Emperor's Bane

Chapter 655: Collusion between Insiders and Outsiders (Part )
Contrary to expectations, capturing the Emperor himself while he was trying to hide on this flagship belonging to the Emperor, and then tying him up and taking him back to his throne room was much easier than Morgan had initially expected: much easier.

After all, this time's temporary teammate, Mr. Makado, is so reliable.

In terms of motivation, he is even more determined than Guilliman, whose father died.

In terms of wisdom, he is more cunning and thoughtful than Zhuang Sen when he cried poor.

In terms of speed, it is three points faster than Magnus who fled after discovering the ancient artifact.

Not to mention his level of understanding of the Emperor's Dream itself, and his huge deterrent effect on the Imperial Guards along the way with his violent temper: it far exceeds the little bastard in Morgan's house, who would only hide in the ventilation ducts and crawl around on Emperor Halloween, scare the children, and then take the candy they dropped on the ground back to feed Corax.

The little bastard had been wreaking havoc aboard Morgan's Aurora for several years as an urban legend, until one Emperor's Halloween coincided with Morgan inviting her brother Vulkan to visit: unknown to the urban legend named Conrad.

Thus, the Fire Dragon Lord and his lieutenants witnessed a rather strange scene.

In the dark corridor where all lights were turned off to create the atmosphere of the Emperor's Halloween, a pair of dry and pale arms wrapped around Vulkan's shoulders, followed by a figure wrapped in a witch's costume, ready to make a move.

The figure mistook the unsuspecting Fire Dragon Lord for a pillar supporting a ventilation duct, and then, in the shocked gaze of the Primarch and his lieutenants, he hung on it leisurely, looking left and right: until he finally turned his head inadvertently, and hit Vulkan on the head with his nose.

The shrill screams spread to every room of the Aurora, and even woke up the Macragge who was visiting on the same day and had suffered an intermittent shock among the pile of documents: Guilliman immediately licked two sips of toad juice specially provided by the Catachan restaurant to refresh himself, as a poor substitute for his out-of-stock coffee creamer.

After all, the effect is not that good.

On the other hand, the capture and interrogation of the urban legend was impressive: although the Midnight Haunter, who was tied up, repeatedly argued that his behavior was just to find some candy so that Corax, who was worried about the Legion's reconstruction work, could be in a good mood, he was still greeted with ruthless suppression from the Spider Queen.

Technical Sergeant Trazyn's collection was updated that evening.

Subsequently, the Emperor's Halloween, which was proposed and named by Conrad himself, was also cancelled. However, it was only cancelled on the Aurora. In the Far Eastern Frontier, Nostramo and even the Five Hundred Worlds, this somewhat strange festival was still retained, which made the name of the Emperor a little strange in these worlds.

The only one who still has a favorable impression of this chaotic black history is probably Vulkan, who was forced to be a background prop: The Lord of Fire Dragons likes the almost free and easy style on the Aurora, and does not care about his passive sacrifice.

In his words: He felt the warm friendship between blood brothers here.

【As hot as blood. 】

Coming out of her memories, the Spider Queen chuckled as she came to her senses. She cleared her mind of distracting thoughts and allowed the Sigillite to lead her to another old room: these vulgar places that looked no different from ordinary people's bedrooms were actually commonly found in the core area of ​​the Emperor's Dream, serving as the Emperor's private lounge.

It is neither luxurious nor grand. The only thing worth noting is the long collection of ancient books and various souvenirs: any small object on the rotten wooden table contains a frighteningly deep history. Even the table itself can be traced back to before the Age of Strife. It is the purest Terra antique.

Morgan soon spotted several of the ancient treasures that interested her, but the depth of the psychic energy surrounding these everyday items made her pause, and Malcador's movements were too fast: they searched a room every few seconds, setting up a psychic alarm to prevent the Lord of Mankind from following them.

The Spider Queen was amazed at the Sigillite's skillful use of the power of the Warp. Although it was only the tip of the iceberg, Morgan was sure that even she and Magnus would find it difficult to imitate the Sigillite's ease: especially when entering some private rooms without even doors or windows, the contest between the Sigillite and the warning devices left by the Emperor even made the Spider Queen feel strange.

