Horatio lay on the surgical altar, his limbs restrained by fixed iron pieces, and the dazzling surgical light made his eyes slightly uncomfortable.
"Mr. Horatio Cochrane, before the surgery, could you answer a question for me?"
Horatio's gaze turned to the Goddess Priest, his vision a bit blurry under the strong light, gradually unable to clearly see the Goddess Priest's facial expression, only her prosthetics and tendrils behind her writhing menacingly, like the snakes on Medusa's head.
"Please ask, Father Lati."
"Where did your bionic arm come from?"
"A ruined Saint's hermitage, in the Lower Hive."
"Interesting." The woman caressed Horatio's iron hand, intertwining her fingers with his.
Though Horatio felt a bit awkward, he didn't know much about the Adeptus Mechanicus and didn't want to offend the Tech-Priest who were about to operate on him, so he said nothing.
"I feel the surging and powerful energy contained within it, its machine soul is captivating, its structure is fascinating, its strength is astounding... Ah~ what a wonderful and intimate feeling."
[Hmm?]
The Goddess Priest grew more excited as she spoke, and hot air began to escape her mouth.
[?]
As her fingertips moved across Horatio's iron arm, her body couldn't help but tremble, and her red, moist lips parted, letting out a strangely enchanting moan.
Horatio vaguely saw what looked like hearts in Lati's natural pupil?
[Am I being targeted by a tech-obsessed woman...?] Horatio's expression became difficult to read.
"It's just a pity that it seems to only recognize your control over it now." The Goddess Priest sighed regretfully, her gaze returning to its previous gentleness, but with a faint, almost imperceptible chill within it.
Horatio's peripheral vision caught a slender tendril disconnecting from the tendril extended from his iron hand, quickly retracting into the sleeve of her holy vestments, and the woman's tongue licked her lips, still wanting more.
"You just released the source circuit?" Horatio asked.
No wonder, he had just felt a refreshing cold current infuse him, making him feel completely invigorated.
"You even know these things, Sir, your knowledge of the Adeptus Mechanicus truly surprises me. I won't ask how you know, after all, each of us has secrets.
But...
As a warning for your safety, I advise you not to let other Tech-Priest touch your treasure."
The Goddess Priest walked behind Horatio's head and leaned down, her chest, even larger than that of the Medical Sister, covered by fragrant holy vestments, hung before Horatio's eyes.
"After all, not everyone is like me, possessing extensive knowledge and good self-restraint, hehe." Her voice was very alluring when she said this, making Horatio's heart tingle.
Her iron hand gently touched Horatio's forehead; despite being an iron hand, he felt the touch of delicate skin.
Horatio rolled his eyes to look, and it turned out to be covered with perfectly simulated artificial super skin.
This was a high-grade bionic skin that was fire-resistant, cold-resistant, and corrosion-resistant. The Servitor next to him also used the same type, smooth, delicate, and lifelike.
"You are a valuable individual worthy of continuous study. I will arrange the best enhancement surgery for you, far better than anyone else's, to help you survive in the future, and also for my new research project."
"So, I've become your research subject, Madam?"
Horatio wasn't afraid that she would do anything bad; those who served the Loyalist Academy had undergone strict background checks and loyalty screenings, especially these mystical Tech-Priest.
However, being treated as a research subject was still somewhat unsettling.
"You can rest assured, I swear by the machine god, this will be beneficial to us and harmless. The surgery officially begins. I wish you pleasant dreams."
—
Horatio opened his eyes in darkness, opening them wider and wider.
"This is... Holy Terra?"
He saw a tall, robust man leading a group of equally tall, golden-armored Soldiers advancing across a desolate surface scorched by war like a wasteland.
Then, the war disappeared.
The tall, golden-armored man was still alive after charging into battle; his appearance had not aged, but instead became more mature and resolute.
[The Emperor?] Horatio recognized this great man.
He stood on a shattered altar, his left hand a massive Golden Claw, his right hand holding a sharp sword radiating an orange-red glow.
Beside him stood tens of thousands of warriors in various colors of thick ceramite armor, and magnificent, solemn Legion banners fluttered in the wind.
Countless colossal warships appeared outside the atmosphere, and the heavily armored warriors cheered, "Long live the Emperor! Long live the Great Crusade!"
