I am the Emperor of Humanity across the Multiverse

"Corruption, imprisonment, Mars?"

Guilliman's expression remained unchanged, but a hint of surprise flickered in his eyes. He hadn't expected the long-lost Greek gods to be so far away—on Mars, millions of kilometers from Earth. The mention of corruption also indicated the presence of Chaos forces from the Warp on Mars.

In fact, during the latter half of the previous century, humanity frequently launched various satellites and surface probes to Mars in an attempt to unveil its mysteries and search for extraterrestrial life.

Even though traces suggesting the possible existence of life were found, and liquid water was speculated to exist beneath the surface, Mars' weak magnetic field and thin atmosphere made it impossible to support a thriving environment for carbon-based life.

By the 1990s, Atlas had also launched several research and monitoring satellites to Mars. Despite detecting occasional anomalous magnetic field fluctuations, the company's technicians repeatedly analyzed and confirmed them to be natural phenomena.

If not for the unexpected visit of Queen Hera, Atlas had been preparing to use the Xiao-Tenchuan Engine from Universe 08 to begin large-scale colonization efforts on Mars by the end of 2001 or early 2002.

"Continue," Guilliman prompted.

"…"

Hera nodded slightly, showing no objection, and continued:

"We Olympian gods are closely connected to humanity. Without humanity's fear and reverence for the natural world, and their longing for beauty and hope, we would not have come into existence.

Your ancestors, who could not yet understand the underlying reasons for natural phenomena such as favorable weather or droughts, believed that such events were blessings or punishments from powers beyond nature. This belief gave rise to faith and worship."

"I presided over childbirth because your ancestors had extremely primitive medical conditions. For women, giving birth was often a life-or-death struggle."

"In other words, we humans created the gods," Guilliman said in a deep voice, taking advantage of Hera's pause.

"Yes, exactly." Hera didn't deny it: 

"We are sustained by the power of faith to move, eat, fight, and, like you, we experience emotions such as love and desire. We're essentially living… beings?

After we were forced to leave Mount Olympus to avoid Chaos' onslaught, I slowly integrated into human society, learning a great deal about science and other knowledge. I even tried using biological and chemical methods to understand the nature of corruption but found nothing."

"Wait." Guilliman seized on the key point and asked:

"From what you've said, I assume Mount Olympus is not the tallest peak on the northern shores of the Aegean Sea, but rather Olympus Mons, the tallest peak in the solar system, rising 22 kilometers above Mars' baseline, right?

Secondly, you've repeatedly mentioned the word 'corruption.' So can I interpret that as meaning the Olympian gods collapsed from within, causing them to fall silent for millennia, perhaps even tens of thousands of years?"

"That's one way to put it," Hera nodded lightly, and she began to explain to Guilliman, who was seated before her, and Horus, who was watching from the observation room:

"Our birthplace was indeed in southeastern Europe, specifically on the northern shores of the Aegean Sea, at Mount Olympus.

We lived alongside the local humans for a time and left behind many legendary stories.

However, as humanity grew stronger, they lost their reverence and faith in the gods, which in turn caused our power to gradually fade, leaving behind either useless physical bodies or leading to our complete demise.

To prevent this, Zeus, the third king of the Olympian gods—my brother and husband—used his unparalleled divine power to create a teleportation matrix at the summit temple, leading to Mars.

He then announced to humanity that the gods would ascend to the heavenly realm, and that they would no longer be protected or blessed by the divine."

"Ascend?" Guilliman frowned slightly, confused.

"Wouldn't that hasten your demise? Without human faith, what would you gods be worth?"

"Yes," Hera's expression revealed her pain. She said:

"He promised us that by going to Mars, to the true Mount Olympus, we could free ourselves from our dependence on human faith.

But in reality, he used this opportunity to sacrifice countless gods and divine servants—both their bodies and souls—to a powerful higher-dimensional being that we didn't understand.

Those of us who survived were unable to escape Zeus' slaughter, corruption, and imprisonment.

As for me, I only managed to return to Earth because of the self-sacrifice of my son, Ares. Without him, I too would have fallen into Chaos."

Upon hearing this, a clear furrow appeared between Guilliman's brows.

Although Hera's account was somewhat vague and tinged with personal emotion, Guilliman could still deduce that Zeus had long been corrupted by the Warp and sought "immortality" by sacrificing his kin, thus freeing himself from humanity's dependence on faith.

The "divine power" Hera mentioned was likely the psychic energy granted to them by human emotions and beliefs.

At the same time, Guilliman realized that Hera's understanding of the Warp, psychic powers, and demons was far less profound than his father's.

This realization reinforced the notion that the history of the main universe was fraught with danger, and any misstep could lead humanity to total destruction.

Meanwhile, unaware of Guilliman's internal thoughts, Hera continued her story:

"The moment I escaped from Mars, I used the last of my divine power to destroy the summit temple and the teleportation matrix, to prevent the corrupted Zeus from following me to Earth.

However, it seems he has no intention of reopening the matrix, allowing Earth and humanity to enjoy nearly four thousand years of peace.

As time passed, the gods perished.

Without human faith, I could never return to my former self. Instead, I've wandered from one country to another, one civilization to the next, trying to find a way to save my fellow gods."

At this point, Hera raised her head and looked at Guilliman, her tone serious:

"In fact, I realized over twenty years ago that Atlas and your father were extraordinary, so I have been observing you in secret ever since.

When you sent out your space fleet to repel the Reaper civilization, I saw a glimmer of hope to save my people and kill Zeus.

That's why I hope you can offer your assistance."

After these words, the interrogation room fell into silence.

Guilliman was weighing the cost and benefit of offering assistance, so he didn't respond immediately.

As one of his father's eldest sons, Guilliman had to consider the pros and cons carefully before making any decision, especially one involving Atlas.

After a brief pause, Guilliman stood up, looked down at Hera, and said:

"I need to discuss this with my father and brothers. But one thing I can promise is that Atlas will not tolerate any threat to humanity's survival and development within the solar system."

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