Emperor's Bane

Chapter 825 A Gift from Heaven

Chapter 825 A Gift from Heaven
To be fair, if the Spider Queen were asked to find one person among her dozen brothers whom she could truly admire, that person would most likely be Horus.

That’s right, it wasn’t a quasi-saint like Sanguinius or Vulcan, nor was it Ferrus or Chagatai Khan who had special skills, and it was even less likely to be the four or five brothers who had been friends with Morgan for a long time: it was rare for close relatives to have such a distant emotion as admiration.

But Horus, only Horus.

No matter how bad Morgan's overall assessment of the Wolf God was, no matter how carefully she looked at the Warmaster's emotional shortcomings, there was one thing she had to admit: even if Horus was a hypocritical guy, he always managed his hypocrisy just right.

This is a compliment.

When the external situation gradually goes out of control as expected, a person who can remain hypocritical is a valuable asset: at least he will not act according to his personality and push things to a worse situation.

At least, no matter what he really thought in his heart, he could continue to pretend to be nice in public, suppressing the rage in his heart and putting on a smile: this kind of hypocrisy and affectation is precisely the useful skill that most Primarchs will never be able to master in their lifetime.

Morgan was the only exception: and the other exception was Horus.

Even the Spider Queen had to admit from the bottom of her heart: the Wolf Lord was definitely the most expert in controlling the situation among the Primarchs. Sanguinius and Fulgrim were like two kindergarten children in front of him.

The Spider Queen is more advanced: she is at least in the first grade of junior high school.

This metaphor is not groundless, but is the answer given by the four primarchs present when the alien allies of the Federation of Kingdoms took off their helmets: their reactions determined the difference between war and peace.

As always, the Phoenix is always the most eye-catching one: Fulgrim, who always had a fake smile on his face, lost his smile in the blink of an eye after seeing those hideous alien faces. He sighed loudly, and even with the cloak covering his face, the movement of his fingers on the hilt of the sword was so eye-catching.

On the other hand, Sanguinius could only behave in a more restrained manner: his perfect face was originally smiling, and his angelic wings were spread wide to welcome the foreign guests, but when the alien face polluted the vision, Sanguinius' wings were folded in the blink of an eye, and his slender eyebrows were slightly opened, and the light reflected from them made everyone's backs chill.

As for the Spider Queen, she performed better than her two brothers. She seemed indifferent to the appearance of the alien. She just put her hands behind her back, and the place where her index finger and thumb rubbed echoed with the distortion of space: those who were familiar with her knew very well that this was the Lord of Avalon looking through every technique of massacre and sadism in her mind.

There is no doubt that the actions of the three Primarchs gave the Astartes warriors present a clear signal of war: no matter whether it was the radical Abaddon or the cautious Sejanus, no one would think that chopping off the head of an alien in an originally harmonious diplomatic ceremony would be such an unacceptable thing.

There was only one exception: and he was standing at the front of the Imperial queue, facing a group of envoys from the Federation of Kings who were beginning to feel uneasy.

"What's the problem, sir?"

Even the most dull-witted person could sense that the human empire's team seemed to display a completely different atmosphere: the Astartes, who had been either calm or smiling, suddenly stretched their fingers to the weapons at their waists, the sound of musical instruments used for singing came to an abrupt halt, and the artists on both sides of the road either retreated in horror or glared in their direction.

The envoys of the Alliance of Kings unconsciously began to gather their ranks, the soldiers in charge of the escort quietly picked up their weapons, and their leader, Ambassador Dias, simply glanced around and quickly determined the cause of the accident.

"Excuse me, do you have any misunderstandings about our fellow Cairnbridge people?"

Kane Black: Obviously referring to those star-like alien species.

"…It's a long story, Your Excellency."

The Warmaster was silent for a while. When his eyes lingered on those alien faces, instinctive disgust and the subsequent entanglement occupied the entire face of the wolf shepherd god, but Horus did not make that simple gesture: the gesture that would tear apart the hope of peace.

