Warhammer: Start with a dog

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"So, are you the Adalic Vannes I know?"

After a while, these two foreigners, who could be regarded as "old friends" to some extent, were already sitting in two seats in the corner of the bar.

Around them sat drinkers of many different races, plots, deals, promises, solicitations and threats being played out at every table.

And the huge corpse of the Emperor's Scythe, which had just been killed by Hong Suo with a "punch" at the door, had been quickly dragged into the shadows by the scavengers here, which also won Hong Suo here. So a little courtesy to newcomers.

For example, when he walked in next to talk to someone, he successfully obtained two glasses of suspicious wine from the pointy-eared bartender, two seats at a table, and freedom from the succubi and orcs. A little space to entertain interruptions.

Opposite him, the person he asked this question was sitting right now.

As for why this question is asked.

Unlike Honso, who wears sophisticated equipment under disguise, Adalik Vannas looks very "local".

This means that the former Fourth Captain of the Raven Guard, and later the Shadow Master who had an "adventure" on the Destiny Steel, is now different from when he disappeared, wearing the armor of the Raven Guard as black as midnight. , the once noble white raven emblem on the shoulder still showed signs of being daubed by the red "X" symbol, and the power armor also showed that it had only been repaired with limited resources.

Vannas's face is still very handsome, with his long black hair tightly tied up on his scalp. Coupled with his pale skin color, purple eyes, high cheekbones, narrow skull and light and elegant figure, It almost gives the illusion that an Eldar is dressed in power armor.

But when Hong Suo stared at the other person, he was keenly aware that the other person was looking at his style of power armor with an investigative thoughtfulness. There was a lot of surprise, but it was not directed at his armor. But to Honso himself.

That is to say, Vannas either recognized that Honso was not Honso, or he had seen Honso dressed like this.

Which one will it be? Although no matter which way it is, Honso will eventually "ask" Vannes to assist him, but there is no harm in getting it clear from the beginning. If you are lucky, you can figure out how to find the way back and bring some gifts for your father.

"Yes and no."

The former Raven Guard spoke, and his voice and tone were exactly the same as the unlucky guy hung in the interrogation room in Honso's memory. Of course, he might have been a little distorted when he screamed, and he was a little too flattering when he called his father.

I probably should have given him more tranquilizers and brainwashing drugs. Honso thought unexpectedly, and then began to think of his kind father, delicious cafeteria and cute apprentices - Stop it!

"Don't play riddles with me." Honso narrowed his eyes and said very abruptly, "Adalic, tell me, what color are the gods?"

The purple diamond-like eyes of Vanas across from him blinked, "As the God of Steel, of course he is black and white." Then he asked Hong Suo, "Glocks steak for dinner?"

"Thick cut, 50%, add more multi-trace mineral salt and ground pepper."

A smile began to appear in the corner of Adalic's eyes. He raised the wine glass in front of him and let the low-quality spirit that exuded the smell of chemicals and fermentation slowly move along the edge of the glass.

"Fine wine should be added..."

"Reca Coffee."

No matter how unpleasant Adalic Vannas had been to him, the reappearance of a living person in this place who proved that everything he had experienced was not an illusion or a daydream, Honso still felt deeply, deeply He sighed for the first time since he woke up.

Under his power armor, the muscles in Honso's shoulders and neck relaxed slightly unconsciously.

The Shadow Master's purple eyes narrowed slightly, seeming to smile.

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Later, in the Iron Warriors' Cape Camp

Honso's private room and command room

"Sit down. Feel free."

Honso strode forward, kicked aside two boxes filled with human skin scrolls, stirring up a wave of dust, then dragged the only table over and found an unopened box to sit down on. .

"What's there to drink? It's been a long time since I had anything to drink with ease." Vannas sat down opposite him and glanced at the messy drawings that had been pushed aside on the table.

"All I have here now is water that's not even worthy of washing the servitors on the Iron Blood."

