"My two friends, may I trouble you for a few minutes?"
"Please allow me to introduce you to our Heavenly Father and Savior, the benevolent Four-Armed Emperor."
The woman in the purple robe smiled piously and gently, her hands clasped together in expectation as she spoke.
Her bald head gleamed slightly under the light bulbs hanging between the pipes, and faint traces of what looked like chitinous plate-like protrusions were vaguely visible.
They actually came looking for him themselves.
Alexander, who had been wondering how to find the genestealer Cult, paused for a moment.
Right, although the genestealer bore many non-human traits, in the Bottom Nest, a place teeming with mutants, they weren't particularly conspicuous.
Moreover, Augustus had even abandoned the management of the Lower Nest, let alone the Bottom Nest.
The genestealer here barely needed to hide themselves; they could openly spread their blasphemous doctrines and genetic corruption.
Alexander smiled at the woman before him: "I didn't expect that even in the Bottom Nest, there would be people who devoutly worshiped the Emperor."
As he spoke, Alexander looked at the hand-drawn icon hanging on the nearby wall:
"But your Emperor seems a little different."
"We saw the true face of the Emperor from the stars."
The woman lowered her head piously and said to Alexander:
"The Emperor is so benevolent, but the heretics have distorted his intentions, just as they cut off two of the Emperor's arms from the idol."
"The Emperor was born with four arms to embrace all living beings, regardless of mutation or deformity, regardless of wealth or status."
"The unblessed fools who believe in the false two-armed Emperor receive only oppression, toil, and suffering."
"The blessed kin who believe in the benevolent Four-Armed Emperor are able to listen with both ears to the song of the stars, united as one."
As she spoke, the woman gestured around her:
"Those who believe can unite as one even in the Bottom Nest, enjoying blessings and pleasures, like one family, one blood."
"Those who do not believe will be estranged and fight each other even in the Upper hive, like blood enemies."
"If you honor the Four-Armed Emperor and coexist with our kin, you may reside here permanently; you are our family and blood."
"If you do not believe, then leave. We only give the love of family to those of our kin who share our faith."
With that, the woman took a step back, awaiting Alexander's response.
Alexander feigned piety, making a prayer gesture.
"You know, I have always been a devout follower of the Emperor."
"But the Emperor I believe in is different from yours."
"The false faith of the two-armed Emperor runs rampant among the ignorant; believing in false dogmas is not your mistake."
The woman thought Alexander believed in the two-armed Emperor, the version worshiped by the Adeptus Ministorum.
"The Emperor I believe in has six arms and four legs, each with extraordinary abilities, each with unique skills, and his divine power and psychic abilities are awe-inspiring, with secret moves that bring unexpected surprises to the Warp!"
Alexander piously placed his hand on his chest and said:
"The first arm is a lie detector, capable of making the Lord of Change honest, speaking only truth from his bird's beak."
"The second arm is soap and detergent, capable of making the Lord of Plagues clean, his swollen body exuding a minty scent."
"The third arm is the legendary Hand of the Hawk, capable of making the Dark Prince unbearable, instantly abstaining from lust."
"The fourth arm is a perch and a cod; cod sacrificed to Cod God, perch offered to Perch Throne."
Alexander ignored the horrified expressions on the faces of the woman and Joan, and continued speaking to himself:
"The fifth arm is a screwdriver, capable of dismantling all of Vashtorr's mechanical creations."
"The sixth arm is the Hand of Nangong Wenya, capable of making Gork and Mork love peace."
"The Emperor's four mighty legs are even more powerful!"
Alexander grew more excited as he spoke, and the surrounding residents looked at him with horror.
"The first leg, kicking the Great Devourer's butt, can make the Tyranids anorexic."
"The second leg, kicking the Tau's butt, can make the Greater Good flourish."
"The third leg, kicking the Aeldari's butt, can make the Aeldari Death God, Ynnead, be born on the spot."
"The fourth leg, kicking Abaddon's butt, can make the Warmaster swear loyalty."
At this point, Alexander couldn't help but spread his arms, shouting:
"Great, Six-Armed Emperor!"
"Six-Armed Emperor! Yes! Yes!"
"Get out of our gathering place!!!"
The purple-robed woman standing in front of Alexander interrupted him with a sharp voice.
The woman made an exorcism gesture with her hand, looking at Alexander with disgust and horror:
"Heretic!"
"Blasphemy!"
"Get out of our gathering place with your filthy doctrines!"
The other residents in the gathering place showed similar expressions, looking at Alexander as if he were something extremely dirty, defiled, and blasphemous.
Alexander suspected that if he stayed any longer, they would start throwing trash at him.
"Alas, what a pity."
Alexander sighed, saying with a sorrowful expression:
"You'd rather believe in the false faith of four arms than accept the true faith of six arms!"
With that, Alexander pulled Joan, who also had a look of fear on her face, and walked out of the gathering place.
He seemed somewhat unwilling, turning his head to the woman and saying:
"Do you know? The Emperor actually has more than six arms and four legs; he also has two—"
"Get out!!!! Get out now!!!"
The woman repeatedly made several exorcism gestures.
Alexander shook his head, passing through this gathering place built between the pipes, and truly entered the wilderness area of the Bottom Nest.
Joan's deer-like eyes were wide, looking at Alexander with some fear.
She seemed to have been frightened by Alexander's blasphemous words just now.
What Emperor has six arms, Emperor has four legs, Emperor has two...
This was no ordinary blasphemy; this was practically describing the Emperor as some kind of alien creature.
Alexander, on the other hand, was considering how these genestealer were so... gentle?
Their aggressiveness didn't seem very strong.
They seemed more inclined to use persuasion rather than force to make people believe in the Four-Armed Emperor, eventually leading to corruption by the genestealer.
It seemed this gathering place was only an outer faction of the genestealer.
From this gathering place, he might not get any useful information.
Alexander looked at the intricate network of roads before him, built between the abandoned pipes of the hive city.
These roads were either carved out between the pipes or directly utilized the pipes.
They were so complex that they made one's scalp tingle, like a series of intertwined mazes.
On the way there, the boatman had also warned Alexander and Joan that many newcomers to the Bottom Nest would get lost in these intricate roads.
They would eventually stray into places they shouldn't, or simply starve to death in the pipes due to being lost.
The boatman even said, with all seriousness, that some lost souls would wander eternally in the pipes of the hive city's lower levels, searching for an exit.
"Sounds like Chakotay's experience," Sanguinius quipped.
Alexander, without changing his expression, pulled Joan in front of him.
"Quick, use your marvelous precognitive ability to tell me which way to go."