Alexander, of course, knew the purpose of the Tear plague.
The Tear plague, as a disease temporarily cultivated by Nurgle, served to impede Guilliman's progress.
It reluctantly withdrew its blessings when Guilliman appeared, and then returned with greater ferocity after Guilliman left, forcing Guilliman to rush about Ultramar, and at the same time, confront a choice: Ultramar or the entire Imperium of Man?
Should he protect his people and fulfill his duty as the Lord of Ultramar, or go to Terra and fulfill his duty as a Primarch of the Emperor's Children?
Ten thousand years ago, Guilliman chose Ultramar and ultimately failed to reach Terra to fulfill his duties.
Now, some malevolent gazes in the Warp eagerly awaited Guilliman to make this painful choice again.
But this plan was destined to fail.
Alexander had followed Guilliman through various Tear plague-ridden areas and had already identified the places where the Tear plague bacteria were most concentrated.
The reason he had waited until now was to wipe out all these Tear plague bacteria in one go, inflicting maximum damage on the Tear plague and the Nurgle daemons that was its embodiment.
Alexander, in the appearance of Doraemon, quickly wound the key on his back a few times and then swallowed a high-efficiency pill.
Under the gaze of the Ultramar Auxiliary Army, who seemed to be witnessing a legend, Alexander became a blur, flashing throughout the encampment, as if appearing simultaneously in every corner.
The lantern in his hand glowed with a faint, pale light.
That light instantly swept over every patient infected with the Tear plague, penetrating their skin, piercing through the inflamed and swollen skin and glands tormented by bacteria, and directly targeting the Tear plague bacteria within their bodies.
"Lamp for Eliminating Useless Bacteria," a free gift with the purchase of the "Unplanned Bacteria Manufacturing Machine," its effect is to eliminate any kind of bacteria.
In the instant the light swept over them, pale smoke rose from the patients' orifices, the putrid smell turned into a burnt odor, swelling and inflammation rapidly subsided, and their blinded eyes began to accept light again.
The patients opened their eyelids in surprise; they saw a blue figure standing before them, thinking it was the Primarch who had returned to heal them again.
But as their vision gradually cleared, they clearly saw a round, blue, red-nosed Blue Cat standing before them.
The warriors of the Ultramar Auxiliary Army stood frozen as if struck by lightning.
They had heard the name of the one before them, but the Ultramar Auxiliary Army always had Adeptus Ministorum chaplains accompanying them, and internally, they mostly worshipped the Emperor and Guilliman himself, always harboring some doubts about new phenomena like the Saint Doraemon Sect.
Even in private, some Ultramar Auxiliary Army members would speak of it with skepticism.
But when they were truly saved, the Ultramar Auxiliary Army felt as if they had been struck by lightning.
They were at a loss for words.
"Ah ah ah ah ah!!!!"
A piercing shriek suddenly echoed from the void, the veil of reality wavered, and intense sobbing continued without end.
It was as if some blasphemous entity had been scorched and was writhing in pain.
Nurgle daemons born from specific diseases are often closely related to the plague itself in reality.
The stronger the plague spreads, and the more agonizing the patients' suffering, the more powerful they become.
Conversely, when the disease is cured and the bacteria are killed, the daemon born from that disease in the Warp also weakens.
So many Tear plague bacteria being killed in an instant caused the Tear plague daemon in the Warp to weep profusely.
The warriors of the Ultramar Auxiliary Army were startled by this terrifying shriek.
"It's a daemon!"
Reyna's voice carried both anger and devotion:
"It is the blasphemous daemon of the plague God spreading the plague; it hides beneath the veil of reality, harming your bodies."
"But Doraemon has healed you, scorching that blasphemous daemon. Will you not praise its name?!"
"Hallowed be!!! Doraemon!!" The first prayer of an Ultramar Auxiliary Army warrior rang out.
A warrior healed by Alexander removed his helmet and knelt devoutly on the ground.
Soon, more and more auxiliary army warriors also knelt, bowing and praying to the round, blue figure.
"We praise you, Saint Doraemon, the trinity of Death, original power, and the eternal dragon!"
"Thank you, Doraemon, thank you for your salvation."
"Please save our souls!"
But Alexander paid little attention to these prayers; he simply nodded hastily to Reyna, then quickly darted into the anywhere door.
Besides Thalassa, there were many other places where he needed to clear the plague.
Alexander had to kill most of the Tear plague bacteria and severely injure the Tear plague daemon in one go before the bacteria could scatter.
