"This is where you will be staying from now on, Reserve Sevita."
Sevita nodded silently, and took a deep breath. The filtered air was extremely cold, with a bit of incomprehensible bitterness: "Instructor."
"Huh?" The four-meter-tall giant lowered his head and looked down at him. "What's the matter?"
"That twentieth operation." Sevata carefully arranged her words. "I saw something at the end."
"The twentieth operation does not exist, Reserve Sevita." Khalil said softly.
The corridor was silent, and the metal panels that made up the walls took on an unusual gray color. The cold mist escaped beneath their feet, high enough to reach Savita's calves, giving him a chill. This scene at the entrance to the recruits' dormitory has nothing to do with the place that may one day represent 'home'. It looks really scary.
"But."
"It doesn't exist." Khalil smiled. "Remember this, Sevetar. We don't mention it, and we don't talk about anything to do with it."
"So, this is a secret that needs to be kept together?"
"Yes."
"But, instructor, all secrets will be cracked." Saiweita showed a fake smile. "And I don't know if I can keep this a secret."
"It's not important." Khalil was still smiling, his eyes were dark with no light inside, like two black holes swallowing everything.
"It doesn't matter if you're conservative or not," he said softly. "But we don't bring it up."
Fourteen minutes after the twentieth operation, Yago Savitarion felt the strange chill again.
This time, it came not from his dreams, but from the eyes of his instructor, Khalil Lohars. It's real, maybe even a little too real. Just looking at each other made Savita's teeth chatter.
He couldn't help but look away and walked into the recruits' dormitory, his limbs stiff.
Inside the door is a wide space with chandeliers hanging from the ceiling and candles burning silently with dim light.
On the far left side of the room were fifteen huge bookshelves, filled to the brim with books. Five long tables are arranged in sequence, and eight flags gaze quietly on the walls around the long tables.
Behind the long table is another huge door with round arches and a material that looks like stone. The coat of arms that Sevatar had seen before appeared on this door again. A sharp blade pointed downwards in the center of the coat of arms, with blood on the tail, as if it had just pierced someone's heart.
"Common rest area." His instructor's voice came from behind him. "There are many books here. You can pick one to read during any break. You can take it back to your room or read it here, as long as you remember to return it."
"Most of the books are written in Nostramo, and a few are written in High Gothic. They may cause a little trouble for you to read, but that doesn't matter. You wake up at five o'clock tomorrow morning Then you'll start learning Gothic."
“Do I need to learn another language?”
"Of course." Khalil walked up to him. "The galaxy is very vast, and Nostramo is not an official language. Think about it carefully, Sevatar, if you keep saying the word 'Emperor' in Nostramo."
He said no more, and he didn't need to say more. This half-sentence was enough to make Savita laugh out loud, although he quickly realized that laughing at this moment was not a good thing and quickly shut his mouth. But he had laughed, and there was no doubt about it.
Khalil raised the corners of his mouth and poked his forehead with his finger. The force was very light, but it was enough to make the boy stunned.
"Jairzinho said it was interesting to poke your forehead. I want to find out why he said that." Khalil lowered his head and looked at the boy and said this, his tone was very sincere. "As far as I'm concerned-"
He reached out and poked again.
"——I didn't find any evidence to prove this."
Savita suddenly raised his hands, covered his forehead and took two steps back: "Don't listen to that medical officer, he is sick!"
"It's not a good thing to talk about the commander behind his back without authorization, Reserve Sevita." Khalil retracted his right hand, put his hands behind his back and shook his head. "You need to get used to your new identity quickly, kid."
Then you still call me child? Savita cursed secretly. He lowered his head and rubbed his forehead. Although he didn't feel any pain, the feeling of being poked was completely different from being hit.
"Anyway, the bed and the bathhouse or shower room with all-weather hot water supply are behind that door." Khalil spoke again. "You still have eleven hours of free time today, so be sure to sleep for eight hours, Reserve Savita."
"Are you leaving?" Savita immediately raised his head.
"Yes." Khalil nodded gently at him. "I still have my own things to do."
"What about--my dinner?"
"No dinner." Khalil replied almost ruthlessly. "You ate three Glocks steaks not long ago. They haven't digested them yet. Take a look at your own belly, reserve."
After saying that, he turned and left.
——
Conrad Coates couldn't remember the last time he was so excited - was it when he got a gift from Khalil?
He lowered his head thoughtfully, waved his right hand slightly, and the blade emerged from the air again, undulating like a shadow. He studied it for a moment, then put it back before it turned room temperature into a temperature that could freeze the cables and pipes in the wall.
The Lord of Midnight took a deep breath. The air in the room was so cold that even his tongue briefly felt numb.
He lowered his head and began communicating with Jairzinho Guzman on the data pad. The Chief Medical Officer will probably stay up all night again tonight. Although the Astartes do not need much sleep, rest is another matter.
His work lasted for a while. After he and the chief medical officer finalized a complete set of subsequent reconstruction surgeries and supporting training plans for reserve Savitta, he put down the data pad and looked up without surprise to see Khalil. Lohars.
".Now I'm starting to wonder if you're addicted to this thing, Khalil." Konrad Coates pursed his lips.
"What's the matter?" his uninvited visitor asked softly.
"He ran into my office without saying a word to watch me work."
"I'm not saying a word, Legion Commander," Khalil said. "In fact, I didn't even cover the sound of my breathing."
Conrad Coates spent more than ten seconds recalling this matter. In the end, he nodded reluctantly: "Where is reserve Sevita?"
