Mutants

"I'm actually a little reluctant to part with Laine Rusk."

Monger walked down the street, unable to help but sigh:

"He's truly a full-blown heretic, more so than us."

"Not only does he not believe in the Emperor, he doesn't even believe in other gods. How can there be such a heretic in this world?"

"He's also truly terrifying, his style of doing things and his face are equally terrifying."

"His mouth is truly infuriating. If I were an Ecclesiarchy priest, I would have sent him to the stake the moment he uttered his first word."

"But he is also undeniably a reliable good person." Malkit finished Monger's sentence for him.

"More than just reliable." Monger grabbed Malkit's arm and said, "Brother, did you see his capabilities?"

"He used just a golden ring to take us through the thick rubble."

"He also found some way to clear out a warehouse of weapons in one go."

"He can help us, he can help us find what we're looking for."

Monger's tone was a little hurried, but Malkit hesitated slightly.

"What we're looking for is right in front of us." Malkit looked at the Corpse Guild, not far away.

This branch of the Corpse Guild was the tallest building in the vicinity, yet it was extravagantly divided into only three floors.

In the Hive City, people died every moment. Their souls returned to the Golden Throne, and their bodies returned to the Corpse Guild to enter the cycle, being made into corpse starch or recycled nutrient paste.

Their actions were extremely important to the Hive City.

It was the Corpse Guild's practice of recycling corpses that inhibited the spread of plagues and diseases in the city, and it was also they who saved the Hive City from starvation.

They were the monopolists of the pale industry, wealthy yet considered unfortunate by the Hive City residents.

But at least the Corpse Guild had always maintained their faith in the Emperor.

According to the information Malkit had obtained from a datapad at the PDF garrison, the original Corpse Guild should have been surrounded by the skulls of unmutated humans, symbolizing purity.

In the courtyard, sacred statues of Angels, holding spears, should have stood guard before the entrance.

The walls should have been carved with the Aquila, the symbol of purity, and prayers from the Litany of Purity.

But now, those skulls of pure humans had been smashed to dust, and some skulls with obvious deformities and mutations lay before the door, staring intently at Monger and Malkit as they approached.

The Aquila, the symbol of purity, and the prayers from the Litany of Purity on the walls had been defaced with filth, turned into strings of blasphemous, strange runes.

The only thing that survived was the statue of Sanguinius beneath the porch.

But this statue was surrounded by a three-ring symbol drawn in pus.

From Malkit's perspective, it looked like a giant fly hovering around the statue of Sanguinius.

But Malkit knew that the three-ring symbol represented the perfect cycle of death, decay, and rebirth.

Yes, we will all die, and through death, we will be granted decay, and then be reborn from the rot.

Malkit thought to himself, he closed his eyes, full of piety:

"What we're looking for is right in front of us, Monger."

"No." Monger shook his head. "What's inside is just the key, we still need to find the door."

"We will find it, Monger, be patient." Malkit said softly, about to walk into the Corpse Guild's main entrance.

"Wait." Monger stopped Malkit.

"Before we go in, take off this hood." Monger said. "It's been hanging on my horns and making me uncomfortable all the way here."

Malkit nodded approvingly. Now there was no need to worry about exposing their identities and attracting disgust and rejection.

As they spoke, Malkit and Monger extended their hands, revealing their faces from under their large hoods, revealing the horns growing from their heads.

Malkit's face was gaunt and purplish, with a head of dry, gray hair. From his left hairline, forehead, and cheek, grew a number of hideous, brown-yellow horns, like those of a beast or a demon.

Monger's horns were even more ferocious than Malkit's. He had almost no hair, only hideous black horns growing from his face and head, encircling his almost bestial features.

They were mutants, monsters living in the gutters of the underhive, human variants not accepted by the Imperium, not pure enough.

They were either mutated by toxic radiation that damaged their human gene spiral, or by the toxins accumulated from long-term consumption of large amounts of impure food, or they had been corrupted by Chaos into monstrous forms.

The city did not shelter them, the Imperium did not tolerate them, the Emperor did not bless them. They were objects of hatred and rejection for billions of people in the Imperium.

The vast majority of mutants could only spend their lives in the ditches of the underhive, finding some solace in the most venomous curses against the Imperium.

But some mutants chose to curse the Imperium in a more direct way, using the power of the Chaos Gods in the Warp.

Zhou Yun stood on the roof of a nearby house, watching Monger and Malkit take off their hoods, chant a seven-syllable incantation, and walk into the Corpse Guild.

As expected, their target was also the Corpse Guild.

Zhou Yun was momentarily stunned.

After noticing that Malkit and Monger were heading in roughly the same direction as him, and that there was only the Corpse Guild as a significant building in that direction, Zhou Yun had formed this guess.

And so, using the instantaneous movement granted by the Psykana Cap, he arrived before the Corpse Guild ahead of Monger and Malkit.

Looking at the Corpse Guild's decor, filled with blasphemy and Nurgle's style, Zhou Yun knew his guess was correct.

Monger and Malkit, the brothers, had the Corpse Guild as their target, and it was clear that some Warp power resided within the Corpse Guild.

Zhou Yun acted on instinct and squatted on the rooftop of a nearby building, waiting for Monger and Malkit to clear the path for him.

He hadn't expected to accidentally learn the true identities of Monger and Malkit. They were mutants.

Speaking of mutants.

The Imperium divided the degree of mutation into four levels.

A giant skull, slight height abnormality, missing limbs, being overly talkative, and strange hair color were minor mutations, each worth 1 point.

Extra limbs, severe height abnormality, scales, feathers, or animal fur growing on the skin, disrespecting superiors, and skin emitting light were moderate mutations, each worth 3 points.

A toxic body, one to three extra limbs, abnormal eye position or non-standard number of eyes, and beast-like features were severe mutations, each worth 10 points.

Having more than three extra limbs, causing localized Warp anomalies, more than one skull, possessing aggressive limbs, and questioning the necessity of inspection were extreme mutations, each worth 50 points.

Monger and Malkit had scales, feathers, or animal fur growing on their skin, a toxic body, beast-like features, and aggressive limbs—four mutations in total: one moderate, two severe, and one extreme, for a total score of 73 points.

1-9 points was considered normal. Above 10 points meant you'd be sitting at the same table as an Ogryn. Above 50 points usually meant immediate incineration.

Monger and Malkit were mid-tier mutants that the Imperium had to purify.

And.

Zhou Yun couldn't help but glance at the winged figure in the white light at the corner of his eye.

The winged figure in the white light: "?"

An early update today because yesterday's readership was just shy of two hundred. We can break two hundred early today and get on the trial read list.