Emperor's Bane

Chapter 222 Racial Characteristics: Slow Breeding
[I have imagined that maybe my gene seeds will carry certain problems: I have psychological expectations about this matter, as well as preparations for disasters and trials. 】

[My speculations about this unknown disease even reached the point of whimsy at one point: bloodthirsty, depravity, fanaticism, reduced to an irrational monster, or lost in the waves of subspace. 】

【Every day before I reunited with you, every moment I was with you, I was worried about these problems, and I was afraid that things that I couldn't face would appear before my eyes vividly. 】

[But even so, even though the sad thoughts of hoping that nothing will happen, or the countless speculations about unknown sufferings, have flowed in my heart thousands of times, I still can't speculate even the simplest reality. 】

【I'm not a prophet: No matter how much I want to be a prophet, I can't grasp even an inch of the reality and the future. 】

【So, now, they came to me and laughed at me. 】

[In the most absurd mode. 】

【…】

[It's really interesting, isn't it? 】

[I have sighed and sighed countless times, unable to sleep at night, worrying again and again whether your bad luck is caused by me, and whether the gene seeds I donate will bring new bad news to the legion. 】

[I have feared countless times that when a new day comes, you will become bloodthirsty monsters, ignorant beasts, or be distorted by the vicious chains in your genes into blasphemous creations that the real universe cannot tolerate . 】

【I used to be so worried, so fearful, and so cowardly that I didn’t look like a son of an emperor, like a Primarch. Perhaps it was this attitude that made me receive the report in front of me. 】

[Let's take a look: In the world of Avalon under our feet, there are more than 12 billion people, a very healthy population structure, a martial atmosphere and a prevalent tradition of hunting animals, thousands of years of knight and hero culture, There is also a natural strength and bravery that cannot be explained by scientific theories. Even a weak scholar can easily kill a medium-sized beast with his bare hands. 】

[Here, we can recruit steadfast knights with superb martial arts skills, find psykers who have been systematically trained, and obtain outstanding figures with both courage and knowledge from countless noble heirs, and can fight in the boundless wilderness and recklessness. In the forest, unearth those ruthless hunters who have been able to fight wild beasts since they were young, and who know the mysteries of hunting and death. 】

[In short: From the perspective of thirsting for new blood, this is a world that can only be described as perfect, isn't it? 】

[Even other legions, my brothers and my nephews, when they are eager for fresh blood, such a world is enough to satisfy their most greedy appetite and satisfy their most picky choices. 】

[In my hands, this layer upon layer of reports shows that Avalon can completely support the replacement of a legion from old to new with its own strength: any legion can do it. 】

【But only us, no. 】

【have a look. 】

[More than one million people have passed the initial preliminary test and audition, which is the rich heritage of the world for thousands of years, and after passing the most rigorous trial level, there are still more than 5 people who have proved that they can reach What it takes to be an Astartes recruit: If it were my brother Perturabo, that would be fifty thousand standard recruits. 】

[But I am not Perturabo, and my gene seed is far from the high matching ratio of that Olympian. After desperate attempts and surgeries, among the 5 people, how many people can adapt to it? From my gene-seed, to be a Dawnbreaker? 】

[2000 persons. 】

[Just exceeded, 2000 people. 】

[From the best seedlings selected from millions of excellent candidates, 2000 new bloods who are enough to become Astartes fighters are selected, and among the entire [-] new bloods, only [-] people can match my gene seeds and become Astartes. State Warrior. 】

[And if my speculation is correct, a world like Avalon is rare, and a large-scale conscription like this one is also difficult to reproduce: What does this mean? 】

[This shows that our upper limit for recruiting new blood has been inadvertently blocked. This shows that my worries have become reality in the most ridiculous state. It shows that even if we recruit a generation from such a fertile land, we can only Can squeeze out such thin nutrients. 】

[The good news is that I don't have to worry about large-scale diseases among recruits. 】

[Because I can't recruit many recruits at all. 】

------

Hector hadn't seen his genetic mother for a long time.

After the Randan War ended and the Lord of the Second Legion was reunited with her warriors, the Legion's nova's ascension became one of the first decrees signed by the Primarch, with Morgan's pen signing a string of The beautiful cursive font, all the review and consideration were directly skipped, and Hector was also in the blink of an eye. The former captain of the Second Fleet became the supreme commander of the No.20 Third Company, the main company. .

