With Curze's approval secured, Bruce immediately dragged Warfarin along and, together with Hinoe, began pulling people out.
Quite a few Thousand Sons who had originally been slated for exile or execution were successfully fished out of prison because of this.
The rest of their lives would now be spent contributing to a brand-new company, and since Magnus herself had approved it, everything proceeded smoothly enough.
That said, Bruce's constant prisoner-poaching naturally caused dissatisfaction within the Warmaster's command structure. Whether Astartes or mortal officials, a great many of them found the whole affair hard to stomach.
Snatching away one or two people could perhaps be tolerated.
But Bruce was practically cleaning out every notable prisoner with a name to her, as if punishment no longer meant anything and everyone was simply being transferred to work under him instead.
What exactly were they trying to do?
In response, Horus used brute authority and shut the entire command structure up, taking on a domineering "don't question me" posture and making it abundantly clear that Bruce could do whatever he pleased.
Since when had it become their place to speak?
After more than a month of Bruce's maneuvering—during which he had massaged the Warmaster's feet more than once, worked every angle, and even kept Terra's representatives thoroughly satisfied—
a total of fourteen hundred Thousand Sons were finally incorporated into the Eighth Legion in the capacity of penitents, assigned directly into Bruce's company.
And that was not all.
The wargear confiscated from the Thousand Sons was gradually returned as well, thanks to Bruce's absurdly effective intervention. Not just their suits of power armor, but even some heavy weapons and armored vehicles came back too.
Naturally, in order to make the equipment compatible—and also to emphasize that this was now a newly formed company—the gear was repainted. The original crimson became a bright silver, though the Thousand Sons insignia was retained.
Ordinarily, this kind of shameless private army-building would have earned Bruce a formal investigation.
But with his relationship to the Warmaster, plus the support of three Primarchs, even if the Terran Council and the Mechanicum noticed something was off, there was very little they could actually do about it.
What could they do?
Everyone onstage and backstage was on Bruce's side. Unless the Emperor personally stepped in, no one could touch him.
Even appealing to Regent Malcador got them nowhere. He merely gave vague, noncommittal replies and then went back to whatever he had been doing.
Once these Thousand Sons were officially stationed aboard the Remilia and became part of the flagship's complement, a new problem emerged—
"Tell me again why my Remilia absolutely needs a library?" Bruce asked, staring in disbelief at the girls bustling busily about.
"It does," said the purple-haired girl holding a book, clearly pleased as more and more shelves filled the formerly empty spaces. "It plays a very important role in shaping the culture of our company."
Bruce hesitated, then ultimately just shook his head.
What was he even supposed to say?
They had practically stuffed half of Prospero's great library into his warship, and on top of that connected a considerable portion of it to the Scarlet Devil Mansion. He genuinely had nothing left to say.
Ankh en Ennad, keeper of Prospero's grand library and a member of the Corvidae, had become Patchouli after the Red Letter Spell incident.
And for reasons Bruce could only chalk up to either pity or some subtler impulse, Curze had unusually agreed to let the library be moved into the Remilia and the Scarlet Devil Mansion.
"And besides," Patchouli added, "you did promise that this request of mine would be granted. You are the sort of captain who keeps his word, aren't you, Commander?"
"Relax, relax. If I promised it, I won't go back on it. But you'd better make sure this library doesn't randomly start producing strange things."
"And more importantly, I expect all of you to prioritize missions first—not running around collecting weird books."
More than the issue of carving up precious living space aboard the Remilia, what really worried Bruce was the sheer mass of knowledge involved. What if one day the whole place started spawning Tzeentch-related nonsense?
"Of course. I'll ensure the collection remains safe. That was one of the reasons Hinoe and I agreed to your offer in the first place," Patchouli said again.
"Fine…" Bruce nodded, then looked elsewhere.
To be fair, most of the Thousand Sons were perfectly normal. Even among the ones hauled out of prison, most were manageable enough.
But there were still a handful that made Bruce feel like his brain was melting.
Megumin was in the middle of showing off a giant fireball spell.
Nagisa Misumi was currently wrestling Meiling with great enthusiasm.
And off to the side were several others using all sorts of strange magic.
Bruce could still see perfectly ordinary Thousand Sons walking around one moment and suddenly poof—transforming into magical girls the next.
Letting this lot form the prototype Grey Knights?
The difficulty level felt a little absurd.
"Will it be too cramped, having over a thousand people living here?" Bruce began thinking about how to assign even more living quarters.
But the Remilia only had so much habitable space. Even the library had required him to agonize for ages before finally deciding to tear out the prison block and interrogation rooms to make space.
If he wanted to expand further, he'd have to give the warship a full structural overhaul. Otherwise, there was simply no way.
"I think it's fine," said Warfarin cheerfully, strolling over with one arm around each of two newly transformed magical girls. "Everyone being here together makes it lively. Worst case, we just squeeze in a bit~"
Astartes were not exactly picky about room size. What did private quarters matter? Give them bedding and a space to lie down, and that was enough. And with a library this large, fitting a few thousand people wasn't remotely a problem.
"No, seriously—why are you here too?"
