Warhammer: Start with a dog.

Chapter 659: Unraveling the mystery and discovering what is waiting for Magnus inside...
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“As you say.” Casper bowed to the black and white sheepdog. Ramizarn noticed that although the bard was respectful and sincere to “Leman Russ” on the surface and in his actual tone, his more subconscious body language details expressed the opposite feeling.

On the one hand, he obviously respected him and had some affection for him, but on the other hand, he was very, very, very afraid of the black and white sheepdog sitting there. Ramizane silently added this to his observation record.

"That's what the Thousand Sons wizard named Amon also said," the bard said. "I want to clarify for Your Excellency the Guards that when we talked about the magic of names, this wizard mentioned that this was one of his ways to control me and restrict Your Excellency the Guards' actions. Because Lord Amon's name is the same as his, he can use this to temporarily control Amon's body and come to talk to me. Orn Evilwinter can also testify for me, because he was also attacked by the wizard's magic using names as a medium. And those names that he claimed to have stolen from my mind and used to attack and control them, in turn, became the best evidence that he has been manipulating and spying on what I see and hear in my mind."

"Indeed, not leaving evidence on the surface is the best evidence." The Lord of Steel narrowed his eyes, "Didn't you mention any other names?"

Cold sweat suddenly broke out on Casper's back.

He realized that his hands and feet were beginning to go numb, and was horrified by the Fourth Primarch's amazingly sharp intuition and insight - yes, in fact, he concealed a sentence from the wizard in that conversation, "'The name is very important, with the power given to it, and it can also enable those who know the name to manipulate the owner of the name - you see, if not, why does everyone only know the'Emperor of Mankind' and call him'Emperor of Mankind', but no one ever knows his name?'"

The bard didn't know what the Thousand Sons wizard was trying to imply or reveal by saying this, but he was very clear about one thing.

If this sentence from their conversation were to be uttered by him in this place, it would be nothing but death.

This would undoubtedly cost Casper his life, and he had no doubt that it would cost the lives of many more people besides himself, so he would never be so foolish as to say this here, or even admit that he had heard it. Look, Amon Tauromachian, Orn Evilwinter, and Wild Bear all kept silent about this matter. Did they not hear it or were they afraid to mention it? Casper thought that no one would ever know.

Of course, he didn't know that the Lord of Steel was communicating privately with the Wolf King at this time.

[Hmmmm... Pepe, do you think he hid some of the conversation? I think it's basically correct, but I feel like he omitted two sentences about your father.]

【This is also normal. After all, if their conversation involves Him, then it is the smartest thing for this 'unknown person in the past' not to mention Him at all. Even if Old Deng can't do anything to you now, it would be too easy for Him to raise his hand and kill a mortal. If this mortal mentions any issues related to His name, a corresponding ripple will be generated in the subspace, which is always a sign, and He is not willing to take any risks. 】

[But even if he raises his hand, a mortal should be able to say one or two words before being killed by Him... Does this mean that His ability to predict the future is not good? Otherwise, He should kill the other person before he says anything that is unfavorable to Him, instead of after he says a word.]

[Why do you think He had to go to the frontline in person often during the war of unification, in the name of fighting or meeting, but in fact He was using His psychic charm spell? If He was an outstanding commander or a famous monarch, did He really need to do this often? ]

【Ah, this. But He has also had personal combat experience. 】

[His power was not this strong from the beginning...mark my words. He did take measures to save the human species, but He did not actually gain nothing from it.]

[High risk, high reward. Take a chance and the native Anatolian will become the interstellar emperor, right?]

【Almost. Although He is to some extent the gene provider of our biological bodies, I no longer think that He is a completely selfless person who does not seek rewards...】 Perturabo BC paused in his mind, 【Or rather, I think He may have foreseen some of the things He would encounter when He started doing these things, but the benefits of continuing the Unification War, the Primarch Plan, the Astartes Plan and the Great Crusade are enough to make Him willing to take these risks and use these mental and physical efforts. If He is purely selfless, then there are some things He would not handle in that way; if His thinking is completely unaffected by any of His experiences, then there are some things He would not handle in that way.】

[For example? 】

[For example, perhaps the religions we dismiss as false were once genuine.]

