"You have done so in the past, and you shall continue to do so in the future."
"We must stand alone, guarding the dark frontiers of the galaxy, spreading light in the darkness, rather than succumbing to the fear of it."
"We will banish ignorance and superstition from the galaxy; the lies of the Four Gods will turn to ash under our flames, no matter the cost!"
"Finally, please remember."
"I am not a god, and neither is he."
Logar pointed at the Emperor.
"We are all humans, born of mortals, and we fight to protect mortals."
"Do not despise humanity for your strength, and do not forget why you fight."
"It is precisely because mortals are weak that we must protect humanity; it is precisely because the truth is cruel that we should uphold righteousness."
"This path is fraught with peril, for the world does not know the truth. Even my brothers may not understand why we persevere."
"I do not ask for your loyalty to me; I only ask that you uphold the correct 'Dao'."
"If you are willing to follow me, then stand up!"
Ten thousand warriors stood in unison, saluting Logar, the clang of iron fists striking chest plates resounding in the raging winds of Colchis; their loyalty to their Gene-Father was never in doubt.
"The Imperial Heralds had already won countless glories for me before my return, and I am proud of you."
"But the Imperial Heralds were built upon lies; we should be wary of the truth rather than being blinded by lies, which are no different from the lies of the Four Gods!"
"I will bestow upon you a new name: Gold Word Bearers."
...
"This geocentric world is beautiful, but what is she?"
Nios asked, pointing at Medeea.
"An Iron Man."
Worp said, "I thought you created her."
Nios: "I did make similar attempts, but that wasn't her, and I should have destroyed all of them."
Worp was not surprised by this at all. Although Nios ultimately chose the imperial truth and the Great Crusade, it didn't mean he hadn't tried other options; it was just that every path was blocked.
As early as the Ancient Terra period, he had tried to preserve the Dark Speech, hoping that in the future, this ancient language could be used to counter the Warp.
But he failed; that originated from his Warmaster's first betrayal.
Nios had always been a pragmatist. Although he forbade the Mechanicus from researching Iron Men, he secretly allowed the First Legion to retain the Extinction Engines as part of the Icarus Protocol, to be used against the Mechanicus.
Forbidding the Mechanicus from research was to prevent the tech-priests from losing control with AI; humanity could not afford a second Iron Man rebellion. Retaining the Extinction Engines was because Iron Men were indeed useful.
As long as it could save humanity, Nios was willing to try anything.
"I'm glad you're not my father."
Medeea said.
The moment she saw the Emperor, she saw through his essence: a self-righteous tyrant.
He was an excellent leader, but he was by no means a good father. No wonder Logar didn't like him either; Worp was ten thousand times better.
"Who is her father?"
Nios didn't want to talk to her.
Worp: "He calls himself Aeetes. Do you know him?"
Nios: "I know Aeetes, but the Aeetes I knew died on Ancient Terra. What type of AI is she?"
"Alpha Sequence Universal Angel Model, equipped with Athena VII Quantum Intelligence Matrix."
Nios fell silent. He looked at Medeea, showing no expression.
Nios said to Medeea: "I will check the database of the Terra Imperial Palace. There should be records of the establishment of the Colchis colony. Perhaps I can find out who your father is from history."
"Is it necessary?"
Worp asked in confusion.
Nios: "She is not in my plan, and neither is her father. I must ensure he does not interfere with my plan!"
Worp nodded. That was very Nios-like.
"Keep an eye on her, Logar. Never let her control an army, no matter what."
Nios said to his son.
Logar nodded; he was already wary of Medeea.
Worp was even less surprised; Nios not physically eliminating Medeea was already giving him face.
Medeea: "Why don't you avoid me?"
Logar glanced at her, "You said to be honest, remember?"
Chapter 69: Monster Hunter.
In the geocentric world, within the circular hall of the Tip of the Tower.
Worp and Nios watched the sunset from a room within arm's reach of the sun.
"I am not a god."
Nios suddenly spoke.
Worp: "I believe you are not a god yet."
The Emperor was not a god.
This needed to be repeatedly emphasized, at least for now.
He could foresee the future but could not see all futures clearly.
Among the nine traitor Primarchs, at least three of their falls were unexpected by him.
Horus, Magnus, and Fulgrim.
If he had known Horus would betray him, he would not have made Horus the Warmaster.
He spent thirty years accompanying Horus, perhaps precisely hoping to use kinship to prevent his betrayal.
