40k: Midnight Blade

Chapter 562 80. Interlude: Encyclopedia of Pain

"As humans, we can do many things that other creatures cannot, such as clenching a fist tightly and using it as an effective attack method. Or using tools with bare hands, running long distances, and having strong digestive capabilities."

"Long evolution has given us far more things than we know. Among them, there are probably three most precious things. One is a developed brain, the other is flexible fingers, and the third is the ability to feel pain."

"We have a very subtle sense of pain. This is true for any kind of pain. Even hitting something with our toe can make us scream in pain."

"At first it sounds like a bad thing, but pain is a very real thing. It's really there, you touch it, and it hurts, and we happen to dislike it very much, so we started Trying to escape the pain."

"Over the course of history, this instinct has been closely linked to our continuous improvement in the way we kill, eventually forming something twisted and extreme. Some people even regard it as a perverted pastime and treat it as a perverted pastime. Deeply fascinated."

"I don't mean to be critical, but, personally, I wrote this book simply to have something to do when my shadow leaves and not get lost in the darkness."

—Caryl Lohars, "On Pain."

——

Robert Guilliman put down the manuscript in his hand, slowly raised his head, and glanced at Khalil Lohars, who was sitting opposite him.

The latter was well aware of his gaze, but did not give any reaction. He just pushed the chess piece in his hand and took a step forward on the chessboard.

His opponent thought hard about this for a while before raising his hand to move his chess piece. Just like that, the knight on the horse met a soldier on the bloody battlefield.

The knight was fully armed and full of energy. The soldier was covered with bruises and had only a sword and a shield. So the knight beheaded the soldier as a matter of course. The black chess piece made of bones lay on the ground and rolled in a circle on the chessboard.

Khalil took it back nonchalantly and set it aside, but his opponent gave him a wary look.

"grown ups."

"We are playing chess, Ilyan Natas—" Khalil said without looking up. "——There is no distinction between high and low on the chessboard."

His opponent nodded hard, his pointed ears twitching all too clearly. Guilliman stared at it with squinted eyes. After a while, he looked away and returned his attention to the manuscript in his hand.

To be fair, it is quite appalling for an Ada to appear in Robert Guilliman's office. In fact, let alone an Ada, no alien, traitor or enemy has achieved this in ten thousand years. feat.

This Eldar named Illyan Natas is definitely the first alien to do this.

Of course, it's probably not proud of it. Although it is sitting here, it is not sitting very comfortably, and its expression is always in a back-and-forth cycle of caution and fear.

Guilliman was 100% certain that this incident was not because of him.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel a little happy.

Although he couldn't be said to be resentful about the presence of a group of Eldar on his ship, he definitely couldn't deal with it indifferently.

If they were not still useful and could provide utilization value, Guilliman would personally kill them all as soon as he obtained those coordinate systems.

As time goes by, he has taken two completely opposite paths from the enlightened person he was. Although he will still accept new things and adopt other people's suggestions, this is an attitude only for human beings.

As for the aliens?

If he didn't draw his sword and slash at them the first second he saw them, he was in a very good mood that day. Then, he would let others do it for them, killing them with bolters, flamethrowers, or other random objects. they.

"I have to say, Khalil," the Primarch said in a chatty tone while flipping through the manuscripts. "You're writing a pretty dangerous book."

"Danger?"

"Yes, I'm sure that the knowledge in this book will be unforgettable for those who read it, and they can't help but practice it one by one. For example, in this paragraph, you mentioned mental pain." Guilliman said. Said pointedly.

"Which section?"

"Do you want me to read it out?"

"I'm old, Robert, and my memory isn't very good anymore - so please," Khalil replied.

Before he could make a move, the black knight in his hand was hanging high above the chessboard. Ilyon Natas's eyes were fixed on the chessboard, his heart was filled with ice, and even his thoughts were frozen, until Robert Guilliman slowly spoke.

"Everyone has weaknesses, but I have to admit that for some people, physical pain is not as effective as mental pain."

"There are always people who can ignore the bloody blade and the sensory sensitivity caused by drugs. At this time, you might as well try another way of causing pain."

"I won't go into details because it doesn't make sense, everyone has a different personality and therefore different weaknesses."

"Some people's pain point lies in their unfortunate childhood environment, while some people's pain point lies in failed love or some physical defect. Or else it's the loss of dignity, lack of material, dissatisfaction and pain with the current environment."

"There are also people who are stuck in past situations, unable to extricate themselves, defeated, and watching others sacrifice but unable to do anything. These are common mental illnesses. Generally speaking, they can be attributed to self-indignation of being unable to do anything in the face of pain."

"Therefore, after conducting detailed observations, if you are determined to work on this aspect, then just prescribe the right medicine."

Guilliman raised his head with a half-smile and looked at the alien, and was satisfied to see a familiar paleness on the latter's face.

He looked at Khalil again, who calmly slowly dropped the chess piece in his hand, making a crisp collision sound on the black and white chessboard. The black knight charged at his opponent, defeating him with ease.

"My lord." Ilyan Natas spoke slowly with a trembling voice. "What exactly do you want from me?"

Khalil finally looked up.

"It depends on what you can offer me," he said slowly. "Needless to say, you probably understand why I singled you out among you and not others."

The alien looked at him stiffly.

Khalil looked at him expressionlessly and suddenly tapped the chessboard with his fingers.

"Our game is almost over, just as our voyage to Sousa is coming to an end. So, in your mind, through your eyes, watching Macragge's Glory, watching us, What do you want to say to me?"