The Tear plague daemon wept profusely in the Warp; the mites forming its massive eyes died in droves, leaving only seventy-seven empty eye sockets from which clean, bacteria-free tears flowed.
How naughty! That Blue Cat is so naughty! That Blue Cat must have been sent by Tzeentch!
How naughty these blue guys are! How naughty Tzeentch! Nurgle must severely beat Tzeentch!
Although newly born and with a mind not much stronger than a child's, the Tear plague daemon already knew about the conflict between Nurgle and Tzeentch. Seeing that the Blue Cat who killed its bacteria was blue, it naturally attributed all this to Tzeentch.
That blue Blue Cat, that Doraemon, was rapidly traversing the various planets of Ultramar, faster than the spread of its Black Death predecessor, faster than the lethality of its Ebola brother. It was so fast that the Tear plague had no time to spread its bacteria to escape before being illuminated by that awful lamp.
That lamp! That lamp is the worst!
Just one sweep of the light, and all its bacteria died, even the marks Nurgle had inscribed upon them could not resist.
This simply did not conform to the laws of the material universe! Nor did it conform to the laws of the Warp!
So many of its bacteria were killed at once, which directly severely wounded the body of the Tear plague daemon.
Even more harmful was that so many patients were cured, and these patients devoutly believed in Doraemon, beginning to think, "The Tear plague is nothing to fear; everything will be fine as long as Doraemon shines its light!"
These healed individuals thought the same thing; their thoughts converged, making the Tear plague daemon weaker and weaker.
Moreover, the Tear plague could not infect these healed individuals who believed in Doraemon again, further weakening the Tear plague daemon.
For its survival, it instinctively began to adjust the bacteria that gave birth to it.
To survive, it had to make the Tear plague more insidious, no longer causing so many symptoms as before, no longer having such strong toxicity.
Many Nurgle daemons born from specific diseases do the same thing.
Some reduce their toxicity because their population shrinks after killing too many hosts.
Some adjust themselves to become more insidious because drugs become more potent.
Some lighten symptoms to maintain transmission and prevent patients from seeking treatment.
Nurgle's broad hand gently cradled the Tear plague. Facing the Tear plague, which had weakened beyond recognition, he shook his head with a helpless and sad expression.
The Tear plague wailed, complaining to Nurgle about that naughty Blue Cat, saying that the naughty Blue Cat must have been instigated by Tzeentch, wanting Nurgle to quickly punish that naughty Blue Cat.
But Nurgle hesitated and shook his head.
Nurgle knew that the blue Blue Cat had nothing to do with Tzeentch; instead, it was a peer, possessing the talent for cultivating bacteria.
Those skilled in cultivation are often skilled in killing, just as Nurgle himself had once cultivated bacteriophages. The Tear plague being cleaned up so quickly by that Doraemon was not unexpected.
Nurgle placed the Tear plague in the swamp of the Garden, letting it soak to slowly recover, then showed a small, melancholic expression.
It wasn't because the Tear plague was defeated, and Mortarion's request to him had failed.
He himself didn't really want to stop Guilliman from seeing his father. What reason was there to stop a child from going to his father?
It was only because of Mortarion's plea that Nurgle created the Tear plague to bestow blessings upon Ultramar.
Moreover, if he wanted to continue to delay Guilliman, he could create many, many more types of diseases.
From parasites to fungi, from viruses to bacteria, all-encompassing.
Nurgle was just a little hesitant.
He felt that this was a contest between himself and Doraemon, a contest on the bacterial level. Was it not good for him to use diseases other than bacteria? Would it anger Doraemon and worsen their already tenuous relationship?
It would be like two artists deciding to duel with painting, but he instead produced a poem? A piano piece?
Must he disappoint little Mortarion's request?
Alas, if only he could talk to that Doraemon face to face.
If only he could invite him to his Garden.
Nurgle believed that people could understand each other and live together harmoniously like family.
But he always ignored him, which made him so sad.
Nurgle stirred his cauldron, cultivating more varieties.
"Why not ask his friends to introduce him?" A clear voice sounded in Nurgle's ear.
The voice was so pure it didn't sound like it came from Nurgle's Garden.
Oh, right!
Nurgle was delighted by Isha's suggestion.
An invitation from a stranger is always met with caution, but if there's an introduction from an acquaintance, that's another matter.
"Go quickly and find Mont and Marquite!"
