Emperor's Bane

Chapter 589 Bigger Trouble Than a Lion
Ordinary people always think that Jonson and his Dark Angels Legion will complicate and cruel any simple thing.

But this is a wrong perception.

The real reality is that the Dark Angels are good at making all complicated things simple, whether it is a tedious and lengthy surrender ceremony or a fully armed interstellar fortress. Anything that does not conform to their views, or in other words, does not conform to the ideas of the Emperor and the Empire, will be resolved by the First Legion in the simplest way.

Destruction, massacre, and erasure.

Cruelty will always be the hard currency of the galaxy.

Zhuang Sen and his knights are the most efficient harvesting team under the Emperor's group. They use the simplest methods to solve all the complex problems for the Empire: fighting alongside them is a worry-free thing, because you don't even have to worry about cleaning up the battlefield afterwards, and there will be nothing to clean up.

When the First Legion appears, all obstacles will disappear.

It's as simple as that: Complexity is the most shameful attack on the Dark Angels.

……

At least, that's what Conrad told him at the time.

When their team was surrounded by Lion-King and Dreadwing for the seventy-seventh time, Conrad actually took great interest in telling him the secrets and rumors about the First Legion: Midnight Haunter told him enough stories before Jonson's men used melta to destroy both of them and hundreds of Dark Angels.

Corax remembered that he had listened very carefully, so carefully that he did not even notice that Conrad was gradually retreating during the battle, using him as a human shield against Jonson: by the time Corax realized this, he had already been made into a crow stab by Dreadwing.

They even made him sweet: like a cake

This betrayal delayed the 78th challenge of the two Primarchs for a full month in the real universe, until Konrad apologized to Corax in a very formal manner: along with it appeared a spooky apology cake.

The Crow King had to admit that his bat cousin was talented in certain things: before seeing the cake with blue-purple skin, dirty yellow juice, and carved into the shape of a blood-red skull, Corax would never have believed that a piece of cake could be called "eerie and terrifying."

Just like...

Just like the unfinished stone sculpture in his hand now.

……etc?
Corax blinked, and suddenly came back to his senses, realizing that he had been distracted by the imminent arrival of the Dark Angel and ignored the reality of the matter: the result of this distraction was that the stone sculpture in his hand had changed from a warm home decoration to an exquisite masterpiece that could be placed in a haunted house.

The kind Conrad would applaud.

The Primarch pursed his lips guiltily, and glanced to the right, finding that the children surrounding him had not noticed anything unusual. So he quickly trimmed it twice: the Primarch's ingenuity played an important role at this moment, and a few breaths later, this deadly thing changed its appearance in the hands of the Raven King.

Corax checked it again, then nodded with satisfaction and handed the work to the little boy who was looking at it eagerly: the little guy with golden hair took his gift from the Primarch with great anticipation, but soon frowned again.

"This doesn't look like my mother. My mother obviously has double eyelids: she is a major general!"

"Um, sorry."

Corax was stunned for a moment, then sincerely expressed his apologies. He took the work from the boy, and modified it a few more times to make it acceptable. The Primarch looked at the child, who was only ten years old at most, with satisfaction as he took the modified product, thanked him happily, and then skipped away.

The Raven King was very satisfied with this, and he enjoyed it all, whether it was the carved stone sculptures, the children's gazes, or even the complaints from the boys, all of which made Corax truly appreciate the beauty of the galaxy: on Morgan's Aurora, this ordinary moment was the thing that the Raven King could not let go of the most.

But he had to stop.

The Primarch sighed quietly, and after adjusting his mood, he stood up and whispered an apology to the at least twenty children who were still around him. The disappointed expressions on their faces made Corax hurriedly comfort them, like a newly employed kindergarten teacher.

"I have important business to attend to. I will be back here in four hours, and will be with you till evening: but I have a military meeting to attend, which will affect the future of many people."