Guilliman stood up from his chair, walked to the door, and lowered the lock that had not been activated in thousands of years. In terms of the primarch's agility, it only took him a second to do this, but he deliberately kept his pace very slow.

Then, he returned behind Khalil, holding the hilt of the sincere dagger at his waist, his eyes as bright as the bright meteors streaking across the sky at night.

Ilyan Natas stood up bit by bit with the help of the armrests of the chair. Every muscle in his body was trembling, but he still did it with a strange determination that looked like death.

The light of psychic energy lit up in its eyes immediately, and within a moment, the fear belonging to the Eldar clan Ilyan Natas was completely eliminated from its face.

Instead, there was an unfamiliar elegance, humble respect, and a confident confidence.

"First of all, I want to apologize to you, my lord." It said with a respectful bow. "But you probably also know that I had no intention of hiding it from the beginning. I am by no means arrogant or extremely stupid."

"I see you are both," Guilliman said coldly, his tone slow and dangerous. "So, what's going on with you, a coward who hides in the minds of your own people?"

The 'coward' sighed. It turned to Guilliman and bowed again, greeting him, apologizing, explaining, all in one go.

"Please forgive me, Son of God, but I am not a coward. The reason why I took this method to get you to notice me is really a helpless move. I must have a chance to be able to catch you before you arrive in Sousa. Let’s have an exchange with you.”

"Then why didn't you come in the first place?" Guilliman scoffed. "Why? Don't you dare? Stop a ship and park it on the road we must pass, and then leave a few unlucky people to deliver the message, while you hide back and organize their funerals?"

"No, it's because I don't know about it at all." It replied seriously and turned its gaze back. Khalil leaned back in his chair, folded his hands and accepted its request before it continued its explanation.

"These poor and unfortunate messengers have already introduced themselves to you. They, and I, all come from a new force, the Death Army. And I am the Eldrad Uslan they mentioned."

"Prophet?" Guilliman asked.

It smiled modestly and still humbly with the face of Ilyan Natas.

"I would not call myself this, the great Robert Guilliman. I am just a fool who is searching hard. Of course, I can indeed see some distant things, good ones, and I will wait and see. And the bad ones. I will try my best to change those.”

Guilliman sneered: "Foolish prophet."

"The focus of our conversation should not be on discussing my profession, my lords. I am here only to issue a warning. There is much more awaiting you on Sosa than what these emissaries have told you."

"They took my prophecy and left it to you to decide on the order of our leader Everene, but this is really not a wise move."

"I have repeatedly advised our young leader not to do this, at least not until I complete my prophecy, but she still persists and is even willing to mobilize people for a secret mission before I make the prophecy."

"If I hadn't left this mark on poor Ilyan at the last moment, I'm afraid this trip would only lead to the eternal deterioration of the relationship between you and us."

It sighed heavily and made a gesture, and Ilyan Natas' body fell back on the chair.

Khalil nodded noncommittally, paying no attention to the entanglements in his words that could fill hundreds of thousands of words.

He asked calmly and directly: "So, besides conspiracy, is there anything else that exists on Sosa?"

The Eldar prophet answered his question in an unusually serious manner, and his speaking speed suddenly began to increase faster and faster.

"It's the Zerg, and it's an entire fleet that is coming. But they are not the reason why I am here. With you here, the Zerg swarm is not a big threat. The real enemy lies on the surface of Sousa, where there is an ancient , technological creations derived from the fleshless ones——"

The alien named Ilyan Natas suddenly let out a scream, interrupting Eldrad Uslan's words before he could speak.

It trembled and fell from the chair to the ground, its veins popped out, and all its orifices were bleeding. The backlash brought by the psychic energy made it curl up in pain on the floor of the study.

Without saying a word, Guilliman pressed somewhere on his belt, and the lock of the door was unlocked. Two victorious soldiers strode inside, carrying the alien out of here without mercy, as if they were carrying a piece of cargo.

Guilliman slowly returned to his desk. After a few seconds, he spoke, but it was about something that had little to do with the information Eldrad had brought.

"It knows nothing about your current situation, Khalil."

Khalil nodded calmly - Eldrad Uslan was not lying, he could feel that this weird so-called prophet really thought that he could easily wave down an entire hive fleet with a wave of his hand.

This incident and what it revealed was quite interesting, but it was not his primary concern right now. Eldrad explicitly mentioned the Fleshless Ones, and throughout the entire galaxy, there was only one race capable of appearing in his statement.

Guilliman was naturally aware of this matter, and his increasingly tight brows could naturally reveal it. There was only silence in the office for a while. It was not until several minutes later that Robert Guilliman broke the panicking silence with a deep voice.

"We can put aside the matter of the Eldar for now, but if the enemy is really an entire Hive Fleet, I'm afraid I will need to temporarily recruit some sub-groups."

"It says it's coming, Robert."

Khalil stood up slowly and smiled at Guilliman, whose expression suddenly changed.

"So, why not let me go alone and fight quickly?"

Guilliman roared in a rare rage. At this moment, his voice even surpassed the superior sound insulation of the office material, and accurately reached the ears of the victorious troops in the corridor who were performing security tasks.

Even these well-trained elites couldn't help but look at each other for a moment. They had never heard their Primarch so excited and question so simply and straightforwardly.

"What the hell are you talking about?! Are you crazy?!"

Khalil shrugged and nodded.