Chapter 367: On How Many Legions the Emperor Created
The Soul Drinkers' greatest enemy was gone.
Dead without a sound.
But the Soul Drinkers' troubles were not over.
After all, following multiple investigations and subsequent genetic verification, the Soul Drinkers' current gene-seed did not belong to any loyalist Chapter.
Even the Imperial Fists headquarters on Terra had gone to Mars to trace the gene-seed submitted by the Soul Drinkers, only to find it could not be traced back to the Imperial Fists.
This problem was truly serious.
The Soul Drinkers had indeed committed no acts of betrayal, but they were also definitely not sons of Dorn.
As a Second Founding Chapter, these honorable and ancient Chapters took pride in their lineage. Now that this had happened, many successor Chapters, including the parent Chapter, the Imperial Fists, fell into a dilemma.
Not long after the delegations arrived, a council presided over by a Primarch commenced.
The Primarch's personal presence flattered everyone and made the Soul Drinkers somewhat uneasy.
But the scene was different from what they had initially imagined.
The arriving Primarch was Arthur, accompanied by the Dark Angels.
The Warmaster was responsible for all military-related affairs, commanding a series of military operations on the front lines.
It was he who was fully responsible for handling the Mechanicus within the Incaladion Sector. Now, as the Regent of the Dawnbreakers, Romulus was busy receiving the sector.
The main goal was to dispatch civil servants for planetary administration, station troops, divide Mechanicus power, compress their military holdings, and gradually transform Mechanicus members from warlords coordinating the overall situation into producers and researchers.
Compared to the Obscurus Segmentum, Romulus's handling of the Ultima Segmentum was more unrestrained.
Basically, he stopped pretending and left no autonomy at all.
On the edge of the Incaladion Sector, Arthur first organized a duel cherished by many Chapter representatives. The Primarch personally engaged in sword-to-sword combat with each applicant, treating everyone equally, including the accused Soul Drinkers.
This method was more effective than verbal wrangling in relieving the tension among the representatives, allowing the meeting to proceed in a relatively relaxed atmosphere.
After getting beaten up, everyone pondered how to keep the scars while sighing at the Primarch's amiability, suddenly feeling confident about the outcome of this meeting.
"I don't understand!"
In the conference hall of the Iron Blood, Helbrecht slammed the table, pointing at Imperial Fists First Captain Lysander's head.
"It's one thing for other successors not to know the secrets involved, but how could you not know? The Phalanx holds so many of Dorn's manuscripts. Have you not tried to decrypt them for thousands of years?"
"To propose such absurdities as making the Soul Drinkers replace their entire gene-seed stock with Imperial Fists stock... Don't make random decisions if you don't know anything. Where is Vladimir Pugh? Is this how he leads the Imperial Fists?"
"Not trying to solve the problem is bad enough, but rushing to compromise? Is your brain infected by those worms in the High Lords?"
Lysander lowered his head, ignoring Helbrecht's disrespect to his Chapter Master, looking like he was being scolded.
There was no help for it. This High Marshal had led the Black Templars for a time comparable to Dante of the Blood Angels. Both were highly respected figures. Even if Lysander was glorious, he wouldn't argue with Helbrecht over such a small matter.
Arthur sat high above, very calm.
A bunch of Second Founding successors around him, like the Crimson Fists, Iron Knights, and Excoriators, were watching the show.
The Executioners were purely there to join the fun.
After all, Fafnir Rann was alive. This famous Captain, who shone brightly during the Siege of Terra and loved fighting, naturally thought they shouldn't miss such an honorable exchange meeting.
So what if it was the Third Founding? Compared to the Second Founding organized by the ambitious Guilliman, they were personally separated by Dorn.
What could be done? You can't shut the door on someone standing there with an axe, can you?
"What happened to the Imperial Fists? How come they don't even know about the Soul Drinkers? No need to take this seriously, right?"
A Crimson Fist elder who died in the post-Heresy era asked in a low voice.
"Imperial Fists?"
An Executioner who had a grudge against Maximus Thane, Captain of the Imperial Fists 22nd Company, Chapter Master of the Fists Exemplar, and Chapter Master of the Imperial Fists, whispered:
"Fists Exemplar!"
Stifled laughter erupted around them.
These elders, responsible only for fighting and basically not intervening, sat in the spectator seats watching this farce.
Of course they knew where the Soul Drinkers came from. Even the Apothecaries couldn't hide the genetic differences between them in the Legion structure.
It was just that for some unspeakable reason, the current Imperial Fists seemed unaware.
"..."
Hearing the elders' teasing, Lysander looked bitter, filled with shame for the Chapter's past experiences.
No wonder the elders didn't want to return to the Imperial Fists; it turned out none of them liked them.
The current Imperial Fists did have some issues in their history.
During the War of the Beast, the Imperial Fists were wiped out due to a major strategic error. The successors had to activate the 'Last Wall' protocol, each contributing a company of a hundred men to rebuild the annihilated Imperial Fists, and elected the most highly respected Maximus Thane, former Captain of the Imperial Fists 22nd Company and then-Chapter Master of the Fists Exemplar, as the Chapter Master of the Imperial Fists.
The matter would have passed. Anyway, the Black Templars had successfully marched on Terra and stated the stakes, and everyone went on with their lives.
But something magical happened.
A warrior from the Fists Exemplar forged a brotherhood with an Iron Warrior in an accidental war, then ignored the obstruction of another comrade from the Black Templars, killed this comrade and the sons of Dorn under his command who opposed him, and fled with the Iron Warrior.
Shame—
Too damn shameful.
The consequence of this event was that the Black Templars fell out with the Imperial Fists and withdrew from the Last Wall protocol. Maximus Thane, feeling guilty towards Dorn, simply abolished the Fists Exemplar designation and fully integrated them into the Imperial Fists.
So although the bloodline was fine, the current Imperial Fists were strictly speaking Fists Exemplar, and the lack of culture caused them to lose many secrets of the Legion era.
And now came the awkward part.
"This is a manuscript left by Dorn, stored in the vault of the Eternal Crusader."
Helbrecht slammed down a document.
"How many Legions did the Emperor create?"
"Eighteen."
Lysander replied without thinking.
"Twenty!"
Lysander instantly wished he were dead, wishing he were deaf right now.
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