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

Chapter 701 149. [Before the Assassination]

【past】

【Terra】

They were all very happy at that time, although they felt busy and tired sometimes.

But the malice of this world is far greater than they imagined - the vast ocean is staring at them, on the other side far away from the five senses.

【another beautiful day.】

Angron’s voice came from behind him. Guilliman smelled the fragrance of pastries, but he did not turn around to check, but buried his head in thought in the copy room at the table.

The faint light of early morning sprinkled on the paper in front of Regent Guilliman. The sky was just getting bright, and a few stars were still dotted in the light gray sky, gradually disappearing in the sunlight.

The smoked parchment exudes a faint aroma.

[Ding ding,]

Angron put down the dessert plate in his hand, and the plate hit the desk with a crisp sound.
[Puff pastry shells, cannoli, maritozzo, and a few other variations—I went to the kitchen to pick up some treats.]

Guilliman originally wanted to continue reviewing the documents, but Angron's arm had already been inserted between him and the documents without any explanation, so Guilliman took a deep breath and raised his eyes.

The butcher's nails on Angron's head had been removed long ago. The Primarch did not choose a bald head or neat short hair. Influenced by his hometown, Angron grew his hair long and combed it into dreadlocks.

However, the moment Guilliman looked up, he found that Angron was staring at him intently, and Guilliman suddenly felt something was wrong.

Angron is extremely sensitive to emotions, and when the Lord of Red Sand's eyes, as rough and clear as the red sand in the arena, stare at you, you know that he has seen through you.

Even after working with Angron for a long time, Guilliman still hadn't gotten used to this feeling. The Primarchs all valued privacy, but Angron could directly peel off their masks.

As expected, Angron uttered a non-offensive question.

[Still worried? Why not eat some dessert first? 】

[I must make adequate plans.]

Guilliman reached out his hand to take the snacks brought by Angron. The Lord of Red Sand pushed the plate aside. Guilliman decisively ignored the cannoli and maritozzo that would dirty his hands and chose the mille-feuille.

A slightly sweet taste bloomed on the tip of the tongue. This was Guilliman's last stubbornness in front of Angron. He found that the taste of the Lord of Red Sand was a bit sweet for a Macragge man - but still within the tolerable range.

But this subtle emotion was not noticed by the Lord of Red Sand, otherwise Angron would have brought a cup of coffee next time.

Guilliman had no intention of letting Angron know this, as a small retort to his emotional changes being seen through.

Seeing him eating, Angron did not press him too hard. The Lord of Red Sand took two steps at the right time to fiddle with the plants that Guilliman had placed on the windowsill.

"I understand you, Guilliman, but this journey of ours is bound to go wrong."

Angron smiled, the Lord of Mankind was about to wake up, and they planned to travel around the Imperium, gather faith, and lay the foundation for Guilliman's retirement plan, to see if the government on Terra could function normally without Guilliman and Sanguinius.

[There will always be various mistakes, so let people try to get rid of the original body's management. ]

Guilliman nodded. He was indeed a little hungry, and picked up another puff pastry.

Working all night to review documents, Guilliman was checking the bills from the Tax Department. This part was too complicated, so he had to check it all night. Guilliman estimated that he would need another week to check the accounts for this quarter.

So there needs to be a record.

Guilliman said,

"They can make mistakes, but I need to make sure their mistakes don't turn into big mistakes."

Angron paused, and then he wandered aimlessly in Guilliman's study again, his eyes sweeping across Guilliman's bookshelf, "The Republic", "Leviathan", "Shakespeare Fragments"... Guilliman loved collecting political and literary works of Ancient Terra.

To Guilliman's surprise, he had seen this brother who preferred to spar in the arena quietly reading.
Angron preferred to read absurd tragedies that depicted the failure of the resistance of the lower classes, as well as some children's picture books with unique styles. This discovery shocked Guilliman greatly, and he realized that Angron might be far more cautious and delicate than he appeared.

Although the picture of a scarred, muscular man with dreadlocks reading a children's picture book seriously is too strange.

I sometimes think,

Angron looked thoughtful, avoiding his gaze as Guilliman reached for the cannoli. He guessed that Guilliman had only wanted to have a bite, but in reality, the Primarch was now hungry.

And once Guilliman had gotten his hands dirty, he would choose to go to breakfast with Angron rather than continue reviewing documents.

This requires step-by-step guidance.

【Have we spoiled the officials too much, Guilliman? We should let humans grow up on their own.】

Angron laughed again.
[No, I didn’t actually do anything.]

So we need a complete training system.

Guilliman said that he did not intend to approve the document. The plate of snacks brought by Angron was simply a drop in the bucket for the Primarch's size.

