Warhammer: In the Name of Nirvana

Chapter 428

Morgan didn't stay long on Holy Terra.

According to the records of the subspace timer that was kept inside the palace and built by the Emperor himself, the Lord of Avalon only stayed on the home planet of the Human Empire for less than one Terran month. More ephemeral than almost every one of her brothers.

Compared to other primarchs, Morgan's attitude towards Terra seems to be more indifferent and calm: while the other descendants of the Emperor regard the hometown of Holy Terra as some kind of beautiful fairyland in heroic legends, Ava Lord Long is like an adopted child in a big family, keeping a cold eye on the place where he was born.

She didn't show much warmth to Tyra, and she didn't even have respect for her: on the contrary, Morgan even had a bit of hostility towards the world.

Of course, only a few are aware of the cold attitude of the Lord of Avalon, as most of the Imperial dignitaries active on Holy Terra do not even notice that the Emperor's daughter has visited her father's throne world.

Even on Holy Terra, Morgan maintained her usual mysticism, and the Primarch was almost never seen in public: even Konrad was more active than she was.

At the very least, Midnight Ghost was dragged by several of his brothers and reluctantly participated in a banquet with the highest standards within the empire: this banquet was used by the Master to entertain the planetary governors who arrived at Holy Terra for worship, and the gene source As usual, everyone will stand up for the person holding the seal and support the reputation of the emperor's favorite.

But even for such an occasion, Morgan did not go.

During this month's journey to Terra, the Spider Queen either kept running around various recruitment sites, or immersed herself in the top-secret library inside the palace: It is said that Morgan took away the information from the palace's information library. It was a very valuable thing, but no one knew what it was, not even the imperial soldiers who helped her carry it.

…

Even Conrad didn't know.

——————

"Yes."

"Conrad doesn't know."

"So, are you willing to tell Conrad what you took with you?"

Midnight Ghost stretched out his hand and took away his cup of vanilla ice cream from the Virgo tray. He also specially placed the bowl of ice cream in a crystal clear goblet, just like taking away a glass of red wine. .

[Of course I can tell you, there’s nothing secret anyway, Conrad. 】

The Lord of Avalon slumped on his silver throne in an extremely lazy posture, like a large spread of butter that had just melted under the scorching sun. When Virgo approached, Morgan also picked up the She ordered her own cup of ice cream. Her ice cream was also vanilla flavored, but in an extra large size, and it was topped with blueberry jam.

Conrad felt that the bowl of vanilla ice cream that his sister was enjoying was even larger than the standard helmets of ordinary Astartes warriors, but he knew that this unusually huge lump was Frozen food can no longer survive for long: after all, Midnight Ghost has competed with his sister many times on eating speed, but he has never won. Morgan can eat all kinds of desserts faster than Leman Russ. Binge drinking is even faster.

However, speaking of Leman Russ...

Conrad blinked.

The Fenrisian has been clamoring for a long time on Holy Terra, taking advantage of the extremely rare opportunity now for the six primarch brothers to gather together to hold the most grand family banquet: with Leman Russ In other words, it would be a banquet worthy of the Hall of Heroes in Valhalla.

But it is a pity that such a great dream was shouted in the mouths of the Fenris people for a month, but in the end it was stillborn: just the second day after the brothers got together, the Wolf Shepherd had to say goodbye due to changes in the front line. Sanguinius also left with him, and soon after Jonson and Leman Russ received private summons from the Emperor, they each led their secret missions and returned to the Legion.

In this way, the banquet originally scheduled in the palace disappeared. Conrad even felt sorry for this, because he accurately predicted that banquets like this would probably be difficult to have again until the final end of the Great Crusade. There is a chance.

but……

Midnight Ghost silently glanced at his blood relative. He seemed to want to say something more, but he opened his mouth and just continued the interrogation just now.

"Then tell me, Morgan, what did you bring back from Terra?"

