Emperor's Bane

Chapter 560 Intermission: Three people on the bench
[Heraculfen]

"Do you think your [Fortress] can stop my [Priest], Conrad?"

"Not yet, Russ, but don't forget that I still have a [Queen] in my hand."

The Lord of the Eighth Legion slumped crookedly on a rough stone chair, exuding an air of laziness from head to toe. The chair under his butt was wide enough to squeeze in two more Primarchs, but it was also very rough, with several marks of file errors remaining on it.

The Midnight Haunter leaned on it, neither sitting nor lying properly, and soon changed his posture, like a naughty child, obviously lacking the education of love.

But it was not his fault. After all, the material of the stone under his butt was not more delicate than Conrad's skin. It was just a huge Fenris wolf skin pasted on it. The skin of this beast that could withstand the cold wind and rain in the world of death was naturally not soft. In addition, Conrad was only wearing a long gown, so he felt itchy all over.

The host, Leman Russ, who was sitting opposite him, naturally saw everything, but instead of offering any help, the Wolf King grinned and laughed at his blood brother's dilemma: It was hard to tell whether this funny guy from Fenris did it on purpose.

"Conrad, we haven't seen each other for decades. You have become much more precious."

Leman Russ raised half of his butt and patted the wolf skin on his body. It looked even rougher than the one of Midnight Haunter, but the wolf king sat on it steadily, as if his butt had no feeling.

"Thinking back to when we went together to fight...Randan, I remember you were quite brave, weren't you? You led a fleet into the storm of the warp. Even that guy, Zhuang Sen, didn't dare to withstand the blade, but you went up to take the blow without a care in the world."

The Wolf King leaned on an armrest at one side, stroking his [Priest] with his fingers, and recalled the past between brothers with emotion, but his words were a little vague: It was obvious that what Leman Russ really wanted to talk about was someone else, but when the words came to his lips, all he could say was [Randan].

"Why? You were so bad back then that even I had to respect you. But decades later, you have become precious. The robe you wore before is not much cleaner than my wolfskin, my little brother Conrad."

Midnight Haunter rolled his eyes, making the Wolf King laugh. Then, Leman Russ patted his hips without any hesitation, making a sound of metallic friction.

"Learn from me, Conrad: I have never changed over the years. I am very comfortable sitting on this wolf skin. Isn't it much better than your current state of being unable to bear the prickles?"

"fart!"

Conrad spat.

Then, Midnight Ghost grabbed his [Fortress] and knocked over a chess piece on Russ's side. After doing all this, he raised his head and looked at the Wolf King opposite him: the Fenrisian now looked at least three times bigger than Conrad.

"Take off your armor if you dare!"

"That won't do!"

Leman Russ laughed at first, but soon stopped smiling and just shook his head. It was unclear whether he was expressing emotion or sighing.

"I have to wear it. After all, I don't know when I will be leaving. If there is no definite news from Quanfu, I have to stay fully armed here. After all, who knows if Luo Jia will do something stupid this time? He is always so worrying."

"Come on."

Conrad rolled his eyes again, holding the [Queen] in his mouth and biting it with a crunching sound: Unlike his rough appearance, Leman Russ's chess skills are among the top three or five among all the Primarchs. Midnight Haunter has played many games with him, and he could win two games in a row at the beginning, but now it is extremely difficult for him to even complete a few beautiful captures.

No wonder he's so angry.

"We all know, Russ, that Luo Jia will be fine this time. At most, he will just get a few slaps in the face. Since the Emperor can call Morgan to deal with this matter, it means that he is ready to lift Luo Jia up high and let him go lightly from the bottom of his heart, and never do it again."

Conrad's voice was filled with disdain for the Great Bearer.

"Is Morgan special?"

Leman Russ became interested.

"It's not special, but the label on her is really too conspicuous."

As Conrad spoke, he stared at the chessboard in front of him. In his mind, he was thinking of two beautiful moves in a row that would definitely disrupt Leman Russ's layout and snatch a long-awaited victory from his brother.

"After all, our genetic father is an omnipotent overlord who can defeat an entire army on his own. If he really wants to accomplish something, he can do it cleanly and efficiently without relying on us sons. He can lead those imperial guards by himself."

"He only wanted us to help him, just like the unlucky guy Zhuang Sen. The Emperor wanted his army to clean up the Taiping Star Region. Everyone knows that among the five star regions of the Empire, the westernmost Taiping Star Region is the least peaceful one."

"There's nothing we can do. The Empire has invested too little here, and there are too many enemies. The only legion home planet in the entire star field is Colchis, the home planet of the Word Bearers. Needless to say, these guys are very efficient. A sweep by Jonson's legion will at least allow the entire Pacific star field to be safe for a while, and he can retreat to Terra with more peace of mind."

