Warhammer: Start with a dog.

Chapter 886 The Place Where Big Guys Can Become Stronger and More Powerful
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"I didn't know you could make medicine?"

After forcibly injecting the drug while holding the other person down, Steel Hand's condition clearly stabilized, as did Pallas's turbulent emotions.

“I am not him,” he said, reaching out to rub his cheek to try and pull himself together. “We still have so many messy things to do.”

As the young Phoenix stepped aside and began picking through the items left behind by the apothecaries, preparing to mend the remains of the Iron Hand, who belonged to Medusa's Broken Legion, Ruth asked Mortalian with astonishment.

Dr. Mortalian, a biopharmaceutical engineer, made an exception and allowed himself a second to enjoy the pleasant and warm feeling that came from the wolf king's reverence stimulating the release of dopamine and other peptide hormones in his brain.

"Some knowledge and medicine become trivial matters here."

He vaguely said, "Asking my pharmacists to hand over drug samples and other things, to crack and upgrade them, is not difficult for me now."

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"What does he mean?" asked someone on the Destiny Steel who was watching them from afar.

"What he meant was that the knowledge of the Old Earth, combined with his Primarch's mind and psionic abilities that can be used normally here, is a powerful combination, comparable to having a supercomputer and a pharmaceutical laboratory on your person," Peturabo BC replied.

"Him? Psionic Pharmaceuticals? Mortarian?"

"To put it another way, it's a drug developed using numerology by PhDs from the Biological Laboratory at Trinity College, Cambridge, combined with biopharmaceutical technology."

"Oh. Sounds like it could be sold as a health supplement."

“After all, numerology was just a bunch of numbers that made people feel better on the old Earth, but here,” Peturabo BC glanced at the pigeons, “it really makes the work of the Pale King work.”

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"But I was still quite surprised."

As Pallas put on his helmet, turned on the filter on his goggles, and began his work, Ruth said, "The extent to which the Feralas have modified their bodies. Did you discard his power armor and prosthetics to make it easier to hide before showing yourself to the search party?"

“No,” Mortarian said. “I ripped his body directly from the cockpit that was securing him. His body was already one with the gunboat.”

The wolf king muttered a curse.

"This is a bit too much. They've crossed the line!"

"There aren't many brothers who have the right to throw stones when it comes to crossing the line on the so-called purity of humanity."

Motalian's voice was cold. "You should know that I have access to many ancient Anatolian human samples somewhere. The lab next door to me is working on the study of human gene transfer pathways."

Ruth replied somewhat strangely, "Why are we suddenly talking about this? Anatolia is an ancient place name in Terra, isn't it?"

"It's nothing," the Pale King smiled. "I just feel that some overly simplistic and straightforward standards of judgment are no longer applicable to me now."

“That’s true,” Ruth muttered. “So, what’s the next step?”

"Horus, Fugrim, and our fleet will then continue their journey."

Mortarian said, while simultaneously opening his "laptop" with the Death Guard's breathing light and continuing to type data.

"The combined fleet will head directly to the world that Horus's intelligence points to, Moro. We have a lot of interesting things to find there, and this time we have a chance to recover some of them before they are destroyed."

"for example?"

"How about about a hundred Holy Blood Angels?"

Mortarian found the data panel connecting to the bridge of the End in a niche in the corner. After blowing off the dust, he began to skillfully use his privileges to browse it.

"It doesn't sound exciting."

"Hmm... I guess you wouldn't like three hundred Ultra Warriors, would you?"

“If you’re going to bring them up here, I swear I’ll decorate their dormitories and everything with the Book of Astartes.”

"Alright. Wait, why do you have the Astartes Codex? Has it been written down yet?" A hint of emotion finally appeared on the Pale King's cold and weary face.

“I read it all in the Ironblood reading room, so of course I can remember everything. I could just write the whole thing down and print it out and smear it in their faces right now,” Lehmann Russ said with an air of self-righteousness.

This absurd answer made even the Pale King frown deeply. "You? Why are you reciting it? Don't you hate it?"

"If I don't remember what's on this table leg, how can I use the contents of this stack of scrap paper to precisely mock Robert?"