【books. 】

The Lord of Avalon waved her hand and answered the question casually. She was concentrating on using her tongue to hook the omissions stuck to her lips, and her answer made the Nostramo frown in confusion. .

"that's it?"

[These are enough. 】

Morgan blinked, his pupils filled with inexplicable mischief.

[The Emperor and the Patron allowed me to copy the large database of the palace and the books left over from ancient times: Don’t look at me with that look, Conrad, those books are not the so-called secrets and books you imagined. Dangerous forbidden knowledge, they are all just ordinary books. 】

[Whether it is politics, military, history, philosophy, geography, biology, agriculture, entertainment, literature, or countless other disciplines: from the earliest classical collections that can be traced back tens of thousands of years to human beings in all walks of life The essence left behind in the book, these books themselves are more precious than any secrets and forbidden knowledge. 】

Midnight Ghost nodded.

"I don't deny that, but is there any use for the Emperor to give them to you?"

Faced with this question, Morgan did not answer immediately. She just raised her head proudly, and the spoon in her palm drew irregular circles on the top of the sorbet.

[From one aspect, this can be regarded as a reward for me: to be honest, this may be the most comforting of all the gifts from the emperor, although I highly doubt that it was given to him by the person holding the seal. idea. 】

"No doubt about it, this is it."

Conrad nodded, he narrowed his eyes, pursed the corners of his mouth full of malice, and was quite satisfied to see a trace of disgust crossing Morgan's face.

"Oh, do you still have any expectations for our father?"

【……Shut up. 】

Feeling Morgan's cold gaze, Midnight Ghost immediately shut his mouth obediently. He had just used some means to get rid of the [sinful crime], and it would not be the time to get into trouble again in a while.

When he thought of this, Conrad smiled proudly in his heart, and his gaze quietly slid over the Virgo who was standing quietly beside him.

"Okay, sister, let me guess: Father, does he want the knowledge passed down from Holy Terra to have a backup on Avalon to deal with unexpected situations?"

【Yes. 】

Morgan nodded.

[He also told me to make another copy of all these books and send them to Macragge. 】

"No matter what, Guilliman always gets the benefit of the doubt."

Midnight Ghost just helped to complain. He could clearly feel the sourness in Morgan's nasal voice when he mentioned Macragge.

Therefore, Midnight Ghost cleverly changed the topic, trying to take advantage of his sister's tiredness to draw Morgan's attention as far away as possible: although he had put aside his pride in front of the Caliban man, But Conrad's lungs didn't really want to meet his nose, if that was possible.

"But even if you don't look at this, just the thirteen thousand Dawnbreaker recruits recruited from Holy Terra is already gratifying and good news, isn't it?"

【yes……】

Morgan nodded and sighed in a low voice. Her expression was not as cheerful as Midnight Ghost expected. Instead, she had a different kind of melancholy and depression. There was a bitter smile on her pale lips.

[We have to admit, my dear Conrad, that some people, or some places, are really born to be pampered. It is an existence favored by fate: My legion and I have spent more than ten years on the far eastern frontier, and the rewards we have received after spending countless sweat and effort are not even as good as the officials on Terra. A most cursory population check on their land. 】

Having said this, the Lord of Avalon did not forget to lick her lips, and a trace of gloom flashed under her low eyebrows that only the midnight ghost could witness.

[The Himalayas, Albion, Europa and Achaemenids, these regions that are most docile to the Emperor's rule have already contributed their best offspring. Candidates from these regions have been confirmed and can definitely become the Dawnbreakers. warrior. They are now in the fleet behind us and will return to Avalon with us, while the candidates selected from other areas will undergo further screening and surgery on Holy Terra. 】

[But no matter what, we will get at least thirteen thousand warriors: it is ridiculous that one Holy Terra can defeat hundreds of civilized worlds on the far eastern frontier, isn't it? 】

"It's nothing ridiculous. If you let any Primarch choose, they will sacrifice even the entire Far Eastern Frontier in order to preserve Holy Terra: I think even you will do this, even though you don't like Terra."

