Emperor's Bane

Chapter 703 You are the third party

【I know this is a strange thing to say, my brother Sanguinius.】

[But the fact is that when the three of us sat down and quibbled about the things on Nikaea, I always felt that I was the redundant one among the three: when Guilliman and Mortarion were arguing, I sat next to them, saying nothing, like a useless light bulb.]

[Many times, I can’t even understand the… data they’re talking about?]

"data?"

[That’s right: performance has positive and negative values.]

"I thought only mortals would bother with these useless number games."

【Numbers game?】

"Isn't it: to twist and materialize living lives and brains that can think independently into fixed numbers on a panel. Apart from being able to show off one's power and willfulness as a superior to others, what other value can it produce?"

"But it has survived to this day, Chagatai Khan: that is what it does."

“What gets passed down may not necessarily be a good thing: go ask the ancients who just stepped out of Holy Terra and marched into the boundless Milky Way, and tell them that after tens of thousands of years of civilization development, the entire human civilization is still practicing a monarchical dictatorship. See how many people will laugh their heads off at this.”

"We can even take off the sun, but we can never take off a damn crown."

[Okay, Chagatai: We two are not here to listen to your cynicism.]

The Spider Queen put down the teacup and glanced inside absentmindedly: on the surface of the unfinished tea, a pair of eyes with obvious traces of fatigue were rippling with the waves, and the few silver threads that seemed to be there and not there were also extremely dry.

[I'm tired: too tired to murder another brother.]

Morgan heard himself sigh.

[If you have nowhere to vent your anger, just wait for the Palace of Nikaea in a few days. ]

At the end, the Primarch didn't even bother to make a polite gesture, and his tone was full of threatening emphasis: the two remaining people at the round table looked at her in unison, with different expressions on their semi-god-like faces.

The archangel sitting on Morgan's left obviously did not want to get involved in this conflict and was happy to stay in his upper audience seat. He picked up the teacup, seemingly savoring the drink that the servitor had just brought him. However, through the mirror-like basalt wall behind Sanguinius, Morgan easily saw the corners of his mouth that he could not suppress at all.

She rolled her eyes in her heart. This concealing skill was not even as good as Conrad's: Conrad at least knew that at this moment, he must quickly turn around, loudly call out to the unsuspecting Sevatar, and then pretend to instruct her on something important, showing a hideous smile to the bewildered Prince of Crows.

The only bad consequence of this was that Sevatar turned around and quietly stuffed two dozen psychologists and psychiatrists onto the Nightfall. After practicing on the Midnight Lords and crew members on the Nightfall, these medical masters applied for long-term sick leave for psychological reasons.

Don't ask her how she knew: the crew of the Nightfall does not need a visa to rest on the Aurora's exclusive sanatorium world, but it does need to be approved by the Primarch, even if the passport is given by Sevatar.

Morgan sighed slightly, and the memories of the past made her tired heart feel a little better. Taking this opportunity, the Primarch looked at her eagle blood, preparing for a storm that was likely to come.

But surprisingly, Khan's performance was unexpectedly indifferent: he responded to the sisters' disrespect with silence, and seemed to be thinking about Morgan's words very seriously. After a moment, he actually nodded to show his concession.

"Morgan, my sister, I mean no disrespect for your efforts."

[I can see that.]

Morgan smiled.

[Rather, your respect is not in line with the relationship between us. ]

"Stay true to your facts is a basic quality."

The Khan still kept his eyes closed.

"No matter what happened in the past, we are now de facto allies, soldiers on Nikaea who need to advance and retreat together: Magnus is no longer worth looking forward to, Guilliman and Jonson are not worth using, if the three of us continue to add to the conflict here, it would be too foolish."

After saying that, he glanced at Morgan.

"If you're really tired, I can take on more responsibilities in the meeting."

"They already had a lot of complaints about me and my legion anyway: a few more won't hurt."

The Khan's voice was strange. It was unclear whether he was proud of this or regretful that his compatriots were all fools who were not as good as the real ones.

"Won't you consider me, Chagatai?"

At this time, the angel suddenly spoke.

"I am also a member of the alliance, right?"

The Khan just glanced at him.

