Emperor's Bane

Chapter 237 Peace Under the Empress

[I sometimes wonder if I use the genetic sequence extracted from my offspring, or even myself, as a blueprint, and modify and reshape it to a certain extent, will it be possible to create another individual with independent thinking ability, or a brand new race? 】

[Alternatively, I can try to adjust the gene seeds and XX chromosomes of the Astartes warriors to test whether this behavior is really biologically impossible. 】

[Or, the simplest and most boring step, we may be able to complement and fuse two gene seeds from different legions, try to eliminate the disadvantages of each, draw the advantages together, and create a unique soldier who does not belong to any legion, but takes into account both advantages at the same time. 】

[What do you think, what do you think we will create?What do we get when we fuse the blood of two genetic fathers together? 】

"..."

"orphan."

Blinking her eyes, the petite maid pushing the dining car used her wisdom to provide the most reasonable and unshakable unique answer in her opinion.

This concise, absurd but somewhat reasonable answer made the silver-haired Creator who created her stunned for a moment, and then showed a helpless smile.

[Not without reason. 】

[You really have the simplest kind of intelligence, my Virgo. In the past few months, I have poured so much energy and experiments into you, and now it seems that this is a very correct thing. 】

The maid of the Primarch, Arnia, or [Virgo], under such sincere praise, just blinked her eyes and nodded, as a reward for the praise of the Lord of the Second Legion,

Her soft brain couldn't read more invisible words, so she chose an action that would never make a mistake: pushing the dining car, Virgo brought today's afternoon tea tower in front of Morgan, and then watched her mistress thank you softly, and quickly wiped out the dazzling array of pastries at an elegant but swift speed.

Witnessing this scene, Virgo tilted her head: Although she has undergone no less than a dozen transformations, refurbishments, and enhancements, and even though her brain processor is no different from the proud creation of the Mechanicus in terms of calculation speed, her incomplete thinking circuit still cannot understand some things.

For example, why could the silver-haired and blue-eyed Creator in front of her destroy an entire dessert tower taller than the Astartes warriors every 24 Terra standard hours?She swallowed baskets of apple pie and tiramisu, licking off the stickiness from her fingers one by one, and consumed jugs of sweet black tea and drinks: but she has never seen the slightest gain in weight.

But where did all the heat get absorbed?
In curiosity, she had asked, and the answer she got was the most confident and casual answer that the Primarch pinched her psoas proudly.

[Spiritual energy. 】

"..."

Virgo doesn't know much about psionics, but she still feels: Is there something wrong with doing this?

But she didn't ask, because she knew that this was not the scope of her mission: as early as in the transformation and renovation time and time again, Virgo had been emphasized countless times, and the biggest function she was shaped was to protect the safety of the battleship and Morgan's private space, and then, to satisfy all the whims of the Primarch.

These tasks are not difficult, especially the second point: Virgo clearly remembers that in the three years since she returned from Ultramar, the life of the Lord of the Second Legion was actually quite monotonous and regular. Apart from commanding her No.20 III expeditionary fleet to continuously recover and fight, and checking the construction status and political system progress in various parts of Avalon from time to time, she spent most of her time in her private laboratory, working with endless test tubes and gene seeds.

The Dawnbreakers, as well as the Rogue Traders loyal to the Second Legion, collected all kinds of technical knowledge from all over the galaxy, so that their queen could realize the ideas that kept popping up in her mind one by one. Under this supply, although the Spider Queen's technical ability is still far inferior to her most terrifying brothers, she should not be underestimated.

Arnia is the best embodiment of this kind of progress. After the sixth large-scale modification and upgrade, she won the title of [Virgo], which means two things: first, her strength, thinking circuit and future have basically taken shape.

In addition, Virgo also knows that her creator has created at least two of her kind. The Queen of Avalon named Semiramis has officially obtained a body and a psychic spell all over her body, and continues to serve as the Lord of the Second Legion under the name of [Cassiopeia].

