Emperor's Bane

Chapter 745: Poisoning Late at Night
[In other words, both Guilliman and Malcador are on their way to Badab Prime now? ]

The Queen of Avalon raised her hand and wiped the sweat from her forehead.

The heat rising from the kitchen made her originally pale face appear abnormally light red. The aqua blue home apron was wet and stuck to her sweaty armpits, looking particularly awkward. After being pulled several times, it returned to its original appearance.

[How long will it take them to arrive?]

The Primarch asked, then muttered a hot and unbearable complaint under his breath.

While she gathered her hair that had fallen again under the headband, she tightened her sleeves that were pulled to her shoulders and elbows. Her thin figure, which was no different from that of an ordinary person, looked particularly thin, and her chest and waist were tightly bound by strong silk threads.

And with his trimmed, sleek fingers, he took the opportunity to weigh the ingredients that were about to be sprinkled into the pot, as if he were measuring gold, and determined the best amount: This is not quite right, after all, gold is much cheaper than these pure natural spices in the original body's hands.

Black pepper, spices, and thyme are all relics of the golden age that were grown again in experimental soil that was specially airlifted from Avalon after the Spider Queen specially approved a garden-type agricultural world.

It took almost two or three generations for the biological sages from various forging worlds to finally produce the first seed from the heavily protected biological garden, which was almost identical to the one from 30,000 years ago. The great sage who presided over this project was directly praised as the "Lucky Man Who Was Noticed by the Mechanical God".

Even the apprentice who was responsible for assisting was promoted at least three levels because of this great achievement. The two privates who discovered these genetic modules from a ruined laboratory became the governors of the planet: Although this sounds exaggerated, it was not Morgan himself who issued the order.

But the emperor.

As for the reason, it was probably because the Primarch presented a spice product to the Emperor half to show off and half to seek credit, which made the old man successfully recall certain years of his youth?

As a result, these pure spices became the designated tribute of the Far Eastern Frontier in the future: although the Emperor had no appetite, he always maintained a faint and persistent pursuit to trace and rebuild the lush ecological system on Holy Terra tens of thousands of years ago.

One argument is that Lady Koja, the Minister of the Anuatan Steppes who had served the Emperor on Holy Terra long before the Great Crusade, was ordered to be executed by the Emperor himself because she had stolen the last ocean on Terra through the means of the Warp and completely eliminated the concept of "ocean" from Terra. The executioner was even the head of the Imperial Guard, Valdor.

Such a solemn punishment is understandable: the crime of this water thief is that she cursed the drought of the human home planet in the metaphysical realm. Even if the Emperor transported living water from countless worlds, Terra would never have an ocean again because it had been [stolen].

The concept of the ocean has been greedily swallowed by the subspace.

Without the ocean, rebuilding a natural ecosystem suitable for humans is naturally nonsense. It can be said that the fate of Holy Terra is doomed. It will never be able to return to the state in the Emperor's memory, and will ultimately remain in the wasteland of the times, a gray and dirty slum.

This failed resistance was also used by the Emperor to educate his descendants: after the incident in Nikea, in the last long conversation between the Emperor and his only daughter, this history became the most powerful evidence when the Lord of Mankind explained the pervasiveness of Chaos energy.

The God in the subspace does not need to defeat you in every aspect. He only needs to find a loophole, a blind spot that you would not even notice on a normal day. A tiny negligence in strict defense can fundamentally destroy the entire world he wants.

No Chaos invasion begins with a massive influx of Warp daemons. Instead, a complete collapse often begins with a moment of rage, a whisper, a disease, or a night of debauchery: by the time daemons emerge from a newly created Warp rift, the situation is already irreversible.

The same principle can naturally be applied anywhere, even a giant warship personally commanded by a Primarch who is proficient in psychic powers.

No matter how great the power of the Spider Queen is, she cannot stop the residents of the lower deck from hating each other because of trivial matters in life, using their brains because they want to make progress too much, immersing themselves in the spiritual enjoyment of art and aesthetics, and praying in vain for miracles in the hospital corridors because of their family members' painful struggles in the operating room.

She could not stop people's most normal physiological needs and emotional changes, so she could not stop the invisible hand of Chaos. This was one of the main reasons why Morgan finally chose to nod and allow the Emperor's fragment incarnation to go back with her: she needed a powerful purger to help her check the problems on the Aurora.

In return, she planned to pay more taxes in the Far East in the future.

That's right, Morgan still obeyed his obligations as a vassal and paid tribute to Terra, or to the Emperor himself, but most of the Primarch's tribute was not the various resources designated by Holy Terra, but some of the rarest and most precious things.