He accepted the appointment, and tried his best to be as calm as possible, and the veterans around him couldn't see any special reason for his promotion: the last unlucky person who accidentally revealed a good relationship with Queen Gene, Now enjoy the full service of more than 1800 Terra Standard Hours in the arena of the Second Legion, this number even exceeds most of the Dawnbreakers, and is not far away from the regulars of the arena.

Hector even heard that that unlucky guy named Ahriman could even use a set of very good swordsmanship skills. Many Terra veterans were secretly amazed at the progress of the Thousand Sons. Abaddon of the Moon Wolf Legion even went to applaud from time to time.

Under the all-encompassing guarantee of the Son of Horus, Barek, the warrior of the Thousand Sons who had some concerns at first, could not help accepting the strange reality of [Ahriman suddenly awakened to a new hobby], and settled down with the son of Morgan. We continue to communicate and learn.

Of course, these are all gossip, and they are nothing worth mentioning compared to the problems the Second Legion is facing now.

Thinking of this, Hector swallowed a drop of salty sweat, and looked up at his Primarch: she was sitting there, sitting on her silver-white throne, with her arms resting there, looking extremely uncomfortable Looking at the messages in front of him, he frowned slightly.

In Hector's eyes, there was almost no change or difference between his genetic mother and when they first met. She was neither tall enough to be intimidating, nor cold enough to make people frightened. She sat there, unexpectedly Exuding a bit of mortal breath, it seemed that when she put down those unpleasant documents, she would naturally show a sly smile.

Hector's eyes and body were so eye-catching, and soon, he found his mother throwing a glance at him, which made him hurriedly lower his head, trying to hide among the dozen or so colleagues in the throne room .

【…】

Morgan looked at his heir, who was about a third taller than the other fighters, lowering his head and moving quietly, like a wild goose trying to squeeze into a flock of quails: Compared to the last time we met, Hector undoubtedly He has grown a bit taller again. If one looks at him from the perspective of a mortal, one may misjudge that he is four meters tall.

She sighed.

[Hector. 】

The geese were surprised.

[I remember that you are one of the persons in charge of the main conscription point, come and tell me what's going on in your place? 】

"Yes, mother."

Hector took a step forward, and he was even able to look at the sitting Morgan. The company commander of the Dawnbreaker contemplated his words before speaking slowly.

"The recruitment point I'm in charge of has an elimination rate of 95.4% after layers of selection. Most of the eliminated are unable to handle emergencies well during the selection process, or cannot control their mentality for a long time, thus being eliminated."

"We strictly follow your order and monitor the whole process to ensure that all candidates will not die due to external factors, and some of the eliminated candidates are indeed due to uncontrollable luck factors. After additional tests, we also allowed some of them to pass."

"All in all, we have strictly complied with your order: every candidate who can pass the screening is a rare and precious asset, and their lives should not be ignored and discarded at will: under the creed here, we start from the Of the 15 candidates at the conscription station, seven thousand qualified were selected, all of whom were good enough to become Astartes warriors."

"Afterwards, after conducting a series of observations, we sequentially performed gene seed modification operations on seven thousand qualified persons: No.1 qualified person who underwent the operation was Kuran from the continent of Ahiberia, he... ..."

There was the shortest pause in Hector's voice, which was enough to make the eyes of the entire throne room focus on him.

【What do you want to say?Hector? 】

"...I have no right to judge any recruit, mother..."

[I agree, this time, I agree, let's talk. 】

"Yes, mother."

"Kuran...Kuran is not a noble warrior. He has a beast-like state of mind and thinking. His talent and tenacity are indeed speechless, but he..."

[But he is not enough to be a real fighter? 】

"...I dare not jump to conclusions, mother."

[I know, I know the worries in your heart, Hector, we can't guarantee that every genius is a saint, we can only hope that the transformation surgery can play its original role. 】

【However, since you care so much about this soldier, I remember he passed the transformation operation? 】

"Yes, he is the first to undergo the transformation surgery, and also the first qualified person to complete the transformation surgery. Strictly speaking, he is now an Astartes warrior, my battle brother: the whole Among the 800 qualified candidates at the conscription point, less than [-] completed the surgery, and he was the first."

