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

Page 328

Chapter 394 Hades was also baffled today.

【who? 】

Phenusmanus said,

[The Silent Order requested a meeting, on their flagship?]

The warrior Santo, who brought him the news, stood silently before Fernus, confirming the Primarch's question.

Why at this time?

Finus thought to himself that the Steel Hand was on its way to the Limit Starfield, Fugan wanted to visit Koz, so the Third Legion was also heading towards the Limit Starfield, while the Steel Hand hoped to reunite with the Emperor's Son.

Fernus tried to dredge something from his memory. He vaguely remembered that Fugen had told him that the Order of Silence had attended the Council of Nicaea as the Emperor's right hand, but after that... the silent order had once again disappeared into the darkness.

So why did they come looking for the Tenth Legion?

They still invited Phenusmanus to their warship...

Phenusmanus frowned imperceptibly. This was abrupt, but if the Order of Silence could provide a reasonable explanation, he wouldn't care about the details.

"Okay," Finus said, "tell them I'll leave immediately."

----------

Compared to ordinary legions, the Silent Order's fleet was not very large, but... it was even more silent. The ships had uniformly slender and pitch-black hulls, and any light sources that might appear on ordinary ships were obscured. Phenusmanus could even see from the exhaust flames of their ships that the engines had been modified, making the sound of them starting up even more subtle.

The skeletal, dagger-like Cocurtus floated silently in the center of the entire Silent Order fleet. Phenus saw the towering, pointed black stone towers, which gave him a suffocating sense of oppression.

The warship, painted with the image of a steel hand, was docked on the deck of the Cocurtes. The hatch opened, and the sound of gas bursting out filled the air. Amidst the hum of the engines, Phenusmanus stood at the iron-gray hatch, his iron-white eyes fixed on the person before him.

In the dim light, Charon, a member of the Royal Guard, stepped forward. Beside him, the Silent Sisters and the Red-robed Sage stood silently. Charon looked at Fernus and said, neither servile nor arrogant,

"My lord, please come with me. The battle is urgent, and Hades is waiting for you in the command room."

"Pluto also wishes to apologize to you for the rudeness of the Order of Silence, but the situation is urgent, please forgive the rudeness of the Order of Silence."

Fernus's iron-white eyes flickered, and he said indifferently,

"It's alright, take me to see him now."

The Imperial Guards stood at attention, then turned and began to lead the way. As a welcoming formation, the soulless figures displayed on both sides of the road remained motionless, like statues.

--------

It was very dark inside the Kokutes.

Perhaps, there is no light source at all here.

But this was no problem for the Primarchs and Space Marines, although Fernus was very puzzled by it. The darkness seemed to make the whole ship feel oppressive, and the deeper they went, the heavier the oppressive atmosphere became.

He glanced discreetly at the red-robed sage following behind the procession. It seemed there was a sage in the Order of Silent Repose, or perhaps a member of the Cult of Mechanics. This discovery brought Finus a sense of relief; he would naturally have more in common with someone who understood steel.

Charon swayed slightly and arrived. A silent nun opened the door for the Primarch, and white light shone down on everyone from behind the door. Fenus squinted and saw a figure in black armor standing with his back to them in front of the strategy board.

The data flow was extremely fast, and Finus even needed to pay some attention to keep up with the data stream.

As if just noticing their arrival, the person turned around and spoke with some surprise.

"Sorry, I didn't notice you coming."

He spoke naturally, then smiled and went to welcome Phenus, who stepped forward and entered the strategy room, while the guards and sages behind him saluted and disappeared into the darkness.

Hades extended his hand, and Phenus grasped it without hesitation.

The Silent Order has a Guard and Silent Sisters, which means they are directly subordinate to the Emperor, and Phenusmanus is loyal to the Emperor, and so it is.

Even though he was astonished by the existence of this near-Primarch, Fernus believed it was the Emperor's business and he didn't need to think about it.

"Pluto, the master of the Order of Silence."

Hades laughed and said,

[Phenusmanus, Commander of the Iron Hand of the Tenth Legion, Lord of Medusa.]

The two released each other's hands. Hades glanced thoughtfully at Phenus's hands, which were made of steel that gleamed with a cold, icy light. Phenus had hands covered in steel, which was also the origin of the name of the Tenth Legion.

Fenus also stared at the other half of Hades' metal brain. Influenced by the Primarch's own iron hands and the idea that flesh and blood are weak, the warriors in the Iron Hand generally like to use machinery to modify their flesh and blood bodies, and replacing their brains is not uncommon in the Iron Hand.

However… Phenus was certain that the mechanical construct that Hades brought was far superior to any electronic brain he had ever seen.

After failing to analyze Hades' mechanical brain, the Primarch turned his attention to Hades, who had white hair, looked young and handsome, but a hideous scar on one side of his metal brain obscured his original appearance.

Hades smiled, a rather polite smile, Phenus thought.

"I'm sorry to invite you in this way, but the war has begun, and I have to ensure your safety in this manner."

Hades spoke calmly, then turned and led Phenus toward the strategic board.

Has the war already begun?

As Phenus asked, he looked at Hades and seemed to pause for a moment, appearing more serious and somber.

"Yes,"

Hades said,

"A war that you can't even imagine, and the Order of Silence was founded for this purpose."

You didn't need to be so tactful.

