How can a retired savior be considered retired if he drops to 40,000?

So at the moment, Sevatar's appearance can't be said to be good. Knowing that this is not a big deal, Fujimaru Ritsuka laughed unceremoniously while hugging his pillow.

If it were a situation where "only one of us is around", the Captain of the First Company of the Night Lords would not have much opinion on this matter. But when the two people standing next to him, one is Akultona who pretends to be indifferent, and the other is Sigismund, it is a different story.

Taking advantage of the few seconds when Fujimaru Ritsuka was laughing, Sevatar took advantage of the fact that the two people around him were not paying attention to him, and quickly pulled off the helmet of the first Grand Marshal of the Black Templar.

Sigismund's current appearance was not good-looking: to be more specific, three hours ago, Sevatar had successfully "put some eye drops" on the other party with a clear revengeful mentality. Now, Sigismund had to glare at him with a dark blue eye.

Sevatar did this with the idea of ​​equality that "since I'm being laughed at, you shouldn't be left alone", but unfortunately, the shocked Fujimaru Ritsuka didn't focus on this first: "Sigismund, why are you bald? Is there such a side effect of being the Emperor's Champion?"

——In her memory, Sigismund of the Eighth Legion had thick golden hair under his helmet. So the same should be true for the Black Templar Grand Marshal.

...It's not impossible. The instigator thought so.

This time it was Sevatar, whose hair was still thick, who started to laugh loudly.

Sigismund snatched back his helmet and buckled it back onto his power armor. When he spoke again, his tone was calm, and there was no special emotion in his voice: "I believe you didn't call us here just to laugh at us like this."

Sevatar wanted to continue, but Fujimaru Ritsuka, who was hugging the pillow, freed one hand first and raised the tablet: "Indeed."

Her gesture indicated that she was going to check the contents on the screen, but her eyes were still fixed on the three people in front of her - more precisely, on Sevatar and Sigismund: "My first suggestion is that both of you go to Asclepius for a checkup immediately, and then spend two or three weeks resting. Whether it is a problem with the human body or the spiritual foundation, it is not a trivial matter. I hope you will be more cautious with yourselves - do you understand what I mean?"

Sigismund nodded: "Thank you for your concern."

This was an understandable reaction, but Sevatar shook his head after hearing this: "What she meant was 'You two are not allowed to fight casually,' you stupid fool."

"It doesn't matter. It's enough for Sigismund to understand that I care about him." While Sigismund turned a deaf ear to this, Fujimaru Ritsuka pointed at Sevata mercilessly, "The rest of the implication is mainly for you."

Sevatar immediately pretended to be wronged and shut up, while Fujimaru Ritsuka had already set his eyes on the tablet: "If you really can't stay idle, instead of dragging your injured bodies to fight, why don't you help me, a temporarily disabled person, to handle some tasks that don't require much force."

"Look at what you said." Sevatar's tone was hard to tell whether it was comforting or sarcastic. "We have all read the report. You just need to rest for a while."

Fujimaru Ritsuka also pretended not to hear this: "My current to-do list includes the following: meet with Mr. Robert and talk to him; meet with Conrad and talk to him; it is very likely that I will need to hold a séance ceremony and talk to the Emperor himself; go to the airport to check on the current condition and cleanup progress of the Emperor's Vision; the Storm's Edge should also be overhauled; for the Dark Angels on the Lion's Mane... well, they must have done things like counting the battle damage themselves, but I also have to consider what supplies I should give them, and then ask them what they think about the future; then I have to find a way to listen to what the Apostle of War said when he preached on Parmenio. I don't think it's very reliable to leave the guidance of public opinion in this regard to the state religion. If necessary, I may have to discuss with Mr. Robert to give a speech; and - I have to find teachers for Caelia, all kinds of teachers, teachers of martial arts, psychic powers, knowledge, and many other things..."

