Emperor's Bane

Chapter 638 Vulkan

【Guilliman hasn't arrived yet? We have been waiting for him here for three days.】

"I'm afraid we'll have to wait three more days, Mother."

"At least the letter Lord Guilliman sent us said he would need three more days."

【That’s what he said three days ago.】

"Same thing six days ago: I suppose the Lord simply was too lazy to change the figures again."

As the eldest daughter of the Lord of Avalon and her closest person, Virgo's tone when answering Morgan's question did not contain the slightest air of solidarity: she knew very well that her genetic mother was just nagging as usual and had no intention of blaming Guilliman at all.

But no matter what she thought in her heart, in front of outsiders, Morgan still had to use her fast-paced low voice to curse this Macragge man who "didn't take her seriously" in order to maintain her character: even if this outsider was the Fire Dragon Lord who had the most mellow personality among many brothers and did not have any complicated thoughts at all.

But despite this, out of the cautious thinking she had long developed, Morgan decided not to completely take off the mask in front of Vulkan: although theoretically, her salamander brother could withstand the test, even if the Spider Queen completely revealed her true heart in front of him, as long as Morgan's behavior was not too extreme, Vulcan would not bring any negative impact to Morgan.

However, the Spider Queen knew very well that human hearts, especially the part like brotherhood or blood ties in the human heart, should not be tested as long as it is possible: few people can bear the catastrophic consequences of being hit by that tiny possibility.

Even the Spider Queen, who is a master at manipulating people's hearts, is the same. Among all Morgan's brothers, Conrad is the only one whom Morgan dares to test with interests: even Jonson, Guilliman, Angron or Dorn are not on her candidate list, not to mention brothers like Vulkan, who have only met a few times and have a weak relationship with each other.

But even so, the Spider Queen had to admit one thing: it was very pleasant to get along with Vulkan, because this most robust Primarch possessed the most delicate gentleness of all the Emperor's children. His kindness and gentleness were from the heart, the most sincere, so dazzling that even the most sinister guys could not deliberately ignore these shining points.

Theoretically, such a pure and kind person should be in conflict with the behind-the-scenes manipulator like Morgan in nature, but in fact, the Lord of Fire Dragon is the brother that the Spider Queen likes to get along with the most: his frankness allows Morgan to temporarily calm the fatigue of intrigue, and his firm sense of honor and kindness not only allows the Lord of Avalon to firmly grasp the initiative in the conversation, but also allows him to take the opportunity to profit for himself.

It is not difficult to understand that a truly noble person is welcomed wherever he goes, both by noble and good people and by despicable and shameless villains: after all, there is only a thin red line between nobility and pedantry, which can be crossed with a little guidance, and pedantic people will always bring benefits to others.

That's what Vulcan was like.

Thinking of this, the Spider Queen, whose anger had temporarily subsided, took the opportunity to glance at the Fire Dragon Lord sitting opposite her: Originally, this matter had no necessary connection with Vulkan, but when Morgan cursed Guilliman in a low voice, the tall Primarch with black skin couldn't help but shrink his body, his rough fingers rubbing against each other uneasily, his thick lips slightly opened, but apart from bursts of anxious breathing, he could no longer utter any words.

Morgan was only condemning Guilliman, but Vulkan naturally felt sympathy with his Macragge brother: although he was also a victim of Guilliman's lateness, the Fire Dragon Lord was now thinking about defending his brother in front of Morgan, but because he could not think of how to start, he could only let the furnace-like heart burn his guilty soul.

What a...

A respectable guy.

The Spider Queen, with an angry look on her face but lively pupils, naturally took all these actions into her heart: Vulkan's dilemma at this moment not only reminded Morgan of her brief time with this brother, but also made her once again reaffirm in her heart the noble nature of the Primarch of the Salamanders.

Maybe you can use it.

This was the first thing Morgan thought of.

Because in the heart of the Spider Queen, there is always a worry, that is the Psyker Conference that will be held after the Warmaster Ceremony: Although Morgan does not care much about the final fate of Magnus and the Thousand Sons Legion, since Ahriman returned to the Far Eastern Frontier and devoted himself to the new cause he established in the Dawnbreaker Legion, the importance of the Thousand Sons Legion in Morgan's eyes has plummeted.

