Melta Thief?

By standard time, it was already the dead of night.

But in the depths of the Hive City, there was no distinction between night and day.

Buried deep underground, except for some districts and abandoned districts near the edge of the Hive City, one could never see Asphodel's toxic twin suns.

Here, night and day were more of an artificial concept to distinguish worker shifts.

The workers heading towards the residential areas walked with heavy fatigue, finding brief respite from the day's labor.

Those heading towards the factories had only just recovered from their previous shift, staggering towards the next.

Zhou Yun watched the flow of people shuttle through the night until the lights of the Hive City's residential areas extinguished one by one, briefly surrendering all things to the darkness.

The workers either entered the factories to work through the night or returned home for a brief rest.

The streets of the Hive City also became momentarily empty.

Zhou Yun walked on the narrow streets of the Hive City, heading in the direction of home.

His gaze swept over the alleys shrouded in shadow.

Occasionally, wails would erupt from these alleys, and sometimes members of the Ark Gang could be seen hurrying past.

One could even see members of other gangs from different sectors invading the local gangs.

This short night belonged to the gangs; they would engage in bloody battles within the dark alleys.

Order within chaos; this was the tradition and unspoken understanding between the gangs.

But Zhou Yun still noticed that the vendettas and battles during the night had become less bloody and violent than before.

The wails from the alleys would end after only a few sounds.

Members of other gangs running on the street would be dragged into the alleys in the blink of an eye.

All the fighting in the night was proceeding in an orderly fashion.

Although Lena possessed astonishing intelligence, the gang she established was indeed efficient.

After all, while other gangs were still peddling primitive, crude wolf-like cultures, she had already embraced religious beliefs.

Nothing united people better than religion; the Imperium itself was held together by religion.

"If Horus could see this scene now, how he would mock us."

Zhou Yun muttered softly, recalling how the Warmaster had once accused the Emperor of pushing all of humanity into the abyss of religion and superstition.

The Chaos Gods had shown the Warmaster the future of the Imperium, a completely real future.

Horus could not accept such a future, but the Chaos Gods had lied to him with the truth.

It was precisely because of the great rebellion he had instigated that the Imperium had to become what it was today.

"Good intentions; many of the worst paths in the galaxy were initially paved with good intentions."

The winged figure in the white light trembled slightly, repeating Zhou Yun's earlier point:

"I dare not imagine, imagine how desperate Guilliman would be if he woke up one day and saw this scene?"

"But I still hope to bring a little hope back to this galaxy."

The winged figure in the white light flapped its wings, its form seeming to clarify somewhat before Zhou Yun.

"Go to Baal, friend."

"You must find my sons, tell them you came at my request, and have them take you to the side of the corpse------"

"Stop!" Zhou Yun waved his hand, quickly rejecting the winged figure's tempting offer in the white light.

"You just said that many terrible paths are paved with good intentions."

"Even if I could revive you—which I can't do now, of course—would the one who returned be Sanguinius?"

"Could it be a corrupted version of Sanguinius created by the Chaos Gods? Sanguinius's soul fragments are in their hands."

"Could it be Horus returning, possessing Sanguinius's corpse?"

"Could it be some Warp entity descending through this means?"

Zhou Yun fired a barrage of questions at the winged figure in the white light.

The winged figure in the white light fell silent for a moment.

"And is your prophecy reliable? If I go to Baal now, there's really no way to revive Sanguinius."

Zhou Yun glanced at the winged figure in the white light and said.

Most importantly, he couldn't go to Baal for the time being.

Even if he found a way to sneak to Baal, he would still not escape the clutches of the swarm.

He had to find a way to gather the money for the Anywhere Door in this place called Asphodel.

"Perhaps, probably, it might be accurate."

The winged figure in the white light said softly.

"Your future is too chaotic, like three destinies intertwined."

"Several times, I even saw you and the Emperor boarding the Vengeful Spirit, and then I saw you and the Emperor boarding the Glory of Macragge."

"Perhaps, as you said, resurrecting me will only be possible in the more distant future."

Seeing the winged figure in the white light fall silent, Zhou Yun didn't press further.

He turned a corner, walked through an archway made of scrap metal, and headed in the direction of his home----

Zhou Yun saw light, A light so intensely bright it burned his eyes, The light erupted before his home's heavy iron door, with molten iron slowly dripping down the door.

"Holy crap?!"

Zhou Yun's eyes widened.

He saw a small figure in a cloak, holding a flame cutter, standing before a house and cutting through the steel door.

That looked like... his door.

Zhou Yun blinked, and in an instant, he remembered the Eager Thief that Old One-Eye and Lena had both mentioned, A thief who used a flame cutter to cut through doors or walls to steal, and had never been caught.

"Damn it, they're stealing from me now."

Zhou Yun's eye twitched, and he silently took the Psykana Cap from his pocket and put it on his head.

He concentrated his mind on the small figure in the cloak, A powerful wave of telekinesis, like an invisible giant hammer, struck the Eager Thief heavily.

However, the Eager Thief stopped the flame cutter the moment Zhou Yun made his move.

As if he had foreseen it, he turned and ran, dodging Zhou Yun's telekinesis.

"Trying to escape?"

Zhou Yun's figure turned into an afterimage and vanished from his spot, instantly appearing behind the Eager Thief.

"All evil shall be brought to justice!"

"What you're doing is illegal! Come on, let's go turn yourself in."

Zhou Yun reached out to grab the Eager Thief by the back of his neck, But the Eager Thief was as slippery as a loach, instantly slipping from Zhou Yun's grasp.

Zhou Yun only managed to catch a glimpse of a pair of black eyes with flecks of gold before the cloak.

The Eager Thief flashed, ducking under Zhou Yun's arm, And disappeared into the darkness of the alley. Zhou Yun flashed and pursued, But the Eager Thief's figure vanished in an instant amidst the complex and chaotic streets.

Zhou Yun looked at his empty palm, which hadn't caught the Eager Thief, then looked in the direction the Eager Thief had disappeared.

He remembered Lena saying that the Eager Thief seemed to have some kind of precognitive ability.

"Damn it, Asphodel seems to have too many talented people."

"Could this be another big shot's alt account?"