Warhammer: Start with a dog.

Chapter 506: Reverse Tiangang...? But you are not alone
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"I remember……"

"I remember the battle in the void of Thessara."

The Primarch's voice seemed to have traveled through distant time, like a piece of light dust falling on a small island floating in the universe.

"I still remember the star rings that were torn apart by the weapons of war between us, between brothers, and between humans. Countless precious warships were hit casually, silently turning the souls on them into flashes of cosmic dust."

For the next few moments, Robouti Guilliman whispered to them those stories he remembered in his clear, melodious voice.

The Grasp of Strength and the Emperor's Pride were locked in combat.

The trap Fulgrim had set for him.

The trusting and loyal faces of one hundred of the finest warriors of the First and Second Companies of the Ultramarines.

Andros's advice and his untimely arrogance and lucky judgment.

The visions aboard the Pride of the Emperor were more foul and unholy than any dark and bloody vision he had ever seen concocted by the servants of Chaos.

The desecration of the Phoenix Gate and his choice to enter the halls of Heliopolis alone to face his fallen brother.

And the shock, disgust and sadness he felt at what he witnessed happening to his brother.

Perhaps there was no one else here who could hear him, or perhaps he thought this was just a vivid dream, the Primarch whispering and taking the listener back to the battle many years ago.

Fulgrim's invitation to betrayal and his firm refusal.

And he insisted on staying to fight Fulgrim.

He summoned his brood who were waiting outside the door, and Fulgrim sarcastically summoned his mutated children.

And he realized that letting his anger get the best of him would lead to his own failure.

Fulgrim's fury at the wound he had caused and the numbing sweet scent of corruption on the Lord of Slaanesh.

And how the venom from Fulgrim's blade worked through the wound from Kor Phaeron's dagger.

At this point, Guilliman subconsciously touched his throat. The skin on the wound that had never been truly healed was now smooth and flat. I wonder if the medical skills here have developed to this point, or if the pharmacist who calls himself Hongso is particularly skilled, or if... it's just because this is a dream, so unreasonable things will become reasonable?
The Thirteenth Primarch looked inquiringly at Hong Suo, who always had a businesslike face, and found that the other party was also looking at him with a professional's concern.

The other two, especially Grendel, listened in fascination, marveling at the Primarch's tale, while he swore quietly to himself that he would slay Fulgrim with his own hands.

Guilliman paused, then spoke of seeing his spawn die in order to save a few seconds of his own life.

He felt the poison burning through his blood, acknowledged his errors of judgement, and mourned for his dead offspring.

Hill - his second captain and one of his favorite sons - shouted in panic.

The descendants took off their helmets and crowded in front of him, revealing their grief-stricken faces.

His armor was roughly torn off, the pharmacist's last effort.

And then...

as well as……?
The three listeners saw that the Thirteenth Primarch had stopped speaking, his brows tightly knitted together, as if Guilliman was using all his willpower to remember something he should remember.

"My lord?" Grendel asked worriedly, "You may feel a little uncomfortable after just waking up. Why don't you rest for a while before..."

“No…” Guilliman closed his eyes tightly and held his forehead. “I called my father…”

Traitors and turncoats exchanged nervous glances.

"Father... yes... and... and then... Uthermar... Atla...? Dorn...?"

The name whispered by Roboute Guilliman sounded normal to Grendel, except that Dorn made the Iron Warrior frown.

But to the other two, that name was like a bolt from the blue.

When Hong Suo, who was frantically calculating to find a way out of the situation, heard this name, a warm current of emotion surged from the bottom of his heart: Father, praise you! The supreme power of the galaxy! The most merciful father, the greatest Lord of Steel, your blessing is still protecting your favorite offspring today!
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Hong Suo raised his combat-booted foot and stepped forward under the gaze of the three people in the room.

—

Although there was a glimmer of hope, he only had a split second to gather his thoughts. The Thirteenth Primarch lowered his eyes, and perhaps in the next second he would raise his head and stare at him questioningly.

But Hong Suo took a deep breath. Before half of this moment had passed, he had already done some calculations in his mind involving the next three hundred steps. He even had time to reflect on himself:
First, the first mistake. He took it for granted that if he could be knocked out by Fulgrim's poison, he could be calmed down by drugs, but he didn't expect the Primarch's physique to be so outrageous.

In addition to completing the treatment as much as possible according to the instructions and injecting the bottle of medicine he brought from the Iron Blood, he actually injected Robert Guilliman with the strongest sedative he could find - and used a dose that would make the Ultramarines or any loyal 40K pharmacist scream in death when they saw it.

