Humans are truly a highly adaptable race.
When Alexander first transmigrated to a hive city, he thought he would cry like a sissy whose toes had been stepped on.
But the truth was, he quickly adapted to life in the hive city.
The Imperial Truth says that humanity has a manifest destiny to rule the galaxy, and perhaps there is indeed some truth to it; no matter how harsh the environment of a planet, humans can adapt, shaping different worlds and being shaped by different worlds.
Sometimes, Alexander would even miss the narrow, confined, sky-less hive city; those crowded streets really gave a strange sense of security, just like young children always like to hide in narrow, dark wardrobes.
Alexander also often missed the familiar people in the hive city.
Now, old Lager has returned to the Golden Throne, One-Eye is in Baal, responsible for selecting suitable Ashford refugees to join the Cadia 184th Regiment, and Reyna is training the unqualified Astra Militarum on Terra to run circles around the equator.
Oh, and those two Nurgle's Garden mongrels are now mixing with the nurglings in Nurgle's Garden; Alexander doesn't miss them much.
Besides them, there's Joan; although they didn't know each other for long, Alexander quite liked that child.
In fact, he really liked well-behaved and sensible children; perhaps his essence truly was that of a parenting robot.
Ever since he came to Terra and heard about a Saint among the Battle Sisters, Alexander suspected that the Saint was Joan.
She was a good child; she was almost burned alive by the Emperor in Ashford and had been in a state of sleep ever since.
At the time, Sanguinius believed Joan would be fine; Alexander entrusted her to the Battle Sisters during the Tyranids invasion, and he wondered how she was doing now.
"My Lord, this is the place," Ms. Mowan. Val stopped at the entrance of a small monastery and bowed to Alexander.
Alexander noticed that at the entrance of the small monastery, two Battle Sisters in Exemplar armor stood tall.
Each piece of this bulky Power Armor was a holy relic; the machine spirit within was wild and difficult to tame, and the burden brought by the armor itself was immense, only the most resolute Battle Sisters could master it.
Along the way, Alexander had noticed many Battle Sisters hidden in the shadows, guarding the surroundings.
This small monastery was also hidden in the deepest part of the Battle Sisters' Most Serene Abbey.
"We have been subjected to assassinations, attacks, and probes of unknown origin."
Ms. Mowan. Val sincerely explained:
"Many people do not wish for the Saint to exist, many are curious about the Saint's identity, and even within the Battle Sisters, some sisters cannot comprehend the sanctity of the Saint."
Alexander nodded in understanding.
The Adeptus Ministorum was bound to be displeased with the Battle Sisters' independent actions; the so-called Saint had not received recognition from the Adeptus Ministorum, and the faith in Saint Doraemon also made the Adeptus Ministorum feel a thorn in its side; the Adeptus Ministorum naturally did not want the Saint to exist.
Furthermore, as Guilliman had previously judged, Terra had long been infiltrated, and many bureaucrats might well be Alpha or Tzeentch followers; anything was possible for them.
As for probes, there were even more; even Tieron had sent spies to inquire about the so-called Saint.
The existence of these attacks might be one of the reasons Alexander was visiting the Saint, rather than the Saint visiting Alexander.
After all, the Saint might be attacked, but no one would be foolish enough to attack Alexander.
Alexander always controlled Nobita to accompany him, and the great power of Nobita was clear to anyone who knew about the war in front of the Lion's Gate.
Another reason Alexander visited here was...
"My Lord, the Saint's sleeping and waking times are completely random; I will go and ask if she is awake first."
Ms. Mowan. Val said with a hint of apology:
"I have prepared dorayaki in the antechamber of this small monastery; if the Saint is still asleep, you can—"
"There's no need for that; I'll just go in and see, and the dorayaki can be sent in directly." Alexander waved his hand and said.
Although he had just marveled at humanity's adaptability, Alexander truly couldn't adapt to the elaborate and complex etiquette and social occasions on Terra.
Seeing Alexander say this, Ms. Mowan. Val naturally bowed respectfully and opened the door of the small monastery for Alexander.
Alexander, controlling Nobita by his side, slowly walked into the monastery, while Ms. Mowan. Val guarded the doorway.
This small monastery was ancient and elegant, built entirely of gray stone, with numerous flowers and vines carved on the walls, and between these patterns were rows of kneeling Battle Sisters.
However, in the carvings, the face of the person the sisters were kneeling to had been smashed with a hammer, and many cursed words were carved onto his body.
On the way, Alexander had heard Ms. Mowan. Val talk about the history of this small monastery; it was originally the first church built by the Battle Sisters on Terra, dedicated to Vandire, the Pope of the Saint Church of Terra at the time.
Vandire was arguably the most abstract of all the High Lords of Terra; through a series of political struggles and assassinations, he simultaneously held the positions of Grand Master of the Administratum and Pope of the Saint Church, and even at one point controlled the Astra Telepathica, the Officio Assassinorum, and the Astra Militarum, becoming a de facto dictator.
To cultivate a force loyal solely to him, Vandire used a shield generator to fake the Emperor's miracles, deceiving the Battle Sisters who then called themselves "Daughters of the Emperor," and transformed the "Daughters of the Emperor" into "Emperor's Brides," using them as his private army.
But while Vandire was carrying out his abstract rule, he apparently forgot that on Terra, there were powerful forces above him.
The Imperial Fists, unable to tolerate it any longer, directly launched a 'purify the ruler' campaign against Vandire, besieging the Terra Ecclesiarchy Palace with the Black Templars, Soul Drinkers, and Fire Hawks Chapters.
