Warhammer: Angron Training Manual

Chapter 535: Chaos Chess
……

Horus and Abaddon stood outside the operating room, observing everything in the white operating room through the glass.

Erebus lay on the operating table, still in his armor.

The left side of his helmet was shattered by a bomb, and the exposed skull cavity contained bone fragments and brain mixed together, which looked quite horrifying.

Various state-of-the-art instruments and equipment are stacked next to the operating table.

The Orina sisters, both extremely skilled in biological sciences and medicine, performed the surgery themselves, while Qin Xia used his psychic powers to assist the sisters in completing the operation.

"This time Erebus will definitely be saved."

Even though he could sense the Primarch's attitude towards Erebus, Abaddon still said this in a disappointing tone, earning a glare from the Primarch in return.

This was all Abaddon could say, and then he and his primarch silently observed the scene in the operating room.

"Seventy percent of his skull was blown away."

While performing the operation, Oulina told Qin Xia some necessary things.

"Using biological parts from Nuceria will indeed bring Erebus back to life, but he will not have any emotional fluctuations."

"I can't feel happiness, sadness, or even my own existence, and I have become a literal zombie."

"During the Battle of the City Devourer, a commander had half of his head chopped off by the High Knight. The Nuwei I Medical Department treated him using the treatment plan I am currently using."

Oulina picked out the bone pieces, placed them on the tray, then looked up at Qin Xia.

Then he continued.

"The officer survived, but only lived for half a year. What killed him was not the sequelae, but a mental illness equivalent to severe depression."

"Not being able to feel anything is extremely painful for an intelligent creature."

Hearing this, Qin Xia used his psychic power to monitor Erebus' physical condition while looking up at Abaddon.

This guy suddenly ran to find Erebus, then Erebus committed suicide and was sent here.

It took half a month to examine and formulate the surgical plan, and Aribati did not appear again during this half month.

"He's dead, they're dead." Abaddon looked at the Gene Father. "In my opinion, this is the right thing to do. You can't make up your mind to eliminate this hidden danger, but I can. I can also bear the crime of forcing our allies to death, as long as I can eliminate the hidden danger for you..."

"That makes no sense," Horus said.

"How come?" Abaddon was puzzled.

"It was Chaos that chose Eribati, not Eribati alone who could be chosen by Chaos." Horus said calmly, "Don't mix any emotions, just analyze the benefits. You shouldn't force Eribati to death."

"We have fought Eribati several times. We know that he will appear in the star system where Eribas is. We also know that there will be a nine plus seven or nine plus six hour window after Eribati's death. We can also train think tanks specifically to deal with Eribati."

"During the Great Crusade, the Librarians of the Raven Guard found a way to deal with Eribati. Every time we killed him, we relied on the power of those Librarians."

"You forced Eribati to death. Yes, Eribati will die and he will never appear again, but as I said, it was Chaos that chose Eribati, not that Eribati was the only one who could be chosen."

"Erebus is a unique person. This may be the reason why he was targeted, but there are probably countless such unique people in the entire human empire."

Horus's gaze moved away from the operating room and fell on his offspring.

"When the next chosen person appears, we will know nothing about him, not even where he is, until he suddenly appears and strikes a fatal blow while we are unaware."

"Erebus will not hesitate to choose suicide. When Eribati is about to cause an irreversible disaster, he will commit suicide to stop his evil alter ego. This is a safety mechanism. If it were someone else, would they be as decisive as Erebus?"

Horus believed that Erebus did not deserve to die because he was kind.

But this is not purely based on the moral level of "he should not die", but this kindness will become an insurance mechanism. When Erebas becomes unstoppable one day, Erebas will make the most correct choice himself, and without hesitation, just like he committed suicide decisively in front of Abaddon.

If it were someone else, Chaos might not choose to split a person's soul into two and reincarnate it into different mothers. Instead, it would simply choose the worst of the bad and would not even have the last insurance mechanism.

"I can understand that." Abaddon nodded, "But the next person like Eribati may not appear next to you, but to another Primarch, and the target is also another Primarch. That's enough."

"For example, appearing on Angron or Guilliman's side?" Horus closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "You are truly a genius. Chaos does not have your skills. Otherwise, they would have sent Eribati to corrupt the Primarchs who ruled the two largest legions."

Abaddon thought: As long as it's not you who has fallen.

The operation was gradually completed.

Qin Xia had been using psychic energy to ensure that Erebus's soul did not leave the real universe. After sensing that his soul was no longer struggling in the body, he released his psychic energy and asked Sister Orina, "How long will it take for him to wake up?"

"That's unclear." Olya glanced at Erebus. "This is the first time this type of surgery has been used on an Astartes. It could take a few days, a few months, or even a few years."

The conversation in the operating room was heard by Horus and Abaddon.

"He will be unconscious for a long time, and Eribati will definitely not appear again during this period." Abaddon said. "Yes." Horus at least agreed with the son's words, "At least Eribati will not appear, but..."

Horus had a vague feeling that the gods would only temporarily shift their gaze away from one chess piece. As for who the next chess piece they wanted to pick up and manipulate would be and where it was, that was unclear.