"Probably walking around in the dormitory." Khalil smiled slightly. "He will soon put these two emotions behind him of novelty and desire to explore. After all, he is the only one in the recruit dormitory now."
Conrad Coates narrowed his eyes and shook his head slowly.
"And this is going to last a long time," he deadpanned. "The entire operation will be carried out carefully and safely under the supervision of Jairzinho. After all, this is the first time we have transformed someone who has passed the twentieth operation."
"Based on the past time, he will spend three years in surgery and training. And during these three years, he must be alone. Only after confirming that he has completely passed every operation, I will consider the situation. Nostramo begins recruiting troops.”
"Don't you think that's a little too cruel for him?"
Curze glanced at Khalil, and for a few seconds, a very clear 'I don't want to talk' hint appeared on his face. However, after a while, he sighed.
"You have the nerve to say that?" Conrad Coates complained hissingly. "I didn't complain about the nights you had to leave, or your skeleton, that you were cruel."
"You complained." Khalil nodded and said firmly. "You didn't say it outright, but you did complain about it, Conrad."
"."
"Conrad?"
"Nothing." Coze's pale lips curved slightly, revealing the teeth at the back. "It's nothing, Khalil."
Khalil finally laughed happily, but quickly wiped the emotion away. He returned to his expressionless expression and spoke of another matter.
"So, do you have any words or gifts for your brother Perturabo?"
"Hasn't the relevant order not arrived yet?" Conrad Coates frowned. "Maybe that fleet is still looking for the location of Nostramo on the blurry map of the Ghoul Sector. Why are you in such a hurry?"
"Oh" Khalil raised his eyebrows and glanced at the ceiling. "This is it"
"I see—psionic power?"
"Not bad at all."
"Psychic communication?"
"bingo."
"who?"
"Malcador the Palmist." Khalil smiled slightly. "Real-time communication, real-time communication. I have to say, although I don't like using psionics too much, it is indeed useful enough."
"Yeah." Coze responded with a sneer. "For example, you were leaning on a chair facing the rain to treat your broken leg."
"I never said it didn't work, Conrad."
"You just said that it is dangerous and will attract something, and you have a countdown that sounds scary. You will die when the time is up."
Curze crossed his arms and smiled sharply, his overly sharp canine teeth gleaming.
"Oh my gosh, I used to be fooled by these words, and now it's really confusing when I think about it."
"I did not lie to you."
"I know, because you think this is the truth - what else can I say?" Coz laughed loudly, and he blinked at Khalil, and some unspoken words were particularly obvious in his eyes.
'Yes, I brought it up again on purpose. Who told you to bring up this topic that I don’t want to talk about now? '
Khalil almost smiled.
almost.
"Conrad" he spoke in a low voice, but these few words brought an aria-like emotion and atmosphere. The corners of Konrad Coates' eyes twitched, and his back straightened involuntarily.
"I don't know if you are like this, but sometimes, I do miss the past. Some people say that I miss the past because my life is not good now. I don't agree with this. I miss that time, but I don't I don’t want to go back. I remember every detail of those days. Your gargoyles, your love of squatting on the roof of the shelter waiting for me to come back, your first mission that you failed because you forgot to close the window.”
"I guess those are the things I miss. They're precious."
He stopped narrating and saw that Conrad Coates's face had turned red in a rare way due to some emotion, and he was even trembling slightly. After a few seconds, he spoke again, with a slightly joking tone.
"Yes -" Khalil said with a smile. "—I've never forgotten it."
"."
Conrad Coates raised his hand silently, but hesitated to speak. He seemed to want to say something, but couldn't. In the end, he actually chose a topic that made him feel ashamed.
"Let's talk about my brother Perturabo, who I have never met." He covered his face expressionlessly, his voice low.
"But you are not."
"Let's talk about him."
"Okay." Khalil shrugged. "So, what do you think is a more appropriate greeting gift?"
Conrad Coates took a deep breath.
"I think--"
——
"——It is expected that we will board the ship in ten minutes, instructor." Van Cleef said without emotion. "And you're still wearing your regular clothes."
"Do you have to let me wear that ceremonial armor?" Khalil pulled away from the memories and deliberately sighed to the first company commander. "Seriously, Van Cleef. I'm not the Primarch."
"Yes."
VanCleef kept his expression impassive, nodding to Khalil between the roaring decks.
"You are not the original body, but you are the instructor of the legion. According to the sixteenth edition of the legion code, you are equivalent to the original body coming in person on certain important occasions when the original body is not present, and this means that you must wear that gorgeous suit. armor."
"It used too much gold."
"Yes, I know, instructor."
"And the relief is just too exaggerated."
"Yes, instructor."
"So -" Khalil sighed sincerely. Something began to emerge from the shadows under his feet and climbed up his ankles, completing his outfit in an instant. The ferocious and silent skeleton, wearing a hood, stood in place, taking its place.
He spoke in a distorted voice: "——Is this okay, Van Cleef?"
"I think it's okay, instructor."
"Then, let's confirm the mission one last time." Khalil said calmly. "The mission is to board the Blood of Steel Glory Queen-class battleship. You don't need to react or take any action. You just need to wait until I am alone with Perturabo."
"Are you sure you really want to do this?"
"Yes," the skeleton said emotionlessly. "Sergeant Elteros died without dignity and honor. Who do you think is responsible for this?"
Amid the rumble of the deck, Van Cleef made no reply.
Just one update today and going out for dinner tonight. The burst update mode will start tomorrow, and by the end of the month, I plan to push the number of updated words this month to 230,000.
(End of chapter)