"Alright. You obviously don't think much of the nearly 100 legions of the Imperial Auxiliary Army, which numbers 50 million, and the Imperial Navy, which has eight capital ships and sixty various escort ships."

"The navy is alright, but don't they have anything else of better value? We can't take these ships with us!"

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"Hey!" Someone outside the crystal ball slammed their hand on the table. "Wait a minute, a complete naval fleet and fifty million uncontaminated, strong working people?!"

“That would be very difficult to bring back. No, it would be impossible to bring back at all. The level of the soul is too high. Even if Mortarian were to assist over there, it would be something he couldn’t do.”

Peturabo BC was quite tempted, but after careful calculation, he could only shake his head in regret.

"...Wait, it suddenly occurred to me that although Moro is a feudal world ruled by knights, maintaining an imperial garrison of 50 million people and 400 Astartes on a planet, doesn't even include the issue of food and water for the personnel on those naval ships?"

"It's hard to say whether there are actually that many people. But there must be mechanical repairmen there to maintain it, so it's better if we don't worry about that too much. I think Mortalian might have something better to offer to Russ."

This time, Peturabo BC made an exception and tried to smooth over the mess of poor administrative common sense and a spur-of-the-moment mathematical problem – what if they all got wiped out? How would the remaining people handle Horus's fleet? Everything would be in chaos!
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"The wolf has quite the appetite," the Pale King shook his head. "How about that Imperial Titan?"

"Haha, even Titan is nothing more than—"

"Emperor Titan?"

"Emperor Titan?!"

Pallas, who had just finished work, took off his helmet, which served as a welder's mask, and shouted.

“That’s right.” Mortarion displayed the data. “The intelligence that Fogrim sent to Horus and my fleet indicates that in addition to the Knight Mech Legion, there is a true Imperial Titan on Moro as a strategic defender—the Terra Exemplar. In addition, there are at least four War Titans from the Griffin Legion and the Fortified Legion, as well as countless Mechanicus-controlled legions.” “Wait a minute.” Pallas stood up and walked over, rubbing his temples.

"You mean, a knightly feudal world, obscure and never having seen any famous battles or events—and then the Emperor—that person quietly sent an Emperor Titan and four War Titans, a knight mech legion, the Imperial Navy, the Mechanicus Legion, and nearly a hundred legions—all of them to this planet?"

"It's all to protect this planet, Moro." The Pale King nodded.

"That's why I said there were so many interesting things this time, while the 'me' of last time missed quite a bit. I only know the memories after we reunited. The journey here was rather uneventful... Oh, but the moment when those knights charged the legion knowing they would die was quite epic."

“If he had stockpiled these things on Terra, the siege would have been much better later on. It’s unbelievable.” Pallas rubbed his forehead.

“In other words,” Ruth said gravely, “our father believed there was something on this unassuming planet that absolutely warranted such a heavy guard.”

“Or rather,” the Pale King added, “as Horus unearthed from the memories of the dead, the secret to the Emperor’s immense power still remains there; in other words, it is a secret he could not take with him. Moro, this is the secret place where the Emperor amplified his power to godlike status.”

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Besides Ramizann, who already knew about the strangeness of this place from the ancient books he had read, the other occupant of the Warband Commander's office was now in an uproar.

"Wake up! Wake up, you old bastard! I know you're not unconscious! You have the guts to keep these little secrets, but you have the guts to wake up and face me! Look me in the eyes! Look me in the eyes! How many more damn little secrets do you have that we don't know about?! Huh?!"

Peturabo BC angrily charged at the pigeon lying dead in front of the palace steward, but Magna managed to stop him at Ramizan's urging.

“There’s a lot more to this than meets the eye… Pepe, speaking of little secrets, I seem to remember that, according to the description, he brought Leon, Fugrim, Horus, and Chagatai with him when he arrived in Moro again.”

"Why wouldn't Pallas know the details here? He doesn't seem to understand what makes Moro special!"

"Because the emperors subsequently altered their specific memories of Moro before leaving, including those of their offspring, to ensure that no one could recall what they saw on Moro."

Lamizan shook his head at this point, "Experiencing strength first and then testing it on those around you is a terrible practice in itself, and when the people whose memories have been altered discover this practice, it only makes things worse, doesn't it?"

"Do you remember which year he went to Moro, Ramizane?"

