Emperor's Bane

Chapter 654: Collusion between Insiders and Outsiders (Part )
Ever since she was forced by the pressure of the gods to get involved in the Great Crusade, Morgan could no longer remember how many times she had visited the Emperor's Dream: her memory was biased here.

Is it the third time? Or the fourth time?

Whenever the Spider Queen thinks back to things related to her genetic father, her powerful mind that is capable of commanding thousands of stars will be disturbed accordingly: the details about the Lord of Mankind are always vague.

For example, some key numbers, several important discussions, or those whispers that were confided like secrets: the Primarch was sure that they were all important, but they all disappeared into the deepest part of his memory without him noticing, as if wiped out by the scythe of the god of death, without being able to grasp even the slightest clue.

She knew they existed, but had forgotten everything else.

This feels like...

Just like those uninformed brothers looked at the disappeared Eleventh Primarch.

【…】

For no apparent reason, Morgan shuddered.

She didn't want to recall that brother, the man who even she thought was too crazy: but the real core issue was that the disappearance of the blond beast allowed Morgan to witness with her own eyes the real bottom line between the Emperor and the Primarch, and that bottom line seemed to be making a comeback.

Surrounding her, they attacked the memories in her mind: the place where she stored her self-will and pure soul.

This forced Morgan to become serious.

She was not so forgetful before, and in fact she is not forgetful now: the Spider Queen can clearly recall every little movement and facial expression she witnessed when she was with each of her blood brothers. These memories are like classified documents, properly stored in the Primarch's mind and can be retrieved anytime and anywhere.

This is the Spider Queen's secret weapon that she has never revealed to others. Even Conrad and Johnson are unaware of it: whenever Morgan reunites with her Primarch brothers after a long separation, she can use the precise memory fragments in her mind to compare with the current status of the Primarch in front of her, and thus infer what changes one of her brothers has undergone during the years that she cannot see?
This is almost a science: after all, you can't just talk to a group of galaxy-famous weird giant babies, as well as her nephews who are as smart as their heads.

All of this is based on her almost infallible memory.

But now, no matter how hard Morgan tried to recall, she could not get a definite answer regarding the Emperor. Even Virgo's memory array could not help her: this situation had become increasingly serious in the past decade or so and had become a new distress for the Spider Queen.

Just as she could not recall how many times she had visited the Emperor's Dream, she could only vaguely remember that each visit was not pleasant, sometimes long, sometimes short: and the Emperor did not always give her satisfactory answers.

These are all unknowns.

But the only thing that is certain is that she must be the Primarch who has received the most [Favour].

It's such an honor.

Nothing can make Morgan realize the truth of "one man's meat is another man's poison" more than this "honor". For others, this reward is something they can only dream of but it is like a death warrant to the Spider Queen.

If it weren't for Malcador's call notes bouncing around on her white jade tabletop, as annoying as Conrad's head, Morgan really intended to delay for a while, but the Sigillite was indeed pressing: and the Spider Queen did still have a use for him.

That's the point.

Therefore, the Spider Queen could only tidy up her appearance hastily, and then quietly placed the Virgo, who had just been coaxed to sleep, in her arms on the mattress. She then wished the little man in robe who was eating a cake next to her to check on the house, and then clenched the teleportation talisman in her hand.

When the psychic power with a light golden glow enveloped her, Morgan did not forget to take one last look at Virgo's situation, thinking about how to comfort her when she returned: this was also a family tradition for her and her daughters, and it had continued for almost forty to fifty years.

After all, when Morgan sent her precious daughters out, she actually had the same idea as her genetic father: she also liked to send her children out, asking them to fight for her, to shepherd a region, and to follow the old tradition of cattle and horses that the capable ones go first and only those who endure hardships can endure greater hardships.

But unlike the Emperor, Morgan was well aware of how much trouble her inaction would cause to her precious daughters, so she was very lenient on other issues. She did not mind the failures of the Star Maids and liked to reward them for their unique ways of relieving stress.

For example, Virgo likes to sleep in her mother's arms: what's wrong with a little satisfaction? This kind of mother-daughter interaction, which happens once every few months, is a good way to relieve everyone's stress, and it also makes Morgan more doubtful of her and Perturabo's craftsmanship.

