In Warhammer, please don’t mix Doraemon with the Omnissiah.

Old Man-Dokugan left the back room of the bar, leaving only Zhou Yun and the sleeping Rag on the bed.

Zhou Yun glanced at the snoring Rag but didn't rush into action; instead, he took the time to observe the room.

This was clearly where Old Man-Dokugan lived, and it bore many of his personal touches.

The room was clean and tidy. The dishes were washed and stacked neatly in the recycled water sink. The few articles of clothing were folded crisply in the wardrobe. The bed was made perfectly.

It gave Zhou Yun the impression of someone trained in discipline, almost hard to believe anyone in the underhive would waste time keeping their place this neat.

He turned his gaze to the lone table in the room, where a data-slate rested, cables running from its back into the wall, connected to who-knows-what.

Zhou Yun walked over, stretched out his hand, and turned the data-slate on.

A password prompt popped up immediately.

A tidy room, traces of professional training, and a password-locked data-slate…

Old Man-Dokugan had quite the secrets.

Zhou Yun rubbed his chin.

If it weren't for the fact that the old man's remaining eye was black, and not the violet of a Cadian, Zhou Yun might even have suspected he was a Cadian Shock Trooper stationed in the local star system.

He set down the data-slate and looked back at Rag, sleeping on the bed.

"What do you think, is that Ark Gang's kyōshu (head priest) an ihō reisen-sha (illegal psyker) or a Kijin Chikuseisha (Genestealer)?" the white-winged figure in the light asked.

Zhou Yun lowered his head slightly.

"The way they operate really feels like a Kijin Chikuseisha… but they actually sent Rag to invite me to meet their kyōshu…

Aren't they worried I might just run away? It doesn't make sense. I can't figure it out."

He took out the Body Clay from the fourth-dimensional pocket and set it on the floor.

"So I plan to go see for myself."

Even if he did end up running to the underhive, he'd at least confirm whether the Ark Gang was really just a front for the Kijin Chikuseisha.

And if there was an opportunity, killing the kyōshu suspected of being a Kijin Chikuseisha would be ideal.

With that thought, Zhou Yun removed the clay from its one-meter-wide jar and started shaping it onto his face, his fingers working fast.

Before long, he'd sculpted the gray, ugly face of Rag.

He spread some clay over his skin as well to make it look just as wrinkled, and finally stripped the linen robe from Rag's body and draped it over himself.

In the blink of an eye, Zhou Yun looked exactly like Rag—only slightly taller.

But…

"Cough, cough…" Zhou Yun cleared his throat.

His voice was still far too different from Rag's low, greasy tone.

Thankfully, Zhou Yun remembered another tool that could help him mimic someone's voice.

He opened the Future Department Store interface in the fourth-dimensional pocket.

[Item Name: Koe Candy Maker (Voice Candy Machine)]

[Origin: 22nd Century Earth – Future Department Store]

[Production Date: 257.M2]

[Function: A machine with a microphone. Record a person's voice, and it stores the voice print, producing a voice candy. Whoever eats it will have the exact same voice for thirty minutes.]

[Price: 50,000]

It wasn't a powerful tool, just voice mimicry, but at fifty thousand it was much cheaper than the Body Clay.

But paired with the Body Clay, Zhou Yun could look and sound exactly like someone for thirty minutes. Very practical.

He bought the Koe Candy Maker, held it up to Rag's mouth as he muttered in his sleep.

"Amasake… strong… a solid nine out of ten strength…"

The machine recorded Rag's sleepy mumbling, and a moment later a pale-gold candy popped out into Zhou Yun's hand.

He didn't eat it right away. Instead, he slipped it into his robe's inner pocket—he'd wait until he arrived at the Ark Gang's base to take it.

Then Zhou Yun retrieved the Pocket Tornado from the fourth-dimensional pocket and hung it inside his robe.

Once everything was ready, he pushed open the back door of the bar and stepped into the hive streets.

Minutes later, Old Man-Dokugan pushed the door open and entered the room.

He saw that Zhou Yun was gone and Rag was still sound asleep.

The sleeping drug he'd fed Rag was something he'd acquired from two cultists in the underhive—potent stuff. A normal man would sleep at least an entire afternoon after ingesting it.

Even so, Old Man-Dokugan squatted down to confirm that Rag was indeed knocked out.

"You old bastard…" he muttered, shaking his head before walking over to the table.

He noticed the data-slate had been touched—Zhou Yun had clearly looked at it.

But Old Man-Dokugan wasn't worried.

He wouldn't have left Zhou Yun alone in the room if he feared his secret being discovered. The device was heavily encrypted and contained no sensitive data.

Its sole purpose was to let Old Man-Dokugan communicate with the spire above.

If Zhou Yun didn't know the password or the proper countersigns, it was nothing more than a glowing brick.

Old Man-Dokugan entered the password and opened the comm interface.

He sent a message to the spire—the very top of the hive city.

"Password," came a dry, cold voice from the slate.

"Mushi (Swarm), Tenshi (Angel), Kyōdai (Brother), Sōsei (Binary Stars)," Old Man-Dokugan replied in crisp High Gothic syllables.

Such ancient and solemn words couldn't even be pronounced properly without training.

"…Kijin (Mutant), Kishō (Parasite), Shukumei (Fate), and Sōtoku (Governor)."

There was a moment of silence on the other end.

Then the cold voice asked again: "How many arms does the merciful Emperor have by birth?"

"The merciful Emperor has two eyes, two ears, two arms, and two legs," Old Man-Dokugan answered.

"And where is our only salvation?"

"Only in death, dying for the Emperor, and the soul returning to the Golden Throne," Old Man-Dokugan said.

"Recite the first two lines of the Seikiroku (Lectitio Divinitatus), and swear to the Emperor you are pure and untainted."

Old Man-Dokugan bowed his head piously, unfazed by the long ritual.

He understood why the one he served was so paranoid.

Softly, he recited:

"Rejoice, for I bring you glorious tidings."

"God walks among us."

Then he added, "I swear to the Emperor, I remain pure, untainted by genetic corruption, a true human."

The voice on the other end said no more.

Old Man-Dokugan quietly added:

"I did not find Ignace Karkasy's notebook."

(End of Chapter)

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