Thought It Was Barbarus Stinking Shit

Guilliman's Wrath—the meaning of this card was the judgment of order, the descent of authority, and the wrath of a ruler.

But Zhou Yun had drawn it reversed.

It signified the collapse of order, the dissipation of authority, and the death of the ruler.

Yet Zhou Yun's intuition told him that beyond those underlying meanings, what this "Guilliman's Wrath" card revealed was something more straightforward.

Cicero and the cultists behind him had a true objective closely tied to Robert Guilliman.

Zhou Yun had merely happened to stand in their way.

Zhou Yun rose to his feet and paced back and forth across the room.

His thoughts gradually became clearer.

Clearly, Cicero wanted to become the tutor of Marcus of House Guilliman because of something closely connected to Robert Guilliman.

But Scholar had earned first place in the initial interview through his knowledge, and that had made Cicero feel threatened.

He had deliberately approached Scholar and lured him into gambling—Scholar had fallen so quickly that some Warp sorcery was likely involved.

Perhaps even Scholar's suicide had been facilitated by Warp sorcery.

The Warp Veil had been relatively thin on the night Scholar killed himself. That was clearly no coincidence, but a moment chosen by the cultists.

But... what exactly were Cicero and the cultists behind him after? And what was their plan?

Zhou Yun searched his memories from his previous life. There seemed to be no trace of Cicero or these cultists in Macragge's future.

Could they have failed?

That would have been perfectly normal.

After all, Macragge's Veil was so thick that even the gods had limited influence over it...

No, they had most likely succeeded, at least in part.

Zhou Yun's expression darkened.

A thick Veil blocked the Warp's influence, but it also made cultists easier to conceal.

From Scholar's memories and what Zhou Yun had seen today,

Macragge's public order was excellent. City guards established by Consul Conor could be found everywhere.

Those city guards were all warriors who had followed Conor on his expedition to Elyrium.

Yet in the future, the soldiers who should have protected Macragge would become consumed by the madness brought by alcohol and the lure of wealth, plunging Macragge into chaos and riots. Conor himself would die in that riot, slain by an assassin sent by the other consul, Jarlan.

That was clearly abnormal...

Reversed Guilliman's Wrath... it symbolized the death of the ruler.

Could the cult behind Cicero be a force under Consul Jarlan?

At that moment, Zhou Yun had never missed Inquisitor Greyfax more—he missed that mentor who struck cultists with an iron fist.

In times of national peril, one thought of great generals; in a chaotic age, one remembered loyal ministers.

Greyfax, I miss you!

Zhou Yun let out a breath, calmed himself, and sat back down at the wooden table. He clasped his hands together and pressed them against his brow.

First, his earlier idea of fleeing into the deep mountains of Macragge was completely unworkable.

His appearance could very well create some butterfly effects.

If history deviated from its original course and Robert Guilliman became corrupted by Chaos, then everything would truly be over.

The intensity of the Horus Heresy would definitely not be greater than that of the Guilliman Heresy.

In the future, Guilliman's Ultramarines Legion would be the largest of all Legions, numbering a full two hundred and fifty thousand men.

Yet that was not the limit of Guilliman's ability to manage things. It was merely the limit permitted by the Imperium.

After suffering the devastating blows of the Battle of Calth and the Shadow Crusade, Guilliman could effortlessly restore the Ultramarines to a strength of two hundred and fifty thousand. That alone proved it.

Besides that consideration, there was also Tita.

If Zhou Yun ran away, the debt would likely fall on Tita's head.

Tita was a good girl. She should not be treated like that.

For that reason, Zhou Yun had to find a way to improve this body's strength.

He needed to cross the "Realm" and allow this body's psychic talent to truly flourish.

And aside from improving his psychic abilities,

Zhou Yun actually had another method that was more effective and had a higher ceiling...

A method he had always wanted to try, but had never found the opportunity to use because the environments of the Hive City and Caliban's forests had been unsafe.

Zhou Yun slightly withdrew his consciousness from Scholar's body.

The scorching heat of the Golden Throne almost immediately coiled around Zhou Yun.

The intense pain nearly made Zhou Yun wonder whether his very will had been set ablaze.

Zhou Yun's face twisted into a knot, but he remained conscious. His perspective was also split into two.

One remained in Scholar's body, while the other rose into the Warp, overlooking the soul-fires of all living beings from atop the Golden Throne.

Zhou Yun gasped heavily, clutching his chest as his body went limp and he fell straight from the chair.

"Ah!" Tita, who had just finished cooking the soup and was pushing open the door with a bowl in hand, let out a startled cry. The bowl slipped from her grasp and spilled soup all over the floor.

She hurried forward and helped Zhou Yun up as he lay on the ground, his body trembling without cease.

"So hot!" Feeling heat radiating from beneath Zhou Yun's skin, Tita cried out in alarm.

It was as though flames were burning inside Zhou Yun's body, making his skin scorching hot to the touch.

Tita's face went pale with fright.

"Uncle Zhou Yun, hang on! I'll go find a doctor right away—"

"No." Zhou Yun grabbed Tita's wrist and gently shook his head.

He took several deep breaths. His expression calmed, and the temperature of his body gradually returned to normal, as though the scorching heat from before had merely been Tita's illusion.

Success...

Zhou Yun looked at the two perspectives before him and blinked. The perspective above the Golden Throne gradually faded, and the intense pain slowly ebbed, becoming a neural burning like background noise. It was still bearable for Zhou Yun.

Just as he had guessed.

Zhou Yun's soul was actually still upon the Golden Throne. What controlled Scholar's body was merely an extension of his will, like an outstretched hand.

When someone used one hand, they could still use the other.

Theoretically, Zhou Yun could control two or even more bodies at the same time.

Zhou Yun was now dividing his attention. Most of his will still controlled this body, but he had left a small portion of it atop the Golden Throne.

That small portion could only perform simple tasks, such as searching the Warp for a new usable body.

It would still cause Zhou Yun pain, but the degree of pain was proportional to how much of his will remained on the Golden Throne. At this level, it was entirely acceptable to Zhou Yun.

As long as he could find a new body, Zhou Yun could not only acquire new skills, but would also still have another usable body after this one died.

"I'm fine. I just got burned by the candle flame." Zhou Yun wiped the fine sweat from his forehead and smiled at Tita.

"R-Really?" Tita was still somewhat worried.

"Of course. Could I possibly have been made a scapegoat by a dried corpse sitting on the Golden Throne's torture rack?" Zhou Yun deliberately said in a teasing tone.

"What are you even talking about?" Tita could not help shaking her head, but seeing that Zhou Yun was all right, she still breathed a sigh of relief.

"Be more careful next time." Tita stood and looked at the spilled bowl of soup on the floor. "Look, your dinner is gone."

"The soup spilled, so what am I supposed to eat?" Zhou Yun got up from the floor, scratched his head, and looked at Tita.

"Go hungry!" Tita nodded and huffed.

"Do I have to go hungry too?"

Tita glanced at Zhou Yun, then finally sighed helplessly. "I'll give you half of mine."

"Yay."

A moment later...

"What did you put in the soup?"

"The Talassar fish sauce you bought."

"I thought it was Barbarus stinking shit!"