Chapter 453: If You Are My Brother, Come Rule the Imperium with Me!
"Look, isn't there something wrong?"
Ramesses toyed with the document in his hand methodically, fingertips tapping lightly on the paper. The movements of a major Warp power were written on it.
But Nurgle was completely unaware.
"This Nurgle is truly ruthless, cutting his own people without even pretending."
Everyone who could see the paper looked closer.
Waves rose in the Warp; Chaos energy twisted and rolled in the void.
Human troops plunging into the Garden from the 'probe' endured a scouring of majestic grey mist completely different from the plague. The echo of the death of a massive number of Nurgle daemons impacted the human battle line.
The despair generated when these lives were completely abandoned was exceptionally powerful, forcing even the Lord of Shadows, who had been rampaging freely within, back to a realm closer to reality.
Ramesses' description of the Warp was truly masterful; even viewers with absolutely no Warp knowledge could see clearly.
"I don't quite understand. Why is Nurgle reacting so strongly?"
Losses should be the norm. Although these four weren't exactly decent entities, they should have understood this as early as the end of the Battle of Cadia.
Khorne lost more than half of the World Eaters Legion completely. That impulsive move also drew away a large amount of Warp energy, causing the Eye of Terror to shrink. A large number of Rogue Trader forces and Eldar entered to excavate ancient Eldar Empire ruins, further consolidating the defensive capabilities of the entire Eye of Terror region.
But that was it.
Now Khorne still rampaged across the galaxy, indiscriminately blessing both sides of wars, while also joining in himself to enjoy the fun of battle.
As for the other two slightly quieter gods, Tzeentch made a fortune silently, and Slaanesh started slacking off. Although they were more or less unhappy because the environment of the material universe began to deteriorate, none were as—
Exasperated?
Ramesses pondered for a while and finally came up with this summary.
"Perhaps Nurgle can no longer play his so-called 'Grandfather' role," Arthur saw the problem at a glance.
The Great Game of the Chaos Gods was a set of rules, a fig leaf, a manifestation of the power struggle between the four gods, which had become a phenomenon.
But what was the material universe?
It was a hunting ground where the gods rampaged freely, a holy land for Chaos favorites to display their power and please their masters.
And what had the material universe become now?
The meat has started biting back.
Although this was infuriating for the other three gods, it wasn't unacceptable.
Khorne waved his hand and went all-in. During the Battle of Cadia, Great Daemons were wholesaled to Karna without fear of death. Tzeentch needless to say; torturing his daemons was the norm. Except for Kairos and the Changeling, two hard-to-replicate cherished figures, the rest were consumables.
As for Slaanesh... well, look at Slaanesh's state. What's the rush? Maybe currently planning, next second lost in the meaning of life again.
But what about Nurgle?
Every action He took now required preparation to kill His own children.
It was no longer so-called universal love, but personally pushing His children to death. The privilege from power, the composure it endowed a god, had now vanished.
Even if Nurgle was never happy about killing His children by meddling in the material universe, could He give up?
Give up competition with the other three rivals, until that aggressive cold sun in the Warp saw His weakness?
The other three made appropriate adjustments based on the status quo, but Nurgle, stagnant for countless years, found it hard to accept when He discovered He was about to change.
"Oh? —Oh! I get it."
Ramesses was slightly confused, then figured out the reason, laughing: "So He's anxious. But did He forget that the material universe is our home field?"
The surrounding 'abhumans' immediately looked downcast.
Although that was true, didn't it sound too out of character coming from this Lord who was thriving in the Warp?
"Never underestimate the enemy at any time."
Arthur pulled up reports organized by Chief Librarian Tigurius of the Ultramarines regarding attacks suffered within Greater Ultramar, including Civitavecchia.
This Librarian was now a celebrity in the Ultima Segmentum. Not only was he responsible for remote communication and coordination between hundreds of Successor Chapters, but reports from various planets in Greater Ultramar every cycle were also organized by this head of the Librarius, including military deployment, local policies, and even psyker training...
That Calgar could still lead the Ultramarines and their Successor Chapters to maintain efficient reaction capabilities under the double torture of Hive Fleets and Nurgle's plague, this legendary Librarian deserved the primary credit.
The Lion observed quietly.
Unlike the Cryptus System controlled by the Blood Angels, which cooperated highly with the Dawnbreakers and was almost a sub-sector of the Dawnstar Sector, Greater Ultramar maintained a high degree of autonomy in the current era. After the Dawnbreakers led the resolution of the ten-thousand-year division problem, it was supervised and operated by the Ultramarines and their Successor Chapters, guided by Romulus.
Theoretically, Romulus could directly take over the Ultramarines, but what puzzled the Lion was that these brothers were not active in grasping the brightest pearl in the galactic east.
They held an extraordinary trust in Guilliman.
This reminded the Lion of the caution of those 'Fallen' when meeting him, and the vigilance and 'distrust' of Arthur and Ramesses when facing him.
No.
The Lion shook his head.
They trust me too much, and everything I do is within their expectations.
The Lion possessed extraordinary focus, enabling him to eliminate all interference and focus absolutely on one thing.
This was an ability he had possessed since he could remember—it was also why he could survive in the forests of Caliban as a child. Back then, hunting and being hunted by top predators daily until Luther found him, constant calculation was not difficult for him.
But precisely because of this, for him, being willing to trust certain people and things was a difficult challenge.
"Lion."
Arthur spoke, breaking the contemplation.
"Help us look at this."
He unfolded the star map; blue light points flickered in the holographic projection.
