A Little Secret

Three days later, Lin Fan was declared fully recovered and discharged from the medical ward. The nurse responsible for his care even asked him for a hero's autograph. It seemed his feat had been publicized somewhere within the regiment headquarters. But the moment he stepped out of the hospital—before he had even gotten a proper look at the sunlamp hanging above the entire planet—he was taken away in an armored vehicle bearing the Inquisition Type I insignia by the Inquisition's stormtroopers.

After dozens of suffocating, oppressive, bumpy minutes, Lin Fan was led from the vehicle and met Inquisitor Vissi, who was as cold and unapproachable as an iceberg, at the Heretic Inquisition's temporary headquarters.

Without any unnecessary words, Lin Fan was seated in a steel chair and shackled at the wrists and ankles. There was no sense of circulating air in the sealed room; it was presumably completely airtight. Harsh overhead lights illuminated every dark corner, making even the slightest movement painfully obvious.

Inquisitor Vissi sat across from Lin Fan, placing a specially made bolt pistol at the corner of the table where she could quickly grab it and execute him, before beginning today's interrogation.

"Do you know what those black enemies you fought were?"

"Uh, no."

"If you had not successfully killed two black-armored enemies during this rebellion, the fall of the entire planet would merely have been a matter of time, rather than turning into a localized disturbance like it has now."

"Then I really am impressive."

"Be serious, soldier." Vissi was displeased. Ordinary Guardsmen had always feared an Inquisitor even more than their beloved commissars, let alone someone as relaxed as Lin Fan, as though he were merely making casual conversation.

Hearing that Vissi was somewhat angry, Lin Fan immediately put on a serious expression and sat ramrod straight. Yet Vissi felt that this only looked more like mockery.

Of course, an Inquisitor's interrogation was not merely a matter of simple questions. Every Inquisitor developed their own unique interrogation process over the course of their dangerous life of service. Some used punishment to shatter a heretic's fragile psychological defenses, while others used all kinds of sophisticated instruments to analyze brain activity and determine whether the other party was lying or withholding anything. But the more skilled Inquisitors, those gifted with psychic abilities, would use their powers to delve deep into a suspect's mind and freely search for whatever they wanted. Yet for a hero who had just saved an entire planet, Vissi did not wish to be overly rough. Dealing with those people from the Departmento Munitorum was troublesome enough, and her energy should not be wasted on them. It should forever be devoted to watching over heretics and exterminating heretics for The Emperor.

As psychic lightning flickered in Vissi's blue eyes, she entered the truest ocean of Lin Fan's thoughts beneath his helpless gaze.

"Why does he look like that?"

Just as Vissi was wondering why Lin Fan was so relaxed, a sensation completely unlike anything she had ever experienced enveloped her entire body.

In Vissi's interrogation experience, the souls of heretics were twisted and mad. Clouds of mist so chaotic that their colors could not even be discerned clung to their souls and fragments of memory like greedy carrion worms. The souls of ordinary citizens, meanwhile, were filled with dim gray mist. They lacked the madness of heretical souls, but the repression and gloom within them still made Vissi uncomfortable.

Vissi had also interrogated Ecclesiarchy priests suspected of betrayal several times. Those priests who were truly devout had mist around their souls that shimmered with a faint golden glow. The more devout a priest was considered, the brighter and more dazzling that light became.

But this soldier's soul contained almost no gray at all. The vast, boundless golden radiance was so overwhelming that Vissi's probing soul felt a faint, burning sting. Suspended before her was a huge, cold sun. Vissi stared blankly as the sun was swiftly shrouded in golden mist and light, weaving itself into a towering, sacred figure.

"The Emperor."

Vissi murmured tremblingly. She did not know what The Emperor truly looked like. Every holy icon and painting of The Emperor she had ever seen since childhood had depicted His face as blurred and indistinct, some even covered directly in radiance. But the scene before her was so sacred, and that figure so perfect, that this cold and resolute female Inquisitor became emotional enough to shed tears.

