Robert Guilliman stood up slowly, something that was not easy for him now. He held the armrests of the assistive walker with both hands, and his arms were shaking so violently that it was worrying whether he would fall down in the next second.
But he didn't.
He stood up straight little by little. Under his faded blond hair, his blue eyes sunk in haggard looked very calm, and the first sentence he spoke could barely be regarded as a joke.
"I am now very worried whether Dr. Jairzinho will be invited to many unnecessary medical discussions in the future."
Konrad Coates raised the corners of his lips, smiled and shook his head: "Unless you publicize the fact that you have been injured, he will still only be the medical officer of our legion, not someone with extraordinary medical skills who can even cure Robert. ·Men of Guilliman.”
Guilliman chuckled too. Angron, who was standing aside, crossed his hands, glanced at them with disapproval and shook his head.
"I urge you to get another medical diagnosis, bro."
Angron spoke in a deep voice.
"You woke up and were even able to walk, but that doesn't mean you're fine. Many gladiators I know died in their sleep after a great battle. We celebrated them and they were at the banquet. We acted as if nothing had happened, but the next day, all we got was a body.”
"You have a point, Angron, but now I"
Guilliman paused for a moment and began to move himself bit by bit.
He pressed the button with his finger and opened the lock button of the walker itself. Its training wheels began to work. Guilliman pushed it and walked a certain distance before stopping again.
".Pretty sure I'm okay."
"Are you sure?" Angron frowned. "With all due respect, brother, but you are just a patient now, and it is impossible for a patient to know what is going on with his body."
Guilliman did not answer the question, but shook his head. He bent down, picked up an office data pad from his desk, and placed it on the middle partition of the walker. Next, there was silence for several minutes.
Robert Guilliman slid the data pad without saying a word, looking at the various post-war loss statistics of the Ultramarines.
He was silent, and this silence made Konrad Coze feel familiar - so he patted Angron on the shoulder, and after the latter turned around, he shook his head gently. .
After about ten minutes, Robert Guilliman slowly took a breath. He lowered his head, raised his right hand, and slowly swept away the hair blocking his vision from his forehead.
The once handsome face was now only frighteningly haggard.
The cheeks are retracted, and the shape of the cheekbones and jaw are clearly visible. The eyes seem to be as deep as being embedded in the eye sockets. Although they are still bright like gems, they also create a stronger contrast. There was no extra flesh on his face, just skin, sticking tightly to the bones.
"How are you doing?" He asked softly, his voice was hoarse, but he didn't look weak.
"Three thousand six hundred and seventy-six people." Conrad Coates replied with a smile. "The Midnight Blade had three thousand six hundred and seventy-six victims."
"Midnight Blade?"
"Ah, I decided to give the legion a new name. It would be too weird to keep calling it by number, wouldn't it?"
Robert Guilliman nodded silently and looked away from Konrad Curze's face.
His younger brother, who was still considered young, was smiling without any warmth at all. He was smiling, but his eyes looked like he was undergoing an amputation without anesthesia.
The main body of Macragge experienced this feeling many times, and every time, he was in great pain, so he did not intend to ask more questions.
He looked at Angron. The Nucerian grinned with sharp canine teeth and a simple smile, but his tone was terrifyingly determined: "There are no dead in the War Hound."
"." Guilliman nodded wordlessly.
He can roughly guess what Angron did on Harkossus II, and he will not question Angron about this matter - anything that involves aliens cannot be good. .
There is an eternal bloody battle between them and humans. Throughout the galaxy, there is almost no alien race that has not harmed humans. In those dark years, they committed numerous blood debts, and this blood debt has exceeded the scope of crime.
Sins can still be forgiven, they can't.
"What about you, Robert?" Conrad Coates asked.
At this moment, he was leaning against a bookcase naturally and leisurely, and he was tapping the side of the bookcase carelessly with his right hand. He showed no sadness at the huge sacrifice of three thousand six hundred and seventy-six, as if he didn't care at all.
"The casualties are still being counted," Guilliman said. "The number of victims that have been identified so far is 1,324. The situation of the auxiliary army is slightly better. This can be considered a blessing in misfortune."
He closed his eyes and thought. It's like thinking, but also like wandering in the corner of memory.
Konrad Coze and Angron did not speak. The former was still tapping the side of the bookcase rhythmically, while the latter came to the porthole and observed Harkossus III through the track.
A few minutes later, Angron broke the silence: "There are no living creatures on Harkossus II."
The Nucerian turned his back to his brothers and spoke in an extremely calm voice, with the thick cable swaying behind his head: "So, where are Harkossus One and Three?"
"There are no living creatures on No. 1." Conrad Coates replied quietly. "My legion is inspecting the civilians of Harkossus who are at the bottom of the Night Veil's cabin. I haven't figured out how to deal with them yet."
Guilliman caught the word 'process' keenly. He opened his eyes, lowered his head and issued a new command on the data pad.
After doing this, he raised his head and said: "The same is true for No. 3, but I plan to do it more thoroughly. The entire underground of Harkossus No. 3 almost has traces of contamination from that kind of thing. , therefore, I will use orbital bombardment to destroy it after the search for survivors is completed."
"Then, the same goes for Number Two," Angron said. "I know that the empire has a huge colonial fleet on standby, but everything that happened on the planet Harkossus II should be completely destroyed in my opinion."
Conrad Coates nodded thoughtfully and did not answer the question immediately. Instead, he mentioned another matter.
"Robert, you have recovered many planets, right?"
"Yes."