Saying so many words in one breath was a bit too much for her current physical condition. Fujimaru Ritsuka let out a long sigh, put down the tablet and raised his eyes again, and immediately met Sevata's disapproving gaze.

"You have to understand, young lady." The Midnight Lords' captain's blue and purple face showed a shockingly sincere expression: "Of all the people in this room right now, you are the one who should rest and recuperate the most."

Understanding the other party's hidden meaning, Fujimaru Ritsuka gave him a dissatisfied look: "Then why don't you do these jobs for me!"

Sevatar immediately changed his tone: "I will try to make indirect inroads to facilitate a desired conversation between you and my Gene Father."

“I disagree,” Sigismund said. “I agree that these things need to be addressed, but many of them are not urgent or necessary. You can think about them after the treatment.”

"The current situation may still get worse. I must especially emphasize the part related to Conrad. You know, his mental state has never been very stable." Fujimaru Ritsuka sighed. "I don't really want to be the Primarch's psychiatrist, but... other things can be put aside to some extent. At least, you have to let me confirm his condition."

Sigismund still seemed reluctant, but he finally took a step back: "I will consult your attending physician about this matter. Even if you insist on doing something, you must pay attention to your physical condition. As for the other issues you just mentioned, we will consider gradually advancing them in the future."

He cunningly did not mention a specific deadline - for the descendants of Dorne, this was a rare "sly move". However, when facing the Night Lords, Fujimaru Ritsuka, who was experienced in filling similar loopholes, unexpectedly did not say anything about it. He just nodded randomly, then hid behind the pillow in his arms and yawned secretly.

She might want to continue, but seeing this, Sevatar decided not to let her continue. He naturally put his helmet back on: "Well, excuse us and start to 'push forward' the next work."

Fujimaru Ritsuka, who was starting to lose energy, nodded randomly again, and added one sentence to Sevatar: "Don't mess around, this is related to your gene father, you have to do your job well!" before letting them go. Akurdona, who listened to the whole thing out of boredom, wanted to slip away with them, but before he turned around and was about to leave, fate grabbed his neck again:

"I suddenly remembered, Akurdona, we haven't discussed the issue of 'why are you here' yet." Fujimaru Ritsuka, who was beginning to not bother about his image, wrapped himself in the blanket again, trying to turn himself into a ball, "You haven't told me why the elder Rilano forced you to run away during this ceremony."

"Oh, this matter. Actually, it's not a big deal." Akuldona stopped and said, "As you know, the ritual elder has been a little crazy since he came back. My fellow brothers have also been trying to track down the traces of our gene father from the subspace. The ritual elder seemed to have discovered some unusual movements before..."

Sevatar and Sigismund left the voices behind, one sneaking and the other using the ability of spiritualization, leaving the interior of the Taros Cathedral unnoticed. Under the flying buttress corridor near the atrium, the two reunited in a secluded place, and it was Sevatar who spoke first: "Let's discuss the next plan?"

Sigismund turned back indifferently and asked: "What are your plans?"

With the strong support of the Mechanicus, Parmenio's ecology recovered quickly. In the courtyard that had become withered and decayed due to the pollution of the evil god, the green grass that had been sown again had sprouted new shoots in just two days, and the purified air was fresh and natural. The sound of insects in the silence may take some time to return to its original state, but some local birds that were reshaped based on genetic reconstruction technology have already appeared in the sky.

The two people who were talking therefore did not realize that there was something wrong with the raven that was grooming itself while perched on the edge above the buttress.

Miu (no more)

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 136: The Second Captain and the Second Captain Repel Each Other

Not to mention the messages that the children of the cursed emperor read from the waves of the warp, which may happen but have not yet happened. Compared with these illusory things, it is better to talk about some more practical issues, such as -

Cato Sicarius hasn't been very happy lately.

To be exact, the past three days since the end of the war in northern Tyros have not been very happy.

The matter originated from the fact that he did not gain much in this battle... No, that was not the point. Logically speaking, he should not have any opinion on his job itself. No Space Marine should have any opinion on his job itself. If you trace it back to the source, he did not have any opinion on his job itself - the part he had an opinion on was the colleague who was currently carrying out the mission with him.

