r18novel Page 32
Page 32
"Ha, that's a good joke."
Lin Qi's lips curled up slightly, followed by a soft chuckle.
Chapter 43 On the Eve of the Conspiracy
Eric took a deep breath, looking at the group of people gathered around him with a serious expression.
"This is our chance. I believe you all know what Huron is doing. His actions will only lead the warband into the abyss, from which it will never recover."
"But Eric... are you so certain that we can trust that person from the Empire?"
"You'll understand when you see him... In the beginning, Bell and I weren't willing to completely trust him either; we just wanted to use him to make some deals."
Eric's words caused the people in front of him to exchange glances for a moment. It was not hard to tell from their expressions that they had not expected that even Bell would be persuaded to give that person from the Empire enough trust.
A warrior with a blue tattoo on his left cheek looked at Eric, and after a long silence of ten seconds, he sighed slightly and then slowly spoke.
"Even if you say that, I still cannot trust that person from the empire right now."
“Ryan.........”
“But I trust you, and I trust Bell, so I will do as you say, contact those trustworthy brothers in battle, and bring them here to meet that person.”
"...Thank you, Ryan."
"You're welcome. We just want to stop Huron. Like you said, he's leading us down a path to the abyss."
The warrior named Ryan said this, and then he took off the helmet hanging from his waist and put it on his head.
"Click."
With a crisp click, the helmet and power armor were securely fastened together. Seeing Ryan's attitude, the others also donned their helmets and emerged from the enclosed room to carry out the mission Eric had assigned them.
Eric watched their departing figures, and after a long while, he slowly shook his head.
They didn't see it with their own eyes, but it won't be long before they do. Once they do, they'll understand where their trust came from.
Now, it's time to think about the detailed plan after gaining everyone's trust...
Eric walked up to the wall, and as he raised his hand, a servo skull flew over, its crimson light emanating from the electronic prosthetic eyes in their sockets, projecting a huge two-dimensional image.
"Is this a floor plan of the Thorn Royal Court?"
Eric whirled around, his eyes flashing with a bright silver light. But when he saw who it was, the light vanished, revealing the original color of his eyes and the shock they contained.
Lynch emerged from the shadows and came to Eric's side.
"Like I said, I have some confidence in my stealth abilities."
"...You're too modest. This level of skill can't be hidden by a little confidence. I was worried that your rescue might be discovered, but now it seems I was worrying for nothing."
Eric shook his head. As a think tank member, his perception of psychic energy far surpassed that of ordinary psychics, allowing them to silently and stealthily use psychic energy to lurk in the shadows right under his nose...
No wonder the emperor allowed his father's soul to reside in the other's body; it wasn't just because of his special physique, but also because he possessed extraordinary abilities.
"You still have not answered my question."
"Yes, this is the floor plan of the Thorn Royal Court. Since we are going to stage a coup, we must formulate a suitable plan. After all, there are only about a hundred people, and every bit of strength is precious at this moment."
"Makes sense."
Lin Qi narrowed his eyes, looking at the floor plan in front of him.
As a fortress built by Huron, the Thorn Court, like the steel ring that operates day and night along the tracks of Badab, is, to put it bluntly, a complete iron bastard.
This turtle wasn't just hard-shelled; its flesh was also significantly tougher than that of ordinary creatures. Clearly, Huron had considered the possibility of an attack from within when he built this place, and thus his internal defenses were extremely robust.
However, this does not prevent Lynch from finding enough flaws in it.
Horus emerged from behind Lynch, arms crossed over his chest, his gaze piercing as he stared at the structural diagram before him.
"Look here, this is a plaza in the Thorn Royal Court. From here, we can set up enough heavy firepower to bombard the rooms of those high-level Star Claws."
Horus pointed to a spot on the map, and looking at that spot made Lynch frown slightly.
"Could it be a trap? There just happens to be a plaza facing the main building? It's too obvious."
"No, trust my judgment. The appearance there was indeed deliberately preserved by that foolish offspring, but the purpose should have been to hold a military parade there, not to set a trap for internal enemies."
Horus spoke with certainty, and after hearing his words, Lynch pondered for a moment before raising his hand and nudging Eric, who was standing to the side.
What is this square for?
"Here... This is the parade ground. Huron sometimes reviews his Tyrant Legion, which consists of mortal auxiliary troops, here, or gives speeches to boost morale and subtly promote his ideas."
Horus was right.
Lynch blinked, looking at Horus, the meaning in his eyes self-evident.
How did you know?
Horus looked at Lynch's eyes, sighed slightly, and then began to explain.
"Not everywhere is Terra's high wall, and not everyone is Dorne, who will turn everything you see into a weapon to achieve his goals."
understood.
Lynch nodded slightly, then raised his hand, pointed to the square, and told Eric about Horus's suggestion.
Eric pondered for a few seconds, then shook his head.
“We can’t acquire those heavy weapons. Almost all the technical sergeants are Huron’s men, and Almenus Valsus, as a master blacksmith, is undoubtedly a die-hard Huron loyalist.”
