Saint Doraemon suddenly threw off the blanket covering him, leaped from the bed, and spun into the air.
He extended a round hand, grabbed the blanket, and wrapped it around himself, his form undergoing a strange and bizarre transformation.
Blue streams of light overflowed from his body, and shattered crystals, twisted lightning, and ever-changing storms emerged from the light. Then, the blanket he had pulled up transformed into a cloak and hood, enveloping the constantly shifting, formless entity.
Simultaneously, a burning golden shackle suddenly appeared around his neck, tightly gripping his throat. The chains attached to the shackle extended into the void, held by an unknown hand.
The changeling, the 'Young Lord of Change,' the 'Imperium of Man's Two Capitals, Five Star Systems, and Million Worlds Resting on My Shoulders,' the 'Emperor's Prisoner,' the 'De Facto Vice-Minister,' the 'Bait Number One,' displayed what was perhaps his true form on the bed.
After all, almost no one knew what a changeling was, not even he himself had remembered.
Sometimes he claimed to be just an ordinary daemonette; other times, the power he displayed was far stronger than that of many Lords of Change.
Sometimes people speculated he might be a manifestation of a part of Tzeentch's power; other times, they believed he was a special entity naturally born from Tzeentch's domain of change.
He was the embodiment of deception, concealment, and meddling. Besides Tzeentch, he could transform into any other being, even using this to deceive and trick other Dark Gods.
The changeling was incomprehensible, unpredictable, potentially loyal, potentially treacherous. The changeling only cared about turning everything into a chaotic mess.
If Tzeentch hadn't remembered the changeling's original appearance and kept it secret as a means of control, the changeling wouldn't even mind deceiving, tricking, betraying, and toying with the Lord of Change himself.
Because of this, the changeling was, if not infamous in the Warp, then certainly universally disliked, to the extent of Trazyn among the Necron, the Deceiver among the C'tan, or the Emperor among the Warp.
The other three gods, besides Tzeentch, wished to tear the changeling to shreds, to avenge the changeling stealing Slaanesh's hair, stealing Nurgle's nurglings, and stuffing the nurglings under Khorne's backside.
However, the changeling's last prank backfired.
He had originally been lurking in Lion El'Jonson's mind, planning to ambush the Lion. But he didn't expect that when it came to schemes, the Emperor was truly the master. The Emperor hooked the changeling in one go, captured him in his palm, put shackles on him, and temporarily made him his own.
The changeling cackled, floating in the air, seemingly unfazed by his confinement.
"Little Boss Reyna, you're getting better and better at lying."
"Interested in betraying the Emperor and re-employing yourself in our Crystal Labyrinth?"
Reyna lowered her eyes slightly, picked up her needle and thread, and continued sewing the battle standard in her hands, saying in a clear voice, "Everything I say is true. The Emperor and Saint Doraemon taught us not to lie."
"You might as well say Tzeentch taught you not to lie!" the changeling cackled.
This hermitage was indeed a lie, a trap to lure and kill those who would attempt to harm the sleeping Saint Doraemon.
There were many such traps on Terra, layered one upon another.
But besides catching one or two Khorne Greater daemons and a few Khorne daemon Princes each year, no big fish had been caught.
Slaanesh and Nurgle had formed a certain degree of cooperation with Saint Doraemon. These two gods only occasionally sent people to probe Saint Doraemon's condition.
And the Lord of Change would not fall for such a simple trick. The changeling was specifically used to lure him, but Tzeentch acted completely indifferent to the changeling, as if he hadn't noticed the changeling's disappearance.
Only Khorne, tirelessly, took the bait again and again, which resulted in the cleansing of the Khorne cultists who had been entrenched on Terra for tens of thousands of years.
This wasn't because Khorne was foolish, but because ever since the Blood God chose to embrace scars as an indispensable part of war, the Blood God's servants seemed to increasingly favor a 'trade blows' fighting style, even attempting to break all methods with brute force even when they knew it was a trap.
But unfortunately, in this fish pond of Terra, not only was the bait of the changeling's caliber, but the hooks were also all highly skilled.
The shadows subtly shifted, and a figure clad in black armor, wearing a raven helmet, and holding a large-caliber bolt sniper rifle emerged from within.
Nikan Sarojin, Raven Guard.
"I pray that all you say is true," Sarojin said in a very soft voice.
Reyna tilted her head slightly, showing a somewhat confused expression: "Lord Sarojin, Saint Doraemon can bring you back from death. Why would you doubt that he cannot return himself from sleep?"
"There once was a man who saved many, but could not save himself and his sons," Sarojin replied, his voice still very soft.
Reyna did not answer; Sarojin's words could refer to either the Emperor or the Raven King.
