Chapter 390 Iron Altar

“Although I am ugly and covered with gloom, I still try my best to pretend to be gentle. I love pain, but I don’t love the pain that penetrates my heart. Because I don’t really want to suffer all these things, but only love this kind of torture that I hear about.

“This is my life, but can it be a life? Your love covers me, but I indulge in sin! My Lord, I once stepped into the path of betraying you. How can your punishment compare with my sin? "——"The Book of Lorgar"

After Lorgar Aurelion agreed to Perturabo's request, he found that the surface of the exquisitely crafted hammer with unsolved runes carved on it, located in the middle of the four circular seats, was quietly surging with waves of an unreal universe. Energy was roaming and weaving in the engraved circuits, invisibly lingering between the narrow gap between the surface of the hammer and the air, and gathered into a nearly glowing sacred light on the hammer handle.

He curiously observed this strange power emitting golden light, and felt that the ripples of his thoughts seemed to be faintly touched. Unlike When reading the scriptures, he felt as clear and bright as if he was enlightened by the mind. The flow of psychic energy was more substantial and perceptible. His hand unconsciously touched his chest, and he opened his heart to the power emanating from this place with trust.

"It seems that I don't need to advise the respected Emperor's son to stop resisting the psychic field here," Morse said with surprise in his words.

His eyes seemed to casually sweep over the war blacksmith sitting next to him, and then continued: "Before I start, I want to tell you the cause of this matter.

"I am not a person who likes to expose other people's secrets, but in the process of reading memories, it is inevitable that some particularly profound fragments of the person's mind will first emerge on the outer layer of consciousness and attract the reader's attention. Therefore, I accidentally obtained such a scene."

He stretched out his hand, spread his palm upwards, and pointed his fingertips at the holy hammer in the center of the platform.

"Maybe you will feel familiar with it." Morse said with a smile, and Perturabo reluctantly turned his eyes away.

Behind the iron chair of the Iron Lord, a folded servo-mechanical arm stretched outward and circled to the front.

Perturabo tapped the data board: "Sit down, we will go to that scene next."

He nodded to Dantioch: "You come too, Barabas."

"Yes, father." The war blacksmith's hoarse voice was a little uneasy, and he sat down with his hands on his legs in a proper manner.

Perhaps Barabas Dantioch was trying his best to recall how many things he had done in his two thousand years of life that were worthy of the attention of the Father of Genes; or perhaps with his thinking ability, he had already come up with the answer.

Lorgar closed his eyes.

For a short time, he seemed to be falling backwards on his back, falling rapidly under the pull of gravity, while his mind was freed from the constraints of gravity and floated freely until it intertwined with a more stable and magnificent ascending world, and merged into a stronger and extremely vital soul space.

He smelled the smell of steel, cold and merciless, mixed with a faint smell of rust, and the fragrance of various oils stored in fuel tanks and soaked in mechanical joints.

And rain. A heavy and humid atmosphere enveloped the world, gray clouds gathered in the sky, and the damp and cold air seemed to be able to squeeze out the water vapor that soaked clothes. The perception of the world was restricted by the rain clouds between the dense invisible curtains, shrinking everything to a limited distance, making people look more at themselves, rather than paying attention to the chaos outside.

This intertwined feeling was extremely rare in his life. Lorgar Aurelion immediately confirmed the location of this place, and the touch of enlightenment in his heart once again touched his cheek.

He opened his eyes and found himself standing in the center of an empty square.

The ground of the circular square was smoothly spliced ​​by multiple pieces of steel, with a radius of about 200 meters. The area near the edge was framed by a circle of yellow and black stripes, and the outer edge was divided into the shape of gears.

Under the gears, the machinery hummed low and eternally. Countless silver-gray steps cut into geometric shapes floated slightly, without direct fixation between each other. They were stabilized in the center of the gray sky by anti-gravity technology, forming a long set of heavenly stairs, extending upward from the ground hundreds of meters below, spirally connected to the top floor. Decorative columns were distributed at intervals on the edge of the wide steps, hiding deadly mechanical spears and artillery arrays.

