Chapter 281: The Infant Corpses of the Human 40th Millennium That Must Be Witnessed

By Macragge, how are infant corpses flying in the sky?

Dressed in blue-and-gold interwoven Armor of Fate, Roboute Guilliman stood within the restored cathedral, his voice unusually tinged with emotion.

In this cathedral built for him, countless infant-like corpses—mechanical servants implanted with machinery—beat their wings in the sky, dragging incense burners that scattered mist-like fragrant smoke.

Roboute Guilliman controlled his voice; his astonishment had been heard only by Belisarius Cawl, Zhou Yun, and Sanguinius standing beside him.

The war on Macragge had nearly ended.

Previously, Chaos traitors had seized most of the capital of Ultramar, this Primarch's homeworld, outnumbering the Ultramarines manyfold and wielding vast demonic engines, while also holding orbital superiority—even with Zhou Yun's Blood Angels added, objectively the Imperium still seemed at a disadvantage.

But on Macragge there were two Primarchs.

Roboute Guilliman and Sanguinius stood with Macragge.

The two Primarchs, centered on the reclaimed Hera Fortress, led the Ultramarines and Blood Angels in a massacre against the Black Legion.

They were like two warstorms beyond mortal comprehension, using a succession of ambushes, infiltrations, and lightning strikes to split and dismantle the Black Legion.

During the war, Roboute Guilliman also came to understand the true power of Zhou Yun's artifacts.

Shocked but without hesitation, Roboute Guilliman opened the Ultramarines' Relic Vault to Zhou Yun.

These relics had been recovered over ten thousand years from across the galaxy, with many Successor Chapters contributing; their quantity, variety, and quality far surpassed those of the Blood Angels.

The wealth left Zhou Yun constantly amazed; compared to the Ultramarines, the Blood Angels were paupers.

Cion, Ninth Company Captain and Relic Vault Keeper, followed orders and opened the vault for Zhou Yun, proudly introducing each relic's history.

He explained to Zhou Yun that the Ninth Company maintained a permanent Honor Guard under his command, which included not only Ultramarines but also a network of servitors, battle-brother attendants, and agents.

This intelligence network spread like a spiderweb across all Imperial routes, gathering every trace of information regarding Chapter relics.

This vault, filled with priceless objects, was the fruit of Cion's tireless labor.

Zhou Yun spared no praise, and even Cion, a battle-hardened Ultramarine veteran, could not help but wear a look of pride.

After all, Zhou Yun was the one who had resurrected two Primarchs; even the Ultramarines held him in respect.

Cion cheerfully patted his power armor and declared to Zhou Yun that, by order of Roboute Guilliman, Lord of the Ultramarines, Zhou Yun could take any relic from the vault.

Zhou Yun again lavished praise upon the Ultramarines for their generosity.

One wonders what Cion's feelings would be upon seeing the nearly emptied relic vault—save for a few relics Guilliman wished Zhou Yun not to sell, and some low-value, merely commemorative relics, most had been sold by Zhou Yun.

His wealth surged rapidly; vast quantities of artifacts were exchanged and issued to equip an entire company of Astartes.

This company, composed of elite warriors from both Blood Angels and Ultramarines, was named the Doraemon Company by the two Primarchs, armed with items including the Psychic Hat, Bamboo Glider, Blind Spot Star, and two legendary blades: Denkōmaru.

With the Psychic Hat, this company gained teleportation, non-Warp telekinesis, and x-ray vision.

With the Bamboo Glider, their mobility and aerial strike capability surpassed Chaos Raptors by several orders of magnitude.

With the Blind Spot Star, this company could even launch stealth ambushes against the Night Lords.

As for the legendary blade Denkōmaru—according to Zhou Yun's reports, an Ultramarine once fought a Titan to two strikes and did not lose.

With this company, Macragge was fully reclaimed in less than a month.

Or rather, against the combined might of two Primarchs and a company equipped with Zhou Yun's artifacts, the Black Legion holding out nearly a month was truly deserving of the Warmaster's gene-seed.

Yet despite the aid of Primarchs and artifacts, reclaiming an entire planet and defeating a Black Legion vastly outnumbering them within less than a month—even if the Astartes could endure it, the mortals had reached their limit.

Moreover, reinforcements were still arriving from all directions; war machines needed repair, armies required reorganization, and Macragge needed to rebuild its command structure to accommodate the rule of two Primarchs.

Thus, after all planets within Macragge and its star system were liberated, Macragge entered a temporary period of rest.

Roboute Guilliman planned to use this time to rebuild a complete governance system, facilitating smoother and more seamless reconstruction of the greater Ultramar.

This ceremony before him was part of that plan.

The former Lord of Macragge, Calgar, would return command to Roboute Guilliman, and Guilliman would share his authority with his brother Sanguinius.

