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

Page 203

The Death Guards don't need any instructions; they'll hide their green-glowing weapons themselves.

Hades asked himself, "The Death Guard doesn't really have many secrets."

He's just someone who knows a little about the future, possesses some necromancy technology, an anti-psychic force, and is a special kind of tech guy. That's all.

Hmm. Hades sat in his office chair, burying his head between his crossed arms. The documents on his desk were almost drowning him, and the command screen in front of him was emitting a faint blue light.

Not much, not much at all—

Isn't that just another ghost?!

Just knowing about the rebellion and corruption is enough to be a bombshell, not to mention what's called necromancy technology to put it nicely, but what's called unauthorized research into alien technology to put it bluntly, and the Death Guard's seemingly crazy Mechanicus partners.

Even more dangerous is the recent appearance of missionaries within the military.

These points alone are enough to put Death Guard on a fire to roast.

Hades turned his head and glanced at the giant scythe-wielding Oglin, who was reviewing the battle report. Mortarian was clearly puzzled by the report submitted by the officers below and was squinting at the thing.

It seems someone is going to suffer.

Hades covered his eyes, wondering how things had come to this.

What the hell is going on?

They clearly just wanted to get rid of the Nurgle threat. Developing necromancy technology or anti-phantom forces were all good things, so why?

[Commander Hades, the Dark Angels have arrived.]

As Gara's voice came through the channel, Hades immediately sat up straight.

[Ahem, Galo, just do the normal docking.]

Yes, Hades sent Garo to receive the Dark Angels, while he and Mortarion wrote a report on the campaign aboard the Endurance.

The reason, naturally, is that they don't want to work. No, it's because the leader of this group of dark angels is Astram, so Hades decisively sent out Gara.

Because Astram is also of Terran descent.

Not only that, Astram was one of the first five thousand Space Marines, one of the first to follow the Emperor, and even participated in the campaign to wipe out the Thunder Warriors. He also possessed the Chaos Resistance Aura bestowed upon him by the Emperor.

But this Terran veteran, who was fully buffed, ultimately chose to betray the Lion King, becoming a fallen angel with a terrible reputation.

Although judging from the First Legion's convoluted relationship chart, this guy seems to be an extreme egoist, he may not necessarily have truly betrayed the Empire.

The existence of the inner ring further obscures the truth, blurring the lines between reality and illusion.

The only thing Hades was certain of was that Astram loathed the Lion King and was being marginalized by him; otherwise, he wouldn't be here on an insignificant side battlefield.

At the same time, this guy was extremely cunning. After Astram became a fallen angel and was arrested, the strong men in the Stone Fortress tied him up and interrogated him for fifteen years, demanding that he repent.

This guy not only didn't repent, but he also brainwashed the interrogating priest.

This is what talent looks like! This is talent!

Therefore, Hades decided to send Galo to investigate first, rather than showing himself, in case he couldn't keep up the act.

But Gara will definitely be fine; this combat company commander is best at communicating with others without any expression.

As long as he doesn't show any expression, he won't give himself away.

In fact, Hades reasonably suspects that Garo has facial paralysis. Moreover, other warriors of the Death Guard also exhibit similar tendencies, such as being taciturn.

Hmm. Hades glanced thoughtfully in Mortarian's direction again, but Mortarian always wore a mask, so who knew if he was also expressionless?

"Welcome, brothers of the First Legion."

The somber white of bone and the deep black of night, the representatives of the two legions shook hands, their hands hard and utterly indifferent.

“Death Guardian, Garo.”

"Dark Angel, Astram."

Garo silently watched the dark angel. His power armor had clearly been carefully maintained, but it still bore the marks of time, with fine scratches and dents.

Garo's power armor was also far from clean; in fact, Deathguards' power armor was never very clean.

Their Primarchs don't care too much about appearance, and neither do the other Death Guards who can guide the Legion, so the Death Guards aren't that particular about maintaining their armor.

Other legions might find this behavior hard to understand, but just as the Death Guards don't care about their armor, they don't care about how others look at them.

Just like now, Gara could read a strange expression in Astran's silent eyes.

It's more like... mutual appreciation?

Galo knows Astram, which is why he is standing here now, not Hades.

After learning that the ship on the opposite side was Astran, Hades decisively sent Gara.

Galo also remembered that Hades paused for a moment, which was unusual for him, after hearing Astram.

Sometimes, Gara was really curious as to why a new recruit who had only been in the legion for less than a hundred years could be more familiar with things than him.

Even if you use the explanation of having been to Mars, Galo has never seen any other master foundry like this. Compared to interpersonal relationships, those people are clearly more familiar with gears.

But Hades immediately rushed over, howling, interrupting his thoughts.

"Galo, it's up to you now! Play it safe with him! The Death Guard's little secret depends on you!"

Hades grasped Gara's hand with a bewildered expression, muttering strange words.

Galo watched Hades in silence, used to the commander's intermittent bouts of illness, but this at least meant that Hades was confident about this meeting.

"When fellow villagers meet, their eyes well up with tears."

Yes, Astram is also of Terran descent, just like Garo.

Not only that, Astram was among the earliest Space Marines, served the Emperor the longest, and knew the most.

They know the most.

However, it seems that his loyalty to the Emperor did not bring him glory in the First Legion.

Garo carefully protected the dents on his power armor, knowing full well what it meant: their legion didn't care about them, and supplies weren't being delivered promptly.

Galo remained silent; for him in the past, this truth was just one of many possibilities.

Although the current approval process is not exactly exciting, at least the legion commander and the general are still willing to throw these classified documents onto his desk.

“I recognize you. Terra’s brother.”

Astland spoke slowly.

“Yes,” Galo nodded.

"For the Emperor."

The two said it in unison, then smiled knowingly.

