Warhammer: Start with a dog.

Chapter 786 Oh ho.
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"If we shake off our accompanying diplomats and sneak here, won't it cause a diplomatic incident if we're discovered?"

Crouching in the bushes of the beautiful and tranquil fountain garden outside the instrument hall, Gavial Locken asked in a slightly helpless low voice.

"It could cause a diplomatic incident. And a major one, my friend, because even if we were removed from the list, you still hold a legitimate military position, so you'd only be punished more severely, and nothing could possibly go unpunished."

The mortal incarnation of the Lord of Steel answered with great interest. They were currently to the left rear of the Instrument Hall, while the other three-person group, consisting of two scribes and Lucius, were on the other side, roughly diagonally positioned. Their three pairs of eyes were monitoring the front and back doors of the Instrument Hall from a wide angle, which would facilitate their rapid rendezvous upon discovering any situation.

As for why he didn't split into three groups, the Iron Lord replied, "I'm afraid that the group of pure mortals could be murdered and silenced without anyone noticing."

"Ah, but since I asked you to come with us, you'll eventually get a promising career with a Queen of Glory and an Astartes Legion, no matter what. Don't worry, Gavial Loken."

Upon hearing this answer, the tenth company commander could only manage a wry smile, unable to utter a word—well, at least he knew that Lucius seemed quite certain that he had nowhere else to go besides the Third Army.

"Should we continue to stake out and monitor this place? The fifth night is almost over, but this hall is not open at night at all. Even normal visitors do not come here, and local citizens hardly come near it either."

“What else can we do? We have no way of knowing how Erebus got here from the helipad and back to Vengeance. —By the way, unlike Colfaron, Erebus has the physique of a standard Space Marine. This conspicuous outsider, whether he wears power armor or not, is so different from the locals—the two types of local residents, he’s practically a sitting duck.”

“Indeed… Astartes’ physique is truly distinctive.”

"Besides, how did someone his size manage to slip away from the tarmac in the dark, escape from everyone, find this instrument hall without any road signs or nameplates, steal, kill, and set fire to the place, and then manage to evade the city-wide manhunt and battle, and finally escape back to orbit? Even locals would have to think about how to get around at night, right?"

"Hmm... now that you mention it, the whole thing is indeed full of suspicious points about how it was accomplished. But I really don't want to say that someone might want to do something that others wouldn't think of—by the way, isn't that a bit too roundabout and cryptic?"

“Very good, it seems you’re starting to speak like the Terran lords. Congratulations. — Also, he should at least have been operating in secret until the murder and theft were complete, because the Interrex are going to accuse the delegation of ‘your people looted the Instrument Hall and killed the Instrument Guardian, and set it on fire, but they don’t know who did it’ — is that right, Euphrates?”

"That's it."

Euphrates Kira answered softly from the side.

The female photographer's blonde hair was now haphazardly tied back, her face and fingers were equally pale, and she was nervously twisting her thin fingers, a silver chain wrapped around her wrist, the pendant of which she held tightly in her hand.

"That's what the visions I saw told me."

“Tell us what you saw again, Euphrates.”

"Do I need to repeat myself if there's something I don't understand?"

"Of course, this is important."

She hesitated for a moment, until she seemed to be pricked or startled by the pendant in her hand, before she spoke.

“First, there was… the silver coin,” she said slowly. “The shattered crescent moon, then the crescent moon that was with the wolf’s head reappeared, and then it turned a long-soaked red; the thick, open book, I couldn’t see the words on it, the sacrificial bowl filled with red powder; a shadow like a military flag swept across my vision, and when I opened my eyes again, I saw flames… rising from the book… emerging from within… emerging…”

She suddenly started shivering as if she had a fever, sweat pouring down her forehead and neck like a waterfall, her golden hair clinging to her skin, which looked even paler in the night, like seaweed crawling on the skin of a drowning person.