Supervision: This is the Spider Queen's biggest requirement for her own creations, her [constellation], and her [daughters]. She used the rarest metals, the most powerful firepower, the most majestic spiritual energy and the most stubborn control to shape these projections of real existence.

Some of these [court maids] have inherited the powerful firepower bestowed by Morgan, enough to single-handedly fight against battleships or multiple Astartes companies; some have been entrusted by Morgan with psionic storms capable of tearing hives and mountains apart; all of them are monsters with a little personal will and eternal blood and tears. With Morgan's order as the only driving force, the Spider Queen can use their bodies as a description point to descend on any corner of the galaxy at any time.

They are so tyrannical that even the descendants of the Spider Queen are far inferior to their violent combat power; they are so ruthless that even the veterans of the inner ring under the Lord of the Dark Angels can be called sentimental compared to them; they are so loyal, a will from the Spider Queen is enough to completely overthrow and change all their operating logic.

And they are so expensive, cherished, and cumbersome: after almost three years, Morgan only built one such creation with his own hands, and then remodeled two more on the existing basis.

Thinking of the three to five years of shaping and refurbishment time, and thinking of the cost that is no different from a cutting-edge main battleship, the Spider Queen somewhat understood the mood of the Lord of Humanity when he was shaping the Forbidden Army.

In the planning and expectation of the Lord of the Second Legion, there may not be more than a hundred creations like [Star Maid], but when she gathers them together, it is enough to tear apart thousands of Astartes warriors.

Or beat those iron bumps under Zhuang Sen's command into scrap iron.

Thinking of this, Morgan couldn't help smiling with jealousy and a hint of revenge.

Yes, when Morgan created her [Maidens of the Stars], what flickered in her mind was the Extinction Machine that her brother Zhuang Sen carried when he confronted her on Sisyphus: Although he was laughing and laughing on the surface, at that time, Morgan did read a trace of power from those brutal and ruthless killers that was enough to make her afraid.

You know, at that time, she was not the majestic Lord of the Second Legion, she was just a weak, pitiful, helpless, but good-for-nothing [mortal] who worked hard to clock in to work and support herself: Calculated by the age of her landing, she was only eight years old at that time, and she had to face a Caliban lion with countless crazy robots.

But from that time on, an obsession quietly took root in Morgan's heart: without her noticing, Morgan secretly vowed that one day, she would also acquire a ruthless war machine like Jonson's Extinction Machine.

If she could not find satisfaction in the gift of the Lord of Men, as the Lord of the First Legion had done, then she would make it herself, to satisfy her own desires: like anything she ever experienced.

[The Maid of the Stars] This is the case, and the same is true for other things.

Thinking of this, the Lord of the Second Legion couldn't help laughing, and then, a sense of natural fatigue attacked her, causing her to weakly grab the pastry beside her and stuff it into her mouth, lazily venting her dissatisfaction caused by fatigue.

Virgo blinked. She looked at her creator, who showed a sleepiness that desperately wanted to rest, and at the same time forced to stuff her cheeks with dessert, like a squirrel storing pine nuts. She didn't think it was so strange: she had seen this kind of scene a lot in the past few years. The tower devoured it, then slumped over on the sofa bed next to it.

Just like devout believers.

Virgo blinked.

"You need rest, my lord."

【Well... I know, when I finish processing the latest file...】

The Primarch, who hadn't closed his eyes for two weeks, rubbed his eyes, then opened the secondary display screen next to him, allowing hundreds of messages to flow and report in sequence.

She couldn't help laughing.

[Sometimes, I think, maybe I should make the next maid specialize in document processing to solve these problems for me. 】

The unintentional words made Virgo's pupils start to emit a serious red light.

"My lord, before three Terra standard years, six Terra standard months, and twelve Terra standard days, you issued an order to me with the highest authority: the general management rights of the Second Legion and Avalon are not allowed to be transferred out in any form. If there is such a risk, I must remind you desperately and stop it when necessary, including destroying any individual who tries to seize your power by force."