[A complete official school, a religious school, and transfer back to Terra based on performance after thirty years of being posted abroad. There are also at least thirteen error correction mechanisms. I don't think the current system needs to be changed.]

【I mean,】

Angron spread out his hands.
[You said, do people think that the Primarch is immortal? I mean, they are not mentally ready to fully mature.]

Angron stared at the white hair at Guilliman's temples. During the years he worked with Guilliman, Angron deeply realized the destructive power of government affairs. It was powerful enough to kill a demigod with ease.

Angron thought he was the one who was slain on the horse.

Angron felt a little annoyed again. He shouldn't have mentioned these things while Guilliman was eating. This would make the Primarch feel negative when he ate next time.

But he had no other choice. Guilliman kept ignoring a batch of documents, and the closer it got to the departure date, the more Guilliman started to spin like a busy top.

Born to be a hard worker.

Angron felt some emotion and sympathy. He thought that Guilliman should let go sometimes and allow some mistakes, but Guilliman could not forgive himself for his dereliction of duty.

Guilliman paused, and suddenly asked,
[How about Sanguinius? ]

[He doesn't plan to have breakfast with us. He is still practicing and trying to communicate with the Lord of Humanity.]

Sanguinius tried again and again to visit the Lord of Mankind, and he sat beneath the Golden Throne, pondering for days.

After each meditation, the light on Sanguinius became brighter.

[You mean…]

Guilliman hesitated, but Angron spoke immediately.
[No political associations allowed, Guilliman. I mean that literally.]

Well, actually Angron was hinting at their attitude towards the Emperor, but Guilliman mistook it for Sanguinius and Mortarion.

Guilliman was so realistic that his attention would be focused first on the recent disputes.

【I thought you were talking about what our brother said. 】

There was a second of silence between them. Mortarion had solemnly warned them not to expand the Ecclesiarchy any further, and had told Angron and Guilliman to be on the lookout for Sanguinius.

[So how is Mortarion now? ]

【Nothing is different.】

Guilliman said casually,

[The accounts reported by Storm Star Region are all false.]

Angron laughed.

[You should teach him how to fake it, or maybe your review is too strict. ]

[I don't deny that Mortarion's forgery skills are superb, but some of the traces are too crude——]

Guilliman paused, hesitating.
【It's like it was written by someone who has never experienced political struggle.】

Angron could not deny that
[The Death Guard is a one-man show.]

He said, at least for now.

[He has some candidates for correction... but I think the descendants of Mortarion are not willing to strongly resist the original body. ]

They all remembered at the same time another Death Guard who was claimed to be missing or dead.

Guilliman shook his head. [I am worried about him. After the explosion on Cadia... Mortarion's condition is not stable.]

This was something that anyone with a discerning eye could see. Mortarion had obviously become more extreme and unstable. His psychic power, like his broken and extreme thoughts, was attacking everyone unconsciously.

Guilliman heard something even worse from the joint report of the Assassins' Court and the Inquisition, that Mortarion might have lost control and killed his offspring on the Endurance.

Out of caution and believing that Mortarion would not wish this known to others, Guilliman did not inform his other brothers and simply sealed all the files.

However, the Grand Master of the Assassin's Court, Sevatar, who came to report, did not care about this matter at all. Sevatar's original words were,
"It's just killing a few Space Marines of our Legion."

Accompanied by the bat's unique sneer.

Angron paused, smiling bitterly in his heart. In fact, the Lord of the Red Sands believed that the existing Primarchs were all mentally unstable. Sanguinius was distant and indifferent, Guilliman was busy and anxious, Mortarion...

Mortarion's state of mind was so beautiful that even Angron was frightened by the sight.

The Lord of Red Sand strongly suggested that Mortarion stay with him for a while, but Mortarion firmly refused. The Lord of Pale Sand reasoned that his current behavior was simply chaotic due to psychic instability.

Sometimes he showed extraordinary calmness and composure, as if he didn't care about anything; sometimes he was extremely paranoid, as if everything was against him.

Angron hoped that Mortarion would give him some slack and let him relax. It had been more than two thousand years, and it was time for him to let it go.

But... Angron smiled bitterly in his heart. Under the starry sky of Terra, the Lord of Red Sand would sometimes wake up on the edge of dream and reality, with red eyes, as if he had returned to the day when his gladiator teacher died.

【I suggest—I suggest that we go have breakfast now.】

Angron shrugged, passing over the conversation.

………………

【past】

【Storm Star Territory】

【Mortarion says he doesn't intend to see us.】

Angron leaned against the observation window, half of his face pressed against the cold window, staring at the hive planet in front of them with a bit of loss.

