Emperor's Bane

Chapter 257 What's in Coz's Stomach

Today is Hector's first stay on the flagship of the Gene Mother.

For the No.20 Third Company Commander, everything in front of him was a novel experience, a historic moment that he had conceived countless times but experienced personally for the first time.

For the first time, I sat with legendary seniors such as Bayar and Lana, discussed the daily affairs of the legion and various proposals, and even had lunch together to enhance their relationship. statue.

Novelty experience.

Visiting the brand-new Glorious Queen-class battleship for the first time, seeing the green potted plants, woodcut prints and story reliefs placed everywhere under the mother's decision, is like walking in a living history museum.

The names of great Astartes warriors, even mortals, were remembered along with those great victories, and it was part of the cultural change of the Legion that the Lord of the Second Legion brought to her children.

Novelty experience.

In the end, while resting in the special cabin arranged for Captain Astartes on the battleship, Hector was even surprised to find that everything in the lounge was purposely enlarged in proportion to his huge body of.

Novelty experience.

He moved in gratefully, happily recorded the diary, fell asleep peacefully, and then...

Then he was pulled from the bed with a long-distance psionic hand by his own great Primarch.

……

Sure enough, it was a novel experience that I had never had before.

The well-built No.20 Third Company Commander touched his aching head, and couldn't help expressing a soft sigh of emotion, but then he realized one thing: he was not alone in the room.

A little drowsiness was instantly replaced by cold reason. Hector grabbed the dark green sword that never left his body, and jumped up with agility that was completely opposite to his huge body, knocking down many furnishings in the room. .

The other person in the room had no intention of hiding at all, she was sitting on Hector's bedside table, leisurely waiting for Morgan's favorite son to find herself: with the help of the faint light of the voice-activated lamp, Hector recognized the comer: it seemed It was the little maid beside his genetic mother.

His vigilance eased a little, but it didn't disappear completely.

"what's up?"

"Your Excellency summons all the company commanders currently on the battleship to report to the reception hall of her private lounge. Go now, no matter what tasks and actions there are, stop immediately, Your Excellency."

"I see."

Hector nodded, but he soon discovered an embarrassing problem: Although he firmly remembered those important locations, such as the Throne Hall of the Mother of Genes, the Council Hall of the Legion Council, and the arena and The location of the Legionnaire's communal mess, but the private lounge of his Primarch...

where?
The momentary blankness in Dawnbreaker's big guy's eyes didn't escape Virgo's eyes, she casually kicked her boots on the bedside table, making a moderate noise, allowing the big guy to turn his gaze back again.

"Your Excellency has considered your special circumstances, Your Excellency Hector."

"So she asked me to take you there."

"Let's hurry up, the other company commanders have already gone to report."

"Ok."

Hector nodded. He looked worriedly at the too short and thin body of the Primarch Maid in front of him, then looked at his two-meter-high bedside table, and carefully knelt on the ground with one knee.

"Come on, grab my arm and I'll lift you down."

Dawnbreaker Nova tried his best to soften his tone, so as not to scare this mortal maid who was more fragile than a porcelain doll in his eyes, but such kindness only got a strange look mixed with helplessness.

🇧🇷
Under the surprised eyes of Nova the Dawnbreaker, Virgo casually jumped from the side of the room to the door, not even forgetting to draw a graceful arc in mid-air, and then, she pushed the road half a meter away with one hand. The thick steel door, standing in the light of the corridor, opened to Hector who was stunned.

"Take care of yourself, sir."

Saying so, the Primarch's maid had no intention of waiting for Hector at all, and her boots made a crisp clicking sound on the floor of the corridor as a final guide.

The company commander of No.20's third company hurriedly chased him out the next moment, and he didn't forget to close his own door by the way: the door that even Hector needed a little effort to push open has been photographed by Virgo at any time. up the wall.