Although every imperial soldier present was looking forward to his orders.

However, the Wolf Shepherd God chose to turn his gaze once again to the envoys of the Federation of Kings.

He was hesitating and struggling.

He was weighing the hope for peace against the weight of his instincts.

After thinking for a while, Horus took a deep breath.

"There are some differences in culture and values between us."

"I'm not surprised."

Ambassador Dias's eyes swept across the ranks of Imperial warriors: radical warriors like Abaddon glared at him, but it did not scare away the ambassador's courage. Instead, it made him look firmly at the Wolf Shepherd God.

"But I believe this will not hinder our pursuit of peace, right?"

"..."

“It depends on our sincerity.”

The Warmaster's smile was a little bitter.

"But I can assure you: at least today, the peace efforts will not disappear."

Horus shouted these words in a loud, firm, unquestionable voice, both to the Federation of Kings and to the astonished Primarchs, the Astartes and every Imperial behind him.

Before the Emperor's army, which had already sharpened their swords, could react to this declaration, the Wolf God had already turned around and looked in Morgan's direction with a serious face: The Spider Queen looked back with a look full of suspicion and weirdness, but Horus was unmoved.

"Morgan."

He nodded: more meaning was hidden in the silence.

【…】

The Spider Queen hesitated: she knew what Horus wanted her to do.

【Are you sure? 】

Morgan's voice was soft, but at least the two Primarchs beside him could hear it.

"Do as I say."

Since she had known Horus, the Spider Queen had never heard such dry words from his throat, nor had she ever heard such authoritative words. She obeyed the Warmaster almost instinctively: just as she would instinctively obey the serious side of the Emperor before.

Beside Morgan, Sanguinius and Fulgrim had also realized what Horus was trying to do. They raised their brows and showed unpleasant expressions, but in the end did not say much: since the Wolf God had decided to use the authority of the Warmaster, they had to respect this authority no matter what.

[Including me.]

The Spider Queen sighed softly, but her hands did not stop moving at all: the destructive storm that was already ready to go in the palms of the four primarchs now turned its edge and pounced on the army behind the four primarchs.

In an instant, the Astartes present noticed something strange: their blades were tightly locked in the scabbards, their bullets were stuck in the barrels, and even their power gloves had lost their original power and no longer obeyed their orders and commands.

What's worse, all the Astartes warriors present were fixed in place without knowing it, and could not move: a thin psychic barrier was erected between them and the Federation of Kings, protecting both sides from being affected by the anger.

"Everyone."

The Wolf Shepherd God officially turned around and faced countless pairs of angry and confused eyes.

"Please listen to my words: there will be no bloodshed on this ship today."

As he gave the order, Horus's gaze swept over the faces of each warrior of the four legions in turn, focusing mainly on his own Luna Wolves: facing the Primarch's cold face and vision, even the most stubborn Luna Wolves had to swallow all the anger in their chests.

Beside them, the Astartes of the other three legions, noticing their Primarch's respect for the Warmaster's will with silence, also made their own concessions: no matter how they grumbled in their hearts, the cloud of war stopped in front of the Wolf-God, and he waved his hand to completely dispel it.

After doing all this, Horus turned around calmly and saw with satisfaction the astonished faces of the envoys of the Federation of Kings: the Warmaster took the initiative to extend his hand with unprecedented authority and sincerity.

"Like I said: not a drop of blood will be shed today."

"I...thank you for your kindness."

Dias carefully grasped the Warmaster's huge hand, and for the first time, pure awe appeared in his voice.

"Your control over your army is truly impressive."

"This is the inevitable result of the Imperial Army's strict discipline and extremely elite military."

The Warmaster raised his head haughtily.

"I'm sure your army does the same."

“Of course…of course!”

Ambassador Dias nodded hurriedly, turned around quickly, and ordered his soldiers to lay down their weapons with quick notes.

"very good."

