Qin Mo did not know how to respond to Aurekan.
Aurekan seemed to believe that if he were human, he could simply wait for the day the Ascension Plan came to fruition.
But Qin Mo himself had been researching it on and off for so long, from the birth of the new Thunder Warriors and his private conversation with the Emperor about ascension until now, yet he had achieved no results.
"When you were still rising from obscurity, we followed the Forger's energy signal to Talon."
Aurekan suddenly spoke again.
"At the time, because of certain matters, I needed to stay by Szarekh's side and serve it for a while."
"We arrived on Talon Prime and observed you. We destroyed a Gene Stealers nest. Those Tyranid vermin's hybrid spawn were so weak that a single Death Mark could charge in and out of their most heavily defended position seven times."
"Later, before the Defense of Tyran, the Kallon Dynasty's Overlord used a temporal device to weaken Talon's Reality Membrane. I called Trazyn over and had it introduce me, and eventually met you. We went down to persuade Overlord Koren to do you a small favor."
"You must have wondered at the time why I appeared and offered to help you. That was why. I hoped to advance my research by observing you."
Aurekan openly confessed all this.
Many questions that had once puzzled Qin Mo, forcing him to give up thinking about them, were now answered.
For instance, the source of the violent explosion that had caused the Gene Stealers to suddenly retreat from the battlefield hundreds of years ago.
Or why, on the eve of the Defense of Tyran, Aurekan had appeared together with Trazyn.
"Aurekan." Qin Mo crouched down. "Although you and Trazyn were beheaded after going down