Alexander felt an unbearable sense of detachment from his body.
His spirit and will were slowly drawn from his body, his gaze simultaneously falling upon the Eldar Pantheon and the layers of timelines.
Past and present unfolded before Alexander like overlapping mirrors.
He saw Incarnie, he saw Sylandri Shadowseer, he saw Sylandri, he saw Yvraine, he saw everything of the entire Death Guard.
Their figures, moment by moment, from past to future, continuously piled up and branched out, like giant snakes with millions of tails, entwining and interweaving. Each cross-section was a moment in time, each fork a possibility.
This was the destiny of the entire Death Guard, and even the entire Eldar race.
Over this destiny hung a dark, black mist, within which flowed an infinite circuit of countless Eldar souls.
That was Ynnead, a Death God yet to be born, from whose body threads descended, landing on every member of the Death Guard, unconsciously manipulating their destinies.
And at this moment, Ynnead's body began to struggle, uncontrollably falling towards Alexander, falling into Alexander's round, blue body.
"Your Majesty, it's getting cold."
"Your jester will add a yellow robe for you!"
Cegorach's voice rang out beside Alexander.
The jester of the Pantheon slowly extended a hand and pushed Alexander's back.
Alexander stumbled, sitting on the seat of the Eldar Death God of the Pantheon.
Instantly, the Eldar destiny woven by the old crone sword trembled.
The yet-to-be-born Ynnead let out a wail, his body dissolving bit by bit into Alexander's body.
At the same time, in every moment from past to present, Ynnead's name was becoming faint, and the prayers of the Death Guard to Ynnead grew softer and softer.
In its place was the praise of Doraemon.
From Yvraine to Sylandri, every member of the Death Guard, in every moment of the past, praised the name of the Eldar Death God Doraemon.
Alexander's expression was slightly dazed; he felt Ynnead's existence completely melt into his body, like ice dissolving in hot water, becoming a part of himself.
Tens of thousands of threads extended from his body, replacing Ynnead and connecting with the Death Guard. He could clearly hear the inner voices of every Death Guard member and perceive the existence of every Death Guard member.
Most of these connections were tenuous, with only Yvraine and Sylandri having relatively strong ties. Alexander even felt he could directly infiltrate their consciousnesses.
Hmm, Sylandri had fainted, his multi-lobed brain filled with infatuation for Yvraine and fear of Tigurius and Mephiston.
Yvraine, meanwhile, was praying to him in her heart, praying for the Eldar Death God Doraemon to return and defeat Tigurius, Mephiston, and Reyna.
Besides them, Alexander could also sense Sanguinius and Guilliman, with whom he had already established connections. The connection between these two and him was the deepest; he even felt he could directly inject his will into their bodies and control their bodies.
It was as if they, like Greater Daemon, had become extensions of himself.
Sanguinius seemed to sense something, raising his head with a slight surprise to look at Alexander.
Guilliman, on the other hand, seemed to notice nothing, radiating the resentment of a working man.
And besides these individuals who had established a connection with Alexander, there was another entity in the Empyrean who noticed Ynnead's demise.
Ecstatic laughter emanated from Slaanesh's bedchamber.
The joy of the Lord of Hunger rippled from the Six Circles. Slaanesh's daemons seemed to feel their master's pleasure, singing and dancing uncontrollably.
On a bed made of six hundred and sixty-six layers of velvet, Slaanesh, while caressing the trembling Fulgrim with his six breasts, let out a joyful, bell-like laugh.
As the God of Hunger born from the fall of the Eldar, Slaanesh clearly perceived what was happening in the Warp.
Doraemon. Alexander was devouring everything of Ynnead; Ynnead was being replaced by Alexander.
Although he didn't understand what had happened, Slaanesh knew he no longer needed to be troubled by Ynnead's birth, nor worry about Ynnead becoming the fifth.
For Slaanesh, Ynnead being born amidst the destruction of all Eldar and becoming the fifth was the worst-case scenario.
