Warhammer: In the Name of Nirvana

"Conrad, you're here."

Midnight Ghost was signing the last few documents when Luther found him.

I saw that the Nostramo skillfully drew out the key points that were not easy to detect, filling in the names of himself and countless institutions. Under the slender black pen tip, there were groups of gorgeous Gothic cursive characters. , forming a name belonging to the Primarch.

Although he was only doing desk work, Midnight Ghost was still fully armed. His dark blue armor with lightning patterns and text was created by the craftsmen of the Terra Palace, making him look like a four- to five-meter-tall, invincible warrior. Night giant.

And when the dark night giant was curled up on the exquisite office chair, concentrating on writing at his desk, the strange contradiction brought about by the scene itself even made Luther stunned for a moment, and his brows jumped involuntarily.

"There you are, Mr. Luther."

The Midnight Ghost turned his head, revealing his haggard, pale and terrifying face from the waterfall of long hair scattered on the table. His thin lips tried hard to squeeze out a smile, which made people clearly feel some kind of respect.

On his left hand side, there are three majestic towers listed, all made of documents that have been approved, and the Midnight Ghost himself is solving the last few pictures under his hand at an extremely fast speed, and Complete the final capping of these towers.

Caliban nodded. In response to Conrad's words, he sat down opposite the Midnight Ghost. After pouring himself a glass of water, he also paid attention to the documents and maps in front of him. .

"Has the dispute been resolved?"

Conrad lowered his head again, focusing on the neatly arranged numbers and horizontal lines. Although his eyes did not continue to pay attention to Luther, who was sitting opposite him, his inquiry accurately came to Knight Caliban. Beside the ear.

Luther's brows jumped, and he responded quickly to this question.

"It's been resolved: It's not a big problem. It's just that several fleet commanders have slightly different opinions on the next march planning and material supplies. I have already reconciled all these issues."

Knight Caliban's tone was solemn. He glanced at Conrad quietly, observing every move of the Primarch: As a trusted confidant of Jonson and Morgan, Luther had learned from the two legion masters early in the morning. There, I learned a lot about Conrad.

Especially the Primarch of the Dark Angel Legion, after learning that Luther would be working with the Midnight Ghost, he deliberately informed his adoptive father about the Nostramo people through a Dark Angel who had a good relationship with Luther. crazy.

All this inevitably made Luther a little nervous. Although after getting along with each other for real, the Calibans found that the Midnight Ghost did not seem to be as crazy and disorderly as the legend said: most of the time, Conrad was just a silent person. There are some questionable characters, and although his words are sharp, they are not unacceptable.

Luther was even a little confused, why was Johnson so afraid of this blood relative?

And only in the [workplace] where Conrad acted together, the Calibans could barely capture the answer to this question:

At the beginning, in order to allow Luther, who had no foundation in the rearguard fleet, to quickly gain a foothold, the Spider Queen sent the Midnight Ghost to Luther's side as a deterrent, and staged a red-faced and white-faced drama with the Calibans.

It has to be said that this kind of deterrence is indeed very effective: with the help of Konrad, the Primarch, Luther easily surrendered the mixed high-ranking officials in the rearguard fleet, even the most stubborn guys, only The Nostramos who need to stand behind Luther will show a kind smile and will obediently begin to obey Luther's orders.

But such success did not make Caliban Knight overly optimistic: As a veteran who has spent his life on the edge of a knife, Luther can swear to heaven that when the midnight ghost smiled at those fleet officers, here The original body of the gene is indeed filled with a terrifying murderous intention that can be called crazy.

That kind of killing intention is not out of malice, but out of a more frightening habit, a deformed concept that regards killing as truth and as a matter of course.

In Conrad, Luther clearly felt this concept.

For a moment, Luther even suspected that Conrad would go on a killing spree in the council chamber: in fact, the Nostramo seemed to be just about to do so, but just as his claws shook At that time, the Primarch was suddenly restrained by some invisible iron chain. The word "kill" seemed to touch some hints in his mind, which greatly frustrated the Midnight Ghost. Interested, which made him quite irritable but quite submissive, he gave up those impromptu killing plans.

Luther didn't know what caused this change, but the real killing intent at that moment was enough to wake him up. From then on, the Calibans rarely brought the midnight ghost to meet the fleet commanders, and even rarely Never mention anyone to Conrad.

He wasn't sure whether the Primarch in front of him noticed his little movements: or was it that Konrad didn't care at all?

Thinking of this, Caliban's knight couldn't help but glance at the Primarch again.

And a sight like this cannot escape the midnight ghost's senses.

Between the long satin-like black hair and the lowered head, the Nostramo who sensed this sight just raised the corners of his mouth, smiled quickly, and ignored it.