Horatio had never seen such a magnificent scene; the spectacle was so grand that even Horatio, who was deeply confused, was moved by the impassioned shouts, invigorated, and his eyes gleamed.
Suddenly, amidst the crimson and firelight, another tall man stood out, also with a massive claw for a hand, but his entire body was covered in unholy marks of defilement.
"I never thought of betrayal, I never thought of having my Legion attack."
"We once together drove out the ignorant age of Old Night... but you betrayed me, betrayed all of us."
"You stole the power of the Chaos Gods / The Four Gods and lied to your sons. Humanity has only one chance for revival!"
"If you can't seize it... then let me complete it!"
Immediately, these warriors in various colored armors began to slaughter each other, and the world was drenched in the orange-yellow of fire and the crimson of blood.
"From the skies of Terra! To the edge of the galaxy! Let the star sea boil! Let the stars fall! Even if I shed my last drop of blood! I will see the galaxy liberated again!"
"If I cannot save it from your failure, Father... then let the galaxy burn..."
[Horus... No, to be precise, this is a body controlled by the Chaos Gods / The Four Gods, the real Horus is already dead.]
Horatio frowned; as a transmigrator, he knew this was a famous scene from the Horus Heresy.
The scene abruptly ended there, and Horatio saw a man sitting on the Golden Throne, covered in tubes, like a mummy, and an atmosphere of immense sorrow permeated the air.
Even through the vision, he could feel an extraordinarily powerful psychic force enveloping him, dispelling the gloom in his heart.
A sudden sense of awe instantly filled his heart, and the powerful pressure made his knees buckle, causing him to involuntarily kneel down.
This was the first time this body had knelt in its life, and it was kneeling before something he didn't even know how to describe.
He was the 'God-Emperor,' the sun of the Imperium, the ruler of mankind.
"The path ahead, you humans must walk it yourselves, Dark Son."
"What?" Horatio looked up in astonishment.
He seemed to have heard a term like 'Dark Son' just now; he remembered this appearing when he first activated the bionic arm.
But he wasn't sure if it was speaking to him, or even if it was spoken by that terrifying mummy.
The mummy in front of him grew more distant until it disappeared.
Horatio returned to his familiar dark vision.
'+ Confirmation: Dark Son +'
'+ Status: Activated +'
'+ Energy: 7 / 7 +'
'+ Psychic Power: 7 / 7 +'
'+ Corruption: 0 / 7 +'
'+ Soulfire: 10 / 40 +'
[All attribute caps increased by one point? And it seems that killing monsters like lesser Chaos Spawn adds more Soulfire.]
Horatio analyzed rationally, was this the legendary blessing of the Old Emperor? Or... was that Machine Priest fiddling with something?
Suddenly, the scene unfolded again before his eyes.
The rays of lasers, the fury of Macro cannons, the gleam of lances; the galaxy was burning, the universe was torn apart.
On the ground, a colossal battle erupted, with rivers of blood. Space Marines launched suicidal assaults, and ordinary Soldiers became walls of flesh, blocking the advance of the Chaos Gods' war machines amidst roars and shouts.
Rockets and shells rained down on each other, the earth trembled, and people screamed.
Above the void, countless colossal warships of both sides intertwined. High-speed collisions tore apart vessels, and massive plasma explosions dragged several small ships into the Warp, creating 'suns' one after another in the cold void with their fiery explosions.
Finally, Horatio saw the formidable, sinisterly grinning figure of Warmaster Abaddon, and the terrifying claw swinging towards him.
[The hymn of humanity is the hymn of courage and sacrifice.]
"Please rise, Childer of Loyalty." The gentle and pleasant voice of Machine Priest Lati softly called out in Horatio's ear.
Horatio blinked dazedly, once again seeing the dazzling surgical light above his head.
A phantom dream; these memories should have come from himself, not the original body.
But in the end, what was it foretelling? Future danger? His death? Or an unpredictable fate?
His soul coming to this world must have its mission, but who was truly orchestrating all of this?
Was it the will of the Emperor? The conspiracy of the Chaos Gods / The Four Gods? Or the manipulation of other deities?
Horatio felt a chilling realization, yet it was hard to articulate.