Isn’t this humanoid bionic body structure a little too humanoid?

With such doubts in mind, Morgan's body tore through the barrier of the subspace. When she opened her eyes again, the Sigillite had a tired expression, and the Guards were fully armed with hostile eyes, which made the Spider Queen feel at home.

Back: What a familiar feeling.

【Where are others? 】

The Primarch stepped out of the teleportation circle and unceremoniously used her psychic power to push away those Custodian Guards who were too close to her, just because their blades had dazzled her eyes: the Lord of Avalon was too lazy to even address the Emperor by his name, and the air on the bridge became heavier with such presumptuous words.

But the imperial guards [had no reaction].

Morgan was not surprised by this, as she knew that those present were all familiar faces: this was a small compromise made by the Emperor and Malcador to the Spider Queen on such issues.

Ever since Morgan openly expressed her contempt for the Master of Mankind on the deck of the Emperor's Vision, she has subsequently demonstrated with her own actions that her declaration was not groundless, including but not limited to kicking open the red agate door of the Emperor's throne room, using the Master of Mankind's private flag as a mouth towel after a meal, and knocking her iron boots directly on the Emperor's priceless desk.

Of course, if these actions could be understood as the Primarch's antics, then randomly knocking out the Guards she saw, painting their armor silver-white, or carving cat-ear-like patterns on the places where the glorious names and double-headed eagles were inlaid, was completely beyond the tolerance of the Guards.

It’s not that there weren’t some Golden Guards who drew their swords in rage, but their courage only proved that the Primarch was worthy of being the Primarch: after Morgan had argued with the Emperor countless times, slammed the door in anger, and took out his anger on the oversized figures of the Custodes, the Lord of Mankind finally compromised.

He selected those with the best tempers from his Golden Guards to greet and escort the Spider Queen, while the others were forbidden to have any contact with Morgan: so in recent decades, Morgan had been in contact with the same group of Custodians on the Emperor's Dream.

This is indeed rare for the Imperial Guard, which is already highly mobile.

Those lucky ones who were unfortunately chosen thus began a painful experience: as the Emperor relied more and more on Morgan, his meetings with the Spider Queen became more and more frequent. The sparks of father-daughter love were so touching that people cried and the veins of the guards guarding the surrounding area bulged with fear.

It was like this every time, and every time, with such rage and insolence, the pitiful dignity of the Imperial Guards was whipped day after day: until decades later, they changed from the honor guards who drew their swords in anger to cold machines who were no longer surprised by the Spider Queen's usurpation.

numb.

Furthermore, these specially selected guardsmen developed a strange sense of trust in the Spider Queen, and many of them began to ponder a question: Since Morgan's transgression and disloyalty were so obvious, then why did the Emperor still trust her?

Does that mean that this Primarch is indeed unique?

The spread of this idea made the two hundred imperial guards look at Morgan even more indifferently.

And if, for some reason, Morgan behaved in a respectful manner towards the Emperor on the bridge of the Emperor's Vision, these guards would feel a little uncomfortable and even whisper to each other, and the intensity of surveillance on the Spider Queen would increase sharply.

These bastards always thought that she, the weakest Primarch, had bad intentions.

So inhuman.

Despite this, the magnanimous Spider Queen still chuckled at them, casually patted the shoulders of several leaders, and spit out their names and achievements, but she only received generally hostile looks: until Malcador asked them to retreat a hundred steps away.

"If you don't come, I'm going to chase you to the Aurora and capture you."

The words of the seal holder are just like his reputation outside, which makes people dislike him.

【Believe me: it won’t be a good thing for you or me. 】

Morgan only chuckled, but Malcador saw clearly that when he said he was going to catch up to the Aurora, a dangerous light flashed in the eyes of the Spider Queen: it was the instinctive rage of a carnivorous beast when its private territory was trampled on at will.

"how?"

The seal holder retorted.

"Are you worried that there are some shameful secrets on your Aurora?"

[Indeed: I am more worried that you will perish along with my ship.]

"You overestimate the power of a battleship against a psyker."

My boat is different.

Morgan just smiled.

