Within Apocalypse's docking bay, beneath the soft glow of the life-support lights, the newborn girl slowly opened her eyes.
Her deep blue eyes were like a tranquil night sky, carrying the confusion of someone newly awakened. Then they swiftly focused on Silent King Szarekh, who stood silently before her life-support pod.
There were no words, no complicated identity verification procedures.
The moment their eyes met, they knew each other's identities.
That familiarity and loyalty rooted deep within their souls, like the most precise identification code, quickly filled the newborn woman's eyes with indescribable excitement... and a trace of subtle helplessness brought on by her drastic change in form.
No expression could be seen on the Silent King's cold metal face, but his slightly forward-leaning posture and the violently flickering ghostly light in his eye sockets clearly conveyed the turmoil within him.
He extended a hand—not a metal limb, but a data interface controlled through precision servos—and gently touched it to the communication panel of the life-support pod.
"Welcome back." The cold synthetic voice was remarkably "gentle." "Form... is secondary. Our wish has been fulfilled!"
The newborn girl moved her lips as if she wanted to say something, but her throat, having only just gained the ability to speak, could produce only a faint breathy sound.
She nodded with effort, her eyes filled with a thousand unspoken words.
The Silent King did not linger.
After confirming that her condition was stable and the soul fusion flawless, a great weight finally lifted from his heart, replaced by an even fiercer sense of purpose.
He turned toward the hatch, where Kesha, Liang Bing, Sanguinius, Horus, and the others were already waiting.
"Queen Kesha, Lady Liang Bing," the Silent King's synthetic voice returned to its usual solemnity, though the meaning within it was entirely