Warhammer: Angron Training Manual

Chapter 458 The Darkest and Cruelest Place
All the mechanical equipment on the command deck hummed softly.

The naval officers kept as quiet as possible.

Captain Lotara Salin of the HMS Resolute walked as silently as a cat, conducting a silent patrol on the command deck.

The silence was not due to the presence of the other two Primarchs, but because Angron looked unhappy and a little depressed, and when the Primarch had certain emotions, the emotions would ripple and resonate throughout the space, causing ripples.

Just like in the Battle of Mach City, when Angron was furious, mortals became fearless killing machines.

"Eleven, Curze, and Mortarion, these three brothers will come together."

"The Emperor has issued an order in the name of the Great Crusade Commander. A total of six of us will continue to serve as the vanguard to conquer the Ullanor Empire."

Lorgar spoke the information he had deciphered from the Emperor's Star Language.

Although in terms of physical strength, Perturabo and Angron present could easily defeat Lorgar, but in terms of psychic power, Lorgar was one of the best among the Primarchs.

The work of interpreting the Emperor's Star Language was naturally handled by Lorgar himself.

"The rest of the Primarchs besides our six will form the main force with the Emperor and advance on all fronts to turn the Ullanor Empire into a sector of our human empire."

"Such are the Emperor's orders."

After Lorgar finished speaking, he subconsciously looked at Angron.

The Lord of the World Eaters sat on a small stool, staring at the ground in a daze.

Angron raised his head when he sensed that Lorgar was waiting for his response. "I understand that the World Eaters, who have the most war supplies, will turn this system into a supply transfer station."

The Lord of the Word Bearers nodded. "My legion will also assist. If you don't mind, some of my descendants are particularly good at planning the transportation of materials..."

“The World Eaters will form a logistics team with the Word Bearers and the Iron Warriors to handle logistics matters together,” Angron said.

"That would be best." Perturabo raised his hand in agreement.

Lorgar turned quickly to look at Perturabo, looking surprised.

He had not expected Perturabo to be so supportive of Angron's decision... This brother had always been difficult to get along with. When he was about to come to the warfront, he heard from the Emperor that the Word Bearers would cooperate with the Iron Warriors. This was a headache for the entire Legion.

Maybe it's just that there is always something that can defeat something else.

Lorgar thought so and observed Angron's condition again: "Brother, you look very tired... What happened?"

“I was just thinking.” Angron shook his head slightly.

Perturabo raised his brows and wondered if Angron was still upset about his leaving without saying goodbye and the many times he had disgusted him.

Angron stood up and left the command deck.

When the gate opened, the Primarch saw his adopted father leaning against the wall of the corridor.

Seeing his adopted son, Qin Xia reached out and touched his chin: "I forgot to remind you just now that you should shave your beard."

……

The Primarch's residence is located near the Triumph Hall of the Resolute.

The residence is not big. It was decorated in the style of a warrior's residence by the mortals on the battleship based on the Primarch's experience. Some things representing gladiatorial culture are hung on the walls.

The Primarch didn't like this decoration style at all, and he felt helpless.

Just like if the Emperor's humanity could survive to 40k, he would feel helpless when he saw humans worshipping the Golden Throne as their symbol.

But when those people proudly introduced the decoration to Angron, he was too embarrassed to pour cold water on them.

In the cave-like bathroom, the Primarch sat on a small stool in front of the mirror.

Seeing his adoptive father wrapping a scarf around himself and then picking up an ancient relic dagger, Angron felt as if time had gone back to the uprising war.

From the beginning when Qin Xia helped him shave, to teaching him how to shave...

"Remember that the gladiators used your chest hair as rope to string together their armor plates?" Qin Xia held the ancient dagger, dipped it in water, placed it on the chin of the original body, and scraped it gently.

“I am really a treasure from head to toe. My blood can strengthen my body, and my hair can be used as ropes to penetrate armor…” Angron smiled helplessly, “Luckily, I was thrown into the arena instead of being chopped up and sold.”

Qin Xia smiled and nodded, then continued scraping.

The dagger's blade, capable of cutting through adamantium, could easily shave off the Primarch's beard.

"When I was waiting for you outside the command deck, Salin came out and told me that you seemed to be in a bad mood." Qin Xia said while scraping.

"Yes."

Angron nodded.

"I was thinking about something... The journey to the warp just now made me understand many things and forced me to think."

"Before, I thought the Ullanor Empire was a very powerful opponent. For example, the kind of greenskins of the imperial guards we fought on Goron, the Emperor Ullanor had dozens of them under his command."

"But after my journey in the warp, I suddenly remembered that the greenskins are far from the most terrifying threat in this universe. There are opponents that are much more terrifying and powerful than them."

"I have come to realize the darkness and cruelty of this universe... even though I knew about the gods before."

Hearing this, Qin Xia was silent for a few seconds.

He did not hear negativity in the Primarch's words, but a sense of heaviness. This was natural, Malcador and the Emperor always gave people a sense of heaviness and fatigue, that was because they knew too much and had endured too much.

What Angron said sounded more like an epiphany.

"Do you think that the dark and cruel things in this universe can be quantified and compared?" Qin Xia suddenly asked a question that puzzled the Primarch.

"It can be compared. For example, no matter how dark the Empire and the Mechanicus are, they are not as dark as Chaos." Angron pondered.

"Of course...but what I'm talking about is to set a standard and refine it." Qin Xia shaved his adopted son's beard, put the ancient dagger into the pool to soak, and then sat opposite the original body.