After saying this somewhat meaningless sentence, Ramizarn felt that Perturabo BC's mind "turned away", [You should continue questioning, you did a good job, it reminded me of the defense. Go on, what we are going to do is still of great significance to the people here. ]

"Then you and your companions know his name because he mentioned that he had the same name as Amon Tauromachian."

"That's right, my Lord."

"But I see it clearly written in this report. You all also identified him as the captain of the Ninth Academy and the Primarch's attendant, Amon."

"Yes, my lord."

"Why were you so sure of his identity right away? I mean, he was wearing Thousand Sons power armor and could use psychic powers, that's for sure, and his name was Amon, which also fits the main points he said, but why were you so sure of his identity without knowing him?"

"Because he immediately changed to his own voice and introduced himself. He said he was Amon of the Fifteenth Legion Astartes, Captain of the Ninth Academy, and Acolyte of the Primarch, my lord."

"Uh." The Lord of Steel made a strange sound. "This is really strange. I'm not saying I want to defend Magnus, but who would do such a big thing as killing someone without any disguise or even revealing their identity in detail and providing a lot of detailed evidence to several witnesses?"

"Perhaps it is the pride of wizards that is beyond our comprehension, sir," said Hawser, beginning to feel a little annoyed.

"This is either too smart or too stupid. Which one do you think Amon will be, Casper?"

"I don't know, my lord."

"But you mentioned that the other two were restrained by the wizard's name magic and could not fight him well, so in the end it was the wild bear that launched a beautiful attack - why was the wild bear not controlled?"

"Because of a comprehension problem, sir." The bard regained his composure. "This is a subtle but crucial piece of evidence. When I landed in Fenris, I heard the name of the wild bear... I subconsciously translated it into the Terran language I was familiar with, but in fact the name of the wild bear was not called that way among the Sons of Fenris. In other words, the name of the wild bear that I remember cannot be considered his real name. Secondly, it is a name that I have translated once, so the wizard Amon cannot use it to control him. This is also excellent evidence that he is lurking in my mind and memory."

"This plan chain is really well written, without any flaws: the inadvertent slip of the tongue, the testimony and video of three witnesses, the double agent who was alive and could detect that his mind and memory were tampered with, the Thousand Sons' power armor, appearance, the use of sorcery, and the subsequent series of events including the mistakes that occurred all led to the fact that one of the closest attendants of the Fifteenth Legion's Primarch planned and arranged the spy and all the events. And because the two sides are so close, no one would believe that Magnus knew nothing about it."

Ramizane turned his gaze towards Magnus, who was completely curled up in his chair. "Because Magnus' favorite saying is..."

"I am Magnus. I know everything and can do everything." The fifteenth Primarch murmured in reply. He was so depressed that he almost turned into a thousand-year-old dead tree in the desert. His hair was as dark red as dried blood, his skin was an unhealthy gray, and his single eye was like melted gold, with molten tears rolling in his eye socket. "Stop cursing, stop cursing..."

"What a perfect closed loop." Ramizarn exclaimed. "In this case, considering that Magnus has just finished his defense in the center of the theater, and most people tend to be moved, the tight time is the last key factor in this chain. Due to the poor location, communication conditions, and the extremely inconvenient information isolation between the legions, there is no time to verify more back and forth. We must strike hard immediately! Hit him hard! Otherwise, the judgment may even be slightly tilted in a direction that is more favorable to Magnus."

"It is strange that you should say that, my Lord, as if the judgment will be against Lord Magnus from the beginning."

"Hehe... It's undoubtedly different to announce mild gradual measures and directly say that they are heretics and will be hated by the Emperor forever, and stomp Magnus' face on the ground - although I think Magnus may not really care about this." "Now it's your turn, Magnus."

"What can I say now?" Magnus said deadly. "A perfect closed-loop conspiracy. You said it yourself, Perturabo. This inquiry will only make Russ raise his damn tail higher and make me and my offspring more guilty! Who will believe me now?"

"What does it matter? I just believe it."

