Warhammer: I don't want to become a stinky can!

Page 484

After unleashing the Star God Lightning, Hades felt a numb calm and exhaustion.

He began to piece together the story—it could be just Blake's side of the story, and Hades' intuition told him that Guilliman's affair was definitely related to the Ascension of Saint Gillespie.

Hades could not draw any conclusions before knowing the specific circumstances of that day.

But—however—

Hades took another deep breath. If Robert was still the same person he knew back then, then those high lords were more or less ungrateful.

If it's someone he's familiar with, a high lord from the Warhammer world... then he could indeed pull off some incredibly outrageous stunt.

Hades stared at the scorched earth before him, recalling how he had risked his life to protect the Emperor and as many Primarchs as possible—all for the smooth development of humanity over the next few millennia.

As long as the Primarch exists, the Empire's development is guaranteed.

Humanity now has at least one more layer of protection.

Even in the worst-case scenario, Hades believed that if he awoke, he would at least see a living, loyal Primarch.

Instead of hearing that Guilliman had passed away...

Do not……

Hades still felt that something was wrong.

He knew that Robert Guilliman was a prime minister of politics, and Hades might question Guilliman's views—but he would never question Guilliman's abilities.

If the High Lords were to attempt to impeach Guilliman, would they truly be able to completely conceal this from him until the very end?

Could it be that during those years, the Empire was blessed with outstanding talents, and a political figure emerged who was capable of challenging Guilliman?

Hades scratched his head in frustration.

Could it be that Guilliman's abilities have declined...? Has the heavy burden of the Empire's political affairs finally overwhelmed the Regent?

Guilliman… Hades recalled the Lord of Macragge, who once brimmed with hope and ambition, full of aspirations and wild ambitions, with the arrogance to gather all the heroes of the world and drag humanity into the mire.

Hades smiled. He was still a talent that Guilliman was trying to recruit. If he hadn't taken root in Barbaros and the Death Guard, who could refuse the paradise of Macragge and a wise ruler who knew how to use people?

Or one of the few normal people among the originals...

As night deepened, the stars above Hades moved across the sky, the rekindled bonfire rose and fell, and finally, Hades slowly stood up and walked back toward Black.

The Euclius Sector shouldn't be too far from the 500 Worlds.

Hades thought to himself, the ashes rustling beneath his feet, that perhaps he should go to Macurag first.

Then we'll go to Terra.

Terra, Hades thought, even if those people from back then were all dead, he still needed to go there in person—

I personally confirmed the situation of each high lord.

Standing behind them, patting them on the shoulder, and kindly inquiring about their work.

Hades thought to himself that it would be best if, when he descended upon Terra, he brought with him conditions that no one in Terra could refuse.

He will summon his army.

A hint of crimson flashed in the mechanical eyes.

----------

By the campfire, Hades sat down again, but this time, Hades sat down next to Hades' son.

Hades gazed calmly at the campfire. "Black, do you think there's still hope for the galaxy?"

“Yes,” Blake couldn’t help but move a little further away, “Father, under your protection, we will always believe that hope will endure.”

Hades sighed, looking slightly weary, and said, "So it's not... that bad yet. Let's continue, but let's... let's skip Death Guard for now. I need to catch my breath."

As Hades had predicted, the Thousand Sons of the Fifteenth Legion had been expelled long before the Great Rebellion, so Black knew nothing about the legion; the Sons of Horus of the Sixteenth Legion became the Black Legion led by Abaddon the Great Raider.

The remnants of the Seventeenth Legion's Word Bearers were imprisoned by the Death Guard and later released during the reconstruction of the State Church.

???

The Death Guard imprisons the Word Bearers and orders them to write religious books?

Hades fell into a long silence.

At least... at least it's not Death Guard being imprisoned... it doesn't matter.

Vulcan, the Primarch of the Eighteenth Legion, disappeared after the War of the Beasts; Corax of the Nineteenth Legion became an Inquisitor, but later also disappeared.

