The Lord = 9

The moment he realized the meaning of that string of numbers, Zhou Yun felt a surge of complex digits welling up from the depths of his mind.

These numbers wove themselves into an ever-changing vortex, forming layers of networks that ensnared his consciousness, ensnared his soul.

All numbers change, all numbers are nine.

Zhou Yun suppressed the dizziness surging in his head and leaned heavily against the wall.

Corruption, corruption from Tzeentch.

Zhou Yun had been cautious, always wanting to unravel Nama Karl's secrets. Only then could he feel at ease.

But he had overlooked that Tzeentch was not only the god of trickery and secrets.

Curiosity, exploration, wisdom, and deciphering were also its domains.

When you cannot solve Tzeentch's riddle, you might already be falling into its corruption.

When you solve Tzeentch's riddle, you might also already be falling into its corruption.

The string of numbers Nama Karl wrote did not corrupt on its own, but deciphering their mystery would bring corruption.

In this round of Tzeentch's plan, wisdom and thought were dangerous; foolishness and ignorance were instead safe.

This corruption came so swiftly and secretly because it did not solely originate from the outside, but also from Zhou Yun's own thoughts.

Zhou Yun even suspected that some ability to accelerate thinking had been cast upon this room. He felt his thoughts becoming clearer and clearer after entering.

He was stimulated to uncover the mystery of that string of numbers and had been corrupted by Tzeentch.

It wasn't just Zhou Yun, but also the children studying at Nama Karl's house.

They must have also deciphered the mystery of those numbers like Zhou Yun and suffered the same corruption.

"Damn you, blue-haired bastard," Zhou Yun cursed Tzeentch.

The nerves in his brain tightened as corruption slowly infiltrated his consciousness.

He saw the winged figure in the white light at the corner of his eye, its wings trembling, blocking the onslaught of those vortex-like numbers.

He also saw his own feet.

In the reflection of the Warp, his essence flickered in and out of existence.

"Zhou Yun?"

Lena looked at Zhou Yun beside her in terror.

The moment he stepped out of the study, Zhou Yun froze in place. A blasphemous Psykana fluctuation was entwined around his soul.

These psychic energies constantly shifted and twisted, pouring into Zhou Yun's body from the Warp and intertwining with his soul.

It was corruption!

Zhou Yun had been ensnared by some corrupting force!

How could this be?! How could he suddenly be corrupted? Could it be Mrs. Nama?!

"He has unraveled the riddle The Lord left for mortals and come to know The Lord's wisdom of myriad changes."

A gentle, aged female voice sounded from behind Lena.

Lena turned to look into the study.

The lamp on the desk was lit, its stark white, almost blue light illuminating the study.

It also illuminated the aged woman with slightly darkened skin, silver-gray hair tied up, and a pale blue robe.

In her hand, she held a cheap notebook with a black, hard-cover binding. On the cover, written in ink that was pale to the point of being blue, was that string of numbers:

387,420,489.

"Nama Karl?!"

Lena read the name of the person before her word by word.

Looking at the situation, she finally understood.

Zhou Yun's caution had been correct. This woman who had once taught her was a blasphemous heretic!!

"Lena, you are still so obtuse."

Nama Karl looked at Lena with almost pity.

"Before you entered the Upper Hive, The Lord had already interpreted your existence to me through mathematics and calculation."

"Therefore, I intended to let you share in The Lord's gift."

"Only by unraveling The Lord's riddle can one behold the gift of myriad changes, yet you are so obtuse you cannot even remember this string of divine numbers."

Nama Karl looked at Zhou Yun behind Lena.

"He is smarter than you, and more cautious, thus he realized the divinity of those numbers."

"When he comprehended the sublime meaning of the divine numbers, The Lord bestowed his gift upon him."

It was that string of numbers. Lena felt a chill run down her spine.

That string of numbers is a trap. The numbers themselves aren't blasphemous, but understanding their meaning will lead to corruption.

Thinking, excessive thinking is dangerous.

"You have betrayed the Emperor like this!"

"Nama Karl, have you forgotten your husband? Forgotten the husband who died for loyalty!?"

Lena's voice suddenly rose, the Voice of Temptation surging towards Nama Karl with immense Psykana power:

"You should repent!"

Nama Karl's body trembled slightly, but her face was full of regret.

"You're still so foolish, your whole family is the same."

"The Emperor is just a corpse on a throne, unchanging."

"What do you gain by believing in him? Only impulse, ignorance, blind loyalty, and stupidity."

"You blindly believe in him, even abandoning reason."

"You chase superstitious omens but refuse to believe the results of mathematical calculations."

"My husband was as foolish as you are, his sacrifice was meaningless. Without him, the Ork xenos wouldn't have invaded the Stygian System."

As she spoke, Nama Karl's face revealed a light of reason and wisdom.

Her eyes seemed to contain infinite numbers spiraling and changing.

"I am different. I don't blindly worship the Lord; I found the Lord through complex and rigorous calculations."

Nama Karl opened the notebook in her hand, revealing formulas and calculations so complex that Lena couldn't understand them at all.

"See how beautiful mathematics is? Everything can be explained by math, and math is constantly changing to interpret everything."

"If there is truly a god in this world, it must be within these constantly shifting numbers."

"I spent decades calculating, differentiating, and solving, finally finding the Lord among infinite numbers."

Nama Karl pointed to the notebook in her hand, pointing to the countless equations.

At the end of all the equations, the same answer was obtained: 9.

All answers are nine!

"Do you see, Lena!?"

"Lord = 9!"

Nama Karl pointed to the number nine, as if wanting Lena to realize something, as if hinting at the answer to some question for Lena.

Perhaps she wanted to imply, to make Lena instinctively guess the secret of that string of numbers, and thus corrupt Lena as well.

But Lena didn't understand.

"I can't be bothered to listen to you! I don't understand either!"

Lena's anger reached its peak, flames almost erupting from her eyes.

The Psykana power around her surged with her emotions.

The surrounding air turned cold as winter. Lena raised her arm and swung it down heavily.

"Lightning!!!"

Warp lightning tore through the entire room, igniting the papers filled with calculations and striking Nama Karl's chest heavily.

"Aaaargh!!!"

Nama Karl let out an inhuman wail, her body convulsing as she fell to the ground.

"You actually did it!? I taught you! When you were little! Along with many other children!"

"You can't! How dare you?! Lena, have you forgotten your childhood!?"

"Traitor! Heretic! Blasphemer!"

Lena roared, scorching flames igniting from the Warp. Her Psykana power transformed into a heavy hammer, crushing down on Nama Karl.

Nama Karl reached for the notebook filled with numbers, seemingly trying to gain protection from it.

But Lena didn't give her the chance.

"Give it here, don't touch it!!!!"