Old One-Eye walked out of the room behind the tavern,
leaving only Zhou Yun and Ragg lying on the bed.
Zhou Yun glanced at the soundly sleeping Ragg. Rather than acting immediately, he first examined the room.
This was clearly where Old One-Eye normally lived, and it bore plenty of traces of him.
The room was spotlessly tidy. The bowls and utensils had been washed and placed in the recycling sink, the few clothes he owned were neatly arranged in the wardrobe, and even the bed was made perfectly.
Zhou Yun's first impression of the room was that it was clean—clean as if its owner had undergone training.
It was hard to imagine anyone in the lower hive wasting time tidying their room and clothes.
Zhou Yun looked toward the only table in Old One-Eye's room.
A data slate sat on it, with several cables running from its back into the wall, connected to something unknown.
Zhou Yun walked over, reached out, and turned on the data slate.
A prompt popped up, asking him to enter a passcode.
A tidy room, signs of professional training, and a data slate that required a passcode.
Old One-Eye was hiding quite a few secrets.
Zhou Yun stroked his chin.
If Old One-Eye's remaining eye had not been black rather than the purple of the Cadians,
he would have started suspecting that Old One-Eye was one of the Cadian Shock Troops stationed in a nearby star system.
Zhou Yun set down the data slate and turned to look at Ragg on the bed.
"Do you think that Ark Gang cult leader is an illegal psyker or a Genestealer?" the winged figure in the white light asked.
Zhou Yun lowered his head slightly.
"Their methods resemble those of Genestealers, but they actually sent Ragg to invite me to meet their cult leader."
"Aren't they worried I'll run away? I don't get it. I really don't get it."
Zhou Yun took out some Body Clay from his Fourth-Dimensional Pocket and placed it on the floor.
"So I'm going to take a look for myself."
Even if he really had to flee all the way to the bottom hive, he first had to confirm whether the Ark Gang was actually Chicken Thief's front.
If he got the chance, it would be even better if he could assassinate the Ark Gang's cult leader, who was likely Chicken Thief.
With that in mind, Zhou Yun took the Body Clay from its one-meter-wide container and gradually stuck it onto his face.
His fingers moved swiftly, and before long, he had molded Ragg's ugly gray face.
Zhou Yun smeared more clay over his body, making his skin as wrinkled as Ragg's.
Finally, he pulled the flax-colored robe off Ragg and draped it over himself.
For a moment, Zhou Yun looked almost identical to Ragg, except that he was slightly taller.
But—
"Cough, cough, cough." Zhou Yun coughed twice.
His voice was simply far too different from Ragg's lecherous, low voice.
Fortunately, Zhou Yun remembered an item that could help him imitate someone else's voice.
Zhou Yun focused on his Fourth-Dimensional Pocket and opened the Future Department Store.
[Item Name: Sound Candy Maker] [Origin: 22nd Century Earth—Future Department Store] [Production Time: 257.M2] [Function: A machine equipped with a microphone. After recording someone's voice, it can memorize their voiceprint and produce voiceprint candy. Whoever eats the candy will have a voice exactly like that person's.]
"Price: 50,000."
This item's function was not particularly impressive. It merely imitated another person's voice, and it cost only fifty thousand—far cheaper than Body Clay.
But when used together with Body Clay, it could make Zhou Yun's voice and appearance become someone else's for thirty minutes. It was extremely useful.
Zhou Yun bought the Sound Candy Maker and held it close to Ragg's mumbling mouth.
"Amasec liquor, that's strong! A solid nine out of ten for strength!"
The Sound Candy Maker recorded Ragg's sleep-talking.
A moment later, a pale golden candy was produced and dropped into Zhou Yun's palm.
Zhou Yun did not rush to eat it. Instead, he tucked the candy containing Ragg's voice into the inner pocket of his robe.
The voiceprint candy only lasted thirty minutes. He would have to wait until he reached the Ark Gang's stronghold before eating it.
Then Zhou Yun took 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 tavern's back door and entered the hive city streets.
A few minutes later, Old One-Eye pushed open the door and entered the room.
He found that Zhou Yun had already left, while Ragg was still snoring on the bed.
The sleeping drug he had fed Ragg had come from two cultists in the bottom hive.
It was extremely potent. An ordinary person who took it would sleep for at least an entire afternoon.
Still, Old One-Eye crouched down and confirmed that Ragg was truly sleeping like the dead.
"You old bastard." Old One-Eye shook his head at Ragg, then walked over to the table.
He noticed that the data slate on the table had been moved. Zhou Yun had clearly looked at it.
But Old One-Eye was not worried.
He had dared to leave Zhou Yun alone in this room because he was not afraid of Zhou Yun discovering his secret.
This device had complex passcode encryption, and it contained no actual information.
Its only purpose was to allow Old One-Eye to contact the Apex Hive.
If Zhou Yun did not know the passcode or the code phrase for contacting the Apex Hive,
then this data slate was nothing more than a glowing brick.
Old One-Eye entered the passcode into the data slate, unlocked the screen, and opened the call interface.
He sent a message to the Apex Hive, the very top of the entire hive city.
"Code phrase." A low, dry voice came from the data slate.
"'Swarm,' 'angel,' 'brother,' 'twin stars.'"
A code phrase made up of short High Gothic words left Old One-Eye's mouth.
Without training, this ancient and solemn language could not be pronounced accurately.
"'Mutant,' 'parasite,' 'fate,' and 'governor.'"
The other side of the data slate fell silent for a moment before the low, dry voice asked again,
"Tell me, how many arms does the merciful Emperor possess by nature?"
"The merciful Emperor has two eyes, two ears, two arms, and two legs," Old One-Eye answered in a lowered voice.
"Tell me, where lies our sole salvation?" the low, dry voice asked once more.
"Only in death. To die for the Emperor, and for the soul to return to the Golden Throne," Old One-Eye replied.
"Recite the first two lines of the Scripture of the Word, and swear to the Emperor that you are a pure human untouched by genetic corruption," said the low, dry voice.
Old One-Eye lowered his head devoutly.
He was not troubled by the tedious procedure. He understood why the one he served was so wary.
He recited softly,
"Rejoice, for I bring you glorious good news."
"God 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 remain as pure as ever, untouched by genetic corruption or defilement, a true human."
No more sound came from the other side of the data slate. Old One-Eye spoke quietly instead.
"I did not find Ignis Calcas's notebook."
Before you continue