Warhammer: In the Name of Nirvana

Chapter 22 Ballad

People are always trapped by real problems, so they have imagination.

People are always trapped by the boundaries of imagination, so they explore.

People are always trapped by the slowness of exploration, so there are shortcuts.

And when countless shortcuts crisscross the deep forest, rumors of misdirection and loss will arise, and malicious creatures will be waiting here, waiting for another arrogant and confident traveler to try to use shortcuts. Solve real-life problems.

The ultimate expression of this dark place is the vast ocean called [Subspace] in the void.

It was born from the fantasy of all things, but in turn swallowed the living pain of all things, achieving its terrible reputation among countless civilizations and races.

But there are always new idiots who will question this. They regard themselves as great talents who are destined to open up the world. They are dismissive of the history written with the endless blood and lamentations of their predecessors. They fully believe that they will be the one who will make all the world come true. A figure who overthrew and came back from history and theory.

Just like...

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"Do not trust time and space, my children."

"The basic principles of time, space, latitude and even geometry and numbers are all invalid in the vast ocean. It is for this reason that it has become the greatest and richest treasure trove of knowledge, because you will never know The real knowledge is what kind of treasures will be buried in the next cave. It may come from the ancient times before the dawn of any civilization has bloomed, or it may be a brief reenactment of a certain segment of the future in front of your eyes."

Magnus's projection was shining, like a newly born star, brazenly showing off its light and heat.

The Primarch was like a king who had just received an audience from his courtiers and was taking a nap in the misty garden of the palace. He kneaded the majestic power casually and allowed them to spread around him.

Magnus used his own will to bear witness to his words: on the invisible scroll he unfolded, the Thousand Sons could see things they had never imagined: this perspective was like a god looking down on the world from the clouds, the Astartes We witnessed everything starting from desolation, to the joy of the air, the jumping of the water, the breathing of living creatures, and the conception of civilization...

Running, communication, fire, farming, family, property, kingship, war...

The Thousand Sons witnessed the growth of this overly simple alien civilization, and witnessed the elegant diplomatic words and poisonous wine glasses begin to appear. They held their breath and concentrated, only feeling that a little mixed breath of incense and piety was added to their breath, and then, We saw the emergence of various monotheistic temples and kingdoms of knights. Wars broke out one after another in the name of land, faith and honor. Cities and caravans began to rise. Waves of wealth continued to impact the country that originally belonged to dukes and bishops.

As if thousands of years had passed, and as if only an insignificant moment had passed, the vision of the sons of Magnus was disturbed by the chaotic future: they saw the tragic war between the indigenous people, the reckless application of thermonuclear weapons... The deadly dust filled the sky; they saw the starry sky full of malice, and the huge fleet of invaders crushed the emerging races into slaves; they saw the same roommate fighting a thousand years later, and the distance and time across the sea of stars easily killed the same person. The sense of identity between the races was crushed to pieces.

Everything is changing, everything is burning, everything is rolling down in the unpredictable future, until it falls into the unexpected and reasonable ending.

As Magnus's palm closed, everything disappeared again.

"It's just a drop in the endless river of time. My children, there is no need to be surprised or nostalgic. In the days to come, we will encounter and observe more."

The soft laughter of the Primarch came. He casually put the scroll recording the rise and fall of a race aside, obviously not having any more interest. After all, he had just started observing in Prospero's observatory. Magnus in the Warp had witnessed hundreds of the same things.

"Is this history? Father, or is it the future?"

Some of the Thousand Sons could not suppress their curiosity, and Magnus first showed a charming smile before slowly opening his mouth to explain.

"Those things that have been determined and have not developed more choices and bifurcations are the history that has already happened, and those things that cannot be determined and show various consequences are naturally the future. History has been determined, and the future There are countless possibilities, and even the tiniest and most absurd options have their own unique underlying logic and reason for existence."

