Warhammer: Start with a dog.

Chapter 588 Guilliman's Morning
"you……"

Varro Diglis searched all the words and sentence organizations in his mind and in the Ptolemy Library, but found it difficult to express what he wanted to say correctly and unambiguously from his throat. He felt his cheeks were wet, so he reached out to wipe them and found that he had shed tears without knowing when.

"That is not necessary, venerable Diglis. As I said, everyone can be my teacher, so I will remain humble unless necessary."

The young and old man named Julius Robert Omar followed these words with a strange language. It was not any language that Digris had ever heard, and it was far from Eldar or Binary, but it had ten syllables like a poetic chant, and the way it was pronounced proved that it was probably a language invented for human use.

The Chief Librarian heard in these syllables a way of restraining power that was completely different from any rituals and runes he knew. Although different, they were ancient, solid, and reliable. Even the way they manipulated the flow of psychic energy was more concise and beautiful than the way he had learned from inheritance and battles throughout his life. If it weren't for the current occasion, he would almost feel that Julius was singing.

"An ancient saying of wisdom, perhaps only a few in this galaxy understand its meaning. It seems that you like it, Chief Librarian, and it is also a gift from my Lord."

"A being like you actually has someone to serve you? It is hard to imagine what a generous and powerful force he would be."

The complex aromatic aldehydes, alcohols and esters in the Quartis Golden Brandy that made it expensive began to fade from his taste buds, and the pipes of the power armor began to inject some hormones and drugs into Digris's blood vessels based on the wearer's physiological conditions they monitored, which made him calmer and fully cope with it.

The man opposite him smiled, his blue eyes meeting Digris's grey ones.

"Don't just focus on murder, Librarian," he said. "Murder, revenge, and war are more deeply intertwined than you think. Despite the fact that our Lord's secret teachings mention that war is a continuation of something higher, here we are still focusing on the previous issues that are not the main focus. Talking about things that people like us should not talk about will lead to irreparable destruction."

An invisible shiver coming from the part of Diglis that was best at predicting told him that this was not a malicious threat, but just a very kind reminder of a fact, and he nodded.

"Then what we saw..."

"You may think that they have happened. You have crossed the river of time and space, the fingers of history, and witnessed those things happening. But you want to ask me why we can see those but don't prevent those tragedies from happening in advance? Why are we so hard-hearted? The fact is just the opposite. It is precisely because I have been clearly told of the destined ending but the changed future that I am here trying my best to play the magician's tricks under the watchful eyes of the gods."

Seeing the chief think tank's frown gradually furrowing, Julius added, "What you just experienced is an event that a living creature cannot possibly experience and come back alive, but you are here now, and you are still yourself."

"Is it true, sir? Then, may I ask about the vile and blasphemous sacrifice we witnessed at the beginning? From what I know of the Chaos Sacrifices, the sacrifice being a member of the Adeptus Custodes is certainly not as common as it seems."

"Well... in fact, do you know the meaning of the names of the slain Custodians?"

"I don't know, my lord."

"The name of the Custodian in the cave that day was Vendatha, which in the ancient Terran tongue means revenge, personal war, feud, blood feud. The name is significant, especially considering that, although the person involved did not realize it at the time, the Ascended had been stubborn in insisting that Vendatha be chosen by Lorgar Aurelion himself as the final sacrifice to complete the "Revelation of the Original Truth", and the concept of an older ritual was actually in progress."

A chill snaked through Digris's stomach.

"That is to say, when Lorgar Aurelion was guided by the Ascended One on old Cadia - you cannot learn her name from me for the time being, because she already has a special place in the connection, and knowing her name will make it easier for her to target souls like you - and chose to sacrifice Revenge as the sacrifice, it was destined that he and your gene-father would embark on completely irreconcilable paths, and the Great Rebellion and a series of subsequent events were also destined to happen. Although what happened in that cave was originally unknown to anyone except Lorgar and the Ascended One, you see, this is it, one person was murdered, and a galaxy was murdered because of it. But we can't stop the beginning of this cycle. I can take you there, and I have been there countless times myself to obtain weapons and power to fight them, but I can't directly interfere with it."

There was deep pain and despair in Diglis' voice, "If even a being and power like you can't... then will the war never end?"

“Well… if I use the words of a respected but sad senior who has seen through everything, it is true that the war will never stop.” Julius sat up straight as if he remembered someone, “But we exist to find a solution.”

The chief think tank waited eagerly and with great confusion.

“Although war cannot be ended, stopped or completely eliminated, we can make peace last as long as possible.”

"What is that? How can we do it?" Diglis asked impatiently, "What preparations should we make? What price should we pay for it?"

Julius did not answer. He was silent again. His blue eyes glowed with white-gold as he stared into the eyes of the Chief Librarian.

That huge aura of destructive power appeared again.

At this moment, Diglis was suddenly enlightened and understood.

As in the past, the Inquisition and the Empire's own actions of completely destroying many seemingly promising existences or technologies can be said to be for prevention and to be foolproof, but it also cuts off other possible solutions. However, this is still a temporary solution.

The power of destruction is there. It has existed in the past, present, and future since its birth. It exists forever and will not lose a single bit of its power just because of being sealed, reduced, or abandoned. If no one controls it, it will just become a thing without an owner.

"It is better to hold it in our own hands than to give it up to nobody..." the Chief Think Tank muttered.

"So is power, and so is truth," the man opposite him continued.