"What's the point of you believing..." Magnus suddenly choked. A sudden fact that he had not yet adapted to seemed to have just hit his mind a long time ago. "Wait!"

His long hair immediately began to turn bright red and fluffy, and his whole body began to regain its scarlet color. Now his eye was blue-green with a little bit of brown around the pupil. "Then ask! Perturabo! I have answers to all my questions!"

"Wang!"

There was an awkward but polite silence.

"Ha! You old dog! You are still of some use!"

"Don't make fun of P... powerful Russ! He is your brother after all, and it was you who made him like this! Now answer my questions!"

"Of course, ask, Perturabo."

"Then after questioning the three witnesses, your questions will be focused on certain key points." Ramizarn said seriously, "But I still need to confirm a few things first: Is Amon still your aide-de-camp and the captain of the Ninth Academy of the Fifteenth Legion of Astartes?"

"Yes."

"Did you bring him with you on your visit to the Nikaea Theater? As far as I know, the duties of an aide-de-camp on such occasions include following the Primarch."

"...No." Magnus finally admitted. "I chose my chronicler Mahavastu Callimachus and my chief think-library Azek Ahriman as my entourage to enter the theater this time. And my nine Sekhmet scarab lion guards."

This statement caused half of the people to frown while the other half showed an expression of "as expected".

"And can you confirm the whereabouts of your chamberlain Amon while you were at the Nikaea Theater?"

"I..." Magnus frowned. "To be honest, Amon's duties in my legion would make him not like to stand in the spotlight too much or expose himself in front of too many people. Moreover, I was originally told that the topic of today's meeting would be about the future of the legion's think tank and psychic users. After comprehensive consideration, I would be more inclined to choose Ahriman as my chief think tank." As he said this, he glanced at Fulgrim and Sanguinius, especially at Fulgrim.

"You still haven't answered my question. Answer the question, Magnus, and don't say too much else."

"The only thing I can tell you for sure is that from the time I left the Frotep until I landed in Nicaea, the passengers on the three aircraft were my flagship's chief navigator Innovus, my personal recorder Callimachus, the chief think tank Ahriman, and the nine Lion Guards."

"That is to say, you have no plan to land on the ground with Amon, but you also don't know where Amon is exactly at this moment."

"Yes, I did not choose him to land with me. Under normal circumstances, he should still be on the Foltep with my other descendants."

"So do you think Amon could have landed on Nikea and gotten inside the theater all by himself?"

"I don't think he can do it." Magnus pondered, "Although he is indeed responsible for the vanguard reconnaissance and hiding tasks in the legion, and it may be difficult for a psychic like Ahriman to detect him, but I don't think his psychic level has reached the level of being completely undetectable. At least," he looked around the room and assessed, "There are at least nine people in this room who should be able to spot him at a glance. It is almost impossible for him to sneak all the way to the vicinity of the command center you mentioned."

[Where did he get the number nine? I counted and counted and there were only eight.]

[…Jentia Kroll is here too.]

[…When did she come in?!]

[When you said it was just as planned, she was summoned in from outside by Waldo.]

【How come no one noticed her coming in? ! 】

[The power of the leader of the Sisters of Silence is not in vain. Even some of my brothers cannot see her clearly.]

[How did Gentia lose track of 'that Amon'? ]

Good question.

"So, you can't actually determine the whereabouts of Amon who belongs to your legion, nor can you guarantee that he didn't act on his own, right?"

"Yes." Magnus said somewhat desperately. He suddenly realized that the terrible subtlety of the whole drama today was that even though Perturabo had helped him unravel the mystery to such an extent, he still could not produce enough convincing evidence to prove his innocence today, and the conspiracy threads woven by fate had already become like a spider web.

The Weaver of Fate only waits for the bird it chooses to enter the center of the web.

"I really can't be sure... Who would deliberately take comprehensive positioning and notarization measures for an heir who he does not intend to bring to the event at this time?! I can only say that I have no plans to bring him to Nikaea or cause any conflict here, no! I don't have any inappropriate thoughts! Never!"

"Yes." Ramizane nodded, "So you still can't completely clear yourself of suspicion. As for the next treatment of you and your offspring, I have an idea..."

(End of this chapter)