Emperor's Bane

Chapter 281
Along with the extermination war against the Osiris psionic species, which ended with the complete victory of the human empire, the many military operations of the Ultramarines and Dawnbreakers on the southern border of the galaxy have finally come to an end.

After all, this war did not cause more waves: except for Guilliman and his heirs, the genocide of Osiris has more vengeance, and there is actually no more special thing about this race. However, it is not worth the empire to remember its name.

As far as the current human empire is concerned, it is destroying thousands of such alien races in different galaxies of the Milky Way at all times, regardless of whether they have the ability and past to harm human beings. Their existence is enough to make the army of the lord of mankind ruthlessly send down the gospel of destruction.

Maybe Osiris is indeed a powerful race, and maybe in the future, they may indeed use their strength and ruthlessness to leave a strong mark in the galaxy, but these are meaningless to the current empire and Terra , in the face of the tireless destructive force of the Lord of Humanity, the psionic species are no different from the countless civilizations in the galaxy. They are destined to be destroyed by the emperor's war machine, and they are destined to use their own bones to fight death. To lay the foundation for the great revival of human civilization.

If not the Legions of the Ultramarines and the Dawnbreakers, there will be other expeditionary fleets to destroy this race: for in the Emperor's vision of the future, of course, there is no place for these abominable aliens, their only value is to become a Spread the dried blood mud, so that the emperor's servants can step on it and sing the eternal name of their great master.

The Lord of Humanity is entrenched on his eternal glorious throne, using the endless evil thoughts and otherworldly power in his soul to constantly weave terrible plots to subvert all civilizations in the galaxy. He is the obsessed person in the hearts of all civilizations The manifestation of fear and fear, because the killing intent on the throne is so boiling and heavy, it is enough to swallow all hopes and dreams, anger and disputes, love and hatred, until everything surrenders to the deep palace In between, the monotonous sound of great plans and great achievements that constantly echoes.

Before that, the human empire, a war machine that devours everything, will never stop its footsteps. One after another, cold-blooded and ruthless orders will continue to be issued from the noble palace of the holy Terra, urging the emperor's ruthless Wuxi's army marched on until humanity could destroy everything in the galaxy.

……

[Or devour them. 】

On the silver throne, the Empress of Avalon whispered softly.

She crossed her legs, a little absent-minded, the snow-white catkin and the thin shoulders complement each other at a lazy angle, and the posture leaning on the throne is not so much sitting upright as a reserved look. Recumbent, it seems that the only reason for her to maintain a sitting position is the slender wrist that is lazily leaning on one side of the armrest.

At this moment, the spider queen's hair exists in a state of juxtaposition of seriousness and looseness. They are simply restrained, but they can still be scattered all over the throne at will, vaguely enveloping the lazy princess. Against the background of these snow-white vines, the veil skirt embellished with the sky and the night is a bit negligent, until the raised legs knead the expensive indigo silk continuously, turning them into mysterious mountains The lines covered the snow-white underbelly behind them, and the strange and disordered light flashed from time to time.

There was a breath of spiritual energy.

Queen Gene yawned lazily. She nestled deeply on her throne, enjoying the leisure that no one could see. The dreaded blue abyss turned into a pool of kind and clear spring water, and even a few strands of silver hair stained the cheeks on both sides, and he didn't realize it.

She put almost all of her strength on the arm resting on the side of the head, while the other arm was so flimsy that it stayed in mid-air, constantly changing, between those pale nails, faintly A sound similar to the flipping of a coin can be heard.

Morgan listened to these voices, she seemed to be asleep, but she didn't seem to, the mother of genes just nestled there, her slender eyelashes closed almost immediately, leaving only the last gleam of brightness, accompanying her The faint snoring in the chest sang a drowsy soothing song together.

She sat there with her head bowed, maintaining a kind of silence and stillness like a statue of Venus, only the surging two hemispheres on her chest broke the quietness, and under her feet , beside her, in this world that she calls lonely, everything at this moment is accompanied by her breath, falling into a kind of holy sleep.

