Emperor's Bane

Chapter 623: Stealing the house! Stealing the house! Stealing the house!

Just as Morgan claimed, Johnson, who was far away on the other side of the battlefield, had actually received the message from the Spider Queen a long time ago.

Not only was it received, but it was also detailed to the point of being immersive: the Caliban man only needed to glance at Morgan's words to naturally imagine the corresponding scene, which was unique to him.

The reason for this is that Jonson is the person in the entire empire who best understands the Spider Queen's writing style. He can basically read every little trick or hint in Morgan's writing: this is an ability that even Lana and Virgo envy.

Conversely, the Lion is also the one who has the greatest influence on Morgan's writing: no matter who the Lord of Avalon is writing to, there is always a sense of a face-to-face conversation with Jonson between her lines.

This habit cannot be changed and may not even be noticed by the two parties involved.

Morgan's message echoed in Jonson's mind, then automatically appeared on a special tablet: this tablet was a gift from the Spider Queen to her Caliban brothers decades ago, and Jonson carried it with him and traveled to every battlefield and palace from now on: its position was more stable than the Lion Sword.

After receiving the message, reading it carefully and judging it, the Primarch of the First Legion followed his habit again and changed the "Morgan" at the end of the message to "Jonson". He then sent it out as his own order intact to the various knightly orders on the battlefield.

However, before sending it out, the Lion King thought carefully again, and finally changed his name back to Morgan: There was no need to send any additional orders. The Spider Queen's explanation of the value of the distant tower was enough to let the high-ranking knights of the Dark Angels understand what they should do next.

After all, the ones that Jonson brought with him this time were basically old men from Terra, and they had more combat experience than the Lion himself, which was why Jonson was able to delegate his command center and take a few elite troops to slaughter wantonly in the tide of greenskins: the First Legion could operate on its own even without the command of him, the Primarch.

Even the casualties would be lower.

In the moments when he occasionally took a break from fighting, the Lord of Caliban would look at it all with satisfaction, looking at how each high-ranking Knight Commander was able to operate with ease outside of his control: he had heard the Emperor say that the Emperor's Guards, the most recognized and powerful army in the human empire, was in a sense a loose army that lacked strict organization.

As the hands of the Lord of Mankind, the Custodes do not have a power system like the Emperor's Children, which is based on high obedience and extreme worship. Their hierarchy is simple and loose. Except for a few people like Valdor, the head of the Custodes, and the tribunes, there is no cumbersome "middle class" in the entire army. Even the captain of the shield guard does not have the theoretical power of life and death.

This recognized strongest legion has neither any team spirit nor any brotherhood among each other. Even the imperial guards in the same team just [happen to fight together on their own] instead of fighting side by side as a unified group.

The disadvantages of this system are obvious, but the superior quality and unshakable loyalty of the Custodians saves all of this. Jonson hopes that his warriors can be the same, because at heart, the Calibans are like any Primarch: he does not believe that his warriors are worse than the Emperor's Custodians.

(To be honest, I don’t quite understand the system of the Imperial Guards, which is almost a guerrilla system. Maybe Westerners think that soldiers have super high individual qualities and can completely ignore the group spirit such as organization or discipline. This can be regarded as the inheritance of knights in the new era.)
The best army?
He didn't admit it.

Slowly wiping off the dirt left on his armor by yet another Ork warlord, Jonson couldn't help but snort, raised his head, and estimated the distance between him and the tower: more and more Dark Angels were spontaneously gathering around their Primarch, and after a decisive annihilation operation, the First Legion had successfully cleared out the greenskin army in their area.

Unlike the Luna Wolves, which attacked quickly and made rapid progress, but left behind a lot of Orc remnants that needed to be finished off by subsequent brother units, the Dark Angels might advance a little slower, but every inch of land they passed through was spotless and white, and there was no need to bother other brother units.

The soldiers of the First Legion never had a tradition of causing trouble for others.