As for Alpha and Omega, Hades frowned. One of these Primarchs had joined Nurgle, and the other Khorne—something he hadn't expected.

Why did they do that? But no one could figure out what the Alphas were thinking, including the Alphas themselves. Hades asked Black a few more questions about the Alphas, but he got no answers.

A spark from the fire drifted to Hades, popped with a crackling sound at the tip of his nose, and Hades waved his hand to shoo it away.

The story came to an end, and both of them fell silent, with only the still-sleeping Tian Shi emitting soft breathing sounds.

Hades sighed.

“Black, Mortarion… How is Mortarion? Is he dead too? Or… worse, has he fallen…”

Hades couldn't continue.

He should perhaps trust Mortarian, except that when they last met, Mortarian seemed like an extremist—and perhaps he still is.

Extremes are never good, Hades thought. At least in this world, extremes are prone to destruction, and the more extreme one is, the more likely one is to be favored by the warp.

In fact, Hades harbored certain stereotypes, such as believing that Saint Gilles was perfect, that the Lion King of the First Legion would never betray him, and that Robert was a normal person with perfect political sense.

But now, Saint Gilles has been removed from the list, the Lion King is at risk of betrayal, and Robert has been impeached by the mortal High Lords.

I woke up to the feeling that the whole world was messing things up.

He was somewhat worried about the Death Guard, to which he had devoted the most effort and energy.

Blake straightened his back, frustrated that he had been unable to answer the father of genetics' question.

But that won't happen again. As sons of Hades, sometimes they know more about the Death Guard's secrets than the Death Guard himself does.

“My father,” Blake said, “Lord Mortalian has been unable to be summoned by the Undertaker within the Death Guard for the last four millennia—even the undead Karas himself, who organized the summoning ritual, could not reach the Pale Lord.”

Before Hades could ask, Black continued, saying that he might know what Hades wanted to ask.

"Lord Mortalian's last appearance was in 777.M37, when he appeared in the Warp Expeditionary Force led by Two-Face Vox and led 350,000 Deathguards in an attack on the Warp."

"How many?!"

Hades, who had seemed dazed just moments before, suddenly snapped out of it and exclaimed, "Wait—summon—wait, why can Mortarion be summoned?!"

He looked at Blake in horror, as if Blake's next words would kill him, while Blake blinked in confusion.

"The Father of Genes, Lord Mortarion, had already been sanctified long before you left. In the words of the Golden Sage and the veteran warrior Karas, he had awakened the essence of the warp."

Hades suddenly breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness... Although the chances were slim, the keyword "summoning" made Hades inevitably think of warp creatures—and the related term was "ascension."

Awakening to the nature of the subspace...that's a good thing.

Hades recalled that in the original story, the Raven King Corax awakened his warp nature, thus greatly increasing his power.

Hades breathed a sigh of relief, his heart finally at ease after hearing that the Ninth Legion had been removed from the list. Now that Mortarion had awakened his warp nature, he would at least no longer be so powerless against the Four Gods.

However... Mortarion awakened the essence of the warp.

Hades pondered for a moment,

"Do you have a portrait of Mortalian, Black? I mean, one that has awakened to the nature of the warp."

Blake shook his head.

"Death does not like to spread its image, and before this, Lord Mortarian had been rejecting too much faith and adoration."

"Before this?"

Hades asked,

Blake paused for a moment, as if what he was about to say was another special treat for the Underworld Child.

"Yes, my father. After Lord Mortarion led his army to attack the Warp, as time passed, the Death Guard discovered that the power of Death was waning, and thus the belief in Death began to spread widely again."

“But,” Black glanced at the sleeping Barry out of the corner of his eye, “it’s not enough. I’ve heard that Lord Karas discussed with the Golden Sage whether to expand the faith and authority of Death—even if it might corrupt his power. The Death Guard’s high command agrees that Lord Mortalian is in danger in the Warp and he desperately needs more faith to escape.”

Mortarion led 350,000 Deathguards into the Warp and found himself in dire straits...