Horus nodded: he was gradually taking control of the conversation.

But behind him, in the channel shared by the Primarchs through their minds, some people had already begun to grumble in dissatisfaction.

"Horus."

Phoenix's silent accusation came.

"I hope you're not confused. You know what you're doing, right?"

"It's a very risky thing."

The Archangel rarely contradicted Fulgrim on a single point.

【More than just an adventure. 】

Morgan blinked, his eyes wandering over the faces of the silent Cairnbridge people, trying his best to suppress the evil thoughts burning in his pupils: The Spider Queen had a harder time than anyone else present, she had to constantly suppress the urge to tear all these bastards in front of her to pieces with her own hands.

Of course she could do that: that was why suppressing the thought was so difficult.

[It's more like a gamble: he's doing this as a warmaster. ]

"That's nothing."

Phoenix shook his head.

"We won't tell anyone anyway."

"The real question is: do we really want to discuss the possibility of peaceful coexistence with these extremely ugly creatures? Looking at their distorted faces and whale-like teeth, I doubt they have completed evolution."

"They are simply a bunch of scum who don't deserve to live in this galaxy."

(Cold knowledge: Fulgrim's hatred and aversion to the xenomorphs is very prominent even among all the Primarchs. In the original novel, one of the important reasons why the Emperor's Children launched a war of extermination against the Aliens was Fulgrim's stubbornness in exterminating the xenomorphs. Otherwise, there is a chance that the Empire and the Aliens could coexist peacefully.)
"Think of the best."

The archangel's voice was still gentle, but one could not tell the specific temperature in it.

"Perhaps our compatriots in the Federation of Kings are willing to abide by the Empire's regulations in this regard?"

"What do you mean?"

"You won't forget, right? Even if we encounter a situation where humans and aliens live together, as long as the local humans are willing to abandon their alien allies and join the Empire, we only need to exterminate the aliens, and the mistakes made by humans can be forgiven."

"Do you think it's possible?"

Phoenix snorted.

"These bastards couldn't even bear to kill all those damn spiders!"

"That's true..."

The archangel muttered, but didn't argue.

"Alright, guys."

In the end, it was the Wolf Shepherd God who did his best to appease his disgruntled blood brothers.

"Leave it to me: I've never forgotten my father's bottom line on this."

The three Primarchs fell silent, and their acquiescence gave Horus more confidence: the Warmaster smiled at the envoys of the Federation of Kings.

"I'm sorry, please forget the unpleasantness just now. I can explain to you what happened. Do you need me to lead you to the meeting room first?"

Ambassador Dias hesitated for a moment. He seemed to have the means to communicate with his colleagues behind him in silence. Finally, he shook his head.

“Truth is more important than comfort.”

"I think so."

The Warmaster waved his hand, signaling the idle people around him, such as the mortal soldiers and artists in the distance, to leave first. After leaving behind a minimum number of Astartes Guards, Horus's expression relaxed a little.

"Here is the thing, sir."

Someone brought a table and chairs so that the Warmaster and the Ambassador could sit down face to face.

"When your Federation of Kings lost touch with the home planet of human civilization, many unpleasant things happened in the galaxy: I don't know what words you would use to refer to the Age of Strife, but you should know that in the Iron Man Rebellion and the large-scale awakening of the Psykers, as well as the ensuing warp storm, the golden age that once belonged to mankind once collapsed."

“Those were dark times.”

The ambassador placed his hand on his chest, and the instrumentalists behind him sang a sad song.

"We swore that we would never fall into those dark times again."

"We swear as much, too."

The Warmaster nodded, and looked vaguely at the aliens in the distance: the Cainbridge people did not seem to be afraid of the conflict just now, they maintained impeccable etiquette, standing at a position not too far away and not too close, even on their ugly faces, one could still see the breath of wisdom and culture. This made Fulgrim even more unhappy.

"what happened?"

Dias noticed this.

"Does your oath have anything to do with the [Alien] you mentioned?"

