Emperor's Bane

Chapter 629: This name sounds like it's going to do something big

【Who are you talking about? 】

【Hello? 】

The Queen of Avalon placed one of her white arms on the marble balcony and rested her chin on the other, thinking about the name with confusion: she was silent for a full five seconds before she realized what this tongue-twisting name meant.

What does it do?

Morgan muttered to herself in a low voice, suspicion and thought boiling in her mind, forming thousands of thoughts and speculations, messing up her already tired brain: until the Primarch waved his hand irritably, signaling the mortal assistant who had fulfilled his responsibility to retreat.

【Call Lana.】

These were her last words.

Then, the Spider Queen slumped on the soft cushion without any image: the sound of the servant closing the door shattered the Primarch's need to maintain the last bit of decency in front of outsiders. When this decency disappeared, the Queen of Avalon could roll over and over in the soft gold that was priceless to me under her, cursing the sweat on her eyelashes, the wrinkles between her brows and the never-ending bad news in the galaxy.

As the Great Crusade progressed, and as the trivial matters brought to her by the Far Eastern Frontier and other legions became increasingly arduous and disturbing, the Spider Queen felt that the whole world before her eyes had become hideous, heavy and numb.

And she herself is like a clerk with a sad face all day long, holding a novel that is neither finished nor finished, and in the later stage of editing when the number of words gradually accumulates, she tries in vain to catch the last tail of inspiration in her mind.

This castle in the air, though not perfect, must be equipped with a spire of reasonable height.

The Primarch muttered gloomily, clearing away the distracting thoughts in her mind bit by bit. While listening to the sound of Virgo's feet on the stairs, she thought about things related to [Xi Gaoqi]. Morgan was not unfamiliar with this name, but she did not know much about it.

She didn't even know what this laughing elf god looked like.

and so……

[My Aniya, in the memory sequence I gave you, is there a section about the Eldar God of Laughter Xigaoqi? If I remember correctly, he should be one of the few gods still alive in the entire Eldar mythology system, and now he lives in the webway that my Gene Father has been thinking about? ]

"Indeed, Mother."

After placing a meal that was unusually bland in both quantity and taste on the table next to Morgan, Virgo rubbed her temples out of habit. This was the start button engraved in her running program: rubbing the left side meant turning on the memory array, while rubbing the right side was responsible for the armed array.

"Among the memories and soul fragments of the Eldar aliens that you have stored, there are a lot of fragments about the Laughing God Xigaoqi, but most of the content is highly overlapping. In fact, even the Eldar themselves don't know much about their Laughing God: especially the Ark Eldar and the Savage Eldar, who know even less about this Laughing God."

"But the Dark Eldar, or rather the Comoro nobles among the Dark Eldar, have a better understanding of Xigochi. And you have also collected a few souls from the Harlequin Troupe. According to the memories of those Comoro aliens, these so-called Harlequin Troupes are the believers of the God of Laughter Xigochi, and their deity..."

"Ok?"

Halfway through her story, Virgo suddenly got stuck, as if her neck was being strangled.

"They...uh...they..."

[They didn't leave any traces in your memory array, did they? ]

Morgan seemed to have foreseen this, and she pinched her brows in annoyance.

【Those clown troupes.】

The Primarch sighed.

[Don't be surprised, my daughter, the problem in this matter lies with me: although I am sure that I have devoured a few clowns like this in my past life, probably as my first appetizers in the first moments of my consciousness.]

[I remember clearly that although there were not many of these clowns, I did eat them: they did exist.]

【But...it disappeared again.】

"disappear?"

Virgo is surprised.

"You mean...their souls?"

[Yes, their souls escaped from my mind, or rather, they were rescued by the Laughing God: I have never really digested these clowns, because they are indeed precious collections, and since the incident on Nukelia, I rarely really devour souls. ]

"Not at all, mother."

Virgo corrected her. As Morgan's eldest daughter and personal maid, no one knew better than Anya how the Queen of Avalon's living habits and behaviors had gradually changed over the past few decades. She had witnessed with her own eyes how the Mother of Genes had changed from a domineering queen to the sentimental archon she is today, as if she had witnessed the entire life of a mortal woman.

From a rude young girl to a graceful lady.

"According to my memory sequence, ever since you discovered the attitude of [that thing] towards you in the two incidents of the Yemenga Monolith and Nukelia, you have never intentionally devoured any souls again: you believe that this kind of sinful gluttony will lead to depravity."

【I have to believe it.】

The primarch snorted.

Just as Virgo said, after witnessing with her own eyes how pervasive the pollution of the Warp energy was and how just two or three moves by a god could plunge a Primarch's life into endless suffering, the Spider Queen's behavior became much more restrained.

At least, Morgan has resolutely prohibited actions like devouring souls, which are obviously laying landmines for herself: although she still selects powerful souls worthy of collection for herself on the battlefield, the last trophy so far was the Orc Emperor of Ullanor, but she has never tried to eat them again.

