Ripples on Still Water

"Perhaps you should teach me a few things, my young brother." The Night Haunter looked at Curze, his expression solemn.

Father was right. With great power came great responsibility.

As a fully grown demigod, he should learn how to be a normal person.

"Then I'll teach you as Father taught me, starting with the basics."

"After that, I hope you can also tell me what happened in the future you came from."

The Night Haunter froze.

The world he came from was far too dark. Ever since the Horus Heresy, the Imperium had been fighting.

In that world, the galaxy had left humanity nothing but war.

"It's all right. Let's take it slowly."

As Curze spoke, he wrote down a Chinese character.

"This is ancient Terran writing. Father is passionate about these characters, and he taught me the principles they convey."

"This was also the first character I learned: person, meaning 'person.'"

"I remember you saying when we first met that a person should stand tall between heaven and earth."

"Yes, my brother."

Today, young Curze became a teacher too, using the knowledge he had learned to teach the version of himself from a parallel world standing before him.

After Han Mingxuan returned to his study, he picked up the item Trazyn had given him back then.

As for who was best suited to the job of moving a planet...

Without a doubt, it was the Necrons.

The most, most, most materialist race in the entire Warhammer universe.

In the original story, the Silent King had used planets as nodes to create the Pariah Nexus.

If he wanted to move Nostramo, he couldn't go wrong asking them.

He just didn't know where Trazyn was at the moment, or how long he would have to wait if he contacted him.

He didn't have that much time.

Huangpizi would be here soon.

One year ago, on an unknown planet somewhere in the galaxy.

"Ah, look what I've found!"

After leaving Nostramo, Trazyn the Infinite had used his clearance to search frantically across the universe for something.

Silent King Szarekh's communication coordinates.

"Great Silent King, I hope this message reaches you."

Trazyn described everything he had seen and heard in detail in the message.

Once he was done, he sent it to the most recent coordinates he had been able to find.

Normally, Trazyn's attitude toward the Silent King might have been somewhat complicated.

The two of them pursued different things.

Knowing that the Necron race had no future, Trazyn devoted himself to collecting history and seeking out treasures.

Szarekh was different. He was still searching for a future for the Necrons.

But things were different now. The Necrons had more choices, and even a future.

So Trazyn chose to inform the Silent King.

At the very least, nothing could be allowed to happen to that mortal. If something did, the Silent King would surely set the entire galaxy ablaze.

Literally.

The message sent, all that remained was to wait.

No, there was more to do than wait.

He needed some biotechnology to create a perfect body for himself.

For the most materialist and technologically advanced race in the universe, creating a body of flesh could not have been simpler.

Even now, the genetic expression of the Necrontyr remained stored in his memory vault.

With just a little technology, he could create a perfect body composed entirely of Necrontyr genes.

If not for that damned curse, the body could live for at least ten thousand years.

It would also be impervious to weapons and immune to all poisons.

One year later, Trazyn completed his masterpiece.

"All right, time to find that mortal."

Trazyn stepped into a phase portal, and when he emerged, he was standing before Han Mingxuan once again.

"Dad, about moving the planet, why don't we stick to the original plan?"

"No. Going into the Warp unprotected would be like serving ourselves up to those guys."

"I know the Warp Storm has calmed down quite a bit, but a calmer storm doesn't mean the sharks won't hunt."

Hum.

Swish!

"Who's there?"

The sword in Curze's hand arrived before his voice did.

The blade struck straight for Trazyn's head.

"Oh, oh, oh, wait, young man. It seems I've come at a bad time."

This was a... talking metal skeleton?

"A Necron, a living metal construct, and a high-ranking Necron at that. Very dangerous."

The Night Haunter's voice sounded beside Curze's ear, giving him a complicated look.

"Mr. Han, it seems I've come at a bad time. Perhaps I should visit another day?"

Han Mingxuan was a little surprised to see Trazyn again.

"You've come at just the right time. But have you finished your business? Did it go smoothly?"

"Of course it did."

"Dad, you know this Necron?"

Curze was a little numb.

The Night Haunter was just as numb.

Neither of them remembered digging up anyone's tomb during the construction on this planet. Besides, there wasn't a decent tomb anywhere on the planet.

So how did Dad know this Necron?

"I do. We met a year ago. Don't be so tense. He means no harm."

"That's right, young man. Going by seniority, you should call me uncle."

"I don't remember Dad ever becoming sworn brothers with a skeleton."

"But we're friends. We've been through life and death together."

Tsk.

That old pile of bones sure knew how to talk.

They really had been through life and death together.

The first time they met, he had nearly turned him to ash.

"He's not wrong. Let me introduce him: a Necron overlord, the archaeologist of Solemnace, a collector of cosmic renown, the guardian of galactic history, Trazyn the Infinite, of the Nihilakh Dynasty."

Hearing how familiar Han Mingxuan was with this "person," Curze lowered his guard.

As for the Night Haunter?

He was very surprised that Father knew these things.

But in his original timeline, he hadn't even had a father.

Since he could have a father, his father could naturally have secrets too.

He would simply pretend he hadn't heard.

But while some were happy, others were troubled.

Listening to Han Mingxuan rattle off his details, Trazyn would have made dissecting and studying him his first order of business if he hadn't known how extraordinary Han Mingxuan was.

"A correction, my dear friend. I belong to Nihilakh in name only."

See? That was knowing how to handle people.

That was all there was to it.

You've doxxed me down to nearly the color of my underwear, but that pile of titles you gave me really was to my liking.

So, for the sake of appearances, as long as we didn't spell everything out too plainly, we could still be friends.

"All right, that's your internal business. It has nothing to do with me."

"Dad, I'll go make a pot of tea."

Curze put away his weapon and left.

He knew that with someone like this suddenly showing up, he probably had something to discuss with Dad.

Curze didn't know what it was, and he wasn't interested.

Dad wouldn't trick him. He'd make some tea first.

Inside the room, Han Mingxuan looked at Trazyn. Their meeting a year ago had been nowhere near as relaxed as this one.

"How does it feel? Is your soul still stable?"

"Unexpectedly stable. It truly is incredible."

Good. As long as his soul was stable, he could do many things.