"indeed so."

The Wolf Shepherd God nodded seriously.

"Please know: Countless data and historical documents prove that in the era of conflict when the golden age of human civilization disappeared, the countless alien civilizations we once had friendly relations with did not help us for the sake of our former friendship. On the contrary, almost all of them raised their butcher knives to the defenseless human colonies."

"Invasion, massacre, enslavement and tyranny have lasted for thousands of years. Countless living examples and ruins can prove this: In order to prevent such tragedies from happening again, and to reaffirm the blood debts of the past, as the protector of Holy Terra and all mankind, hatred, pursuit and cleansing of any non-human race is the way our human empire was founded."

"This is also the fundamental purpose of our launching the Great Crusade and conquering all the way from Terra to here."

"..."

The ambassador of the Federation of Kings was surprised.

"But I thought your purpose was to unite fellow human beings everywhere?"

"That's part of the purpose, too: different rivers always flow into the same sea, don't they?"

The Warmaster smiled and raised one hand, but his optimism did not spread to the faces of the envoys from the Federation of Kings.

"That is to say..."

Ambassador Dias hesitated.

"Do you want to kill all our Cainbridge allies?"

His tone was not strong, nor did he express further meaning, but the Primarchs present had already understood what he meant: if Horus nodded, this friendly diplomatic ceremony would end immediately, and the next time they met, there would be war.

Therefore, the Warmaster did not give a very clear answer: he still wanted to get more from the Federation of Kings.

“We do take that approach most of the time.”

"After all, we have too much experience telling us that alien races cannot be trusted."

“But the Cairnbridges are different!”

As expected, as soon as the Wolf God slightly revealed his doubts, the envoys of the Federation of Kings could not wait to begin their explanations.

"different?"

Horus asked quietly.

"Has there never been any conflict between them and you?"

"..."

The ambassador was silent, and his eyes turned to the Kane Black people in the distance: After getting the other party's nod, Dias sighed and sat down solemnly.

"Dear Mr. Horus, out of your kindness and respect, as well as our sense of belonging as the people of Terra, I am unwilling to deceive you on this issue: the Cairnbridge people did have a war with us, but that was three thousand years ago."

"Three thousand six hundred and fifty years."

The Cairnbridge man standing not far away suddenly interrupted in standard High Gothic.

Under the surprised gaze of the empire, those ugly faces actually revealed a scholarly air.

"Don't be surprised: our race has always kept a perfect written history."

“That’s really enviable.”

Fulgrim gritted his teeth: That was not sarcasm.

"Yes."

The envoy of the Federation of Kings continued.

"The history of the Cairnbridge people is almost the same as ours. They are a very ancient and advanced species. As early as 15,000 years ago, they were already a fairly mature interstellar civilization. When we were still exploring the solar system, they had already established a cross-galactic country in the Milky Way."

"But the Kane Black people are peaceful by nature and are not willing to expand excessively. They also seem to be a little tired in reproduction. Therefore, when our Federation of Kings first came into contact with them three thousand years ago, the civilization of the Kane Black people had already fallen into a period of decline. After that, we had a brief conflict due to a territorial dispute."

"The war ended with our victory, but victory is not the end of everything. The Aria technology unique to the Federation of Kings allows us to communicate across species with the Kane Blacks. We understand their difficulties, and they admire our rising star. We realize that between complete destruction and exile, peaceful coexistence is the most beneficial answer for both of us."

"For the next three thousand years, the Kane Blacks have been our closest allies. They entrusted their declining fortunes to us and shared their advanced technology with us without reservation. As partners of our grassroots society, we have learned to help each other and achieve win-win results during the generations."

"So, please forgive me."

Dias's expression was serious.

"Learning war against the Kanebridge people is tantamount to declaring war on the entire Federation of Kings."

"And as part of the Federation of Kings, we are also obligated to respond to the call of war."

"..."

“It’s such a touching friendship.”

