According to standard time, it was already late night.
But in the hive city's underground, there was no concept of day or night.
Deep underground, except for some hive districts and abandoned hive districts near the edge of the hive city, the toxic twin stars of Ashford were absolutely never seen.
Here, day and night were more artificial concepts used to distinguish worker shifts.
Workers heading towards the residential areas were deeply fatigued, having found a brief respite from their daytime labor.
Those heading towards the factories had only just barely recovered from their previous shift, staggering towards their next job.
Alexander watched the flow of people in the night, until the lights of the hive city's residential areas extinguished one by one, temporarily ceding everything to darkness.
Workers either entered factories to work through the night or went home for a brief rest.
The streets of the hive city also became temporarily empty.
Alexander walked down the narrow streets of the hive city, heading towards his home.
His gaze swept over the alleys in the shadows.
From time to time, wails echoed from these alleys, and from time to time, members of the Ark Gang could be seen hurrying by.
He even saw members of other gangs from different major districts invading the local territory.
This short night belonged to the gangs; they would engage in bloody battles in the dark alleys.
There was a certain order amidst the chaos, a tradition and unspoken understanding among the gangs.
But Alexander still noticed that the vendettas and skirmishes in the night were not as bloody and violent as before.
The wails in the alleys almost always ended after just a few cries.
Other gang members running across the streets would be dragged into the alleys in the blink of an eye.
All the fighting in the night was proceeding in an orderly fashion.
Although Reyna possessed an astonishing intellect, the gang she established was indeed efficient.
After all, while other gangs were still stuck on primitive, earthy, wolf-like cultures, she had already introduced religious faith.
Nothing unites a group of people more than religion; the Imperium itself was held together by religion.
"If Horus were to see the current state of affairs, how he would mock us…"
Alexander murmured softly.
He recalled how the Warmaster had once accused the Emperor of pushing all of humanity into an abyss of religion and superstition.
The Four Gods had shown the Warmaster the future of the Imperium, a completely true future of the Imperium.
Horus could not accept such a future, but the Four Gods had deceived him with the truth.
It was precisely because of the Great Heresy he incited that the Imperium had no choice but to become what it is today.
"Good intentions, many terrible paths in the galaxy were initially paved with good intentions."
Sanguinius trembled slightly, repeating Alexander's previous point:
"I dare not imagine, imagine how Guilliman would despair if he were to wake up one day and see the current state of affairs?"
"But I still hope to bring back some hope to this galaxy."
Sanguinius flapped its wings, and its form seemed to become clearer before Alexander.
"Go to Baal, my friend."
"You must find my progeny, tell them you come at my request, and have them lead you to my remains————"
"Stop!" Alexander waved his hand, hastily rejecting the tempting proposal from Sanguinius.
"You just said that many terrible paths are paved with good intentions."
"Even if I could resurrect you—which I can't do right now—would it definitely be Sanguinius who returns?"
"What if the Four Gods created a corrupted version of Sanguinius—Sanguinius' soul fragments are in their hands, after all."
"What if it's Horus, returning by possessing Sanguinius' corpse?"
"What if some Warp entity descends through this?"
Alexander fired a volley of questions at Sanguinius.
Sanguinius fell silent for a moment.
"And is your prophecy reliable? If I go to Baal now, there's really no way to resurrect Sanguinius."
Alexander glanced at Sanguinius and said.
Most importantly, he couldn't go to Baal for the time being.
Even if he managed to sneak into Baal, he would still not escape the claws of the Tyranid.
He needed to find a way to earn enough money for an anywhere door in this area of Ashford.
"Perhaps, probably, possibly accurate…"
Sanguinius whispered:
"Your future is too chaotic, like three destinies intertwined."
"Several times, I even saw you and the Emperor board the Vengeful Spirit, and then turned around to see you and the Emperor board Macragge's Glory."
"Perhaps, as you said, my resurrection will only be possible at a much later time."
Looking at Sanguinius, who had fallen silent, Alexander did not press further.
He turned a corner, passed through an archway made of scrap metal, and walked towards his home————
Alexander saw light.
A scorching, dazzling light that burned his eyes.
The light splattered before his heavy iron door, with molten iron slowly dripping down the door.
"What the hell?!"
Alexander's eyes widened.
He saw a small, cloaked figure holding a plasma cutter, standing in front of a door and cutting through the steel door.
That looked like… his door.
Alexander blinked, instantly recalling the Zealous Thief that One-Eye and Reyna had both mentioned.
A thief who used a plasma cutter to cut through doors or walls to steal, and had never been caught.
"Damn it, stealing from me now."
Alexander's eye twitched as he silently pulled out his Superpower Hat from his pocket and put it on his head.
He concentrated his mind on the cloaked figure.
A strong and powerful telekinetic force, like an invisible sledgehammer, heavily struck the Zealous Thief.
However, the Zealous Thief abruptly stopped the plasma cutter a moment before Alexander made his move.
As if he had anticipated it, he turned and ran, dodging Alexander's telekinetic attack.
"Trying to leave?"
Alexander's figure blurred and disappeared from his spot, instantly appearing behind the Zealous Thief.
"Any evil shall be brought to justice!"
"This is an illegal act! Come, let's go surrender."
Alexander reached out to grab the back of the Zealous Thief's neck.
However, the Zealous Thief was as slippery as an eel, instantly slipping out of Alexander's grasp.
Alexander only managed to see a pair of black eyes with flecks of gold above the cloak.
The Zealous Thief darted, passing under Alexander's arm.
He vanished into the darkness of the alley in a flash, and Alexander quickly followed.
But the Zealous Thief's figure disappeared into the complex and chaotic streets and alleys in an instant.
Alexander looked at his hand, which had failed to catch the Zealous Thief, and then at the direction where the Zealous Thief had vanished.
He remembered Reyna saying that the Zealous Thief also seemed to have some kind of precognitive ability.
"Damn it, there seem to be too many suspected talents in Ashford."
"This isn't another big shot's alt account, is it?"