“I…I can’t…I can’t believe it…Oh…God…I can’t believe what I’m seeing…I wasn’t told…this is how it is…I can’t accept it…”

Loken frowned. Euphrates had been in about the same state when she first stumbled in to tell them about the visions she had seen, and she was in the same state every time she had to recount them.

As a warrior who had commanded countless dead, he was not a man of extra mercy, but seeing a mortal suffer like this was certainly not what Loken wanted.

But luckily...

The Lord of Steel reached out and pressed down on Euphrates' trembling body. "Calm down."

"I can't accept this...it's impossible..."

"Calm down," the man hissed. "You can do it, Euphrates Kierle, you can do it. Now take a deep breath, two deep breaths, and then you will calm down and remember who you are. Self-control, self-discipline, self-awareness."

"Yes... hiss... whimper..." The photographer took a deep breath of the warm, plant-scented air in the garden. "...Thank you... I feel much better."

“In these visions, I saw the shape of books at least three times.” She took the handkerchief that Loken handed her, wiped her sweat, and then tucked her stray blonde hair behind her ear.

"I can't be sure of their order, but I always feel that they are not the same book, but they may also be two separate books."

"The book issue isn't the most important thing right now. Think about it quickly: are you still sure that the illusion of the instrument hall on fire you saw happened at night?"

“I’m absolutely sure.” She immediately and without hesitation gave an affirmative answer.

"In the vision, the raging fire that broke out here illuminated the city of Zenobia at night. The gold and silver tops of the spires reflected the firelight, and in the shadows below, I could even see the muzzle flashes of bolt guns and the firing lines of ranged weapons. Therefore, it must have been nighttime, and then a battle took place."

“Then the images became even more fragmented, with things like crashed warships and wolf packs in the forest flashing by…” she added, “but the images of Zenobia were very clear, which I guess is because it was something that was about to happen.”

“But the illusion didn’t specify which night, and we can’t possibly stay here every day. During the negotiations today, I felt that Governor Naod might be starting to have doubts about our daily routine of going to bed early and getting up late.”

"Pshaw, it's no wonder that guy was on guard against us. They look at us like bean sprouts look at barbarians, or elves look at humans."

"Uh? Elfer? Is that a branch of Ida, sir?"

"Hmm, right? But you might never get to see it in your lifetime, so don't worry about it. Since we've been lingering here for more than two weeks and have been staking out for five nights, I think we should at least hold out until the end of the third week, otherwise it would be a waste of all our previous efforts. After all, it hasn't really been that hard."

There's absolutely nothing wrong with that statement.

After all, while it was described as a night-long stakeout, for members like Loken and Lucius, who were among the most outstanding in Astartes, five nights of simply crouching in the bushes was nothing compared to five days and five nights of continuously slaying spider-like monsters on Murder Star. It might indeed be somewhat strenuous for mortal chroniclers, but mortals could find excuses to catch up on sleep in their guest rooms during the day, so it wasn't a major problem.

The only thing that truly puzzled Loken was: why would a Primarch as powerful as the Iron Lord need to take naps and make sure he gets enough hours of sleep?
He still remembers the scene of fighting alongside his Primarch, his beloved Warmaster, whose godlike figure exuded boundless power, as if nothing in the world could defeat him.

The Primarchs he had encountered all radiated vibrant energy and intense power, much like the main sequence stars. Their manifestations varied, ranging from the elegant beauty of the Angel Lords to the savage ferocity of the World Eater Primarchs. However, even after days and nights of intense battle, one would never see the slightest trace of weariness in them, should conditions be too harsh.

The Lord of Steel is different.

He was by no means weak. Loken had to admit that just by looking at how he could make the rest of the Sixteenth Legion dare not speak out against him, it was clear that he did not have the aura of a true weakling. Moreover, he vaguely knew what kind of power the Lord of Steel wielded.

However, this Primarch seems to have extremely human-like needs in terms of sleep, food, and so on.

