Passage

"What are you talking about? Who's the Deceiver?"

As Qin Mo mentioned the Deceiver, Mal'Fethran, Mimic's eyes stared intently at Qin Mo, its constantly shifting face filled with confusion.

Qin Mo had expected Mimic to offer a defense, perhaps even lash out with insults, but he never anticipated it would have absolutely no knowledge of the Deceiver, Mal'Fethran.

However, this didn't definitively prove Mimic's identity, nor did it confirm the truth of what it had previously said.

No Star God would be unaware of the Deceiver, Mal'Fethran. The Deceiver had once tricked the Necrophage, the Silent Ones.

It had also convinced the Star Gods that the most delicious thing in the universe wasn't the souls of intelligent beings, but their own kind, other Star Gods.

The Deceiver's ability to swindle was top-tier in the universe; it could even reach the highest level of a con artist: deceiving oneself.

Qin Mo believed Mimic was either a fragment of the Deceiver, Mal'Fethran, or its memories were fragmented and hazy, making its words half-true, half-false, or even entirely fabricated.

"I'll give you two hints," Mimic said, stabilizing into a humanoid form and raising two fingers. "First, your strength is gradually recovering. The longer you stall, the more advantageous it will be for you."

"And the second hint?" Qin Mo asked.

"Second, don't think the war is over just because you've killed all those vermin among vermin."

"What do you mean?"

Even though Qin Mo suspected Mimic's words might be false, he still wanted to glean more information from it, if only for reference.

"The planet you're on is being corrupted. The Gene Stealers and you are merely sacrifices in the games of many factions."

"I can predict the future to a certain extent. I must warn you, when you leave the underhive, be wary of the first person you see. They are a cultist of an evil god."

Mimic's voice was also incredibly varied, but its words were always direct.

While Qin Mo didn't fully believe Mimic's words, he found its directness to be its most commendable trait. In this regard, it was far superior to those so-called prophets among the Eldar.

"Thank you for the hints. These can no longer be called hints but clear answers. I will consider them carefully," Qin Mo said.

"You'll see I'm right. I will help you become the ruler of these humans, but you must atone, atone for your past betrayals." Mimic stared intently into Qin Mo's eyes, trying to find a trace of guilt.

But it found none.

Qin Mo pointed to his head. "You know I still have human thoughts now, right? That I wasn't possessed by the Forger you mentioned?"

"Mmm," Mimic nodded.

"Then why should I atone? I was inexplicably dragged into this universe, inexplicably merged with a Star God, and I never helped the Necrophage build weapons," Qin Mo said with a laugh.

"No, no, no, no... that's not how it should be," Mimic shook its head repeatedly.

"Goodbye. Next time you enter my head, give me a heads-up," Qin Mo waved at Mimic and voluntarily exited the dreamscape it had created.

Upon waking, Qin Mo stared at the wall, lost in thought.

He felt he might have been a bit too ungracious towards Mimic earlier, but he knew well that most gods in the Warhammer Universe were not good beings.

Even if Mimic wasn't a fragment of the Deceiver, its words couldn't be taken at face value. It was best to be cautious when interacting with these transcendent beings.

Knock, knock, knock—

A series of knocks interrupted Qin Mo's thoughts. He looked towards the door.

The door was pushed open a crack, and Klein peered in first. Seeing that Qin Mo wasn't conducting research, he pushed the door open and entered.

"What's up?" Qin Mo asked.

"Got a moment? Shall we go check out the underhive passage together?" Klein said, taking out a blueprint.

It was a blueprint he had drawn himself, depicting the passage as he knew it.

"Of course," Qin Mo felt it was time to prepare for leaving the underhive.

A moment later.

The transport ship slowly descended under the guidance of ground personnel and parked in a designated vehicle area.

As the war had proceeded very smoothly and entered the phase of clearing out remaining rebel forces, a regiment had been deployed outside the passage entrance to provide security support for the upcoming clearance operations.

Qin Mo and Klein disembarked from the transport and walked directly towards the passage.

They also passed by the position previously established by the 44th Regiment.

The fortress where Qin Mo, Grey, and others had held their ground still stood, looking rather dilapidated.

"This was supposed to be demolished," Klein said, pointing at the fortress. "But considering it's a place where you fought as a soldier, it will be preserved forever."

"Demolish it. I don't have any attachment to this place," Qin Mo replied indifferently.

Qin Mo felt no sentiment towards the people or things of the 44th Regiment, other than the survivors. He had merely been a prisoner, subjected to abuse, living through dark days on the front lines.

"Burl was my classmate in the military academy. What's your evaluation of him?" Klein asked with a smile.

"The absolute worst. A complete idiot. Only those most ignored by the Emperor would serve as soldiers under him," Qin Mo blurted out instinctively.

Klein smiled and nodded, agreement seemingly written all over his face.

The two continued onward, entering a massive artificial structure with a height of over a thousand meters.

This building resembled an oversized checkpoint. The passage, wide enough for four regiments to march abreast, was filled with various discarded instruments and equipment.

A railway, stretching as far as the eye could see, was built right in the middle of the passage. On this railway ran a train with carriages large enough to accommodate a Leman Russ Tank.

This was a recent construction, built by logistics machinery controlled by the Master Control Intelligence.

The Master Control Intelligence had it built because it believed that, sooner or later, they would have to go down to the underhive, and this railway was constructed to ensure the supply of materials.

Qin Mo and Klein boarded the train to continue their journey.

After traveling about ten kilometers, the train reached the end of the railway.

As Qin Mo and Klein disembarked, Anreda, clad in Terminator Power Armor, walked towards them.

The scribe, who did not like war, had arrived ahead of them to supervise the upcoming passage excavation.

"As we can see, opening this passage is not ordinary difficult," Anreda said.

Qin Mo looked up ahead.

The giant passage was completely blocked. It was larger than the one at the checkpoint, two thousand meters high and seven thousand meters wide.

"Ancient engineering techniques are always astonishing. We descendants don't even know why such a massive passage was built," Klein said, taking out his blueprints and spreading them on the ground.

"Thousands or even tens of thousands of years ago, the underhive might have been an armory, using technologies we've long forgotten to build giant war machines," Qin Mo surmised, looking around.