Of course, this ceremony also served to declare to Macragge's long-suffering people that the Primarchs had returned, and the old Ultramar would be restored.

But Roboute Guilliman, watching the angelic infants flying overhead, could not muster any joy.

He had long known of their existence and had seen a few on the battlefield, but

Seeing them so densely packed, filling the entire sky, delivered a profound psychological blow to Roboute Guilliman.

"No, my lord," Belisarius Cawl spoke slowly. "These are not infant corpses."

"According to Mechanicus records, they did once attempt to convert infant corpses into servitors by implanting mechanical organs."

"But clearly, infant bodies could not withstand the creations of Omnissiah, so the Mechanicus switched to artificial cultivation in growth tanks, producing bio-engineered beings resembling infants—internally far more complex than ordinary infants, with intelligence comparable to sub-sapient primates and physical strength vastly superior, making them far more efficient and practical."

Cawl's cold, data-reciting tone made Roboute Guilliman shudder.

Yet most participants in the ceremony seemed unperturbed.

Only Sanguinius's expression was somber, and Zhou Yun's face bore a twisted grimace.

This scene was too abstract, too grotesque.

Had he not been prepared, Zhou Yun might have doubted whether he had crossed into Warhammer 40K—or into Cthulhu next door.

"In the illusions the gods showed Horus, this was one of them."

Zhou Yun spoke slowly: "It's no wonder he went mad—the Four Gods told him the future of the Human Empire was this: infant corpses flying in the sky, all people ignorant and foolish, the nine Primarchs erased from history, you nine Loyalist Primarchs and the Emperor worshipped as gods."

"He proclaimed this," Roboute Guilliman's face betrayed uncontrolled emotion. "I never thought it would come true."

"The Four Gods love to deceive with truth—this miserable future was the one he created by sparking the Heresy."

Zhou Yun glanced at the hovering angelic infants with deep revulsion.

This thing truly was an unavoidable horror of the 40th Millennium. Not even someone from the 3rd Millennium like him could accept it—let alone someone from the 30th Millennium, a thousand years ago.

Especially with so many densely packed, hovering in the sky, bearing incense and chanting hymns, filling the cathedral with a warped sense of holiness.

The Angelic Infants were originally created by Pope Van Dier during the Age of Apostasy, to proclaim himself the Emperor's chosen and to instill awe in the populace.

Time passed; Van Dier's history was erased, yet the symbolic meaning of the Angelic Infants endured—and inexplicably gained acceptance among Imperial citizens.

No single word, no single syllable, no single content in this is acceptable!

The populace, seeing the Angelic Infants fly overhead, would naturally feel piety and reverence, claimed the battle-servitors and priests organizing the ceremony.

Moreover, these Angelic Infants were custom-made one-offs, extremely valuable, and still functionally necessary in many areas.

Roboute Guilliman could only scowl and demand they be used only when absolutely necessary.

The excess ones were all collected by Zhou Yun into his fourth-dimensional pocket.

But the priests, in humble postures, strongly opposed him.

Especially when Guilliman said, "Flying isn't unique to Angelic Infants—I'm sure Celestine would be happy to fulfill the tasks of flight and inspiring piety."

The Ecclesiarchy was horrified at Guilliman's suggestion of using the Living Saint as an Angelic Infant—even though Celestine herself expressed willingness, and even Sanguinius offered to fly himself.

In the end, to prevent Living Saints and Primarchs from flying overhead like Angelic Infants and becoming public spectacles, the priests were forced to drastically reduce the number of Angelic Infants.

Zhou Yun could only sigh—thankfully it was Guilliman who was resurrected; if young Leman Russ had been here, these priests' heads would already be flying in the sky like Angelic Infants.

In short, Zhou Yun stood at a distance watching these people begin another tedious, boring argument, finding it utterly dull and feeling he was no longer needed here.

So he quietly slipped out of the cathedral, slipping into the streets within Hera Fortress.

Due to the war, Guilliman had ordered the vast outer areas of Hera Fortress opened to civilians for refuge.

Now many mortals who came to observe the ceremony crowded here; Hera Fortress, once hollow and silent, had suddenly become lively.

Even some bold souls had begun setting up stalls nearby.

The Ultramarines tolerated this; the war had brought too much suffering, and the people needed such outlets to relieve pressure.

Bored, Zhou Yun wandered over to these streets.

At that moment, Zhou Yun heard a voice preaching from the roadside.

"You must be curious—how did Lord Sanguinius and Lord Guilliman return from death to rejoin the Imperium?"

"It is because a new Saint has descended upon the Imperium. Faithful believers, remember his name, and inwardly praise his greatness twenty-two times."

"He is the Holy Doraemon!"

(End of Chapter)