Conrad could feel Luther's uneasy gaze, as if he had already known how this mortal would answer his question: after staying away from his carrion blood relatives, the prophetic power that followed him took root again. In his mind, it revealed to him the hidden mysteries of the future, and even somewhat interfered with the Nostramos' judgment of the reality in front of them and the hallucinations in their minds.

Although this was not enough to make Midnight Ghost fall into madness again, it also made him a little less interested in communication: As for the question to Luthor, it was just a question asked by someone in the past few Terra standard years. [Etiquette] planted in his mind by the Lord of Avalon.

His corpse blood relative ignored his wishes and resistance, and planted a prosperous wheat field in his heart in the name of the midnight ghost, plundering his nutrients, regardless of the [Etiquette] he just showed. ], or the [knowledge] that supports him in correcting these useless documents, are just the two heavier ears of wheat in this wheat field.

Midnight Ghost hates them, but they have taken root for so long that their roots are deep enough into his subconscious, unintentionally shaping his every move: even if he is far away from the Spider Queen now, he cannot stay away. The change she brought about.

Conrad once again wrote his name at the end of the document: still in a font gorgeous enough to wow any artist.

like this……

He sighed.

After neatly approving the last document, Conrad glanced at the data about ammunition and medicines: he still couldn't fully understand these things, but he unknowingly mastered the processing. Their tips and methods.

Efficient cramming education results.

He was mocking the tyrant in his mind.

Then he spoke.

"When was the last time you communicated with Leman Russ?"

After fastening the last batch of documents on the tower and letting the slaves on the side carry them away, Midnight Ghost raised his head and looked at the Caliban sitting opposite him with calm eyes: For Lu Ser, Conrad had heard of his name a long time ago and met him a few times, but neither of them left any impression.

The Midnight Ghost did not like him, but he could not be said to be disliked, so he maintained a cold courtesy in his interactions with the old knight: a gentleness that, based on his careful observation of his Avalonian blood kin, Alienation is a panacea answer.

Luther thought for a moment.

"Fourteen Terra Standard Time ago, Lord Leman Russ and I discussed the next march route through long-distance communication, as well as the location and date of the next fleet rendezvous."

Conrad listened to this answer, and then he worked hard to piece together the star map of the war in his mind, trying to clearly reflect these words on the star map: but this effort was ruthlessly eliminated almost in the next second. was declared a failure. Obviously, the Spider Queen's education is not omnipotent.

When Conrad opened his eyes again, he found that Luther had placed a drawn star map in front of him.

"..."

Midnight Ghost glanced at the unattractive Caliban, only to receive a normal and serious smile.

He did not speak, but silently picked up the star map, looked at it carefully, and after a short but painful analysis, he barely grasped all the details of this war. Conrad knew very well: if he was still here Nostramo would never be able to do this.

"So, what are you going to do next? Leman Russ has already solved the Randan rearguard fleet in front of him. He used a simple and crude method: thirty-four consecutive gang jumps in a naval battle. I think He deserves the nickname Madman more than I do.”

Luther's face did not change at all because of these words, and it seemed that he had obviously developed antibodies: this made Midnight Ghost feel inexplicably frustrated.

Caliban pointed at the dense marks on the star map, his pupils moving back and forth between Randan's fortress community and the human fleet anchorage, telling him the next plan.

"Based on the battle situation transmitted by the main fleet and the movements of the Ran Dan fleet, these alien fleets in front of us are obviously planning to return to their home planet. For this reason, they even did not hesitate to leave a large number of rearguard fleets to delay us. Follow your footsteps and use this method of abandoning your pawns to save your chariot to gain enough time."

"That's to be expected, isn't it?"

Midnight Ghost expressed his attitude with a contemptuous sneer.

"Then how do you and Leman Russ plan to deal with this tactic? I remember that my Fenris brother has already eaten two Randan fleets responsible for blocking him. He will not want to start a third banquet. Bar?"

"not at all."

Luther shook his head, as if he didn't hear the weirdness in Conrad's tone.

"What Lord Leman Russ means is: Since Ran Dan hopes to hold us back, then we should do the opposite and rush to Ran Dan's home system as quickly as possible to join the battle of the main fleet. , and as for those alien fleets that were thrown away, it’s not too late to come back and take care of them.”

"It's a simple thing: luckily my brother understands it."

Conrad nodded and suddenly smiled.

“Never do what your enemy wants you to do, simply because the enemy wants you to do it.”

"That's what Napoleon said."

Looking at the somewhat confused Caliban, Midnight Ghost showed a proud expression and slowly added the second half of the sentence.

