48: Chapter 48 Child, child, why are you so bad?

The Adeptus Mechanicus Archmagos's starship had already approached the "Cheng Tianxiao" star system.

The security crackdown on Cheng Yu Planet had reached its most severe level.

Those foreign spies who were usually tolerated were now either being temporarily detained or being swarmed by a group of clones who beat them senseless with rubber batons.

The Emperor had issued a decree: they must not be allowed to disrupt the Archmagos's visit plan!

Sophia, who usually loved to wander around, was also terrified. She had wanted to go to that tea stall for intelligence trading today, only to find it sealed off.

The clone city guards were all equipped with special riot helmets and simple armor; they didn't ask any questions of suspicious individuals, just hit them straight on the head.

Several intelligence peddlers had already been beaten to death... but not that stuttering clone from yesterday; that guy walked with a cane.

"Who are you, and what are you doing?"

A riot-control clone pointed his rubber baton at Sophia and asked. These clones were going crazy; they didn't even fear people dressed as nobles anymore.

"I'm here to buy things," Sophia replied.

"Buy what you need and go home. Don't wander around here."

"Alright."

...

In the upper levels of the "Yucai" Hive City, at Thirteen Offices' secret interrogation facility.

"Master... you taught me too well. The Empire doesn't need you anymore."

Overachiever Cheng Yu smiled at Seraphie, then pushed her head into a bucket of ice.

"Speak! What were you wandering around the lower hive for? What were you trying to spy on?!"

When Seraphie was running around the bottom of the Hive City earlier, she had already gotten very close to the underground laboratory that had conquered the "Tyranids / Tyranid Breeding Subject."

The Cheng Yu Empire had finally managed to research some technology on its own, and now it was being probed so closely by foreign spies.

If she had really managed to spy on it, even if she had only seen a single blueprint, Overachiever Cheng Yu would have lost his life.

"Ptooey!" As soon as Seraphie lifted her head, she spat in Overachiever Cheng Yu's face. "If our positions were reversed, I would pull your intestines out and stuff them into your mouth. Traitor, your methods are as weak as a sissy's!"

"Damn you!" Overachiever Cheng Yu was so angry he laughed. "You want to die, huh? I won't let you!"

"Watch your measure. This person is connected to Lady Istvaan."

Overachiever Cheng Yu's superior sent him a warning via shared consciousness.

"Understood. I want to request the assistance of the Followers of Pleasure."

"Granted."

The Followers of Pleasure were a special type of unit created after Main Body signed a cooperation agreement with a Greater Daemon of Slaanesh and sent a batch of clones to the other party for training.

On one hand, these clones tested the limits of Main Body's physical body in bearing the energy of Warp; on the other hand, they also did things... that normal clones couldn't do.

In terms of appearance, these clones no longer had any of Cheng Yu's features.

However... they still maintained their loyalty to the original body, a fact that left the Greater Daemon of Slaanesh speechless.

"You minions of the Chaos Gods!"

Seraphie's eyes widened when she saw the appearance of the Followers of Pleasure.

"Shut up, lapdog of the Corpse Emperor!"

"What... are you planning to do?!"

Seeing the Followers of Pleasure take out various tools from their handbags, it was impossible for Seraphie not to be completely terrified.

"Master, this is your last chance. Confess. Actually, I quite enjoyed learning technology from you."

"Go to hell!" Seraphie spat in his face again.

"It's hard to say which one of us will go to hell first."

Overachiever Cheng Yu didn't leave, but instead... put on noise-canceling headphones?

"Child, child, why are you so bad?"

The Slaaneshi Follower Cheng Yu suddenly started singing, and it was actually quite pleasant. His voice, modified by the Greater Daemon of Slaanesh, came with built-in reverb, making even an a cappella performance sound like it was in a commercial karaoke room.

"What?" Seraphie was stunned. Did they have to sing a song before torture? The minions of Slaanesh were truly perverted.

"Deception, exploitation, how could you do it?"

The Slaaneshi Follower Cheng Yu continued to sing. Because he had four arms, he could sing with a microphone while playing a slideshow for Seraphie.

The content of the slideshow was documentary footage filmed by agents of Thirteen Offices on other planets, showing Hive City nobles acting tyrannically and enslaving the people.

Common people who died from overwork didn't even have the right to a burial; their bodies were fed to the hunting dogs of the Imperial nobles.

Low-level psykers who had committed no crimes and lacked the ability to commit them were brutally lobotomized to be turned into Penitent Servitors.

Human children who had just been born could also be turned into some kind of flying spirit dolls.

"Learn to be a good child, and love one another."

The slideshow switched to photos from inside the Cheng Yu Empire.

"Care is in the heart, full of color."

Under the Emperor's governance, the happy life of a family of immigrant outsiders: they had meat to eat, medical insurance, and opportunities for free basic education.

Even if they were tried for a crime, they had room to defend themselves.

"Good child, you must repent sincerely. The Emperor's embrace... is always open for you."

"Good child, come back quickly. You will always be the Emperor's favorite child."

The slideshow switched to Cheng Yu cleaning, applying medicine, and bandaging a wound for an immigrant outsider who had accidentally gotten hurt.

"Study hard... for the sake of the future."

At the prisoner education school, Cheng Yu explained to everyone which alien plants could be eaten directly and which needed to be processed before eating.

"Turn back, be a kind child. Human nature is inherently kind, like a child."

An oil painting of Main Body, the Greater Daemon of Slaanesh, and a Necron Lord running hand-in-hand in a meadow under the starry sky.

This painting was created by an underage immigrant outsider who had just been assigned a free Hive City residence.

He was an orphan who had lost his parents in the war.

Even for an outsider who currently had no labor value, the Empire was willing to invest in raising him.

"..." Seraphie didn't know what the other party was trying to do. Was this some kind of brainwashing? Did they really think this level of brainwashing would have any effect on her? Foolish traitor.

"Child, child, why are you so bad..."

The Slaaneshi Follower Cheng Yu started singing from the beginning again, but this time he switched to a different slideshow.

"Why again... so annoying."

Seraphie subconsciously looked at the wall clock and suddenly noticed... why had the hands stopped?

"Aiding the wicked, how could you do it?"

This time, it showed historical footage of the Ultramarines suppressing Lorgar's believers in the City of Perfection and destroying the statue of the Emperor, provided by the Greater Daemon of Slaanesh.

This photo had a huge impact on Seraphie. Although the Inquisition was wary of Space Marines, they also regarded them as the backbone force guarding the Empire.

However, the Greater Daemon of Slaanesh had taken things out of context, only showing the clip of the Ultramarines smashing the Emperor's statue and slaughtering the resisting believers.

It was bullying the Corpse Emperor Empire for not revealing the historical truth to the general public.

"This is fake, it's impossible!" Seraphie began to reinforce her mental conditioning.