication provocations to deceive him, demanding that he board the Conqueror. There must be a trick involved!
But Luther would not fall for such a trick. He was, after all, half a Legion Master of the formidable Dark Angels Legion, and caution was already etched into his very bones.
Without any hesitation, his figure flickered, and he plunged directly into the shadows, leading his Fallen Angels in an urgent retreat, not hesitating for a moment.
"As expected of the renowned Luther, to have seen through my scheme." Kossolax, on the ship, murmured with a hint of surprise, feeling as though he had played a high-stakes game.
Kossolax had arranged a full five hundred World Eaters axemen on the bridge. If Luther had accepted the challenge, these five hundred World Eaters would have swarmed him and chopped him into mincemeat.
He just hadn't expected Luther to be so cautious, seeing through Kossolax's scheme and causing his plan to fail.
However, being able to force Luther to retreat still made Kossolax feel good about himself.
But this left Captain Sarine in silence. She couldn't understand why Luther would flee.
In Captain Sarine's opinion, Kossolax's plan had no chance of success whatsoever.
Five hundred World Eaters to take on Luther? This fellow clearly hadn't read the files properly. Kossolax's mind wasn't too bad; he was already an irreplaceable talent among the World Eaters, but he was too naive and impetuous. Sarine felt she still needed to teach him more.
Sarine had a rough idea of Luther's strength; he was even slightly stronger than the current Khârn. Five hundred World Eaters wouldn't even be enough to fill his teeth.
After Kossolax, without thinking or discussing it with Sarine, directly provoked Luther, Captain Sarine had made preparations to activate the Conqueror's sub-light engines at any moment to leave the planet's orbit, stranding Luther in cold deep space, while the Conqueror would take the opportunity to make a Warp jump and escape.
But before Captain Sarine could flee, Luther had already fled first.
What was going on?
Captain Sarine truly couldn't understand why this was happening.
Why did he look like he was afraid of Kossolax?
It shouldn't be. Hadn't Erebus told Luther Kossolax's true capabilities?
"Please answer: Where did the Emperor visit and stay for a long period with the Eldar Seer in the twenty-ninth millennium of humanity? What did he do there?"
Looking at the question that popped up from the lock on the iron door, the charred and scarred Erebus' face twitched.
He and Be'lakor had already tried eleven locks in this cabin, answering eleven questions, and not a single answer was correct.
The questions were one more abstract, one more bizarre, and one more inexplicable than the last.
"Why did the Emperor and Elda not have naturally conceived children?"
"What did the Emperor steal from Ollanius Persson?"
"How many Primarchs does the Alpha Legion have? Are they loyal or traitors?"
"Where is GW's biological mother?"
"What are the four most stubborn mouths in the universe?"
"What are the names of the two and eleven Primarchs?"
"Explain why numerology is a rigorous science?"
This series of questions left Erebus with a massive headache and utterly bewildered. The most critical part was that every time a question was answered incorrectly, a penalty was incurred.
The more times the same answer was wrong, the exponentially higher the penalty became.
The first wrong answer only brought pain, the second wrong answer caused considerable damage to Erebus, and the third wrong answer left incurable injuries.
According to Erebus' estimation, the fourth penalty would directly kill him.
In other words, Erebus could answer the same question at most three times.
And there were a total of seventeen locks in the entire cabin; the opportunities for the first eleven locks had already been used up. If the questions for all seventeen locks could not be answered, Erebus would be completely trapped and die here.
"Where was the Emperor in the twenty-ninth millennium of humanity? What was he doing?"
Erebus calmly pondered the current question. He actually had a small clue.
Based on his previous discoveries during his visit to Commorragh, it was highly likely that the Emperor was in Commorragh during the twenty-ninth millennium.
The question mentioned that the Emperor visited with the Eldar Seer, which further confirmed it.
As for what the Emperor was doing... Erebus thought for a moment, then lowered his voice and replied:
"In the twenty-ninth millennium, the Emperor visited Commorragh and stayed there for a long time."
"His purpose was to seek Eldar technology for use in the Great Crusade."
This was the most reasonable and most probable answer.
At that time, the Fall of the Eldar had already erupted, Slaanesh was born, scattering the Warp storms. The Emperor's visit to Commorragh was clearly to acquire Eldar technology, otherwise why would he be with the Eldar Seer—
"Incorrect answer."
A cold voice rang out, and suddenly a thousand needles appeared in the void, piercing directly into Erebus' skin.
Erebus let out a sharp wail, in unbearable pain.
Not to acquire Eldar technology?
Then what the hell did the Emperor go to Commorragh for?
To shop? To indulge? To enjoy himself? To enjoy paid one-night stands with eldar girls?
Although he thought this in his heart, Erebus didn't truly believe the Emperor went to Commorragh for frivolous reasons.
After all, that was the False Emperor! Devoid of humanity, aloof, terrifyingly cold, a black sun suspended above the Warp. His divinity was entirely for humanity, nothing else.
He must have gone to Commorragh for humanity, absolutely!
Erebus was utterly convinced.