In the center of the square, stood a towering steel giant.

The main body of the giant was cast in steel, and some of the patterns were inlaid with other precious metals as ornaments. The long hair made of steel cables was decorated with a yellow and black interwoven crown. A sky eagle was embedded in the center of the crown. The huge hammer was easily held in the palm of the giant, and the surface imitated the arc of electric light with silk-like iron wires, as if it only needed to lightly lift it to the sky to trigger a thousand-foot thunder.

Next to the colossus, two smaller statues of prophets stand on the left and right. The carved old men have solemn expressions and cannot be profaned. They seem to be serving the colossus in the center, or admonishing and instructing the people who come to worship.

In front of this group of statues, there are offerings from pilgrims recently, such as individual anti-side armor mines, the latest model of servo manipulators, a light unmanned platform with a Kevlar fiber shell, and a shortwave radio with an external antenna. These metal objects are neatly piled at the feet of the colossus.

"Steel Altar." Luojia admired sincerely, his eyes flashing brightly, and his whole person seemed to be given new vitality.

He turned around and saw his brother beside him. In his opinion, Perturabo himself was a hundred times more perfect than the steel colossus.

"The planet number here is WB-004. I arrived here during my cruise shortly after returning to the Great Crusade and saw your statue and the chosen one you preached for, Perturabo."

Dantioch's armor moved, then became dull and still, as if he didn't dare to make a sound.

Lorgar opened his right arm and walked towards the edge of the Gear Square. It took him dozens of seconds to cross the distance of more than 200 meters, walking lightly.

"When I arrived here, I almost misunderstood His will at first. I mistakenly thought that this place was a heretical sect. It was like misinterpreting the nature of the God of Machines and refusing to fully acknowledge the Machine Kingdom, which was also one of His aspects. But what they said was The Gothic language spoken slowed my movements, while their descriptions of the Holy Emperor of Terra sent eager hints to me.

"So, I followed them to this steel altar to witness the core of their faith - the god of steel and craftsmen, the evangelist of the God Emperor's Great Crusade."

Perturabo's face was tense and the corners of his mouth were straightened. He followed Lorgar and walked towards the edge of the gears of the platform. The whole world was slowly emerging at the edge of his vision.

Arrays of countless aircraft and sensors hover over the Iron Jungle City below, while signal cables extend outward from the middle and lower floors of the Iron Altar like spider webs. The layout of the complex is themed around the number four, with extensive metal building shells drawing symbolic drawings on the ground.

Everything glowed with a clean iron-grey luster, reflecting a subtle light in the dark clouds.

Luojia continued to speak nostalgically.

"I'm glad I didn't make a big mistake, my brother. The first moment I saw this icon, I recognized you. Your hammer, your form, your signature colors. You exist in Before you were born, your will inspired the entire WB-004 world.

"To this day, I still recall that distant day. I was honored to witness your Iron Holy City, Perturabo, back then. If it hadn't been for the existence of this planet, I wouldn't have been able to walk as well as I did on my path. As determined as I am today.”

Lorgar humbly turned around a few steps away from the edge of the gear and nodded slightly to Perturabo. Behind the man who holds the truth, the entire city, built on faith in steel and craftsmanship, is like a firefly in the void, glowing with a silvery gray light.

Perturabo's masseter muscle twitched. From behind, Morse and the war blacksmith slowly approached them. Dantioch rarely feared anything, but Morse believed there must be a reason why the Warsmith was acting more slowly than usual.

"Have you never thought about why this city... believed in me before I was born?" the Lord of Iron asked in a deep voice.

Lorgar smiled confidently and spoke, as if he was facing a test: "The Iron Church has been passed down for more than a thousand years, which makes me realize so clearly that His eternal wisdom will always be there before and after. Before there was a world, , He retains mercy for thousands of people.”

He paused and held out his hand to Perturabo. The wind in the rain ruffled his white robe.

"He chose you because you are on the same path as me, right? You are the only one who truly understands me, my dear brother?"