If not for the Four Gods corrupting him, Horus would indeed never have betrayed the Emperor.
Magnus made a grave mistake under Tzeentch's temptation. The Emperor had already realized this was a Chaos conspiracy, but he still ordered Rus to bring Magnus back, indicating that he neither realized Magnus would betray him nor that Horus would alter his orders, letting the situation slide into an irreversible abyss.
Fulgrim's Third Legion was the only legion allowed to wear the Imperial Aquila, which already showed the Emperor's attitude.
Unfortunately, the Emperor miscalculated.
Nios: "I hope I never am."
Worp nodded, "I hope so too."
Nios: "Who's next?"
"How would I know? It's not up to me to decide."
Worp asked back in confusion.
Nios: "Then who is it?"
"Isn't it you?"
"No."
Nios's denial surprised Worp. If it wasn't the Emperor and it wasn't him, then who was deciding?
Nios: "You should go back to Terra to watch the sunset."
"Terra has no sunset, because Terra's sun never sets."
Nios gazed at Worp with a solemn expression, "Is that a promise?"
His voice was low, as if confirming an oath of life and death.
Worp looked at Nios's unquestionable serious expression and only then realized, and felt awkward saying he was making a joke. The words on his tongue had to be carefully weighed: "It has nothing to do with a promise, it's just a small personal hope of mine."
Nios watched the artificial sun setting, as if weighing the significance of each word.
Worp: "Nios, your humanity is simply overflowing."
"I am human, and humanity is proof of my being human. In the future you have seen, if even this humanity becomes a luxury, then it precisely proves that the future we are creating is far more beautiful than the dark ending you foresaw."
"Then I hope you can always maintain this humanity."
The Emperor in the official history actually did not lack humanity; it was just that his mental fragmentation was too severe.
He poured thirty years of effort into Horus, but wouldn't give Angron a single second of humanity.
To accommodate Fulgrim's pursuit of perfection, he bestowed the Imperial Aquila as an honor upon the Third Legion, a privilege even Horus didn't have, yet he wouldn't give even a verbal reward to the always hardworking Perturabo.
Worp suddenly asked: "Am I spoiling them too much?"
Nios's experience in the official history gave him a huge warning.
The Primarchs who had bad relationships with Nios—Mortarion, Perturabo, Koz, Angron, Logar—all betrayed him.
The Primarchs who had close relationships with Nios—Horus, Fulgrim, Alpharius, and Magnus—also betrayed him.
On the contrary, those who had lukewarm relationships with Nios all remained loyal.
The only one he truly favored was Vulkan; the relationships between the other loyal Primarchs and Nios were more like boss-employee relationships.
Now Koz and Logar had very close relationships with him. If he continued to educate the Primarchs in this way, would problems arise in the future?
Nios frowned, "Why are you so conflicted?"
"You say I'm conflicted? I haven't even said anything about you. Isn't your son's conflicted personality inherited from you?"
"Heh, the pot calling the kettle black. You and I are birds of a feather."
"That's called kindred spirits. If you can't use idioms, don't."
"Are you referring to a mutual appreciation for being conflicted?"
Worp sighed, "You have a point. We both need to change this habit, but I'm already changing. You need to change too."
"Good."
Nios nodded.
He turned to Logar, his divine golden eyes looking directly at the Primarch.
"We need to talk."
"Medeea, keep Worp company for me."
Logar instructed, then left the circular hall of the Tip of the Tower with Nios.
They walked through the plain silver-grey metal corridor, their footsteps echoing in the empty space.
"Thank you."
Logar spoke first.
Nios paused, gazing at his son. The two were strikingly similar, like reflections in a mirror.
The same outline, the same posture, and even the divine radiance in their eyes were identical.
Only the subtle difference in their pupil color, like the divide between noon and dusk, allowed one to distinguish between these seemingly twin father and son.
Yet, despite being father and son by blood, they seemed separated by an invisible chasm, with a suffocating sense of detachment permeating the air.
Logar: "And thank you for not interrupting me when I was addressing the Legion."
Nios: "Do you know what you are doing?"
"I know very well what I am doing."
Logar's gaze was sharp, "Even well-intentioned lies cannot last forever. Someone must confront the danger of darkness. At least when the lies are torn apart by darkness, humanity will not sit idly by."
"If all goes well, lies can also become truth."
"You said 'if' too."