[Still as serious as ever, my Virgo. 】

"This is the highest authority. My lord, any court maid must submit to and fulfill this highest-level order at all times when its main processor is running."

[I know, I know, my little Virgo, maybe during the next transformation, I should install some software for your sense of humor, you don’t seem to have the ability in this area right now. 】

"You don't seem to have either, my lord."

【…】

Morgan didn't speak, she turned around and started the automatic flow of reports from various sources, and Virgo also spread out her electronic board, also reporting the same content.

"The various initial activities carried out on the newly returned core world No.53 already have data results. Your Excellency Hawthorne has already entered all of them into the general database, waiting for your inspection and acceptance at any time."

"According to the report of His Excellency Hawthorne, the speaker's family in this world that has been supported by us to restore the country has accepted all the conditions, the interim governor from Ultramar has already entered, the fortress of the Ministry of Justice and the garrison fortress have started, and the selection activities of the Astartes have also ended."

"The results of this selection are very good. The Second Legion has obtained 53 recruits who can match your gene seed in the core world NO.53. Except for Avalon, this is already a huge achievement that can be ranked in the top ten so far."

[Yes, top ten. 】

Morgan sighed softly, with a few traces of sarcasm mixed in with her sighs: It has been three years, and she still doesn't have any good ideas about the problem of her gene seed, but when studying the various technologies left by that [blonde beast], she made many unintentional discoveries.

After the Randan War that Morgan had gradually forgotten, Morgan was on an unnamed world next to the Tax system, devouring the memories and weaknesses abandoned by her ruthless blood relative, Heydrich, the Primarch of the Lost No.11 Legion, and thus copied a copy of the knowledge in Heydrich's mind.

However, unlike Heydrich, even if she is also a Primarch, Morgan can't "innately know" the rich knowledge in the mind of the blond beast. She can only be like a hard-working student who has obtained an excellent textbook, laying the foundation little by little and learning from scratch.

But I have to say that her paranoid brother who is almost crazy has indeed left her a treasure: In Heydrich's knowledge, apart from the biotechnology that has almost reached the extreme, other aspects of technology are never lacking, such as machinery, physics and chemistry, and even forging technology.

After more than three years of hard study, Morgan only understood part of it, but it was enough to bring her benefits: for example, she could temporarily concentrate, copy a design blueprint of an armored vehicle from the memory of the blond beast, and give it as a gift to a small and medium-sized foundry world named Tigrus that had just fallen to her, to equip the armored troop under her command.

She even remembered that in the memory of the blond beast, the design idea of ​​this tank was actually lying in the forges and factories of Mars, waiting for the day when she could devote herself to the Great Crusade: out of the bad taste of getting ahead, Morgan did not change the original name of this tank:
Brutal Blade.

(Note: The IA2 section translation I found is that the brutal blade joined the ranks of service in the last few decades of the Great Crusade, and now there are at least 100 years before the Great Rebellion, so Morgan is the forerunner on this timeline)
In addition to this war engine that is enough to make the Primarch's eyes shine, there are also a large number of ruthless machines that can be mass-produced in the memory of the blond beast. Their technological content may be far inferior to the secret weapon of the Iron Hand, but they are enough to strengthen the increasingly large Avalon auxiliary army under Morgan's command.

As for the Avalon Auxiliary Army: there are people who like to call them the Queen’s Legion, which is the most rapidly expanding force in the new Morgan Kingdom. A large number of candidates who failed in the Astartes selection are also proved to be unsuitable for the Faithful Academy.

From the very beginning of its birth, this Queen's Legion received treatment and weaponry that were enviable to their colleagues: a large-scale armored force, a specialized fleet, plasma weapons and drone support provided by Reza's family, and even a group of Ogryn fighters specially found by Morgan, all of which made them comparable to the Sun Auxiliary Army of the same size.

