Gods Walk Among Us

Old One-Eye walked out of the room behind the tavern, leaving only Zhou Yun and Rag, who was lying on the bed.

Zhou Yun glanced at the soundly sleeping Rag, not rushing to act. Instead, he first observed the room.

This was clearly where Old One-Eye usually lived, and many of his traces remained.

The room was tidily cleaned, with bowls and chopsticks washed and placed in the recycling sink. The few clothes were neatly arranged in the wardrobe, and the bed was also made meticulously.

The first impression the room gave Zhou Yun was its tidiness, so tidy it seemed as if it had been trained.

It was hard to imagine someone in the underhive wasting time organizing clothes and rooms.

Zhou Yun's gaze shifted to the only table in Old One-Eye's room.

A datapad lay on the table, its back extending into the wall through several cables, its connection unknown.

Zhou Yun walked to the table and gently reached out to open the datapad.

A prompt to enter a key popped up on the datapad.

A tidy room, traces of professional training, a datapad requiring a key.

This Old One-Eye fellow had quite a few secrets.

Zhou Yun stroked his chin.

If Old One-Eye's remaining eye wasn't black, but the purple of a Cadian, he would have started suspecting Old One-Eye was part of the Cadian Shock Troops stationed in the nearby star system.

Zhou Yun put down the datapad and turned to look at Rag, who was lying on the bed.

"Do you think the leader of the Ark Gang is an illegal psyker or a Genestealer?" the winged figure in the white light asked.

Zhou Yun lowered his head slightly.

"Their methods are very much like Genestealers, but they actually sent Rag to invite me to meet their leader."

"Aren't they worried I'll run off? I can't figure it out, I really can't figure it out."

Zhou Yun took out Body Clay from his Fourth-Dimensional Pocket and placed it on the ground, saying:

"So I plan to go see for myself."

Even if he had to run all the way to the underhive, he first needed to confirm whether the Ark Gang was a front for the Chicken Thief.

If there was an opportunity, assassinating the Ark Gang leader, who was suspected of being the Chicken Thief, would be even better.

With that thought, Zhou Yun took out the Body Clay from the one-meter-wide jar and began to mold it onto his face bit by bit.

His fingers moved swiftly, and in a short time, he had sculpted Rag's ugly gray face.

Zhou Yun then applied some clay to his body, making his skin as wrinkled as Rag's.

Finally, he took off Rag's linen robe and put it on himself.

In an instant, Zhou Yun's appearance was almost identical to Rag's, only slightly taller.

But.

"Cough, cough, cough," Zhou Yun coughed twice.

His voice was too different from Rag's lewd, low tone.

Fortunately, Zhou Yun remembered an item that could help him imitate others' voices.

Zhou Yun's gaze fell on his Fourth-Dimensional Pocket and opened the Future Department Store.

[Item Name: Sound Candy Maker] [Origin: 22nd Century Earth - Future Department Store] [Production Date: 257.M2] [Function: A machine with a microphone. After recording a person's voice with the machine, it can remember their voiceprint and create sound-print candy. Anyone who eats the sound-print candy will have their voice become exactly like that person's.] "Price: 50,000"

This item's function wasn't particularly powerful, only imitating voices, and its price was only fifty thousand, significantly cheaper than Body Clay.

However, when combined with Body Clay, it allowed Zhou Yun to change both his voice and appearance to match someone else for thirty minutes, which was very practical.

Zhou Yun purchased the Sound Candy Maker and brought it close to Rag's mouth as he mumbled in his sleep.

"Amasec wine, so strong! Nine-tenths strength, even more!"

The Sound Candy Maker recorded Rag's dream talk.

A moment later, a light golden candy was produced and fell into Zhou Yun's palm.

Zhou Yun didn't eat the candy immediately. Instead, he put the candy, which recorded Rag's voice, into the inner pocket of his robe.

The effect of this sound-print candy only lasted thirty minutes. He had to wait until he reached the Ark Gang's stronghold before eating it.

Then, Zhou Yun took out the Pocket Tornado from his Fourth-Dimensional Pocket and hung it inside his robe.

After confirming that everything was ready, Zhou Yun pushed open the back door of the tavern and walked out into the streets of the Hive City.

A few minutes later, Old One-Eye pushed open the door and entered the room.

He found that Zhou Yun had already left, and Rag was still sleeping soundly on the bed.

The anesthetic he had given him was obtained from two heretics in the underhive.

Its effects were very strong; an ordinary person would sleep for at least an afternoon after taking it.

But Old One-Eye still crouched down to confirm that Rag was indeed dead to the world.

"You old rascal," Old One-Eye said, shaking his head as he looked at Rag, then walked over to the table.

He noticed signs of movement on the datapad on the table, indicating Zhou Yun had clearly looked at it.

But Old One-Eye wasn't worried.

He dared to leave Zhou Yun alone in this room, so he wasn't afraid of him discovering his secret.

This device had complex key encryption, and no actual information was stored inside.

Its only purpose was for Old One-Eye to contact the Apex Hive.

If Zhou Yun didn't know the key or the password to contact the Apex Hive, this datapad was just a glowing brick.

Old One-Eye entered the key into the datapad, unlocked the screen, and entered the communication interface.

He sent a message to the Apex Hive, the very top of the entire hive.

"Password," a low, dry voice came from the datapad.

" 'Swarm,' 'Angels,' 'Brothers,' 'Twin Stars.' "

The password, composed of short, high Gothic phrases, was uttered from Old One-Eye's mouth.

This ancient and solemn language could not be pronounced accurately without training:

" 'Mutant,' 'Parasite,' 'Destiny,' and 'Governor.' "

There was a moment of silence from the other side of the datapad, and the low, dry voice asked again:

"Tell me, how many arms was the merciful Emperor born with?"

"The merciful Emperor has two eyes, two ears, two arms, and two legs," Old One-Eye replied, lowering his voice.

"Tell me, where is our only salvation?" the low, dry voice asked once more.

"Only death, to die for the Emperor, and our souls return to the Golden Throne," Old One-Eye answered.

"Recite the first two lines of the Scripture of the Word and swear to the Emperor that you are pure, uncorrupted human," the low, dry voice commanded.

Old One-Eye devoutly lowered his head.

He was not bothered by the tedious process; he understood why the one he served was so nervous.

He softly chanted:

"Rejoice, for I bring you glorious tidings."

"The divine walks among us."

These were the first two lines of the Scripture of the Word. Old One-Eye continued:

"I swear to the Emperor that I am as pure as ever, uncorrupted and undefiled by mutation, a true human."

There was no further sound from the other side of the datapad. Old One-Eye then said softly:

"I couldn't find Ignatius Carkas's notebook."