This was even worse than the Emperor taking the final step; at least if the Corpse-Emperor became the fifth, the other three would also suffer misfortune alongside Slaanesh.
If Ynnead became the fifth, only Slaanesh would be unlucky. This was also why Slaanesh wanted to cultivate Alexander to become the fifth.
He had hoped Alexander and Ynnead would compete, but he hadn't expected Alexander to do far better than he had hoped.
Ynnead was completely replaced by Alexander; he was eaten by Alexander in one gulp!
Thinking of this, Slaanesh couldn't help but let out another joyful laugh.
As long as Alexander's existence was not destroyed, Ynnead would never truly be born, and would not become the fifth, preceding the Corpse-Emperor or Alexander.
Slaanesh couldn't help but extend his forked tongue, licking his cherry-colored lips with a viscous fluid.
He felt that his previous generosity towards Alexander had been rewarded, and his mood was exceptionally pleasant.
"Fulgrim, do you think this counts as a kind of love?" He joyfully shared his happiness with Fulgrim.
"Great Doraemon! Human Death God and Eldar Death God, Lord of the Pantheon, your loyal jester Cegorach welcomes your return to your rightful place."
In the Black Library, Cegorach bowed and saluted Alexander with a cheerful demeanor.
Alexander felt the clearly expanded power of his erosion and destruction domain, his expression fluctuating.
Ynnead was devoured by his own essence, and his position in the Eldar Pantheon was completely occupied by Alexander.
He was now connected to all the Death Guard, and their souls completely belonged to Alexander.
Furthermore, Alexander had also gained some of Ynnead's former power; he could now manipulate life and death to a certain extent.
With a touch of his fingertip or the old crone sword, he could forcibly bestow death upon others. For those who had passed away but whose souls still existed in the material universe, Alexander could bring them back to life.
It was a pity that Ynnead had not truly been born, so the power Alexander gained after devouring him was not particularly strong.
It was also fortunate that Ynnead had not truly been born, otherwise Alexander felt he might actually have become a god.
But this didn't mean Alexander was far from becoming a god. He had a vague feeling that if he gathered five old crone swords, the part of Ynnead's power within him would be activated, pushing him towards godhood.
Becoming a god in this world, in Alexander's opinion, was not a good thing.
"You've caused me so much trouble, jester." Alexander gritted his teeth as he looked at the grinning Cegorach beside him.
Cegorach, however, chuckled unhurriedly.
The reason he hadn't informed Alexander in advance was because he understood the character of human gods too well—they had an inexplicable resistance to the identity of a god.
Alexander would never agree to his plan.
So he acted first and reported later, directly placing Alexander in the position of the Eldar Death God.
"Don't be so anxious, Your Majesty. First, let's analyze this: you are the Human Death God, right?" Cegorach sincerely leaned closer to Alexander and said.
Alexander frowned slightly and said sharply, "I am not a god."
"Since you are the Human Death God, isn't it natural for you to be the Eldar Death God?"
Cegorach seemed not to have heard Alexander's words and waved his hand.
Several skulls instantly flew out of the Black Library and were placed before Alexander:
"Look at these skulls. The first one belongs to an Imperial human."
Alexander frowned, looking at the human skull before him, wondering what Cegorach was up to.
"Now look at this one. This is an Ogryn's."
Cegorach pointed to the second, noticeably larger skull and said:
"This is a common Imperial abhuman."
Alexander's confused frown deepened.
"Now look, this is a Felinid, one of the legal abhumans still recognized by the Imperium."
The difference between this skull and a normal human's was already very obvious: the eye sockets were clearly larger, the ear holes were closer to the top of the cranium, and the nasal bone protruded significantly forward.
"This is a Scaly, an abhuman species discovered in the under-hive city only within the last few millennia. Their genes are not yet fully stable, but they have also gained the Imperium's recognition."