The new star of the Dawnbreaker carefully closed the common property of the Legion, not forgetting to express a real emotion in his heart: Sure enough, on the flagship of his genetic mother, it is really Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.

Novel experience added!

……

Hector was the last of the thirteen captains to reach the Primarch's private lounge.

Since the corvee service in the Nostramo sector has just ended and the next round of military operations is about to begin, a lot of company commanders have gathered on the flagship of the Second Legion at this time, or they are members of the next expedition plan. The core figures can either represent a crucial defense zone.

After several years of expansion and almost unscrupulous conscription, the Dawnbreaker Legion successfully recruited about 36 new blood that could match the gene seed of the Spider Queen from the vast star field it ruled. After supplementation and mixing, the number of companies in the Legion was also expanded from the original 44 to [-], which slightly made up for the various shortages caused by the shortage of manpower.

And the eight new company commanders are still ruthless people who have been scrambled by countless Terra veterans. Under relatively extreme conditions, these company commanders can easily suppress five of their subordinates by simply bringing together a few old buddies. Hundreds of new blood.

This kind of absolute power crushing has made the problem of alternation and friction between the old and the new that the Primarch once worried has not appeared for the time being. The new blood treats their predecessors with respect to the legendary heroes, and has lost too much in the Great Crusade. The veterans of Terra, who have many things, cherish these hard-won hopes of the legion even more. This is a concept they have silently absorbed from the gestures of the gene mother.

Of course, respect is respect, and cherishing is cherishing. Opportunities like running for company commander to get closer to the mother of genes still have to speak entirely on their strengths. A valuable lesson in the dangers of the galaxy.

But the Spider Queen doesn't care about such small things, just like she never pays attention to the changes in the arena. The Lord of the Second Legion is willing to leave some space and place for his children to act recklessly. It is a more important link in her imperial way that pays attention to relaxation and restraint.

In fact, the Lord of Avalon has not fully figured out yet whether there is a limit to the worship and irrational pursuit of the Primarch by the Astartes warriors, but a certain instinct in her heart is telling her not to let herself The heirs of the Primarch feel that everything about them is firmly in the hands of the Primarch, allowing them to have a little secret at the right time, a loose space to relax, or an appropriate opportunity to develop their hobbies, all of which make the Legion respect her. A more obedient panacea.

Whether it is the indifference to the arena or the Primarch Sculpture Competition not long ago, it is an attempt to promote this concept. So far, the effect is quite good. This not only ensures that the atmosphere of the legion will not be suppressed, but also a To this extent, Morgan maintains a little mystery in the hearts of grassroots fighters.

Of course, only the Primarch knew about things like this, and even her personal maid only knew one or two of them, not to mention the awkward Captains of the Astartes in front of the Primarch.

Morgan looked up, and she just saw the last company commander enter the room: the huge Hector was about to take the place of the three battle brothers by himself, and before he officially took his seat, Virgo was still busy He adjusted the lights in the room while brewing a new pot of hot tea for the Primarch.

Isn't her work a little too much.

After a long absence, even the Primarch's heart, which was as dark as Vulcan's, could not help but flash a trace of doubt and guilt.

The thirteen company commanders took their seats here, their gazes filled with suspicion, wandering over the sumptuous delicacies and gene mothers in front of them, thinking about the purpose of the legion master's meeting at this time.

Morgan didn't tell them her request, she just leaned casually on her seat, and pointed to the sumptuous dinner in front of her that was getting cold.

【eat. 】

[Eat up. 】

The order is simple and direct, and there is no possibility of being asked rhetorically.

But it is still enough to make the company commanders confused further: some optimists headed by Hector think that this is the gene Primarch's love for them, but the smile on Morgan's face, which is no different from that of the glacier, is no different. evidence to support this view.

The pessimists, on the other hand, lowered their eyebrows, not daring to look at their own Primarch, while desperately recalling whether the Legion had recently failed the Primarch.