Angron shook his head in confusion.

Qin Xia smiled and said, "I once took a course called... Body History."

The Primarch had never heard of this term, but if he thought about it, he could probably guess what it meant: "Study and interpret history from the perspective of the body?"

"That's right." Qin Xia crossed his legs and said, "In a historical period, people's bodies will be changed by certain specific factors in this historical period. Let me ask you, what are the characteristics of the Nuceria during the reign of the High Knights? On the physical level."

"The High Knights did not allow the slaves to have their hair cut, so it was very long and messy."

"what about now?"

"Now, Nuceria people like bald heads, because in the past, high knights were not allowed to shave their hair. After becoming free men, people like bald hairstyles."

At this point, after just a few words, Angron suddenly understood the message his adoptive father wanted to convey.

As a part of the body, hair is also the part that is most easily modified and influenced. Changes in head shape can represent a historical period and also reflect the more detailed parts of a historical period, such as cruel slavery or the struggle against slavery.

The impact of a specific historical period on a person will also extend from the hair to other places, such as limbs and even internal organs, and then there will be standards for quantification and analysis.

For example, in the territory of the Murray family, the slaves' bodies were generally drastically modified, and some were even directly transformed into meat bricks. It was obvious that the rule of the Murray family was more cruel and dark than that of other high knight families.

Thinking of this, Angron suddenly understood why his adoptive father was so angry when he saw the "meat bricks" that he retaliated against the Murray family and transformed them into meat bricks as well.

If Qin Xia was just based on the most basic empathy without the influence of other cognitions, he would not be so angry.

"Let's go back to the topic at the beginning. Using the standards of body history, let's analyze and rank the various dark and cruel things in this universe." Qin Xia said, "What do you think represents darkness and cruelty on the human side?"

“Space Marines,” said Angron.

"It's the Space Marines." Qin Xia nodded. "The Space Marines are transformed from mortals. The mortal's body is completely transformed into a war machine. They are transformed by genetic modification technology. But it is precisely the high-intensity war and the dilemma of the survival of the human race that gave birth to the modification technology."

“When people in later generations look back at this historical period, in addition to feeling that Space Marines were cool, they will probably also feel sympathy and sigh.”

Upon hearing this, the Primarch agreed deeply.

Then he thought of the Mechanicus's servitors.

“So the servitors are a manifestation of the dark and cruel enslavement of the Mechanicum,” Angron said. “Even their brains have been modified. Hair and bodies are nothing compared to that.”

"There is also the influence of Chaos." Qin Xia waved his hand and created an illusion of a mutated mortal who was distorted by Chaos. "Why is Chaos the darkest and cruelest? It is because the power of Chaos corrupts humans extremely thoroughly, distorting the human body to the point where no trace of humanity can be found."

As he spoke, Qin Xia suddenly had an idea.

Chaos corruption can transform people into strange and bizarre appearances. This change is obviously not intended to appear depraved or disgusting enough, but because it represents the most radical change and distortion, and also represents a path of no return.

Likewise, it is easy to see why the Emperor places such a high value on the human body and skull.

The admiration for pure human skulls and the use of skulls as the standard for judging mutants and aliens is not because genetic purity cannot be achieved and so people have to settle for second best, but from the perspective of body history, when the most obvious feature, such as the skull, is distorted and changed, it means that the person is completely hopeless.

"It occurs to me that the Primarchs are considered human, too. This is not a compromise, or a mortal's reluctance to speak out against the Emperor's actions." Angron looked at himself in the mirror.

"That's right." Qin Xia also looked at the mirror. "Even a god like the Primarch will have his body changed by the living environment. All your brothers will be like you. Whether it's their clothes, behavior habits, or aesthetics, they will all be reshaped by mortals..."

"The appearance of the Primarchs who fell into Chaos would also change drastically. The same is true..."

Hearing his adoptive father say this, Angron nodded subconsciously, but suddenly remembered something and shook his head: "Number 11 is an exception."

"Yes, it is." Qin Xia agreed, "So even though No. 11 inherited the Emperor's favorite trait, cold rationality, the Emperor does not like No. 11 himself, because No. 11 does not look like a human. The alien shaped him, and his appearance and expression... That's what makes us feel the uncanny valley."

“Malcador told me they had prepared a prison for Eleven beneath the dungeons of Terra’s Imperial Palace,” Angron recalled what he had learned when he had been alone with the Sigillite.

Qin Xia nodded silently, remembering that the Emperor didn't like Angron either. But even if Angron was a nail, he was shaped like a human being, so there was nothing that couldn't be discussed or tolerated.

Number 11 is different.

After talking about all his insights on body history, Angron let out a long sigh and smiled, "I thought you would tell me that those dark and cruel enemies I thought were not scary..."

"No, of course they are scary, so scary that you will feel afraid. But I don't think you will retreat cowardly because of fear." Qin Xia shrugged, "Rather, people will be afraid of scary things, and it is not shameful as long as you don't retreat. Since you won't retreat, there is no need for me to say anything to comfort you."

"It would be better to tell something interesting as a small episode during this period of war."

Qin Xia patted the original body's shoulder.

"Compared to the Chaos Gods, the Greenskin Empire is nothing. I have foreseen their end in the thread of fate."

"I also saw that you would wipe out the greenskin empire called Ullanor from the galaxy, and a sector called Armageddon would be established on the ruins of the Ullanor empire."

"The people of Armageddon basked in the glory of the victory you and your brothers won, and sang the stories of your heroic deeds... and spent ten thousand years like this..."

(End of this chapter)