Warhammer: Black Emperor

Chapter 664 My Legion Has Too Many Members; I Must Conceal My Strength a Century in Advance
Arsène Dunn, holding a data board, began his report methodically.

"My lord, I have compiled the Legion's situation. As of now, the Legion has a total of 279,630 Order Shadows."

"The total number of legion members is approaching the highest number of legion members before the outbreak of the Second Randan War in 861."

Ninglu nodded. In his memory, at this time, the largest "Ultraman" legion had 166,000 members, including some of the Second Legion he had taken over.

Now, the Ultramarines have not received the Astartes from the Second Legion and have also participated in the Battle of the Tarks, with a total strength of less than 150,000.

[Yes, among them is Glenn Wosotto, whom I admire, and the Terrans he influenced, who were disliked by Guilliman.]

Of the more than 20,000 people, 3,500 with the "corruption" gene seed showed the highest loyalty.
The "Dark Angels," not being a main force in the "Randan War," numbered approximately 180,000 to 190,000.

This figure comes from Luther, who, although exiled, remains the nominal deputy commander-in-chief of the Legion.

This was roughly in line with Nimrod's predictions. The Dark Angels still participated in battles such as the Battle of Turks, suffering over 50,000 casualties, and also incurred significant losses in subsequent battles against the Xenomorphs.

[I have at least 90,000 more men than any other legion, and I will surely become a thorn in Horus's side during the grand birthday celebration.]

He would use his power as commander-in-chief to force me to jump into his ambush trap.
Nimrod realized that Horus had told his close friend Saint Gilles that the Nephilim had not been extinct and that they could cure the genetic defects of the Blood Angels, thus setting a trap for him. He knew that Horus would never let him go after his fall.

He then recalled how Horus had the "Midnight Lord" restrain the "Dark Angel," using guerrilla tactics to keep Ryan locked in a two-year-long struggle, yet they still couldn't achieve a complete victory, ultimately relying on the Tuchucha Engine.

The Word Bearers launched a surprise attack in retaliation for Guilliman's destruction of Perfect City, causing heavy losses to the Ultramarines.

He also considered the industrial capacity of the new Colony district and its strategic appeal as a rear base, but only the Sixth Army was stationed there.

The Caligum Gate is valuable for subspace travel, but it is only garrisoned by the Fifth Warband.

[I should feign weakness to make Horus underestimate my strength, so that I can catch him off guard and minimize my losses.]
Thinking of this, Ninglu gave instructions to the original body attendant.

"Transmit my order: have each battle group conceal its strength."

Most legions, even if they wanted to, could not conceal their strength on a large scale because they relied on oilers to replenish their weapons and equipment.

Even without relying on the Foundry World, Ninglu's territory's industrial capacity is fully self-sufficient, not to mention he has many allies in the Foundry World.

"My lord, what do you mean..." The seasoned "detective" pondered the Black Emperor's strategy of concealing his own achievements and the territories he had conquered.

"A great rebellion will break out in the empire a hundred years from now, and we must prepare for it."

"My legion has too many people, so I need to hide my strength a hundred years in advance."

“Every battle report submitted to the War Council exaggerates the casualties; as the legions increase, the numbers are reduced accordingly.”

Alcena's narrow pupils were filled with surprise, but then he thought of how the Emperor and Macardo supported the nobles and suppressed the Primarch.

Considering the numerous contradictions among the original entities, I am not surprised.

"Follow Your will."

Ninglu's response to the grand birthday celebration relied not only on the "Shadow of Order," but also on potential mobs, who were also an important force that the enemy did not expect.

The number of new recruits trained by Luther, as well as the Dark Angels influenced by Urian Bendreg through his prestige and extraordinary abilities among the Terran exiled by Ryan, has exceeded 30,000.

Among them, the 6,140 new recruits trained with the "corruption" gene showed the highest loyalty.
Nimrod knew that some of the Terran descendants also followed Serafax.

Sheriff Urian could only discover a portion of the Terrans influenced by Tzeentch and dissatisfied with their exile, especially the Dark Angels outside of his directly subordinate Eighth Warband.

Ninglu leaned against the throne, thinking of the men in his various warbands, which, apart from the Dark Angels and Ultramarines, numbered about 48,200.

The largest and most loyal of them were the Terran warriors led by the 19th Army Corps Commander, Alkahas Far.

Upon Kovacs Corax's return, he will immediately exile most of the Terrans.

[Yes, I'll also be able to acquire a genuine divine artifact then, the Void Glass that Old Man Huang entrusted to Alkahas.]
The remaining Terrans will also be exiled and form the Ash Claws chapter after the Battle of Gate 42.

The vast majority of Terran Raven Guards will be completely under his control by the time Corax returns in 922 and in the early 3000s.

His two major future growth points are the "World Eater" who was promoted through the Butcher's Nail and Lucius to the position of "Son of the Emperor" 13th Company Commander.

