Chapter 48: Even Space Marines Have Hearts
Two cars sped along the expressway in the dead of night.
One car belonged to the Shinomiya family's staff, and the other was Mei Mei's vehicle.
According to the pre-arranged plan, Hikigaya Hachiman and the others were heading to Mt. Suu to investigate the ancient tomb, exorcise the Curses, and retrieve the missing people.
"Hachiman, you've been keeping secrets."
Mei Mei teased Hikigaya Hachiman while driving.
"From the day I met you until today, I never knew you had a celebrity girlfriend."
"Seriously,"
Aoi Todo, sitting in the back, was also very interested in the gossip. He grabbed the back of the two front seats and leaned forward.
"If it weren't for today's encounter, I would've thought my brother here had no interest in women."
Hikigaya Hachiman simply replied coolly.
"Why would you have such a profound misunderstanding?"
"Because every time I asked you what kind of woman you like, you never answered me directly."
Aoi Todo typically asked everyone he met: What kind of woman do you like?
However, Aoi Todo only asked Hikigaya Hachiman a few times when they first met and then stopped, as Hachiman never gave him a straight answer.
"Not answering is what a normal person would do, wouldn't it?"
Hikigaya Hachiman rolled his eyes at the two suddenly excited people and looked out the window.
Regarding Misumi Uika just now, he could have avoided it, but there was no need to.
Hikigaya Hachiman was a very rational person and would not deceive himself; he could feel a residual thread of pleasure in his heart caused by her actions.
To clarify one point, during the time Hikigaya Hachiman came from, the 30k era, also known as the Horus Heresy, most Space Marines were still quite emotionally fulfilled.
The connection between different Legions was tight, and they would often visit each other. It was perfectly normal for them to converse with the mortal inhabitants stationed on their respective planets.
There were even cases of Space Marines falling in love with mortals.
For example, Hikigaya Hachiman's good friend, Argel Tal of the Word Bearers Legion, often wrote to him discussing his relationship with a blind blessed woman (a psyker). He mentioned feeling very relaxed with her, enjoying their conversation, and feeling that time passed quickly when they were together.
Hikigaya Hachiman, who was far more worldly than the average Space Marine, immediately transmitted a message to him, saying he was definitely in love.
At that time, the Word Bearers had just experienced the Ultramarines' annihilation of the Perfect City, so it was normal for Argel Tal to have such emotional needs.
Unfortunately, the Space Marines' mission often confined them to relationships similar to this Platonic love, mutually filling their emotional voids.
Sadly, contact with the Word Bearers was later cut off. When Hikigaya Hachiman next heard news of the Word Bearers,
They had fallen, become traitors to the Imperium, and even launched a devastating attack against the loyalist Ultramarines.
Space Marines were still human before they became Space Marines, and having emotions was perfectly understandable.
Under Sanguinius's tutelage, the Blood Angels, due to the severity of the Black Rage, generally kept their distance from mortals to avoid a relapse. The Blood Angels mostly spent time with their Legion brothers.
As long as he didn't actively look at "little bread" (mortals), the Black Rage was unlikely to occur. Hikigaya Hachiman naturally hadn't deliberately sought out contact with mortals either.
But it was different in this world. Hikigaya Hachiman was retired.
His body had not undergone the Space Marine surgeries, meaning his mind was intact and had not suffered from mental castration.
He was only bound by the self-imposed belief system, unable to simply take that step.
In reality, Hikigaya Hachiman might be far more greedy than he thought.
Constraint upon constraint; when released, it could only become uncontrollable.
As for whether the Imperium would further castrate the Space Marines' emotions after the Horus Heresy was quelled,
Hikigaya Hachiman believed it would.
Many Space Marine traitors turned against the Imperium simply because their Primarch rebelled, following impulsively.
This strongly indicated that Space Marines had a deep emotional connection to their Primarchs, following them until death.
The same would apply to Hikigaya Hachiman.
To say something heretical, if Sanguinius rebelled, the entire Blood Angels Legion would undoubtedly rebel.
This was a serious consequence caused by an overly abundant sense of humanity.
The Space Marine was a sharp sword in the Imperium's hand, but as a weapon, the Space Marine should not possess too many emotions.
Otherwise, they would be too easily exploited.
Hikigaya Hachiman estimated that the newly selected Space Marines after the Great Heresy would likely undergo more severe emotional castration, even becoming increasingly inhumane.
After all, the consequences of the Great Heresy were simply too severe.
Horus, the former Warmaster, led half the Primarchs in betrayal against the Imperium, setting the entire galaxy ablaze.
Having approached the mountain range of the mission destination, Hikigaya Hachiman stopped thinking and looked towards the deep mountain wilderness completely shrouded in darkness.
The distant suburbs of Tokyo actually had so many mountain ranges, all without streetlights, covered in dense, pitch-black trees.
The closer they got to the mission destination, the more Hikigaya Hachiman could see a black, malevolent Cursed Energy swirling completely around these deep mountains.
Upon seeing this Cursed Energy, Hikigaya Hachiman immediately wondered if the Grade 1 Sorcerer who entered the tomb alone with an ordinary search team was an idiot.
This level of Cursed Energy was clearly Special Grade. Was that something an ordinary Grade 1 Sorcerer could handle?
There was a complete lack of factual judgment. Why didn't he call for reinforcements from the Sorcerer Association?
There were differences even among Grade 1 Sorcerers. Mei Mei and Todo were both exceptionally skilled Grade 1 Sorcerers, and both had the ability to exorcise Special Grade Curses.
"This Cursed Energy is indeed not good."
Mei Mei slowed the car down. She rolled down the window, and a concentrated pale-blue Cursed Energy appeared on her body's surface.
"I came here for an on-site investigation last time, and it's far worse than before."
As Mei Mei unleashed her Cursed Technique, inauspicious "Caw, Caw, Caw" crow calls came from the mountains. A dozen jet-black crows darted out of the woods and slowly circled above Mei Mei's car.
The same Cursed Energy from Mei Mei quickly appeared on the bodies of these crows. After activating Black Bird Manipulation, Mei Mei could share their vision simultaneously.
Her ability was extremely suitable for reconnaissance.
After all, there was no obstruction in the sky, and the view was so vast.
The two cars had passed the initial blockade. Due to continuous heavy rain, the road was full of mud and fragments of rock from the mountain.
"Hachiman, tell the car in front to slow down, and immediately brake after the second sharp curve.
The road ahead is gone."
Mei Mei, sharing the crows' vision, saw that the road ahead had been severely washed away by a landslide.
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