The Chaos Gods do not have a way to descend directly into the real universe, and can only control chess pieces like chess players, but they are still gods.

Horus was well aware of this, and was tormented by the uncertainty. The feeling at this moment was just like the first time he heard Qin Xia reveal the chaos.

It was also the moment of Chaos that Horus realized that the Emperor was ultimately fighting against something.

Compared with the real threat, all the powerful enemies in the Great Crusade seemed nothing and extremely insignificant.

"The series of countermeasures designed for Eribati are still effective." Qin Xia walked out of the operating room and came to the Warmaster. "Although it is unknown who Chaos will control before Eribati falls into a coma, I think they will continue to control Eribati after Eribati wakes up."

"So the gods can only play with this one chess piece?" Abaddon said, "I thought they were so powerful that they could create a large number of chess pieces like Eribati in the real universe at the same time."

Abaddon still insisted on his opinion. It was not appropriate to let Erebas live because of Erebas's known status, and then to fight with Erebas countless times.

Those are the Chaos Gods. There may already be countless Erebus taking action in the real universe.

"There are countless people who can be controlled by Chaos, but among them there can only be one person like Aribati. This is what the Eldar prophet's god told him." Qin Xia replied.

"What's the reason?" Abaddon sneered.

"The reason is that it is almost impossible to get all the gods to reach a consensus. It is also a very small probability event for them to stand together and manipulate a chess piece. Therefore, during the time when Erebus was unconscious, only one person like Erebatti could be manipulated."

Qin Xia then explained.

The Four Gods are not united. They use 99% of their strength on infighting, which is called the "Great Game". Only at extremely important moments will the Four Gods form a fragile alliance while playing the Great Game.

It is obvious that Aribati is a person chosen by the four gods.

It is not easy for a god to get the other three gods to reach a consensus with him on personnel matters. The reason why Aribati was co-elected must be not simple, but no matter how complicated the reason is, there will still be similar people in the real universe, but their number is extremely rare.

If they were not chosen by the four gods together, but only by a single God of Chaos, even if there were a large number of people, they would not have the destructive power as strong as Eribati.

People like Aribati are chosen by the four gods and directly use the power of four gods.

After listening to Qin Xia's explanation, Abaddon was not convinced, but nodded anyway. He did not want to argue with Qin Xia, who knew Chaos very well, about the matter of Chaos. At this moment, he was more concerned with his feelings.

"What kind of gods are these? Internal fighting, short-lived and fragile cooperation, fighting each other, even if they have a common goal, they will sabotage each other..."

"This is so lowly, it's not like God at all."

After Abaddon's sentiment, it was hard for Qin Xia to disagree.

But there is a reason why the four gods, as gods of the warp, are so clumsy that they seem like intelligent creatures.

"The existence of the entire subspace is due to the spiritual projection of real creatures. The four gods will have the same shortcomings as real creatures. If they are really perfect, we will have no chance of winning." Qin Xia said.

"Then who is more likely to become the temporary co-elect before he wakes up and our familiar enemies return?" Horus glanced at Erebus in the operating room.

"I don't know the same as you do." Qin Xia told the truth, "But the strategy is similar to the one we used against Aribati. Just don't give him any chance to take advantage of you. You also know that Aribati's actions are actually intended to corrupt you, but if you just don't want to, the Four Gods can't force you to corrupt."

"You are the Primarch."

Horus thought so too, but he just wanted to hear Qin Xia's opinion.

The Primarch could also understand why the Four Gods wanted to corrupt him - after all, they still needed a pawn, a more powerful pawn.

Based on this logic, it is not difficult to avoid degeneration. Just don't fall into a half-dead state of unclear consciousness, and don't actively degenerate when you are conscious. Either live or die quickly.

"Angron is not fighting here after all, so you still need to pay more attention to the other Primarchs." Qin Xia reminded Horus, "Remember what I said, Primarchs with inexplicable obsessions or pursuits are prone to corruption."

"I know this very well, so I will resolutely avoid letting the Emperor's Children Legion deal with races infected by Chaos. Not only the Emperor's Children and Fulgrim, I will also arrange other legions and brothers in this way." Horus said.

"A true warmaster." Qin Xia exclaimed, "In the future I have seen, you are capable enough to command all the primarchs and legions."

"To be honest, when my father decided to have two Warmasters, I didn't quite understand it, nor did I think it was necessary. But now it seems..." Horus' eyes were deep, with a look of complete enlightenment, "No matter who is corrupted between me and Angron, at least one Warmaster will stand up and turn the tide in the end."

Qin Xia immediately said, "But try not to let the situation you described happen. Make decisions carefully. If a situation that you cannot handle occurs, find a way to have the Star Talker call me."

Horus nodded.

"The Terra Astropath sent me a message earlier, asking me to help all of you Primarchs hold a meeting with the Emperor. After I finish this meeting, I will return to the World Eaters."

Qin Xia looked at the war commander.

"You need to be extremely careful and take good care of yourself at that time."

(End of this chapter)