The human traces on this skull were already very few: an enlarged cranium, protruding canines, no occipital bone, and simultaneously protruding maxilla and nasal bone. Rather than a human, it resembled a crocodile.
"And also, the famous Beastman, one of the abhumans recognized ten thousand years ago when the Emperor still walked among men."
Cegorach pointed to the second to last skull. This skull showed almost no human traces: protruding horns, three eyes, and strange holes, like a twisted goat's head:
"It's just that in the current Imperium, they have been declared illegal abhumans by the Inquisition without the Emperor's consent."
"This is a Fenris Wolf."
Cegorach pointed to the last skull, which was entirely a wolf's skull, with only the most careful observation revealing a hint of human traces:
"Although the Imperium claims this is a wild beast, from a genetic perspective, its genes are closer to Homo sapiens sapiens than most Imperial humans, and the genetic makeup of Fenris Wolves and Fenrisians is fundamentally the same, just with different selective expression."
Alexander's nostrils flared; he had a feeling what Cegorach was going to say, and it made him incredibly awkward.
"Our great Emperor, the Emperor, once gave instructions: to judge humans, abhumans, mutants, and xenos by the form of their skulls."
As he spoke, Cegorach waved his hand.
Another skull flew into his hand. This skull looked very similar to a human's, only more elongated, with more delicate facial features, and teeth relatively larger than the jawbone. Other than that, it was indistinguishable from a human in appearance.
However, its bone structure itself was clearly different from a human's; it wasn't calcium-based, but rather resembled some kind of solidified liquid, appearing crystalline and translucent.
Cegorach shoved the Eldar skull between the Imperial human and Ogryn skulls, then presented it to Alexander.
Alexander's cheek muscles twitched uncontrollably; he wanted to complain, but too many words were stuck in his throat.
"You see! From a morphological standpoint, Imperial humans and Eldar are very similar!"
"Following our Emperor's instructions, the Eldar can clearly also be a type of human abhuman."
"Therefore, as the Human Death God, you are clearly also the Eldar Death God."
Alexander silently watched the skulls Cegorach placed before him.
From Imperium of Man to Aeldari, from Aeldari to various abhumans…
"According to the Emperor's will, the Aeldari are clearly a type of abhuman!" Cegorach chuckled, whispering into Alexander's ear.
Alexander looked at Cegorach with a horrified expression.
When the Aeldari were in space fighting the War in Heaven with the Old Ones, humanity's ancestors were still Proconsul apes, millions of years before Australopithecus.
So what, are you Aeldari also descendants of Earth apes?
"You Aeldari have three deoxyribonucleotide sequences, we humans have double-helix sequences; genetically speaking—" Alexander instinctively retorted.
"You want to talk about genes?" Cegorach couldn't help but chuckle at that. "There are also two Big Macs and two Bananas preserved in a Static Field in the Black Library, they're delicious, and they have a sixty percent similarity in genetic sequence to ancient Homo sapiens."
"You humans were so lively during the Golden Age. The gene modifications were one more lively than the next. Some even had genetic bases that weren't DNA. Even the ancestors of the Aeldari Haemonculus went to study with humans back then."
Alexander couldn't help but rub his temples. Although Cegorach's words contained exaggeration and jest, most of it was indeed true.
Humanity in the Golden Age was too lively, with explosive development in all kinds of technologies, especially genetic technology.
This made it so that even the Emperor, a geneticist himself, couldn't distinguish whether a population was human on a genetic level.
He could only simply determine whether it was a branch on the human species tree by looking at the human skull.
After all, the genetic modifications of human races in the Golden Age still used humans themselves as templates. It was easier to preserve traces of ancient Homo sapiens before modification on the skull. The lighter the modification, the more likely it was to be preserved; the heavier the modification, the less likely.
Although this method of judgment was full of flaws, somewhat resembling the earthy pseudoscience style of phrenology, it was at least practical for the Imperium of Man during the Great Crusade.