By the Emperor, may their mistakes be made up for in blood and death, not in the favor of the Primarch.

In addition to the Dawnbreaker company commanders who were full of thoughts, there were two more sober characters present, one was the oldest second company commander Bayar, and the other was not a company commander. But the chief old guard Lana who was also called by Virgo.

After the two Terra veterans saw clearly that their mother's eyes were not burning with anger related to them, they looked at each other, then tacitly picked up the knife and fork at the same time, and replaced the dead silence with silent chewing uneasy.

This played a very good role, because at the next moment, more chewing sounded one after another, everyone didn't want to be an outlier in front of the mother of genes, the most important roast beef was divided up almost instantly, The Primarch's handiwork was best acknowledged in the Astartes warriors who couldn't help themselves, which made her feel a little better.

After more than a minute, the last piece of roast beef was also stuffed into the stomach pouch, and then the cold Yorkshire pudding and sticky pumpkin pie disappeared. The tomato puree was drunk in the blink of an eye, and When more than a dozen hands reached out to the fruits at the same time, the Primarch could clearly see that her most jumpy children were quietly competing with each other under the cover of these plants, and no one wanted to give up easily Meals cooked by the mother of genes.

On the side, Diarmuid, who grabbed the last mushroom burger, lowered his eyes in a very low-key way, but he couldn't hide the pride on the corner of his mouth, just like the secret sourness of the people next to him.

……

Looks like she doesn't know enough about her brood.

Morgan couldn't help feeling.

She cast her eyes on the faces of Lana and Bayar who moved the fork first, but they stopped eating after symbolically eating a portion of roast beef. She sighed helplessly, and the anger in her heart It turned into the strange patience of waiting for his heir to complete this farce.

It wasn't until the last core disappeared into Hector's mouth that Morgan began to look at this group of good boys who had turned into a serious situation again, and looked at their eagerness to hide their seriousness with their serious faces. Just the effort of that scene.

Then, she smiled.

That smile seemed a kind of helplessness, but also a kind of weak connivance.

But even so, she stood up slowly, looked at these high-ranking officers who were enough to mobilize the entire Glorious Queen-class battleship, and showed a smile that made everyone present shudder.

[My children. 】

【I was told……】

[On my battleship, there are plenty of products? 】

【You don’t know that when he opened his mouth to describe it, the state of vigorous vitality and the competition of all things is still in front of his eyes...】

------

As soon as the amiable Captain Hector came out of the Primarch's lounge, he rushed all the way to the collective lounge where his subordinates were.

He kicked open the door of the room, and picked up one by one of his subordinates who suddenly woke up in a dream, so they could be called [Also Sleeping], and let them experience the novel experience from the company commander with jerky swings and slaps.

It wasn't until the last Dawnbreaker who was still a bit confused was slapped off the bed by his big guy company commander, that Hector stood seriously in front of several of his subordinates, and asked seriously one question.

"Does any of you have experience cleaning rooms?"

He hesitated for a moment, and added another sentence out of careful consideration.

"It's better to clean up."

Several soldiers from No.20's third company looked at each other, and after a while, they raised a hand in doubt.

"Before I became Dawnbreaker, I was always cleaning the house..."

"Well, I remember you, are you the recruit who just reported?"

"Yes, Captain Hector, my name is Vesariono..."

"very good!"

"It sounds like a lot of experience!"

------

……

"I heard that you mobilized everyone on the entire battleship last night to conduct a general cleaning of the corridors and cabin areas on the ground floor? And incidentally, the rat extermination operation?"

Ahriman casually resisted the vegetarian meal on his plate, and at the same time spoke to Hector, who was obviously not rested.

Mobilize soldiers through company commanders, soldiers mobilize high-level mortals, high-level mortals then mobilize everyone's domino effect, when the Primarch accompanied his maid to clean the dishes, on the entire Queen of Glory class battleship, except for the necessary Except for the on-duty personnel and unrelated personnel, everyone was thrown into this cleaning without any warning.