However, Robouti Guilliman still woke up so simply, without showing any signs of being anesthetized. Perhaps Honso had underestimated both the Primarch's constitution and the strength of the poison that could kill him. The consequences of these two conceited miscalculations were both fatal, and he made note of them first.

Secondly, although it was right to avoid further complications, he should not have performed emergency surgery on the spot on the Indomitable.

- Imagine if Guilliman was rescued on some deserted asteroid, at the very least, as long as he could be transported away in time and left alone on the ground, it was not certain that he would be able to grow wings and fly into the sky, or suddenly learn teleportation, or make a spaceship out of a pile of stones to chase him? Just leaving him alone on the desolate surface would be enough to trap him for a long time.

This Primarch, who was not famous for his psychic abilities, was not the super psychic mentor that Hong Suo knew - even that super psychic did not have the hobby of flying in the universe in his physical body, so he had to find some kind of gate or formation to cross the sea of ​​stars!
Now, if the Thirteenth Primarch did not believe his enticement in the end... Hong Suo was not very sure whether the rest of his men, especially the mortals, could all stand up to the Primarch's charm.

Although theoretically even the Primarch cannot operate such a large star fortress alone, if he just intends to send out a distress signal... In the end, this is a problem of the Inflexible itself!

As luck would have it, Honsou had previously chained Hestia of the 5th Company of the Ultramarines as wetware to serve as half a controlling machine soul on the main Cogitator array of the Star Fortress in order to make the surprise attack a success. There was no doubt that if Guilliman discovered this and could wake up Hestia, the loyal technical sergeant would definitely do his utmost to bring his genetic father back.

Plus the demon engine M'ka that was humming and humming in the core of the engine room... who would believe him if he said that it was Calga who put that guy in there? !
...The only good news was probably that in order to break into Macragge as quickly as possible, he dismissed most of the obviously bad fleet members in advance, and let Atasiya take them back to the Maelstrom first.

——But now it’s different! Robert Guilliman just said the word Uther Ma’atla! In other words, Ma’atla’s joke before was true, “Julius’s psychic power is so strong and pure that even a guy like Guilliman who can’t understand psychic skills can be pulled over in the sea of ​​souls to possess him.”

—Praise you! Praise the Father! Praise you with all my heart! Great Lord! King of the Stars! God of Black and White!

Then the next step is like this...

-

With his mind racing, Honsou immediately decided that if Guilliman showed any suspicion during the conversation he was about to have with the Primarch, he would threaten him with the lives of Hestiaan and the others. The power armor given to him by his father could not be broken in an instant! Because Guilliman's attack power was stamped by Maatra and the others as "not particularly outstanding among the Primarchs", he thought.

Besides, Robert Guilliman was still unarmed at the moment, so in this case…with the time before the shield was broken, plus there were dozens of life-support tanks, no matter how powerful Guilliman was, he couldn't save all his offspring in an instant! As long as he still cared about the lives of his offspring as much as he just missed, then it should be no problem for Hong Suo to finish his threat and save his own life.

Very good, very good, so now we have measures to save our lives, Hong Suo, you are awesome, this is half the battle! Think about something else, think about something else, stay calm, you can do it, think carefully about the books and materials your little apprentice brought back and the gossip that the other masters talked about during the tea, what can be used!

Yes, yes, this!

All the above thinking was completed in a moment shorter than a breath.

His feet landed on the ground, and his eyes met Guilliman's confused, inquiring eyes.

Honso spoke.

"I think you have also discovered that this is not the time and space you are in..."

The Thirteenth Primarch's face showed a mixture of relief and complicated expressions, including "as expected", "a bit regretful", and "what else is there this time".

"Tell me, then, Honso. Tell me all about it. First, what time is it now, and to what side are you? Loyal to my father, loyal to the Empire, or to my brother who has fallen to the hands of the devil? But I hear you call yourself Perturabo's personal apothecary, so I'm afraid that's not what I knew before I fell asleep."

"That's right. Let me sort out my thoughts and explain them to you."

Guilliman nodded, and Honsou immediately ordered Grendel to guard the door outside while returning to his post operating the star fortress. Vannus was responsible for finding some weapons for self-defense and other useful clothing for the Primarch - such meticulousness and thoughtfulness fell into the eyes of the Thirteenth Primarch, and he nodded secretly.

