During the month aboard the ship, the Emperor had conducted a few small experiments. He discovered that Axis's qi could not be inherited through bloodlines, nor could it be acquired through learning.
This power could also enhance physical capabilities and even resist the Warp's psychic power to a certain extent.
The Emperor had once tested it and found that this qi had a remarkable resistance to Warp energy.
In other words, the boy Axis was unaffected by the Warp because his qi resisted the Chaos energy within it.
Many scholars believed that the Warp's Chaos energy was neither good nor evil. It was chaotic, belonging to neither side.
The Emperor, however, scoffed at the idea. Warp energy was evil, and he was absolutely certain of it!
Psykers who wielded Warp energy could easily get burned if they weren't careful. And as for the daemons and lesser gods born within the Warp, which of them was friendly to the creatures of Realspace?
If it were neither good nor evil, then it shouldn't have such a great negative impact on humanity.
But the truth was that Warp energy could grant people immense power while also corrupting them.
Warp energy was highly corrosive. Perhaps the Warp hadn't once been good or evil, but it had changed after those four great and evil beings came into existence.
Without the protection of a Geller Field, an ordinary human who spent too long in the Warp would have their genes infected by its energy.
The Emperor had always sought a way to resist the corruption of Warp energy. Although humanity's psychic power was not as great as that of the Aeldari, it was still considerable.
It surpassed that of many ordinary species in the Milky Way. That was an undeniable fact.
Humanity could not escape the Warp—not yet, at least. Even the Webway was part of the Warp, merely a network of special passageways created by a group of ancient beings.
The Aeldari claimed that their ancestors had developed the Webway, and that their gods had created it as a divine gift to them.
But that wasn't the truth. The Aeldari were merely inheritors. A far more powerful and ancient civilization had developed the Webway. For now, this species was called the Old Ones.
"I think I understand what you have in mind! You hope this child will be able to resist Chaos when he grows up!" Malcador looked at the Emperor in shock, seemingly unable to believe it, yet also beginning to understand.
Others thought the Emperor was a visionary and powerful ruler, a natural-born monarch and leader, a true god.
But Malcador alone understood that his old friend had no interest in power at all. If Malcador hadn't begged him back then, the Emperor never would have emerged to lead humanity and establish the Imperium of Man.
What he liked most was hiding in history, playing an insignificant nobody and watching humanity's story unfold.
After the disaster of the Cybernetic Revolt and the devastation of the Warp Storms, humanity had been brought to the brink of extinction. The Emperor had no choice but to step forward!
Because he loved humanity more than anything.
But his old friend was actually quite lazy. If he could, he would rather have someone else handle the tasks on his plate. After all, one person's strength was limited. That was why he had created the Primarchs. Once the Great Crusade was halfway complete,
he would return to Holy Terra and devote himself to researching the Webway. He would choose a leader, an heir, from among the Primarchs to continue leading the Great Crusade.
If Axis's qi could offer some resistance to Warp energy, then the boy was undoubtedly the best candidate to stand against Chaos.
Because of the nature of Warp Essence, the Primarchs were vulnerable to Chaos's influence, and there was a fifty percent chance they would fall. But this child wouldn't.
"I won't place humanity's future in the hands of one person! Axis is only a contingency plan!
"He is like Horus and my other Primarchs. If one of us is ever lost, killed by those evil beings in the Warp, or trapped by their schemes,
"then the children we have raised will become the vanguard against the Warp and continue to lead the human race," the Emperor said. (A note here: Some people who know the lore claim the Emperor is too human. The Emperor has always been deeply human; it was only after he sat on the Golden Throne that his divinity began to take up a little of the space. If he hadn't been so human, he would have risen from the Golden Throne long ago and ascended as the Dark King. It was his love for humanity that kept him going and made him the Corpse Emperor.)
"All right! We'll have plenty to do from here on, but the Great Crusade can't go on without you," Malcador said.
"Even if I'm not there, won't you still be?
"And aside from some important battles and the search for the Primarchs, I'll stay on Terra and help you complete this child's transformation," the Emperor replied.
As the Primarchs gradually returned, they could handle the less important battles themselves. Unless it was a decisive battle, the Emperor didn't need to go.
Malcador nodded, agreeing to the Emperor's plan.
Over the following days, the Emperor explained many things about the Imperium of Man to Axis. He also had Axis gather his qi several times so they could test it against his own psychic power.
"Axis, today is the day of your transformation. Be prepared. This won't be an ordinary procedure. You'll need to lie in an Incubation Tank until it's complete," the Emperor said.
Even ordinary Adeptus Custodes needed to lie in an Incubation Tank for more than a decade. Axis was undergoing a physical transformation on the level of a Primarch, after all.
It was completely different from the procedures used to transform an Astartes.
"I'm ready! I'll just sleep through it, right?" Axis said.
For the sake of a long life and a stronger body, Axis thought decades of sleep were worth it.
"Exactly! Just think of it as going to sleep. But while you dream, I'll use some devices to impart knowledge to you.
"You'll learn about the Imperium, along with some military tactics and leadership skills," the Emperor said.
"I understand, Emperor. I'll study all that while I'm asleep," Axis replied.
The Emperor nodded to Axis, then led him and Malcador into the deepest part of the palace.
There, Axis saw the enormous Golden Throne. The place they were headed was even deeper and more secret.
From that point on, only the Emperor and Malcador were allowed to accompany Axis. Even the Adeptus Custodes weren't permitted to follow.
The three of them entered a vast, secret laboratory. This was where the Primarchs had once been created.
"This is the place, Axis!" the Emperor said, looking at him.
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