"Alright. Have you figured out how to engage Mortarion and Leman Russ in close combat?"

The angel stopped talking, and only soft murmurs were left floating in the air.

"I should have waited for Fulgrim, and come with him..."

"It would be useless even if he came. Besides, Fulgrim won't be able to come for a while."

As a fellow Maelstrom person, Khan obviously knows the current situation of the Phoenix Lord very well.

"The pirate situation in the Maelstrom is far beyond Fulgrim's initial expectations. Although he has repelled the pirates' attack and eliminated most of them, the remaining number is still a threat. It is even a question whether he can catch up with the meeting in Nikea."

"But then again, you two are pretty useless anyway, right?"

"Are you hurting me a little too much by what you said, brother?"

The angel frowned and looked at the Empire's Eagle with a sad face: he knew, of course, that Morgan was not included in the two people, but he was included anyway.

"I'm just telling the truth."

This time, Chagatai didn't even bother to glance at him: after a long period of sincere cooperation, if Chagatai Khan's impression of Morgan had improved a lot, then his impression of Saint-Gilius must have declined by a similar amount.

After all, nothing can make people more deeply appreciate Sanguinius's...hands-off style of governance than working together.

This kind of person is indeed suitable to be a ruler: but what he needs now is allies!
Khan frowned, and he didn't touch his drink from beginning to end.

"Okay, stop acting, bro."

Jaghatai's voice was hoarse, and Sanguinius recovered in an instant. The sadness from a moment ago had long since disappeared, and the archangel continued to sip the drink in his cup leisurely like a beautiful statue: he knew that the Khan was going to ask some serious questions.

Chagatai seemed to be sighing.

“Our division of labor has always been very clear.”

"Morgan is responsible for planning, Guilliman is responsible for helping her as much as possible, Magnus is responsible for being a good vase: of course, he himself does not need to know this, and I am responsible for rushing up to fight in the meeting and squeezing out Magnus's speaking time as much as possible."

"In fact, Guilliman is also suitable for this job."

The angel muttered quietly: But before the Khan could tell him to shut up, Morgan, who had been looking lifeless, responded.

He is indeed suitable.

"what?"

Both of them were a little surprised.

[I said: Guilliman is indeed suitable to rush forward and fight hand-to-hand when the time comes.]

【He has a...secret weapon.】

“Performance and plus/minus?”

It was the Khan's snort of contempt.

【No, more.】

The Primarch waved his hand.

[You will know when the time comes: anyway, on the Endurance. What confused me the most was the scene where Guilliman took his secret weapon and fought Mortarion, and our Macragge actually won. We can look forward to his performance on Nikaea. ]

"That's it."

When the angel nodded blankly, the Khan had already thought of something.

"I hope it's like I thought."

He smiled, and his thin lips were like shining scimitars.

【It's just what you think. 】

Morgan nodded, but the smile in his tired eyes had a unique flavor.

【data.】

"Data? That makes sense: he is Guilliman after all. No matter what others do, he must have sufficient [data] in his hands."

"Let the facts speak for themselves."

Khan's sigh made Sanguinius beside him raise his eyebrows.

"Didn't you just rant about the dangers of data in front of us, brother?" "I hate it, but I can tolerate it."

Faced with this blatant criticism, Chagatai Khan's expression did not change at all. He just turned his head indifferently and looked at the archangel: during this period, he had already thought of a way to fight back.

"After all, I can tolerate you."

"..."

Sanguinius was silent again.

To be honest, he actually hated chatting with Chagatai Khan.

But the Khan did not let him go.

"I can tolerate you because you can still play a little useful role."

The eagle stared at his brother intently.

"After all, we need to know the Emperor's attitude towards this matter at all times: who can convey these messages more promptly than a brother on Nikaea who supports both us and the Emperor, who defends Magnus on the surface but betrays him in secret?"

This speech, which was enough to stir up suspicion and blood feuds among several legions, plunged into the deep pool between the three people without even the slightest echo: they just took the time to recuperate. Not to mention the Spider Queen who was already accustomed to all this, even Sanguinius, who was summoned by the Khan in person, only frowned slightly, and even the smile on the corner of his mouth did not waver for a moment.

This instead made Chagatai Khan's brows begin to frown even more.