"It's a pleasure to meet you; at least we can talk about the glories of the past."

Astlan smiled, but Gara wasn't sure if he was being sincere or just testing him.

Galo paused, then spoke hesitantly.

"Glory accompanies the Great Expedition, at all times."

But Garo's previous silence had already revealed his stance to Astram, that is, they might both have some reservations about the Primarch.

No, although Garo did think Mortarion should process more documents, Mortarion was indeed competent. The Primarch's concern for the Legion was palpable, even if he wasn't always at his best.

That's why he needs other Death Guards to help him improve. In this respect, Garo actually has no complaints about Mortarion.

But he needed to project an image of gratitude that Hades had reviewed the operation, so Galo had no other concerns. The unconventional commander could certainly read the atmosphere on the scene without needing to say anything more.

Astram nodded and continued the conversation.

“We followed in the footsteps of the alien race, and we know all too well how dangerous and cunning they are. Brother Garo, please allow me to ask, how much blood and sacrifice has your legion paid for this?”

Galo remained silent for a long time before slowly speaking, his voice tinged with difficulty.

"There are many, far more than I imagined."

This refers to ammunition consumption; the ammunition is basically depleted.

Astran blinked, and without a moment's hesitation, solemnly bowed to Gara.

"The Dark Angels should have been here to share your pain, but we are too late—"

"No, brothers, it was your pursuit that caused these Randan fleets to panic and stumble into the trap set by the Death Guard. The swift end of this battle was inseparable from your help."

On the other end of the channel, Hades listened to Galo and Astran arguing back and forth, each trying to be humble.

Act, and continue acting.

In fact, according to the probes that Hades deployed on the Death Guard fleet and on Mining Planet 3, the Dark Angels had already conducted a rough reconnaissance of the Death Guard fleet during the time that Astram and Garo were bickering.

Otherwise, why would Hades still be sitting here? Wouldn't it be better to just go and make a spontaneous trip? He's not really resting.

The Dark Angels, of course, couldn't detect anything. After all, the Dark Domain wasn't like psionic energy, which left behind strange symbols on the ground after use. The Dark Domain was readily available and easily eliminated.

The Ran Dan flagship was also filled with poison gas by the Death Guard. The corpses without external injuries were rotting in the gas, so that no one could find out how they died.

The motorists who had been shouting on Juste also shut up. Although these motorists seemed crazy, when they really got smart, their acting skills were better than anyone else's.

After a cursory review, the dark angels naturally found nothing. Although a thorough investigation would certainly uncover something fishy, ​​these dark angels had neither the motive nor the reason to investigate in detail.

Hades listened to the conversation between Garo and Astram while keeping an eye on the information coming from the command screen. He could tell that the Dark Angels who had been "exiled" to the side battlefield harbored a lot of resentment towards the Lion King.

As for their vigilance—

“My ‘brother’ is still too sensitive.”

Mortalian finished reviewing the mountain of battle reports, and the Primarch walked over, staring at the screen in front of Hades.

"It's probably because the Randan people have put them on too high a nerve; the Randan are indeed not easy to deal with."

Hades said casually, continuing to listen to the banter between Garo and Astran on the channel. As expected of Terrans, they had already begun reminiscing about conquering the solar system.

"Difficult to deal with?"

Mortarion roughly recalled the entire process of the Death Guard fighting Randan, which could hardly be described as "difficult to deal with".

But if it weren't for Hades, Mortalian thought about it. Enemies that could be controlled by psionic energy were indeed troublesome. In this operation, some mortals were also controlled by the other side, causing a small-scale loss of control.

But it's still not to the point of being "difficult to deal with".

That can only mean one thing: Leon Johnson doesn't—

Hades, who was drinking water, almost spat it out.

Mortarian shifted his gaze back to that direction.

"what are you doing?"

"Cough cough cough, it's nothing, it's nothing."

Hades waved his hands repeatedly, mainly because he had been listening to the conversation between Garo and Astram.

In reality, Hades underestimated Gara's interpersonal skills. He probably received a message from the Dark Angels that Astran had begun to subtly tell Gara that they did not want to get involved in the Death Guard's battle.

This guy was bragging about how many men they had brought, but Hades thought he was just playing the victim, implying that the Yin-Yang Lion was inhuman.

Galo naturally understood, and calmly told Astran that the glory of this battle would naturally be divided equally among them.

It was Hades's doing, of course; they didn't care about that anyway.

Oh, Mortarian might have cared before, but it doesn't matter now. After experiencing the lives of several brothers, Mortarian realized that achieving the same glory as them might be a disgrace.

The person on the other end also understood Jialuo's underlying meaning, and the two of them, like a double act, agreed on the terms in one voice and the other in another.

The Dark Angels will have glory, while the Death Guards will replenish the ammunition of their pursuing fleet to facilitate their return.

Having suffered heavy losses in the war, the Dark Angels naturally did not participate in the subsequent cleanup work.

Hades tapped the table. These dark angels sounded like they were trying to get something for nothing, even though they didn't ask for anything important.

Hades and the Death Guard hadn't wanted to keep a low profile.

Hades really wanted to praise the other side for their talent. Their ability to take advantage of the situation and their skill in feigning ignorance were truly worthy of the First Legion; their acting was superb.

From Astland's perspective, he and his fleet were "exiled" to a remote battlefield, which already made him dissatisfied with the Lion King.

They encountered the Death Guard again, who seemed to have his own "little secret." After a preliminary screening and based on Gara's assessment of his stance, they decisively chose to stop advancing and take what they could to get before running away.

In any case, each legion has its own affairs to some extent. Except for the obsessed Alpha, they can't see it until the Emperor gives the official order.

It's unclear how he'll report back to the First Legion. But Hades is already prepared for the First Legion to be on guard against them.