She felt like a student: she benefited greatly from Malcador's instinctive reactions and coping skills.

[How do you know so much about all the institutions set up by the Emperor? ]

"When I met him, you were just a project plan on the table in the genetics laboratory."

【…】

But the real treasure came from the 555th room they visited, a palace-sized gallery of the Emperor's personal memories, where every photo and painting was a part of the Emperor's past: but there was no sign of a single Primarch.

Morgan was not surprised.

There were so many security guards here that even Malcador needed several minutes to ensure his safety, which gave Morgan a good opportunity to wander through these most precious fragments of memory: she quickly reviewed the paintings and photos, and soon discovered that in these works of art, there was a person whose appearance rate was terrifyingly high.

【who is he? 】

Morgan caught the seal holder's full attention, at the moment when he had no time to pay attention to anything else, and stuffed the photo directly under his nose. Macador gave the answer without even thinking.

"That's Olpersong."

【Oh, that's him. 】

Malcador said nothing more, but Morgan had already gotten the information she wanted. She put the photo back where it was, and before teleporting away, she memorized the appearance in it firmly in her mind: with the name and the corresponding face, as long as Orperson was really serving here in the Far East Frontier, the Spider Queen could find him out.

As for what use it will have after it is found out, I haven't figured it out yet: It seems that I can use it to bargain with the emperor?
It is unknown how much this person is worth in the heart of the Emperor: after all, her father is notoriously heartless, and Morgan never doubts the Emperor's great shortcomings and virtues.

But: his wallet is still good.

The Spider Queen, who had replenished herself with new energy, threw herself into the subsequent search of the mountains and seas with great enthusiasm. She originally expected that it would take a day or even several days to find the Lord of Humanity, but in fact it only took less than two hours.

Just as a certain Spider Queen who was taking a short rest in the corridor began to glance at the guards with her restless eyes, making the backs of the necks of these golden guards numb, the Sigillite who was acting separately from her sent a signal: Malcador successfully blocked the Emperor who was thinking about life in a very secret library.

So fast.

The Lord of Avalon could only regretfully give up the plan that had already taken shape in his mind, which was to knock out hundreds of imperial guards, tie them up, and use them as bait to lure the emperor: there should be no man who can be immune to his restless daughter approaching the glass cabinet at home that is filled with hundreds of precious figurines.

What's more, she was holding a hammer in her hand.

The Spider Queen, filled with endless regrets, just followed Malcador's instructions and pushed open the door of the library that she had passed by at least three times but had not discovered in time. Then she saw her great genetic father being blocked in a corner by his loyal ministers.

The Emperor had one hand behind his back, and with his other hand he stroked the simulated robot beside him that was several heads shorter than him. Facing Malcador's question, he could only lower his head.

Such a pitiful look...

Wait, why does that lifelike robot look so familiar?

Kind of like Perturabo?
The Primarch's astonishment was drowned in the passionate verbal exchange between the wise ruler and his loyal minister: seeing the Sigillite's submissive appearance in front of the Emperor, Morgan felt that he was so wronged. The group of imperial guards outside actually felt that his behavior in front of the Emperor was too rebellious?
They really should come and see.

Compared with the seal holder, she is extremely submissive and gentle.

Malcador's fist seemed to be about to automatically locate the Emperor's nose in the next second. Of course, the performance of the Lord of Mankind can only be said to be no less impressive: after the Sigillite's persuasion, the Emperor finally took his noble steps and slowly left the place where he was thinking about life. However, no matter how angry Malcador behind him was, the Lord of Mankind only had a simple sentence to explain the reason for his sudden strike.

＋I'm thinking: I just want a quiet space. ＋
"Couldn't you have notified us?"

＋What I’m afraid of is that you guys will disturb my peace of mind when I think about problems like you are doing now. ＋
+You are such a pain in the ass, my friend. +
"..."

At this moment, the room was eerily quiet.

The astonishment on the Sigillite's face made him look somewhat like Angron.

Morgan heard his inherent impression of Zhuang Sen rising quietly.