"That is an ancient Terran figure, a deformed combination of tyrant, demagogue, legislator and throne seeker, but he is also a great figure: at least in the military field, he is indeed great, Os. I had to memorize Tritz’s related books three times, which are on the same level as Pharsalus.”

There was a hint of showing off in Conrad's words, and he found that he enjoyed the feeling of mastering the information gap, especially when paired with the ignorant eyes of others.

"Leman Russ obviously made a right decision, but there is a very critical question in this decision: How do you plan to rush to Ran Dan's home system? After all, those aliens have set up many obstacles along the way. .”

"Sir Morgan sent a reinforcement army."

Luther's answer was simple, but it was enough for Midnight Ghost to understand the mystery.

"Ah, that thing, no wonder."

Conrad's expression was a little complicated.

"Tuchucha Engine: I remember it was called this. However, my Avalon blood relative was able to allow this artifact to temporarily escape her sight. It seems that the battle in Randan's home galaxy is... It didn’t go well.”

Luther obviously didn't think so.

"Your Excellency Morgan and I had just communicated before Four Terra Standard Time. Mr. Conrad, according to Mr. Morgan, the main fleet has eliminated most of the resistance in Randan's home system and removed 90% of the strongholds. The siege of Ran Dan’s home planet has also been completed.”

"According to the information, among the fourteen large and small planets in the entire Ran Dan home system, except for Ran Dan's home star and its satellites, as well as the [No. 1] planet that is used as a logistics base, all the remaining planets have been implemented. Complete extermination order: In other words, Ran Dan’s army can only huddle on their home planet and has lost their last strategic space.”

"Sounds deadly."

Conrad smiled.

"Considering that only eight days have passed since the main fleet invaded Randan's home system, this is already a very alarming speed: presumably this is also the main reason why these alien fleets in front of us will quickly withdraw."

"I will not deny the achievements of my two blood relatives, Mr. Luther."

Conrad's cold smile was like that of a certain Lord of Avalon. Although he was a little indifferent, there was nothing wrong with him.

"But you have to realize a problem: If this war is compared to a test paper, then what you, I, and Leman Russ are responsible for are just additional questions. Although they are very difficult, the scores are not significant."

"And my two blood relatives, Zhuangson and Morgan, are responsible for the main questions: If the questions placed in front of them have a total of 100 points, then when their fleet surrounded Ran Dan's home planet, For a moment, they just scored twenty points, and they couldn’t get any more.”

"As a mortal, I think it is difficult for you to understand that a civilization, especially a once-powerful civilization like Ran Dan, will definitely have some kind of power that cannot be explained by science on their home planet. Defeating them on the home planet is even harder than the sky, even if my two blood relatives use everything they have, it will be even harder than the sky."

"My Avalon blood relative has obviously realized this: otherwise she would not have sent the Tuchucha engine over. Although this thing can indeed allow our fleet to quickly reach Randan's home system, it also It means putting this artifact in danger.”

"Furthermore, once we leave with Leman Russ's fleet, it is uncontrollable what the Randan rearguard fleets who are still here will do: Thank Zhuangson, for what he did before, human beings At least the empire has nothing worth losing here."

"In the worst case, we'll just have to call back."

This sentence is like a sarcasm.

Conrad's voice was very soft and he spoke very fast. There were some hesitations and grammatical errors in his conversation. It seemed that he had no intention of giving Luther a chance to answer.

But after a period of silence, Luther, who kept looking at the star map, pointed to certain places on the star map and expressed the issues he had been worrying about.

He was referring to the central and southern region of the Obscure Star Territory: while this war was going on, thousands of colonial fleets were expanding their territory there in the name of the Lord of Humanity.

"Are you worried that these Ran Dan guard fleets will jump over the wall in a hurry after we leave, and attack the borders of the human empire at all costs, thus causing unnecessary casualties?"

Conrad looked at Luther, and after receiving an affirmative nod, he put an exaggerated smile on his face.

"At ease, Mr. Luther."

"They won't do that. Once they discover our disappearance, they will instinctively rush back to their home planet: when the imperial capital is in danger, this is a decision that every mature general will make."

"...Would this be too arbitrary..."

"Won't."

Conrad shook his head. He seemed to have known what Luther was going to say. When he leaned forward and looked at the old knight of Caliban, his words seemed to be clearly sarcastic. looking at someone.

"Only a pure beast would choose such a reckless approach without any sense of the overall situation."

"And as far as I know, there are only two such pathetic beasts in the entire galaxy."

"One is me, and the other..."

The Midnight Haunter chuckled and tapped his claws on Luther's pauldron, observing the Caliban's thoughtfulness with satisfaction.

"The other one, you know who it is."