But he never expected that this guy Cegorach would find a loophole.
Human skulls and Aeldari skulls were strangely similar. Although their composition and internal structures were completely different, at first glance, they really looked quite alike, making people instinctively wonder if the Aeldari and humans truly had some kind of kinship.
However, the Emperor probably never anticipated that one day the proud Aeldari would actually claim to be a human subspecies, an abhuman on the same level as the Ogryn.
"Are you really not going to try to save face for the sake of the Aeldari's past glory?" Alexander asked, his cheeks tight and his eye twitching.
"I'm a Harlequin, what face do I need?"
Cegorach said nonchalantly:
"And I, Cegorach, have long discovered the secret to the Aeldari's rise during my millions of years as a god."
"That is to cling to a powerful patron, to lean on a great tree!"
"The first fortune our Aeldari made was by clinging to the Old Ones. Only after the Old Ones went extinct and the Necrons fell into slumber did the Aeldari truly begin to rise."
"For a long time afterward, the Aeldari developed by relying on the remnants of the Old Ones and the protection of the Pantheon. When the Pantheon was isolated and the Aeldari had no powerful patron left, they destroyed themselves."
Alexander watched Cegorach attack his own race, his face filled with an expression of barely contained exasperation.
Had the Aeldari reached the point where even their last remaining racial god disdained them?
"And now the Aeldari no longer have any hope of rising independently again. In fact, if not for the Imperium of Man blocking the bullets in front, Chaos would have long since devoured the Aeldari alive."
Cegorach ignored Alexander's expression and continued:
"I, the Harlequin, don't have very high demands. As long as the Aeldari can continue to exist, there's nothing wrong with being an abhuman to humans. The Lyttin treatment seems pretty good to me."
"Those little guys in the Death Guard are relatively normal among the Aeldari branches, a decent part. Just take them."
Alexander's expression darkened slightly.
What Cegorach said was indeed true. The Death Guard were one of the few collections of normal people among the Aeldari. Although it was a case of picking the tallest among the short, apart from the savage Aeldari, the Death Guard were the only ones in the entire Aeldari race with somewhat normal minds.
Coupled with the agreement signed with Cegorach earlier...
Alexander rubbed his temples and said, "Alright, at least you didn't give me Commorragh."
It's easy enough to talk to Sanguinius within the Imperium, and Guilliman would most likely agree based on practicality, but… the one sitting on the Golden Throne, who knows what he'd think…
"I will settle accounts with Commorragh myself." Cegorach suddenly stopped chuckling. His voice was a little low: "If you help me look after those little ones in the Death Guard, I, Cegorach, will only have gratitude."
Alexander looked at Cegorach with a touch of surprise. It was the first time he had seen Cegorach so unreservedly display disgust and anger.
The part of the Aeldari that directly led to their fall and degradation, and their descendants, were now lurking in Commorragh. No wonder Cegorach said he would settle accounts himself.
After entrusting Cegorach to make something, Alexander left the Black Library through the anywhere door.
Cegorach let out a heavy sigh of relief. He had finally managed to fool Alexander.
A hint of confusion flashed in his eyes. Why was Alexander's process of absorbing Ynnead so smooth? The impact of Ynnead dissolving within his body was so small?
Could it be that Alexander's essence was simply too vast?
What kind of existence was he, after all?
And what exactly was this 22nd century all about?
Cegorach still had many doubts in his heart… Eh? Why was it a little hot in the Black Library?
His expression suddenly twitched, and he looked with a grim face beyond the Webway where the Black Library was located.
A cold and scorching, hollow and bright, pitch-black and brilliant golden sun hung high in the Warp near the Webway where the Black Library was located.
The sun burned fiercely, and the daemons and other entities lurking near the Black Library, trying to find this treasure trove of Aeldari knowledge, let out terrified wails.
They were burned to ashes by the scorching light of the star before they could even escape.