After saying this, without caring about the evaporating Sigillite, the Emperor strode towards the door. The Spider Queen who was guarding there bowed to her father, but at the moment when their figures crossed each other, the Primarch spoke softly.

[Is this the secret library you gave Perturabo last time, Father?]

The emperor was stunned for a moment and nodded.

He seemed to be wondering who Perturabo was.

+He learned something new here that I wanted him to learn. +
[Including the current "shyness"? ]

＋This is a good thing for him. ＋
＋Isn’t it? ＋
The Lord of Mankind's rhetorical question kept the Primarch silent until Malcador angrily chased after him. Morgan then quickly adjusted his thoughts, stuffed some things he had no time to think about into his memory array, and finally hurried over.

The distance from this secret library to the throne room is not short, and one has to pass through at least hundreds of guard posts of the Imperial Guards. The lucky ones among these ten thousand men had the opportunity to witness a scene that they will never forget.

Their great emperor was seen walking in front with a worried look on his face. His face, which could not be looked directly at, was now drooped. No one knew what he was thinking in the gloom. Although he still looked as brisk as ever, he gave people an inexplicable sense that he had entered old age.

On both sides of him, the inner court officials who were most respected by the Imperial Guards and the outer court officials who were most feared by the Imperial Guards gathered on each side and cooperated with each other tacitly. From the library to the throne room, from the corridors with carved beams and painted rafters to the long aisle covered with red silk, the seal holder never stopped talking. All kinds of questions and details were extracted by him over and over again, torturing the ears of the Lord of Mankind. The sound could even be heard throughout the entire corridor.

As for the Spider Queen next to him, she seemed extremely quiet. She seldom spoke, but whenever the Seal Holder was a little quiet, she would promptly hand over a document or bring up a new topic, making the Emperor, who had finally breathed a sigh of relief, tense up again. And when Morgan asked the questions himself, every word made the face of the Lord of Humanity even gloomier.

A close friend of a powerful minister, and a filial daughter of a vassal king, such a blessing of having three wives shrouded the emperor's journey in a terrible low pressure. The golden guards along the way did not even dare to breathe, and the emperor's gloomy gaze was enough to cut their armor into pieces.

The only thing to be thankful for was that the three men's pace was so fast that even the imperial guards found it difficult to catch sight of them. In the blink of an eye, they disappeared at the end of the field of vision, leaving only the sound of their constant inquiries lingering in the air.

------

"Have you decided what kind of sanctions you will take against Magnus?"

"And what about Mortarion? What are your plans for him?"

"To which of the three Primarchs will responsibility for the Maelstrom Capital be assigned?"

"Where should Holy Terra's direct taxation range be roughly?"

"What are your plans for the expedition fleets you previously commanded?"

"Answer the question, Apocalypse. The High Lords in Terra will be waiting for you in the future..."

[The Primarchs are waiting too. ]

[Also, don't forget to rehearse the Warmaster Ceremony on Ullanor in front of us later. We'll check for you: Have you memorized the script we gave you? I think there are still a few places that can be modified, especially about those troublesome guys. ]

"That's right: in particular, the Terran Guards given to Dorn should be discussed again, and several Primarchs should be compensated to a certain extent..."

【For example, Jonson. 】

+...+
+Can't you solve it yourself? +

"I need your approval."

【Your endorsement. 】

"Your promise."

【Your back. 】

"There are some things we can't do, you have to do it yourself."

[For example, at the Warmaster ceremony, give each Primarch a farewell hug. If you really want to favor Horus, you can just kiss him on the cheek and do it in private.]

+ I don't mean to be partial... +
"I understand, I understand." / [I understand, I understand. ]

"I will carve out some time for you and Horus to be alone together."

[How about just before the royal reception to welcome you? ]

------

+...+
------

Faintly, the Guards seemed to hear painful wails echoing in the warp: the wails continued all the way to the moment when the Emperor's Dream docked in Ullanor's low-Earth orbit, and then they quietly stopped.

……

The Guards had never seen the Emperor prepare for travel so quickly.

(End of this chapter)