"In terms of human ethical common sense, there is no doubt that the 'blood-sucking impulse' is a defect." Rika Fujimaru said to Decker.

"I can't say I fully understand how much you've paid to fight Red Thirst over the years, and how many brothers you've had to execute because of this issue, but I still have to make this reluctant request: at least as we discuss this issue, please think of it as a 'design trait' that has been determined since the genetic template of the Holy Blood Angel."

As a priest of the Holy Blood, Decker knew intellectually that the argument of "design traits determined by genetic templates" was not untenable in a situation where almost every Angel brethren of the Holy Blood could barely escape the madness caused by the thirst for blood. But emotionally, he absolutely could not accept this statement:

"You mean, it's not because the warband's genetic seeds have mutated from generation to generation, but—"

The pressure from the Emperor's psionic energy increased suddenly, and a faint burning sensation burned his skin through the armor of the Holy Blood Priest's arm. The slightest pain could almost be ignored by Astarte, but for some reason, it succeeded in calming his boiling thoughts.

"—Calm down, Mr. Decker, we all want to try to solve this problem, don't we?" The girl's voice was unhurried, "At present, we happen to have a theory of the origin of this problem, and only by knowing why this defect itself is formed, and how it works, can we prescribe the right medicine for it and start trying to cure it, right?" ”

"I'll interject." Asclepius, who was particularly rigorous in medical research and other issues, interrupted mercilessly, "From the perspective of the physiological mechanism of the Holy Blood Angel, it is obviously impossible to 'cure' the blood-sucking impulse. The current attempt I am preparing to make is nothing more than an attempt to find a way to channel this 'blood-sucking impulse' into harmlessness. ”

The pressure of psionic energy slowly dissipated, but Decker still nervously held the blaster on his waist: "What does this mean?" ”

Literally. Just now Rika also said that in essence, this is a 'design characteristic'. If you want to correct this genetically, you have to completely change your genetic structure. Asclepius spoke in a straightforward manner, and when these words fell on Decker's ears, they amounted to a verdict on the entire warband, "This kind of thing is indeed within my power, but if I do do so, ask myself, can you still call yourself 'Angels of the Holy Blood'?" ”

There's so much shocking information in these two short sentences. Decker felt that he had too many things to ask, such as what the "design features" were, and why the seemingly mortal doctor could claim to be able to change the Emperor's design in such a bland manner, and for example—but in the next moment, the first question he blurted out was not these:

"Who the hell are you sacred?"

Asclepius looked a little bored.

"You already know my name." He replied to Decker with a sigh of relief, "And my identity, at least for now, is only the attending physician on the Storm Frontier - is the Holy Grail still on the original shelves?" ”

The last sentence, he obviously asked Fujimaru Ritsuka. After receiving an affirmative answer, Asclepius walked away without saying a word, apparently following the marked numbers on the shelves, clearly looking for something.

Decker's eyes were drawn to the departing doctor, but the voice of the girl who originated beside him rang out again:

"To alleviate the symptoms of 'red thirst', it must be 'blood' - to be precise, it is the 'blood' that flows in the body of the vast majority of intellectual beings and is used to carry nutrients to maintain physiological functions. Have you considered the reason for this problem? ”

It was a very practical question, and it immediately caught Decker's attention. For 10,000 years, the Holy Blood Priests have not tried to find a substitute other than blood to relieve red thirst, but with little success.

The first thing that was ruled out in the actual test was artificial blood: as a medical product that can be produced at any time, artificial blood can undoubtedly take on any function that blood should perform in the blood vessels of patients who need blood transfusions, which is a tried-and-true fact. But they could not alleviate even a little bit of the thirsty brothers' thirst for blood.

After that, tests on synthetic blood definitively failed. The priests of the Holy Blood once put aside the function and used the wisdom of Astarte to artificially synthesize a kind of "synthetic blood" that is completely identical to human blood in appearance, smell, composition, trace elements, and even the ratio of blood cells. The Blood Priests had given this synthetic blood to the Mechanical Priests, and had succeeded in making it impossible for them to tell the difference with any instrument - but to no avail.