Ionid Hill was an Ultramarines during the Great Crusade ten thousand years ago. He was the first Second Captain of the Legion after it was reorganized into a Chapter, and also the first "Lord of the Watch".

In short, he didn't like him very much. Even though the Primarch had introduced them to the history that "In the Ultramarines, the tradition of 'painting helmets red' originally represented shame and punishment, but the wisdom and bravery of Hill the Red Helmet turned this act into a symbol of honor", the same was true.

He felt that this idea was actually common among his colleagues. If we were to explain it in detail, there were many reasons: first of all, his form of existence was not right - although the Cursed Army that appeared out of thin air on the battlefield did solve the urgent problem; although the think tank director Digris could prove that the relevant rituals took place entirely in the Tyros Cathedral, without any elements of chaos, blasphemy or disloyalty; although the Emperor's Dream had a list of all the "legal witchcraft" that the Chaldean Bureau could perform, and this summoning ritual was listed; but it could not change the fact that their existence itself was... "not very scientific".

In some ignorant and uncivilized areas, people may believe that when their hometown is in danger, the deceased heroes and warriors in history will return from the mist of death as guardian spirits to help them protect their hometown. This is a kind of barbaric ancestor worship or ancestor belief, and any Ultramarines should be able to say this with confidence, until reality hits them all in the face.

The Ecclesiarchy was very happy, and they thought it was a proof that "the Emperor sent warriors to help his son". However, in comparison, it was obviously that "the Emperor personally appeared to capture the demon primarch" that made them more excited... I digress.

Not to mention how much trouble the state religion had caused the Imperial Regent in just two days, back to Ionid Hill - also a sorcery product based on the souls of the dead, the other Cursed Ultramarines were well aware of the fact that they were not part of the current organization of the chapter. They only requested a small area as a temporary base, and set up camp obediently under the coordination of the first chapter master Marius Gage.

According to them, after the waves of the warp caused by the Emperor's arrival slowly subside, they will naturally leave and return to where they should be. They can only stay in the real world for seven to thirteen days, and cannot do work that is very dependent on continuity, but they welcome contemporary Ultramarines and members of the successor chapters to come and communicate in their spare time. In addition to some tasks assigned to them by the Primarch, they are also very conscious not to interfere with the current operation of the chapter. The only unplanned behavior these people have done is to try to prepare a banquet with the participation of the Primarch before one of them has to leave.

——But Ionid Hill is not like the others!

Since he appeared on the battlefield, he has been sticking to the Primarch. He did find a way to stop the Primarch from going to the next battlefield in person; he did tell Sicarius that he had proposed some theoretical templates for similar situations that seemed to be effective but needed to be verified in practice; he did use one or two of them to successfully persuade the Primarch not to go too close to the front line, and not to meet directly with Konrad Curze, who was obviously mentally unstable.

——But this does not mean that, as a dead person who is not in the current organization, it is right for him to so carelessly squeeze into the Primarch's guard, constantly swaying around the Primarch in front of him with a red helmet, and casually pointing fingers at the decisions made by the Primarch from time to time!

The most annoying thing is that the Primarch acquiesced to all this and apparently liked him very much! He even made time to chat with him!

Although he had to admit that the first Lord of the Watch played a positive role in protecting the Primarch, and that he was even helping him by trying to turn these proven or unproven theoretical models into a guide book without the Primarch's knowledge, Cato Lemon Sicarius still did not like Ionid Hill.

And he was sure the latter was aware of this, because Hill asked him very bluntly: "You seem to have some problem with me, brother?"

Shocked, Sicarius turned his head at an unnecessary speed and looked at the person who spoke. At this moment, Ionid Hill was not wearing his iconic red helmet, but his scarred face was exposed, so Sicarius realized another fact that he didn't like very much: he and the other person were very similar.