[In other words, my gene seeds only have a success rate of about 10%, because other conscription points have not broken through this number, and even one or two conscription points have been completely wiped out. 】

[As for Kuran... If you care about him so much, Hector, after he finishes training, transfer him to your company, I agree. 】

"Yes, mother."

[Let’s all retreat now, if there are any documents to be handed over directly from the parliament, I want to be alone. 】

The Primarch waved her hand. Although her order was abrupt, no one dared to disobey it. After 1 minute, the entire throne room was empty.

It wasn't until the last person left that Morgan slumped on his throne, feeling the roughness behind him, and let out a sigh of relief.

"Are you worried, Ontology?"

In the shadow of the silver throne, Semiramis and the maid walked out one by one. The Empress of Avalon picked up two cups of black tea from the pink and white tea set in the hand of the maid, and offered one of them to Morgan.

[No, I'm actually not surprised. 】

Morgan drank it all in one gulp, and then fiddled with the cup boredly.

[I already had this psychological expectation a long time ago, and to be honest, the current situation is even better than I thought. 】

[Do you know about the mutation of flesh and blood? In my initial guess, my offspring may have the same problem, and they will run wildly on the doomed path of destruction. 】

[After all, thinking about how the demons danced in my soul, I was watched by two great powers of the warp and a tyrant in the physical universe, how could my gene-seed be intact? 】

[The current situation is much better than I thought, but the success rate is pitifully low. Compared with the real genetic diseases of other legions, this is not a fatal problem. 】

[I can even guess why this happened: After my genetic father found out that I was tainted, he must have tried countless methods to restore me, and by the way regarded me as the return of those bad genomes of other primarchs I'm afraid even he himself doesn't know what kind of unrecognizable appearance my genetic module has been modified during this process. 】

[Under the influence of this temporary remedy, the cobbled together gene module, my gene seed was affected, which resulted in the rejection of most candidates' bodies, resulting in the current low success rate. 】

[It's easy to understand, isn't it. 】

Semiramis sat aside, and it took her a moment to comprehend the words before she nodded.

"It's really easy to understand, but the question now is: how do we solve this problem?"

The maid put down the tea set and picked up her slate and pen.

[This is a problem, but it is not enough to pose a fatal threat for the time being: as long as we maintain a cautious posture and cherish our troops as much as possible in battle, the soldiers under my command can still maintain a slow growth, but the originally planned speed of conquest To speed up, the sequence of conquest should also be changed. 】

[If possible, I need to conquer the other fifteen galaxies in this star sector in the next standard year of Terra, expand the conscription base, and continue to attract immigrants from other regions. 】

"Where did you draw it from?"

[Isn’t there a kingdom of aliens everywhere in this galaxy? 】

Morgan rubbed the corners of his brows a little annoyed.

[Thanks to the dark age of technology before humans, this galaxy is full of human colonies, a considerable part of them fell in the age of disputes, and became slaves of various alien empires and pirates. 】

[These alien empires are the goal of killing two birds with one stone: aliens can be captured to refine my Spear of Eros, and human slaves can be liberated by us, brought back as population, and those vacant worlds can be thrown to Terra The bureaucracy meets our performance. 】

"In this way, we need to divide the army into two groups in the future?"

[Almost, in the early stage we can hunt the alien empires around, but there will always be a time when the hunt is over, but by then I should have completed the construction of various systems for my country, I will build a few more projections, and work with you To maintain, I will lead the main force of the legion to other places in the galaxy to wipe out those alien empires that enslave humans. 】

"So, maybe you will become the liberator in the eyes of mortals in the future?"

[It’s just a useless false name. 】

"So, do you need to adjust Avalon's future development path?"

[No, just continue the current state: all countries are united under one government, but they are independent of each other, maintaining a kind of competition or even low-intensity war, which is conducive to the emergence of new seeds, you just need to keep an eye on me Those things that were ordered, prevent the traces of chaos from appearing here. 】

"I will, but I always feel that this world is a bit special. The mortals here are unusually strong and seem to have a kind of resistance to chaos: I personally speculate that there may be something buried in that cold field. "

[No maybe, there must be something in there, a crazy product inherited from the dark age of technology, maintaining this world with inertia and the last order: I will go in one day to find out, but not now, I need more More strength and better preparation. 】

"Can't we send the aircraft first?"