It seemed Honsou had not been lying when he had said he was one of a Primarch's personal attendants, for few Astartes would think of such thoughtful acts so naturally.

Hong Suo apologized to him for a moment, and his ten fingers were typing on several input devices quickly, as if he was hurriedly entering data and making corrections.

After a while.

Vannas brought a gorgeous new cloak and a matching jeweled leather belt, which must have been purchased by a planetary governor. However, the cloak's ceremonial train was too large and too long, so it fit perfectly over the Primarch's shoulders as a simple yet gorgeous outer robe. The Raven Guard also brought a power sword used by Space Marines, which in the Primarch's hands was just like a short sword for self-defense.

Guilliman nodded, thanked the warrior whose ancestry he could not determine for the time being but who might be the descendant of Krakus, hung the dagger on his belt, and continued to talk with Honsou.

"So what you mean is that, since I was seriously injured and could not be awakened by normal means, you, my fourth brother, Perturabo, together with the kind soul fragment of Magnus, invented a way to enable my consciousness to be activated in the 'dream' formed by the receiver's consciousness in various overlapping points of time and space, so as to communicate?"

"That's right, sir." The master of medicine said in a serious tone, "But because this technology is derived from the subtle and precise soul and witchcraft skills, it is very difficult to control. Therefore, we cannot be sure of the specific time and space in which you appeared, and the current time... is also difficult to determine. We can only roughly know that you may have been stuck in the position... for about nine thousand years." He added, "As we speak, your body is still in the same place, but you can now control your body according to our thoughts. This is also a good way to activate the brain."

The Thirteenth Primarch nodded when he heard this. Putting aside the witchcraft mentioned above, the treatment method of keeping the brain active still sounds very logical.

"Witchcraft... Oh, I still remember Nikaea. Did my father and the empire later openly allow the use and even development of witchcraft? It seems that the world now is indeed very different from what I know. Why can't you determine the time? Can you still travel in the starry sea and promote mortal children to be our descendants, but can't determine such simple and basic things as the year, month and day you are in?"

“Alas.” A shadow of sadness appropriately shrouded Honsou’s brows, causing Guilliman to frown slightly. “You… perhaps, you would like to see the rough picture of the current situation of various parts of the Empire that I have drawn for you on my data pad?”

"Let me see." With an extremely ominous premonition, the thirteenth Primarch, who had just entered this new so-called 'overlapping dream of time and space' from nine thousand years ago, stretched out his hand to him.

"I beg you," the Master Apothecary said in a heavy and cautious tone as he handed the data pad to the Primarch, "I beg you not to break or crush it before you finish reading it."

It didn't take long for Roboute Guilliman to understand what Honsou meant.

Guilliman was shocked and even appalled by the dire state of the Imperium and the miserable conditions in which people lived.

He originally thought that since Hong Suo and his companions were still here to treat him, and brought him the news that his two brothers were still trying to find a way to treat him, combined with his previous experience in the dream, perhaps the situation would gradually get better.

But what is it?
He could find no honest account of the great rebellion or even of his last battle.

All the truth has been buried deep in time and incomprehensible rhetoric. Hong Suo was right. How can we draw any real and reliable conclusions from such a variety of opinions in which each side accuses the other of heresy and adds contradictory records that are favorable to itself?
Darkness, chaos, slavery, endless battles, different enemies, a life filled with despair every day, fanaticism, religion, the God-Emperor... He almost laughed out loud, what is this?! The Primarch's round fingernails scratched the datapad, making it creak. It was the Master of Alchemy who reminded him to hold back and continue reading.

...Such disgusting works as Cherubim and Servo Skulls are actually regarded as holy and glorious! They are openly used in superstitious worship ceremonies that do not know what they are!
...Superstition! It's all superstition! His father can no longer speak, and the truth of the empire has long been unknown. Only his fourth brother has regained some of his brother's fragments and his own control from Chaos after receiving revelation. Now, the people gathered by Perturabo who still remember the original ideals are now fleeing from the pursuit of the empire... It's really against the will of heaven!

Roboute Guilliman's eyes were dazed, and he saw only an incomparably huge, rotting husk, not dead, but inevitably sliding towards death.

Like the setting sun.

"..."

"What did you say, my Lord?"

"I say, how wonderful it is," the Thirteenth Primarch said heartily, turning to Honsou, who was looking at him intently and concernedly. "In these dark, desperate times, I still have my brother, your father. Even if he is Perturabo... I am not alone. How wonderful it is."

(End of this chapter)