It's not about the similarity in facial features or looks, although they both have almost the same short blond hair and azure sclera, but something deeper, more difficult to explain, more sensitive...

After a brief consideration, Sicarius decided to be honest with himself and others: "Yes. I don't like you very much. But I think I am not so unprofessional as to let my emotions affect my work?"

"Of course you didn't." Hill said briskly, "I'm just a little curious about it. I know that I've never been a particularly likable person in the legion, but I don't think I've done anything annoying in the few days we've known each other, right?"

Sicarius adjusted his gaze to make his expression more appropriately express the feeling of "anger": "Don't you?"

"...Do I have it?"

Hill was obviously stumped by this rhetorical question. After a moment of shock, he showed a thoughtful expression, thinking for more than a second, and then spoke again: "I am very sure that what I did in the past two days is no different from what I did when I was alive?"

The word "while alive" reminded Sicarius again that the "thing" that he was facing, which looked like an Ultramarines, was essentially a monster from the Warp. This thought that resurfaced made him shrink for a moment, and then he turned to spit on his unsteady and weak self, suppressed all thoughts that were not related to the topic, and continued to glare at Hill:

"No?" He repeated this half sentence, but the meaning it expressed was completely different from the previous time. "Have you ever done things so unbecomingly in the past?"

Sicarius can guarantee that among the Primarch Guards who have seen the entire process in the past few days, more than 80% of them, just talking about the Ultramarines, will hold the same opinion as him. But when Ionid Hill faced this accusation, he just unconsciously tilted his head in confusion:

"What are you talking about, brother?"

Obviously, he was completely unaware of the problem and took all his inappropriate actions for granted.

This made Sicarius even angrier.

Meow (six o'clock)

As I was writing this chapter, I felt like I was writing an ancient romance novel, "Wan Wan is like you, what should I do if Bai Yueguang comes back to life and her substitute does, today Rong Mama is going to teach you a lesson..." That kind of feeling (covering face).

I also like to write that kind of thing, but I also think it shouldn't appear in this world view... Sicarius, do you have any ideas?

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 137: The Primarch does not eat people. I think you are all too nervous.

“You clearly lack the necessary respect for Lord Guilliman,” Sicarius pointed out bluntly.

Considering that this person can only stay in reality for another four to nine days, Sicarius felt that he should pay more attention to the efficiency of communication - meaning that he didn't need to be so tactful: "You are too casual in front of the Primarch. Many times, if we only pay attention to the tone and wording of your speech, we would even think that you are talking to an officer of the same rank."

"I think you are too serious." Hill began to pick on Sicarius and his contemporary colleagues. "You didn't even dare to look the primarch in the eye when you spoke to him. Is our gene father a terrible monster?"

Sicarius was furious: "Because he is the noble Primarch! The genetic father of all of us! In front of Master Guilliman, we should all be humble!"

"I agree with you, Brother Sicarius, but -" Hill shifted his center of gravity slightly, reducing the aggressiveness of his posture, indicating that he had no intention of conflicting with the other party, " - I think we should have some cognitive differences on the degree of 'maintaining humility'."

"It seems that we have found the core of the problem." Because the other party first made some concessions through body language, Sicarius's anger began to slowly subside. "There is no doubt that you are obviously too careless on this point."

"I do have a different opinion: when talking to me, the Primarch was obviously more relaxed." Hill moved back about three or four centimeters to avoid Sicarius's rage. "I'm not showing off. I'm just stating a provable objective fact: the Primarch prefers to talk to others on an equal footing, rather than being placed on a high position that he doesn't want at all, looking down on his gene-sons."

"…What are you implying with this?"

"I'm not hinting at anything. I'm just stating the facts I know. During the Great Crusade, a more enlightened era, all Ultramarines got along with their Primarchs in this way," Hill responded calmly. "We looked the Primarch in the eye during our conversations. We talked about strategy and politics, as well as climate and diet. We would carry out the orders issued by the Primarch and also tell jokes with him. I lived that kind of life and was left behind in that era. In my opinion, you have really deified the Primarch."