Sanguinius sighed softly in a bland tone.

And Horus kept smiling: even when looking at those aliens.

"Very good, Mr. Dias: thank you for not concealing your attitude from me."

"I think this problem will exist as a difference between us, but it is not completely unsolvable, and our friendship will not disappear because of it: Excuse me for inserting a digression here, do you mind if the Imperial fleet continues to wage war against the giant spider race in this galaxy?"

"Uri Sarak?"

The envoy hesitated and shook his head.

"Excuse me, Lord Horus: you should not interfere with their lives."

"Ulisalak is the origin and reserve of the giant spider race: they are a race that cannot be communicated with using arias. They once threatened many provinces of the Alliance of Kings. We waged war against them purely to defend our territory and people."

"We have thought about reaching a win-win cooperation with these giant spiders, just like we did with the Cairnbridge people, but they have always been unwilling to communicate. These giant spiders are a rare stubborn race among all the aliens we have encountered."

"After the war, we also lacked a reason to exterminate them. Although win-win cooperation is not an option, exiling all members of this race to their home planet and removing all their technology related to interstellar travel would be a more humane way to deal with it."

"Have you ever thought about killing them all?"

Fulgrim interjected.

"Exterminate them: these spiders want to do the same to you anyway."

"That's what they think."

The envoy responded as a matter of course.

"And what right do we have to drive another species extinct?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the four Primarchs present frowned at the same time.

"Ok."

Sanguinius muttered under his breath.

"An angel of peace player."

【…? 】

"What are you looking at me for, Morgan?"

The archangel blinked.

"If you have any questions, go find Conrad: He was the one who asked me to play games with him when he had nothing to do."

Sanguinius's quiet rebuttal did not reach Horus' ears, for the wolf-god was having a headache because of the conversation.

The goodwill and desire for peace expressed by the Federation of Kings is indeed a gratifying thing, but they and the Empire are really at odds on too many issues...

Even Horus had to start thinking about what to do next.
Just as the atmosphere in the meeting hall was becoming increasingly oppressive due to the Wolf God's silence, Kane Black's envoy suddenly took a step forward.

"Mr. Horus."

The Gothic language is pronounced correctly.

"I wonder if you would listen to me."

"..."

The Warmaster remained silent.

"Is such that."

The Kane Blacks and the envoys from the Federation of Kings nodded to each other.
"Zenobia, one of the core worlds of the Federation of Kings, is not far from here. If we cannot reach a compromise on the relevant issues in a short period of time, perhaps your team can stay here first. The Federation of Kings will welcome you with the highest standards of etiquette and prepare for the next negotiations."

"of course."

Perhaps fearing that the Primarchs would refuse for various reasons, the Cainbridge envoy quickly added another sentence.

"To show our sincerity, we will prepare a generous state gift in Zenobia."

"State gift?"

This word piqued the Warmaster's interest.

"Yes."

Dias nodded quickly.

"Remember what I said? The Cairnbridge people are an ancient interstellar civilization with a history of 15,000 years. They had extensive contact with our ancestors long before our human race first set foot in the Milky Way. Their peaceful nature made the exchanges between the two races very close."

"So, the Cairnbridge people, who are keen on recording history, have a complete historical document that records the spread of human civilization from the Golden Age 15,000 years ago to the Age of Strife. It systematically records everything that happened to human civilization during this period: its original mother copy is now preserved in Zenobia."

"This is common property of Cairnbridge."

The alien ambassador nodded.

"And to show our sincerity, we are willing to give you this national gift in Zenobia."

"..."

The air fell silent for a moment: but this time there was little hostility.

Horus did not even need to turn around: his brothers had already given their insights in silence and heavier breathing.

A complete written record of fifteen thousand years of human history: even Abaddon would know its value.

"Fifteen thousand years..."

Fulgrim was still sighing.

"Tsk...I suddenly think it's okay to let these guys live for a while."

"Who says it's not..."

The angel raised the corners of his lips.