This is a very prosperous hive city, serving as a diplomatic node between the Storm Segment Region and the Empire. In the two largest hive cities on the north and south sides of the planet, there are churches that cover almost half of the plate.

One side is golden, representing the state religion; the other side is dark, representing the underworld religion.

The Dark Cult is a unique organization in the Storm Star Domain established by the Pale Lord himself.

Sanguinius stood beside the seated Angron, frowning as he stared into the darkness of the hemisphere.

Angron stared out the window for a while, then turned his head away when he became bored and reached out to stroke the archangel's feathers.

[I never thought that the scale of the Dark Cult would be this large.]

It was hard to tell the difference in Sanguinius's eyes. When there was a state religion, establishing another religion was a taboo. But with Sanguinius's forgiveness, Mortarion still used the Cult of Hades to resist the infiltration of the state religion.

Are you dissatisfied?

Angron asked casually, picking up the golden chain between the white feathers with his hands to play with it. Sanguinius may have felt itchy, and his wings moved slightly.

【I just……】

Sanguinius sighed softly.

[I don't know how to face our brother. He hates me.]

Mortarion is like that.

Angron said, laughing,

[Don't take it too seriously, he just has a bad face, but he actually cares about people in his heart. ]

To appease the angel, Angron lied.

The last time they met, Mortarion's heart stunk more than his face.

Thinking of this, Angron looked at Sanguinius again. Sanguinius' mood remained the same as always, like a fluffy and glowing ball of feathers, but now the light was slightly dimmed because Sanguinius was in a bad mood.

Angron had also made up his mind. He would not leave the Storm Star Region at this opportunity. Since Mortarion could not come, he would go there.

Mortarion was disgusted with Sanguinius and Guilliman, so Angron thought it would be best to leave Mortarion alone for a while.

He planned to talk to Mortarion, anything to talk about, as long as it could make Mortarion come out of his fanatical paranoia, or in other words, as long as it could make Mortarion feel better.

From the beginning, Angron realized that Mortarion had an extremely insecure feeling, and apart from his comrades, he believed that the entire world was against him.

In response to this, Angron specifically searched for the origin of Mortarion. He believed that it was his childhood experiences under his adoptive father that led to Mortarion's mental disability, and subsequent events aggravated his persecution delusions.

Even though Guilliman and Sanguinius were also flawed, their personalities were still able to heal themselves.

Angron was silent. After he fell asleep due to the battle with the Void Dragon, the other Primarchs did not pay attention to Mortarion's situation. He was a little annoyed that he had not noticed that something was wrong with Mortarion before.

Sanguinius sighed again, bringing Angron back to reality.

[I am not an unreasonable person... Then let us see what the Dark Religion he founded is. ]

Before this, because of his identity, Sanguinius had never set foot in the territory of the Cult of the Underworld.

Angron laughed.

[I believe that our brothers will be able to govern the land well... After all, it is in the name of his former comrade.]

Angron once again looked far up at the hive city. Beyond the sight of the Lord of Red Sand and the Archangel, the Pluto Cathedral built of black stone was dim and humming. The black stone had long since turned to the pro-psychic side.

Holding a sickle, the mist rolled up under the tall and deep statue of Pluto.

…………

【now】

Hades was silent for a moment.
"Lao Mo, did you really intend to kill your brother, or..."

【I pretended.】

Mortarion raised his eyebrows and crossed his arms, but he was unusually relaxed.
[I did want to kill Sanguinius on Terra, but I was no match for the combination of Sanguinius and Angron.]

Guilliman beside them coughed awkwardly.

【After this, I realized what the Lord of Humanity wanted.】

Mortarion held out a hand.

[It's too late. Even if the Dark Religion was promoted as the state religion at that time, the emperor, who had been irrigated by strong faith for thousands of years, was on the verge of collapse. The dam needed to be released.]

If it weren't for the Primarchs' vigorous promotion of the state religion, Mortarion believed that an ultimate stress-resistant king like the Yellow Skin Man should have been able to hold on longer, perhaps for ten thousand years.

So after this, Mortarion acquiesced in Sanguinius' sacrifice.

Hades felt horrified for a moment.

"So who is Sanguinius..."

[Yes and no. ]

Mortarion said lightly, subconsciously looking at Guilliman. Guilliman pursed his lips tightly and a layer of haze covered his face.

[We have all overlooked one point... Sanguinius himself has a very strong dual nature. I think his essence is an opposing yet twin existence. If you insist on asking, then I think the light side of Sanguinius has never deceived us from beginning to end.]

【He disguised himself very well.】

Mortarion said,
[I think... I may have seen his other side in advance, but I only regarded it as a symbol of his depravity.]

Mortarion nodded to Guilliman.

【Go on, my friend.】

(End of this chapter)