Nowadays, the greatest value of Magnus and his descendants to Morgan is to help the Spider Queen navigate the warp and determine the dangers of new psychic powers. This is not an irreplaceable position, because with the gradual instability of the warp, Morgan has made up his mind to gradually stop the development of new psychic powers in the next few years.

In this case, the fate of Magnus and the Thousand Sons Legion at the Psychic Conference has nothing to do with the Far Eastern Frontier: but after the execution of the Thousand Sons, the Imperial Psychic System that will be formally discussed is a big problem that requires Morgan's full efforts, and she must be fully prepared.

She couldn't count on the Emperor.

The Primarch knew very well that although the Lord of Mankind had tacitly approved of the new system she had created, it was impossible for the Emperor to favor or even directly help the psychics at the meeting. Morgan had to face the voices of her opponents, and also bear the negative impact that Magnus and the Thousand Sons Legion might bring to her in the previous debate: if these guys really came up with something shocking at the meeting, then even those factions that were benefiting steadily from the psychic system would most likely jump to Mortarion's side.

Therefore, in this context, it would not be a wise move for Morgan to personally go into battle: because the isolated and helpless Magnus would definitely fight bare-handed, and the Spider Queen did not want to be associated with this brother by the people present after his failure.

She needs help.

She needs a few brothers who genuinely identify with the psyker system and are willing to stand on Morgan's side and speak for her: Konrad is not considered, and his words are unlikely to attract the attention of other Primarchs and important people; Jonson's reliability is enough, but he is still a little overwhelmed to deal with Mortarion; Guilliman might be a good idea, but the negative impact he may bring to Morgan may be more deadly than Magnus and the Thousand Sons Legion combined.

In this case, all Morgan can consider is to win over a few centrists, those primarchs who do not have deep personal connections with her but identify with her psyker system and also gain benefits from the psyker system: letting them charge into battle for the Spider Queen and become a reliable support behind the Empire's psyker system is the safest choice after weighing the pros and cons.

If all else fails, Morgan will go and confront Mortarion himself.

With this in mind, Vulkan and the Salamanders are a very tempting option.

On the one hand, the Eighteenth Legion was indeed a beneficiary of the think tank plan, and although they had never shown signs of over-reliance on psychic powers in previous battles, they were very enthusiastic about Morgan's Psychic Academy and Psychic Codex plan: as early as when the news of the Psychic Conference spread, Vulkan had firmed his position in supporting the use of psychic powers.

On the other hand, the Fire Dragon has the same problem as the Lion, that is, his professional ability is still worth studying. But Vulcan and Jonson are different in details: Jonson is simply incompetent, while Vulcan's kind nature is a bigger problem for him.

That’s right: kindness.

That's his advantage.

That's also his disadvantage.

Morgan remembered it clearly.

She remembered that even Conrad, a guy who had always been in a bad situation, would give Vulkan a high evaluation in some aspects, not only higher than Horus, higher than Ferrus, and even higher than their great genetic father: But then again, in Conrad's words, there were not many Primarchs who were worse than the Emperor.

Midnight Haunter once listed Vulcan, Dorn and Guilliman as the best among the Primarchs in front of Morgan, that is, those whose professional ability, awareness and loyalty were beyond doubt. Morgan still remembered his evaluation of Vulcan vividly: Conrad first praised Vulcan's pure and kind nature that was enough to make Sanguinius cry, but soon changed his tone and scolded the Fire Dragon Lord for wasting his combat talent.

In his words, no one in the galaxy is kinder than Vulkan: Sanguinius's mercy is not entirely from his heart, Guilliman's brilliance is just a contrast of idealism, Lorgar and Fulgrim's mercy is even more vulnerable, only the kindness of the Fire Dragon Lord is the most steadfast, because only his kindness comes completely from his heart, and is the stamen watered by instinct and careful consideration after experiencing various tests in the galaxy.

But on the other hand, it was precisely this kindness that limited Vulkan's abilities. He should have been the undisputed number one among the Primarchs who was good at close combat, and he should have been the Emperor's magic weapon against potential dangerous factors, so that he would live up to the status of the Salamanders' trefoil. But Vulkan messed up on this issue. As the most talented among the Primarchs, people rarely associated him with combat.

But most importantly: even Vulkan himself rarely does this.

“He doesn’t consider himself a fighter.”

“This is the most fatal problem.”