[From outer space, the continent is shrouded in a strange electronic storm, which cannot be detected. It can only be inferred vaguely that there seems to be a huge city ruins and a series of strange mountains that are too tall to meet the common sense of geography. , As for low-altitude aircraft, all of them have gone and never returned. 】

[In short, you don’t have to worry about it for the time being, just keep monitoring. I have already summarized the development direction and possible situation of Avalon in the next century, and I leave it to you. Calculated, each conscription can also provide hundreds of recruits. At present, this is indeed a number worthy of attention. 】

"I understand, but what are you going to do about genetic diseases?"

【...I will deal with it. 】

Morgan hesitated, and finally pointed to his head.

【Do you know why I was able to cooperate with Perturabo in the experiment, and there was no problem for eight days in one breath? 】

"why?"

[Because I ate part of the soul of Heydrich, my brother No. Restore all those that work for me. 】

"not now?"

[No, because Heydrich was born with these things, and I acquired them the day after tomorrow. If Heydrich and Perturabo were born knowing them, then I have acquired a bunch of textbooks: although they It is in front of me now, but I still have to study and experiment a little bit before I can truly master these knowledge and principles. 】

[This is a long period of time, it may take more than ten years or even longer, but as long as I study them thoroughly, I will definitely be able to find a corresponding solution. 】

[Original Cast, Raptor, or Super Raven Guard, this is one of its names in the future, and some of the operations of those Golden Guards, and when my genetic father transformed the Primarch and some other warp creations process and perception. 】

【I found them, and it was in Heydrich's memory: the emperor gave them all to him, and it seems that he once trusted this heir extremely, didn't he? 】

【After all, even Heydrich was once his child. 】

【Not like me...】

The two Morgan creations raised their heads following the fading words. For a moment, they saw the head of the Lord of the Second Legion tilted to one side, and his pupils disappeared into the shadowy silhouette of the radiant light.

However, this performance only lasted for a fleeting moment.

[But it doesn't matter, I will get them with my own hands. 】

[It only takes time, a long but necessary time. 】

The Primarch showed a somewhat weak pale smile, it seemed that the bad news had indeed hit her to some extent, she beckoned and let her maid come to her, stroking her soft hair.

【Arnia, my Arnia, my little proud creature: What do you think of her strength, Semiramis? 】

"You once boasted to me that she has siege-level firepower and extremely high intelligence, and can even be directly commanded by you when necessary. I think that among your descendants, there may not be many individuals stronger than her .”

[Indeed: But what if Ania is not a special case? 】

"……What did you say?"

[Perturabo gave me a copy of all the blueprints. Relying on the wisdom of being the Primarch and the memory of Heydrich, I can continue to create such characters, although the speed will be very slow, but if things go on like this, it will always be can be quantified. 】

"Is this a supplement to combat power?"

[That's right, a robot that acts exactly according to my orders: Since those Martian fighters are already in front, and I have made something similar, what can they say, this is not artificial intelligence, all kinds of Under the various iron armors, there is no electronic hub for independent computing, but a new type of wetware with my soul fragments as the core. 】

"To put it simply, put a pieced together soul into a war engine?"

[You can call it a demon engine. 】

"That's a bad name."

【I know, so it's not a real demon engine. After all, there are no demons in it, it's just my soul fragments, and...】

[You know, when I saw the craftsmanship of this weapon in Heydrich's memory, who was the creator I saw? 】

"..."

Seeing the corners of Morgan's raised lips, Semiramis didn't dare to make a sound.

The empress of Avalon coughed, rolled her eyes, and thought of a very important question.

"But this method is not obvious for supplementing combat power, the ontology."

【I know, so I'm also thinking of other ways. 】

[For example, my descendants, maybe I can use some method to retain their souls that died in battle, and then let them continue to fight in an illusory state, or...]

【Those things of the Spirit Race...】

[Endless circuit... Soul stone... Nether lord or Nether prophet... Since a broken body can stay in fearlessness, is it also possible for a complete soul? 】

"This sounds like a very dangerous idea, Noumenon. I don't think the one from Holy Terra will be happy. His anger is something we can't bear for the time being."