It is impossible to tax at a twelfth rate. It is not possible in this lifetime.

However, as a powerful vassal of the Empire that attracted the attention of the entire galaxy and the de facto ruler of the Far Eastern Frontier, Morgan never minded contributing to Holy Terra in a high-profile manner some treasures that at least looked very rare and had impeccable spiritual and artistic value.

Just like the powerful vassals in ancient times, although they were unwilling to pay actual taxes, they had no problem offering the king some rare treasures, jade beads, beautiful cars and beauties: without paying any actual price, the precise delivery of benefits that cater to the king's preferences can generate greater emotional value than imagined.

For example, when she rushed to the Ullanor and Nikaea Conference, Morgan deliberately brought with her two works of art that were confirmed to be from the ancient Terra era: a painting called the Starry Sky and a statue said to be called David.

Although these works of art were completely useless except for some historical value, when she presented these useless items to Malcador as a personal gift, she successfully avoided the questioning about Avalon's tax issues in the face of the seal holder's uncontrollable surprise.

Of course, Malcador would certainly send more tax collectors in the future, but he certainly would not have the time to make a trip to the Far East himself: the Sigillite and his most elite minions were opponents of two dimensions to the Primarch.

Two cultural relics were sacrificed for this: it is a textbook example of using little effort to achieve great results.

The Primarch smiled triumphantly, and she heard the answer from her eldest daughter's mouth.

"Guilliman will need at least three more days."

"Malcador has already arrived."

【You can guess it. 】

The Spider Queen snorted coldly and focused on the last dish in front of her.

The best snow beef was a delicacy from Fenris that Leman Russ had specially plundered to thank his sister. He only cut off the tender brisket in the belly and near the ribs: bright red and snow-white were mottled and interlaced on it, like a precious blood-colored gem dancing in the white mist.

The Primarch stretched out her fingers, pressed the veins of the meat, and was quite satisfied. Then she drew out her usual meat-cutting knife: of course, she could just snap her fingers lazily and get a full table of delicious food in the next second, but the bias in her character towards appetite made the Primarch prefer to do it herself.

What’s more: this is a family dinner.

"Mother, are you really not going to go to the Badab front?"

[For me, having a meal with you is much more important than those things in Badab. ]

Morgan smiled.

[It has been a long time since I had a family dinner with all my daughters: it was not easy to get Cassiopeia and Orion away from their respective posts, and we only had one night to rekindle the mother-daughter relationship.]

Virgo tilted her head.

"anything else?"

[And introduce you to your new sister, Lyra: just like before. ]

"But she is..."

【Yes. 】

The primarch nodded.

[But the process still needs to be followed. ]

【Besides…】

The Primarch snorted.

[Except for Guilliman and Warmaster Horus, any Primarch going to Badab now will only make the situation there worse: because they have no reason, and the only reason to go there is to support one side in the conflict. This huge weight that falls from the sky will break the balance that has been finally comforted. ]

"Then Horus..."

【He is the Warmaster.】

The master laid out in order all the knives and utensils that would be used later.

[Is there a more suitable mediator in the galaxy than Horus?] [As long as the Emperor does not show up, the Warmaster is the only one who is qualified to have a parallel dialogue with the government of Holy Terra and issue semi-mandatory orders to another Primarch: this is the right given to Horus by the Emperor, and it is also an obligation that he cannot escape.]

[Of course he can back off, this matter does not threaten his position as the warlord, but if he backs off, from now on, no one will take him seriously as the warlord: power that cannot fulfill promises and responsibilities is worthless, and the Wolf God knows this better than us. ]

"So that's why Horus rushed to Badab in such a hurry?"

Yes, that is one reason.

"There's another reason."

【how to say……】

The Primarch grasped her cleaver.

First, cut the beef into pieces, maybe three fingers thick, and stack them neatly in a transparent glass bowl. Then sprinkle in the vegetables, fruits, onions, cloves, peppers and other ingredients, and most importantly...

[Although it is unclear which idea dominated, in Horus's own heart, the reason why he rushed to Badab in such a hurry must be out of concern for the Guilliman brothers. ]

The Primarch left his seat and walked to the other wall of the kitchen, rummaging through the well-stocked wine cabinet: the left side was filled with Avalon's native fine wines, and the right side was filled with exotic wines looted from all over the galaxy after various coincidences and gifts from the Primarch brothers.

"Worried?"