Moreover, the First Legion had far more experience than any other Astartes Legion in terms of annihilation and clean-up, and Jonson's warriors were able to strike the optimal balance between speed and quality: the Lion never had to worry about these issues, the only thing he had to do was to occasionally use his sword to point out the next target for his legionnaires.

Just like he is doing now.

When the last Knight Commander, Astelan, who was accustomed to [parting ways] with the Primarch, also cast his eyes on the Lion, Jonson slowly wiped the bloody sword, and then pointed the blade directly at the distant spire: Morgan's message had been conveyed, and the Lion's order only required a gesture.

Just like decades ago.

Zhuang Sen stroked his beard comfortably.

He liked this feeling: very much.

The First Legion took action again.

But it was at this time that Morgan's second message and the collision of heaven and earth caused by the Lord of Mankind on the other side of the world resounded in the minds of the First Legion at the same time: the high-ranking knights had not yet left, and they and Zhuangsen witnessed the strangeness on the other side of the battlefield, and witnessed the mountain-like beast colliding and fighting with their emperor, causing mountains and earth to collapse.

However, the Dark Angels were much calmer than their kinsmen: they did not kneel down in embarrassment, nor did they forget to breathe because of the majestic power of Emperor Ullanor. Although surprise and astonishment still existed, it only lasted for a moment: even Jonson himself was the same.

When he saw the dark figure of the Emperor of Ullanor rising into the sky, the lion's pupils couldn't help but shrink, but soon returned to normal: that figure was very scary, but it was far from being buried in the bottom of Jonson's heart. The past that he didn't want to recall was even more terrifying. This orc king probably ranked in the top ten or even top five in Jonson's dark memories.

It's really not simple...

Zhuang Sen sighed for a moment, then turned around with a dull look, intending to move forward towards the tall tower in the distance. The Terra veterans beside him did not raise any objections: although being able to witness the Emperor confronting such a huge beast from afar was indeed a wonderful thing to talk about, and even a moment worth remembering a hundred years later, it was not enough to make them change the pace of the war.

The soldiers of the First Legion have seen many scenes like this.

But only a moment later, this composure was ruthlessly torn apart: before the Dark Angels' cavalry could continue to advance, a scream from Coswayn attracted everyone's attention, and following his trembling guidance, the originally inviolable golden pillar of light on the skyline gradually collapsed and disintegrated under the mountain-like shadow of the Ullanor beast, at a speed so fast that all the people in the First Legion were stunned in place, no one expected such a result.

"The Emperor..."

Astelan opened his mouth wide, more shocked than anyone else present. As the most senior member of the First Legion, a confidant who had followed the Emperor's footsteps since the War of Unification, when he witnessed the scene before him, Astelan even felt that a part of his pride was killed forever, and shattered together with the Emperor's laurel wreath of victory in the iron-gray and dirty sky of Ullanor.

"How can this be……"

Someone was muttering beside him, the voice was fragile and pale, as if it came from another world on the other side, but it was enough to wake Astelan from his shock: the veteran who had served for more than three hundred years only felt his throat hoarse and his chest so tight that he couldn't breathe. He staggered around like a young boy, watching and looking in vain for anyone who could help him.

Instinctively, his eyes finally fell on Zhuang Sen.

The Jonson he had always despised, the father he had always been unwilling to acknowledge.

"grown ups!"

Astelan's voice was trembling, piercing the silence like a needle and attracting everyone's attention.

"We must support the Emperor immediately!"

"He needs our swords!"

The Terran veteran roared at the Primarch, a roar that was completely devoid of etiquette. With just his current movements and voice, Jonson could have slapped his head off with a clear conscience, but the Calibanite did not do so. He just stared at the shattered Emperor's Pillar of Light in the distance: it was not quite right to say that it was shattered, but it was just as if it had been overwhelmed and silent outside their sight.

When he reacted, completely out of instinct, Jonson staggered two steps in the direction of the Emperor, as if he was going to respond to Astelan's request with action, and immediately turned around and led the First Legion to support.

But it’s only two steps.