[I can assure you that if only a few conditions are met, the Aurora can even temporarily block the boarding of an entire Astartes Legion. You can consider it as my true home planet and use it to assess its status and importance.] "What about Avalon?"

[The total time I spent in that world was no more than ten years.]

"I can understand."

The seal bearer stepped aside and motioned Morgan to walk alongside him.

"It's like the relationship between Holy Terra and the Emperor's Vision, isn't it?"

【Speaking of this...】

Morgan pursed her lips. Malcador could see the tongue of the Primarch gently licking the dryness at the corners of her mouth. He knew that this was a manifestation of Morgan's greed: whenever she desired something, the Spider Queen could never control her expression.

These flaws make her more human than her other brothers.

"What do you want again?"

[I was just thinking, since the Emperor will be away from the front lines of the Great Crusade from now on, then his Emperor's Vision and Bucephalus...]

"You're so bold: why don't you conceive of Dorn's Phalanx?"

[I heard that some of the technology related to the Phalanx is in the Emperor's treasury.]

"Really?"

The seal holder, who had just mentioned it casually, raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"how do you know?"

【Perturabo told me.】

Morgan spread his hands.

【We have been keeping in touch.】

"so?"

The seal bearer did not slow down.

"Are you really planning to own a Phalanx of your own? It's not easy."

[No, I'm not that arrogant.]

Morgan restrained her edge, and the Master of the Seal began to not understand her thoughts.

[I just want some of the technology related to the Phalanx: for example, its subspace engine technology. ]

"What do you want this for?"

【A friend of mine... wants it. 】

"friend?"

[Yes: Riza, they have wanted this technology for many years.]

Facing the Spider Queen's smile, Malcador was a little puzzled. He didn't quite understand why the Queen of Avalon asked for such a grand engine technology. Could it be that she really had a Phalanx that had no problems at all except that it could not move?
Then he would have to re-evaluate the threat ranking of the three kingdoms in the Far East.

"..."

Forget it, I can’t care less.

After pondering for a moment, the Sigillite shook his head helplessly in his heart. He was very clear about the current powerlessness of himself and the Emperor: they had to face too many opponents, and even nearly half of the Primarchs were unstable factors. Under this premise, all the forces that could be united were worth their compromise.

The Lord of Mankind and the Sigillite were of course well aware that the Spider Queen was doing some terrible little things in her Far Eastern frontier: Morgan's actions over the years had proven that she had in her hands a giant weapon that was unknown but certainly extremely powerful, and she had not done much to hide that fact.

And what could Malcador do? He could only turn a blind eye and pretend to be deaf and dumb. After all, Morgan was safe, and she could help with many problems: instead of worrying about her, he might as well worry about old Terra who had a lot of big plans in his mind.

This realization finally reached its peak when the Sigillite pushed open the door in front of Morgan, only to find that the Emperor's office was empty. Malcador stared blankly at the position under the crystal chandelier. Logically, his lord should be standing there at this moment, carrying the script that he and Morgan had coded in advance, and they were just discussing some details this time.

But now, the lights are on.

But there is no trace of the king.

Where are people? ! !

Ran.

[It seems that a certain emperor is planning to rebel against your powerful behavior. ]

The Primarch glanced at the script that was casually thrown on the ground, his veins bulging: That was the result of her hard work for a long time, you could at least throw it on the table!

【What should we do now? 】

"follow me."

After taking a few deep breaths, the voice sounded frighteningly calm.

"He can't run away: he is just hiding on the Emperor's Dream in front of us."

[To put it lightly: This Glorious Queen is larger than a hive city. ]

Morgan sneered, but the only response she got was a gloomy look on the face of the seal holder.

"It doesn't matter. I know every detail of the Emperor's Vision, because I supervised its completion. Long before the Great Crusade began, I was in charge of the government affairs of Holy Terra while supervising the construction of the Emperor's Vision."

[Question: Why does it sound like you do everything yourself? ]

What is he doing?

"..."

"good question."

Malcador laughed.

"Once we catch him, maybe you can help me get an answer."

【What if he runs away again? 】

"Then lock him up! Lock him up! Chain him to the throne!"

The seal bearer chewed his teeth.

"As long as I can clean up this mess, I don't care what it looks like!"

(End of this chapter)