"Isn't there any other way?"
Lynch was somewhat unwilling, after all, Horus's proposal was excellent in every way. Even if Huron were a strategist rather than a warrior skilled in combat, and even if he were a warrior with the strength of a chapter champion, a single shot from a Land Raider would still send him flying.
Eric lowered his head. He understood the advantages of Lynch's plan, but given their situation, acquiring heavy firepower was indeed extremely difficult...
unless........
"We're back."
A voice interrupted Eric's thoughts.
He turned around, looked at Ryan who had returned first and the dozen or so soldiers behind him, and nodded.
Let's discuss it together once everyone else returns. Right now, there's something even more important he needs to do.
Eric extended a hand and introduced Lin Qi, who was standing next to him, to the dozen or so people in front of him.
"This is Lynch, the envoy sent by Terra to stop Huron's conspiracy. I believe you have already sensed something different about him."
Ryan strode up to Lynch. He removed his helmet, then bent down, staring intently into the somewhat frail-looking mortal with his light brown eyes.
"Yes, it's really very different..."
Ryan spoke slowly, and finally asked Lynch his question.
"Mortal... what kind of aura do you possess?"
Chapter 44 Son of a Traitor
"Mortal... what kind of aura do you possess?"
Lin Qi looked up at the face that was less than a hand's width away from him, and after three seconds of silence, he answered the question in a calm tone.
“You’re a chapter priest, right? I think you should know that, since, apart from the think tank, you’re the most sensitive to the meaning of this aura within a chapter.”
Ryan remained silent, knowing that his skull helmet had likely revealed his identity and position. He also knew that what this "mortal" said was absolutely correct; within a warband, excluding the think tanks, the warband priests were indeed the most sensitive and genuine to their connection with the Gene Fathers.
But how could that be? Even if it were true, why would it be here?
The warband cleric let out a long breath. He looked around and found that all his companions had taken off their helmets and were looking at the thin mortal in front of them with a look of surprise and uncertainty.
It wasn't an illusion. If only I felt it, it could be explained as an illusion, but the reactions of everyone behind me showed that they felt the same aura as I did.
Is this why Eric said he would understand once he saw it...?
"Do you know what's going on, Ryan?"
A warrior stepped forward and placed his hand on the warband cleric's shoulder. Ryan immediately felt a force coming from his shoulder; although the force was not strong, the emotion he sensed from it made him feel immense pressure.
It was an urgent emotion, mixed with a complex thirst for knowledge. And this emotion didn't just come from one individual, but from every single one of the eighteen gazes now being cast upon him.
One of the duties of a warband priest is to answer questions for the members of his warband, and now that things have come to this, Ryan can no longer make the choice to keep it a secret.
The pastor took a deep breath to calm himself down, then looked at the mortal before him, his eyes unreadable, and spoke in a low voice his guess about the aura emanating from him.
"...The aura emanating from this mortal must come from our genetic father."
"what?!"
An incredible call came from the warrior who had placed his hand on the priest's shoulder.
Ryan nodded and spoke again to prove that he hadn't said anything wrong.
"Based on my judgment, the aura of this mortal comes from our genetic father. You should all have felt that inexplicable sense of familiarity, which is abnormal. According to the secrets I know, Astartes only feels this way when facing his genetic father."
"But if it were the real Primarch, we would probably kneel down and swear allegiance on the spot in the face of such a strong sense of familiarity. But this mortal has only made us feel something... So I deduce that what this mortal has is only a part of the aura of our Father of Genesis."
After speaking, Ryan shifted his gaze to Eric, who was standing behind the mortal. Seeing Eric's unsurprised expression, he snorted and turned his attention back to the mortal.
Did you already guess that? Eric, you bastard... If that's all, you still won't be able to truly gain my trust.
"It seems I guessed correctly. So answer me, mortal, where does the aura on your body come from? Is it the disgusting forgery of those high lords? Or... a gift from the God-Emperor?"
Lin Qi looked at the warband priest named Ryan in front of him, the other party's question echoing in his ears, and there was a hint of surprise in his eyes.
It seems that getting these people to cooperate with the next operation will not be so simple; at least, if relying solely on oneself, the process will inevitably be very difficult.
"Horus, it's up to you now."
“I understand. Also, from now on, my identity is Robert Guilliman.”
His tone was calm, as if he had accepted his current identity and disguise, but Lin Qi knew that the other party was still somewhat unwilling.
Lin Qi shook his head slightly. If he had known this would happen, he would have let Horus say that his identity was actually Saint Gilles... No, the Claw of the Stars doesn't have Bloodthirst and Black Fury. Although these two things have all sorts of problems, for the Angel Children, they are just a mother group's identity card.
Fine, Guilliman it is. But there's still a problem: sooner or later I'll make Horus truly and completely resurrected, instead of having a soul attached to me like this.
The issue of identity at that time...
Emperor Hagi will surely handle it. After all, he is his favorite son. Even if humanity has been broken down over the millennia, he wouldn't ignore such a small matter for a Primarch with immense value.