In a sense, among Morgan's many policies, the Mortal Auxiliary Army was the first to receive feedback: Although the establishment of the Academy of Loyalty is beneficial for thousands of years, those governors, judicial officers and technocrats obviously cannot be trained within three years. Human bureaucrats, these elites carefully selected by the Lord of the Ultramarines, some of them now serve in the Academy of Loyalty, and some serve as the interim governors of various core worlds.

It was also with the help of these Ultramar elites that the Second Legion carried out the plan of their gene mother in a leisurely manner.

Each recovered world must be classified and positioned according to its resources, location, political environment and many other factors, and the most important [Core Worlds] will become the most important objects of care: when the Dawnbreaker Legion recovers these worlds, they will carefully create a balance of political power. The acting speaker, while other families and forces use their ability and loyalty to occupy the position of parliamentarians.

Whether it is the speaker or the councilors, their bloodlines are encouraged or even semi-forced to join the selection of the Astartes. Except for the most mediocre characters, the rest will act as the emperor's angels, or the mortal political elite under Morgan's command, forever away from their homeland and operate in another star area.

Under such a major premise, the governors and judicial officials from the Academy of Loyalty will bring technocrats and parachute into the world to hold administrative and judicial powers: they are not permanent positions, they need to be rotated regularly, or accept various assessments and tests. Needless to say, the losers, the successful ones can have a life span unimaginable by ordinary people, and even go further.

What's interesting is that these mortal elites who replaced Morgan as shepherds often came from the families of speakers and members of parliament in another distant world.

In this way, amidst the violence of the Dawnbreaker and Morgan's smile, the local forces in each core world had to bow their heads, allowing officials loyal to the Lord of the Second Legion to come and go in their territory and issue orders: This situation may never be promoted throughout the entire human empire, but focusing on the dozens of core worlds in Morgan's hands now, it is nothing more than a simple matter.

As compensation, the various forces of the [World Congress] will obtain certain legislative powers to modify the general constitution of Avalon according to the special circumstances of their world. Such powers are strictly supervised, and those family elders who perform well in similar activities will be promoted to higher-level star councils to gain more benefits for their own world and family: for example, the direction of the interstellar trade line. Of course, the premise of doing this is that they can get rid of the old foxes in other worlds.

In such interstellar councils, temporary alliances and weak deals are allowed, but any attempt to connect them in order to expand their power will be watched by the sons of Morgan who are on the verge of retirement: although the respected Lord Hawthorne is only the [chief clerk] of the Great Council of Avalon, he has always had a good relationship with the Ministry of Justice, and the elders can't always guarantee that their feet are clean.

In this way, the World Council, the Sector Council and the Great Council of Avalon, these three Senates constitute the theoretical management organization in Morgan's Kingdom and enjoy the highest power.

And Morgan's identity is just the [Chief Member] of the Great Council of Avalon, and concurrently the [Supreme Arbitrator] of the Ministry of Justice, the [Chief Interpreter] of the will of the Holy Terra, the [Tribune of the Whole Territory] of the Avalon Federation, the [National Mother] of the Far East Frontier of the Galaxy, and the supreme commander of the Avalon Armed Forces.

These are the powers and responsibilities that the elite veterans from all over the world have to shoulder with their endless trust, respect and love: and all of these are the management and order that have been gradually established in the past three years.

Everything is ready, isn't it.

The last thing Morgan needs now is a calm enough supervisory department: the Ministry of Justice obviously can't do this job at the same time. Although they have accepted the mental brainwashing and partial body modification that is no different from the Astartes fighters, Morgan does not intend to let any department under his command have power across the group.

An overseer, preferably one with the executive power, moral cleanliness, and loyalty of the Astartes: it was a problem she would have to address in the future.

The Lord of the Second Legion secretly kept this content in her heart. At the same time, she casually listened to the two-way report. Although she was serious, she didn't care.

In many cases, Morgan is not a ruler who has everything in mind. She prefers to leave professional matters to professional personnel and give them all the help, but she will not criticize them. Even if things fail, she will not be furious for no reason: the Lord of the Second Legion knows that even if you look at the entire galaxy, talents are very scarce, and should not be destroyed casually with a moment of anger.