But soon, there was a sound of leather boots that were not heavy but clear enough, accompanied by the aroma of the piled up delicacies, and broke the sleep of Queen Gene together. This reckless intruder came through the back door of the throne room. After walking out, he came to Morgan's side with ease.

【Virgo】Pushing her dining car, after discovering that her Creator seemed to be indulging in a nap, she tilted her head and picked up a plate of fruit on the dining car, which was filled with the freshest apples, pears and green grapes .

The Primarch's maid held this plate of precious fruits specially sent from the heavenly world with one hand, while the other hand easily grabbed a vacancy on the armrest of the throne, and dragged her entire body to the side of the throne. side, then picked up the freshest bunch of grapes, and slowly moved it in front of the Spider Queen.

"The grapes you asked for, my lord."

She is familiar with the road, and it seems that this is not the first time she has done this.

The Primarch did not reply, but responded with a protracted hum. She carefully smelled the sweetness in the air, raised her face slightly, opened her two pale lips, and precisely bit the bottom part. With a light roll of the tongue, it was wrapped into the mouth, and slowly began to chew.

The Primarch ate very slowly, and Virgo waited patiently. It wasn't until a whole bunch of green fruit pellets fell into the Spider Queen's belly that seemed never to be filled that the Primarch's maid put down the fruit plate. While squeezing his master's sore shoulders, he looked at Morgan with strange eyes as he shrank back again.

"Are you ill, my lord?"

[No... I'm just resting... I'm a little tired, my Arnia. 】

The primarch responded in fits and starts, with bouts of sleepy delay after bout.

"But you just devoured so many alien souls. In theory, you should be full of energy now, at least you should be more active than usual."

[Because they are not enough at all, not even a drop in the bucket. 】

The Primarch yawned, and she showed her free hand to her maid. As the pale fingers kept flipping, the sound of coins colliding was clearly transmitted into the Virgo air message receiver, but her visual array was Nothing resembling a coin was captured.

"What is this, my lord?"

[Coin, an invisible subspace coin, has no price and no logo, but it does have a value enough to make those creatures in the subspace crazy about it. 】

The Spider Queen laughed, and she casually introduced this unintentional product.

[I harvested countless souls in the war with Osiris, but it is undoubtedly a troublesome and low-return thing to classify them separately, so I finally chose this tricky way. 】

[Each coin is a total of 1 alien souls, and according to their strength and soul strength, the value of these coins will also fluctuate. 】

"What are you going to buy with them?"

[No, it's just a bunch of consumables. 】

Having said that, the Primarch yawned again, and her slightly opened brows and eyes revealed an obvious fatigue, as if she had just exhausted all her energy in some extremely difficult undertakings.

"Consumables?"

【Yes, Arnia. 】

【Do you still remember the weapon that my genetic father gave me? 】

"Are you ready to start refining it?"

[It’s still early, the soul of the entire Osiris race can only support me in my heart to ignite a pile of real flames that belong only to me: not to mention how long it will take for this pile of flames to refine metals However, just to make this pile of flames continue to burn, it needs an astronomical number of souls to support it. 】

【…】

[Maybe I should think of a way to find some people to help me work. 】

"...I have a question, my lord."

【Just ask. 】

"Since your [flame] exists in your own spiritual world, why do you have to expend so much energy, even devouring an entire psionic race as a raw material, to ignite it?"

Virgo's question was sincere, but Morgan's smile from the corner of her mouth was bitter after hearing the words.

【Did you forget that there are three debtors in my heart? 】

"...I thought they had little effect on you, my lord?"

Morgan opened her eyes, and her ruthless vision swept over Virgo, causing the latter to shrank her neck. The Spider Queen looked at her creation seriously, and after a long time, she let out a sigh.

[Even though you are my creations, even though you are actually another me that is not complete, I still cannot expect that you can fully empathize with me. 】

There was a coldness in her pupils.