As the official envoy of the Thousand Sons Legion on the surface, Ahriman is just one of the so-called irrelevant personnel. He watched with great interest the countless Dawnbreakers and mortals running around outside his room door, busy Not touching the ground, even when he went to the arena to prepare for daily activities, he found that the huge arena was empty, which made the son of Magnus feel a little inexplicably disappointed.

Fortunately, Hector still appeared in the warrior cafeteria, but this big guy who used to be very serious about food, this time he obviously lost his mind, which aroused Ahriman's interest.

"Because the Primarch ordered it."

Hector tortured the roast beef on the plate with the knife and fork in his hand, but he couldn't taste the taste he expected. Morgan's favorite son mechanically chewed the piece of meat that he had inserted, his eyes casually The mortal high-ranking officers at the next table were patrolling.

There are a large number of public canteens on Dawnbreaker's warships, both Astartes warriors and mortal backbone elites can use them equally, the only difference between them is the difference in the dining window, many of Morgan's sons Here was made the friendship of the mundane, even Ahriman was no exception.

"Why did Your Excellency Morgan suddenly issue such an order? Is there any hidden danger at the bottom of the battleship?"

"There are... mice."

Ahriman blinked.

"Oh... so?"

"No reason, it's just that there are rats. If you really want to say, there is a whole food chain besides rats: we found all kinds of insects, rodents and even snakes. God knows when they started. thrive here.”

"There are still many fungi growing in the darkest corners, and some of them have been bitten."

Ahriman listened carefully to Hector's words, and he tried hard to control his expression, but in the end, he couldn't help showing a cheerful smile.

"..."

"That's it?"

"no more?"

Hector raised his eyebrows and looked at his best friend.

"Isn't that enough, Ahriman?"

"Ah, that's not what I mean, what I mean is: you are still too young, my friend, and in this respect, Mr. Morgan seems to be about the same as you..."

Ahriman's voice became smaller and smaller, and he carefully looked around, as if to make sure that no one else was overhearing, and then observed the face of his best friend.

"I say that, you won't be angry?"

Hector shook his head, not paying attention to Ahriman's words.

"Don't worry about that, Ahriman: our Primarch is not perfect, it's no shame to hide it, and who can be: just as she sees and tolerates our flaws, We also have to admit the shortcomings of the genetic mother and do everything we can to help her improve, which is what we should do as children."

"Speak, my friend, there is nothing to worry about."

On the contrary, the son of Magnus nodded in astonishment because of Hector's frankness. It was the first time he heard such an evaluation of the Primarch from an Astartes warrior, and it seemed that this evaluation It is already a tacit consensus in the Second Legion.

Sure enough, Lord Morgan's legion will always give him some novel experiences.

While thinking about it, Ahriman put the breakfast that he had only eaten a few mouthfuls on the table, and motioned for the mortal servants to take it away. He could see that on the other side of the hidden restaurant, there was a large kitchen garbage bin. Odorless processor.

Hector on the opposite side of Son of Magnus was doing the same thing. He waited for Ahriman to approach his ear, and described the novel experience in a low voice.

"Hector, my friend, you need to know one thing: the flagship of the Second Legion is one of the oldest and largest Queen of Glory class warships in the entire human empire. Its history is far longer than that of the Great Crusade, and its size Much better than most of its sister ships."

"Astartes like us, in the countless years from service to death, will not go to every corner of this battleship: especially the lower cabin, almost few Astartes warriors will go there , Those who are in charge of those areas are groups of [crew families], many of them have served on this battleship all their lives, experienced life, old age, sickness and death, some turrets are even the occupations of some crew families.”

"This……"

"Are you surprised, my friend? The warship under our feet is a full 25 kilometers in length. Throwing it away to Astarte, it carries at least hundreds of thousands of mortals here, which is no different from a small city: so the question is Even in a small city, can every brick and tile be clean?"

