The Passage

"What are you talking about? How do I not know who the Deceiver is?"

When Qin Mo mentioned the Deceiver, Mal'Fethran, Mimic stared fixedly at him, its ever-changing face full of confusion.

Qin Mo had considered that Mimic might argue or fly into a rage, but he had never expected it to know absolutely nothing about the Deceiver, Mal'Fethran.

Still, that did not completely prove Mimic's identity, nor did it prove that what it had said before was true.

No C'tan could possibly not know Mal'Fethran the Deceiver. The Deceiver had once deceived the Necrophages—the Necrons.

It had also made the C'tan believe that the most delicious thing in the universe was not the souls of intelligent life, but their own kind—other C'tan.

And the Deceiver's talent for fraud was the greatest in the universe. It had even reached the ultimate realm of deception: it could deceive itself.

Qin Mo believed Mimic was either Mal'Fethran the Deceiver, or its memories had become muddled after being fragmented. Everything it said was half true and half false, or perhaps all of it was false.

"I'll give you two hints." Mimic stabilized into human form and raised two fingers. "First, your power is gradually recovering. The longer you drag things out, the more advantageous it is for you."

"And the second?" Qin Mo asked.

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

"What do you mean?"

Although he knew Mimic's words might be false, Qin Mo still wanted to learn more from him. At the very least, it could serve as a point of reference.

"The planet you're on is being corrupted. The Gene Stealers and your people are merely sacrifices in the game played by countless factions."

"I can foresee the future to a certain extent. I must warn you: when you leave the Underhive, be careful of the first person you see. He is a follower of the Chaos Gods."

Mimic's voice changed endlessly as well, but what he said was always straightforward.

Although Qin Mo did not fully believe Mimic's words, he thought the most praiseworthy thing about this C'tan was that it did not speak in riddles. That alone made it N times better than those so-called Eldar seers.

"Thank you for the hint. This can no longer be called a hint—it's a clear answer. I'll consider it carefully," Qin Mo said.

"You'll learn that I'm right. I'll help you become the ruler of those humans, but you must atone for your sins—for your past betrayal." Mimic stared into Qin Mo's eyes, trying to find even a trace of guilt within them.

But there was none.

Qin Mo pointed at his own head. "You know I still think like a human, rather than having been possessed by the Forger you mentioned, right?"

"Mm." Mimic nodded.

"Then why should I atone? I was dragged into this universe for no reason, then fused with a C'tan for no reason. It's not as if I ever helped the Necrophages make weapons." Qin Mo smiled.

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

"Goodbye. Let me know next time you enter my head." Qin Mo waved at Mimic and voluntarily withdrew from the dream it had created.

After waking up, Qin Mo stared at the wall and fell into thought.

He felt that he had been somewhat cold toward Mimic just now, but he clearly knew that in the Warhammer Universe, most things called gods were no good.

Even if Mimic was not a fragment of the Deceiver, its words could not be fully trusted. It was best to stay wary when dealing with these supernatural beings.

Knock, knock, knock—

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

The door was pushed open a crack. Klein first peered through the gap, and after seeing that Qin Mo was not conducting research, he pushed the door open and entered.

"What is it?" Qin Mo asked.

"Do you have time? Want to go take a look at the passage leading to the Underhive?" Klein said, pulling out a blueprint.

It was a blueprint he had drawn himself, depicting what he knew about the passage.

"Of course." Qin Mo felt that it was time to prepare to leave the Underhive.

A moment later.

Under the direction of the ground crew, the transport slowly descended and came to a stop in an area designated for vehicles.

Since the war had gone extremely smoothly and had now entered the stage of clearing out the remaining rebels, a regiment had been deployed to the perimeter of the passage entrance to provide security for the upcoming excavation work.

After Qin Mo and Klein disembarked from the transport, they headed straight for the passage.

The two also passed the position once established by the 44th Regiment.

The fortress that Qin Mo, Grey, and the others had once defended still stood there, looking battered and dilapidated.

"This place was originally going to be demolished." Klein pointed at the fortress. "But considering that this was where you fought as a soldier, it will be preserved forever."

"Tear it down. I have no attachment to this place," Qin Mo replied calmly.

Qin Mo had no feelings for anyone or anything from the 44th Regiment aside from its survivors, because he had once been a prisoner whom anyone could insult or beat, living a bleak, sunless life on the front lines every day.

"Burl was my classmate at military academy. What do you think of him?" Klein asked with a smile.

"A total piece of work. An absolute idiot. Only those least favored by the Emperor would serve as soldiers under him," Qin Mo blurted out.

Klein smiled and nodded, the words "I agree" practically written across his face.

The two continued onward, entering a gigantic artificial structure over a thousand meters tall.

The structure resembled an enormously enlarged checkpoint. The passage, wide enough for four regiments to march side by side, was filled with all kinds of abandoned instruments and equipment.

A railway stretching beyond sight had been built through the center of the passage. Trains ran on it with carriages large enough to hold Leman Russ Tanks.

It had been built recently by Logistics Machines controlled by the Master Control Intelligence.

The Master Control Intelligence believed they would have to go to the Underhive someday, so it had constructed the railway to ensure the supply of materials.

Qin Mo and Klein boarded a train and continued onward.

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

When Qin Mo and Klein stepped off the train, Anreda, clad in Terminator Power Armor, walked toward them.

The scribe, who did not enjoy war, had arrived ahead of them and was responsible for overseeing the upcoming passage excavation project.

"As we can see, opening this passage will be extraordinarily difficult," Anreda said.

Qin Mo raised his head and looked straight ahead.

The gigantic passage had been completely sealed off. This area was even larger than the checkpoint side, two thousand meters high and roughly seven thousand meters wide.

"Ancient engineering techniques are always astonishing. We descendants do not even know why they built such a massive passage." Klein took out his blueprint and spread it flat on the ground.

"Thousands, perhaps even tens of thousands of years ago, the Underhive may have been an armory, using technology we have long forgotten to build Giant War Machines." Qin Mo looked around and voiced his speculation.