[Don't doubt it, Horus' good popularity and good reputation are not all obtained by cheating and deceiving. There is no lack of smart people among the Primarchs who are on good terms with him: the Wolf God is indeed the one who cares the most about a brother among all the Primarchs. ]

[He does love all his brothers, including Guilliman, Jonson and me. Although this love cannot be said to be pure, and it is difficult to guarantee how long it will last, love is love: the Wolf Shepherd will sacrifice for his brothers, and he regards this as his bounden duty.]

[Even without the status of Warmaster, he would have rushed to Badab, partly because of his nature, and partly because of his invisible status among the Primarchs: the elder brother of the Primarchs is a recognized title.]

"Master Zhuang Sen, just deny it."

[Privately he also admitted it: it was just that he was always unwilling to give in publicly. ]

Morgan turned and gave her eldest daughter a playful wink.

[This is what he whispered to me when I was mending his cape last time.]

"cloak?"

[Jonson was a man of nostalgia: whenever he won a victory that he considered important or glorious, he would keep the armor he wore in the battle as a private tribute to himself.]

[In addition, there are the armor and weapons that Luther, as a mentor, gave him when he was in the Knights of Caliban. Luther thought that Jonson had thrown them away, but in fact Jonson just hid them and deliberately didn't want Luther to know. ]

[Because in his perception, this is something that is very inconsistent with his identity.]

The Primarch suppressed her smile and picked out the ingredients that satisfied her from the wine rack.

This caused Virgo to raise a brow.

"Are you sure you want to use that?"

She remembered clearly that this was a gift from the Archangel Sanguinius. Even for the Primarch it was a very precious drink. Morgan had wanted to open it countless times, but in the end she gave up because she couldn't bear to do so.

And this time...

"Mother."

Virgo couldn't help but remind him.

"I don't think my...grandfather will appreciate you at all just because you used such a valuable drink on the red wine-baked beef at the dinner."

[I'm not doing this for him.]

"Really?"

【…】

The Primarch stopped talking, but finally struggled stubbornly to say a few words.

[My Aniya, do you think I don't know how much he dislikes me in private: If it weren't for this superficial effort, I wouldn't want my bastard father to pollute the private family dinner between you and me. He is not worthy of the best wine in my collection. ]

Although she said so, the Primarch had already turned her back to her daughter. She clenched her teeth unconsciously and pulled out the cork with force. When the aroma of rich fruity flavor drifted into her nose, the Spider Queen's face suddenly showed an expression of regret, but it was too late.

[Forget it, I'll eat it myself anyway.]

She muttered, quickened her pace, returned to her workstation, poured the entire bottle of red wine into the glass bowl, then threw the bottle to an invisible place with a heartache, took a few deep, heavy breaths, until the cold air froze all the ingredients in front of her.

The next step is to accelerate.

The Primarch rubbed his fingers together. These were the only two steps that required psychic energy: first freezing, then accelerating the time in the local area to [tomorrow] to ensure that the beef was soaked with flavor.

Taking this opportunity, the Primarch did not forget to check the other dishes that had been prepared: the fresh fish from the ocean world showed its pure color under the light, the well-preserved apple peaches were frozen by the power of time at their sweetest moment, and the fried scorpions from Baal, as delicacies from foreign lands, occupied a corner of their own, and the dessert craftsmanship that the Primarch was best at was naturally the place where countless lights were focused most densely.

Morgan spent a long time making the most authentic French mille-feuille. Legend has it that there are two thousand versions of the puff pastry: the thin crust and cream expand their softness without limit under the embellishment of icing sugar, the ancient custard sauce is rejuvenated again after 30,000 years, and the bright red and dark purple berries require a special transport fleet to be shipped from the other end of the galaxy. These are just the most insignificant costs.

Everything was just for this dinner, everything was just to show off the fertility of Avalon in front of her genetic father. After all, it was to fulfill the duty of being a host as the primarch: although this was not Morgan's voluntary idea.

However, as long as she finishes the home-cooked dish behind her, even she and the emperor, who are apparently father and daughter, will be able to feel some family affection...

"Mother."

【What's wrong? 】

"Uh……"

Virgo opened her mouth, looking as if she wanted to say something but hesitated.

"I just received a communication from Lyra Lucy."

"She said she met a very interesting new friend on the deck of the ship today."

"I won't be back for dinner tonight."

【…】

------

The frozen time that contained countless precious ingredients, family love, and the soft and fragile heart of the Primarch was mercilessly smashed against the hard wall. The sound of the shattering was heard far, far away in the corridor...

(End of this chapter)