"I'm actually a little reluctant to part ways with Leman Russ."
Mont walked down the street, sighing involuntarily:
"He really is a genuine heretic, even more heretical than us."
"Not only does he not believe in the Emperor, he doesn't even believe in other gods. How can such a heretic exist in the world?"
"He is indeed terrifying, both his actions and his face are equally terrifying."
"His mouth is also infuriating. If I were an Adeptus Ministorum priest, I'd have him on the pyre the moment he spoke his first word."
"But he is, indeed, a reliable good person."
Marquite finished the rest of Mont's sentence for him.
"More than just reliable." Mont grabbed Marquite's arm and said, "Brother, did you see his abilities?"
"With just a golden ring, he led us through thick mountains of rubble."
"He also, by some unknown method, emptied an entire warehouse of weapons at once."
"He can help us, he can help us find what we're looking for."
Mont's tone was a little urgent, but Marquite hesitated slightly.
"What we're looking for is right in front of us." Marquite looked at the Corpse Guild building not far away.
This building, a branch of the Corpse Guild, was the tallest in the vicinity, yet it was luxuriously divided into only three floors.
In a hive city, people die every moment. Their souls go to the Golden Throne, and their bodies go to the Corpse Guild, entering a cycle,
to be made into corpse starch or recycled nutrient paste.
Their operations are extremely important to the hive city.
It is the Corpse Guild's practice of recycling bodies that curbs the spread of plagues and diseases in the city, and they are also the ones who save the hive city from starvation.
They are monopolists of the pale business, wealthy yet considered unfortunate by the hive city residents.
But at least the Corpse Guild of the past always maintained its faith in the Emperor.
According to the information Marquite learned from the datapad at the PDF outpost,
the original Corpse Guild should have been surrounded by unmutated human skulls symbolizing purity,
and in the courtyard, sacred statues of angels should have stood, holding long spears, guarding the entrance,
while the walls should have been carved with the Imperial Aquila, purity seals, and Holy Word Records prayers.
But now, those pure human skulls were smashed into dust, and some skulls with obvious deformities and mutations were laid horizontally in front of the door, staring fixedly at Mont and Marquite as they approached.
The Imperial Aquila, purity seals, and Holy Word Records prayers on the walls were defaced with filth, becoming strings of blasphemous, strange runes.
The only survivor was the Sanguinius statue under the portico,
but this statue was surrounded by a three-ring symbol outlined in pus,
from Marquite's perspective, it looked like a huge fly circling the Sanguinius statue,
but Marquite knew that the three rings of that symbol represented the perfect cycle of death, decay, and rebirth.
Yes, we will all die, and through death we are blessed with decay, and from decay we are reborn.
Marquite thought in his heart, closing his eyes, full of piety:
"What we're looking for is right in front of us, Mont."
"No." Mont shook his head: "What's inside is just the key, we still need to find the door."
"We'll find it, Mont, be patient." Marquite said softly, about to walk into the Corpse Guild's main entrance.
"Wait." Mont called out to Marquite.
"Before we go in, take off this hood." Mont said: "It's been hanging on my horn, making me uncomfortable the whole way."
Marquite nodded approvingly. There was no need to worry about revealing their identities and attracting disgust and rejection now.
With that, Marquite and Mont reached out, revealing their faces from under their wide hoods, revealing the horns growing on their heads.
Marquite's face was gaunt and purple, with a head of withered gray hair, and from the strands of hair on his left side, on his forehead, and beside his cheeks, gnarled brownish-yellow horns extended, appearing both beastly and demonic.
The horns on Mont's body were even more grotesque than Marquite's. He had almost no hair, and only grotesquely growing black horns on his face and head, encircling his almost bestial face.
They are mutants, monsters living in the gutters of the Bottom Nest, human variants not accepted by the Imperium, impure people.
They were either damaged in their human gene helix by toxic radiation, or accumulated toxins over time from large amounts of unclean food, or were corrupted into monstrous forms by Chaos.
The city never took them in, the Imperium never tolerated them, the Emperor never blessed them. They are the objects of hatred and rejection by billions of people in the Imperium.
Most mutants can only live out their lives in the sewers of the Bottom Nest, finding some comfort in the most vicious curses against the Imperium.
But there are also some mutants who choose to curse the Imperium in a more direct way, using the power of the Chaos Gods in the Warp.
Alexander stood on the roof of a nearby house, watching Mont and Marquite take off their hoods and walk into the Corpse Guild, reciting a seven-syllable incantation.
As expected, their target was also the Corpse Guild.
Alexander was a little stunned for a moment.
After noticing that Marquite and Mont's general direction was the same as his, and that there was only the Corpse Guild as an important building in that direction, Alexander had this suspicion.
So he used the instant movement ability provided by the Superpower Hat to arrive at the Corpse Guild's entrance before Mont and Marquite.
Looking at the Corpse Guild's blasphemous and Nurgle-esque decor, Alexander knew he had guessed correctly.
Mont and Marquite's goal was the Corpse Guild, and some kind of Warp power was clearly entrenched within the Corpse Guild.
Alexander followed his instincts and squatted directly on the top floor of a nearby house, waiting for Mont and Marquite to clear the way for him.
He didn't expect to accidentally learn Mont and Marquite's true identities: two mutants.
Speaking of mutants...
The Imperium divided the degree of mutation into four levels:
Large skull, slight height anomaly, missing limbs, abnormally talkative, and strange hair color were considered minor mutations.
Each of these was 1 point.
Extra limbs, severe height anomaly, scales, feathers, or animal fur on the body, disrespect for superiors, and glowing body were considered moderate mutations.
Each of these was 3 points.
A toxic body, 1 to 3 appendages, abnormal eye placement or non-standard number of eyes, and beastly features were considered severe mutations.
Each of these was 10 points.
More than three appendages, causing localized Warp anomalies, more than one skull, possessing aggressive limbs, and questioning the necessity of inspection were considered extreme mutations.
Each of these was 50 points.
Mont and Marquite had four mutations: scales, feathers, or animal fur on the body, a toxic body, beastly features, and aggressive limbs—one moderate, two severe, and one extreme, for a total score of 73 points.
1-9 points was considered normal, 10 points or more meant you had to sit at the same table as an Ogryn, and 50 points or more usually resulted in immediate incineration.
Mont and Marquite's mutations were considered mid-level among the mutants that the Imperium must purge.
And...
Alexander couldn't help but glance at the figure of Sanguinus at the corner of his eye.
Sanguinus: "?"