Regarding these next few chapters, many people are confused, saying there's no 'hammer flavor.' Let me clarify: the narrative style in the following chapters is written according to the style of Sandy Mitchell, a Black Library author for GW, which is a harmonious, everyday style designed to highlight the cold cruelty of the 40K universe. As for 'romance'... the official Horus Heresy trilogy, apart from battles, is all about romance.
At the Sisters of Battle's ship hangar, Li Feng and Fides stood together, watching Cawl's transport ship depart. Fides turned her head to look at Li Feng. This man carried too many secrets; even the Adeptus Mechanicus's Archmagos treated him with such deference.
"You, you have too many secrets... extremely high purity, and your strange weapons... the rosary beads also have records in the Imperial Cult... and your relationship with the Adeptus Mechanicus... who exactly are you?"
Watching the transport ship leave, Li Feng also turned around to face Fides. She had long lost the solemnity of their first meeting, instead giving off the impression of a petulant young girl.
Fides saw Li Feng put his finger to his lips, then said, word for word: "Secrets make a man more of a man..."
...Somewhere, the "Old Lion" was sleeping on a large rock... for some unknown reason, he suddenly began muttering in his sleep... "No... no secrets..."
...Inside the cruiser,
Li Feng followed behind Fides, who was leading him to his new living quarters. Although the investigation was over, Li Feng still needed to undergo a "14+7" isolation period, so he would have to live on this warship for the time being.
Along the way, Li Feng followed Fides, observing the Sisters of Battle's warship and their daily life. If there was a difference between this warship and the transport ship Li Feng was on before, it was that this warship was incredibly devout.
It could be said that the light from the candles here even outshone the ship's own lighting. Imperial Aquila emblems, holy symbols, and statues were solemnly placed everywhere visible. The interior colors of the ship, with black and red as the main tones, created a serious, solemn atmosphere, complemented by gold and white details.
Li Feng even discovered a huge pipe organ in the ship's main hall; if he didn't know this was a warship, he would have thought he had arrived at some grand European cathedral.
Soon, led by Fides, Li Feng arrived at a room. The furnishings of this room were no different from the previous ten-square-meter officer's suite.
"All your things have been placed here. For this period, you will stay here. The mess hall only serves breakfast and lunch; we don't eat dinner as we need to cultivate and train our minds. If you want to eat dinner, I suggest you get extra food and bring it back to your room for the evening."
Fides said this, then pulled a collar from behind her and placed it around Li Feng's neck. As the collar closed, a red light illuminated on it. Li Feng looked confused; was this some special play?
"You... what are you doing?"
"This is a tracking collar. Your movements will be recorded at all times. If you attempt to attack, escape, or forcibly remove this collar, I will remotely detonate the explosives inside, severing your head from your body."
Fides said this, a mischievous smile on her lips. She seemed to want this man to kneel at her feet, praying to the God-Emperor, praying that she wouldn't detonate the collar. But... Li Feng remained expressionless, as if he wasn't afraid of the collar exploding at all, even tugging at the collar with his hand... This tugging action nearly startled Fides, and she quickly grabbed Li Feng's dangerous hand.
"Are you crazy! What if it explodes!"
"Big Sister, this collar is too tight. It's uncomfortable around my neck, and breathing is a problem."
Hearing Li Feng's words, Fides began to adjust the collar for him, then said in the caring tone of an older sister looking after her younger brother:
"Come on, don't move, I'll help you adjust it..."
Feeling the touch of her somewhat rough, fair small hands on his neck, Li Feng observed this girl up close for the first time.
As a High Sister, she was very young, perhaps only around 20 years old. Her hands bore many calluses and scars, proof of her patrols and battles.
Her purple eyes sparkled like jewels, and the skin on her face naturally revealed a healthy pinkish-white hue. Although weathered, it was undeniable that she was beautiful.
Noticing that he was looking at her, Fides slightly raised her head to meet Li Feng's gaze, a faint blush beginning to spread across her earlobes... "How is it? More comfortable now?"
Feeling the tightness around his neck loosen considerably, Li Feng said, "Much better now."
Then, Fides released Li Feng, turned, and walked towards the door, saying:
"Rest here for a while. I'll call you for dinner soon."
With that, the door closed... Li Feng shrugged, then flopped onto the bed, looking at the necklace Cawl had given him around his neck... "I actually took Dora Cawl as a student... this world has truly gone mad..."
However, Li Feng had long wanted to test whether his stc template could be used. There should be an Adeptus Mechanicus workshop on this ship. He would go try it out, starting with some small things first... "What should I build first?"
...Outside the door,
Fides leaned against the door, breathing heavily... Her hand was on the chest of her power armour. Although she couldn't feel anything, she knew her heart was beating very fast.
"Emperor above... I... it seems..."
...Sisters of Battle Mess Hall,
Li Feng followed Fides, who was dressed in civilian clothes, to this place. Fides wore a black robe, with a holy Imperial Cult symbol hanging from her waist and a solid gold icon of the Emperor on her chest.
(What do Sisters of Battle wear daily? According to the official tabletop RPG 'Dark Heresy,' they wear black nun's robes, no different from ordinary Nuns. However, during physical training... it's sports bras... Hehehe~)
It must be said that Li Feng now felt his two eyes weren't enough... The entire mess hall contained only him as a man, and these girls were all young, in the prime of their youth. The oldest Court Official and Grand Nun were probably in their early thirties... While this situation would be wonderful for any man, Li Feng, knowing the reason behind it, couldn't be happy... because these girls... they would find it difficult to live past their prime. They were the Emperor's currency, the Emperor's daughters; their lives were destined the moment they entered the convent... to fight and die for the Emperor... Just as Li Feng was lamenting the tragic fate of these girls, something suddenly stepped heavily on his toes.
"Hey! Don't look elsewhere!"
Fides now looked angrily at Li Feng's wandering gaze. She knew very well why this man was looking around, so she was going to teach this man a good lesson about "male virtue"!
"You bad man! What do you mean by ogling my Sisters of Battle with such filthy eyes!"
Hearing Fides's words, Li Feng sighed meaningfully, then said:
"I just feel it's a pity..."
"A pity about what?"
"You are all in the prime of your lives, you should have been..."
Suddenly, a great force pushed on Li Feng's neck, and at the same time, another force quickly tripped his heel. Li Feng was directly thrown heavily to the floor at the restaurant entrance by Fides.
Li Feng's fall to the ground created a loud noise, causing all the surrounding Nuns to look over. At this moment, Li Feng also suddenly became furious, wanting to ask this "madwoman" what was wrong... "You brat! Are you questioning our loyalty!"
Fides looked down at him, grabbing Li Feng by the collar. Her eyes were filled with rage, and her beautiful face was twisted with anger... Li Feng's rage from the fall subsided, because he knew from Fides's tone and eyes that he had touched her absolute red line.
"I..."
"I will duel you... I will tear apart that dog's mouth of yours that dared to question our loyalty!"