【So, the souls of these disappeared clowns must have been stolen by someone. 】

The Primarch gave his conclusion.

[Now that I think about it, the memories of those Comoro bastards once told me that the God of Laughter believed in by the Harlequin Troupe would snatch the souls of its favorite unicorns from the mouth of the Prince of Pleasure who was bound to devour all the souls of the Eldar after they died on the battlefield. If I think about it this way, it’s not surprising that he could perform a deception in front of me.]

[Whether it was on those apocalyptic battlefields or when my blood brothers were fighting each other, the Laughing God did dare to stick his fingers into the sea of ​​my soul while I was distracted: what really surprised me was that these guys in my mind didn't say anything about it? ]

"Maybe they enjoy it."

Virgo thought for a moment.

"Then do you think that the motive of this Laughing God Xigaoqi's visit is to discuss these unpleasant misunderstandings with you, or does he have other ideas? After all, I remember that decades ago, when we went to the Gothic Star Region to take over the Black Stone Fortress, its envoy seemed to have visited you once."

[It was indeed a long time ago...]

[If you hadn't told me, I would have almost forgotten it. ]

Morgan narrowed his eyes.

[Who knows what these guys are thinking about all day long. ]

"It must be some big plan again."

Virgo responded and turned to get a portion of ice cream.

[I just hope this matter won’t be linked to my asshole dad again.]

The sound of the Primarch rubbing his fork against the plate and the sound of Lana pushing the door were heard at the same time.

The Chief of the Guards, holding the documents he had just received and checked, walked quickly to the Primarch and bowed. When he raised his head, the Spider Queen had already dealt with the first freezing point. She then nodded calmly to her child.

【Have you found out what happened? 】

"All available, Mother."

[You are three or four minutes slower than I expected, Lana.]

"Please forgive me, Mother."

The chief guard smiled.

"I have to take some time to stop one of my mortal friends in the corridor. You should already know him, the young man who just read the briefing to you. Considering that our friendship may be interrupted for life due to some unnecessary misunderstandings, I feel it is necessary for me to explain to him in advance."

How did you solve it?

"It's an administrative task that can be done well and well, and it requires the joint efforts of several members to complete. I have asked him to select other members on his own. This is in line with his identity and status, and his ability is definitely up to the task. If his performance is as good as I expect, then he will meet the standards of the mortal elites you asked me to select before."

【good. 】

Morgan nodded.

[Getting more skilled, Rana.]

"Follow your will."

The Lord Chancellor remained humble.

"According to your instructions, all high-ranking commanders in the Legion and the fleet commanders of each fleet in the Legion are working hard to adapt to the cooperation with the mortals: to ensure that no matter what happens, as long as there is a high-ranking commander in charge of Avalon, the mortal military system of the entire Far East Frontier will not fall into chaos due to lack of a leader."

"In the long run, we can mobilize all the strength of the mortal army at any time." [This is a good thing. ]

Morgan took the document.

【There will always be a day when they will be useful. 】

Rana lowered his head, trying not to think about what kind of "day" would require the Far Eastern Frontier to mobilize all its forces: even Ullanor, which is now praised to the sky by the propaganda mouthpieces of the Human Empire, could not make Great Avalon really take it seriously, and the earlier Randan War could not do it either.

As for what happens next...

Rana did not dare to think about it, but in fact, he had already had doubts in his heart over the years: their Primarch seemed to have been eager to build the Far Eastern Frontier into a machine capable of coping with a galactic-level total war from the very beginning. Although this painstaking semi-wartime system has in a sense hindered the overall development speed of the Far Eastern Frontier, the Primarch has never wavered.

Like she had inside information...

So, is this inside information?

Morgan's unintentional words made her loyal Lord Chancellor shudder, but the Primarch did not notice this. She was frowning because of the strange reports in her hands: the reports came from the garrison commander of Avalon and her daughter Cassiopeia. The contents of the two reports were highly overlapping, concerning the Eldar's harassment forces and the damage caused to the Avalon system and surrounding space.

simply put……

【Not at all?】

The Primarch looked at her offspring and for a moment did not react to what was happening.

Lana looked equally dazed.

[You mean, the Eldar troops have been wreaking havoc in the Avalon region and the surrounding dozen star systems for such a long time, fighting with my Dawnbreakers and mortal legions several times, and even successfully approached those heavily defended fortress-type storage star systems: but after dozens of exchanges of fire, there were no casualties? ]

[There was not even any property damage or casualties.]

"It's not like there's nothing..."

Lana's words were a bit empty. If he hadn't confirmed again and again that the information in his hands really came directly from the Avalon Supreme Command, even the Guards General himself would have thought that this was a lie to fool children: How could there not be even a single casualty figure? The human army and the Eldar troops fought each other more than a dozen times, and there was no bloodshed at all!

