Observations from the Age of the 56th Chapter (XVI, Temporarily Complete)

No matter who, what, or what one is waiting for, waiting is always a long process, for everyone.

Its length is not in the duration, but in the process itself. Therefore, even if the object of the wait is Roboute Guilliman, the wait is still agonizing.

Fortunately, the people of Calth always have something to do. They are constantly on guard against threats from the surface while also keeping an eye on their own development.

For ten thousand years, they have been continuously excavating the planet's underground treasures, from minerals to underground rivers untouched by radiation, various subterranean plants, and even some mysterious animals yet to be discovered.

They built mines, genetically modified plants to make them suitable for large-scale cultivation, domesticated the animals that lived underground, and established farms, thus securing a stable source of meat.

They even improved the way energy is used, enabling large-scale conversion of geothermal energy into electricity in a safe, reliable, and highly efficient manner.

Currently, Calth has thirteen underground cities, each equipped with complete energy conversion devices at the deepest point they can currently reach. Through these devices, the underground cities are able to reuse reliable technologies left over from ten thousand years ago, such as the Void Shield.

It sounds like the Calth haven't changed much since before the war, and the civilians are even living better. But this is definitely not a blessing in disguise. Living in the dark underground for a long time has caused them to undergo a certain degree of mutation and degeneration.

These birds have now become ferocious carnivorous beasts, attacking any non-human creature within their field of vision without provocation, let alone drones that infringe upon their territory.

These enormous beasts could easily turn them into a smoking pile of scrap metal with their beaks—all these factors combined have led to the current predicament of the Calth.

Karyl turned around and looked at him.

"It depends on the situation. Sometimes he is a king, and other times he is just a father who is willing but unable to do anything. In fact, in the eyes of the public, his appearance is probably not important. Whether handsome or ugly, people only need him to wear a laurel crown, wear golden armor, and hold a flaming sword, and that will suffice."

He remained silent most of the time, and his personal life was almost entirely absent. One hundred of the five hundred men were his brothers; this group spent all their time together, but almost entirely devoted themselves to chanting scriptures and meditation, rarely engaging in any personal conversations.

He and his brothers were so mysterious that only now had Karyl finally begun to discern their identities. And he had to admit, he quite liked the Hunter's opinion on the Emperor's true appearance.

"That sculpture—how is it?"

"Why don't you explain to your brothers your view of the Emperor?"

Judging from the depth of the light spots, those marks are clearly bloodstains.

As he spoke, Sevatar stood up, left the long table, and began pacing back and forth in the meeting room that the Calth's Sons had temporarily borrowed for them, ostentatiously pleading for support from his brothers that he didn't need at all.

It's truly full of mysteries.

"I don't want to, Instructor," he said, looking at Karyl with his cloudy white eyes.

He pondered for a few seconds before finally speaking slowly.

Kaul Sahora nodded, a hint of anticipation in his eyes.

They found it difficult to conduct a complete exploration of the surface due to the threats of savages, mutants, and Chaos, and could only bury themselves underground and work hard.

He actually knew what Sevatar was going to ask, and he really didn't want to answer, but he had Sevatar.

The only fortunate thing is that they are still human, and there were no problems with the genetic sample testing.

Karyl put down the documents in his hand, silently tapped the table with his fingers, and fell into deep thought.

The Hunter glanced at him and continued explaining his ideas.

The Hunter is shrouded in mystery, such as his name and his eyes, unlike any other Night Lords. Karyl doesn't want to investigate the reasons; he trusts the Hunter, just as the Hunter trusts him.

Karyl slowly stood up, grabbed Sevatar, and pressed him into his chair without giving him a chance to refuse.

He was reading with such concentration, but clearly not everyone in the meeting room thought the same. A voice came from beside him, tinged with barely concealed schadenfreude.

Moreover, judging from the current situation, Chapter are clearly more viable than legions, at least for the vast and loosely structured Imperium at present, they are much more suitable than legions.