The Raven King spoke in a soft voice as he patiently explained his responsibilities, and these children, who were no more than ten years old, did not embarrass him. Their parents were all soldiers and naturally understood the priorities of these matters. The little soldiers quickly made way for the Primarch, and Corax stroked the head of each of them before leaving happily.

As soon as he turned a corner, the Crow King met Conrad who was waiting there.

"Are you running your stone carving shop again?"

The Midnight Ghost grinned and uttered a harmless sarcasm.

"Corax, when did you become so fond of stonemasonry?"

"Since the first day of my life."

The Raven King replied with a smile.

"You know, Conrad: before I joined the Emperor's Great Crusade, I lived in the stone of Redemption. My first lair was built in a cleft in the rock. It has always fascinated me to carve such raw materials into something useful for mankind."

“I also like to carve some purely natural raw materials into something useful.”

Conrad stood shoulder to shoulder with him.

"But unfortunately, my fellow countrymen could not understand my art: maybe it was because my sculptures smelled too bloody, or maybe skin and tendons were not as durable as stone? Anyway, this incident strangled my artistic path and made me a failed art student in the Great Crusade."

"..."

Corax said nothing more.

He knew that Conrad's words were a disguised sarcasm.

He also knew that in the more than ten years since he actually met the Midnight Haunter, he had never smelled the bloody smell of bloodlust on Conrad: behind the only few times of the stench, there were legitimate reasons that the Raven King had to admit, and Corax would even help him.

But this did not prevent the Raven King from smelling some real scent of killing innocent people in the Night Lords under Conrad, especially the heir named Sevatar: Although it is said that the Eighth Legion is now much more formal than it was decades ago, it is obvious that they still retain many traditional skills.

"After all, we have to retain some of the Corps' characteristics and traditions."

Conrad winked at him.

“Trust me, bro: it works.”

Corax still did not reply, his mind being torn by many things: his meeting with Jonson, his first encounter with his legion soon, and what to eat for supper tonight.
In their confusion, they soon saw Morgan's throne room: on both sides of this long and wide corridor, there were thousands of statues carved by the Dawnbreakers to praise Morgan, and behind them were countless murals and reliefs that boasted of the Dawnbreakers' two hundred years of victory history.

And above that, among the decorations at the top of the walls, Corax could glimpse the animals thought to symbolize the Spider Queen’s authority, the Snowy Owl, the Secretary Vulture, and the Black-footed Cat: like Athena’s owl, they were used by Morgan’s followers to represent their queen.

But these are not the most important: the most important thing is naturally at the top.

on the ceiling.

In those places in the sky that the Primarchs needed to look up at.

There was a battle flag hanging there.

A total of four hundred battle flags symbolized every proud unit under Morgan's command: those painted silver-white with purple patterns were the company flags of the Dawnbreakers, while those flags of various shapes with a layer of rose-red patterns on the outside were the pride of the Avalon Auxiliary Army.

For every mortal warrior under Morgan's command, being able to hang their battle flag there is a dream worth pursuing: not only will it pass on the glory through the ages, but it will also bring countless practical benefits.

Every legion that hangs up its battle flag in this immortal corridor will have its name listed on both the Forge World and the Recruiting World, and enjoy a large amount of resources allocated to it. Their reputation can even spread as far as Holy Terra, and their offspring will have a higher chance of participating in the Astartes selection.

In addition, there are some invisible welfare policies: for example, when the two Primarchs approached Morgan's throne room, they found that guarding both sides of the gate was an armed force of mortals.

The Hunting God Rose Legion.

The flag of these girls was one of the five mortal legion flags closest to the throne room. The combination of wings and eagle claws had been hanging here for at least thirty years, and Corax was not surprised by this: he knew that the Huntsman Rose would often serve as Morgan's guard of honor, especially when his Avalon blood wanted to express his friendly gesture, these mortal female warriors would replace her majestic Round Table Guard.

In any case, they were always more relaxing than a team of Terran veterans.

The Primarch also knew that they were fanatical, more fanatical than he had imagined: despite being familiar with the faces of Corax and Conrad, more than fifty melta guns were still pointed at the Primarchs' bodies without mercy until each of them passed the test on the genetic detector.