Conrad spread his hands, and his slender tongue rolled up half the cup of sorbet in one gulp.

【……】

[You are right, Conrad. 】

Morgan was silent for a while, then rubbed his temples painfully.

[So I hate this place: it is so dirty, but also so sacred. It is born with things that we must fight for with all our strength, and it also has reasons that make us have to defend it. We You have to fight for it, because only fighting for it is a noble move. 】

"Like the Empire of Man."

[…like the Empire of Man. 】

…

In the next few minutes, the two Primarchs fell into silence. They quietly enjoyed their pastries with their own heavy thoughts. The only sounds in the room were the sounds of teeth and tongues crushing food, and the sound of standing in front of them. The Virgo in the corner makes the slightest sound as the new memories are stored.

"By the way: What did your head guard talk to you about?"

A few minutes later, Conrad glanced at his bottomed pastry cup, and then looked at his sister with some unfulfilled interest: As a midnight ghost who acted in unison with Morgan most of the time, Conrad naturally Knows the whereabouts of the Spider Queen very well.

About a few hours ago, he remembered that a tired-looking Morgan walked out of the large library deep in the palace, and accurately caught Conrad: the Lord of Avalon who was hiding in the shadows, scaring the Imperial Army. Even because of this behavior, he received the kind eyes of those golden shield holders for the first time.

After all, the Midnight Ghosts at that time were determined to achieve a great cause: to paint every statue of the emperor or the statue of the double-headed eagle in the Palace of Terra in the dark blue of the Eighth Legion.

The Nostramos had even succeeded one-third of the way, and the sharp explosion of the Forbidden Army could be heard throughout the palace: From this perspective, Morgan succeeded before Waldo led the large force of the Forbidden Army to arrive. , dragged his brother away, and could even be said to have saved Conrad's life.

And considering that the Midnight Ghost, who was grasped by the Lord of Avalon by the back of his neck, was dragged away without any resistance, while not forgetting to give a triumphant middle finger to the Golden Guards left behind, this kind of The ending may have been what Conrad expected.

After all, he calculated everything with extreme precision, ensuring that when he was caught and dragged away by Morgan, Waldo happened to arrive at the scene: the chief of the Custodes knew the Primarch better than all his colleagues. , especially the strength of the psionic original body. He suppressed the anger of the Golden Guards, allowing Conrad to escape on the spot almost arrogantly.

Afterwards, the two Primarchs found the Mark Bearer and said goodbye to the actual controller of the imperial government as usual. This was the end of their journey to Terra: From the beginning to the end, the Midnight Ghost did not tell Morgan that he What exactly did he do in the Palace of Terra? He insisted that he only targeted one statue.

And he was sure that Morgan, who was sleepy, had no time to talk to him.

After returning to the bridge, while Conrad went back to his room to take a shower, Morgan had a secret conversation with her loyal guard chief. The Midnight Ghost only saw Lana walking out of the throne room with a serious face. He walked out, and he was accompanied only by a high-ranking commander of the Knights of Le Fay, both of whom had the same expressionless expression.

【It’s not a big deal. 】

The Lord of Avalon's dessert cup was already empty. After casually handing it to the Virgo seat beside her, the Spider Queen returned to her slumped posture on the throne, leaning her head on the armrest on one side. He put his two feet on the armrest on the other side, and his long hair and the corners of his coat fell directly to the ground in front of the throne. His originally sharp eyes were now half asleep.

[He just suggested to me, or reminded me, that after returning to Avalon, I should end the chaos and roughness in the upper-level system of the legion, and truly establish my own personal guard of the original body, as well as the original body's staff team. 】

"He's right."

Conrad sat on the chair, but he sat quite upright.

