Warhammer: Start with a dog.

Chapter 731 Private Conversation
*You can skip the entire transition chapter's dialogue.*
Refusing the Warmaster's squire's request to follow, Horus told everyone that he wanted to discuss possible future Legion cooperation with the Lord of Steel alone, and assigned a task to everyone.

The content was roughly as follows: "After the meeting, I ask each of you to write a domestic policy or strategic plan related to your responsibilities. I want to see all the management plans and expedition strategic plans submitted for this place when we meet again at the same time the day after tomorrow, and then we will discuss them in turn."

So everyone dispersed, received their orders, and left.
-
As the two of them rose and walked through the armored glass door at the other end of the strategy room, Peturabo's expression and mannerisms, like a lotus emerging from dark water, replaced "Horus" with each step they took.

Now, Ramizam finds that the familiar soul has returned to him.

He breathed a sigh of relief. "Such amazing acting skills made me wonder for a few moments if you were really the person I knew."

The latter glanced behind them—the armored glass door leading from the strategy room to Horus's private office on the port side of Vengeance Soul had just closed.

Peturabo then gave a reserved smirk. "I have a good understanding of the principles of all debates and all kinds of lost knowledge; it just depends on whether I am willing to put them into practice."

He walked to the table, put his hands behind his back, and gazed at the beautiful planet with white clouds floating on its blue-green surface through the floor-to-ceiling porthole.

"[Ancient Terra profanity]! Even this planet looks so much like Earth... It's like a rehearsal of the Siege of Terra plus the aftermath of Vengeance! It's terrifying! But why didn't any Astartes or narrators mention anything about it? So many... strange events... I vaguely remember that those narrators who survived the Siege of Terra and the Great Rebellion, and then lived for thousands of years under different names, all seemed to have some connection to the Sons of Horus, right?"

“That’s true.” Perturabo nodded. He knew very well that at this very moment, how many beings on the Soul of Vengeance, who would soon be remembered for their glory or infamy, were spending their days, whether they were bored or busy and ordinary, completely unaware of what was happening.

"Actually, the reason you haven't heard of this place is primarily because Shadowmoon Wolf himself is very secretive about it."

"Keeping a deep secret?"

"Because the Sixteenth Legion not only lost many veterans in the decapitation strike here, but even the envoy ship carried by Hastal Seyanus and his honor guard, who were initially sent to meet the envoy, as well as the envoy ship carried by Malhohorst, who was sent to the ground for the second time, were all shot down by the 'Emperor' here. The Shadowmoon Wolves have a lot of complaints about this."

"But isn't this a bit too disrespectful to Horus, the supreme commander? This is an army, not a gang. If you think it's unreasonable, you can raise your concerns, but how can you disobey orders like this?"

Lamizain cleared his throat, carefully choosing his tone, "—Because when Grandpa Wong in Tsim Sha Tsui was worshipping his gang, he used underhanded means to kill our gang's Double Flower Red Stick Sai and his brothers, so our Yau Ma Tei branches will absolutely not attend the old man's funeral!—See, that makes sense now."

"This is Horus's problem, not mine. The senior officers, led by Abaddon, felt sorry for their fallen brothers and couldn't get over it emotionally, so they announced that they would never attend the Emperor's funeral and would absolutely forbid their own men from attending."

Perturabo continued, "In short, while holding a state funeral, Horus also had to appease the feelings of Abaddon and his officers. Horus ordered that no narrator be allowed to watch or record the event, and the escort for the state funeral was taken over by the Stone Babies of Dorne, turning it into a subtle rehearsal. The narrators stayed in orbit for more than three months before they were recently approved to land on the ground, so of course no one mentioned it."

“It’s truly incomprehensible behavior. What kind of barbarian ‘emperor’ is this, and what ancient civilization? Civilized people don’t even kill envoys when war breaks out between nations, let alone when Cyyanus clearly had a huge, unfamiliar fleet behind him. What gave this ‘emperor’ such confidence back then?” Perturabo shrugged, one paw of his wolfskin cloak dangling from his pearl-white shoulder armor. “Perhaps it was those gravity and phase weapons, and the numerous STCs.”

"But it turns out that all that ancient technology he had, which looked impressive, was ultimately useless. The Shadowmoon Wolves took a full month from launching their attack to capturing the capital, didn't they? Did you notice those STCs? But why do you seem so indifferent?"

"If I appear to care too much about these things, those Martians will stand up like startled porcupines, becoming much more alert, which will add unnecessary difficulties."

Perturabo snorted. “But in reality, the only price to persuade them to join Horus’s rebellion is the retention of an STC. Besides, I can assure you that the appearance or absence of these STCs will not affect the overall trend,” he added. “So you don’t need to worry about it.”

"Alright. Now, back to the point. Since this 'Emperor' acts so irrationally, like a brainless tyrant, why did you—I mean, 'Horus'—decid to hold a state funeral for him? I mean, I understand that sometimes it's necessary to use such methods that might hurt one's own feelings to curry favor with someone who was an enemy not long ago, but as far as I can see, given the strength of Fleet 63, there's absolutely no need to use such methods."

"The conclusion is still about winning people's hearts... but your thinking is wrong. It's not about completely winning the hearts of 63-19," Perturabo said, scanning the planet, which was very similar to the old Earth in terms of continents and oceans, with the eyes of the wolf god. "It's Horus who wants to show everyone his magnanimous attitude of being more 'tolerant'."

"Because he was just selected as the War Commander?"

"Because he was just elected Warmaster and the Emperor established the Mortal Terra Council in Terra, which is superior to the War Council of Astartes. I must say I can't do what he does, smiling and lowering myself to speak to every mortal in this way just to fulfill Old Den's wish."

A chill ran through the "Warmaster," whose skin had been tanned to a wheat color by the suns of countless worlds from his constant battles. "He was so engrossed in the game of achieving everything perfectly as the Emperor envisioned that he forgot the irreconcilable differences between the Primarch and Astartes and mortals."

—So you were actually quite serious about this before, but Ramizam thinks it's unnecessary to say that now.

"Cough cough cough! But on the other hand, if he can maintain this until the mutual distrust and vigilance between the Terra Council and the War Council gradually subside, he might actually accumulate enough prestige. This is somewhat in line with what the Seresgu people called 'cultivating prestige'."

“If you lie for a lifetime, it becomes the truth.” Peturabo said noncommittally, “Now we’ll talk about your question.”

"Mine? Mine what?"

"What you can and cannot do here."

(End of this chapter)