[I know that if I merge with the aliens to obtain these technologies, then I will definitely die, and I know this very well. 】

[But what if... are other ideas and means? 】

"...for example?"

[In terms of probability, as long as I eat enough spirit race souls in the future and usurp their memories and ideas, there will be a certain probability that I can piece together one or two spirit race technologies from the memories of each spirit race ,Is not it? 】

"Whimsical idea, Ontology."

[Life sometimes needs a little whimsy. For example, I want to get rid of those terrible things in my mind. If I didn't have this whimsy, maybe I would have gone crazy. 】

Morgan smiled, her complexion looked worryingly pale, and her state seemed to be a little out of the ordinary. From time to time, she would close her eyes, take a nap for a while, and then open them quickly, regaining clarity and swiftness again. speed of speech.

"You may need to rest, Essence."

[Not now, Semiramis. 】

"It's now: you have just deduced and compiled plans for the conquest and governance of Avalon, the entire star region and other star regions, and even arranged additional plans for each plan, and you have also inquired about the [-] The personal information of the unsuccessful candidates, so as to arrange them to the most suitable colleges, and then, you observed the actual situation of each kingdom, and gave me a whole set of reform plans: as long as I fulfill them all, Ava The Long live a standard of living that would be the envy of the inhabitants of any world."

"I thought, maybe you could give Guilliman a gift of this set of reforms during your next visit, and he might like it very much."

[It makes sense, I will send another copy of the "Spiritual Canon" written by myself, just because I can't think of what gift I want to prepare, so I will use them to make do with it. 】

Semiramis quietly listened to the words from the main body. In her brain, the only thought was constantly spinning, thinking hard about their common cause.

"You seem to value the well-being and power of those mortals, Noumenon."

【Yes. 】

[In the beginning, this was a dispensable idle game, but now, as my legion is temporarily unable to expand quickly, I need the power of these mortals even more, and I need to extract value from them. 】

"Extract?"

"I don't see which of your policies is about extraction. The ruling ideas and reform methods you gave me are all about how to better weaken local power, promote social progress, improve stability, and how to establish a new Channels of social circulation, establishing a rational approach to class leapfrogging.”

"They don't seem to be about extraction, Ontology."

[No, Semiramis. 】

A smile appeared on the corner of his pale mouth.

[This is extraction, this is the best extraction, and it is also the most brilliant extraction: What do you think extraction is?Relying on your own strength and body shape, can you cut more weight from the existing cake? 】

"indeed."

[But I have another way, my Semiramis: I can make the cake bigger, let everyone eat more, so that they will willingly contribute to this process, and even I can inadvertently , Expanding their own share, they will not find out: ordinary people are short-sighted, as long as I give them a better life and more benefits, they will not be able to see things at a higher level. 】

[Remember, Semiramis, what I need is not a group of dead souls squeezed to the point of mummies, and then extract the last oil from them: that would be too stupid. 】

[I want them to become strong, greedy, and courageous to open up. I want to make the society of mortals more efficient, reasonable, and productive, and let their belief and loyalty grow along with my will. Running, giving me more and more. 】

[Sustainability, man. 】

【This is our true future. 】

[We want to make their lives better and happier, and let them deeply feel that they have gained benefits and progress. Only in this way can they work hard for us, become our screws and troops, and be invested by us on a larger scale In the expansion of China, we inadvertently took away more autonomy, and eventually became part of a centralized country with me as the core. 】

"...a question, ontology."

【Say. 】

"Do you have so many benefits to distribute to them?"

[Don’t forget, this is the Great Crusade. There are countless worlds and territories outside the Avalon star sector. 】

"But one day, the cost of war will outweigh the benefit, unless you can find a benefit that can make them feel attractive without war and more investment."

【yes……】

[But what if... I have it? 】

"..."

Semiramis didn't answer, because she was sensitive to notice that Morgan had fallen into some kind of unconscious rest again.

As Semiramis said just now, Morgan's current state is visibly bad. She leaned on her throne and touched the maid's hair from time to time, looking a little listless.

"Obviously, Ontology, you have been dragged down by the high-intensity work for more than ten days in a row."

