How can a retired savior be considered retired if his price drops to 40,000?

Chapter 404: The Regent is sandwiched between two sides
As the elevator gradually went up, the "first meeting" between Fujimaru Ritsuka and Pegasus, which was carefully planned by the former but the final result was not even close to "perfect" due to various accidents, soon ended.

Originally, when they were still underground, Fujimaru Ritsuka was still very optimistic. She felt that although things were messed up like this, this unique "screw-up" would probably become a joke among everyone in the future. As for the topics that were half-heartedly fooled through in this process and barely considered "discussed", it is not impossible to have a second round of tea parties to make up for it after everyone has washed up and rested. However, as the elevator got closer and closer to the ground, almost everyone in the elevator began to gradually realize that there was a high probability that there would be no chance to start the "second round" leisurely.

The closer they were to the ground, the more clearly everyone could feel the Warp rift that had been torn in the sky over Macragge - even if some of them had not yet realized where that piercing, hair-raising feeling on their skin came from, everyone could understand one obvious fact: something was wrong.

Pegasus even fell into a trance during the process. When they discovered this, Akuldona, who knew that he had been haunted by some kind of subspace echo, and Fujimaru Ritsuka, who had made a rough diagnosis based on the symptoms Akuldona described, looked over with concern, but they also found that Pegasus tried his best to act as if nothing had happened, so they said nothing.

Although, under the same behavioral strategy, Akurdona was thinking that "the clone can solve it by itself"; and Fujimaru Ritsuka had already made the decision to "find a place where there are not many 'outsiders' to ask about this matter in detail."

Considering that there shouldn't be such a drastic change in Macragge, figuring out "what happened in the outside world" is obviously more serious than the "maybe small or big, but it won't cause any problems for the time being" subspace symptoms on Pegasus. But Fujimaru Ritsuka also knows that if she lets it go on, a minor illness can turn into a major illness if she's not careful. Therefore, she has made up her mind: no matter what happens in Macragge, it's Guilliman and Dorn's job to confirm and eliminate the parts that may affect her or Storm's Edge. If the sky falls, the taller ones will bear it first. After she finds out what happened, she will first care about Pegasus's condition.

After the elevator returned to the ground and the door slid open to both sides under the rotation of the winch, the first thing that came in through the crack of the door was the tense and busy negative atmosphere in the current Hera Fortress. Even though the road in front of the elevator door had been designated by Sigismund to be blocked before the accident in the sky, and only a small number of personnel were arranged here, the anxious atmosphere that quickly filled the entire fortress still infected this place. Then, when Fujimaru Ritsuka was surrounded by a large group of people who were much taller than her and returned to the corridor in a state of not being able to see anything, the first "something else" she saw was the golden helmet of the Imperial Guard.

Sigismund certainly did not arrange this, but even if the Imperial Regent ordered the Black Knights to freely dispatch all personnel in the Hera Fortress during the rescue mission, there were still a few people here who did not need to listen to Sigismund's arrangements: such as the Regent himself who issued this order.

The reason why the Imperial Guards came here was to convey Guilliman's meaning: Macragge was attacked by the enemy, and the Lord of Macragge was very sorry for this. He hoped to personally confirm the safety of the Imperial Saint and discuss the next strategy.

This roughly explained the current situation, but it also caused Fujimaru Ritsuka to have more questions. With Macragge under attack, she didn't think Guilliman, as the person who truly held the military power of the Empire, would have any "next strategy" to discuss with her, the head of a "subordinate organization of the Astronomican Hall" with no soldiers or generals. However, she would not refuse this invitation because of this - if she wanted to understand the current situation as detailed as possible, what better place was there than in front of the commander-in-chief?
Just as Fujimaru Ritsuka nodded in agreement, Pegasus looked around and quickly said, "Since the situation is so urgent, I, an irrelevant person who may cause trouble, should not take the initiative to move forward--"

"——You don't have to be so stylish." Fujimaru Ritsuka suddenly said, "Whether this matter is troublesome or not is not judged by your standards, but by the standards of the regent. Besides, he has been back to Hera Fortress for several days, and he has not come down to see you once. This is obviously his problem. You are fully qualified to express a little dissatisfaction with this matter."

Pegasus raised his eyebrows, as if he wanted to laugh. He didn't say anything, but the noncommittal in words could not cover up the tendency he revealed in his actual actions: he did not mention avoiding suspicion again, but just adjusted the cloth of his toga, and then pulled out a hood from inside in a way that Fujimaru Ritsuka couldn't understand, covering his face and hair, and then swaggered beside the whole team.

The imperial guards who came to guide the group certainly had some complaints about this matter, but considering who made the decision for others, his complaints were not important. Sigismund had placed supplies here that could be used as a resting point. His original plan was to let Fujimaru Ritsuka rest here, eat something, and undergo basic medical examinations if there were no accidents after coming up. But unfortunately, due to the imperial guards' interference, all these plans were ruined. Fujimaru Ritsuka only got a hot towel here to wipe his face and refresh himself a little, which was considered a rest. This made Sigismund quite dissatisfied, but his complaints were not important in the current situation.

