Klein flicked the six copper coins between his fingers as he stepped into the market closest to his apartment.
“Come, come, take a look!
Fish sauce from Talassar, dip even the coarsest bread in it, and you’ll eat three loaves!”
“Olives, fresh olives, crisp and sweet!”
“Marble from Hera’s Crown, excellent material for carving, come have a look!”
“Wine from Laphis, come taste it!”
The moment he entered the market, Klein’s nose was filled with the briny tang of fish sauce and the sweetness of various fruit trees, his ears filled with the shouts of vendors at their stalls, and his eyes filled with the colorful variety of goods.
The sheer volume of information even made Klein feel slightly dizzy, but he still sharply noted the soldiers guarding the market among the crowds.
Ever since Archon Konor returned from his expedition against the Illyrium barbarians in the polar region, having earned enormous prestige, he had begun reforming this city, this planet.
This included new urban construction projects that created new jobs, the newly established City Guard, reduced city entrance taxes on agricultural products from freeholders, and strengthened ties between Macragge and other planets.
Klein’s gaze swept over the lascarbines in the soldiers’ hands.
A single shot from one of those could completely vaporize a person’s head, yet the warriors wielding these laser weapons wore armor resembling that of ancient soldiers, guarding a market built in the style of humanity’s first millennium, a market that was selling ingredients from another planet.
This bizarre sense of contrast permeated all of Macragge.
These peculiar sights were all because of the Old Night that had engulfed the entire galaxy.
Once, human civilization had conquered nearly the entire galaxy, becoming a colossal power capable of rivaling the Aeldari Empire.
In that era, humanity was enlightened, technologically advanced, and socially unified.
Dozens of once-powerful alien races were forced to sign non-aggression pacts with humanity, simply because human technology had become transcendent.
They could easily extinguish stars, alter planetary orbits.
They shaped the flow of time, restructured the dimensions of space.
STC technology allowed all things to be produced with ease, and the highly intelligent Men of Iron served humanity as slaves.
The humanity of that age was so powerful that when later generations spoke of it, it was as if they were recounting a myth.
But the outbreak of the Cybernetic Revolt was the beginning of the entire collapse.
The causes, course, and outcome of that war have all been swallowed by history.
No one knows what happened, only that afterward, the fear of artificial intelligence was etched into their genes, and…
that it had deeply wounded human civilization.
Yet even so, the weakened human civilization still gripped the stars, still controlled the material universe, until storms erupted from the Warp hidden behind the material universe.
Setting aside the many technologies that relied on the Warp, even the single most critical one, the navigation technology that held all of human civilization together, was dependent on the very nature of the Warp itself.
The Warp storms that raged within the Warp severed the connections between human colonies.
A civilization that once spanned the stars was carved into fragmented pieces.
Many planets highly specialized for efficiency rapidly declined due to the lack of imported supplies.
Grand cities that had once been paradises swiftly degenerated into filthy Hive Cities.
Severe famines spread, technology regressed, and civilization began to ebb.
But this was only the beginning.
The effects of the Warp storms soon spilled from the Warp into reality.
Human genes began mutating with alarming frequency, with hordes of uncontrollable mutants and mad psykers emerging.
Even grotesque and terrifying entities from the Warp started to enter reality.
It is said that many planets simply fell straight into the Warp.
And those xenos who had once signed peace treaties with humanity seized the opportunity, backstabbed mankind, and began enslaving, plundering, and slaughtering humans…
In the end, chaos supplanted civilization, madness supplanted wisdom, superstition supplanted reason, darkness supplanted light, despair supplanted hope.
Human civilization sank into the black night of Chaos.
That cataclysm, lasting for thousands of years, came to be known as the Old Night.
Macragge was one of the luckier ones.
This mountainous planet survived.
The inhabitants living on it preserved or rediscovered some of the technologies of old, and even rebuilt sub-light engines, enabling them to sail between nearby star systems.
This created the peculiar scene on the planet where the primitive intertwined with the advanced.
Perhaps for this very reason, Klein actually managed to buy parchment at this market.
Feeling the parchment in his hands, Klein couldn’t help but marvel at his good luck.
Compared to paper made from industrial pulp, parchment was better suited for certain rituals, though it was inferior to papyrus when performing some psychic spells.
Honestly, Klein wasn’t sure why papyrus and parchment had such functions.
Maybe it was simply because, in people’s perception… This chapter was taken from g.com without permission.
these two types of paper are more associated with things like magic and rituals?
After all, the Warp is a dimension of consciousness, where belief truly has power.
A believing heart really is your magic.
Like that one moth-like Primarch, whose unwavering faith in the numerology system he invented made that purely superstitious nonsense, neither scientific nor magical, actually yield results.
Klein tucked the parchment he’d bought under his left arm.
He then bought two loaves of bread from a bakery, a jar of fish sauce from the oceanic planet of Talassar from a stall, and some fresh fruits and vegetables, intending to leave the market.
But as noon approached, the market grew more crowded.
The throng of people pressed in, and Klein had to struggle hard just to get close to the market gate…
“Sir, would you be willing to spare a little time to learn about our one and only Lord?”
“Madam, would you like to learn about the one true Lord?”
“Sir…”
“…
” Klein saw a girl preaching near the main gate.
The young girl wore a plain brown robe, her hair meticulously tied up.
Beads of sweat hung on her forehead, and she held several sheets of paper full of writing, preaching to the passersby in the market.
But upon hearing the words “one and only Lord,” the passersby reacted as if stung, all pulling away with looks of disinterest and disdain.
Tsk…
Klein decided to avoid her too.
The religions in this universe were either backed by those four clowns, or some feral daemon, or that dragon sleeping under Mars.
And even if nothing was behind it at all, the Warp could still be worshipped into producing something…
But as if sensing Klein’s gaze, the girl turned her head, and her eyes met Klein’s.
Then the girl squeezed through the crowded mass, walking towards Klein.
“Sir, would you be interested in learning about our one true–”
“Little girl, would you be interested in learning about the God-Emperor of Mankind, seated upon the Golden Throne?”
(Translated by yourtl.app)