[They never disappeared, my innocent Anya, they just fell into temporary silence, like three sleeping dragons, showing a rather false harmony and ease. , that's all. 】

【Because now is the Great Crusade, because now is the only glorious moment before everything is destroyed, because victory and conquest are the main theme now, so they have temporarily restrained their minions, and no longer engage in meaningless battles with each other. I am content with those lands that I have cut off in my heart: because neither they nor I can shake more territorial changes in a short period of time. of that war. 】

[Simply put: this is not peace, this is just a 120-year truce. 】

[Those god-like existences have settled down in my heart, and they no longer torment me with the most terrible pain: That's why you see my relaxed appearance now, and I myself occasionally indulge in it, Deceive yourself into thinking you can live in peace. 】

[In fact, such fantasies are indeed very tempting to me. When I see my heirs and the army bowing to me, I will forget the abysses in my heart. 】

[But sometimes, I also have to think about it: they are just asleep, they just have no time to care about others, and they will eventually return to my heart again to compete for my soul and destiny. 】

[So, before that, I need to be prepared. 】

"Like, this new fire you kindled with coins?"

[Yes, it exists in the wasteland other than the three-party forces, that is the only land where I can live in peace, I suspended it at the top of my abyss, and awakened the flames with millions of souls, And waiting for it to eat up the fuel I left behind and grow: it might take a little while. 】

"how long?"

[Now that we have completed our operations in the southern part of the galaxy and bid farewell to our Ultramar brother: then when we return to Avalon, we will clean up those remnants in the darkness outside the Territory, and by the way After harvesting a round of souls, this flame can almost take shape, and by then, I should have already accumulated enough new piles of coins. 】

[At that time, I can officially start my forging plan. 】

"Then those in your heart... exist, won't you intervene?"

【They won't. 】

[They are happy with this, everyone thinks that they can benefit from my forging, and I believe this is why they chose a temporary truce: each of them has something that I want to do, if If my mind is always a chaotic battlefield, then I am doomed not to be able to act according to their wishes. 】

【So, they gave me 100 years of nothingness dreams, so that I look like the most ordinary mortal now: this false gift is the best trick of the gods, and it is also my favorite gift. 】

"……like the most?"

[Yes, because I know why this quiet time as a gift exists, who gave it to me, and when and for what reason it will be taken back: exactly It is because of these important elements that I now dare to enjoy this tranquility with confidence and boldness. 】

[Although, it is just a short and false dream. 】

Morgan closed her eyes, and she seemed to be resting once more: but no one knew, not even the closest Virgos, what torture the Primarch's rest was.

There are some things that Morgan is destined not to say to Virgo: that's not necessary.

Closing her eyes, some broken memories poured in like water, along with the accustomed tingling deep in her heart, constantly reminding the Spider Queen of what she saw when she chose to ignite that flame. .

What she saw: erosion, and pain.

That was the erosion of the gods, that was her pain.

------

In a sense, Morgan actually lied to her Virgo: thanks to the fact that the Star Maid Unit [-] was not a warp-oriented type from the beginning, the Primarch's little confidant did not see through her lie. .

Fundamentally speaking, the Spider Queen has not fallen into true tranquility at all, otherwise she would not need to visit the queen of Comoros who is hidden in her golden house on a regular basis: but then again, the queen of the arena is in When the soul was lost by a little bit of Ling Chi, the slight groan leaked out was indeed a wonderful movement that was enough to make people intoxicated, which attracted the Lord of the Second Legion to occasionally stay for a while longer.

Of course, that wasn't enough to assuage the pain in Queen Gene's heart: pleasure could never be the source of pain, perhaps only the purest hatred could.

Morgan's heart was actually not peaceful.

Just like the eternal game in the sea of ​​souls, the competition of the gods will not stop in the literal sense, even if their consciousness may have avoided each other, but their captured from the turbulent flow of emotions and thoughts The powers that come are far from their complete control: even if they are gods.