Phenus spoke directly.

Accept reality, war, then victory. Nothing is unimaginable or unacceptable. Since time is of the essence, there's no need to waste time on pleasantries.

He looked at Hades, paused for a moment, and then smiled with relief.

"Thank God I can cooperate with such a wise legion."

Hades spoke more quickly, his gaze shifting upwards to the map, and Phenus's gaze followed.

"Then I'll be frank. The Silent Order has received an urgent order from Terra to fight in Cygnus-X1. According to Terra's information, all legions near the Misty Starfield have been sent orders to obey the Silent Order's commands."

The Steel Hand did not receive this message.

Phenusmanus spoke calmly, while awaiting Hades's reaction.

But Hades just smiled helplessly and said,

"That's right. In fact, the information received by the Order of Silence is also incomplete—which can all be explained by the fact that we are about to go to war with the warp creatures, and long-distance communication is done through the warp, which means you may not be receiving orders from Terra."

Hades blinked and said softly,

“I was already aware of this, so I don’t expect you to trust me completely, Finus.”

Damn the subspace, Hades thought. This was intentional. As for why Hades was able to receive the communication... obviously, that was also intentional. Hades was quite certain that the erased information contained some important content, but he would most likely never know.

Phenus remained silent, his brow furrowed in a knot, while Hades waited patiently. Taking advantage of Phenus's silence, Hades once again checked the distress signals that the Silent Order had sent to the other three legions.

Finally, Fernus's firm voice rang out.

[You just mentioned a warp-space being, Pluto.]

As if anticipating Phenus's question, Hades answered without hesitation.

"Yes, warp creatures. I will give you a compendium of warp creatures known to the Order of Silence, as well as how to fight them. It is the Order of Silence's duty."

He watched as Finus turned his head, his iron-grey eyes calmly fixed on him, but beneath that placid, steely surface, something was trembling violently.

I remember now.

Finus said,

[You were Hades, the former commander of the Death Guard, weren't you?]

Phenus gazed at Hades.

Mortarian mentioned you to me before, but I didn't recognize you just now. I always thought...

Phenus swallowed the rest of his sentence, suddenly realizing how foolish it was that he hadn't recognized Hades.

This time, Hades was stunned.

"...Why did Mortarian bring me up in front of you?"

Hades felt completely bewildered.

"No, that's not the point. We can catch up later."

Hades hurriedly said,

“If you are still confused about the Order of Silence and this decree, then I can explain.”

【No,】

Phenus shook his head.

This is the key point.

Hades felt lost for the first time.

When and where did Mortarian and Fernus get together? He remembered that they had a terrible relationship.

And how did he end up in their conversation? Or is it because Mortarion always praises his commander to everyone he meets?

That's it! Great!

Chapter 395 Let Fernus Open His Eyes

Hades had little expectation for this meeting.

Primarchs are known for their eccentricities, and Hades's invitation to board the Silent Order's ship to test their loyalty was "somewhat" rude. Hades wasn't even sure if the Primarch would accept his invitation until Fernus responded to the Silent Order.

Therefore, Hades was very moved when Phenus gladly accepted Hades' invitation.

When Phenus said there was no need for formalities, Hades thought he could award Phenus an Imperial Award for Touching Heart.

Time is of the essence, and the sooner we reach the Eye of Terror to uncover the truth, the better. However, gaining the trust of the Cooperative Legion is also essential. Primarchs like Fernus, who are willing to entrust their trust simply by presenting facts and the truth, are extremely rare.

Logically, with the two STEM talents' thinking aligned, Hades' next concern should be how to get the warriors of the Iron Hands used to fighting against warp creatures in advance.

but……

What did Fernus mean by what he just said?

Hades hesitated slightly before looking at Phenus, and as if sensing Hades' confusion, Phenus, who had been suddenly lost in memories, spoke directly, staring at Hades.

I once spoke with the Lord of Death...

Fernus frowned slightly, carefully choosing his words.

[Matters concerning subspace.]

Phenus noticed that Hades was staring at him somewhat blankly, but then Hades spoke.

"What did you see, Fernus?"

Hades asked without hesitation.

“Motalian won’t reveal information to unsuspecting people without a reason… unless you’ve seen something.”

Fernus's brow furrowed so deeply he looked at Hades as if assessing whether Hades knew these things.

After a brief silence, Phenus made his choice. The Lord of Medusa gently shook his head and looked away.

Mortarion trusts you, and I trust Mortarion.

I hope you deserve this trust, Hades, though I am puzzled by your existence.

Hades opened his arms. Phenus was different from the other Primarchs; Phenus himself had said that he was the Emperor's instrument. Perhaps Phenus and Hades shared some common ground in their self-perception and understanding of themselves.

“I am responsible to humanity and the Empire, Fernus. Everything I do is based on the preservation of humanity as much as possible, and in my current capacity, I will do everything in my power to prevent the warp from encroaching on the physical world—even if it is Mortarion, if he hinders the future of humanity…”

Hades paused, his tone becoming lighter.

"But that's also why Mortarian trusts me."

Fernus smiled slightly, his lips pressed tightly together, but he quickly regained his composure.

It seems our collaboration will go very smoothly, Hades.

Phenus swallowed briefly. As expected, he saw the red light in Hades' left eye flash, but his calm voice still trembled slightly.

I saw something similar to Fugen.