Chapter 115: Kindness Like Erebos

Marcus Brutus was a noble of high standing in the Hive City,

his family being one of the oldest and most honored in the entire Hive, as ancient as the Governor Flax family,

and Marcus Brutus himself was over one hundred and sixty years old, which counted as long-lived under the toxic sun of Asford,

and the other nobles held this old man in great respect as well,

of course, age was not the only reason Marcus Brutus was respected,

in the eyes of the other nobles, Marcus Brutus was a noble of high standing, gentle yet dignified, devout yet not rigid,

he was severe toward enemies yet never sought to exterminate them completely, gentle toward his descendants yet never indulged them,

he was a devout follower of the Imperial Cult, always proclaiming the glory of the Hua Di Huang devoutly yet without being tiresome,

even after the Governor had abandoned the Underhive and the entire Underhive had fallen into a dangerous gathering place for gangs,

Marcus Brutus still risked danger, entering the Underhive to distribute food to the poor and treat the sick,

whenever ignorant people mocked Marcus Brutus,

he would stubbornly and firmly tell the ignorant: "The mercy of the Hua Di Huang shines equally on everyone, whether noble or commoner."

"As nobles, caring for the weak and poor is their very duty."

His words often made opponents feel guilty and made supporters marvel.

Marcus Brutus was truly a noble of high standing and devout faith; everyone who knew him said so.

Only Marcus Brutus knew what had shaped him,

Lord Tiberius, the true master of Asford, the true heir of the Flax family, the prophet of the Four-Armed God-Emperor.

When Marcus Brutus was still young,

he was summoned by the then-Governor—Lord Tiberius and the parents of the usurper Augustus—

in the pitch-black palace, Marcus Brutus was granted an audience with the young Lord Tiberius,

the great prophet Tiberius, the true Governor Tiberius, the noble Tiberius!

That merciful lord showed Marcus Brutus the greatness and mercy of the Four-Armed God-Emperor,

and Marcus Brutus was moved to weep tears of joy,

he then realized that the disputes among nobles, the lavish banquets, and precious luxuries were all meaningless,

only the love of the Four-Armed God-Emperor was real,

He would descend from the stars to embrace everyone,

whether noble or commoner, whether human or mutant, whether possessing intelligence or not,

everything on this planet would return to the embrace of the Four-Armed God-Emperor, dance together in a pool like amniotic fluid, merge into one, indistinguishable.

Thinking of it now, Marcus Brutus still could not stop weeping tears of joy.

But the despicable usurper Augustus Flax, driven by his greed for power, allied with a group of foolish nobles and guards, killed his own parents, and even tried to kill Lord Tiberius to seize the governorship.

But fortunately, Lord Tiberius escaped from the hands of the despicable usurper Augustus Flax,

that lord infiltrated the Hive City and proclaimed the grace of the Four-Armed God-Emperor among even more and more of the poor.

And the usurper began to try to purge the nobles who believed in the Four-Armed God-Emperor and were loyal to Lord Tiberius.

He did succeed in purging a portion of them,

but Lord Tiberius had anticipated this; he used powerful psychic powers to block part of Marcus Brutus's memories,

until many years later, that part of the memory reappeared in Marcus Brutus's mind, causing him to rediscover his mission.

And today, the embrace of the Four-Armed God-Emperor has finally descended,

only that many ignorant Astra Militarum tried to resist this embrace, and they actually managed to hold it back temporarily!

This was mainly due to the combat quality of the Cadians and the help of certain forces in the Underhive,

the Great Blasphemers "Ryan Ruse", "Neos", "Horgiles Lupabal", "Zhou Yun",

that man with a thousand changing faces and various strange weapons indeed appeared on the battlefield,

he caused much trouble for the Four-Armed God-Emperor, slowing the steps of the Four-Armed God-Emperor.

This will not do, this absolutely will not do.

Summoned by Lord Tiberius, listening to the voice of the Four-Armed God-Emperor, Marcus Brutus received the Prophet-Apostles emerging from the pipes,

those high-born pure-bloods with four arms, purple skin, and a divine posture,

with their help, Marcus Brutus quickly gained control over many nobles,

he intended to hold them hostage and, under the guise of aid, descend to the Underhive to jointly attack the despicable Astra Militarum with the tentacles of the Four-Armed God-Emperor.

On the way down from the Upper Hive, Marcus Brutus saw many panicked crowds being evacuated,

they would be sent to Sigang, where they would wait for transport ships to receive and evacuate them,

but Marcus Brutus did not intend to stop them, for he knew the fleet of the Four-Armed God-Emperor still controlled the stars,

they would not find an opportunity to evacuate for a while and could only crowd in the port,

and when Marcus Brutus had dealt with the Astra Militarum, they too would return to the embrace of the Four-Armed God-Emperor,

a viscous pool like amniotic fluid,

a warm pool like before birth,

a pool where everything would melt into it, dancing and singing to their heart's content.