Overall, I currently have a potential force of 370,000 to 380,000, which is 220,000 more than the 150,000 to 160,000 that Ryan actually controls.

In other words, I have at least 220,000 more Astartes than any other legion.

"Dealing with me will come at a price," Ning Lu thought with a smile that was also cold.

Of course, he wouldn't use his undercover agents unless absolutely necessary. [After all, it would be too obvious for other people's kids to obey my orders; they're the most suitable as undercover agents. Activating them when needed will maximize their effectiveness.]
Nimrod thought of the Abyss-class battleships Zadkiel received during the grand birthday celebrations, the Terran Nemesis Chapter of the "Ultramen" race, and the Glory Queen-class battleship Ash Chronicles that they received...

Especially Akuldona and Lucius, who were by Forgrim's side.

Garan Sulak, who was by Angron's side, along with Dregel, the planned Ninth Company Commander, and Vares, the former director of the think tank that had just been abolished.

They can all control the actions of potential "Fallen Earl" targets and seize their time to ascend to demonic status.

As Ninglu pondered, his original servant, with snow-white hair, continued to report.

"Among all the battle groups, the eleventh battle group has the largest number of people, with 30,100 men."

……

"The 12th Regiment has 21,600 men."

"The smallest group is the 10th Battle Group, with 20,400 men."

The number of people in each warband is strongly correlated with the number of exclusive recruitment worlds and cultural compatibility.

The Eleventh Legion participated in almost every battle, suffering the greatest losses but still the largest number of soldiers, because it recruited new soldiers from the Legion's homeworld and the valiant nobles of Aventinium.

The 12th Warband only had Tannis, while the 10th Warband had Arjiga, who was not entirely suited to the Warband culture that primarily relied on the "Hanged Man" route.

"The Legion currently has 2,930 full-time think tank members and 610 think tank apprentices."

Despite having the second-largest think tank team, "Shadow of Order" is still far behind the largest, "Thousand Sons".

Although not all members of "Qianzi" are psychics, the proportion is close to forty percent.

After the flesh-and-blood mutation was "resolved," the combined think tank size of the five major schools of thought is now close to 8,000 people.

Hathor Matt, as the chief think tank leader and the head of the "Bright Feather School" temple, was promoted from the Second Society to the First Society's company commander, controlling approximately two thousand people, of whom five hundred and ninety were "corrupted".

Including the think tanks of other legions, I actually control about 5,400 think tanks, while Magnus has 6,000, not much different.

However, in the eyes of other Primarchs, the Beyonders are hidden in the Think Tank, and my Legion has tens of thousands of psionicists, which is why Ruth has been targeting me all along.
The Royal Court now has 11,600 members, exceeding the previously set target of one-third.

At Sequence 9, more than half of the characters gain unique abilities, though the increase is not significant. They are mostly the main combat force in each squad, establishing the tactical style.

At Sequence 8, there are 32,800 extraordinary individuals with the ability to improve to a certain extent. They are the captains of each squad and officers such as flag bearers.

At Sequence 7, there are 17,900 extraordinary individuals with significantly enhanced abilities, most of whom have been promoted to military ranks such as adjutant, pharmacist, and technical sergeant.

Those who have entered the middle sequence have undergone a qualitative change and are the core strength of the legion.

There are 6,400 ordinary extraordinary individuals, including 3,800 "assassins" and 2,300 "thieves".

Alsena leads the teams of "Readers", "Inference Students" and "Knowledge Keepers".

Ning Lu couldn't help but sigh as he thought about this.

Since the Battle of Durand, Ruth has turned his attention to Magnus, while Mortarian has remained more patient, keeping his sights on Magnus.

After Angron returned, he targeted us, Saint Gilles, and Chagatai Khan indiscriminately.

Tzeentch was also constantly monitoring and arranging for the Primarch he envisioned as the most perfect one; Magnus was truly a tragic figure.
As Ninglu sighed inwardly, Alsena continued his report.

"As you command, the First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Eighth, and Eleventh Warbands, assemble at Cariham Gate."

"I understand." Ning Lu nodded slightly, ending the meeting that was summarizing the current situation of the legion.

"Knight Lord, I have been waiting outside as you commanded."

Nimrod originally intended for Thierry Vieira to perform a sacrificial ritual, bestowing upon him the "Guardian" potion to advance him to Sequence 5.
Later, he estimated the timing: the prophecy dice would cool down exactly one and a half years after Thierry swore to protect them.

The world of conscription he had decided to divine this time would belong to the Eighth Warband, so he ordered them to assemble at Caligum Gate.

After the Primarch's servants took their leave, he arrived in the "Land of Chaos" and picked up the fully charged Prophecy Dice.

My legion owes its current success to Niu.

Now, it's time for the Ox again.
(End of this chapter)