And this point is also clearly manifested in the spider queen's heart: even though the three palaces in Morgan's heart that symbolize the supreme authority have fallen asleep, even though she is even used to those voices no longer entangled in her heart. The tranquility in the ears, but under this seemingly temporary harmonious appearance, there are still countless boiling vicious flames.

And on the wasteland that symbolizes Morgan's spiritual world, in the shadows as powerful as three gods, the battle is far from over: the flames and storms of different colors symbolize their respective loyal masters, and continue to fight on countless fragmented battlefields. Fighting on the ground: The original grand three-way battle has turned into thousands of small battles on the battlefield. Although there is no shock of the powerful collision between the gods, this completely chaotic death fight has an uninterrupted rhythm. Brutality and violence tortured Morgan's mind in a more rude and lengthy way.

After all, every piece of land ravaged by these unconscious flames and storms is the heart and consciousness possessed by the Spider Queen, and it is her real spiritual world.

But for Morgan, this is a tolerable improvement after all: the original wrestling of the three gods was like three sharp knives constantly cutting her soul, and then snatching the pile they each occupied. Every strike under the conquest is enough to bring terrifying pain to the Spider Queen.

But now, the three sharp blades have disappeared, replaced by insects overwhelming the sky, constantly scratching her land with sharp tentacles, and causing disturbing shocks in her heart with the mouthparts of strife: although such damage is the same It's annoying, but compared to the terrifying size of the Primarch, these subspace aftermaths without self-awareness at all are too small, even if their numbers are overwhelming, they are not enough to cause more damage to Morgan. troubled.

Compared with the sharp blades the size of three galaxies, the bites and claws of countless insects are a kind of insignificant damage: at least this is what the Spider Queen herself thinks. After the initial depression, she seems to be able to adapt to her heart perfectly. There are thousands of swarms of insects in it all the time, adapting to the dense wounds caused by the billions of carapace rampaging on the land of one's soul.

What is more, she had come to see all this as the background of a certain peace of mind: she had been able to see the torture as a kind of torture, despite the endless fires and storms that continued to ravage her mind like a never-ending torrential rain. It's a small scene of gentle wind and light rain.

She got used to them, even equating them with real peace.

Therefore, in many cases, Morgan seems to be a little too comfortable: this is not because her torment and pain have disappeared, but because her definition of pain has made rapid progress over the years. It seems that any other means can no longer make her feel troubled and at a loss.

In short, the Primarch seemed to have entered a semi-eternal sage state: and she felt that it was a good state, and worth keeping for a long time, in order to continue to maintain this self-deceitful peace of mind.

And in this more or less painful comfort, the Primarch can calmly organize her energy, think about the important things she needs to care about in the real universe, and plan what she has learned from countless futures. maximum benefit available.

At this time, her maid will become her assistant who has everything to say. When Virgo opens her Minerva array and sorts the agendas to be considered stored in her by the Primarch, Morgan's thinking It can even run at top speed.

[Which is the highest level agenda? 】

"Vashtor, the Engine of Dissonance, and the Plague Heart stored in the stasis field."

[The heart of the plague, has anything happened recently? 】

"No, it's quiet."

[Quietness is not necessarily a good thing. 】

"What are you going to do with these things, my lord, and collect them as quickly as possible?"

[No, my Arnia. 】

[If I collect these three artifacts as quickly as possible, then the biggest beneficiary will only be my genetic father, and I will get nothing: if the emperor is in a good mood, maybe He'll reward me with scraps for this, but is there anything else in his hand that might appeal to me? 】

【No. 】

[But then again: I am slightly interested in Heydrich's memory of those things called the Golden Throne and Black Glass. Unfortunately, even Heydrich doesn't know much about this, so Like him, he has made very few achievements in the Internet channel. 】

[Our genetic father, after all, is hiding many things from us. 】

[On the contrary, these subspace artifacts, such as the Tuchuercha engine hidden in my territory, if I can grasp them for a while in the name of missions, then the hidden benefits for me are hard to come by. Rich in imagination. 】

Virgo blinked.