"……cannot."

"That's the reason, Hector."

"Your flagship is already a relatively good example. I have visited the Vengeful Spirit before, which is the Queen of Glory of the Luna Wolf Legion. That battleship is too old and huge. Its center is like It's a rotting, empty maze, full of rats and filth, but no one cares."

"After all, Astartes warriors never go to that kind of place, and apart from our Lord Morgan, few Primarchs seem to pay too much attention to their warships."

Hector blinked his eyes. He accepted the explanation from the son of Magnus, and couldn't help but think of something: when he led the team to the lower deck, the expressions on the pale faces of those crew members were indeed true. It is an unforgettable and complex picture.

They were in awe of the Astartes warriors who suddenly appeared, no different from those frightened mice, but at the same time, these bottom crews regarded the emperor's angels as some kind of symbol of salvation, and kept chanting Seeing the [ghost] that caused panic in the dark.

ghost……

Could this battleship still be haunted?

Thinking of this, Hector couldn't help laughing, but soon, another noise interrupted his thinking, and Morgan's favorite son turned his head, only to see a luxuriously dressed mortal senior enter the restaurant , There was a wave among those staff.

"Who is that?"

Hector looked at his best friend, he knew that Ahriman had been staying on the flagship.

Son of Magnus glanced casually in the direction Hector pointed.

"Ah, that mortal."

"Hmm... I don't remember his name, but I remember that he is the person in charge of logistics and material support and scheduling on this battleship. He is responsible for the food and clothing of hundreds of thousands of mortals on the battleship. He has been working for several years. LE: Well done."

"Your Excellency Morgan even praised his ability and scheduling level. I heard that he improved the original logistics material scheduling system when he first took over. There has never been any problem in these years. He has met all the temporary requirements of the Primarch. It can be done perfectly.”

"That's really good."

Hector nodded, softly feeling the energy of mortals.

"but……"

Ahriman changed the subject.

"I have heard some unsure gossip: It is said that this chief executive has a hobby of corruption, but he has never received real attention and there is no evidence."

Hector frowned.

"corruption?"

"Yes, I heard that he was born in a poor family on his home planet, and had a difficult life since he was a child. He worked extremely hard to get to the position on this battleship, but some things in his early years also left him a bit haggard. It is said that his corruption is not serious and has not affected his work efficiency at all. Strictly speaking, his corruption belongs to some kind of... personal hobby?"

"For example, I heard that he once worked with the chef to reduce the five slices of lemon next to the foie gras eaten by the mortal high-ranking officers to four slices. This is a half-open secret, but no one Want to manage."

"To be honest, this kind of resemblance is even a little cute."

"Why are you so clear?"

"I'm writing a travelogue, Hector, and various stories and rumors are also part of it."

"Is that so... Sir Morgan won't punish this kind of corruption?"

"My friend: A mortal who can perfectly dispatch the logistics of an entire Queen of Glory class battleship is just a little greedy, and his share of corruption is not as good as some middle-level bureaucrats in the hive capital. It's you, how do you choose? "

"understood."

Hector nodded, and then he glanced at the time, then got up and prepared to leave.

"Sorry, Ahriman, it's my turn to monitor the cleaning progress of the lower cabin."

"I didn't expect this kind of thing to go online like this."

The son of Magnus shook his head, sighed with emotion, and then asked the last question.

"But you don't seem to have fully answered my question, Hector."

"What are you doing all this trouble for?"

"In fact, I do not know."

"However, according to His Excellency Lana, when he reported the progress of rat eradication to the Primarch, he once heard the Primarch talking to himself, as if: See what he is eating this time?"

"Huh? What do you mean? Something is eating rats on this battleship?"

"I don't know, but whatever it is, it's going to starve this time."

"Not necessarily, Hector: the diet of something even mice can eat may be wider than you think."