"But times have changed." Sicarius pointed out clearly, "Perhaps you were born in that era, but you have to realize that ten thousand years have passed. New times should have new codes of conduct."

"No one can resist the power of time. I admit that times have changed," Hill replied, "but don't forget that the Primarch once lived in that era. Perhaps he would also expect some echoes from the past."

Sicarius admitted that this view was very likely correct: Robouti Guilliman did not spend these ten thousand years normally, but was frozen in a stasis field. As the spiritual pillar of the Ultramarines, all the Chapters, and even the entire Ultramar sector, he was in the form of an idol between life and death, letting time pass by him unconsciously.

No one knew whether he was confused about the current situation when he just woke up, even those who were closest to him. As a primarch who was good at politics, Guilliman successfully hid everything under the perfect expression management and carefully planned words, and almost no one could see his true thoughts under the mask.

After initially getting familiar with the environment of this era, he also tried to show a little of his sincerity to the descendants of this era. Sicarius knew this because Guilliman had also tried to joke with him - to be honest, he didn't react at all at the time, some inherent thoughts rooted in his mind made him refuse to admit the fact that "the Primarch was just joking", and tried to dig out more unfinished words from that meaningless chat... He was absolutely stupid at the time.

Hill's words and Sicarius' own past experience had convinced him, but he did not want to admit that he was convinced: "You are just showing off." He accused, "You are showing off that you once had a close relationship with the Primarch, but this does not mean that your theory on this issue is correct."

"I'm not - at least I don't have any subjective intention to show off, brother." Hill finally showed a bit of displeasure on his face, "And I don't guarantee that everything I said is correct. I just proposed a theoretical model waiting to be verified in practice!"

"But in my opinion, you are just making excuses for all your presumptuous and inappropriate behavior." Inexplicably, at this moment, the very unhappy Sicarius completely forgot the fact that he was still on duty. The annoying guy who was ambitious and talkative in his early years came back to life at this moment. "If everything that happened in the past is really as you claimed, then why is your name not recorded in the chapter records? The first second captain?"

Hill also frowned unhappily:

"I guess the relationship between you and your colleagues must be quite tense." He adjusted his posture again - this time, he hoped to look more aggressive. After all, a conflict was obviously inevitable. "To be honest, I am also curious about the martial arts skills of the current Second Company Captain."

"And you will decide to meet in the duel cage when you have some free time, right?" another voice asked from above their heads. "Well, then I won't give you that chance."

The two incompetent guards who were busy arguing turned around at the same time - the towering door had been opened, and some mortal officials and celebrities who were summoned left in a hurry, watching their noses and hearts. Guilliman himself, who was not wearing the armor of destiny but a luxurious dress, remained in the room, folding his arms and looking at them with a little dissatisfaction. The wound left in the battle of Thessara still existed on the neck of the Primarch, and the scarlet and ugly thin line always reminded others of Guilliman's title of "The Resurrector".

Sicarius immediately took a step back, knelt on one knee, and put on a standard "confession" attitude, but Hill - he only showed a little bit of "I did something wrong" guilty expression in the first moment, and then he pointed to the side with confidence: "He started it first!"

Guilliman almost laughed out loud at this childish behavior, but fortunately, he managed to hold it back. To others, the Primarch just maintained a dissatisfied expression and raised his eyebrows slightly: "I think Sicarius is right, Ionid. Compared to ten thousand years ago, you have indeed become a little disrespectful recently."

Because of this, Hill immediately wilted like an eggplant hit by frost. During this gap, Guilliman asked Sicarius to summon the officials who needed to attend the next round of meetings for him, so that he could take advantage of the gap between the two meetings to "have a good talk with Ionide about this issue."