Even the Four Gods in the Empyrean couldn't help but cast curious glances, wondering which unlucky soul had angered this great lord again.
Near the Black Library? That Harlequin? How did he manage to offend the Emperor?
Tzeentch cackled, an unchanging curiosity emanating from his constantly shifting eyes.
Nurgle stirred a cauldron full of cries, watching the scene with great interest.
Khorne, meanwhile, eagerly awaited the outbreak of a bloody battle.
Only Slaanesh, who probably knew everything, couldn't help but hold his stomach, laughing heartily on his bed.
That damn Harlequin is getting his comeuppance today?
Cegorach shivered, shrinking into a corner of the Black Library.
Even though the Emperor couldn't enter the Black Library, having such a large, cold, and dead sun hanging at his doorstep made Cegorach instinctively afraid.
And with this thing blocking the entrance, Cegorach's Harlequins didn't dare to leave the Black Library for a while.
"Oh, Harlequin God, when will he leave?" a Harlequin said with a trembling body.
"How should I know? Don't you know how persistent and stubborn he is?" Cegorach muttered, cursing the Emperor for being petty in his heart, while shivering and looking at the star outside the window.
Was it just about bringing Alexander over to take on the role of the Aeldari Death God? Was it necessary to make such a big show of it?
"Then what do we do? Cegorach seems useless again!"
"Like this, we can't even leave the Black Library, it's too boring."
"Hey! I have an idea, we Aeldari gods are not just one anymore, let's pray to Doraemon!"
"Yes! Yes!"
Tigurius exuded a strong, cold, and oppressive Warp aura. Beneath his skin, some kind of energy from the Empyrean seemed to writhe, making him look as if he was enveloped in the shadows of the Warp.
The nearby Chapter serfs backed away from Tigurius in fear.
Reyna also felt a primal fear, and Mephiston couldn't help but nod at Tigurius' display.
Alexander, however, had a strange expression.
How long had it been since they last met? Why were Tigurius' Psyker manifestations so pronounced? He looked even more eerie and sinister than Mephiston. Was dealing with the history of the Second Imperium such a mental torment?
Only Guilliman seemed to notice nothing, merely frowning as he looked at the scene beside Tigurius.
Sylandri and Yvraine knelt devoutly at Alexander's feet.
"Praise! Great Aeldari Death God, exalted Doraemon!"
"You have finally returned to the Pantheon."
Alexander's expression first showed an uncontrollable twitch.
Ynnead had been devoured by him, and all of Ynnead's influence on the Aeldari's destiny had been overridden by Alexander.
At least in the eyes of the Aeldari, Alexander was equivalent to Ynnead…
"Do you still remember Ynnead?" Alexander asked tentatively.
"Of course, we remember. Ynnead is a part of you," Yvraine responded devoutly.
Alexander couldn't help but rub his temples.
Beside him, Reyna listened to Yvraine's words and couldn't help but clench her fists.
After Alexander devoured Ynnead, he not only gained control over the Death Guard but also a certain degree of control over the humans who believed in him.
He could, to some extent, feel the thoughts in the hearts of his followers.
Reyna wanted to refute Yvraine's words about Doraemon being the Aeldari Death God, but she couldn't formulate a complete sentence in time.
"…What exactly is this?"
Guilliman made a strange gesture, pointing to Yvraine and asking.
Guilliman had already somewhat accepted that Alexander was previously the Human Death God.
But how, in just one night, had the Aeldari Death God also become Alexander?
Alexander was silent for a while, organizing his thoughts.
Then he slowly took out skulls of humans, Aeldari, Ogryn, and several other abhuman species from his four-dimensional pocket.
"First, look, this is an Imperium of Man skull."
"This is an Aeldari skull."
"Don't you think they look very similar?"
"…Huh?" Everyone in the room, except Reyna who hadn't quite grasped Alexander's meaning, let out a bewildered and uncontrollable gasp.