Honso placed a half-full brass kettle and another cup in front of him, "Drink if you like."

Vanas poured out more than half of the glass of water, sniffed it, drank it in one gulp, made a face at the taste of the water, and put the glass back on the table.

"When were you?" Honso didn't ask the next word, but Vannas knew what he wanted to ask.

"I got here several days earlier than you." The former Raven Guard shook his head, "But I didn't dare to stay in the camp most of the time. I've been here before, and I'm quite familiar with it. It's safer for me to stay in the mountain city. So I claimed that I was going to go out and spy on the information about the skull harvest feast - so when I was hiding in the shadows above the bar, I saw you striding over, and then I watched the whole thing. Do you know? Although you were disguised, you still shine here, much more powerful and eye-catching than 'that you', and with a kind of calmness that is very rare here, In fact, it is not difficult to distinguish you from the 'original Hong Suo'."

"But none of my subordinates have raised any questions about my appearance."

"If your boss has always really only treated you as a number, an object, a necessary weapon and a handy tool, even if he suddenly changes his temper and seems to be a little kinder, but looks more energetic and powerful than ever before, then you will only think that this may be a cold trap of a moody tyrant rather than a miracle from heaven."

"I suspect you are insinuating something, but I have no evidence." Hong Suo narrowed his eyes and looked at the former Raven Guard in front of him leisurely.

"I didn't. If I did, you're just overthinking it, Hong Suo."

"Okay." The former pharmacist changed his posture. "Now you know it's me. There are too many eyes and ears in the bar. Can you explain what 'both is and are not' means?"

"What I mean is." Vannus thought for a moment. "My memory or maybe my soul, anyway, it's not the body, it's the Vannus who knew you and... the kind and great father. - Can you please not use your special eradicator under the table against me? I know that your eradicator can really eradicate me immediately."

"Then don't be so vague. I actually want to blow this place up to the sky along with everyone and then pat my butt and turn around and leave."

"Okay, okay," the son of Clarks sat up straight and spoke faster. "I mean, I'm with you but my body seems to be original, not like yours that appeared in one piece."

Hong Suo looked at Vannus suspiciously. The other party immediately swore, "It's true! Otherwise, how can I answer those three questions?!"

"Okay, let's just say that, then what about the original soul in your body? Why didn't you bring your body with you?"

"How should I know?" The black-armored Astartes crossed his arms, "If I knew, I might also know why the two of us were thrown into this place with good food, drink, and accommodation."

"Then it's just as you said, maybe your body is still where we started." With a very light sound of the slide moving, the "Gene Eradicator" was stuck back into the holster, and Hong Suo frowned, "If they can find that your body has lost its soul, they might be able to trace it back to you from this point."

"That's usually the case." Adalic looked a little restless.

"What do you mean by usually?"

"Uh, I was doing some little hobbies in the shadows... No, lurking, you know, I was lurking in the shadows... So..." The Shadow Master looked very embarrassed.

"...So it's very likely that you won't be discovered until the next person with shadow stealth skills bumps into you by chance."

"Hmm."

"I suddenly want to eat some roasted birds, such as roasted raven stuffed with Grox meat and mushrooms."

"Oh, you won't." Vannas said immediately, "I said, I've been here before, and I have indeed found out a lot of information and details in the past few days, which is exactly what you need now that you have just arrived."

Hong Suo stared at him for a long time with his cold eyes.

"Okay, then you can tell us everything you know now."

"First of all, the Skull Harvest Feast that is currently being prepared is a... a truly bloody, life-and-death carnival in a vortex. Although it is called a feast, it is not as gentle as the words describe. After each competition, only the champion and his team will still survive, but even so, it is still held continuously, and there are always teams coming to participate, because of the good reputation of the Tyrant Badab who keeps his promises and the generous rewards for the champion. But let me remind you at the beginning: only the strongest, most evil and most cunning people can survive to the end of this game."

"Go on."

"First of all, you need some powerful helpers, and you must participate in the Skull Harvest Competition in the name of a participating team, not an individual."