"Oh, Emperor! If You truly love us, please reveal to us a path to save all living beings." Vissi's devout voice rose softly. She did not even dare speak loudly for fear of disturbing this beautiful dream.

"Help him. He is the key to humanity's salvation, My representative who walks upon the earth."

It was the most sacred and majestic voice Vissi could imagine. Excitedly accepting the holy mission bestowed upon her by the God-Emperor, she bowed before the figure and allowed tears from her soul to fall into that golden space. "I will carry out Your will! I will fear nothing! I am Your humblest servant!"

As Vissi's oath ended, the boundless golden radiance and mist pushed her away, sending her farther and farther into the distance.

Vissi suddenly jolted awake. Her vision gradually returned, and all that majestic holiness had vanished, leaving only this man named Soap before her.

Wrapping her arms around herself, Vissi furrowed her brows and carefully sensed the changes in her body. Her soul, polluted by years of interrogating heretics, had been cleansed until it was as spotless as new.

"That warmth." Vissi's gaze softened as she recalled everything that had just happened over and over again. She hated herself for failing to witness more beneath The Emperor's great power, until Lin Fan's voice interrupted her memories.

"Are you all right?"

Lin Fan looked at this Inquisitor who had suddenly changed so drastically, utterly bewildered.

Just now, he had seen her eyes glow with what looked like dangerous lightning. Her expression had been as viciously furious as if Lin Fan had cursed The Emperor. Then she had suddenly changed again, becoming shocked and devout. Then tears had appeared at the corners of her eyes, leaving her with a sorrowful, mournful look. After that, she had looked as startled as someone woken by a teacher after falling asleep in class.

Seeing Vissi in low spirits, hugging herself and rubbing her arms, Lin Fan felt that he should ask whether she was all right. Who would have thought that his well-meaning concern would only make the Inquisitor's gaze turn even fiercer? Lin Fan leaned back in his chair helplessly and decided not to bother with this crazy woman anymore.

Vissi glared irritably at the man who had interrupted her experience of The Emperor's great power, then immediately remembered the sacred task The Emperor had entrusted to her. Clearing her throat, she said to Lin Fan in the gentlest voice she could manage, "All right, the interrogation is over. There is nothing wrong with you." She pressed a button beneath the table, releasing the restraints binding Lin Fan. Vissi was not even sure whether her tone had counted as gentle, since no one had ever taught her such things.

"And take this. You can go report to Colonel Mark and the others." Vissi removed a small golden necklace from around her neck and tossed it to Lin Fan, who looked flattered and overwhelmed. Without looking back, she left the chamber first, urging Lin Fan with her eyes to get moving.

Holding the necklace, which still carried Vissi's faint fragrance, Lin Fan did not know what to do with it and prepared to put it in his pocket.

"Put it on."

Lin Fan looked at Vissi fearfully, only to find no trace of embarrassment on her face. Instead, she was filled with the stern authority of a superior giving an order to a subordinate. Looks like I'm not leaving today unless I put it on. Does this woman have some kind of special fetish?

Watching Lin Fan put on the necklace, Vissi nodded approvingly and stepped aside from the doorway, seeing him off as he departed.

That necklace was a xenos relic Vissi had found on a relic world. It possessed the powerful ability to sever psychic powers and resist Chaos corruption. For many years, Vissi had kept it on her person to slow the ever-worsening corruption within herself. It could be said that without the necklace's protection, she might have been dragged into the abyss by her soul, stained with filth, during an interrogation five years ago.

But now, the blemishes upon her soul had been completely cleansed. Her heart was filled with supreme zeal and devotion to serve The Emperor, and she believed that would be enough to protect her soul from corruption.

Still, it would be best not to let more curious psykers peer into the depths of Soap's soul. Though he possessed no psychic power at all, he also had no means of dealing with psychic power. With this necklace, at least this sacred secret could remain hidden for longer.