"There once was such an entity; he brought us hope, brought the Primarchs to lead us on the Great Crusade."
"There once was such an entity; his deeds were miraculous, but he told us he was not a god."
"There once was such an entity; he planned to free humanity from Warp travel."
"There once was such an entity; he suddenly disappeared midway through the Great Crusade."
"There once was such an entity; his disappearance was to find a way to save everyone once and for all."
"There once was such an entity; he once walked among us, but eventually fell silent."
"This same entity entrusted a person to carry out a research project for the future; that person was Belisarius Cawl."
Sarojin said slowly and softly:
"How can everything be so similar?"
"How can I, who have experienced these things, not feel fear?"
"My greatest pity is Archmagos Cawl. He once bore this fate for ten thousand years, and now he fears bearing the same fate for another ten thousand years."
"We once had too much hope, but they all ultimately vanished. I pray this time will not be the same outcome."
"Don't be afraid, all of this is part of the plan," the changeling cackled, circling in the air.
Reyna turned her head, her eyes, which seemed to burn with tiny flickers of fire, staring at the changeling. The changeling shrank back slightly, a hint of fear in his demeanor.
"Lord Sarojin, I have not experienced the Great Crusade, so I cannot understand your despair, but I have heard the words of Sanguinius: 'Hope remains.'"
Just then, a faint stream of light brushed past Sarojin, and another Astartes, who had remained in this hermitage, revealed himself.
He was Rafen, once a warrior of the Blood Angels' Sixth Company, perhaps one of Saint Doraemon's earliest twenty-two chosen members.
Though Rafen was once just an ordinary Sixth Company warrior, he had once seen through the conspiracy of the Tzeentch Great Unclean One Malfalarax and the Chaos Inquisitor Remus Sturl, recovered the Archangel's weapon, the Spear of Accomplishment, and used that Primarch's spear to kill the false reincarnation of Sanguinius.
Furthermore, Rafen himself, like Mephiston, could control the Black Rage to a certain extent. Another point was that, according to the past and future Reyna vaguely perceived, Rafen's gene-seed came from the Blood Angels Apothecary Meros ten thousand years ago, and his transformation was completed in the same blood sarcophagus as Meros.
That Apothecary Meros had been corrupted by the Khorne artifact fury of khorne in place of Sanguinius, transforming into a Khorne daemon named the "Red Angel."
"I believe hope remains. I believe Saint Doraemon can return," Rafen said gently. "If even Sanguinius can return, what in this galaxy is without hope?"
Sarojin remained silent.
He was not without faith in hope.
He had faced many desperate situations; the inferno of Istvaan V often vaguely resurfaced in his deep night dreams.
But even then, the Raven Guard still had the courage to snipe the traitor Primarchs.
Now, he simply felt that everything before him was too familiar, so familiar that he felt a certain fear, a certain trepidation in his heart.
Or, to use the words of some bio-savants who studied mental illnesses: he had a bit of post-traumatic stress disorder.
Reyna remained silent, she gently lowered her head, briefly closed her eyes, and quietly prayed to Saint Doraemon in her heart.
Compared to Greylina, Reyna could more clearly perceive the existence of Saint Doraemon's dreams.
And because of the Emperor's past teachings, Reyna roughly understood some english, barely able to grasp the meaning of the words in Saint Doraemon's dreams.
"Twenty-two thousand two hundred sixteen dreams."
"Time machine back to the 30th Millennium of mankind."
"Saving Private Scyarnus. Successfully gaining the Warmaster's trust."
"One round hand smashes Erebus Davine's moon, successfully saving the Warmaster."
"Successfully preventing the Horus Heresy."
"What is the Guilliman Heresy?"
"What does it mean that five hundred worlds were swallowed by a blue and gold interwoven storm?"
"What does it mean that Guilliman, the Everchosen, has reached Terra?"
"Fortunately, Magnus was stopped from making the Psyker call."
"What does it mean that Leman Russ' wolf howl on Fenris tore through the Webway?"
"..Guilliman slit Fulgrim's throat with a sword, and Fulgrim was carried into a Static Field by the Phoenix Guard?"
"What does it mean that if you cut off one head, two grow back? Why are there so many Alpha Primarchs?"
"By Biyang, what does it mean five million Ultramarines?"
"What does it mean that the Ultramarines are all a collective consciousness linked to Guilliman, the Everchosen?"
"Boarding the Macragge's Honour."
"What does it mean that Horus and Sanguinius were pounded into paste by Guilliman using the Hand of Dominion?"
"Dorn, don't rush, separate Horus and Sanguinius after disembarking!"
"Guilliman, the Everchosen, and the Emperor fought to the edge of the galaxy, and the Warp was obliterated."
"The three years neet pillow, it's real!"