After a moment's silence, the angel's sigh and words melted his ice.

"Jaghatai, my brother, do you still harbor such prejudice against me and Fulgrim?"

"of course."

The Khan did not hesitate.

"When I learned that you and Fulgrim, two guys who openly supported Magnus, had already sold him out in private, I realized that your actions were fundamentally correct: this is also the only reason to stop me from unsheathing my sword."

"Of course I know."

The angel shook his head.

"So: we didn't want you to come to the Nikea Conference."

“But it makes no difference now.”

Sanguinius spread his hands.

"You have joined in, my brother Chagatai. In the final analysis, we are all the same. We have no deep hatred against Magnus, but he does need to learn a lesson: you can hate us for our betrayal from the beginning, but you know that you have no right to condemn our goals."

"Besides, by your standards: aren't you also a betrayer?"

The angel grinned, but Chagatai Khan remained silent.

"Don't be nervous, brother. We are doing this for Magnus's own good, right?"

"..."

"Just like I said."

Khan didn't respond to the comment; he was simply emphasising his point.

"Only on Nikaea are we allies fighting side by side."

"And Magnus is our enemy."

The last sentence was added by the archangel to Khan with a smile.

Chagatai looked very unhappy.

But he didn't argue.

"Speak, Sanguinius."

He brought up another topic.

"Does the Lord of Humanity have any new ideas now?"

"Is this..."

------

"Actually, I can't really explain it."

"But his views on Nikea and the Think Tank have never changed."

"Still as stubborn and greedy as ever: classic Macurag syndrome."

When he met Horus, the originally taciturn Lord of Death opened his long-silent chatterbox and began to speak in torrents in front of the wolf-god: complaints and anger danced together, scorn and sighs flew side by side, and within a few minutes, Horus's rapidly calloused ears could hear most of the content of the negotiations.

Including the hypocrisy of both parties in the negotiation and the contract that is worse than sand, as well as Guilliman's almost annoying data, and Morgan's sometimes eccentric and sometimes humble split, plus the combination of data and rhetoric between the two of them, which is like a couple opening a shop, are all things that have long been talked about.

The only interesting thing is that even in his endless complaints, the Lord of Death did not forget to squeeze out time to specifically boast about the Macragge people's noble taste in refreshing drinks.

Horus felt the same way: How could anyone really drink the native drink of Barbarus that Mortarion had prepared without batting an eyelid? He was saving that stuff for a neural virus.

But what really concerned him was another thing mentioned by Mortarion.

"Wait, bro."

The wolf-shepherd god waved his hand.

"You just said: Do you think the most difficult thing is the joint attack of Guilliman and Morgan?"

“They are a perfect team!”

Mortarion clenched his fists, crushing his invisible enemy into powder bit by bit.

"You should have been there, Horus, you should have seen it!"

"I even suspect that the two of them had already colluded before the meeting. When they were coordinating their words, they didn't even need any prior preparation, and there was not even any hint in their words or eyes: It's simply! It's simply like... it's simply like..."

"Like Macbeth and his lady?"

"Ah? Yes! Ma'am!"

"…What madam?"

The Lord of Death responded instinctively, and then he became confused.

"Ah, nothing."

The wolf shepherd god used a smile to cover up the gloom that was gradually accumulating in his pupils.

"Just a famous rumor: about Guilliman and Morgan."

"A cheap metaphor for mortals."

Mortarion snorted disdainfully, but then he hesitated.

"But..."

"But what?"

“But it’s quite vivid.”

The primarch shook his head.

"When the two of them joined hands and attacked from both sides, I really felt that I was the redundant one in the negotiation: they were there with their own data and rhetoric, coordinating with each other, and I was sitting there like a helpless light bulb."

"Many times, I couldn't even understand the connection between their words...the tacit understanding?"

At this point, the poisonous aura around Motari became even thicker.

"What a shame... I must wash away this shame on Nikaea!"

Then, the Barbarus people looked at the wolf-shepherd god with expectation.

"You'll help me, right, bro?"

"of course."

Horus smiled hastily.

"Don't worry, Mortarion."

"I...I will definitely stand firmly on the side of truth."

(End of this chapter)