"In the final analysis, the Emperor still does not believe in the ability of the Word Bearers Legion."

"Hiss... That's true."

The wolf king laughed at himself.

"I didn't think too much about it."

"Don't worry, even Zhuang Sen can't think of it."

After Conrad's words came out, Leman Russ felt much better.

"But then again: even helping out can be divided into two types."

The Night Lord held up two fingers, pinched his chess piece, and pushed it forward.

"People like you, me, and that mixed-haired lion Jonson are all responsible for fighting. If the Emperor only calls on a few of us this time, it means he intends to draw his sword. But we are not essential. If the Emperor really wants to draw his sword, he can do it himself even if he doesn't call on a few of us."

"But Morgan is different. She is the type who is responsible for literary battles. Her job is to sharpen her tongue and try to figure out people's minds. There are not many Primarchs who can take her place. To be honest, there is actually no one."

"It's not that Fulgrim and Sanguinius can't do it, but the Emperor obviously still can't trust them from the bottom of his heart. Vulkan and Magnus' abilities are not very reassuring. As for Jaghatai Khan? He can't command them at all!"

"And Guilliman?"

Leman Russ demanded.

"him……"

Conrad laughed.

"I can fight with words and with fists, but I am not good at either words or fists."

"Because of lack of ability?"

"No, because they are too capable and too greedy: when they are on the literary side, they want the merits of the martial arts; when they are on the martial arts side, they want to take care of the literary side. Although they want to do both, in the end, they often cannot hold on to either."

"And often, as time goes by, he ends up with all the power in his own hands."

"Who could like someone like this?"

Conrad had a sarcastic look on his face, while Leman Russ curled his lips. There was one thing he didn't dare to say to his brother: that is, if there was a Guilliman, or a person similar to Guilliman, in his legion, he wouldn't mind throwing the entire legion to this guy and being a hands-off boss.

"The Emperor only summoned him here to make up the numbers. At most, he saw the number of Ultramarines as a helper. A man like Guilliman should be sent out to guard a region. Keeping him around would only make the Emperor and himself feel uncomfortable."

"In this case, Father Quan is a man who knows how to use people wisely."

The wolf king showed his mouth full of sharp teeth.

"According to you, since the Emperor has summoned Morgan, Luo Jia is fine?"

"That's right, because if the Emperor wants to fight Luo Jia, there are a thousand ways to do it, but if he wants to fight Luo Jiawen, he will definitely call Morgan over: otherwise, who else can help him with ideas, or even take his place in the battle, could it be Malcador?"

Konrad captured Leman Russ's pawn that had been pushed too far in the enemy's territory.

"Malcador is good, but that doesn't stop most of the brothers from looking down on him."

"That's not a good thing."

The Wolf King showed a look of disapproval. Among all the Primarchs, this Sigillite was the most respected by the Fenrisians. The only one who could rank behind him was the Spider Queen, who knew Malcador's own abilities well.

"What do you think of Malcador, brother Conrad?"

“Respectful, but that’s it.”

Midnight Haunter waved his hand.

"Because I've been following a souped-up version of Malcador."

"Tsk..."

Can't refute.

The Wolf King ended the topic.

"This is what Morgan told you."

"I'm just guessing. I've seen and heard a lot over the years."

Conrad took another piece.

"So put that brotherly heart of yours back in your stomach, Russ."

"As long as Luo Jia doesn't make any mistakes, today won't be the day he and his army die."

"I'm afraid of accidents."

Leman Russ heaved a sigh of relief, turned his attention back to the chessboard, and casually dropped the [Priest] in his hand, which immediately forced Midnight Haunter, who had finally figured out the two good moves, into a dead end, making Midnight Haunter so angry that he stood there grinning.

Conrad even complained about the prophetic illusions in his mind: Why are these things able to update anytime and anywhere when predicting those bad things, and every time they predict, they are always accurate? But just when he needs their help, these illusions are as quiet as the artistic cells in Zhuangsen's brain.

Die thoroughly.

"What a surprise."

Conrad didn't even bother to explain.

"Luo Jia is just a coward. He doesn't have the guts to cause an accident in front of the Emperor."

"You're so ruthless..."

Leman Russ smiled, but did not defend his Colchis brother: he had a good relationship with the Great Bearer of Words, but it was precisely because of this good relationship that the Wolf King knew that what Conrad said was not a lie. How can I describe Lorgar...

He's a pretty good guy when you don't expect him to.

The Wolf King no longer thought about Luo Jia, but focused on the chessboard in front of him.

"By the way, Conrad."

Leman Russ blinked and pointed at Conrad's few remaining chess pieces: especially the Queen, which he held tightly in his hand like a treasure.

"Why do you like the Queen so much? Is it because you are dependent on her?"

"Then why do you like to use priests so much, Leman Russ?"

