MTLNOVEL Chapter 36: Chapter 36: The Eager Thief?
By standard time, it was already late at night.
But in the depths of the hive city, there was no real distinction between day and night.
Buried deep underground, save for some districts at the fringes of the hive or the wastelands, you'd never see the poisonous binary stars of Asford.
Here, day and night were more of a man-made concept to mark the workers' shifts.
Those heading toward the residential areas carried heavy exhaustion, seeking short reprieve from the day's labor. Those trudging back toward the factories had only just barely recovered from their previous shift and were already heading for the next.
Zhou Yun watched the streams of people flowing through the night, until one by one the lights of the residential districts extinguished, letting darkness reclaim all for a while.
Workers either entered factories to toil through the night or returned home to snatch some rest.
The hive streets briefly emptied.
Zhou Yun walked down the narrow streets toward home.
His gaze swept over the shadows of narrow alleys, where now and then wails could be heard, and here and there members of the Ark gang hurried past.
He even glimpsed members of other gangs from other districts intruding into his territory—
This short, dark night belonged to the gangs, who would spill blood in those dark alleys.
A little chaos, but still some order. That was the old tradition and unspoken rule among gangs.
Yet Zhou Yun noted the killings seemed less bloody and brutal than before. The cries in the alleys now ended after just a few moments.
Even the intruding gang members were snatched into alleys within the blink of an eye.
All the killing was being carried out with quiet efficiency.
For all her foolish wisdom, Rena's gang was undeniably effective.
While other gangs still clung to primitive and savage "wolf pack" culture, she had already wrapped hers around a religious faith.
Nothing unites people like religion—after all, it was religion that held the Imperium itself together.
"If Horus saw what things have become… what would he say?"
Zhou Yun muttered softly, remembering how the Warmaster had once accused the Emperor of pushing all humanity into the abyss of superstition and religion.
The Four Gods had shown Horus the future of the Imperium—completely true. Horus simply couldn't accept it. But the Gods had tricked him with nothing but the truth.
Because it was his rebellion that forced the Imperium to become what it is today.
"Good intentions… so many of the galaxy's darkest paths are paved with good intentions."
The winged figure in white light stirred slightly, repeating Zhou Yun's earlier words.
"I don't dare imagine how Guilliman must have despaired when he finally woke to see all this. But I still hope to bring just a little hope back into this galaxy."
The winged figure's form shimmered more clearly as his wings trembled.
"Go to Baal, my friend. Find my sons. Tell them you come at my request. Have them take you to my body—"
"Stop!" Zhou Yun cut him off with a wave, quickly rejecting the tempting suggestion.
"You yourself just said—many dark paths are paved with good intentions."
"Even if I could somehow resurrect you—and I can't right now—would it really be Sanguinius that came back? What if it was a corrupted version of you created by the Four Gods? They do have fragments of your soul."
"What if it's Horus returning through your body? Or some warp entity using your corpse as its host?"
Zhou Yun fired off a string of questions like bullets.
The winged figure fell silent for a moment.
"And besides, can you even trust your visions? Even if I go to Baal now, I can't actually resurrect you."
Zhou Yun shot a glance at the figure, voice calm.
More importantly, he didn't even have a way to get to Baal yet. Even if he found a way to stow away there, he'd just end up in the claws of the swarm.
First he needed to scrape together enough to afford a Dimensional Door here on Asford.
"…Maybe, probably, perhaps it's accurate," the winged figure muttered quietly.
"Your future is too tangled. It looks like three different destinies all woven together. I've even seen visions of you and the Emperor boarding the Vengeful Spirit… then I blink and see you and the Emperor boarding the Glory of Macragge."
"Maybe you're right. Maybe bringing me back has to wait for a more distant future."
Seeing the winged figure grow quiet, Zhou Yun didn't press further.
He turned a corner, passed through an arch of scrap metal, and walked toward home—
He saw light.
Blindingly bright light that almost seared his eyes.
It flared in front of his heavy iron door, molten metal dripping slowly from it.
"What the hell?!"
Zhou Yun's eyes widened.
He saw a small, hooded figure wielding a flame cutter, standing at the door to his home and slicing into the steel.
That was… his door.
Zhou Yun blinked, instantly recalling the "Eager Thief" that both Old One-Eye and Rena had mentioned—the little thief who used a flame cutter to break into homes and had never been caught.
"Damn it, stealing from me?!"
Zhou Yun's expression twisted as he silently pulled the superpower cap from his pocket and fit it over his head.
He focused on the little hooded figure, unleashing a hammer-blow of psychic force at the thief.
But the thief stopped cutting just before it hit, as if they'd already known it was coming, and bolted.
"Trying to run?"
Zhou Yun vanished into a blur, reappearing behind the thief.
"All evil must be brought to justice! This is a crime! Come on, turn yourself in!"
He reached for the thief's neck—
But the thief slipped away like a greased eel, vanishing from Zhou Yun's grasp.
All Zhou Yun caught was a glimpse of black eyes flecked with gold beneath the hood.
The Eager Thief darted forward, slipped under Zhou Yun's arm, and vanished into the darkness of the alleys. Zhou Yun blinked after them, but in a few seconds the thief had disappeared completely into the labyrinthine hive streets.
Zhou Yun looked down at his empty hand, then up at the direction the thief had fled.
He remembered Rena saying the Eager Thief seemed to have some kind of precognition…
"Damn it. Asford really has way too many prodigies."
"This isn't just some big shot running a side account, is it?"
(End of Chapter)
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