Chapter 160

Danton and the Ashfordians drove the vehicle and left quickly; they promised to wait for Zhou Yun not far ahead.

After Zhou Yun watched them go far away, he turned his head to look at the two corpses on the ground, the two Astartes corpses.

If these two corpses were not dealt with, the Astartes could easily track them, and follow the vine to find the whereabouts of Zhou Yun and the others.

Zhou Yun walked to the side of the two Blood Knight corpses, squatted down, and forcefully unbuckled their helmets.

The two descendants of Sanguinius's bloodline were able to expose their faces to the sun of Baal, bathing in the same sunshine as their gene-father.

Except for eating, the Blood Knights almost never took off their helmets, and even when resting, they rarely revealed their faces.

They must be ashamed and fearful of letting others see this face, even if it were battle-brothers who had suffered the same fate as them.

The face under the helmet could not be called human at all.

Even the most magnanimous person could not believe that the person wearing this face was a member of humanity.

After all, this face was even less human than xenos like the Aeldari.

That was a twisted face, with muscles tightened into strips lurking under the gray skin, appearing and disappearing like clusters of blood-colored shadows.

They still stared with wide eyes before dying; those eyes, almost completely covered by yellow, were particularly terrifying, full of inhuman greed and hunger.

Sharp, slender teeth grew out, extending from their upper lips, forcing the lower lips to squeeze backward, and finally resting on the chin.

Zhou Yun had seen many mutants in Ashford; this posture of the Blood Knights was even more inhuman than the vast majority of mutants.

The winged figure in the white light looked at this scene, almost silent.

This is the curse engraved in Sanguinius's bloodline, a mutation called the Red Thirst, which will stimulate the Blood Angels' craving for blood and flesh.

"Dinner time, Ultramarines, Space Wolves, and Blood Angels have all started dining."

"The Ultramarines clapped their hands, and the Chapter serfs brought exquisite aristocratic dishes and red wine."

"The Space Wolves roared, and the Chapter serfs brought large plates of roast meat and large barrels of fine wine."

"The Blood Angels ordered elegantly, and the Chapter serfs sprinkled some salt on themselves and climbed onto the dining table."

Zhou Yun could not help but mutter in a low voice.

The winged figure in the white light clearly shook.

But there were many facts in this joke; it was not just the Blood Knights, many Blood Angels successor chapters were also plagued by the Red Thirst, and even developed cannibalistic cultures.

It was just that the Blood Knights sank deeper, to the point that a warrior who was once loyal to the Hua Hua Hua Di Huang was twisted into a complete beast.

Blood Knights who had mutated to this extent had long since had no way back.

They always muttered about how only Astartes could judge the loyalty of another group of Astartes.

But in this state, even if the Hua Hua Hua Di Huang himself came, the only result they could get was death, which was also a kind of mercy for them.

"I have always felt that the Blood Knights' path is narrow; I have an idea that is very suitable for them."

Zhou Yun glanced at the winged figure in the white light and said:

"Since they have already mutated to this extent and have been listed as renegade Space Marines, it would be better to just change a set of paint..."

"... Then disguise as a World Eaters warband; anyway, the World Eaters have long since shattered into a mess, and their gene-seed is also almost chaotic; no one can tell the difference."

"Then just go and slash other Chaos warbands when you have nothing to do, or slash Hive Fleets and Orks, suck the blood of bean sprouts and Tau—blood is not something you have to drink from humans."

"When the Empire is in trouble, they will disguise themselves as a Khorne warband that joined the invasion, pretend to be carried away by slashing, and slash other Chaos friendly forces around them by the way; after all, that group of Butcher's Nail lovers in the World Eaters would do this normally, and no one would find it strange."

The winged figure in the white light was stunned for a while, and then he began to chirp and chirp like a stressed big bird, not knowing what he was calling. Across the barrier between the Warp and reality, Zhou Yun also couldn't hear clearly.

However, it was likely that he was praising Zhou Yun's idea full of shocking wisdom.

Zhou Yun grinned, reached out his hand, and stuffed the two Blood Knight corpses, along with their power armor and weapons, into his four-dimensional pocket.

When touching the power armor and weapons, Zhou Yun clearly perceived faint emotions coming from them.

Not as intense as during the battle just now, but they did exist.

"Machine spirit?" Zhou Yun raised his eyebrows.

He could previously make the machines around him run efficiently to a certain extent, making the machine spirits within feel excited.

Now this ability seemed to have been strengthened quite a bit.

If according to the winged figure in the white light, this was Zhou Yun's Warp essence awakening further.

Zhou Yun raised his eyebrows; if he could steal the opponent's weapons like this during battle, it would be a very practical skill.

Thinking of this, Zhou Yun took out the Super Ability Hat from his four-dimensional pocket and put it on his head.

Powerful telekinesis spread toward the surroundings with him as the center.

Zhou Yun scanned the surroundings with telekinesis several times, completely erasing the traces around.

This was enough; the Blood Knights would definitely investigate the two missing Astartes.