Loken was horrified to discover that he had somehow become intimately familiar with the Iron Lord's favorite Reka coffee flavors from morning till night, and even knew when the Lord would switch to tea.

...On the throne! He was an Astartes, not a court maid! How terrifying! He had absolutely no recollection of when he had memorized this information! How could he recall the recipe after only a moment's thought?!

A nonchalant yet highly seductive voice rang out through the communication rosary, interrupting Loken's horrified self-reflection.

It's Lucius.

"This is the Iron Heart Squad, this is the Iron Heart Squad. This is a scheduled communication. No anomalies, no duplicates, no... wait a minute. We need quiet."

All communication channels immediately went silent. A few seconds later, Lucius’s voice came through again, this time sounding like he was wearing a helmet to avoid making any noise.

“Come quickly, in the window on the back ramp, the window opposite the fountain with the statue of the Praying Lady. I think I see them,” he whispered.

Loken and the people around him exchanged glances, all seeing deep confusion in each other's eyes, but the third person—the Lord of Steel—suddenly showed an expression of sudden realization.

"them?"

“Accomplice. That explains everything.”

"But how could..."

A most terrifying possibility gripped Loken's mind and body like the limbs of a monster.

"You mean to say that the only member of the Word Bearers Legion here is Eribas, right?"

The tone of the person embodied by the Lord of Steel seemed to have become very satisfied, as if Loken before him had become a delicious meal that pleased him.

“But don’t forget, it’s hard for me to say. Loken, it’s hard for me to say.”

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Thanks to the stealth devices they brought from the Soul of Vengeance, which had been modified by a certain all-around workhorse Steel to make them more convenient and easy to use, and the well-planned infiltration route, they quickly infiltrated the instrument hall from the other side while Lucius broadcasted the movements of the uninvited guests to them in real time.

"Compared to the deadly danger of the weapons described by the Interrex, the guards and security measures they left here are almost like a deliberate attempt to incite crime. If there were a plan or premeditation to use those weapons, it would be inevitable that people would take the risk to target them."

Loken wholeheartedly agreed.

As they infiltrated along the route they had visited that day, they encountered only a handful of security guards patrolling with lights, all of whom were Kambrako people. They did not appear to be carrying any powerful weapons or wearing much armor. Of course, they did not notice this second group of uninvited guests.

Loken took the lead, sneaking them into the exhibition hall where Governor Naod had shown them the Nemesis Blade last time; the security guards had just patrolled the area.

"It's incredible."

Euphrates whispered as they began to stand behind the sculpture in the corner so that the cloaking device could work perfectly.

"What's so incredible? We shouldn't be talking now."

"I'm referring to the fact that Company Commander Loken, wearing a server-powered Tiguan Mark IV power armor, was able to sneak in with us silently."

"Oh, that's true. I didn't know he had this ability, Loken?"

"...I don't know either, but my memory tells me that this was one of the so-called 'life-saving tips' passed down to me by a descendant of Lord Clarkes...?"

"Although I really want to ask who taught you, shh! The person we're waiting for is coming!"

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When the silhouettes of several figures, whose shapes were almost instantly recognizable as power armor, appeared in the dangerous weapons exhibition hall, they moved silently. Upon closer inspection, it could be seen that their legs were covered with some kind of material.

Clearly, they didn't want to attract the guards' attention, at least not until they succeeded.

The group then skillfully dispersed in typical Astartes tactical formation, checking the hall and guarding the entrances and exits. The last person walked forward to the display case in the center of the hall where the nemesis blades were placed.

The hall was not lit, but the dark blue of the protective field illuminated the faces of those who approached: faces displaying a pious and joyful expression, and even the scalp was covered with the symbols of the Colchis script, just like those covering the surface of his gray power armor.

The newcomer was none other than Eribas, the chief priest of the Legion of Word Bearers, Horus Lupecal's trusted aide, the Voice of Logar, and the Primarch's mouthpiece.

(End of this chapter)