"Hoo..." Corax let out a heavy breath, wiping the fine beads of sweat from his forehead. After about an hour of treatment, he finally finished tending to his severely wounded companions.
"Boss, that's enough. They just need to recover their strength with good nutrition from now on. I've already healed their internal injuries," Corax said naturally, adopting the same address for Swain as everyone else.
"Ah, why are you calling me Boss too?" Swain looked at the young Primarch with a hint of surprise.
"I saw everyone else calling you that, and you took me in, so it's natural for me to call you that too," Corax said very naturally.
"Oh, oh, is that how it is? Just call me Swain kid." Swain reacted after a moment of stunned realization. Yes, the current Corax had just begun his descent onto Lycaeus. Aside from the extraordinary knowledge in his mind, he was essentially a blank slate. He was not yet the "Lord of Redemption" who would be meticulously taught by the exiled elites on Kiavahr.
The current Primarch was like a blank sheet of paper; his worldview, values, and outlook on life had not yet formed, and his self-awareness was still unclear. However, with the power of a Gene-Primarch, he would quickly grow from a small sapling into a towering tree, eventually becoming a World Tree capable of sheltering an entire planet, a star system, or even a sector and the entire Imperium.
"Perhaps I should first introduce this idealist to the evil of human nature?" Swain began to consider whether he should take Crow King with him to slaughter those raiders.
In the original background, Corax was a true idealist. Corax was fortunate compared to many of his brothers scattered across other planets in the galaxy. On this oppressive mining world, he received a complete education and enjoyed the complete love of a family, something many of his other brothers did not experience.
But he was also unfortunate. In this dark and despairing universe, idealists generally do not have good endings. The betrayal of his brothers, the severe injury of his father, the rebellion of his homeworld, and the despair of personally executing his own offspring ultimately crushed this demigod-like man. Thus, the former idealist transformed into a Warp sub-god, an embodiment of the obsession with revenge, and brutally beat the one who caused the Imperium to shatter.
"Will everything from the past happen again?"
"No, it won't," a clear understanding rose in Swain's heart.
Before, he only considered waiting for Corax to descend, and then, under the Primarch's protection, he would join the Dark Raven Guard. As for what would happen later, that was for later.
"Alas, this messed-up universe seems to have a hungry wolf constantly chasing all intelligent beings, as if there will never be a day of rest," Swain grumbled inwardly.
The problem now was that even if he joined the Dark Raven Guard, according to the original history, not to mention the Massacre on Istvan V. Even the terrifying Xenos encountered during the Great Crusade were not so easy to deal with: the Hrud, who controlled entropy, the Ork Greenskins, the Aeldari Eldar, and even the terrifying Xenos called "Rangdan" who could contend with the Imperium for galactic supremacy.
(T/N : Contending with the Imperium for galactic supremacy actually means resisting for a few decades and getting wiped out, that's the case with the Rangdan)
"Swain, you seem to know a lot about me?" Corax asked, noticing the regret and pity in the other party's eyes when he looked at him. Yet, it was their first meeting, but the other party's attitude towards him seemed to indicate a profound understanding.
Through Ephrenia, Corax clearly understood that in this cruel world, accepting someone of unknown origin was a very serious matter. Because you never knew if this person was a spy for those cunning villains who lived by raiding.
"You'll understand in the future. I hope you won't betray our trust," Swain said calmly, without explaining too much. In reality, his heart was in a panic.
"Damn it, is this the insight of a Gene-Primarch? How did Kor Phaeron manage to train Lorgar like a dog?" Swain grumbled inwardly. Clearly, he needed to re-evaluate the level of Lorgar's adoptive father.
Lorgar Aurelian, Gene-Primarch of the Word Bearers Legion, fell to the religious world of Colchis as a child, was adopted by Kor Phaeron, and was trained to become the local religious leader. Undoubtedly, Kor Phaeron's influence on Lorgar was immense. This half-gene-modified old man even dared to scold a Gene-Primarch during a Word Bearers Legion war council. In short, it was outrageous.
"You've already understood the situation of this world to some extent. Now, follow me down into the mine to survey the reserves of adamantium," Swain said to Corax, putting aside these distant matters. The assembly of the Shadow Assassins still needed time, and gathering intelligence would not be completed in a short while. He also had many important things to do. The most important thing now was to reconfirm the adamantium reserves in the northern mine shaft and solve the camp's survival problem.
The young Crow King did not object. On the contrary, he was very interested in this mysterious leader of the territory. The fact that the other party could expand a camp to thousands of people in just a few years and ensure no one starved to death already proved his capabilities. At the very least, he was good at prospecting and mining.
So, Swain took Corax and once again hurriedly boarded the elevator towards the mine shaft.
To conserve his energy, Swain did not communicate with Corax along the way. His body was not as abnormal as Corax's, capable of strolling leisurely, even though the other party was currently in a juvenile state. However, it was also peculiar. These peak Emperor-level genetic creations were indeed unreasonable. They emerged from the cultivation pods directly in a juvenile state, although this was also partly due to the lack of a time concept in the Warp.
But one had to admit their abnormality. For example, Angron, even as an infant, could kill a squad of Craftworld Eldar with a single stone. It was simply outrageous.
The two walked in silence and soon arrived at the northern mine shaft under guard.
"Get in," Swain gestured for Crow King to sit in the empty, cramped bucket of the mine cart.
Amidst the clanking sounds, the light gradually dimmed, and the mine cart began to move deeper into the mine shaft. After traveling about a hundred meters, Swain finally saw his companions tirelessly excavating with their pickaxes. At the same time, ore was continuously being transported out from deeper within via conveyor belts.
Clearly, Arendi's calculations were very precise; the collapsed section did not affect this area. However, the problem was that the space here was much smaller compared to mine shafts that could accommodate drill traction machines. It simply could not accommodate so many people. In the deeper mine shafts, the miners could only stoop and laboriously use their power picks to extract ore, gradually expanding the space, and constantly needing to reinforce it along the way to prevent collapse.