There Are No Heretics Here

Curze knew perfectly well that if he couldn't handle someone himself, he should undoubtedly go to his dad.

His dad could take care of even the hardest people to deal with.

That was the inexplicable confidence Curze had in Han Mingxuan.

Curze rushed back to the Upper Hive District of Quintus Hive City with Archmagos Angrak and Herbert.

"Dad, I'm back," Curze said when he found Han Mingxuan. "Here, let me introduce them. This is Archmagos Angrak, and this is Priest Herbert."

"Members of the Adeptus Mechanicus?"

"Yes, and extremely materialist members of the Adeptus Mechanicus at that."

"You're kidding, right? The Adeptus Mechanicus is a bunch of lunatics. Their full name means the Cult of the Machine God. You know what that means, right?"

"Which is why we're heretics, sir."

Heretics?

"The Dark Mechanicum? The brain-dead idiots who use their brains to wipe the asses of Warp bugs?"

Archmagos Angrak and Herbert hadn't expected the Grand Inquisitor's father to be so hostile toward the Warp.

"Sir, your description is rather... coarse, but we aren't that kind of brain-dead idiot. Those fellows aren't even fit to be compared to paramecia."

Han Mingxuan invited them to sit down.

"Go on, then. How much do you want?"

"No, sir, you've misunderstood. We're different from those mechanical freaks in the Adeptus Mechanicus."

Han Mingxuan gave Herbert an odd look.

Then the two of them took off all their equipment in front of Han Mingxuan.

"Interesting. Now I'm interested in this heresy of yours. We can discuss it in detail."

The three had an in-depth discussion, and Han Mingxuan could only say that they were too pure.

Too pure!

In a place like Warhammer, stacked to the limit with religious buffs and plagued by Warp disasters at every turn, materialist humans like them were as rare as the Emperor sleeping with Nurgle.

The two representatives of the heretical Adeptus Mechanicus, for their part, were moved by Han Mingxuan's materialist, human-supremacist ideas and decided to stay.

"In that case, welcome to Nostramo."

"Praise your reason, Father of Night, but forgive me for saying so: the Imperium's Great Crusade fleets are still advancing."

"According to our latest information, they'll reach Nostramo in two years at most."

"When that happens, Nostramo will certainly have to join the Imperium. As a mining world, Nostramo won't be able to avoid dealing with those metal bastards from the Adeptus Mechanicus."

"Heh. I can tell you both with certainty that Nostramo is now a planet governed by law. Stupid religious fanatics aren't welcome here."

"As everyone knows, religion devours people."

"If they dare cause trouble, we can take them apart and use their components ourselves."

"As for your concerns about your own status, there's even less reason to worry."

Curze nodded and picked up where Han Mingxuan had left off. "That's right. Even if Nostramo joins the Imperium, it'll still be a sovereign planet."

"As a local faction on Nostramo, you won't have any problems as long as you don't break Nostramo's laws."

"On Nostramo, there is only what is lawful and what is unlawful, not believers and heretics. Nostramo doesn't believe in gods and ghosts."

The two exchanged a glance and made up their minds.

"Then what do you need us to do?"

"Transform the entire planet."

"Pfft! Cough, cough, cough!"

Hearing Curze's words, Han Mingxuan nearly choked to death on a mouthful of water.

"Father, is there something wrong with that?"

"No, nothing wrong. It's just that your idea is a little ahead of its time."

Archmagos Angrak nodded. "On another planet, we might have to assess the planetary environment and carry out moderate modifications before proceeding to the next stage."

"But we've spent a long time on Nostramo, and we're very familiar with its geology and environment."

"I need resources, a great many resources. As long as we have enough, we can complete the first stage of Nostramo's transformation within a year."

"One year?"

Even Curze found that hard to believe.

"Nostramo was already a mature mining world that had been transformed before."

"All we need to do now is make the planet more habitable. As long as we have enough resources, it can be done within a year."

"The first stage is to restore the atmosphere and improve the environment so that most of the planet can sustain human life."

That was feasible.

"Then let's begin. Curze, you and the Archmagos will have full responsibility for this."

"No problem, Dad."

Han Mingxuan then turned to Herbert.

"Priest, how good are you at forging?"

"Among our branch, my forging skills are the best."

Han Mingxuan gave Herbert and Archmagos Angrak a puzzled look.

"Yes, Father of Night. There aren't many of us in our branch to begin with. If there were enough of us, I would only be at the rank of priest as well."

"But to keep our branch alive, Herbert and I chose different paths."

"In forging, Herbert is a match for any archmagos of the Adeptus Mechanicus, while I specialize in biology."

So they each had their own specialty?

That was a good thing.

That was wonderful!

"Priest Herbert, there's something I'd like to ask of you."

"You're too courteous, Father of Night. You need only give the order."

They had wandered the universe for so long before finally meeting someone who shared their ideals. A man would die for one who understood him, and that was all there was to it.

"Teach me how to forge."

"What?" Priest Herbert was stunned.

"Dad, you're not joking, are you?"

"I've been sitting around every day, and I feel like I'm going to rust. Having something to do would be good."

After watching so many episodes of that knife-forging competition, couldn't he give it a try?

"If the Father of Night is interested, I can help."

"That would be perfect."

An otherworldly knife-forging competition?

Too bad he was the only contestant.

Everything fell into place after that. Curze and Archmagos Angrak took charge of transforming the planet.

Han Mingxuan, meanwhile, studied forging with Priest Herbert.

During that time, Han Mingxuan was genuinely astonished by Priest Herbert.

The priest stood two meters tall, but his muscles weren't particularly bulky, and his strength was nothing out of the ordinary.

But he had absolute mastery over forging, possessing both skill and ability.

An all-rounder in both!

"Life is finite. We should use our limited lives to create as many achievements as possible for future generations to inherit, so we need to use our brains more."

"Actually, you could live for many more years," Han Mingxuan said.

"Life and death are part of being human. As long as one is human, death is unavoidable, and we should accept it gladly."

Exactly right.

Han Mingxuan genuinely didn't know what to say.

Because he was right.

"The temperature is high enough, Father of Night. Let's begin."

"Don't call me Father of Night anymore. If I may presume, just call me Old Han."

"Hahaha, of course, no problem. The furnace is just the right temperature. Old Han, let's start forging."