Not to mention those brothers who fell into red thirst, as long as they were Holy Blood Angels, they could easily tell which was the fresh blood that had just been released from the body of the Blood Slave and which was the work of the Holy Blood Priest brothers. Even if they are all the same, they still carry a temperature similar to that of the human body.

During these 10,000 years, generations of Holy Blood priests have experienced various failures in this matter. In the end, until now, the current strategy of the warband on this issue is still to raise blood slaves. This was true 10,000 years ago, and it will be the same 10,000 years from now. And this repeated defeat naturally raised the same question in the hearts of all the Holy Blood priests: Why?

Why does it have to be blood? Why does it have to be plucked from the body of a living human being? Why does it have to be blood gushing out of a living throat that flows safely in veins and arteries? Why?

"Because in this case, 'blood' is only an appearance, a symbolic concept." In the next second, Rika Fujimaru asked herself, "The reason for the existence of the special mechanism of the 'Vampire Impulse' is that your body itself is hungry for 'foreign life information' and can use these resources to fill yourself unconsciously. While this is all speculation on my part, I suspect that you will feel more energetic and heal faster for a period of time after drinking blood. Also, I think that's why the lifespan of the Holy Blood Angels is generally longer among Astartes as well. ”

“…… I don't understand. Although Fujimaru Rika used some slightly obscure terms in the course of the narrative, after briefly looking at the text, it made sense to tell Decker that the knowledge that the Holy Blood Priest should have, even a little bit of subspace taboo.

However, he still couldn't accept it emotionally: "But, if this is a 'design feature', why is such a defect only in us in all Astartes?" ”

"Because of all the primordial bodies, only St. Giles has such a 'trait' because of the emperor's unintentional actions." Fujimaru Rika replied in Decker's incredulous gaze, "Yes, in a way, it's a testament to the blood connection between you and the archangels. ”

"You mean, the father of our genes also-"

"—I can say with certainty that St. Giles himself suffers from 'red thirst.'" Fujimaru Rika's tone was quite firm, "The 'red thirst' of the Holy Blood Angel is not a defect caused by mutation, but a defect derived from the inheritance of the genetic seed—it is only because the expression of the same base sequence inevitably suffers deterioration in the process of being degraded from the original to Astarte, and the corresponding 'defect' is magnified." ”

Decker was silent for a few seconds in shock. For Astarte, this has been a very long time.

"But—why?" Fujimaru Rika didn't know what the Holy Blood Priest had been thinking in those few seconds, but when he asked, his final expression was fixed on a desperate rage: "Why would the Emperor allow such a flaw to exist?" Why did he even allow his most glorious son to be, a-"

"Quite simply, because from the Emperor's point of view, this is a more advantageous trait from the point of view of design - in fact, a certain function similar to it should theoretically exist in all Space Marines." Rika Fujimaru said almost ruthlessly.

"The 'blood-sucking impulse' brought about by 'red thirst' is only a symptom, a relatively failed and incomplete physiological function that is more unethical and moral. But if the ethical part is excluded, there is a way for St. Giles to take this function to the extreme, and in the end it will be the ultimate enhanced version of the 'gene detection nerve' in theory—"

"—The Emperor's original intention was not to need St. Giles, or your own kind to sip the blood, but to add a means of gathering intelligence and replenishing physical strength on the battlefield in order to better accomplish the combat mission."

After hearing this, Decker was clearly in a state of confusion:

"But...... That's just ...... after all Since Astarte's manufacturing template already includes genetic detection nerves, I don't think it's ......"

It's always hard to imagine things you've never seen before. Rika Fujimaru, who knew this, fully understood the other party's confusion and doubts, so she sighed and tried to use an analogy that the other party obviously knew:

"We're not talking about the 'genetic detection nerve' kind of thing." She put it this way, "For example, the Tyranid can quickly complete targeted evolution by eating the corpses of enemies on the battlefield, and you should have seen such a thing, so you can imagine, right?" ”

Decker nodded in confusion.

"The final form of the 'red thirst' we are discussing will theoretically be much stronger and more terrifying than the Tyranid Zerg at the biomass and genetic levels."

While saying this, Rika Fujimaru couldn't help but shudder.

She had seen the real "primordial one", how to "eat".

Miwoo (serene)

(End of chapter)