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

Page 276

At the time, he didn't know much, and Makado persuaded him to leave using vague language and information from his friend.

The Emperor...is he researching the technology of a foreign race?

No, no, no, no, Mortarion can understand that; the Death Guard itself has similar secrets, but what about this planet's...?

Mortarian instinctively reached for the black bullet at his waist, and he called for the foundry—

Then he realized he was all alone.

Mortarian felt his breathing become steady. He remained alert and without hesitation crushed a black bullet, sprinkling the powder on his body before retreating.

At least he had seen the basic structure of the teleportation device. Mortarian was now certain that they wouldn't be suddenly teleported away, and the device obviously couldn't be destroyed by a few black bullets. Mortarian suspected that even if the Ghost Knight came, it would be difficult to destroy it.

But it is also this device that provides energy for the illusion.

Just as Mortarion was pondering his next move, ripples of psionic energy spread beneath the archway, and some reflections appeared at the Primarch's feet. Mortarion couldn't tell whether those reflections came from the past, the present, or the future, nor did he know where the true owners of these reflections were.

Inside the hall made of alien bones, two Elven beings with pointed ears and slender fingers were conversing.

Mortarian was puzzled as to why he could hear the voices of the two Eldar.

But now he really has no way to shut these two Elven race members up.

The opening that's more pointed than the ear,

"The steelworker needs to make his own choice, and we can't choose for him. But the blacksmith has already been chosen, and he loves him more than we think, which means it's even harder for us to interfere."

Steel…is that Phenus? And the blacksmith…Vulcan?

Another Elven, whose teeth were somewhat protruding, interrupted him.

"Where are the guardians? The turbulent river has changed course many times."

Mortarian's breathing became heavy; he felt offended.

"Hard to say."

Pointed ears with open mouths

"If he accepts, in the distant future, his fate will be deeply intertwined with that of other races—not just us."

The man with buck teeth asked,

"Is it impossible to judge whether it's good or bad?"

"A mixed bag of joy and sorrow."

The phantom disappeared.

In the original story, Ibsen's planet is actually very strange, with a dreamlike feel to it. This planet is attacked by three legions: the Death Guard, the Salamanders, and the Iron Hand. Both the Salamanders and the Iron Hand have short stories related to this battle.

I couldn't find a Chinese translation for the "Feature of Iron" episode of "The Iron Hand," so I only skimmed through a few parts of the raw version. The Eldar prophecy, Vulcan's desire to enter the tunnels, and the scenes in the tunnels, besides Mortarion's visions and the Emperor's guidance to Vulcan, are all scenes from the original book, but I completely modified them. You could say I just put a shell on it.

That's all for today!

I'm exhausted from military training lately. I wrote this hastily after it ended, so I'm not in a great state. Please forgive me.

Chapter 330 When Mortalian was trapped in the tunnel

Hades paused for a moment, holding the battle report. He blinked in confusion, the embellished victory statements on the Ultramarines' battle report looking at him with bewilderment.

"what happened?"

Hades spoke casually beside him, while the emperor himself was reviewing the documents submitted by Macado.

"No...it's nothing. Maybe someone is talking about me behind my back."

The Emperor looked up and gave Hades a meaningful glance, but instead of explaining his actions, he paused and then asked,

"Hades, what's your opinion on the Primarch?"

Hades opened his mouth, not believing this was a topic that could be discussed in a single day; drawing conclusions about nineteen Primarchs with such distinct personalities was a difficult task—

Even for Mortalian, it took him years to figure out his brother Mortalian's astonishing thought process.

At the same time, the questioner's identity also turned this question into a potential disaster.

But Hades did have a universal answer...

Hades' smile twitched twice.

"Ah... well... they all look a lot like you."

Then Hades watched in astonishment as a slightly bright smile gradually appeared on the Emperor's face.

The emperor seemed quite pleased with this statement.

“They still have many shortcomings, but they are indeed similar to me in some ways—not exactly the same, and their essence was not entirely given to them by me.”

Hades' answer seemed to pique the Emperor's interest, and he continued to press Hades with great enthusiasm.

"Hades, you have been with my son Mortalian for a long time. What do you think of Mortalian as a Primarch?"

The Emperor noticed that when Hades was looking through the battle reports of different legions, he seemed to linger particularly long on the reports of the Ultramarines, Blood Angels, and White Scars.

Although Hades also spent a lot of time studying the battle reports of the Iron Warriors and the Iron Hand, staring at strategic maps and data calculations was clearly a different reaction than simply staring at pictures of Space Marines.

Hades stared at the Emperor, then put down the battle report in his hand—this was still a deadly question, and far more daunting than before.

Hades spoke seriously.

"Mortalian is an excellent legion commander. Under his leadership, the Death Guard has a very strong sense of cohesion. At the same time, his personal stance is reliable enough. Mortalian is extremely loyal to pure humans and extremely averse to psionic energy, warp, and aliens. Both Mortalian and the Death Guard are extremely loyal and stable. Therefore, I personally recommend increasing material aid to the Death Guard."

The emperor smiled and asked casually,

Why are you getting nervous, Hades?

If the mind could be visualized, then Hades would now be shaped like a sweating soybean.

Yeah, why do you think that is, Neos?

"Hades, I just..."

The emperor spoke slowly.

"I hope we can have a casual chat. I'm quite happy with Mortarian, although I know he has some friction with Macado."

Hades stared at the Emperor, carefully choosing his words.

"I need to make sure you won't make any bad changes to the future of Mortalian and the Death Guard because of my words."

The emperor shook his head.

“Your worries are unfounded. I am not perfect, nor are my offspring. Leon Johnson is unapproachable, Peturabo is stubborn and extreme, Horus is arrogant and hypocritical, and Robert Guilliman is overthinking and impulsive… It is true that the demigods people talk about are flawed.”

