In the Throne Room of the Imperial Palace,
a huge table now stood in the center of the Throne Room, with an equally huge induction cooker placed in the middle... Khan and Russ sat on chairs, looking dazed.
In the Imperial Palace's garden, a large pot was set up, and Little Kitten was currently leading several Custodes in preparing the hotpot base. The Custodes put beef tallow into the pot to melt, fried spring onions and ginger until fragrant... then added a pile of chili peppers... Little Kitten put his power axe into the pot to stir the extra spicy hotpot base. At this moment, the power axe was like an enchanted weapon, covered in red chili oil. If this were to stab a Chaos Daemon... it would be incredibly effective! (Daemon: "Weapons smeared with hotpot base will be sent to military court.")
Soon, the Yin-Yang hotpot was brought to the table, half extra spicy beef tallow pot, half Chaoshan beef bone soup... Li Feng watched as Trajann poured the extra spicy beef tallow hotpot base into the Emperor of Mankind's drink dispenser, and then the Emperor of Mankind's skeletal frame drank the hotpot base with relish.
(Emperor of Mankind: "You eat hotpot! I eat hotpot base! I'm smiling at you because I'm polite~")
Li Feng couldn't help but admire the Emperor of Mankind at this moment. He was truly worthy of being the Emperor of Mankind, actually drinking hotpot base without even batting an eye.
At this moment, Khan was still in a state of bewilderment. His Superman-like brain still couldn't comprehend why he had just gone on a "zero-dollar shopping spree" in Commorragh, then sped around the Webway... and now his father, one half-paralyzed, one became "Mom," and most importantly... he also gained a "Stepfather."
Meanwhile, Russ had already started picking up tripe and blanching vegetables. Russ's dipping sauce bowl only contained sesame oil, sesame paste, minced garlic, and a mountain of cilantro, and he began to eat the tripe.
Russ took a bite of the tripe blanched in the extra spicy hotpot base made by the Custodes, dipping it in his sauce... "Hiss... not spicy..."
Russ was a smart man; he was always the one who saw things most clearly. Since he already knew the whole story, he wouldn't dwell on it and accepted the arrangements of fate. After all, this family had gone through all sorts of messed-up things, so one or two more wouldn't be surprising. At least, in his opinion, the Empress and the Stepfather seemed to have a good relationship.
Seeing Khan still hadn't picked up his chopsticks, Li Feng proactively scooped some slices of beef and beef meatballs into his bowl.
"Khan, come try these beef meatballs. These meatballs were handmade by the Custodes using power hammers."
"Uh... you can just call me... Chagatai..."
Khan quickly picked up his bowl and accepted the beef and beef meatballs Li Feng had scooped for him... Khan had actually eaten something similar when he was on Chogoris, where beef and lamb were sliced and blanched in broth.
Khan picked up a beef meatball and put it in his mouth. He bit into it, and it was very springy and chewy, truly worthy of being made with a power hammer. Seeing Khan eating the meatballs, Li Feng then asked:
"I heard you have excellent calligraphy! And you're proficient in all four arts of zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting, and you managed Chogoris in perfect order before..."
Hearing Li Feng praise him like this, Khan's eyebrows furrowed, and he immediately sensed something was off. He looked up at Li Feng... and saw Li Feng and Sanguinius exchange a knowing smile.
This gave Khan goosebumps. He hadn't felt this way even after seeing so many "bizarre" things in Commorragh, so he immediately said:
"No, no, it's just for cultivating my temperament. I'm just a barbarian..."
Sanguinius didn't let him finish speaking, merely eating the tribute vegetables in her bowl and then asking:
"Old Huang and I have plans for you. This is our expectation for you; we hope you can help us."
Well! With words spoken to this extent, Khan had no choice but to agree. Khan was guessing, were they planning to have him lead an attack on the Eye of Terror? Or launch another surprise attack on Commorragh?
"Father... just tell me..."
Seeing Khan agree, Sanguinius pointed her chopsticks towards the piles of documents near the desk, resembling several hills... "From now on, the Imperial rescripts will be entrusted to you."
"No problem, I thought..."
Upon hearing this, Khan's face instantly turned pale. During the Great Crusade, he knew how busy the Imperial administration was; Malcador and those mortals were often exhausted to the point of looking neither human nor ghost.
Now, ten thousand years later, with the Emperor of Mankind on the Golden Throne, the entire Imperium was in a half-dead state. Those administrative tasks could only become more tedious and exhausting. In this situation, it would truly be better to let him lead the White Scars Space Marine to crusade against the Eye of Terror.
Moreover, this kind of thing should be given to Guilliman! Wasn't that ambitious Guilliman fond of administration? Find him! Wake him up from the ICU immediately! (Cawl: "Don't rush! I'm working on it!")
Khan immediately wanted to refuse, but Sanguinius immediately put down her chopsticks and directly blocked the topic:
"Chagatai, I didn't expect you to agree so quickly! Truly worthy of being Old Huang's good son!"
Khan was numb. He turned to look at Russ, who was continuously gorging himself next to him. Russ merely ate his meat, turned his head, and glanced at Khan, his eyes signaling: "Why are you looking at me? I'm a crude man. (Now you should know why I've been eating hotpot all this time, right?)"
Russ naturally understood perfectly; the Empress, not the Emperor of Mankind, was currently in charge of the Imperium. And Li Feng, that man, being able to win over the Empress, was certainly no ordinary person, so he should just quietly eat his food.
Sanguinius also said at this time: "Regarding your return to the Imperium, do you want to inform your Space Marine Chapters? I can arrange a grand return ceremony on Terra tomorrow."
Khan and Russ immediately shook their heads like rattles. They hadn't even announced their return yet and were already being assigned tasks. If they made a high-profile official announcement, wouldn't they directly become mere tools?
There was no other way, so Khan and Russ could only request a set of Custodes power armour to wear and normally act like Custodes, moving around the Imperial Palace. Sanguinius established temporary official titles for the two:
Leman Russ, under the alias "Ragnar," became the Chief Guard of the Imperial Palace, while Khan, under the alias "Borjigin," became the Chief Seal-Bearer of the Custodes. (One is the Viking legend Ragnar Lothbrok. The other, Borjigin, goes without saying, referring to Genghis Khan's "Golden Family.")
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