"Because Hinoe said I'm welcome anytime! Oh, right—I also need to introduce a talent to you. Someone I just found recently." Warfarin snapped her fingers.
A blonde girl in a black-and-white maid outfit, holding a broom and wearing a black witch hat, bounded over with a bright grin.
"Boss Bruce! Please take care of me from now on!"
"…Marisa?" Bruce recognized her instantly, then turned to Warfarin in astonishment. "Where the hell did you find her?"
"Huh? So you know each other? Great, that saves a lot of trouble." Warfarin nodded, pleased.
Bruce inhaled sharply.
Then he remembered that he had definitely seen this girl's name on the war criminal list.
"So…" Marisa scratched her cheek, suddenly a bit embarrassed.
"If I remember right, you were one of the people on the Red Letter Spell casting roster?"
Halosar Maat—Third Fellowship Captain, senior instructor of the Raptora. Bruce remembered that name distinctly.
Marisa nodded and answered awkwardly, "Yeah… I was one of the ninety-nine casters…"
"How are you even here?" Bruce asked, more incredulous now. "Weren't you supposed to be exiled?"
Unlike the others, the participants in the Red Letter Spell had been handled with absolute zero tolerance by Magnus. Bruce had not even had the chance to request them—Magnus had thrown them all out immediately.
"Well, I used a little ingenuity and brought her back," Warfarin answered quickly. "Someone this talented would be a waste to just throw away. Besides, exile to another world is exile, but exile to our Remilia is still exile too, isn't it?"
"That's true…" Marisa looked up hopefully. "Commander, you're not going to dislike me for that, are you?"
"No, not at all. As long as you came through proper Legion channels and Warmaster Command signed off on it, then you're one of us."
Bruce answered from the standpoint of the bigger picture.
"I already said it. What's done is done. Just don't make the same mistake again."
"Yes, Boss! I'll work hard!" Marisa saluted, clearly moved.
Bruce watched her, his emotions complicated.
Did this count as some kind of corruption of canon?
Then again, maybe she just had not settled in yet. Or perhaps her true colors had not emerged. Either way, it was a small issue.
"Um…" Warfarin leaned in again, all mystery and mischief.
"You had better say everything in one go this time," Bruce warned. The moment he saw that expression, he knew she was gearing up for something again.
"There are actually quite a few Thousand Sons as talented and ambitious as Marisa. So… what do you think?"
"Our slots are limited. Don't get carried away. Once we go over the approved size, we're the ones paying for it, got it?"
"Got it, got it! Boss, just leave it to me! When I'm handling things, you can relax!"
She flashed him a huge grin and gave him a thumbs-up.
"Where's Hinoe?"
"You were looking for me, Commander?" Hinoe walked over with a wineglass in hand and gave him a polite greeting.
"Don't be nervous. I just need to give you an assignment."
"Please."
"Now that everyone is arriving bit by bit, come with me to the reception hall later and meet my Primarch. After that, we'll hold a simple welcoming event. I'm leaving the arrangements to you. All right?"
"Understood. Leave it to me."
Hinoe accepted the order calmly.
It was a tedious process, sure, but it also served as a ritual of recognition. Only through something like this could they truly become part of the new household.
At the same time, it also meant severing them completely from the old Thousand Sons.
"Good. Then do that. You all have fun—I'm going down to the kitchen section to see what kind of meal I can put together for the newcomers." Bruce felt he ought to personally make something good for the new arrivals.
But just as he turned to leave the library, a familiar set of footsteps approached.
Then he saw Alfred, his face grave.
The moment Bruce saw Alfred personally come looking for him—and looking this serious—he understood immediately that something major had happened.
"What is it, Alf?"
"There are too many people here. Please come to the operations room. It's also a direct order from the Primarch."
"…All right. Lead the way."
Before leaving, Bruce turned and called out to Warfarin.
"Warfarin, I'm leaving the reception here to you."
"No problem! Leave it to me!" Warfarin waved without even looking up, still chatting away with the new recruits.
A moment later, the two of them arrived back at the command deck, where Curze was speaking with Selyas over the visual telephone.
"Perfect timing, new recruit," Curze said when Bruce arrived. The deep furrow in her brow finally relaxed slightly.
She gestured for him to sit, then continued:
"You remember that reconnaissance mission I had Selyas carry out in Ultramar, don't you?"
"I remember."
Bruce's heart instantly sank.
Don't tell me—
"That's right. Exactly what you're thinking," Curze said with a nod. "Something's gone wrong in Ultramar. Guilliman and the Ultramarines… they're not quite right."
"This needs to be relayed to Horus immediately. If that's true, then the trap we laid for the traitor side…"
She paused.
"…may need to be set ahead of schedule."
To be continued.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
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My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
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The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 120
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 67
Uma Musume: From Beginner 135
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 85
Uma Musume: I Want All 110
I Can Copy Unique Skills 100
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My Harem Is Indescribable 90
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Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 105
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Checking In in Demon Slayer 80
The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 85
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Honkai's Otherworld? Wait—Who Are You People?! 45
Emiya Shirou, Determined to Slay Every Curse and Evil Spirit 45
The Uma Musume Who Became 40
I'm Definitely Not the King of 45
After Maxing Out Every Class 45
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