But as long as the bodies hadn't been found, they would never investigate openly, nor would they poke this matter to other Chapters or Dante.

After all, if someone really found something, it would be too terrible.

Zhou Yun nodded with satisfaction, his body swayed slightly, and he disappeared in place in the blink of an eye. The Crimson Council is the institution responsible for launching and directing wars for the Blood Angels, with a total of twenty-five seats.

But now, the original Crimson Council was no longer enough to meet the demand—more and more Blood Angels successor chapters were coming to support.

Fifteen thousand warriors had already arrived at Baal, and there would be more after that; perhaps it could reach the astonishing number of twenty-five thousand, or even more.

More than Dante had hoped for; it had been ten thousand years, and never had so many descendants of angels gathered together to guard the same planet.

These warriors all flowed with Sanguinius's blood, most of whom had been separated from the mother chapter for too long; about several thousand warriors who came to support had never arrived at Baal, and their chapters rarely contacted the mother chapter—there were even renegade chapters like the Blood Knights, and chapters like the Crimson Angels that had broken with the mother chapter.

But they all came; when Sanguinius's homeland was threatened, when the Blood Angels encountered danger, they were willing to stand up.

Dante could not help but think:

Everyone is Sanguinius's bloodline; they are now more closely connected than any other chapter.

But Dante dared not relax his vigilance; he knew that these brothers of the successor chapters had developed completely different chapter cultures over the past ten thousand years.

If these blood brothers who had been separated for too long were to be gathered together again, they needed a larger command institution.

So Dante ordered the expansion of the original Crimson Council meeting room, completely tearing down this ancient hall, and connecting, rebuilding, and carving it with other nearby halls.

In the end, the new Crimson Grand Hall expanded to more than twenty times the original, and the Crimson Council itself expanded to a full five hundred seats.

Each seat was surrounded by a circular table made of marble.

Dante's chair was originally slightly larger than the others, but he insisted on changing all the chairs to the same size.

Everyone invited to participate in this Crimson Council was equal in this room.

Dante knew deeply that by relying on power and posturing, he could not truly obtain the recognition of these blood relatives of his.

!. Read

He stood before a wall of the new Crimson Council hall; on both sides of the wall were carved the names of the Chapter Masters known to each successor chapter throughout the ages. These names of heroes from ten thousand years represented the honor of the Blood Angels.

And on the wall were magnificent statues of Sanguinius; each statue symbolized a period of Imperial history, inlaid with countless shining gems and precious metals.

Even those races that considered themselves more elegant than vulgar humans had to admit the beauty of the Blood Angels' creations.

Dante hoped that this wall could inspire the common glory of his Blood Angels descendants, which could bind them together, and hoped that they could suppress the Red Thirst and Black Rage with art, creation, and beauty, just like the Archangel ten thousand years ago...

Dante's gaze was fixed on one of the carvings.

The Sanguinius in that statue was kneeling on one knee—this was the scene when Sanguinius first met his legion; he swore to the 9th Legion, which was then rejected and feared by the Empire, swearing eternal loyalty to his legion and descendants.

I will also do the same, using loyalty to the Chapter and the brothers of the successor chapters to obtain their recognition.

This thought suddenly flashed through his mind, and Dante could not help but feel ashamed for it; how could he compare himself to a Primarch.

Suddenly, the light and shadow in the room began to squirm; countless shadows seemed to be crawling in the room, and Dante suddenly felt that every Chapter Master's name on the wall was whispering.

"I am here." Mephiston's voice rang out.

He walked across the floor, his footsteps echoing lightly.

Everything, everything submerged behind the curtain of reality seemed to be circling around this Chief Librarian.

Mephiston nodded to Dante, his head tilted slightly, like a statue cast from the dead.

This was a simple action, but it was terrifying when Mephiston did it.

Dante looked at Mephiston: "You are here, Lord of Death."

Lord of Death was Mephiston's title within the Chapter, containing the vigilance, respect, and fear that the Chapter brothers had for him.

Dante had these same emotions toward Mephiston.

However, when Mephiston heard the four words "Lord of Death," his expression twisted abruptly, as if feeling embarrassed by it.

Dante didn't understand, and just asked Mephiston: "Why do you want to see me?"

Mephiston requested Dante to have a private meeting with him, and absolutely no one else could be present.

This request was troubling, but Dante had to take time out of his extremely cumbersome work.

Mephiston looked at Dante's tired face; he knew that the news he brought was shocking enough, so he decided to take care of the Chapter Master's spirit and say it in a gentle way.

"Let's start with the less important ones; Ka'Bandha is coming."

"Hmm?" Dante's expression tightened abruptly, his eyes confused as if asking, is this not important?

"A Lictor will sneak into Baal."

"Cadia may fall, and the rift of the Warp will swallow the galaxy."

"A Primarch is about to return."

"One of the candidates for many positions in the Warp is on the Baal system."

Before Dante could react, Mephiston said like pouring beans:

"Jaghatai Khan told me all this."

"Ah???" Dante had never been so dazed in a thousand years.

(End of chapter)