"I'm actually more curious about another point: How did you endure this temporary system that has been running for more than ten years? After all, I have learned how other primarchs get along with their legions. Almost every brother has the first time after returning to the legion. The first thing is to clean and build the internal structure of the legion and transform it into what they like."

[I actually like it the way it is now. 】

Morgan smacked his lips.

[The lower level is clear, with a solid organizational structure and a good atmosphere of the legion. The soul of the upper level is changeable. When I want to give an order, I only need to find a few specific people to affect the entire legion, avoiding redundancy. steps to disrupt. 】

"Ah, I know the structure."

Conrad nodded.

"Crony bureaucracy, or a very backward powerful monarchy, in which the ruler relies on a small number of cronies to control the huge state machine in disguise. I remember that this system was an antique that was popular tens of thousands of years ago. At that time, they The ruler of the country is also called Sultan or Tsar."

Morgan yawned nonchalantly.

[After all, my legion has a small number of people. Even including these 13,000 recruits, the total number of Dawnbreaker legions has barely reached 46,000. With any luck, the next round of Far East recruitment can increase the number of people. Reaching 50,000, it is at a lower-middle level among all legions. 】

"Why are there thousands more people?"

[I generously released dozens of frustrated ambassadors to Terra. In return for this kind act, one of my brothers revealed to me the location of a lost fleet and their specific information. 】

"That's it."

Conrad nodded, not particularly surprised at this point.

"So, now that the number of people has increased, you also plan to formalize the various systems of the legion?"

[We can’t let Rana down: not everyone can be like him and be able to have such huge confidence and give up such huge power. As his mother, I have to respond. 】

"..."

Conrad was silent: he instinctively realized that, compared to his own explanation, Morgan's words seemed to be the real reason: Was it because of his son's actions that he made up his mind?

Midnight Ghost tilted his head, and he remembered the scene at this moment: maybe one day in the future, Conrad can also refer to Morgan's current attitude when facing one of his sons.

But before that...

Conrad suddenly laughed.

"My dear sister, since you have made such an important decision, I think you must have solved the most difficult problem for you, right?"

"Have you figured out what they'll be called?"

【……】

Morgan turned over and looked at Conrad with a slightly dangerous look. She seemed to be hesitating whether to get up and teach her brother a kind lesson, but laziness soon took over in the next moment. Gaining the upper hand, she yawned again and retreated into her throne again.

[Conrad, you still remember that there are two side rooms on the left and right of my throne room on the Dawn Goddess, right? 】

"of course I remember."

Conrad nodded: He knew that in the Dawnbreaker's large fleet, Morgan did not always stay on the [Dawn Goddess]. She would occasionally stay on some other battleships, such as the one they are currently on. A short stopover on board the Golden Apple.

These battleships where the Lord of Avalon stayed have a common feature: at their core, there is a throne room specifically for Morgan to summon his subordinates or rest. Now, the two Primarchs are in the [Golden Apple] In the throne room on the ship, this small throne room does not have side halls on the left and right wings.

【Is such that……】

Morgan rubbed his eyes, reluctantly keeping his eyelids from closing.

[I plan to select some of the most suitable candidates from among my legionnaires to form my staff team. This unconventional organization will not exceed five people, and I will divide the left wing of my throne room. Used as their office space: Do you remember the name of that wing, right? 】

"of course I remember."

Midnight Ghost nodded.

"You used to use that side hall to store various weapons. It was a place where you showed off your collecting tradition when entertaining guests, so that place is called the Kamlan Hall, or the Hall of the Sword Fence."

[How about this name? 】

"So, they are called the Council of Swords and Fences?"

[Good name, isn't it? 】

"..."

Conrad hesitated to speak.

"What about your personal guard?"

【Private Guard...】

Morgan slumped on her throne, looking up to the sky and letting out a long sigh.

[I plan to call them...]

[Mordred Guard. 】

【What do you think of this name? 】

"..."