"Since you already know, Neos, why don't you give them a few pointers?"

The emperor remained silent.

“I am not omnipotent. How can I stop Guilliman’s sometimes overactive mind? I can’t do it, Hades. Primarchs are miracles I created. Their growth is destined to be accompanied by painful and broken trials. If it were arranged artificially, it would consume countless manpower and resources.”

"There are no walls in this world that will never collapse, and no steel that will never rust. As long as we are human, there is always the possibility of falling into the abyss."

"not to mention,"

The emperor picked up his teacup and slowly took a sip.

"Even if they did not grow up, as generals of the Great Expedition, and as tools, they were qualified."

He looked at Hades, who silently gazed back at him. Although Hades' warp projections continued to disgust the Emperor, the Emperor could not deduce Hades' feelings from this disgust—

But Hades would understand his words, the Emperor thought.

Sure enough, Hades scratched his head in despair and started rummaging through the snack box in front of him for something to eat.

“Alright, Neos, I still suggest you pay more attention to Fugen, Peturabo, Horus…”

The emperor nodded.

"Now answer my question, Hades, what kind of Primarch is Mortarion?"

Hades' gaze, which had been fixed on the Macragge pastries, returned to the Emperor. Hades sighed deeply, and then spoke.

"This sounds like tattling to your parents, Neos."

The Emperor remained unmoved, staring expressionlessly at Hades, as if to say that Hades must provide an equivalent message in return for what he had just said.

Hades felt as if the Emperor was saying with his eyes that if Hades continued to evade the topic, he would call Macado over and let the young man deal with him.

Hades waved his hand.

“Uh… Mortalian… I think he was born with a fondness for humans, because we lured him away the moment he saw them. As for his aversion to psionic power and oppression, that was cultivated and solidified during the liberation of Barbarus.”

"I don't talk much because that's just how it is in Barbarus, you know, Neos. People there try not to talk if they can, but I'm always the one who can't stay quiet. But Mortarion has a good sense of humor—though I think he would be better off without it."

Hades paused, seemingly hesitant about whether to speak, but ultimately he did.

"actually,"

Hades said,

“I can sense that at the very beginning, Mortalian’s motivation was mostly out of fear. He always seemed to think that things would go wrong, so he would prepare in advance or fall into depression, which also made him distrustful of others.”

"Then... after meeting humans and the Death Guard, his motivation gradually changed to [the desire to protect something], so he always enjoyed spending time with the Barbarus or wandering around the Death Guard training room."

This would be a good quality, provided that he finishes his work before he goes out for entertainment.

“He doesn’t want to lose them… but at the same time he doesn’t have a strong desire for things to get better. Unless the situation becomes so critical that it would ruin everything, Mortarion always prefers to maintain the status quo, whether it’s Barbaros or the Death Guard.”

"Sometimes it's a good thing, sometimes it's puzzling, but thankfully I managed to persuade him to come back."

Hades was silent for a moment.

"...I hope I've managed to persuade him to come back."

Hades shifted his gaze and saw the Emperor staring at him with considerable interest, seemingly pleased with Hades' words.

"I am very happy,"

Hades listened to the Emperor's words in silence. He felt that the Emperor was happy to tell him every day. Was this some kind of catchphrase?

“You are indeed a friend who cares about Mortalian, not someone who is simply misled by Primarch traits; you have seen the real him.”

Hades smiled, a slightly arrogant smirk playing on his lips.

“I am a psionic insulator, Neos. When have I ever been bewitched by Primarch traits? Their charm aura has no effect on me.”

The Emperor smiled, said nothing, and glanced at the Ultramarines battle report that Hades had previously placed down.

Yay! I typed it out!

Speaking of the Ascended Fugen, how cool! My loyalty to Mortalian wavered for a second.

Okay, I'm still not a big fan of the Emperor.

Chapter 331 A Reliable Death Guard

The mist swept over the pale armor, blurring the boundary between reality and thought.

A flickering light shone at the other end of the archway, and countless Eldar faces were carved on the stone arch. They were either sad or happy, laughing or crying, but without exception, under the eerie light and mist, the pupils of these stone sculptures were fixed on Mortarian.

A faint creaking sound rang out as Mortarion gripped the giant scythe of oblivion, his eyes hidden beneath his hood, poisonous gas emanating from his mask.

He had nowhere to go.

The Lord of Death had reached the end of the tunnel. To his left was a stone archway teleportation device. Mortalian could tell that this teleportation device had a very strong connection to the Warp—perhaps the other side of the archway was the Warp.

The extremely strong psionic energy fluctuations here were also provided by this teleportation device, but Mortarian judged that he alone would not be able to destroy this building.

To Mortalian's right was that eerie illusionary room, which Mortalian refused to even glance at again; he neither accepted nor recalled it.

But when he tried to retreat, the seemingly endless corridor trapped him there.

Mortarian began walking along the wall, the same stone wall, the same mist that shrouded his entire vision. When the door to the next room appeared before him, the Lord of Death was surprised to find that it was not Phenusmanus inside, but the same room that had been prepared for him.

Mortarion whirled around, and to his left stood the familiar Eldar sculpture, gazing silently at him.

Mortarian cursed inwardly, and he began to miss Hades once again.

Two doors stood on his left and right, as if forcing him to make a choice. Both the way forward and backward were blocked. For him, was it left or right?

Mortarian remained expressionless. He would never be so foolish as to make a choice according to the enemy's wishes and fall into their trap.

He first spent a moment hurling insults at Vulcan and Phenusmanus, as well as those Eldar who should be chopped up and thrown into the compost pit.