After two steps, the Caliban man stopped his pace unconsciously. He still looked up in the direction of the Emperor, his eyes changing in countless ways, from shock at the beginning to bewilderment later, and his brows furrowed tighter and tighter, his already serious face tensed like a piece of withered leather.

He was silent. Amid Astelan's heavy breathing and the suppression of the Dark Angels, the lion fell into a long silence, as if he was frightened by the scene before him: as if he had never thought that the Emperor would be suppressed by the so-called Beast Emperor of Ullanor, and naturally he didn't know what to do next. In confusion, Jonson's footsteps moved forward in the direction of the Emperor again, which seemed to convey a clear order: led by the inexplicably excited Astelan, the Dark Angels army immediately prepared to mobilize direction and cross the entire battlefield to support their king.

But when the sound of the First Legion's iron boots stomping on the ground passed by their ears, the Caliban man who was originally in a daze seemed to suddenly wake up. He lowered his head, straightened up again, and coughed: Most of the knights stopped immediately and looked at their Primarch again. Only after everyone did so, Astelan and others who had rushed to the front turned back reluctantly.

"grown ups!"

Astelan roared again, but Jonson had shaken off his daze.

"Continue with the original plan."

His voice was calm and calm, as if the distant crisis did not exist.

"But! But the Emperor..."

"Do as I say!"

The roar of the lion drowned out Astelan's arguments.

"I have given my order: I think it is a clear one!"

After saying this, the Lion King replaced the sword with his own eyes. He silently scanned the faces of every warrior present. Except for Astelan and a few Terran veterans, no Dark Angel dared to look the Lion in the eye, whether they were Terrans or Calibans.

"Do as I say."

When he spoke again, everyone present could hear the confidence in the lion's chest. Although the battle between the Emperor and the beast seemed to be in deeper danger on the skyline, Jonson had already turned a blind eye to it. There may have been a flash of worry in the corner of his eyes, but when he looked at the legionnaires, his face had returned to his usual unquestionable look.

He walked down the hillside, passed through the warriors who were still in confusion and entanglement, and strode towards the tower, towards the victorious end of this war, letting everyone know which side he had chosen: the lion's steps were firm and unstoppable, and he left all his hesitations behind, until Astelan's roar resounded throughout the battlefield.

"Isn't the safety of the Lord of Humanity the most important thing? More important than victory!"

"..."

The legion was silent. Even Costwain did not stand up to refute this. Instead, he looked worriedly at the Lion: No one could answer this question. No one in the entire First Legion was qualified, except the Primarch in front of them.

And Zhuang Sen just remained silent.

He stood there, silent.

A long silence.

It's so long that it's terrifying.

Koswain breathed nervously. Since he had followed the lion, he had never seen Jonson silent for such a long time: no difficult war decision was enough to make Jonson fall into such a dead silence, not even the Emperor Randan and that man.

How long had he been silent?

One minute... or two?

God knows what a Primarch can think of in a minute?
Koswain opened his mouth, but before he could lick his dry lips, his genetic father ended his long silence: Jonson still didn't say a word, he just used actions instead of words as before.

He turned his head and took a look at the illusion of the Emperor fighting in trouble.

then……

look back.

Draw your sword.

Take a step.

Breathe.

go ahead.

Moving forward in silence.

------

Jonson gave his answer.

And a minute later, the First Legion, the entire First Legion, everyone including Corswayn and Astelan, followed the pace of their genetic father: whether it was without hesitation, or gritting their teeth, or with anger to the point of bulging veins.

But no one left.

They moved forward.

Moving forward in silence.

The light of the Lord of Mankind still flickers behind them, the plight of the Lord of Mankind still troubles their souls, and the oath of the Lord of Mankind still constrains their steps: but all of the above has nothing to do with them anymore.

------

Supplement: I went out to do some errands for my relative today and didn’t get home until after ten o’clock, so I’ll just write this down first.

Don't think about it. I didn't play Black Myth because I only have a Lenovo office laptop that has been used for seven years. The edges are cracked. I don't have the hardware conditions at all...

I don't even have steam...

(*)
(End of this chapter)