Father and Son Speak Frankly!

Another wave of genetic information came from the liquid.

"Vesken genes, Harris."

"Likes fighting."

"Born on some nameless planet in the Ultima Segmentum."

"Super-strong stomach acid, photosynthesis, super-regeneration."

Just as I thought.

At that moment, Francis's skin had turned blue-green all over, constantly absorbing the light in the room.

So warm?

This feeling... It was just like sunbathing on a beach in June. It was almost too comfortable!

"So this is what photosynthesis feels like!"

"If I've got super-strong stomach acid too, then..."

At the thought, Francis's eyes lit up. He raised a hand and started poking at the back of his throat, digging away with two fingers.

"Urgh... Urgh~"

At last.

A powerful urge to vomit surged through him. With a snap, the final thread of rational restraint broke.

A thick green liquid shot from his mouth. His right hand hadn't had time to pull away before it was submerged in a flood of stomach acid.

Sizzle, sizzle~

Francis watched his right hand dissolve at a visible speed. In the blink of an eye, the palm that had been eaten away grew back.

"Hahaha! It worked!"

Just as Francis raised his hand and cheered, a faint metallic clatter came from outside the door.

When he turned to look, Constantin already had both hands gripping the Spear of the Sun, his expression tense.

He wasn't sure whether the cell could hold the other man back.

"So you really are going to turn into a Xenos!"

Francis: "..."

If he weren't still serving his "sentence," he'd show this bald monk why flowers were so red.

Still, he held back and put on an innocent expression, waving both hands.

"No, no! How could I? I was just exercising my body. I'll be back to normal in a moment!"

"See that you are. Number Eleven, you may have forgotten why you were imprisoned here."

"But I can remind you."

"First, do not try to reconcile humanity with the Xenos."

"Second, do not try to bring about humanity's so-called next evolution."

"Third, do not overuse your genetic technology. You cannot control it."

Constantin's words reminded Francis of something at once.

Right. One of the most inviolable taboos in this world was the Xenos!

And what was he doing now?

Francis suddenly thought the other man was actually quite kind. He could've killed him on the spot.

"Ahem. I'm learning about the enemy so I can use their strengths to defeat them!"

"Look, I've already changed back!"

As he spoke, he gave his body a shake. The strange changes disappeared in no time.

Even so, Constantin kept his eyes fixed on him, the Spear of the Sun in his hands still charging.

"By the way, do you know about the Webway?"

Just as Francis tried to change the subject,

suddenly,

the familiar, kindly voice rang out in his mind once more.

"Francis, how did you learn about the Webway Project?" (in gilded letters)

Unlike their previous conversations, Francis could clearly hear a trace of coldness in the Emperor's voice.

Only then did Francis realize that the "Webway Project" was still top secret.

According to the original history, the Emperor had returned to Terra from the front lines of the Great Crusade to build the Webway.

And only a very small number of people knew about this secret operation. The twenty Primarchs weren't among them.

So someone like him, who had been sealed away long ago, could know nothing about the project.

In an instant, Francis's genetically enhanced brain raced through hundreds of thousands of possibilities.

At last, the words "Webway" and "unknown substance" collided in his mind.

Francis found the best excuse. He took a deep breath and replied, "That unknown substance must have told me. In my dream, I saw someone use a terrifying psychic spell to break through the Webway. Then countless daemons poured in."

Francis didn't explain the whole process. After all, right now, he was just a little son under lock and key.

"So you received a prophecy from the unknown substance in the Webway."

Hearing the much calmer voice, Francis really wanted to curse.

A prophecy, my ass. I'm a time-traveler, and I'm here to save you, you old geezer!

If history still followed its original course, the Webway would be breached and daemons would invade. The Adeptus Custodes would suffer terrible losses, his own son would betray him, and even he, the Emperor, would sit on the "Golden Throne," half-dead, forever.

Humanity's future would disappear too. It was all so tragic!

But at that moment, he still had to pretend to be utterly astonished. "What? Something came out of the Webway? What will happen to me, Father?"

"...Unknown. But so far, the effects have all been positive."

Francis: "..."

It was clear the original Eleventh Primarch had been in serious trouble.

"Father, when can I get out of here?"

"Why do you want to leave?"

Here it came.

Francis had been rehearsing his answer to that question for days.

He put on a look of deep anguish, his voice low and strained.

"Because I want more prophecies. I want to change the tragic ending I saw in my dream, Father!"

The Emperor saw straight through Francis's shoddy performance.

Still, the Emperor could tell that the other man wasn't lying. His personality had just changed quite a bit.

"Then what do you think we should do?"

"If powerful psychic abilities destroyed the Webway, and the person responsible knew Terra's location,"

"then what if we bring back anyone with powerful psychic abilities ahead of time and keep them under strict guard?"

Francis's eyes darted back and forth. He hadn't named anyone in particular.

"Good."

Clearly,

the Emperor had chosen to slow the Great Crusade and ensure the Webway's safety over maintaining its pace and risking the Webway.

As for why the Webway was so important, that had to do with a place in this universe called the Warp.

Interstellar exploration relied on Warp technology to achieve faster-than-light travel.

Without the Warp, you could set out as a young man and reach your destination only after you were dead and gone.

For all you knew, you could be fighting on the front lines while your home was already under attack.

But using the Warp wasn't exactly safe either. It wasn't a material realm. On the contrary, it was a place woven entirely from magic and psychic energy.

Everyone knew that any place with a name had to contain sentient beings.

And wherever sentient beings existed, there was bound to be malice!

The Warp was no exception. It stretched on without end, and no one knew what horrors it concealed.

For an ordinary person, getting lost from the age of eight until they were eighty was already a lucky outcome. They could easily be corrupted by some ■■■■■■ and end up as something strange.

But the Webway let you avoid all that!

It was the difference between charging into a forest full of wild beasts and monsters and riding a high-speed train straight to your destination.

So!

Francis still hadn't gotten an answer from the Emperor about when he could leave.

"Damn!"

Maybe their conversation with the Emperor had done the trick, because Constantin lowered the Spear of the Sun.

"Are you planning to just stand there forever?" Francis teased.

Constantin didn't answer. He just stared at him. The two of them silently stared each other down for a long time.

Fine!

If he couldn't win, he could at least avoid the other man.

Francis stopped paying attention to him and turned his focus to the table.

He now had several types of Xenos materials and a whole collection of genetic engineering equipment.

"Hehehe~ Let's show this giant corn cob what biotechnology can do!"

As time passed, more and more memories about genetic technology surfaced in Francis's mind.

"First, let's add a bowl of Ork blood, then some Vesken blood."

"Add gene-dissolving enzymes, mutation factors, targeted chimeras, universal gene supplements, my hair, and my toenails. Mix well~"

Just like that, a cup of liquid, black in every color, appeared.

Francis pulled the incubation pod over, opened it, and began chanting a blessing.

"Pour on the soul juice, son~"

As the thick liquid steadily drained into the pod, he closed it.

Francis began his first gene-editing surgery since waking up!

The procedure was so spectacular that even Constantin's poker face couldn't hide his shock.

If it weren't for the Emperor's orders, Constantin might already have destroyed the heretic before him.

At the same time,

the Emperor sent a list to the Space Wolves Legion.

"Bring them back to Terra~"