Of course, there is also a sense of confidence in her doing this. Morgan knows that as long as she cares about any aspect of things, she can regain any power anytime and anywhere, and she doesn’t have to worry about irreversible consequences of her absence: on the one hand, she will not really not pay attention to anything for a long time;

Violence may not be the only thing that creates power, but any character who masters enough violence will never lack power: if they lack it, they will make everyone know the value of violence.

It was also under the influence and urging of this kind of thought that Morgan agreed to almost every request and plan of Luthor. She could almost feel the increasing gratitude of the old knight of Caliban through the letter paper, especially when she wrote such an answer to Luthor's request for war in a busy time.

------

I have your request, Luther, another request.

Well, let me just say it straight, my lord Luthor, you know, I have given you a fleet, and supply requirements that can be met anytime, anywhere, and I have warships, titans, and even my sons under your command, at your command: you should know what this situation means.

Stop writing me letters one by one, asking if you can persuade or conquer a new world: I gave you the fleet and everything I can give you. This is not a trust between friends, but a more serious entrustment. You can use your judgment and sophistication to decide whether to start a new war, or to retreat and compromise temporarily. I have already ordered them to follow your instructions. If your order encounters obstruction in the fleet, please let me know.

Make up your own mind, Luther, I will support your choice. Could it be that the great knight who became famous in the deep forest of Caliban and who together with Jonson gave peace to the dead world, is not worthy of such trust and entrustment?Could it be that the best friend I know, the Luthor with whom I'm drinking and talking, isn't worthy of my fleet?
Work hard, friend, don't be such a mother-in-law anymore, lead my fleet just like you once led your knight order, I believe in the calmness and rationality of an old soldier, I believe you will not let me down.

But at the same time, my friend, I hope you can care about the possibility of failure. Please don’t forget, Luther, I’m not only a Primarch of the Astartes Legion, I’m also your friend. If you really encounter difficulties, please forget all my previous words and tell me immediately: I have lost too much in this galaxy. Luther, I don’t want to lose one of my best friends.

------

The general meaning of that letter was as mentioned above. Since it was Morgan's reply in a hurry, it was inevitable to panic, but the effect was better than the Spider Queen imagined: Luthor did not send her any application letters, and the fleet he commanded was advancing and retreating in an orderly manner as always, constantly expanding territories for Morgan's kingdom.

The only thing to worry about is that the old knight seems to be too addicted to war. Morgan's heirs under Luthor have reported to their gene mother more than once. Luthor is almost burning his life to command the battle, and his rest time is short enough to make Abaddon, who came to visit occasionally, not help but express his concern.

This made Morgan think that her operation on old Luthor should be put on the agenda: simply have her almighty beast brother, and she already has a general idea and plan on this point.

Thoughts like these floated through the mind of the Lord of the Second Legion, forming a torrent like whiplashes dipped in water with the two voices reporting information beside her, constantly slapping the faltering energy of the Primarch, fortunately, she lasted until the end of listening to them.

[This is the last one? 】

"Yes, my lord, this is the last piece of recent information."

"But apart from that, there is one more thing I hope to get your confirmation. My lord, the squadron of the Sixth Fleet of the former Second Legion recently appeared in Avalon. They returned from the other side of Damocles Bay. It is said that they have a gift that is enough to satisfy you. You have ordered no one to handle this task. They can only be taken care of by you personally."

[Hmm... I have an impression. 】

[Other than that? 】

"There is one more."

"The exploration fleet and rogue traders you sent to the eastern border of the galaxy have sent back reports one after another. On the road to the future expansion of the Avalon Federation, they discovered star fields the size of about four star fields. None of them have submitted to the rule of the empire, and each is rich in at least one kind of rich resource."

[Four? 】

"Yes, according to the language of the local people, these four star regions, from near to far, are..."

"Aegis sector."

"Triple star area."

"Gulgrad Star District."

"And finally, the farthest but also the richest..."

"Salamas Star District."

(End of this chapter)