"I think I need to remind you: given how much the Emperor attaches importance to these things, he may not be able to stand your tricks. That is to say, even if you have mastered these things in private, you can't master them for too long, otherwise it will be very dangerous. May draw the armies of Holy Terra."

[I know, I have no doubt that my father is ruthless in this regard. In his heart, I am definitely not as important as the so-called network channel. I even doubt that if he could get the so-called network channel, he would not Will sacrifice all Primarchs without hesitation. 】

"Have you seen yourself and your blood relatives as a collective?"

【…】

[This is just a fact. 】

Morgan waved her hand, and it took her a while to think carefully before she seemed to implicate some seemingly unrelated things into an answer that was good enough for her.

[Open your Minerva array, my Virgo, and help me search for the latest reports from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of my legion. I need a few of them, and I have impressions of them. 】

"As of now, 26 squads of the Legion's Internal Affairs Department are conducting shadow operations outside of the Legion, nine of which are operating in Avalon, and the rest are scattered throughout the galaxy: Which one do you want to check, my lord?"

[Squad No. 11, I remember their task is to investigate the Blackstone Fortress? 】

"Yes, my lord, indeed."

"You sent this team about fourteen Terra standard months ago to go to the western part of the Obscure Starfield, where the empire has not yet established complete rule, to find those legendary ancient relics: Some members of the team were sent in 32 Terra standard days. Before returning, you personally received them."

"According to their report, they did find mission targets somewhere in the northwest of the Obscure Star Field. There are six in total, which are exactly the same as the appearance you described: but they also mentioned that these fortresses are too large. I'm afraid Warp voyage is difficult, and they are too far from Avalon for fully covert delivery."

"Also, the star field is not under the control of the empire at this time, and several forge worlds that control it are still negotiating with Terra, but they seem to know nothing about the existence of these fortresses: in the end, out of To be on the safe side, half of the members of the team stayed in the area and continued to search for clues, while the remaining half returned to the Legion to report the situation."

"This is all the reports about the No.11 team of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. My lord, they did infiltrate one of the fortresses, but found that it seemed to be in a dormant state and needed a specific prop to activate it."

"However, they also mentioned: These Blackstone Fortresses are indeed invincible ace weapons in naval battles. Perhaps only the Shanzheng can match them. In the report, the team believes that you and the Second Army must master them no matter what. Such power."

[Or let the emperor control it? 】

"..."

"They didn't mention this in their report, my lord."

【……very good. 】

[It makes sense, doesn't it: I used to worry about how to transport these powerful creations to Avalon, but now this point seems to be solved easily: let's look forward to the power of Tuchuercha Engine, and hope it really It is as miraculous as the rumors describe. 】

"Are you going to use the Tuchuercha engine to transport the Blackstone Fortress to Avalon?"

[Although I don't know whether I can use them, but I am very sure of one thing: I would rather put them in my star field as a scenic spot for things like this, and never let other people master them they. 】

"A brilliant idea, my lord."

[Then, other things. 】

"Your Excellency Luther's operation, and the production plan of the original casting technology."

【Luthor's operation, I will start immediately when I return to Avalon. As for the original casting...】

The Primarch rubbed his brows with a headache.

[Let’s wait until I raise that damned success rate to [-]%. I don’t want these soldiers who have lived on the battlefield for tens of hundreds of years to die on the operating table for no apparent reason. 】

"I think this has something to do with your greed: you increased the steps of the original cast operation from the original three enhancements to six enhancements, which made the transformation success rate that had been perfected to a high level suddenly drop."

[Since they are all enhanced, they must be enhanced to make them better: and I actually have a lot of new ideas that I haven’t added. Some of Heydrich’s and even the Emperor’s ideas are too scary in my opinion. , I don't want to really drive a group of flesh and blood machines. 】

"That is to say, do you really have the technology to shape a group of flesh and blood machines, my lord?"

