The Endurance, Astartes Personal Quarters.
Present Day.
<+>
“So, that’s roughly how it is.”
“Is that so?”
Mortarion succinctly explained the current situation to Hades.
Hades sat on the bed, silently recalling Mortarion's recent words in his mind.
In short, if Hades were to paraphrase in his own language, Mortarion's words would be—
Actually, I’m a Primarch, a very powerful human.
My biological father, the Emperor, found me.
He is an invincible galactic warlord and emperor, a human more formidable than me. He plans to provide me with an incredibly powerful Space Marine Legion and have me liberate the galaxy.
Both of us were rescued by him and are now aboard the spaceship he promised me.
You have also been transformed into a formidable Space Marine.
Don’t worry, once I obtain that super powerful Space Marine Legion, I certainly won’t forget you. Whatever you need, just let me know.
- - - - -
Uh... Instead of expecting Mortarion to give a simple introduction to the world view, he turned out to be more straightforward than imagined.
On the surface, Hades pretended to know nothing, but when Mortarion touched on key points, he began to act.
“Oh! Oh my God! So that's how it is! No wonder!”
These few short phrases were to be used in varying tones repeatedly.
Hades noted down the new vocabulary mentioned in Mortarion's recent speech.
He didn’t want to accidentally reveal his status as a transmigrator by slipping up with the words he knew.
It was best to only repeat the words Mortarion had used in the ensuing conversation.
Later, Hades planned to look up some information and pretend to learn more about the Empire’s vocabulary.
Mortarion sat quietly beside him, waiting for Hades to digest the information.
“By the way, because of the previous battle, your left brain and left eye.”
Mortarion pointed to the upper left side of his own face.
Hmm? Oh right, he seemed to have been pressed on the head with a scythe by Nacre, resulting in the modifications.
Instinctively, Hades reached to touch the left side of his own head.
A completely different metallic texture, distinct from his skin, felt under his fingertips.
!?
Hades' pupils dilated in shock.
He had no awareness that something was wrong here?!
Seeing Hades' astonishment, Mortarion waved his hand, making a gesture.
In less than a minute, the room door opened, and a servitor carrying a mirror approached.
Thick electric wires were exposed beneath the servitor’s skin, yet they appeared meticulously maintained.
The deep black wires were not tangled; instead, they exuded an organized beauty.
The servitor's moss-green uniform was impeccably tailored, with the large Death Guard insignia and the Roman numeral fourteen emblazoned on the back.
The male’s face bore no scars and was relatively handsome.
A series of numbers were printed on his cheek.
The servitor wore a perfect smile, holding the mirror with both hands, and entered quickly in an almost kneeling posture.
Although Hades was a transmigrator and previously knew about the existence of servitors in the Warhammer-like world,
seeing a real servitor left him somewhat moved.
Mortarion noticed the way Hades looked at the servitor.
He took the mirror from the servitor’s hands and waved for the servitor to leave.
“These are servitors. They brought me these things.”
“I’m not particularly fond of them either. They’re not truly human in the real sense.”
Mortarion handed the mirror to Hades.
He pushed back his chair and stood up.
“I’ll wait outside for you, Hades.”
“You go ahead and take a moment yourself. I’ll take you around the Endurance later.”
<+>
The sound of the door closing echoed.
Hades didn’t move.
Although the servitor’s appearance had momentarily shocked Hades, it was only a slight emotional fluctuation.
What concerned him more was that when the servitor had entered earlier, Hades instinctively contracted his black domain but discovered that his black domain had already extended below his skin!
Earlier, because Hades had just awakened in a clearly safe environment and had to deal with Mortarion’s conversation, he hadn’t paid attention to his own condition.
Now, being alone, Hades realized his current situation was particularly eerie.
Hades raised the mirror in his hand.
In the reflection, the scar running through his left face, the red-glowing cybernetic eye, and the metallic sheen of his left brain were especially prominent.
But Hades knew his black domain was supposed to insulate him from “mechanical” things.
For now, he couldn’t worry about whether his brain was mechanical.
Hades closed his eyes and began to sense his black domain carefully.
In the vast black space, a small pure black humanoid floated.
Hades tried to contract his black domain.
Unlike before, even though Hades’ black domain had contracted to an extent it hadn’t reached before, he could still easily manipulate it, even changing its shape and continuing to compress it inward.
When the black domain finally compressed to the size of a basketball, Hades could no longer compress it further.
So, he began to try expanding the black domain.
At first, Hades cautiously controlled the range of his black domain, fearing it would touch the mechanical half of his brain.
But as the black domain expanded, Hades was surprised to find that it couldn’t penetrate his skin?!
How is that possible???
Hades tried to forcibly expand his black domain again, but each time it reached his skin layer, it couldn’t expand further.
Hades thought for a moment and began trying to make his black domain touch the mechanical half of his brain.
Sure enough, the black domain seemed imprisoned, unable to touch the mechanical half of his brain, and could only operate in the region of his right half of the brain.
Hades fell silent.
If the black domain could only be beneath his skin now, does that mean he can use mechanical tools?
The good news is that he can use machinery now; the bad news is that his black domain can no longer expand as before.
However,
Although Hades was a pragmatist, up to this point, he had no clue about himself or his black domain.
Hades had no idea why he transmigrated or what the black domain was, or why these changes were happening.
He only knew that since he transmigrated, he had to find a way to survive.
Even if he didn’t understand what the black domain was, as long as it was useful, it didn’t matter.
Suddenly, Hades fell into deep self-doubt.
Could this be Chaos Gods’s conspiracy?
Wait, something feels off here. Did he forget something?
Hades shook his head, feeling like his brain wasn’t working properly after a nap.
Damn, could this really all be Chaos Gods’s plot?!