"That is to say, you have been participating in this great expedition for some time."
Cozz lowered his head, folded his hands, stopped tapping the bookcase, and started tapping the arm of his left hand with the index finger of his right hand. Metal collided, rubbed against each other, and made a clanging sound, as if a sharp knife was being drawn out of its sheath.
"So, what do you think it is?"
Robert Guilliman raised his head and began to stare at the two portraits on the wall.
Unlike his office on Macragge, these two portraits were hung directly above the bookcase. They were not obtrusive and could even be said to be natural.
The one on the left is a portrait of Conor Guilliman. The consul was wearing the uniform of a consul of his time, standing on the top of the mountain and riding a horse, looking at Macragge below the mountain. The city was thriving, and Conor Guilliman's profile looked like he was deep in thought.
The one on the right is a portrait of the emperor, wearing golden armor and holding a sharp blade, as if wielding a sword. Thousands of troops and horses rushed out from behind his golden armor like shadows, declaring war on a roaring storm approaching not far away.
".Everyone has a different answer to this, Konrad." Robert Guilliman spoke in a low voice. "Take Ferus as an example. For him, the Great Expedition can be divided into the following five steps. Get on the ship, reach the destination, fight, win, and get on the ship."
"It goes around and around again. But Ferrus is not bored by this. He has considerable enthusiasm for war. This enthusiasm comes from his identification with our father's ideals. Therefore, he is willing to play a role during the Great Crusade. Sentient weapons.”
"But I am different. I have tried this before. I cannot accept leaving the devastated and crying civilians after the victory of the war. Moreover, if too cruel methods are used, the recovered world will not be harmful to us. Too much recognition often leads to rebellion. And counter-rebellion.”
Robert Guilliman suddenly smiled bitterly. His excessive thinness made this smile look shocking and terrifying.
"The empire treats rebellion very seriously, and there is no second chance. If the rebel planet does not surrender immediately after the arrival of the imperial fleet, most of the people will be executed, and the remaining people will be demoted as slaves and slaves. Slave labor.”
"I have experienced this, so I believe that my legion cannot simply go across the star sea to fight one war after another. Every time we recover a world, we will stay there until they can be self-sufficient and have a defense system. "
"We will help them, such as leaving a team of consultants to help them establish trade routes. Identity is very important, I even wrote a book about this, it is on the fourth shelf behind you, the first one is As for what the Great Crusade is."
The Lord of Macragge closed his mouth with a complicated expression and stopped talking. His expression was enough to answer the question.
An idealist will only be so painful when he does the right thing. Idealists are so ridiculous. They will be painful because they cannot realize their ideals, but they will also be more painful because they are walking on this road.
Because they understand the price of being right.
Conrad Coates quietly raised the corners of his mouth, still smiling, but his smile was a hundred times better than before.
"The Great Crusade is a process of recovering lost territory, and this war against Harkossus requires at least one planet to be preserved. Otherwise, what lost territory have we recovered? Broken asteroids? I will check it after Let those civilians return to live on Harkossus 1, if they are not contaminated."
Angron frowned: "Are you sure, brother?"
"I'm sure." The Lord of Midnight nodded slowly, with a half-smiling expression on his face. "The situation on Harkossus One is complicated, Angron. It was once contaminated by those things, but the contamination has completely disappeared."
"Then the Ultramarines will stay and continue our tradition," Robert Guilliman said. "Until the Empire sends someone to take over here, my First Chapter and I will stay here."
Conrad Coates grinned. He walked to the door and opened it, revealing a bruised and armored Marius Gage to his brothers. Guilliman pursed his lips with a complicated expression and said nothing.
Gage glanced at Konrad Coze gratefully, but the latter smiled and shook his head, pulling Angron away, not even forgetting to close the door.
His hearing has always been very good, and he once listened to someone's voice with trepidation through a heavy door.
The door slowly closed, and Marius Gage looked at his primarch, remaining completely silent and saying nothing. Guilliman looked at his Chapter Master, also silent, but not because he didn't know what to say.
In fact, on the contrary, he had too much to say, so he remained silent. In the end, it was Gage who took the initiative to speak.
".We almost thought we lost you."
Guilliman shook his head.
"Blame it on them," he said softly. "They're not trying too hard."
Gage laughed dumbly. Robert Guilliman is like this. He can always use an ingenious word to relieve stress and make everyone smile at certain moments. He is very good at this, which is inseparable from his status as a politician.
Gage was amused, his smile gradually widening into something almost unstoppable.
"I swore long ago that I would protect you, Primarch." Marius Gage spoke in a low voice. "And today, I made another vow."
"I swear I will bring you back. I said this to countless people while I was underground. They trusted my words because they trusted you and they were fearless. I thought I was fearless until I saw When you appeared in the clearing with a ray of light, I almost thought you were dead."
"But I didn't, Gage. Like I said, it was their lack of effort," Guilliman replied softly.
He raised his head and looked at one of the two portraits again. He stopped talking, and so did Gage.
There was no need to describe the tacit understanding between them. The First Chapter Master already understood his primarch's unspoken apology. Just as Guilliman understood Marius Gage's twisted pain hidden beneath his calm exterior.
"But." After a long time, Guilliman spoke again. His eyes became sharp in an instant. They were not the eyes that a patient should have.
He waved to Gage, motioning for him to come over. ".This matter has also given me a lot of new ideas. Come and discuss it with me, Marius."
Without hesitation, Gage walked over, just like before, just like always.
The update is completed and it is still 7k today.
(End of chapter)
