Surreal Splendor and "Strangeness"

?!

Hearing Dr. Halsey address him so formally as "Your Excellency Primarch," with even a hint in her tone that his presence had made Great Device 01 shine with reflected glory, Sui Meng felt no pleasure at all. Instead, he immediately sensed that something was off.

Almost instinctively, he returned the gesture with a slight bow, his manner nearly reflexively respectful as he replied sincerely:

"Doctor, you flatter me. It is the Imperial Warriors Legion—and indeed the entire Imperium of Man—that should thank you and your team for your selfless dedication and exceptional wisdom.

"It is precisely because of your tireless research that so many Legions possess greater combat strength and a solid technological foundation, allowing them to expand humanity's territory across the multiverse."

Sui Meng's swift and respectful response was not mere polite hypocrisy.

In his deeply ingrained beliefs, Dr. Halsey, like his mother Athena, was a great figure who had created Primarchs and bestowed the Empire with its foremost military strength. She was an elder worthy of reverence, like a mother.

If any Primarch dared show Athena even the slightest disrespect, contempt, or discourtesy, Sui Meng would be the first to fly into a rage and regard it as an unforgivable sacrilege.

Therefore, when he noticed that Halsey seemed to be deliberately lowering her own status in order to elevate his, he immediately responded with the utmost solemnity, demonstrating his absolute respect for an elder.

Seeing Sui Meng become so "nervous" over her slightly teasing formal greeting—almost at a loss, though none of it showed on his face—Halsey was briefly taken aback before she failed to hold back a snort of laughter. Her laugh carried a trace of mischief and a rare sense of ease.

She took several steps closer, utterly unconcerned by his Power Armor's overwhelming sense