"Maybe, but there are no rats on this battleship, so what else can it eat?"

------

……

"You said the food waste in the restaurant was looted?"

When Hector finished his duty and was about to return to the upper cabin, he heard about the [big news] that had just happened from Diarmuid, who was taking over his job.

"Yes."

Diarmuid nodded.

"The food waste disposers of at least three public canteens were looted. The other party's methods were extremely clever. No one found...and no other items were lost."

"...Only take away the kitchen waste?"

"……Yes."

"It's really...a unique taste."

"Who says no, but you have to go to the lower cabin with me again."

"what happened?"

"The supervisor in charge of the ship's logistics just disappeared in his office, and several chefs who were closest to him were also missing. They were not found in the entire upper cabin."

"...they absconded with precious kitchen waste in fear of crime?"

"It's not impossible."

"Okay, count me in."

"Thank you, Hector... wait, what are you holding?"

"Ah, this, this is the potted plant I found in the lower cabin. When I found it, it had been buried in a pile of ashes and broken garbage, and there were several other potted plants beside it."

"Potted plants? Will this kind of thing appear in the lower cabin? Isn't it a trap?"

"In general, there's nothing strange about them, except..."

"They seem to have been bitten a few times..."

"..."

"Hector, do you think they have anything to do with the missing kitchen waste, and those rats before that?"

"I can't think of it, but if it's really the same creature..."

"Then its teeth are really good."

"Yeah, it's hard to imagine what's in its stomach."

Facing a dilapidated potted plant, the company commanders of the two Dawnbreakers couldn't help expressing sincere emotion, but this emotion was soon ruthlessly interrupted by an anxious voice from the public channel.

"Captain Hector! And Captain Diarmuid! We found him!"

"!"

"Who?! The supervisor?"

"Yes, Captain, we've found the rest of his... er...."

"..."

"Report the location to me!"

……

Stripping away the mortal crew members who were in despair and panic, Hector strode to the scene of the incident and saw the terrible scene at first sight.

This is one of the important transportation hubs of the cabin on the bottom floor. Hector led his men to clean this place just a few tens of tera standard hours ago. At that time, there was no problem in this place, except for frequent The fighter feels that someone is watching him.

But now, this place has become a bloody purgatory: a body that is so hideous and terrifying that it cannot be described by mortal words is hung in the middle of the road, and the person who processed it obviously has extremely skilled [skills], because Heck Te can see the perfection after thousands of tempers from those ribs that have been neatly picked out and arranged to form the shape of [Blood Eagle]. brutal aesthetics.

The grimness of the victim's countenance suggests that he may have been partly tortured while conscious, but that his life was purposely taken for the last mercy before those more horrific ordeals began, Hector Noticed, too, that both of the victim's eyeballs were missing: some sort of disgusting speculation bloomed in him, and he hoped it wasn't true.

Recently, he even saw a potted plant lying upside down in the corner, which also had signs of being eaten, and there were also a few drops of plant juice that were about to dissipate on the ground in front of the corpse.

In this way, the two Astartes captains looked at each other silently in front of this magnificent awe-inspiring statue. They quickly reached a tacit understanding and began to disperse the panic-stricken bottom crew members, and promised to send special guards to keep them safe.

And until all this was done, the Dawnbreakers who sent the report mysteriously dragged them to the door of a room. Even through the thick door, the gradually deteriorating smell of blood inside made the Dawnbreakers involuntarily wrinkle frown.

"I think... are those head chefs in there?"

Dawnbreaker nodded.

"Have you gone in and seen it?"

nodded again.

The two company commanders glanced at each other. The overly foul smell of blood reminded them of many terrifying images, but before he really grasped the doorknob, Hector couldn't help but look at this unlucky subordinate.

"Describe to me, what's going on inside?"

"This one……"

Dawnbreaker hesitated for a moment.

"you know……"

"Turkish kebab?"

(End of this chapter)