It was much easier with the Lion around. Previous strategic deployments required Romulus and Arthur to deliberate and discuss for a long time. Now, Arthur established strategic goals and coordinated military units, the Lion formulated detailed plans, and Romulus followed up with resource mobilization.
It's really nice to have someone to eat with—
I mean, work with.
Far away on the other side of the galaxy, Romulus, mobilizing resources, looked up at the government affairs that had been reduced by a large chunk since the Lion joined the team, and couldn't help but sigh with emotion.
He didn't feel much when Corax returned. After all, that one was still in a rather weird, twisted state. Willing to fight in the Warp with his super Raven Guard transformed into a daemon army was enough; the rest could only be slowly repaired by time, no need to force him.
The Lion was truly different. Although his character was abstract, his self-regulation ability was extremely strong. No matter how twisted he was inside, it wouldn't affect his work.
Truly worthy of being the Lord of the First Legion.
Pausing his pen slightly, Romulus interlaced his fingers, stretching his body for a rare moment.
Beside him, the rotating holographic star map plated bright light on his body, revealing the undeniable relaxation between his brows.
Looking at the star map, looking at the unit markers symbolizing military units one by one, Romulus only felt it was pleasing to the eye, like an electrician opening a fuse box and admiring the perfect wiring inside.
Wait until Old Thirteen wakes up, dump the basic governance of the southeastern Ultima Segmentum on him, then dump Segmentum Solar and Segmentum Tempestus—
Hey!
Then, as the first returned Primarch, generously gift the rulership of Segmentum Solar and Segmentum Tempestus to Guilliman, to show the brotherhood between Primarchs, respect for the senior who made outstanding contributions to the Great Crusade, and declare the prosperity and unity of the high-level Imperium to the galaxy.
Looking around, Romulus looked at the pages that barely covered the height of a Primarch, and the densely packed distress signals from all over the galaxy in the star map—which were much fewer than before—and inexplicably found them pleasing to the eye.
One Lion is already like this; I can't imagine how cool it will be with Old Thirteen.
Ha~
Thinking that he was about to be liberated, Romulus couldn't help but laugh out loud again.
Rustle~
The document at hand was carefully pulled away.
Grand Seneschal Drakus felt that his lord had some problems recently.
Although his work enthusiasm remained high and he often joked with them on weekdays, for some reason, since Lord Arthur and the others began their return journey, Lord Romulus would always laugh inexplicably. This unusual situation made the Victrix Guard instinctively worried.
With doubts in his heart, the Grand Seneschal left the office, not even noticing Karna walking towards him.
Until the Archangel inadvertently picked up a fruit bowl from an attendant and leaned against the edge of the road, as if by coincidence letting Drakus pass through, did the etiquette-valuing Grand Seneschal react.
"Apologies, my Lord."
He apologized to Karna.
Although Primarchs didn't care about these things, and the Burning Angel was the most approachable of the approachable, the authority of a Primarch must be maintained.
Fortunately, Karna's emotional intelligence was also online. If he really showed an attitude of making way, Drakus dared not imagine what his reputation would become.
"It's fine."
Karna waved his hand grandly.
"Just got a craving."
This small matter was passed over.
"What's wrong?"
Noticing Drakus's hesitant expression, Karna, who had assisted the fleet in completing civilian evacuation and gained free time to come rent a brain, asked actively.
Drakus breathed a sigh of relief again.
He said: "Lord Karna, I request that you communicate more with Lord Romulus. His state is now—a bit strange."
"Oh."
Karna raised an eyebrow, quickly going over recent experiences in his mind, and said:
"Tell me about it?"
Drakus told the truth.
His observation of the Primarch was very careful; any difference from the past was described in detail.
Bad news!
After listening to Drakus's description, Karna suddenly felt the sky falling in his head.
Could it be that he would have to work in the future too?
Thinking of Dante's appearance under Romulus, Karna quickly shook his head.
Even though Baal had been transformed into a paradise world now, Karna rarely went to this homeworld of the Blood Angels except for formal activities.
Not that he hated Baal or the Blood Angels.
It was just that every time he saw Dante, he felt his conscience condemned.
"Leave it to me. I'll take responsibility."
Karna immediately replied seriously to Drakus.
"Troubling you, Lord Karna."
Seeing the Burning Angel put away his frivolous attitude instantly, Drakus was also moved by the deep affection between the Dawnbreakers.
With such a close bond linking them together, what could stop them?!
Holding the documents, Drakus continued to march towards his work with hope.
Karna also quickly pushed open the door of the office.
"Hahaha~"
What entered his ears was laughter he rarely heard.
Doomed!
Karna saw Romulus laughing cheerfully, completely without the bitterness and deep hatred of working before, and was instantly horrified.
My good brother has gone crazy from working!
So I only ever believe in myself, while my brothers' trust in me is actually greater than my own.
"Sigh~"
Thinking of this, the Lion sighed.
Perhaps precisely because of this, he couldn't truly integrate into Caliban, couldn't let his subordinates understand him, and never truly understood his brothers.
Actually, it's just the water ghost planning to pull someone in and gaslighting you.
Seeing the Lion fall into some inexplicable introspective state again, Ramesses felt that these Loyalist Primarchs had simply eaten too much shit; meeting a normal person was something to thank heaven and earth for.
He shrugged and asked:
"I understand—so besides the Godblight, what else do we need to face?"
"Here."
Arthur pulled up the latest battlefield data.
The Lion quickly focused his mind and looked over as well.
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