The former potion master shrugged, and the gray and dry skeleton tapped his chin on his mechanical arm, as if beating the rhythm of their conversation.

"Actually, if Huron can maintain good order on the playing field and rules as he said and is said to be, then I and you alone can kill the opponent's team or a champion. The warriors in the camp each have their own. The situation is quite bad, I mean in every aspect! The level of nutritional status, medication and hormone supplementation is almost non-existent, and there is no regular brainwashing or hypnotic adjustment! The only problem is that you are wearing power armor - it is still a pity. It’s not something from the war group, it’s something left by you here.”

"You are indeed fine with this equipment." Adalic nodded in agreement, "And mine is what I have been wearing since I was expelled from the Raven Guard. Although it is old and scarred, it is an old friend after all. It’s not a big problem. But you need a team not for strength, but for invitations.”

"Invitation?"

“The organizer of the Skull Harvest Feast, the Black-Hearted King Huron, will send a messenger from his palace before the official start of the game to issue skull harvest invitations to any team he hears is qualified or has made qualified admissions behavior. , only with the invitation letter can it be considered an official participating team, and it can play in the competition and be counted as valid results.”

"With this rigorous style that he will not forget even if he becomes a traitor and a pirate, he might really be Guilliman's son. Well... maybe one day I will have the opportunity to dig out his genetic seeds to verify it."

"Ha! Ha! Your sense of humor is so great! - As for why it must be in the form of a team, it is because one of the most attractive and generous rewards of the Skull Harvest Feast is that the winner takes all the soldiers of the team. , resources and ships. As for whether the ships left by the other party are willing to continue working for you and how to persuade the remaining subordinates of the other party to serve, that is another matter, but at least the rules stipulate this, and as long as they are still in New Pakistan Within the scope of Dabu, Huron will definitely try his best to make this reward true, so a single person will generally not receive an invitation. The stakes for only one person to participate are too small, and usually no one will be willing to bet against you. It will also greatly damage the prestige of the Black Heart King."

"I see. So what do I need to do to get an invitation?"

"Are you really planning to continue participating in the Skull Harvest Feast?" Vannas glanced at Hongsuo who was starting to think seriously with some surprise, "We can actually leave here before you receive the invitation. It's not a big problem. I can help you control the people on the ship. We just make an excuse. When the invitation is sent to your camp, you only have to participate in the game and fight to the last option, unable to leave New Badab."

"I haven't gotten the invitation yet, so you're so sure I can get it?"

The Shadow Master nodded, "The Emperor's Scythe of the Blood God you killed at the door of the bar, Vosok Dar, you should have noticed that there was a special eight-pointed star brand on his helmet, right?"

"Noted it, but I thought it was his personal mark."

Vanas nodded, "That's the mark of Pushtok Uruvent. He has a very powerful blood god believer warband. He is one of the participating teams this year and is also a believer in the god of war." . And Dahl is his warband champion."

Honso burst into laughter at this.

"If every warband champion is of this level, then I really want to participate in this competition!"

"You have just easily killed the warband champion of Uruvente, so as long as this is brought to Huron's seat and confirmed, the invitation will be sent to you from Huron's palace. ”

"It sounds like he has really become an emperor here to rule his little world." Honso said sarcastically, "If I hadn't served on my father's great flagship, maybe I would still be here. I really feel that he is a bit like an ancient emperor who would bestow a title on me, a little country knight!"

"So, if you really plan to participate in this competition, then when the invitation is delivered, you will immediately set off to the palace above to 'visit' the Black Heart King."

"I don't like to use the word 'visit'. Only our Father can make me bow to him."

Vannas nodded in understanding, "But we are under the roof... Also, I just wanted to say that if you want to compete, then you should go to a place with me quickly. There is a person you should meet."

"Are we going to have a new companion so soon?" Hong Suo grinned. "It seems that my father's favor has not left me."

"Most likely."