【…】

[From a utilitarian point of view, your emotional array is completely unnecessary, it belongs to a creation that cannot recover the cost: but I still keep it and even strengthen it, because I don’t intend to harvest a truly ruthless creation, because I Ready for you to inherit my shadow, a part of my noble soul. 】

"..."

"It seems that there are still some places I have failed to inherit, my lord: such as your precious audacity, and your words without guilt."

[Yes, this is the most regrettable point: these are the two most valuable parts of my noble soul, I am really sorry for you, my Arnia. 】

"..."

"Thank you for your kindness, my lord."

Morgan snorted softly, and ravaged Arnia's delicate hair into haystacks in a vengeful manner. She could clearly grasp that her little maid was gradually mastering emotions, because all this was in her plan. After all, one of her initial settings for Virgo was a trustworthy confidant.

Of course, this change also seems to imply some unexpected circumstances: for example, as time goes on, Virgo's dependence on her Creator is also increasing day by day, although the moment she regained her life, she already put her genes The Primarch seems to be doing the only thing that needs attention in the galaxy, but apparently, her focus on the Primarch has been on the rise lately.

An obvious example is: Morgan, who originally would do housework to maintain a sense of hard work in his heart, unknowingly seems to have not done housework for a long time. Virgo behaves in an extraordinary way. Energy monopolized all the housework, forcing the leader of the Second Legion to take another big step forward on the road to decadence.

……

……

So cool.

When she saw through this point, the Spider Queen couldn't help feeling complacent, and also felt a strange thought: According to the reality, is she pampering and taking care of herself?

Seems like a philosophical question...

……

Forget it, don't think about it, anyway, her Virgo is so easy to use, if you have that time, you might as well think about other things.

[Next topic, Arnia. 】

"Understood, my lord."

Virgo put the cut fruit into her Creator's mouth while wiping the water stains at the corners of Morgan's mouth. Her pupils flickered with endless streams of data, and she precisely found the target.

"The third most important topic..."

"Hmm... According to the words you recorded at the time: that bastard in the static force field."

【…】

【I said that at the time? 】

"That's the exact words, my lord."

【…】

[I am more polite than I imagined now. Sure enough, my biggest shortcoming is that I am too kind, so kind that I am easily bullied by others. 】

"..."

Virgo blinked, and she tried very hard to ignore the slightly inappropriate words in the Creator's words.

"What do you intend to do with him, my lord?"

Morgan was quiet for a while, she seemed to be leaning on her face and thinking, her closed eyes were covered by delicate and tight eyelashes, all her thoughts were completely hidden, and no one could see it: not even Virgo.

And when Virgo realized this, she was even a little upset.

At this moment, the Spider Queen opened her eyes, and her pupils were already clear.

[My blood brother has indeed caused me a lot of trouble: but all of that is destined to be a thing of the past. I have already figured out how to deal with him. This is an uncomplicated way, even if If it fails, there will be no more losses. 】

"Sounds good, my lord, what are you going to do?"

【It is very simple. 】

[Conrad's problem, in the final analysis, is not complicated: it is just an educational problem. 】

[One re-education, a long and effective re-education, is enough. 】

"So, when do you plan to...re-educate him?"

【…】

【from now on. 】

　Hey, hey, it's time to push the book again. Today's push is a new book that just hit the shelves. The author's writing style and style are very good. It's worth reading.

　　To put it simply, this book is... the rather complicated... parent-child relationship between the protagonist (the adoptive father of the ruffian boss), Perturabo and the Emperor.

　　Anyway, let's celebrate the Primarchs for finally having another expensive adoptive father!This is the time to sing!

　　(Originally, I wanted to finish writing this book and write a protozoa, but now it seems that I can only change my mind, because the protozoa is not enough... Tooth white! The idea of ​​​​a new book is hard to think about!)

　　
　
(End of this chapter)