"Of course, all this is from our subjective point of view. There is no concept of time in the vast ocean. Here, everything is always in a state of existence as long as it appears, and this state may even All the way back to when it didn’t exist yet.”

"More specifically, just like the alien civilization in front of us, from the time the first life of this race was officially born, its existence, continuation, future and destruction have completely existed in subspace. But when we, visitors to the physical universe, visit this civilization, this friendly place will codify it into something we can normally interpret based on our understanding of the concept of [time]."

"From another perspective, even if this civilization was born five thousand years ago, since it has already appeared in subspace, tourists even from fifty thousand years ago can still read it, but they have such spiritual abilities. There have been very few individuals of this magnitude in the long history of the galaxy."

"Of course, you can also call this power [prophecy] like those mortals."

The Primarch's explanation was trivial and slow, but it did not prevent every Thousand Sons from showing an intoxicated look. After all, for an Astartes warrior, what else is better than his own genes? What would be more wonderful if we delved into something together with our parents?

And just when Magnus's last words had just landed, he saw Morgan's position flashing with a spiritual light eager to speak.

"That is to say, Lord Magnus, the alien race we just saw, their [future] is to fall into the last step of the space age, or enter the void, and their [present] is at this moment. , are they still thriving on their home planet, that is, in a remote corner of the Milky Way?”

"Yes, indeed."

The Primarch nodded, and then he let out a deep, unspoken laugh.

"I don't know which of my brothers they will meet in the future. Anyway, it is destined to be a tragedy."

As soon as these words were spoken, the Thousand Sons also let out a burst of understanding laughter. In this chuckle, they forgot everything about this nameless alien civilization and continued to explore the depths of subspace.

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In the language of some scholars and civilizations, subspace is also called the vast ocean, and facts have proven that this is a very accurate assessment.

Anyone who has actually visited this place will choose to call this place: so empty, so quiet, so vast, so prosperous, so noisy, so crowded...

Completely opposite words can be used at the same time. This is the wonder of subspace.

Eight souls moved forward in the silent ocean. One of them was as dazzling as a star, six were as violent as meteorites, and the last one was like the moon hiding behind the shadows, deliberately condensing its own light.

At the end of their field of vision, the subspace was constantly changing its colors and shapes. Suddenly, cumulus clouds full of thunder and lightning were wandering in the shadows, outlining the shapes of evil beasts and minions. In the blink of an eye, , you will find that it is just mottled dust swept by the violent storm, stretching out thousands of broken tiny countries.

But when they concentrated their energy and used their true sight to explore, they found nothing. The subspace showed nothing but desolation and death, and the wealth pursued by scholars and explorers was like a muddy river. The gold at the bottom is like gold, it requires the most careful and experienced inspection and a little luck.

The Primarch paid no attention to the things he had grown accustomed to. The Lord of Prospero raised aloft a beacon of pure psychic power, illuminating an unimaginable vastness. He was not worried at all. It would attract the ancient inhabitants of the vast ocean. In fact, he was looking forward to their appearance. After all, the new thesis topic required more arguments.

And it was at this time that those distant, intermittent songs appeared.

It was the strangest sound, like the wail of a thousand ravens stuck in their throats, or like the neighing of a huge snake nest being blown apart. The tone of this song was vague, but it was Each word is pronounced clearly, but when it reaches everyone's ears, it has a completely different content. It is generally a detailed poem about the past and the future.

Morgan could hear Ahriman whispering verses about the future and the grape fields, or perhaps Atharva remembering the past of Terra.

But when she tilted her slender neck and listened carefully to her song, she heard something different.

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"Arrogant and self-possessed."

"Thirsty at midnight, the slave of the gods prostrates himself."

"Being a trapped beast in prison, God bestows valor on him."

"The soaring eagle lies down on the ground, the fox eats the tiger."

"Yin means darkness, stone means loneliness."

"The evil flames are burning, and the emperor's legacy is gone."

"But see..."

"Be ambitious, but cry at the end."

"Snake robe and green armor, facing Qin and Mu Chu."