The lieutenant colonel in charge of the guard personally opened the door for the two primarchs. The wary expression on her face made Corax feel ridiculous: perhaps because their hard power was not as good as that of the Dawnbreakers, the Huntsman Roses would be so rigorous when on guard duty that the Raven King even suspected that these girls would point their melta guns at anyone who visited.

Even the Lord of Humanity.

Or: Especially the Lord of Mankind?

The Primarch took notice of the lieutenant colonel, because in his impression, this young girl always served as Morgan's guard. He noticed that this mortal had short silver-white shoulder-length hair combed straight, but the ends of her bangs and pupils were light gold, and she was looking at the Primarch courageously.

Corax knew her name.

Jeanne d'Arc, this name was mentioned several times by Morgan.

The Primarch nodded and disappeared into the throne room, leaving Lieutenant Colonel Jeanna still staring at their backs warily until she closed the door again with her own hands. Then she turned around and stared at the only main road in front of the throne room, keeping the hot melt in her hand hot.

That's right.

None of Huntsman Rose's melta weapons had their safety turned off.

------

“That’s too unsafe.”

"You should tell those bomb girls to not be so nervous all the time, especially with the melta weapons in their hands. If they are not careful, they will be blown to pieces. You can't rely on the protection of the oil guys for your life."

"You can trust the efficiency of those Omnissiah believers, but you'd better not trust their safety claims. Even if the Archbishop personally pats his chest to guarantee it, it will be useless. After all, there are many oil bosses who died from technical failures and the explosion of their own products. The number is as many as the Astartes who died from transmission errors."

Midnight Haunter hung himself on his favorite chair, tapping his heavy iron boots on the edge of Morgan's table while picking through Virgo's plate, looking for a toasted muffin that suited his taste: Conrad was actually happy to see that his sister's afternoon tea variety had finally become relatively human.

Before this, he had a hard time getting free meals every time.

They have official names.

Morgan sat in her seat, looking worriedly at the latest anti-corruption report in front of her. The scarlet numbers on it made her grit her teeth, but she couldn't think of any suitable way to suppress it, and even her voice became a little bleak.

[They are called Huntress Roses, Huntress Roses Legion under Avalon: Don't call them bomb girls in public anymore, other mortal soldiers will imitate you.]

"Will this cause any damage?"

[Three hundred and thirty-six reports of fights that occurred in the rest area.]

"But it's a good name."

Conrad nodded solemnly.

"Forget it, it doesn't matter."

"Anyway, their various successors in ten thousand years will need this name." "Believe me, this is much better than their original name: To be honest, Morgan, I don't recommend that you let them continue to believe in you so fanatically, because you can't guarantee that when you can't influence them in real time, these fanatical silver-haired girls will add some strange...kinship relationship between themselves and you."

【really interesting.】

Morgan grinned.

[I've been trying to make a major overhaul of my Star Maids recently: maybe I should design one of them to look like these girls? Let her help me solve all the troublesome things that require hot melt? ]

"……what happened again?"

Before Conrad could speak, Corax spoke up: The Raven King was cutting his muffin with a knife and fork. He and his Nostramo relatives noticed the ominous report in front of Morgan.

[Nothing, just a little trouble. ]

Morgan glanced at his muffin and then pushed it aside.

This action brought a storm of astonishment to the faces of the other two Primarchs.

"Tell me about it? It looks like a big deal."

[The thing is this: Didn't I recently arrange for my Ministry of Internal Affairs and your Night Lords to intensify the internal purge? But when they found a corruption network across star regions, they found that the real source of this network was my subordinate, the only heir of a family of generals with outstanding achievements. ]

"Who?"

Conrad picked at his teeth with his long, sharp fingernails: he had left the little finger of his right hand untrimmed for this very purpose.

Morgan held his head and uttered a name that sounded familiar to the two Primarchs.

"Ah, him."