Any servitor could do this job, so everyone could see that Guilliman was just looking for a reason to get Sicarius away so he could talk to Hill alone. But this was the direct order of the Primarch after all, and even though he was reluctant, Sicarius still left, looking back every few steps. When his figure disappeared at the end of the corridor, Hill, who had originally looked listless, immediately recovered and reported in a businesslike manner:

"I think they all grew up with that kind of education, Primarch." Ionid Hill made his assessment. "In the past ten thousand years, you have been too close to them and too far away from them. Some ideas are deeply rooted in their minds. It is likely that one or two examples cannot correct them in just a week."

“…I understand.” Guilliman, who had hinted to Hill before that he was trying to influence the “more pious” sons of this era with his more casual attitude, was a little sad. “I just thought… change must start somewhere.”

"If I can do it, I'd love to be 'the beginning of a change' again." Hill's eyes began to wander, "But I still have a question that I'm not sure if it's appropriate..."

"There are only two of us here, just ask."

"...Was I as irritating as he was before?" Hill raised his chin in the direction where Sicarius disappeared, "I think my popularity must be better than his!"

Guilliman did not try to control his expression again, but let himself laugh. But he did not choose to answer the question directly, but asked: "Why do you think so?"

"Gene seed," Hill said. "After being completely transformed into a warp creature, I feel that if the gene seed used by Cato Sicarius during the transformation can be traced back to the source, it will eventually be traced back to me."

Although Hill's words were gentle and objective, they reminded Guilliman once again that even if they were talking to each other as usual, it was just a short dream. The smile faded a little from the Primarch's face, which had become older than ten thousand years ago. His calm tone revealed a little nostalgia: "No wonder I think he looks a bit like you."

"It's hard to say. I don't think I'm as annoying as he is." Hill was a little upset. "What do you mean by 'why your name is not recorded in the chapter records'? Isn't it normal for historical records to be missing or lost after ten thousand years?"

Guilliman fell silent.

He wanted to ask some questions, such as what Hill experienced after he entered the stasis field. He wanted to know what kind of life his beloved son had spent in a place he didn't see, and why he had to leave this world and bid farewell to this burning galaxy. He wanted to know whether Hill was satisfied with his life, and whether he had any regrets when he died - but he didn't dare to ask.

He had tried to look for these traces after waking up, but as Hill himself said, it was normal for historical records to be lost and lost after ten thousand years. He did not find any records about Hill's life, only his name, which had been blurred by time, on an inconspicuous monument.

Guilliman knew very well that what he was experiencing now was a short dream that lasted about a week. Even though Hill in front of him behaved just as he did in life, and the Psionic Council recognized the stability of the Cursed Army after research, he was still not sure whether he should bring up this topic. This was not only because he was not sure whether Hill was willing to reveal those experiences to him, but also for some other, more... ridiculous reasons.

Guilliman has always believed in science. In the past, he only thought that all superstitious traditions came from people's imagination of the unknown. He would read and learn them, but this was just a necessary knowledge reserve for ruling the local people. However, when he faced his dead son, the legends about the souls of the dead would linger in his mind uncontrollably - things like "the resurrection of the dead" had already happened before his eyes, and he began to not dare to confirm that these were definitely not true.

These thoughts swirled in his mind for only a microsecond before the Primarch calmly changed the subject: "Why not try again to remind them that the Codex Astartes also has a copy of yours. After realizing that 'excellent new tactics will be added to the Codex', perhaps they will learn to let go of that long-outdated reference book."

“…I’m not sure.” To Guilliman’s surprise, Hill hesitated at this point. “Although I also think it’s foolish for them to ignore the changes in the environment and just cling to the Bible, sir. But…”

His eyes evaded for a while, and he finally spoke: "To a certain extent, I can understand them. During the days when you were absent, the Holy Scripture might be their only way to 'talk' to you."

Guilliman was silent again, this time longer than ever, until Sicarius dawdled back to his post.

The Primarch had to admit that, just like ten thousand years ago, Hill had once again raised an angle that he had not considered. But this was not a happy thing.

Miu (no more)