The person being asked thought for a long time, even consulting a database, before finally shaking their head.

"There is no exact date, but if he brought Chagatai with him, I guess it would be 865 years after the 30th millennium. It also matches the description of the Moro hereditary lords, who claimed that the First Legion built the main castle buildings that are today about a hundred years ago after landing."

“If Chagatai’s return hadn’t been later than mine, I could have said right now that he must have given me some kind of bewitching potion from Moro on the highest peak of Olympia.”

"Petrulab BC said somberly, while glancing meaningfully at Clarks."

"If I had the chance, I would say that others should perhaps think more about this issue. As for you, old man, I'll count to three, and if you still dare to play dead, I'll tell Ramizann that you are actually..."

The pigeon leaped up with lightning speed, flapping its wings, its laurel wreath gleaming golden, hovering above the crowd.

"Ahem, I feel much better. Now that things have come to this, shouldn't we look forward positively? Bringing up old grievances is extremely detrimental to our harmonious relationship and is completely unacceptable!"

"No wonder he's fit to be an emperor," someone said sincerely. "This is thicker than the walls of Constantine!"

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"Emperor Titan!"

This precious divine mechanism moved even the Primarch of Genesis, and Pallas seemed particularly interested in it.

“Even if we can’t bring it back, we can hide it somewhere!” he shouted. “If it’s properly preserved and we can activate the minimum energy protection, the Imperial Titan can be preserved for ten thousand years! Then we just need to remember the star map and then come back to transport it!”

"Which ship do you plan to use to transport it?" Ruth pointed out. "How do you persuade Peturabo to send the Ironblood over?"

“No need,” Pallas said confidently. “As long as I tell the armory priests that there is an ancient Imperial Titan here, they will immediately set up their mechanical arks and rush over to salvage it.”

"Excellent. We're discussing its future with such enthusiasm, as if we already have the Imperial Titan in our hands!"

Ruth crossed her arms. "But we still have to hide it completely under the noses of so many traitors? You can't exactly stuff it under your cloak, can you?"

"This is a problem." After the initial excitement subsided, Pallas calmed down slightly.

“If we intend to acquire the Titan Legion, we must plan every step very carefully. If Mortarion tries to gain something extra as a ‘brother’ here, or does not act according to orders, it is very likely to immediately attract unnecessary attention and suspicion from Forgrim and Horus.”

"That's right. I have even worse news."

Dr. Mortalian leaned forward and pushed the data panel over so that his two brothers could see it more clearly.

"There's a sect in Moro that has been secretly spreading in the lands and palaces of the local hereditary lords for quite some time. Can you guess what that sect is called?"

A terrible feeling washed over Pallas.

"what is it call?"

“The Serpent Cult,” Mortarion said calmly. “Actually, it’s a Slaanesh cult, but the connection hadn’t been activated until now—which is why Forgrim can now transmit so much intelligence to the Warmaster.”

Ruth spat on the ground, and Pallas, though pale, frowned even more.

"This means we'll be under more scrutiny, and we'll need to be more careful and learn to conceal our true intentions."

"That's right. And judging from the boasting in his words, I guess, unfortunately, a large number of noble pilots among the Knight Mech pilots have also been corrupted."

"These good-for-nothing, bloated bastards!" the Wolf King roared, baring his sharp teeth. "Why are there still local hereditary nobles there?!"

"You can discuss this with Ramizane when you get back, but I have no interest in teaching you," the Pale King shrugged. "Also, the Imperial Titan is not the final guardian, nor is it the most precious thing. I suggest that its priority should be put on hold."

"What? What could be more precious than that? Could it be that secret?"

The Pale King shook his head and started the numerology program on his laptop.

His eyes slowly rolled up, changing from the pale green of new shoots to a bright amber orange-yellow. His gaze pierced through the air, the deck, and the void, looking towards a more distant place, at the life flame surrounding that special soul.

"This is something even Forgrim doesn't know right now. They will encounter the second Guardian in the caves of Lupecaria, the faceless fire angel, a creation left by our father to maintain the memory-altering magic; and the third, and the last, Guardian who should be unknown to anyone, is a special spirit lurking in Moro—an immortal Guardian, someone who must know many secrets."

(End of this chapter)