Ten minutes later, this motley group of people, under the guidance of the Imperial Guards, came to the strategic intelligence room on the middle floor of the Hera Fortress. During this period, an earthquake caused by gravitational tides occurred again. Perhaps the crustal movement will gradually intensify over time, or perhaps it is just because Fujimaru Ritsuka is now standing at a much higher position than before. Anyway, the level of the earthquake she felt this time has indeed made her a little panicked. However, the construction quality of the Hera Fortress is indeed very solid. Under such an earthquake level, not even a few pieces of wall paint fell off.

Under normal circumstances, this kind of panic might be worth a few jokes from Akuldona, but even he, driven by his Astartes instinct, had already entered a state of concentration during the war, and there was nothing extra to say. The door of the war room was opened in this slightly dull atmosphere, and what greeted Fujimaru Ritsuka was an even heavier and more anxious atmosphere inside.

This is the largest combat room in the Hera Fortress. The number of transmission devices, thinkers, servitors, and projection equipment stacked in it far exceeds the standard required for normal intelligence collection. Even if the commander-in-chief of a battle does need to gather intelligence collected from all over the battlefield and make a comprehensive decision before making the next decision, the data flow rushing in this huge room is still a bit too much for any commander.

But the one who processed this data was Robouti Guilliman, a genius who was known among the Primarchs for his ability to multitask and take care of all aspects at the same time. The data charts, battlefield dynamic signs, noisy voice transcriptions and high-speed text reports projected on many screens and in the air were dizzying, but the Imperial Regent was obviously able to process all the information delivered to him at the same time, and thunderously issued precise and executable orders with a powerful voice that could cover all the noise present.

Because of the existence of such a sophisticated processor, all the people working for him in the room were able to work in the same precise and orderly manner, just like gears meshing gradually. This scene cannot be said to be breathtaking, but Fujimaru Ritsuka did not focus on it.

Another prominent presence in the war room was Rogal Dorn. From every angle, he was not as eye-catching as Guilliman, who stood in the center of the crowd and gave orders, but it was difficult to completely ignore another Primarch in a limited space.

This is Macragge, Guilliman's home planet, where his original legion and current chapter are stationed and protected, so Dorn will not ask for the command of a battle here. He now looks old and his energy is indeed not as good as before. The power armor he originally wore is almost completely destroyed and has been handed over to the local Mechanicus for temporary repair. He even has one hand missing. Around him are several guards from different chapters of Astartes from Dorn's bloodline, which means that he is not completely without the power and capital to compete with another Primarch - but Dorn knows very well that whether it is in the current emergency situation or not, this kind of vicious competition that can only waste the resources of the empire and divide the internal forces of the country is very unnecessary.

Almost at the same time that Fujimaru Ritsuka noticed Dorn, Dorn also noticed her and the clone that followed her here. The Primarch didn't say much, just nodded in their direction, indicating that he noticed them, and then turned his attention back to the countless screens and data in the room. This vast amount of information was not deliberately encrypted, but to pick out and combine the truly effective parts from it, even for Dorn himself, it was a challenge that did not allow for a moment of distraction.

This problem seemed easier for Guilliman. When he noticed the guards who brought the person with his peripheral vision, even if he did not stop his work, he did turn around and took a special look at Fujimaru Ritsuka's current situation in his busy schedule. When he confirmed that she was still alive and kicking, he was obviously relieved. In fact, in this room, the person who should be "relieved" the most when finding out that "Fujimaru Ritsuka is fine" is actually Eveleene. At the same time, as the leader of the Death God Army and the Eldar Death God, this lady knows that no matter what happens to this "Imperial Saint" who she didn't even know whether the person involved is round or flat under the plan of Eldar, the already precarious trust relationship between her and the human empire will be completely broken - at that time, whether she and her people can leave Macragge's Glory alive is a very debatable question.

The concern about the survival of the Death God Army was temporarily lifted, which made Evelyne feel relieved. But when she locked her eyes on Fujimaru Ritsuka again in the corner of the room, intending to take a closer look at what was different about this human, the voice of the Whispering God sounded softly in her ears, and in an instant, her heart, which had been put down, was lifted up again:
When she looked at Fujimaru Ritsuka with her psychic senses, she immediately understood why Adalaad was determined to kill this man as quickly as possible, even though the method was so extreme that it would inevitably destroy the already unreliable alliance between the Death Army and the Empire.

She was not only the chosen one of the Lord of Humanity. As a chosen one of the gods, Evelyne knew the difference very well. Fujimaru Ritsuka's soul did contain a considerable amount of power from the Lord of Humanity that should have been enough to burn her to ashes, but the whisper of the god of death told her that, strictly speaking, those powers no longer belonged to the Lord of Humanity.