"According to reports from the rear, the Eldar army, led by their leader Aidalad and a clown who called himself Xigoqi, launched several attacks on Avalon. But what's strange is that they didn't launch the attack from the void. No one knows how they set foot on the land of Avalon. The defense platform in low-Earth orbit did not give any alarm, and the patrol fleet did not catch any trace of them. However, their small group of troops was able to touch the wall of the Governor's Palace of Avalon and left scars on the wall that symbolized the attack."

"But other than that, they didn't carry out any more sabotage actions. Even though a few teams rushed into the Governor's Palace, they just rushed all the way to the core area and mysteriously disappeared after being blocked. The situation on other worlds is roughly the same. Some imperial governors even reported to me that these Eldar troops would perform some weird songs on their worlds. If there weren't veterans who had seen the world among the civilians of these worlds, people would not have realized that these performers were Eldar."

【… Weird.】

The Primarch frowned.

What do they want to do? Peacefully protest on my land?

"Maybe just a warning?"

Morgan's eldest daughter, who was standing by, suddenly interrupted for no reason: Virgos rarely speak in such occasions, and the suggestions they give sound nonsensical.

"According to Lana's description, perhaps they are just reminding you that there are many invisible loopholes in Avalon's defense network. And they hope to have further communication with you and regard this behavior as some kind of goodwill?"

【comminicate?】

【Would you like to communicate in my stomach?】

Morgan snorted in annoyance, but he was actually wondering in his heart. Star Maids like Virgo, as daughters of the Primarch, had similar personalities to the Spider Queen. The fact that Anya could make such a guess more or less represented Morgan's inner thoughts on the matter: otherwise it would be difficult to have any other explanation.

But then again.

【remind?】

Morgan smiled contemptuously.

[Why don't they organize people to remind the Terra Palace of its defense vulnerability: even Conrad can do the same thing. ]

Virgo stopped talking.

"So, how do you intend for me to respond to Avalon, mother?"

Lana took a step forward.

[Tell them to step up their defense and regard this as a test: I will rush back to Avalon as quickly as possible. If they succeed, they will receive my medal. If they die, I will avenge them with the blood of the Eldar.]

"clear."

The chief guard nodded.

"However, Avalon's headquarters also reported to me something very interesting."

"It's about Xigoqi."

【Hello? 】

Morgan laughed.

[What? Could it be that the Eldar Laughing God really came to my home world in person? ]

"No, according to investigation, the rumor about Xi Gaoqi's personal presence was just the result of the first batch of garrison troops fighting the Eldar troops who mistook the wrong person in the chaotic battlefield. But in every subsequent battle, there was indeed an Eldar clown who called himself Xi Gaoqi. This guy was very powerful. There were many Terran veterans among the battle brothers who stayed behind at the Far Eastern border, but they were unable to kill this clown."

"In addition, it always acts together with another Eldar leader, Adalar. This Ark Eldar leader is alone. He leads a small joint force composed of Ark Eldar, Dark Eldar and Savage Eldar. However, the number of people in the team is not large, and they usually do not participate in battles."

[This is not going to be a good thing for me anyway.]

Morgan licked her lips and tentatively struck the golden giant sword in her heart, but all she got was silence: Even though the matter involved a real Eldar god, the Emperor did not seem to want to intervene, at least he did not want to stand up now, and he did not even respond to his daughter's request.

This made Morgan even more uneasy.

The Emperor was silent.

There must be something fishy going on.

After all, this old guy hasn't given her eye drops for a long time...

When the Lord of Avalon thought of this, he felt a pain in one of his teeth.

[Rana, my child, don't you have any good news to tell me? ]

"Of course, Mother."

The prepared Chief of the Guards quickly pulled out a piece of good news from the pile of documents.

“It’s still great news.”

"According to the report from the shipyard, the second Glorious Queen-class battleship of the Legion has completed all construction work. The sailors and officers are ready and can join the main fleet's combat sequence at any time. Now the only thing this ship needs is a new name, Mother, a resounding title that belongs to it and is bestowed by you."

【ah……】

Morgan finally smiled.

[Very good... As for the name...]

For some reason, the Primarch felt that the other side of his teeth also began to ache.

[To be honest, Lana, I actually asked the Emperor for a name for this new ship during the Ullanor Expedition. I hoped that the Lord of Mankind would give my second Glorious Queen-class battleship a more glorious start, and my father did fulfill my little wish.]

"Really?"

Lana was somewhat excited: This is the name bestowed by the Emperor himself!
"What's it called, Mother?"

【listen. 】

Morgan sneered.

[Don't disbelieve it, my Lana. ]

[My father intends to use this brand new Glorious Queen-class battleship. ]

【Named: Glory of Humanity. 】

(End of this chapter)