"But we have no way." The Chief Librarian said sadly, "That is not the fault of the priests, inquisitors or political commissars. It is not their fault, nor is it our fault. We have no way. We have too much to protect, but too little power. We are too scattered and too dependent on every entity that we cannot predict... We really... don't have power like you. The only thing we can rely on is our faith in the Emperor of God and our admiration for the fallen heroes. It at least keeps us from being swallowed by darkness." "That's true, so my master and I have no intention of belittling anyone. But look at me, Digris," he said, with a crown of thorns on his head, a book of holy words and a sword on his left and right, "Now a new path has been shown to you, and you can accept it and bring it to every one of your brothers and everyone you want to protect."

"I cannot betray the oath I swore before the throne of my father's tomb. I will not betray my blood, my brothers, my Chapter, my homeland, and my people." The Chief Librarian barely hesitated. "Although I know that what you said is very likely the truth, I am the courageous and honorable son of Robert Guilliman. This is my Chapter and my people. Even if it means death, I will stand tall with them. I will not and cannot betray them. Sorry."

The being sitting opposite raised an eyebrow with the face of his primarch, as if he found it a little incredible that the Librarian gave such an ungrateful response to the olive branch he extended.

The expression was so vivid and worldly that it made the Primarch of the gods look almost like a mortal youth. Digris confessed and completed his prayer in his heart, waiting for the final judgment.

"Who said you should betray me? What I meant is that there is an opportunity right now. Would you like to consider meeting him first?"

Who? Diglis blinked.

"I mean, we can't just make such a big change without Master Guilliman's knowledge. After all, there are so many things involved... Do you want to meet your Gene Father first and then finalize this matter?"

What? What is he saying?
"Well, just now, Lord Curze informed me that he had received news that the Enterprise would soon dock at Macragge. The Enterprise is a special ship, and the stargate is not stable enough in this situation. Only he can take you there in a short time, and then come back after meeting Lord Guilliman. It will be much easier for you to convince others."

He knows every word he says, so why can't he understand what he is saying when they are put together?

Thus, thirty minutes later, Varo Diglis found himself standing in the transporter room of a ship whose interior decoration was very un-"Imperial", and standing next to him was Julius, who was still dutifully simulating the Thirteenth Primarch.

There were some mortals waiting for them here, all with purple eyes that reminded Diglis of the ceremony, and he was standing on a high platform. However, he calmed down and realized that these seemed to be reception staff, wearing uniforms, with a pure and firm aura. The walls of this room were also clean and smooth, without any profane symbols or engravings.

"Okay, I'll take you here. Then I have to go back to Hera Fortress. I can't be away for too long. Anyway, you will definitely see him when you go there. Don't worry about this place. The Primarch of the Night Lords is here to watch over you on Macragge."

No, no! That's not reassuring, okay?! Why are you specifically pointing that out at this very moment?!

But the light of transmission lit up again, and only Digris was left here.

--------

Roboute Guilliman took a deep breath.

And then again.

He opened his eyes.

The view is greeted by a soft ivory ceiling, lightly embossed with Corinthian and other decorative patterns, and a smooth and elegant patchwork wood floor that reflects the artificial sunlight onto the ceiling, casting elongated bright patches.

Carefully filtered air rushed into his respiratory tract and air exchange organs at a speed several times faster than that of an ordinary person, and through a series of mysterious and complex transformations, it provided the necessary energy for his strong physique and the most sophisticated mind in the universe. The recent weather simulation activities in multiple locations released the moist and cold air of the early winter in the Albia Forest in the early morning, which was filled with fresh Metasequoia and cedar leaves, refreshing his mind.

It was now five o'clock in the morning of standard Terra time. After four hours of high-quality dreamless sleep, Robert Guilliman now felt energetic and clear-headed.

The Thirteenth Primarch rose and began to slide his feet into the slippers beside the bed, then stood up and stretched his body in a very rude but graceful way, like an animal stretching its muscles. The joints of his neck and waist made crackling sounds. He absentmindedly wondered whether he should consider booking a chiropractic massage for himself while Honso came to treat Ramezane.

There were no servants or attendants in the Primarch's bedroom, which was also at his request. This made him feel comfortable and free to arrange every minute of his actions after getting up, and he was very satisfied with it.

After a burst of rustling sounds, Guilliman walked out of the bathroom suite.

The ends of his short blond hair on his cheeks and forehead were still wet with moisture, but he had already changed his nightgown into a black soft armor lining.

The gorgeous ultramarine and gold master-grade armor that was remade by the Archmagos Belisarius Cawl with the help of Decima and others was already prepared in the equipment niche nearby. Ever since Ramezane accidentally demonstrated "how a Primarch sprained his ankle and how undignified he would make during physical therapy" and how much pressure Perturabo put on everyone in the office, Guilliman began to wear armor during office hours on the grounds that "wearing armor can reduce the number of unnecessary physiological needs and thus improve work efficiency within the specified time in the workplace."

However, whether this choice was partly related to the "sprained ankle plague" that had recently become popular in Wandering Port, only the Primarch himself knew.

At 5:20, he drank a cup of "Pan-Pacific Reka Coffee" (A-Reka Coffee for short), which was made from double water and one espresso from a "Warrior" brand automatic coffee machine and was just hot enough to fit into his throat, and then walked towards the equipment niche.

At a quarter to five, Guilliman arrived at his faithful office.

And at six o'clock, he will welcome an unexpected guest.

(End of this chapter)