Marcus was so moved he was about to cry.

He was very confident that he would achieve victory,

now that the Hades system is besieged, the will of the Four-Armed God-Emperor covers this place, and warp travel has become extremely difficult,

and without warp travel, it is almost impossible to pass through the natural barrier that the Shield of Hard Diamond once protected Hades, which has now become a cage trapping himself.

The Astra Militarum must now be desperately craving reinforcements and will not refuse the support of noble private armies. And hidden between the nobles and their private armies are the four-armed pure-bloods and the Four-Armed God-Emperor angels named "Likat".

We will win!

Marcus Brutus thought firmly,

The invisible Licate angels held the nobles, forcing them to stagger step by step toward the passage leading from the upper hive to the lower hive,

They passed through the burned streets of the Ninth District and saw General Delost and the Great Desecrator "Zhou Yun" standing at the entrance of the passage.

The two of them stood before a squad of Cadian warriors holding laser rifles, the Great Desecrator "Zhou Yun" wearing that ridiculous hat.

The instant he saw Zhou Yun, a flash of disgust passed through Marcus Brutus's eyes,

It was this man, this desecrating bastard,

He had not only hunted the bishop and the commander, wounding my lord Tiberius,

He had also become the most fierce obstacle in the embrace of the Four-Armed God-Emperor,

Not only slaughtering the Four-Armed God-Emperor's angels, but also plundering the Four-Armed God-Emperor's precious biomass.

Desecration! Disgusting! Bah!

But long years of noble training had taught Marcus Brutus to hide his disgust behind a faint smile.

He slowly stepped forward and, looking at General Delost and Zhou Yun, said:

"Two lords brimming with glory, two loyal servants of Hua Di Huang, I am Marcus of the Brutus family, a devout believer of Hua Di Huang."

Marcus Brutus solemnly proclaimed:

"They are sinners, cowards, wretched men who hid in their shelters and let the people die."

"I have brought them here and ordered them to contribute their private soldiers to help you all fight the xenos!"

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This was the excuse Marcus Brutus had thought up long ago,

One that could explain why the nobles were trembling, and also explain why support had suddenly been offered,

Because Marcus Brutus had used forceful means to compel the nobles to reveal their strength.

The nobles all nodded with trembling bodies,

The invisible Licates hid beside the nobles, threatening them with invisible claws.

Clap clap clap clap————

The sound of applause rang out,

Marcus Brutus watched the Great Desecrator Zhou Yun step forward and applaud him enthusiastically.

"Magnificent!"

He praised with a moved expression:

"You truly are a great and devout noble!"

"Your selflessness shakes us, you are as selfless as a Skaven rat-man!"

"Your devotion moves us, you are as devout as the sages who wrote the Holy Scripture!"

"Your dedication fills us with gratitude, your dedication is like that bald man wearing the centaur ring."

"Your kindness moves us to admiration, you are as kind as that great benefactor with scriptures tattooed on his face!"

The Great Desecrator Zhou Yun's mouth was full of words no one could understand,

But Marcus Brutus could tell from his tone,

That this was praise for himself, gratitude for himself, admiration for himself.

This made a hint of smugness rise in Marcus Brutus's heart,

So the so-called Great Desecrator Zhou Yun was nothing special, easily taken in by his own trick.

"We are all devout believers of Hua Di Huang, everything is for the dedication to Hua Di Huang."

Marcus Brutus devoutly performed an aquila salute.

"Yes, yes, yes." The Great Desecrator Zhou Yun nodded repeatedly.

He also performed a devout aquila salute, casting a fervent gaze at Marcus Brutus,

"Let us praise aloud!"

Zhou Yun raised his voice and said:

"Praise the Four-Armed God-Emperor! Four-Armed God-Emperor yes! yes!"

Marcus Brutus instinctively nodded: "Praise the Four-Armed God-Em-Em?"

Sizzle!!!

A searing laser pierced through his chest, scalding his innards as if flayed by a thousand blades, his blood seeming to boil.

Marcus stared blankly at the scene before him,

The laser rifles in the hands of the Cadians rose into the air on their own, circling around Zhou Yun,

Forty or fifty laser rifles floated around him, their searing laser beams firing in a dense torrent.

Even the Licates hiding in the gaps of light and shadow could not escape this dense laser bombardment.

"Why————" Marcus Brutus rasped out, then crashed heavily to the ground.

He stared wide-eyed as he watched the Cadians charge at abnormal speed toward the nobles,

He also saw at the tail end of the noble ranks, clumps of searing psychic flames begin to burn,

In his final moment, Marcus Brutus seemed to see the face of Augustus Flax appear on the battlefield.

(End of chapter)