Conrad retorted.

“Is it because it can’t be used in reality?”

"..."

The wolf king stopped talking.

After a few seconds, the Fenris man put on a sullen face and muttered some hilarious words: something like the Space Wolves had no think tanks; there were only rune priests on Fenris; that was a gift from nature, not the stench from the warp or something.

Conrad chuckled.

"Come on, brother, we all know that your thing is a think tank: your rune priests in Morgan's psionic academy can produce many top students in every class. Even the Storm Prophet is not as stable as you."

“This is inheritance.”

The wolf king puffed out his chest proudly.

"Don't think that Fenris is a world of death and Chogris is a feudal world. If we really talk about the history and the origin of the land, there are few places in the galaxy that can compare to Fenris. Even I don't know what is inside those oldest temples and craters."

"What you said reminds me of Avalon in Morgan's place."

Conrad stroked his chin.

"Avalon? What's wrong?"

"It is said that there is a mysterious area called Leng Plain in the north of Avalon. In some ancient myths of this world, Leng Plain is the origin of civilization of the entire Avalon: the gods emerged from the deepest part of Leng Plain, through the crystal gate that reaches the sky, and brought civilization and incredible technology to the local native barbarians."

“It’s a very common myth.”

The wolf king tapped his neck.

"Any questions?"

"The problem is that my sister once sent an exploration team to Lengyuan. Although the team returned safely, Morgan did something very rare afterwards. He completely wiped out all the myths about Lengyuan in the entire Avalon."

Conrad's eyebrows curved.

"Even if I asked her, she wouldn't tell me."

"Also, according to my research, there is a very interesting detail in the Lengyuan mythology: the gods are not without enemies. Their enemies also emerge from the crystal gate in Lengyuan. They look very similar to the gods, but they have pointed and slender ears like knives."

"..."

The Wolf King narrowed his eyes.

"In that case, Avalon is an interesting place."

"Morgan never thought of researching it."

"She never had time."

Conrad grabbed the chess pieces randomly and put them down at random: he knew he had lost the game again.

"She is always busy, either with this or that, with a host of things that seem insignificant to me, but each of which seems important when taken individually: of all the brothers, only Guilliman is in a similar situation."

"Perhaps, this is why they were able to build such a huge country."

Conrad was noncommittal.

"So what has she been busy with lately?"

"Recently..."

"Before Morgan set off, she held a large meeting with the Forge Worlds under her command, including Ultramar and my world, so Guilliman and I were also present. The main content of the meeting was the contract allocation of the three newly built Queen of Glory-class battleships to the various Forge Worlds."

"… for what?"

Leman Russ was speechless for a moment.

Glorious Queen? Conrad just touched his nose and the word he spit out was Glorious Queen, right? There are only 20 or 30 Glorious Queens in the entire galaxy? A legion is usually equipped with one Glorious Queen?

"You mean..."

"The Emperor has given his permission."

"That you……"

"One boat per person."

“…Guilliman is among them?”

"If Morgan and I weren't in the front, he would never dare to follow."

Conrad grinned sarcastically.

"You know, in order to thank Morgan for getting [permission to build another Queen of Glory] from the Emperor, Guilliman directly contracted all the expenses for Morgan and me. In other words, all the expenses for the three Queens of Glory were contracted by Five Hundred Worlds."

"In his mouth, these supplies are no more important than three sticks of toffee."

"Really..."

The wolf king shook his head.

He found himself speechless.

"Do you agree?"

“Who doesn’t want a bargain for free?”

Conrad chuckled.

"I plan to name my second warship the Prince of Crows. What do you think?"

"……Good name."

The Wolf King nodded: He didn't know that a certain unlucky guy in the Eighth Legion seemed to have a similar title to this one.

"I'm not asking you."

Conrad glanced at his brother.

"Who are you asking?"

"Ah……"

The Night Lord reached out and casually overturned the losing chessboard in front of him.

“I lost again.”

"How many rounds is this?"

"Uh……"

For a moment, the Wolf King didn't care about the doubts just now. He thought about it carefully, but found that he couldn't come up with an answer: they had wasted too long in the sky above the Perfect City, and the Wolf King had forgotten the specific process of him and Conrad hanging out and killing time.

At first, the two of them seemed to be drunk, but after several splitting headaches and embarrassing drunken complaints, they turned to playing elegant chess as a way to pass the time.

There was no other way. If he didn't change, Conrad would soon know the color of even Leman Russ's underwear.

But how many times did it download?

"One hundred and fifty-seven times."

"Oh, right, right, right. The two of us should have bet a total of 157 times. I remember that I won about 130 times. Thank you very much for reminding me..."

"……Um?"

"Um?!"

"Corax?!"

"when did you come!"

"..."

"I never left from the beginning, Brother Leman Russ."

(End of this chapter)