*******
If everything perfect has its shadow, and every order must have its chaos, then Ilium is Macragge's shadow and chaos.
This city, built from rough stones and belonging to the barbarians of Macragge, is the most detached place from Macragge's political system.
Roboute Guilliman once bloodlessly subdued the barbarian chieftain who worshipped primitive beliefs there.
But the barbarians were originally a loose collection of tribes, and even their internal beliefs were diverse. The barbarian chieftain tamed by Roboute Guilliman was merely the commander of a tribal alliance.
Privately, those tribes still did not submit to Macragge's rule, and even after ten thousand years, their descendants still secretly worshipped those ancient gods.
This naturally included a large number of Chaos cultists, worshipping the Four Chaos Gods.
Alexander once asked Roboute Guilliman why he didn't destroy Ilium.
He originally thought Guilliman would answer something like, 'Everyone there is also his subject,' or 'Not everyone there is a Chaos cultist.'
But Guilliman replied, "When you find a toilet clogged, the best solution is never to blow up the toilet and let the waste spray out."
"As long as Ilium exists, it will continuously gather all the Chaos cultists of Macragge there. They will fight among themselves, consume each other, and maintain a balance. We only need to conduct periodic purges."
"To describe it with a saying I once saw in an ancient text from the Dragon States: 'Scattered, they are stars across the sky; gathered, they are a pile of shit.'"
Alexander was sincerely impressed by Guilliman's political wisdom.
Surrounding three and leaving one, creating a false escape route.
The followers of the Chaos Gods are like this: individually, each is extremely dangerous, but gathered together, their threat diminishes.
Because they will always choose to bite the followers of other Chaos Gods first.
"Pfft!"
A figure in a dark green robe rapidly rushed through the pipes of Ilium. He spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, his body covered in wounds.
The cage under his robe clanged, and a crow cawed inside.
"Sixth time, this is the sixth time..." Festus, in the dark green robe, said through gritted teeth.
Their church had received a divine oracle from the great Nurgle six days ago.
Nurgle's messenger was about to descend and required two carrion crows as hosts for the divine messenger.
So, in their devotion, they made six attempts. The first five attempts all encountered accidents.
Ultramarines' purge teams crashed into the ritual site, newly caught crows died of sunstroke, venomous snakes bit and killed the crows, the priest responsible for the ritual had his neck snapped by a hound halfway, and the crows in the cage inexplicably turned into two blue eagles.
They experienced six inexplicable failures like this.
And this time, the sixth time, Festus and his companions were entrusted with the mission of escorting the crows to the ritual site.
They still encountered many obstacles.
First, the Ultramar Auxiliary Army began searching, then they encountered two beautiful young women tempting them on the road, followed by a group of strong men frantically wanting to fight them to the death, and finally, a fortuneteller tried to trick him out of the crows he held.
There were also many followers of those Chaos Gods attempting to interfere. After enduring hardships and the sacrifice of his companions, he finally delivered the crows to the entrance of the ritual site.
Festus stumbled into the ritual site, raising the cage in his arms high. Two pitch-black crows were cawing inside.
"The host for the divine messenger has arrived!"
Festus shouted loudly:
"Sixth time, we finally succeeded!"
The other cultists in the ritual site cast excited gazes at him.
Festus grinned, blood flowing uncontrollably from his abdomen, his life force steadily draining away.
But it didn't matter, he already felt it, felt Nurgle's Garden calling.
The priest closest to Festus revealed a beautiful smile, gently caressing Festus' dying cheek, and took the crows in the cage from his hand.
"My Lord appreciates your devotion, may your soul and I return to His Garden."
"Oh, but not the plague God's Garden, but the Lady of Thirst's."
Purple light flickered in the priest's eyes. He grabbed the two crows from the cage and stuffed them into his pants.
Before Nurgle's followers could stop him, he had literally 'grass-fed' these two crows to death.
"Seventh time, let's begin the seventh attempt."
After cleaning up Festus and the body of the priest corrupted by the Lady of Thirst, the leader of Ilium's Great Nurgle Church said through gritted teeth.
Two crows, with maggots and decaying flesh crawling beneath their feathers, flapped their wings and took flight from Ilium's rough stone tower, heading towards Hera Fortress.
Ilium's Nurgle followers, after seven days and seven attempts, finally completed the ritual, transforming two crows.
These two crows became the hosts for two souls from Nurgle's Garden, allowing them to operate in the material universe.