Hades pondered that the visit to Macragge and the trip to Terra could be postponed. Now that he knew Mortarion's whereabouts, he should just storm into the Warp and rescue the Lord of Death.

First, contact the Death Guard.

Regarding what Blake had just said, Hades asked, "You mean, the more people who believe in Mortalian, the more power Mortalian will receive?"

Blake nodded.

“But the Pale Lord himself is extremely averse to this behavior,” the Son of Hades replied truthfully, “and more faith means more chaos, which Lord Mortarion does not wish for.”

"Disorderly?" Hades didn't understand.

"The Pale Lord, as officially proclaimed by the Death Guard, wields only the power of death."

"But in the process of spreading this authority, it is inevitable that some people will misinterpret it. At the same time, people will mix their own desires into their prayers, which will make the faith received by Lord Mortalian mixed."

"I see..." Hades thought. This was quite similar to Neos's situation. It was easy to avoid; he could just have his Black Domain eliminate it when the time came.

And is the power Mortalian gained death...?

Did he steal it from Nagle?

Hades closed his eyes, death, he thought intently.

Praise be to the Pale Lord, praise be to Death.

Hades tried to sense his dark domain, but unfortunately, he felt nothing.

Hades opened his eyes in disappointment. It seemed that Mortarion didn't want his faith power, or perhaps he hadn't found the warp space of Death.

Perhaps what emerged from Hades was not "the power of faith," but rather a dark domain that devours spiritual energy.

Regardless, Hades felt a little gratified to hear that Mortarion had awakened his warp nature and had successfully amassed 350,000 troops.

Three hundred and fifty thousand Space Marines... that requires extremely strong logistical management.

These things may not have been done by Mortarion, but even if Mortarion found such talent and exploited it to help the Death Guard mass produce units, it was still extremely gratifying for Hades.

As for the possibility that Mortalian might have encountered difficulties in the Warp, Hades remained silent. He had already been absent for three thousand years, and if he were to be absent for a few more years... Mortalian should still be able to hold on.

Go Mortalian, who has awakened to the nature of the warp.

"Blake, how many Death Guard units can the Alliance deploy immediately?"

Hades asked the question casually, but Black immediately understood what the King of the Underworld meant.

“My father, due to the previous expedition of the Lord of Death, you can now command a total of 130,000 Death Guard sub-corps—but 30,000 need to be stationed in the Storm Starfield.”

One hundred thousand Space Marines, that's a lot, Hades thought.

But as if he felt guilty about it, Blake said urgently,

"You can not only command the Death Guard, but the Ultramarines are also on good terms with us. If they confirm that you are Hades, the Ultramarines will provide at least 70,000 Space Marines, as well as World Eaters. Even though their numbers are smaller, 40,000 warriors can still be squeezed out."

"And there's also the Cult of Mechanism. Since its doctrine was changed, countless Forged Worlds are your loyal followers. Even if you think the power of these Forged Worlds is too loose... then Grei and Faos can still help you return."

Upon hearing Black's words, Hades knew without a second thought that King and Kirkland had incorporated their self-created Hades Cult into the doctrines of the Mechanicus.

But this reminded Hades,

"During the ten thousand years I slept, did anything significant happen within the Cult of Mechanics?"

Blake immediately recited it like a memorized text.

"The short-sighted Mars attempted to launch an attack on the Holy Land of Hades, but the Grei'e Forging World, in conjunction with the Faos Forging World, thwarted Mars's plot. Subsequently, the Great Sages landed on Mars and rewrote the religion as Hades Religion."

"However, the rage of Mars has never been quelled. After the world of Faos announced that they had carried out the will of Hades and developed the [Quantity Bullet Bow], Mars immediately joined forces with the psionicists of Terra to launch an attack on Faos."

A bullet-shaped bow?!

Isn't this the technology of the stars?!

Hades was stunned for a moment, then burst into uncontrollable ecstasy.

Yes, code, don't wait.

Chapter 557 Sigh, I broke through but I didn't break through my defenses.