All along, the primal force that had sustained Lox from ten thousand years ago to the present had been the Chief's final charge.
It was the Future Reinforcement Project entrusted to Lox: when humanity faced its ultimate ordeal, it would at least be able to preserve the spark of the species.
That was why, after setting out from Isstvan V, Lox had gone to such lengths to help Guilliman fight the traitors.
Then, throughout the long war, he had witnessed the courage and sacrifice of countless mortals. He had seen that humanity, ten thousand years later, remained steadfast and unyielding. They were willing to use their lives to prolong the fate of this Imperium, this species, by even a single second.
He had already become part of it. He was no longer the detached observer who watched in silence from an objective perspective.
The Emperor heard Lox's answer. He fell silent for a moment, then sighed.
"If you hate me, then hate me."
"I was the one who altered the Chief's Future Reinforcement Project. I was the one who brought you into this dark age and made you face countless cruel realities."
Neos was very frank. He had done it, and he admitted it.
"No." Lox firmly interrupted the Emperor.
"Cruel reality is always better than false deception. I'm not as fragile as you think, Neos."
Lox suddenly smiled in relief. "No matter what your original intentions were, I have already made countless changes. Perhaps my starting point was arranged by you, but the me who has reached this point now has ideas of his own."
"I will walk the road ahead myself."
A trace of satisfaction showed in the Emperor's eyes. The Lox before him was utterly different from the fellow disciple who had studied beside the Chief with