Soul

"But now isn't the time to stir up trouble. The Imperial Truth is all the rage, and there's no way to explain the abilities my cheat gives me."

"Dummy, isn't there a Necron lying outside the study?"

Trazyn?

"The contents of the books only affect the mind... Wait, the mind... Could these sages' books actually nurture a soul into existence?"

Reading the sages' books to cultivate righteous spirit-that was a little scary.

"Reading and learning to write really do have that effect. At the very least, they can calm the mind, strengthen the will, cultivate one's spirit, and improve oneself."

"But the Necrons are a special case. Their souls were devoured long ago."

"Then isn't it still useless?"

"You can use a tiny bit of your own soul power to plant a root in him. After that, just have him read more books and there won't be a problem."

Huh?

I have to use my own soul?

No, no.

I won't agree. Absolutely not.

One look at Han Mingxuan's expression told the Will of Earth that he was getting cold feet again.

"Don't be so cautious. The mental energy you lost pulling an all-nighter at an internet café on Earth would be enough to create new soul seeds for a fifth of the Necrons."

"That much?"

"Yeah. If you made a soul seed for that Necron right now, you'd lose a drop in the ocean at most... No, the tip of the tip of one hair on nine hundred million oxen."

"But!"

Of course there's a but.

"Your soul projection is buried at the very bottom of the Warp right now, so you can't dig it out completely."

"So, given the current strength of your soul projection, you can give soul seeds to three objects at most."

"There's a limit like that?"

The Will of Earth gave Han Mingxuan an exasperated look.

"Let me think how to answer that." The Will of Earth paused. "Simply put, I filled in your soul stats at random back then. They're a bit overpowered, but the mechanics aren't up to par."

"If those outstanding children hadn't spent thousands of years filling in the mechanics for you, your souls would just have a lot of raw power."

"Of course, the soul mechanics are complete on Earth, but here, you'll have to fill them in yourself."

I get it. My soul stats are high enough, but I'll have to rely on the cheat in my head to deal with the mechanics.

"All right, that concludes the beginner's lesson for transmigrators. We probably won't see each other again after this."

"You're going back?"

The Will of Earth really is impressive. She can go back just like that.

"Not exactly. My main body never came here. This is just a strand of consciousness."

"Going by the major events in this world, my remaining power can hold out in the Warp for a while, probably until the end of the Great Crusade."

"Of course, if you get moving sooner, I might be able to save some of my power for you."

"Then I'll see you again when your hundred years are up. Hopefully, you'll have dug your soul out by then."

"Otherwise, you'll have to stay in this world for a while longer."

The Will of Earth disappeared, and Han Mingxuan looked at the brush in his hand.

He now knew exactly how to use his cheat, but souls were a rather mysterious matter.

Forget it. I'll take a gamble.

Even if he couldn't go back, as long as he could establish a connection with the Necrons, everything would be fine.

If the evil gods of the Warp dared to come after him, he could just hide inside a Blackstone Artifact.

Next, he needed to check on the Necron Overlord.

Han Mingxuan took the brush, opened the study door, and walked out.

Then he saw Trazyn slumped there in an undignified heap, letting out an incomprehensible, almost deranged laugh.

"Heh heh heh, hahahaha! Hahahahaha!"

"Pain! What a delightful sensation to savor, hahahaha!"

Tsk.

"Hey, Lord Trazyn, it's time to come to your senses."

Swish!

Trazyn's staff pointed straight at Han Mingxuan's throat.

"Insolence!"

That's some powerful killing intent. If I hadn't spent time in the Underhive District, it really might have scared me.

"Do you want a soul or not?"

Trazyn looked at Han Mingxuan, the mung-bean-sized glimmers in his mechanical eyes fixed on him, trying to see through his intentions.

"What do you mean?"

"I can give you a soul. Or rather, I have a way for your kind to develop souls, though it might take a while."

Trazyn's killing intent surged again, and Han Mingxuan could do nothing about it.

To make himself look as unthreatening as possible, he could only sit down.

Of course, his deathly pale face still showed the state he was in as a mortal.

I'm panicking.

Trazyn, meanwhile, was torn.

The Necrons were highly sensitive about souls.

They had been deceived by the C'tan back then, and their lives and souls had ended up as someone else's meal.

Now, a mortal was offering to give him a soul. It was absurd.

The only reason he hadn't killed Han Mingxuan yet was that this human had made him feel pain.

That was a sensation he had only experienced when he had flesh and a soul.

Trazyn weighed his options. He wanted either to keep Han Mingxuan as his most precious collectible or to destroy him as a remnant of the C'tan.

In the end, he laughed.

"Heh heh heh."

A short snort of laughter squeezed out of Trazyn's metal throat, like a rusty gear being forcibly turned.

His optical sensors locked onto the mortal before him.

"A soul?"

He stepped forward, his metal foot crushing the bricks beneath it, the impact making even Han Mingxuan's heart tremble.

"Are you talking about the thing the C'tan stripped from our flesh like the peel from a fruit?"

"When the C'tan were devouring souls and lives without restraint, I could feel it screaming."

"Not with vocal cords, but with every inch of hardening skin, every blood vessel losing its warmth."

"It was like a red-hot branding iron being pried from my bones. The pain went to the marrow, and I still cannot forget it to this day."

"And now you stand there with a battered old antique brush and have the gall to tell me you can 'give' me a soul?!"

"As if you were returning a coin you accidentally dropped?"

The light in Trazyn's eyes suddenly brightened, making Han Mingxuan squint.

Then he abruptly turned his back on Han Mingxuan.

He began to roar with an almost deranged hatred.

He looked just like an Abominable Intelligence corrupted by Chaos.

"Absurd! You use your indifferent imaginings and honeyed words to deceive a great Necron Overlord!"

"Perhaps I should kill you now in the cruelest way the universe has to offer. No, perhaps I should keep you in my collection forever and make you watch everything you built be destroyed, bit by bit."

Trazyn turned and walked toward Han Mingxuan, the table that had been there instantly reduced to dust.

The immense shadow of his metal body completely engulfed Han Mingxuan.

"You can give me nothing."

"Any more than a firefly can give the sun light, or a speck of dust can give a planet gravity."

"Struggle. Before my anger has subsided, I hope your soul can withstand my carving."

"Wait!"

I'm going to die, I'm going to die!

He had really gone too far this time. If he couldn't find a way to solve this, he would die young!

"Yes, that's it. Keep using your honeyed words, keep talking nonsense, keep struggling."