Fujimaru Ritsuka is the "Egg of God".

Compared with this terrible fact, the threads of fate that were woven around her, of unknown origin, growing and burning from time to time, all seemed less important. Evelene didn't know what was going on. In the knowledge passed down by the Eldar, even the power of a new god was very huge, and it was impossible for an "egg" bound by a mortal body to be born in reality - but Iniede's judgment and reality were already in front of her, and she couldn't help but admit it. Even so, the appearance of a "God's Egg" among humans really symbolized too many things, and Evelene couldn't calculate what direction this would lead the situation to. Therefore, she also urgently wanted to talk to Fujimaru Ritsuka himself:
Do you know what you are? Do you know what this will make you? Is this an accident? Or is this a deliberate plan by the Lord of Humanity? What will eventually "break out" of the "egg"? And what impact will it have on the entire galaxy?
But in this room, it was obviously not her turn as a foreigner to speak first. The first person to ask questions was Guilliman, who temporarily stopped the command and dispatch work. After checking the condition of Fujimaru Ritsuka himself, he immediately saw the clone who came with him. The Imperial Regent, realizing that he had neglected it for a while, had to try to deal with the two questions that came to him at the same time:

"I'm glad to see you're okay, Ms. Fujimaru." He first expressed his gratitude to the Imperial Saint, and then looked up at the clone who was almost identical to his brother ten thousand years ago before he fell. "I'm also sorry that I ignored you during the time I returned to the fortress, and even accidentally let you get involved in such an incident. I have to admit that I haven't figured out how to face you."

The clone nodded from under Tokari's hood and said quite reasonably, "Of course I understand. It's not your fault. Who could have thought that such a thing would happen in the world? I have no complaints about it."

If Fulgrim had said this to him in the past, Guilliman would have certainly let this question go. Chemos Phoenix back then was a very considerate and kind person who would not make things difficult for others. The clone in front of him had the same face and smile as the good person in Guilliman's memory, which almost made him return to the good times of the Great Crusade when everything was going well. He wanted to laugh it off out of inertia, but suddenly found that Fujimaru Ritsuka was giving him a mischievous smile from below.

This meaningless smile set off alarm bells in Guilliman's heart, but it did not disrupt the rhythm of his conversation: "Although this question is strange. You are a clone of one of my brothers, but you are not him, so..."

"You may call me Pegasus." Fulgrim's clone naturally inherited Fulgrim's emotional intelligence. He was almost completely unaware of the meaning behind the words. "This young lady reminded me that I should have a name that is easy to distinguish and can be addressed by."

Now, Guilliman could clearly hear that the person in question was teasing him in a very subtle way: "Naming" is of great importance in any human culture, and it is a family matter that should have been resolved among the Primarchs long ago, but both Dorn and Guilliman had intentionally or unintentionally ignored this issue before - whether or not it was because they could not get over the hurdle in their hearts, the fact that the person who finally suggested that this issue should be resolved was Fujimaru Ritsuka, an "outsider", was already an established fact.

The embarrassed Imperial Regent wanted to look back to see Dorne's reaction, but he held back. The politician mask that had been almost welded to his face came into play at this time, allowing him to pretend to be unaware and continue the conversation: "I see, then it seems that you get along well?"

The clone who named himself Pegasus raised one eyebrow after saying this. He opened his mouth to say something, but Fujimaru Ritsuka's voice came from below, interrupting his intention: "Beep, hurry up. Considering the urgency of the situation, let's all speak in a more direct way: Regent, I am now very sure that your next plan is to put Mr. Pegasus and me back into the Storm's Edge, and then immediately urge us to leave - you know that my boat can forcefully dive and leave Macragge in the unstable subspace environment, but before I collect the current environmental data, I can't guarantee that this will succeed. The anti-interference ability of the 'Plane Moon' is also limited. Although the possibility is very low, you still have to consider the question of 'what if we can't leave'."

Guilliman was a little embarrassed that such a little shrew had completely predicted his next conversation strategy and exposed it in front of him. He didn't know how to respond to this sentence. During this gap, Pegasus crossed his arms in front of him, obviously swallowing back what he was about to say, and changed it to something else:
"Yes, we get along very well. And we have no objection to your next arrangement."

Guilliman was a little annoyed: On this issue, both Fujimaru Ritsuka and Pegasus might not have any objections, but they were indeed angry about it.

Of course, in the current situation, even the Imperial Regent could not take care of other people's emotions. Therefore, Guilliman had decided to muddle through this delicate embarrassment. But just as he opened his mouth and hadn't even finished the first syllable of the word, a sharp prompt sound representing urgent intelligence interrupted the conversation:

"My Lord! The enemy has broadcast an indiscriminate video message to Macragge's global communications!"

"Let them in." Guilliman's mind immediately returned to the battlefield. "I want to see what they have to say!"

(End of this chapter)