The Emperor’s Angel of Death

Although this man, who called himself Techsal, showed great enthusiasm from the start, Soshyan was no longer the naive person who believed any "brother".

He raised his hand and pointed to his shoulder.

"Don't rush to call me commander, how do you prove your identity? You have no chapter badges, and no advance notice, just come straight here and say you are from the Toxic Thorns Chapter--"

"No longer."

The man who called himself Techsal coldly interrupted Soshyan.

"There are no more Toxic Thorns. That's just a disgrace, a lie woven by despicable schemers and cowards trying to cover up our glorious bloodline!"

Soshyan sighed softly and said:

"Okay, then how do you prove you are who you claim to be?"

Techsal took out a medal. Even from a hundred meters away, Soshyan could see that it was a Blade Medal, a medal that all participants in the Blade Feast could obtain. Then, Haomo took the medal and handed it to Soshyan.

Soshyan turned over the back and saw a name—

Techsal.

Soshyan thought for a while, then stood up, walked up to the other person, returned the medal to Techsal, and said:

"Do you mind shaking hands?"

"It's my honor, commander."

Of course, Soshyan's purpose was not to shake hands, but to sense the gray marrow within the other person's body.

The moment the two men shook hands, Soshyan felt the rolling will within the other person's body, waiting for instructions. It was indeed gray marrow, but it was different. There was something strange hidden inside, like a little bit of reef occasionally exposed on the surging sea, making it difficult to tell whether it was just an isolated rock or a huge island.

If he guessed correctly, this person's gray marrow was likely tampered with...

"Part of your gray marrow has deteriorated."

After letting go, Soshyan looked at his face.

"But it's better than the original White Templars warriors."

"So I can't give this gift of the legion to others."

"So, just you alone?"

"Yes."

Soshyan thought for a while, then suddenly chuckled and took two steps back.

"Who do you serve?"

Techsal's only remaining eye, or rather one flesh eye and one metal eye, stared at Soshyan.

"I used to serve the Empire, now I only serve the Legion."

"Don't say these meaningless words. Tell me the truth, who exactly are you serving? The Toxic Thorns Chapter was destroyed more than four hundred years ago. How did you survive to this day? And who transplanted the gray marrow to you? Don't say you did it yourself. I already know a lot. You didn't appear sooner or later, but you suddenly appeared when I came here. It's too much of a coincidence. Tell me, who exactly is behind you."

It wasn't that Soshyan was naturally suspicious, but that these warriors claiming to be from the Legion's bloodline appeared too suddenly and inexplicably, even more abruptly than when Sol and Sevitar appeared. He couldn't help but be suspicious, especially since he was already wary of the organization that was trying to control him.

If the other party was indeed arranged by Makado's organization, then regardless of whether they were from the Legion's bloodline, Soshyan would no longer accept them. At most, he would superficially receive them and then arrange for them to guard Naisen III's satellite, guarding it until the end of time. He didn't want any more sand to be mixed into the chapter.

If the other party turned hostile because of this, then so be it.

Techsal was silent for a moment, then shook his head.

"Commander, I don't understand what you mean, but I can understand your caution, because the Legion is still in the stage of accumulating strength. Those schemers and hypocrites are always vigilant about our resurgence. They are afraid that their sins will be settled, especially those kinslayers. They hide in the dark, afraid that the crimes they committed will be exposed again."

As he spoke, he raised his hand.

"I swear on my soul and bloodline that the only one I am loyal to is the Legion, and you, Commander."

"Okay, then answer a few questions for me."

"Please speak."

"According to historical records, Techsal was killed by Belisarius, the Chaplain of the Imperial Fists, but you now claim to be Techsal, why?"

When mentioning Belisarius's name, Soshyan could clearly feel the strangeness of the gray marrow power on Techsal's body. Even the eyes of his metal face turned dark green, and some symbol-like marks appeared near his cheeks and temples, and the surrounding temperature began to drop significantly.

"Calm down, Techsal, I'm asking you a question."

After Soshyan put his hand on his shoulder, the strangeness on Techsal's body gradually disappeared. Then he nodded and said:

"Sorry, I lost my composure. I may not be able to control the power of the sacred marrow in my body when I am emotionally agitated."

"Then can you answer now?"

"Belisarius was an insidious, ugly mongrel! It's imaginable what kind of dirty thugs the Imperial Fists are to choose such a person as their chaplain! Even if it's a fight to the death, he should be the one to die!"

What the other party said here was also a point that Soshyan was confused about, because Belisarius had lost to Techsal in the duel, so how could he have killed the other party afterwards?

"What happened?"

Techsal said with gritted teeth:

"After the duel, an attendant handed me a towel. I didn't think much about it and used it to wipe the sweat from my face and forehead. Then Belisarius began to rant and attack our chapter. He didn't know what happened on Sanatar at all! Why do we have that world? Because the people there helped us defeat the aliens, and it was the civilians in the hive cities who bled!"

As he spoke, the warrior squinted his eyes.

"...The nobles and governors had already taken ships and fled to neighboring star systems to take refuge. Despite being oppressed, those civilians still took up crude weapons to help us. It was their sacrifice that allowed us to turn the tide when we were in a difficult battle. At that time, we promised that we would not hand them over to the governors who only collect taxes and gather money! That was our oath! I went up to argue with him, but that insidious dog actually took out a weapon and attacked me directly. I immediately fought back and almost smashed his head, but soon I suddenly realized—"

"Discovered what?"

"...I was poisoned. According to my speculation afterwards, the only opportunity for me to be poisoned was the towel... The towel must have been contaminated with some kind of nerve toxin from the Assassinorum specifically targeting Astartes, which eventually caused a disorder in my nervous system. Belisarius took the opportunity to attack me and almost smashed my head."

As he spoke, Techsal patted the metalized part of his head.

"Right here."

After listening, Soshyan frowned. Using poison was too despicable, even by the standards of Chaos Space Marines.

Haomo, who was not far behind him, also whispered:

"I didn't expect the upright Imperial Fists to have such hypocritical things."

Soshyan did not comment, but asked:

"And then? Then you should have died at that time."

"Yes and no. Those yellow beasts underestimated the powerful vitality given to us by the great bloodline. Even with half of my skull shattered, I didn't really die. Of course, if no one helped, then I would definitely die."

"Who helped you?"

The name that came out of the other party's mouth shocked Soshyan.

"He claimed to be Li."

"Li!?"