Morgan blinked. She remembered Conrad's words clearly. The Fire Dragon Lord in front of her, who theoretically could have punched Morgan out of the throne room, but in reality was a little timid, confirmed the Midnight Haunter's harsh evaluation with his actions: he was never suitable to be a warrior.

This is not good news. Morgan smacked her lips: She carefully chose her next topic.

【Vulkan, my brother.】

[Do you know why Guilliman keeps delaying his trip? ]

The Spider Queen stretched out her finger and hooked the letter handed over by Virgo. She smiled at the Fire Dragon Lord as gently as possible to ease her brother's somewhat anxious mood. At the same time, she leisurely tore open the envelope and recited the itinerary reported by the Macragge people on the spot.

[On the way he led his fleet to meet us, he received information: there was unrest near his fiefdom in the Great Whirlpool, a civilized star system called Badab, so he took the opportunity to adjust his route and go to this enclave of 500 worlds for an inspection, which delayed him for a few days.]

"A full half month?"

【That's not the case. The real problem is that after inspecting Badab, Guilliman felt that he had neglected this place and felt sorry for the taxes that the people of Badab had contributed to the Five Hundred Worlds, so he stopped his fleet completely because he had to spend about a week planning the development route for Badab in the next few centuries. Then, he used this as an excuse to naturally leave all of us aside.】

"is that so……"

Vulkan's brows twitched, and there was no anger on his dark face, but Morgan could feel that the Fire Dragon Lord's heart was not as calm as his face: no matter how open-minded this Primarch was, facing Guilliman's almost rude behavior, Vulkan was somewhat annoyed.

He could not condemn Guilliman's actions for the welfare of his people as wrong, but this delayed the more important matter, which was that the Lord of Macragge was wrong: not to mention the strong localist tendencies that Guilliman showed in this trade-off.

In his eyes, the conference of the entire empire is not as important as the well-being of the world under his command?
【It’s far more than that.】

Morgan blinked. Just by looking at Vulkan's furrowed brows and the obvious questioning in his pupils, the Spider Queen could understand the question that her blood brother was roaring in his heart at this moment: and she gave an extremely affirmative answer, even adding a little bit of the fable that Conrad had told her.

【Let me tell you, Vulkan.】

[When Guilliman decides to stop for any of his worlds, even if one of his blood brothers is in danger of being assassinated on the other side of the galaxy, our Lord of Five Hundred Worlds will not be moved.]

[You know what? Sometimes, the cold-blooded actions of some of our brothers really surprise me, Vulkan.]

"Don't be so pessimistic, Morgan."

The fire dragon spoke to comfort him, but his face was obviously darker.

This made Morgan quietly relieved.

Vulkan was angry, unhappy with Guilliman's behavior - that was good.

If he can be dissatisfied now, then at the Psychic Conference, Morgan will have plenty of ways to make Vulkan angry and fight for their common cause: the good reputation and purity of the Fire Dragon Lord will become Morgan's weapon at the Psychic Conference.

But before that, it would be better for her to develop some more bonds with this brother.

It is best to be an alliance of interests.

The Primarch blinked, and she quickly found the topic she needed.

It's right under their feet, isn't it?

[But, then again. 】

Smiling, Morgan personally filled a glass of wine for her dragon brother.

[I'm quite curious: Badab is actually Guilliman's fiefdom? ]

[In my impression: shouldn't the southern part of the Great Whirlpool belong to you and the Salamander? ]

"That's true in theory."

Vulkan nodded in acknowledgement at first, but then quickly shook his head in distress.

"But in fact, I would rather our great gene father take back this destiny."

"I would like to protect the Great Whirlpool, but the situation here is beyond our capabilities. Even in the most intense battlefields of the Great Crusade, I have never seen such a chaotic situation. I can foresee, Morgan, that if we are not careful, the Great Whirlpool will engulf us."

[Is it really that serious? ]

"It bothers me at least."

【Then tell me, brother. 】

The Spider Queen smiled, and Virgo stood beside her, spreading out the star map of the entire Maelstrom region on the table in due course.

【It just so happens. 】

[On this issue, I think I still have some advice from my ancestors. ]

【So……】

[Which problem gives you the most headache? ]

"..."

"Morgan."

"Did you know that the Emperor and Terra are planning to set up a Great Vortex Guardhouse?"

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