However, at that time, the Emperor's Brides had expanded to over ten thousand, and the Ecclesiarchy Palace itself was impregnable, and the Astartes could not orbital bombard the Terra Imperial Palace.
Ultimately, the Custodes intervened, leading the leaders of the Emperor's Brides into the Throne Room to confront the Emperor, only then did they realize Vandire had deceived them.
Finally, the Battle Sisters personally killed Vandire, leaving him with the famous last words: "I'm too busy to die."
After that, all buildings, records, and carvings related to Vandire were destroyed by the Battle Sisters.
Only this small chapel, in the deepest part of the Battle Sisters' Most Serene Abbey, remained, to forever commemorate that period of shame and to curse Vandire's soul.
The existence of this small chapel was a secret within the Battle Sisters, and being at the core of the Battle Sisters' headquarters, its concealment and security were excellent.
Thus, the Battle Sisters placed the Saint within it.
"The Battle Sisters are the Emperor's Brides, so did Vandire cuckold the Emperor?" Alexander couldn't help but murmur.
If Ms. Mowan. Val were still standing beside Alexander now, she would probably be so frightened that she would cry out blasphemy.
However, there was no one else beside Alexander, only Nobita, whom he controlled and who was equivalent to his avatar.
Alexander's gaze looked towards the end of the small chapel, where a girl was kneeling devoutly before a statue of the Emperor.
From behind, the girl did not look very old, at most in her early teens, dressed in a magnificent silver-white robe, adorned with golden threads woven into lily patterns symbolizing purity, as well as roses, flames, and aquila, among other sacred patterns, appearing intricate yet refined.
But as Alexander approached a few steps, he noticed something was not quite right.
The girl's skin indeed did not look like that of a pampered Imperial noble; it clearly bore the roughness and yellowish tint left by the hive city environment.
But she did not have the faint burn scars that Joan had, which were traces left by the Emperor's Psyker power infused into Joan's body.
Mortal flesh could not withstand the Emperor's Psyker power; even a tiny bit would cause irreparable damage.
The girl in front of him was clearly not Joan, which made Alexander slightly stunned.
Life is the Emperor's currency; the Emperor is a beast.
But in the use of currency, especially the more precious ones, the Emperor would not waste.
Especially a vessel capable of bearing the Emperor's power, it was definitely a rare commodity; the Emperor was unlikely to switch to another without fully using the current one.
That's why Alexander had always suspected that the Saint was Joan.
But now, did the Emperor fucking burn Joan to death?!
Just then, the girl kneeling before the Emperor's statue slightly raised her head; she seemed to have heard Alexander's footsteps.
The girl hastily stood up, turned around, and gave Alexander an awkward aquila salute.
Alexander looked at her face.
Although their ages were similar, she was indeed not Joan.
However, her face did resemble the common appearance in the Ashford hive city, and Alexander found her a little familiar.
"Lord Leman Russ." The girl said, bowing her head with nervousness and reverence.
Alexander was stunned; only Ashford people would call him by that name he had made up.
Then Alexander vaguely found the girl's face in his memory.
It was on the eve of the Tyranids hive Fleet's arrival in Ashford; he had met this girl on the street.
At that time, the girl was setting up a stall to tell emperor tarot, but because she always drew the same two cards, she didn't have much business.
Alexander, out of kindness, patronized her business... Oh, the two cards drawn at that time seemed to be "Shattered World" and "Prairie Rider."
At the time, Alexander thought "Shattered World" foretold the coming of a great crisis, and "Prairie Rider" foretold that salvation was coming.
But considering that Alexander really did meet Jaghatai Khan in the Webway later... this girl's divination accuracy was a bit too high.
Now she looked no different from when she was in Ashford, except that she was no longer as thin as before; she had a little fat under her skin.
"Are you the Saint?" Alexander frowned; she indeed had some Psyker power, but the Saint was a bit too...
"No, no, my Lord." The girl frantically waved her hand: "I am Ereite; I am just Joan's stand-in."
Joan's stand-in?
No wonder... this girl was an Ashford native, her accent, build, and age were similar to Joan's, and she could also perform some divination through the emperor tarot; she was indeed a good stand-in.
But... "This is a dangerous job." Alexander said to Ereite, who was acting as Joan's stand-in.
"It's fine! The sisters protect us very well; no one has ever entered this small monastery except for Ms. Mowan. Val's incident."
Ereite said sincerely, her voice dry and hoarse, clearly a sequela of long-term residence in the hive city:
"Although Ms. Mowan. Val broke into the monastery that time, she quickly understood the Saint's sanctity after seeing her."
"And there's always enough food here."
It might not be that they couldn't get in; perhaps they did, but no one noticed, Alexander thought to himself.
After all, there were many things and beings on Terra that the Battle Sisters couldn't handle.
But these words were useless to this child; they would only instill fear in her.
So Alexander merely nodded slightly: "If there's danger, remember to pray to me."
He had already been able to hear prayers to him within a certain range when he was on Macragge.
As long as the prayer was emotionally strong enough, it could reach his ears.
"Remember to include your name and address." Alexander thought for a moment and then cautioned.
That way, Alexander would know who was praying and could respond promptly with the anywhere door.
Ereite bowed gratefully.
"How is Joan?" Alexander inquired.
"Lady Joan has been asleep all day today and hasn't woken up." Ereite replied truthfully.
"It's alright, just take me to her."