This book categorizes Astartes into different roles based on their personal interests, but it doesn't actually require rigid adherence to what's written there. In some places, it deliberately uses vague quantifiers; even the total number of Chapter personnel is stated as "should be one thousand."

To avoid the embarrassing situation of being completely unaware of their surroundings when stepping out of their homes, the Calth once tried to develop drone technology, hoping that drones could take to the sky and scan the nearby ground in turn, then select safe areas to transport materials and build drone transfer stations, thereby gradually expanding the scanning range.

As things stand, he has a pretty good understanding of the situation beneath Calth, but the surface is different. In the map Kargio showed him, the surface of Calth was almost completely covered by a large area of darkness.

When his name was called, Sevatar smiled and placed his hands on the back of his chair, then slowly bent down and brought his head closer to Karyl. Even so, his eyes remained fixed on the Hunter, staring intently and without any attempt to hide it.

It's clear that Roboute Guilliman considered many things when writing this book.

It was a rather cold and hard sculpture. The sculptor's chiseled lines sculpted the face that had been imagined by countless people in their dreams into an incredibly hard form. Nevertheless, the slightly closed eyes gave him a kind of compassionate divinity.

But God is unreliable.

"I remember, it was on the Emperor's Dream, wasn't it? I personally took you up there. He even had the Adeptus Custodes escort you to the lounge, and your eyes didn't even have any problems from looking directly at him. The Terra discussed that for a long time."

"Well said, Hunter." Karyl nodded sincerely. "You've seen the essence of the matter, but then again— Jago."

Skaradrik gave a cold, silent laugh, placing his fists neatly on the table, his anticipation palpable.

Unlike last time, this time, their Librarian members were meditating to the side. Aquila and skulls surrounded them, ceremonial candles and incense were lit, and everything was arranged according to strict Ecclesiarchy standards.

Sevatar stopped and stood perfectly behind Karyl, hands behind his back, a rather amusing smile on his face.

Karyl looked up at the ceiling. He saw a gray steel structure with four deliberately protruding black screws at its corners reflecting light, like the corners of a picture frame, framing a statue of a God-Emperor within this peculiar frame.

He understood what Sevatar was up to, and the other four Chapter Master knew as well. However, since it involved the Emperor, they naturally wanted to hear it. Their expressions became the reason for Sevatar's current arrogance, and also the reason why Karyl could not refuse.

I imagine his friends would also express their approval.

The fact that he was once a god has always been a sword stuck in his heart. Putting aside the unnecessary issues of self-identity, even though he is no longer a god inexplicably now, the connection between him and that god has never faded.

"What do you mean, how?" Karyl asked without looking up.

Sevatar quickly turned her eyes to look at him, but couldn't stop Karyl from saying what he was about to say.

If that were all, it wouldn't have been so bad, but he even deliberately made his footsteps louder, creating a heavy, muffled sound like war drums, making the entire conference room incredibly noisy.

The best proof is that he was able to control that ancient book and use his own fragments to travel around the Milky Way with people.

Kaul Sahora frowned in strong disapproval, while Sheher Cold Soul crossed his arms and began lip-reading for him. Skaradrik glanced up at him and then looked away, making no attempt to hide his annoyance.

Now, they cannot tolerate strong light, have developed a certain degree of night vision, their skin has become pale and their body hair is highly developed, their arms have become longer and their muscles are more developed.

"How is it, Instructor?" Jago Sevatarion asked.

The four Chapter Master exchanged glances and nodded in unison, as if in perfect unison.

"The technique is first-rate, the concept is ingenious; even a blind person like me, who is allergic to art, can see its excellence."

"Instructor Karyl, we are ready." Kargio, with a serious expression, slowly walked over and spoke.

Karyl finally raised his head and put down the documents in his hand. He looked at Sevatar, then at the other chapter Chapter Master in the conference room, and finally put down the documents as well.

Of all the Chapter Master, only the Hunter spoke.

Throughout history, countless people have sculpted, painted, or described the Emperor in writing as they saw them. These works have spread to various worlds and, combined with local environments and Ecclesiarchy, have created different images.

He strolled along, once again arriving deep within the Calth's Sons's territory.