[It’s not, Semiramis, it’s just that I need to burn the souls I have stored in order to work with all my strength, and I have almost burned the last reserves, so now I am a little weak. 】

"Then, you should change your next recovery route and attack those alien countries first to obtain enough reserves of alien souls, and then go to recover those independent human colonies."

[Reasonable advice. 】

Morgan rubbed the corners of his brows and hummed softly.

[I remember that among the remaining fifteen galaxies in the Avalon sector, there are still eleven independent alien kingdoms, six large-scale pirate forces, a newly-emerged Greenskin, and three independent human colonies . 】

[The two weaker colonies have already sent a reply, willing to surrender to the human empire and accept all arrangements, as long as we wipe out the pirates around them, but the stronger and independent human colony rejected the envoy's proposal . 】

"Sounds very confident."

[They have the capital of self-confidence: an entire galaxy that is armed, a highly industrialized parent star, several satellites that have also completed industrialization, two agricultural worlds that allow them to be completely self-sufficient, and the entire galaxy. Mining stations and floating fortresses. 】

"A standard pocket empire."

[Yes, they are even stronger. They have a whole fleet, including big guys that can rival the battleships of the Empire. Besides, they also have a population far larger than that of Avalon, and several powerful land corps. Not even much low-altitude power, since they've long since been needed. 】

[In the distant era of strife, they once established a moderate hegemony in this star area, and also expeditioned to some worlds in other star areas, which was enough to make them arrogant enough to reject my envoy. 】

"So, you're going to conquer it?"

[After destroying a few alien empires, I will personally take the main force of the legion. After all, this kind of world needs to be treated seriously. I can't afford to lose soldiers now. If I can do it myself, I should do it myself. 】

"And what about those rogues?"

[I will hand over part of the reinforcements sent by Reza, the Iron Warriors, the Dark Angels, and the Catachan Corps to Luthor, and let him be in charge of encircling and suppressing the bandits. The two routes will be carried out at the same time, and the star area will be pacified within a year, and then According to my previous plan, start a comprehensive construction. 】

"Sounds good, but what you need now is rest, body, if your soul is weakening, then I may disappear temporarily."

[It’s not that far yet. 】

Morgan smiled.

[But I do need to rest. After I issue the first battle order against that pocket empire, I will take a long rest. The matter of the war will be handed over to my council first, and Avalon’s I leave it to you, Semiramis. 】

"clear."

[I asked Lana to go to the world near Avalon, which contains unimaginably rich minerals, which are enough to become Mars in our hands. I asked him to lead people to quietly place those production lines on it. Attracted by the mineral world that I threw out belonging to other galaxies, I am busy distributing the spoils internally. 】

[As for Hawthorne, I asked him to start the establishment of the Academy of Loyalty on the world that is the second closest to the sun. Don’t forget to take the second exam among those who failed the election, my Semiramis, and then How to put it, we need at least [-] students at the very beginning. 】

"I see."

"However, what is your first combat command, Ontology?"

"Send a harassing fleet?"

【Do not. 】

Morgan smiled, a smile that was sly enough to make those who knew her instinctively uneasy.

【I can……】

[Send a bigger mission. 】

　It seems that I have a cold or rhinitis today. In fact, it started last night. As a result, these photos may not perform well. Sorry, sorry...

　　Let’s skip the specific process of farming. After all, I’m not a professional. If you write it carefully, it’s easy to cause high blood pressure. I personally think that the system and the system need to conquer a star area before it can work. After I get it working, write a side view to see.

　　Moreover, Morgan's farming method is actually not complicated, it is very simple, so simple that you can find the corresponding words in history textbooks.

　　I will start writing the first battle tomorrow, the first battle between Morgan and the Dawnbreaker Legion in the true sense, the opponents, you should be able to guess roughly, I am based on the Battle of Gardiner in Iron Hands.

　　There is also the problem of gene seeds. I have never found out the scale of conscription during the Great Crusade, so I wrote this first. If any readers know, please tell me. There must be problems with the second group of seeds. It was the result of my special care that the second group didn't have a flesh and blood mutation.

　　And from now on, I will start to add cheats to Morgan a little bit. This is not good for the indigenous protagonist, and he can only toss in the Warhammer system. able……

　　Look at my nonsense!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)