Mutants

"I really was a little reluctant to part with Leman Russ."

Monger walked down the street and could not help sighing.

"He really was a genuine heretic, more heretical than we were."

"Not only did he not believe in The Emperor, he did not even believe in any other gods. How could such a heretic exist in this world?"

"He really was frightening. Both his way of doing things and that face of his were equally frightening."

"That mouth of his was infuriating too. If I were a priest of the Ecclesiarchy, I would have sent him to the pyre the moment he spoke his first word."

"But he truly was a reliable, good man." Malkit finished the rest of Monger's thoughts for him.

"Not just reliable." Monger grabbed Malkit's arm. "Brother, did you see what he was capable of?"

"With just a golden ring, he took us through that massive mountain of rubble."

"And somehow, he emptied an entire weapons warehouse in one go."

"He can help us. He can help us find what we want."

Monger spoke somewhat urgently, but Malkit hesitated slightly.

"What we seek is right before us." Malkit looked toward the Corpse Guild not far away.

This building, belonging to a Corpse Guild branch, was the tallest in the area, yet it had extravagantly been divided into only three floors.

In the hive city, people died every moment. Their souls returned to the Golden Throne, while their bodies returned to the Corpse Guild and entered the cycle,

to be made into corpse starch or recycled nutrient paste.

Their work was immensely important to the hive city.

It was precisely the Corpse Guild's practice of reclaiming corpses that restrained the spread of plague and disease through the city, and they were also what kept the hive city from starving.

They monopolized the pale trade, wealthy yet considered unfortunate by the hive city's residents.

But at the very least, the Corpse Guild had once always maintained its faith in The Emperor.

According to the information Malkit had learned from the data slate at the PDF garrison,

the original Corpse Guild should have been surrounded by unmutated human skulls symbolizing purity.

A holy angelic statue should have stood in the courtyard, holding a Long Spear as it guarded the entrance.

The walls should have been covered with Aquilas representing the Imperium, Purity Seals, and prayers from the Scripture of the Word.

But now, those skulls of pure humans had been smashed into fragments. Some visibly deformed and mutated skulls had been laid across the doorway, staring fixedly at Monger and Malkit as they approached.

The Aquilas, Purity Seals, and Scripture of the Word prayers on the walls had been defiled with filth, transformed into strings of strange runes full of blasphemy.

The only thing that remained was the Sanguinius Statue beneath the entrance.

But the statue was surrounded by a symbol of three circles traced in pus.

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

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

Yes, we would all eventually die, be granted corruption through death, and be reborn from decay.

Malkit thought to himself. He closed his eyes, filled with piety.

"What we seek is right before us, Monger."

"No." Monger shook his head. "What is inside is only the key. We still need to find the door."

"We will find it, Monger. Be patient." Malkit spoke softly and was about to enter the Corpse Guild's doors.

"Wait." Monger stopped Malkit.

"Take off that hood before we go in." Monger said, "Hanging it from my horns has made me uncomfortable all the way here."

Malkit nodded approvingly. There was no longer any need to worry about exposing their identities and drawing disgust and rejection.

As he spoke, Malkit and Monger raised their hands, revealing the faces beneath their broad hoods and the horns growing from their heads.

Malkit's face was gaunt and purplish, his head covered in dry gray hair. From amid the hair on the left side of his face, from his forehead and beside his cheeks, savage tawny horns extended outward, like something both beastly and demonic.

Monger's horns were even more savage than Malkit's. He had almost no hair; his face and head bore only vicious black horns, which curled around his nearly bestial features.

They were mutants, monsters who lived in the sewers of the underhive, human variants not accepted by the Imperium, people who were not pure enough.

Their human genetic helixes might have been damaged by toxic radiation, poisoned by toxins accumulated over time from vast quantities of unclean food, or corrupted by Chaos into monstrous forms.

The city had never taken them in, the Imperium had never permitted them, and The Emperor had never blessed them. They were hated and rejected by the countless billions of Imperial citizens.

The overwhelming majority of mutants could only spend their lives in the gutters of the underhive, finding a little comfort in the most vicious curses directed at the Imperium.

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

Zhou Yun stood atop a building not far away, watching Monger and Malkit remove their hoods, chant a seven-syllable spell, and enter the Corpse Guild.

So their target was the Corpse Guild too.

Zhou Yun was momentarily numb.

When he noticed that Malkit and Monger were heading in roughly the same direction as him, and that the Corpse Guild was the only important building in that direction, Zhou Yun had formed this suspicion.

So, using the Instant Movement ability granted by the Psykana Cap, he had arrived at the Corpse Guild before Monger and Malkit.

Seeing the Corpse Guild's decor, full of blasphemy and Nurgle's style, Zhou Yun knew he had guessed right.

The Monger and Malkit brothers were targeting the Corpse Guild, and some kind of Warp power was clearly entrenched within it.

Following his instincts, Zhou Yun directly crouched on the roof of a nearby building, waiting for Monger and Malkit to clear the way for him.

He had not expected to learn their true identities as well. Two mutants.

Speaking of mutants.

The Imperium classified the degree of mutation into four ranks.

Enormous skulls, slight height abnormalities, missing limbs, excessive talkativeness, and strange hair colors were considered minor mutations.

Each of these was worth 1 point.

Extra limbs, severe height abnormalities, scales, feathers, or animal fur growing from the body, disrespect for superiors, and glowing skin were considered moderate mutations.

Each of these was worth 3 points.

A poisonous body, one to three additional appendages, abnormally positioned eyes or a nonstandard number of eyes, and beastly characteristics were considered severe mutations.

Each of these was worth 10 points.

More than three additional appendages, causing localized Warp anomalies, more than one skull, possessing offensive limbs, and questioning the need for inspection were considered extreme mutations.

Each of these was worth 50 points.

Monger and Malkit had four mutations: scales, feathers, or animal fur growing from their bodies; poisonous bodies; beastly characteristics; and offensive limbs. One moderate, two severe, and one extreme, for a total score of 73.

A score of 1 to 9 was considered normal. Above 10, one had to sit at the same table as an Ogryn. Above 50, one was generally incinerated on the spot.

Among the mutants the Imperium had to purge, Monger and Malkit's mutations were considered middling.

And.

Zhou Yun could not help glancing at the winged figure in the white light at the corner of his eye.

The winged figure in the white light: "?"

Today's update was a little earlier, because yesterday's reading count was just short of breaking two hundred. If it was posted earlier today, it could break two hundred and make it onto the trial recommendation.