Warhammer: Black Emperor

Chapter 259 The Conspiracy of the Fallen Horus
Ning Lu tapped his fingers lightly on the back of the chair and asked, "What kind of rumors?"

“My lord, please forgive my sins,” Tierney said after apologizing.

"The rumors first came from the library, a library in Treon."

"A book called the Book of Revelation has been discovered, which recounts the terrible catastrophe of the ancient long night."

"Its prologue depicts the abuse of arcane arts as the trigger, and the subsequent content depicts the entire civilization's unrestrained use of powerful arcane magic, ultimately plunging humanity into a long night."

Tierney's face showed confusion as he said this.

"At first, this was seen as a warning from the old night, and had nothing to do with you or the Eleventh Legion."

"But suddenly, for some reason, the situation changed, as if someone was manipulating everything in the dark."

Tierney expressed his confusion, but forced himself to state the facts to avoid influencing the Black Emperor's judgment.

"In the cafes on the upper levels of the hive, in the bars on the lower levels..."

“Scholars, imperial staff, and workers began to talk about how the ‘Shadow of Order’ possessed evil sorcery and that they would bring destruction to the Empire.”

"The Empire's Ministry of Justice has been ruthlessly cracking down on those who spread rumors. No one talks about it publicly now, but in the shadows, in the dark corners, people still mention it."

Tierney took out a data tablet and handed it to Primarch's servant, Arsène Dunn.

"The members of the heist team walked in the shadows and occasionally came into contact with people who spread rumors."

“They arrested five of them and tortured them. All five of them confessed that they were given the revelation by a man dressed in a library-standard dust-proof robe with a hood covering his face, who looked like a monk.”

"My men sketched out a portrait of that man based on his confession."

The Primarch's servant connects the data panel to the interface, revealing a simulated portrait of the Master.

Ninglu looked at the simulated portrait. The person in the portrait had rounded features and almost no sharp edges.

Wrapped in a milky white robe, he resembled an obese person who had suddenly lost weight in a short period of time, his once bloated body now loose and limp.

His figure was like a ghost.

Ning Lu stared at the composite sketch, lost in thought.

[Library, revelation, arcane magic, the sorcery of the shadow of order, a rounded, suddenly weight-lossed, ghostly body.]
A thought flashed through his mind, and he asked, "Besides the Shadow of Order, are there also rumors about the Fifteenth Legion?"

“Your Excellency is wise,” Tierney said, looking at the Black Emperor with reverence.

He personally led a large army to conquer the "Wheel of Flames" and went to Medusa, which was countless light-years away from Terra, yet he was able to know about the situation in Terra.

"Since nine months ago, rumors have spread to the Fifteenth Legion, accusing both legions of being evil spirits who play with witchcraft."

Upon hearing this, Nimrod had already guessed the mastermind behind it all—the Fallen Horus.

He remembered that after Horus fell, he sought to eliminate the greatest threat in his heart—the Thousand Sons who possessed psychic power.

Psychic powers are the bane of Chaos Demons. Upon discovering this, Guilliman and other loyal Primarchs unanimously repealed the Emperor's "Nicaea Prohibitions."

The Thousand Sons, as the legion with the most psionic beings, are the greatest weapon against the attacks of Chaos, and Horus considers them the primary threat.

Nimrod recalled that, in order to eliminate the greatest threat, the Fallen Horus used the instability of warp time and space to travel back hundreds of years and begin plotting his conspiracy.

He spread the image of the Thousand Sons as terrifying wizards within the Empire, reinforcing the image of the Wild Wolves as executioners. He also possessed Caspell Ansbach Hauser and traveled to Fenris, misleading Leman Ruth and the Wild Wolves into believing that it was the work of Magnus's Primarch servant Amon, further deepening the rift between the two legions.

Finally, Ruth's final warning to "Amon" naturally did not reach Magnus.

Nimrod believes that, setting aside any biases, this was a brilliant conspiracy orchestrated by Horus over centuries.

The Fallen Horus achieved his goal, eliminating the most threatening Thousand Sons and inflicting heavy losses on the Wolves in battle.

While Magnus's sabotage of the network and Tzeentch's manipulation behind the scenes were contributing factors, Horus's strategic planning was also indispensable.

Nimrod never expected that the conspiracy would now be directed at him, and Horus seemed to see him and his legions as an even greater threat.

[Because my legion has a large number of extraordinary beings, and the "Sun" pathway can deal powerful damage to demons?]
From Horus's perspective, the extraordinary beings of the Eleventh Legion are all psionicists.

The number of “Shadows of Order” exceeds that of the “Thousands,” and the combined number of Extraordinary and Psionic beings may also surpass the latter, making them the greatest threat.
Thinking of this, Ning Lu turned his gaze to the "fraudster" and spoke.

"I understand. I will handle this matter. You do not need to follow up any further."

The treasure-hunting team was not suited to handle this kind of matter, so Nimrod decided to let the assassins led by Maria Kournikova take over.

The fallen Horus had only just begun his scheming and plotting; he dared not reveal himself and instead went on a killing spree.

[I've just collected all the potions for "Instigator." I hadn't yet decided where to use Maria and the others after their advancement, but now it's the perfect time for them to wipe out the organization Horus has developed.]
“Yes, my lord.” Tierney accepted the order and then secretly left the Shadow of the Throne.

While Tierney ordered his men to build the altar, Nimrod returned to the surface of Terra to continue cooperating with Makado's propaganda campaign.

On the sixth day after Nimrod arrived in Terra, the Primarch's attendants received a request for a meeting from Violet, the matriarch of the Visher family, the lineage of the Navigators.

That evening, Ninglu met with Violet Wiescher at the villa.

The Vischer family’s signature colors are blue and crimson. Violet wore a blue silk robe with crimson silk threads embroidered on the collar and cuffs.

Violet wore precious jewels on her forehead to cover her third gifted eye.

After taking his seat, Ninglu looked at Violet, who was young and showed no signs of mutation.

She had fiery red hair, a tall and slender figure, and a neck as elegant as a swan's.

Ninglu knew that because of their unstable genetic structure and reliance on inbreeding, every Navigator was a mutant.

The rate and order of mutation vary from family to family and individual to individual, but the accumulated mutations eventually transform them into toad-like creatures, who are called elders.

The elders' altered appearances were not suitable for public display, so they chose either the Great Patriarch or the Great Patriarch's Mother as their public representatives.

The Grand Chieftain and Grand Mother are selected and carefully examined from the embryonic stage to ensure there are no signs of mutation, unless the mutation is in a positive direction, such as being exceptionally beautiful or elegant.

"What important matter brings the matriarch to see me?"

Violet smiled elegantly and parted her red lips slightly.

"Lord Ninglu, the Vischer family wishes to form an alliance with the Eleventh Army to serve you."

　PS: Horus travels back in time to plot against the Thousand Sons, from the official novel "The Burning of Prospero".

　　Thank you everyone for the monthly votes. This is the third update today. However, I watched the game last night and didn't finish writing yet, so I will release two chapters at 23:23 tonight.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)