As soon as he finished speaking, Karyl smiled and retreated into the darkness, leaving the conference room silently.

"I think so," Karyl said with a smile. "What about you?"

"Ah, Instructor, I asked for a specific description," Sevatar asked, his smile undiminished. "You see—we really all want to know what the Emperor looks like. Aren't we, brothers?"

"In some worlds, he wears long robes and is a learned scholar. In other places, he wields a longsword and is the most valiant warrior. But whatever his true form, people will only believe in the Emperor they worship." "Ultimately, I believe the Emperor wouldn't object to this. He is ruthless, yet also Mercy. He will split his image into countless forms, so that anyone can stand beside the Emperor they imagine, thereby gaining boundless courage and power."

"The minority should submit to the majority, Jago. We've never been a one-man show. Even Konrad Curze considers the opinions of others. So, what about you?"

This trust is ineffable; it doesn't even originate from blood ties, but from something much older. But beyond that, the Hunter is simply Hunter.

Despite never giving up the attempt to reclaim the surface, and investing enormous manpower and resources in this operation every year, they could only explore a small area around the surface fortress and barely hold onto the remaining few strongholds.

So, what exactly is lurking in the darkness?

Sheher Cold Soul grinned, leaned back comfortably in his chair, and let out a heavy sigh.

He was fully armed, wearing a sophisticated Power Armour that had undergone numerous improvements. The points of light that formed his image even perfectly showcased the reliefs on it—not only that, they also brought with them other things that were currently hanging on Roboute Guilliman's armor.

He did it intentionally, of course; it was a small act of revenge against Sevatar. After all, strictly speaking, revenge also fell under his jurisdiction.

Thinking of this, the smile on his face faded, and eventually he became completely calm.

Karyl nodded to him and walked steadily to the center of the array. The Librarian began to operate it according to their method, rather than simply and directly channeling energy as Karyl had done.

A few minutes later, the array lit up, and this time, Roboute Guilliman appeared before everyone in a completely different way than the previous two times.

Karyl smiled.

Watching this scene, Karyl couldn't help but feel a sense of absurdity. In the past, psychic powers and faith were never confused.

He stepped out of the darkness, taking a perfectly timed deep breath to signal his arrival to the Librarian. Everything that followed unfolded naturally: they put away their meditation supplies, began preparing the ceremony, and notified the Chapter Master and company commanders to attend.

Watching their busy figures coming and going, Karyl couldn't help but gain a deeper understanding of the current well-defined Chapter system.

"Is this necessary?" Sevatar asked. "These are all old grievances."

"No," Sevatar chuckled. "I mean, does it resemble him?"

This was a very good idea, and not just empty talk, but it was met with a head-on blow. The ubiquitous electromagnetic storms in the sky were the first hurdle in front of the drones, followed by massive amounts of radiation and excessive heat, and finally, the mutated birds on the Calth.

Neither publicly nor privately would Karyl Lohars do ignoring someone's question. Sevatar himself clearly knew this, which is why he seemed so cheerful.

Both lost fortresses have been recaptured. As for now, without a complete strategy, venturing into other areas of the surface would likely result in only a handful of people, including Karyl, returning unscathed.

Karyl withdrew his gaze, shook his head, and buried himself in the documents in his hands. Reading is never a bad thing. Besides, it wasn't time to go back to the surface.

"So."

"Didn't you see the Emperor with your own eyes?" he asked softly.

This time, the Hunter remained silent. He simply looked at Sevatar, his cloudy white eyes fixed intently on Sevatar's dark pupils, as if searching for treasure within them.

Apart from the areas where fortresses have been built, the rest of the map is completely black.

Ten thousand years is enough to change too many things. It can bury the jewels of the former crown of Ultramar deep underground, and it can turn the Calth came to settle here from all directions of the galaxy into the underground dwellers in some stories.

No one knows exactly how they survived the Battle of Calth, but that doesn't matter, because they are no longer the same as before.

In other words, Roboute Guilliman was covered in blood.

"What happened?" Karyl asked rather directly.