Midnight Ghost nodded.

"I remember him. He served under you for almost fifty years, almost as long as old Irwin."

"I've heard about it too."

The Crow King lowered his brows.

"I remember that half of the wall on the battleship was dedicated to introducing the family's achievements."

"Well, that old thing, doesn't he have any other bloodline?"

In response to Conrad's questions, Morgan grabbed the report from the Ministry of Internal Affairs in an unpleasant tone.

[Of course there are. This family that has served me for half a century has a total of seven heirs: the eldest, third, and fourth died in the Randan War, the second and sixth died in an expedition against the green-skinned orcs a few years ago, the fifth died of illness due to overwork at work, and the remaining one is being discussed by us.]

[That is to say, he sacrificed six of his seven sons for our cause, and the remaining one was no mediocre person either: before he retired due to severe disability, this corrupt official was also awarded a hero by me three times, and the flag of the mortal legion he once served and even led is still flying outside the door.]

"What about the illegitimate child?"

[Three of them are on a troop transport with their decorated father, waiting to serve my Legion: I even owe them a commissioning ceremony.]

"Well... it's really hard to handle."

Conrad looked at his brother.

"What do you think, Corax: bring it in to your fellow rebels."

The Crow King thought about it, his expression becoming gloomy at a speed visible to the naked eye, and finally he just shook his head and said nothing.

"You should turn to... the law?"

[My mortal generals work so hard for me in order to be above the law in the future.]

Morgan sneered.

[What really worries me is one thing: it is they who are corrupt and degenerate, but it is also they who sacrificed their lives and shed their blood. I may be able to replace them with a group of more honest people, but the ability of these new people is definitely not as good as this group of corrupt old people.]

"So...honest and excellent?"

[How many people like this do you think there are in the entire galaxy? ]

Corax fell silent.

"I'm sorry, Morgan, it looks like I can't help you with anything."

"No regrets, bro."

Conrad smiled and patted the Raven King's shoulder comfortingly.

"In fact, this problem will remain unsolved until ten thousand years from now. If you ask me, Morgan, you shouldn't think about how to completely solve this problem. You can't solve it. You should think about how to... adapt to this problem."

【adapt?】

"Yes, adapt."

Conrad smiled helplessly.

"We have to minimize the losses. After all, for the empire, incompetence is a more terrible crime than corruption. The only thing more serious than it is disloyalty. These people are neither disloyal nor incompetent, so they are not guilty of death."

"That's not something a Night Haunter would say, Conrad."

"you forgot?"

Conrad laughed sarcastically.

"Between you and me: you are the real Midnight Haunter, Morgan."

【……I know.】

Morgan took a deep breath.

[I am adapting, Conrad, and I am accepting the pain that reality has given me.]

"And what, you're going to run away from it?"

【Roughly the same. 】

Morgan grabbed the muffin from a distance and took a bite out of it in anger.

【I plan to think of something relatively easier. 】

"For example?"

【Jonson, and his legion.】

"Have they arrived yet?"

[That’s right: in half an hour, they’ll be on my deck.]

Having said that, Morgan did not forget to look at Corax who remained silent.

[Corax, I remember you haven't met Jonson before? ]

"Yes."

The Crow King nodded.

“But I’m thunderstruck.”

After saying this, Corax noticed a genuine look of pride on Morgan's face: it was like someone who had heard someone brag about her son.

[That's about right. Actually, that guy is also sloppy. ]

【correct. 】

The Spider Queen turned her head.

[I remember Conrad should have told you about our brothers: did he tell you about Jonson? Corax, what impression do you have of this brother of ours? Or have you heard any rumors?]

"..."

The Crow King was silent for a moment.

He began to recall.

Jonson.

Great sword.

Terrorwing.

Caliban swordsmanship, melta bombs, cyclone torpedoes, plasma in the mouth...

"...Ahem."

The Crow King smiled. His face always turned pale when he lied.

"No, Morgan."

"I guess I know... nothing about him."

(End of this chapter)