Mont flapped his wings somewhat unaccustomed, finding the confinement of this material body a bit unbearable.
He hadn't returned to the material universe in a very, very long time.
His previous body… oh, it had dissolved in the biomass pool in the Ashford Bottom Nest.
Then, with the help of nurglings, his soul was able to return to Nurgle's Garden.
The reason for his return this time was to complete a mission given by Nurgle.
"Leman Russ, or rather, Alexander. That guy..."
Mont, flying in the air, slightly shook the crow's head:
"Do you hate him, brother?"
Mont asked his brother, Marquite, who was flying beside him.
"I am grateful to him."
Marquite opened the crow's beak and replied calmly:
"Only after my soul returned to Nurgle's Garden did I understand that Nurgle's love is not something everyone can bear."
"If we had succeeded back then, dragging all of Ashford into Nurgle's domain, most people would have only become zombies, fungal culture mediums, and parasite nests."
"Nurgle loves humanity very much, just as he loves every living creature. This love is equal and profound, but the people of Ashford cannot bear it."
"Although Alexander did not save everyone, he at least saved far more people than should have survived."
"That sounds like a questioning of Nurgle's faith, brother." Mont said, fluttering his wings a few times.
Marquite merely shook his head slightly: "Nurgle doesn't care. Nurgle simply loves us equally."
"As long as one can accept and bear this love, even vile souls like us can return to His Garden."
"I hope we can fulfill Nurgle's commission and repay this great love."
Listening to Marquite's words, Mont cawed twice.
"Don't worry, brother." Mont said, "Our mission is just to deliver a message to Alexander, it's too simple."
"Besides, we are just two small crows now, who can discover us?"
Listening to Mont's words, Marquite nodded slightly in approval.
Yes, they were just two small crows, who could possibly discover them?
But Marquite didn't notice that right behind them, about a meter away, a pair of eyes glowing with Psyker energy was watching them both.
Tigurius in the Ptolemy Library slightly withdrew his gaze. He sensed that two corrupted beings were approaching Hera Fortress.
What Tigurius found most amusing was that these two small Nurgle followers actually thought they wouldn't be discovered?
The moment they conceived the idea of going to Hera Fortress, Tigurius had already foreseen their existence.
Didn't they know that Macragge had him, Tigurius? Two Nurgle's Garden bumpkins, he really didn't know which remote demon world they came from.
What? Netherworld Star System Ashford?
Originally, Tigurius intended to directly strike down these two crows with a long-range Psyker lightning bolt.
But upon hearing them discuss Ashford, Leman Russ, and Alexander, he immediately realized that these two crows were coming for Lord Alexander.
This made Tigurius have to pay more attention.
He quickly injected his thoughts into his Psyker energy, projecting them into the mind of Mephiston, who was stationed at the Doraemon base, asking Mephiston to inform Alexander of this matter and let him make a judgment.
"Lord Tigurius! You're slacking off again! We're going to report you to Lord Guilliman!"
Two Harlequins, standing on their heads on a table and writing false histories, shouted at Tigurius.
These two were brought by Lord Alexander from the Black Library and sent to Tigurius.
It must be said that the Eldar, especially the Eldar Harlequins, truly had a knack for fabricating history. After they arrived, Tigurius' workload was significantly reduced.
This allowed him to free up time to observe the entire Macragge with his Psyker powers for leisure and relaxation.
It's just that these two Eldar Harlequins, their personalities were even worse than Cato Sicarius of the Second Company.
Sicarius was merely proud, these two Harlequins were annoying, always writing strange and extremely blasphemous things.
"What slacking off? Is monitoring the safety of the entire Macragge slacking off? Have you finished your work?"
Tigurius retorted sternly, then saw the almost completed fake historical archives in front of the two Harlequins.
"Finished so quickly? Let me see."
The Harlequin chuckled and handed the newly compiled historical archive to Tigurius.
Tigurius lowered his head and found that this archive was meant to fill in the history of the Ilium rebellion during the Second Imperium period.
The first chapter introduced how Ilium was recaptured by Roboute Guilliman, who had not yet returned to the Imperium.
"'Young Roboute Guilliman Tames the Chieftain of Ilium with His Firm Grooves'"
Tigurius instinctively read out the title of this passage, then his face suddenly darkened.
He threw the notebook at the Harlequin's face.
"If you dare to write such blasphemous nonsense again, I will use my Psyker powers to blow you all to kingdom come."
"Then I'll have Lord Alexander throw you back into the Black Library!"