Chapter 190

Zhou Yun regretted attending this feast.

He regretted it from the moment he took the first sip of wine.

This was not because the wine was mixed with blood; in fact, what he and Dante were drinking were versions without fresh blood mixed in, brewed from local grapes grown inside Baal's Angel Fortress. The entire process from planting to brewing involved the participation of the Blood Angels.

This was the first fruit wine Zhou Yun had drunk since coming to this galaxy, and in terms of brewing craftsmanship, it used the techniques left by the Angels during the Great Crusade ten thousand years ago, which were said to have been learned by the Angel himself from the Thousand Sons Primarch Ma Genusi on Prospero.

Ten thousand years after the Angel had passed away, brewing this kind of wine had almost become a ritual. The participating blood slaves and Blood Angels all brewed it with honor and piety, strictly following the ancient craftsmanship.

What Zhou Yun was drinking now was the highest grade of it, of which only one barrel was brewed every year on Sanguinius's Day.

Ancient craftsmanship from ten thousand years ago, grapes grown on holy Baal, brewed by the Blood Angels to commemorate Sanguinius, and only one barrel brewed on Sanguinius's Day...

This nameless wine, stored in an exquisitely carved bloodstone bottle, was worth even more than the most expensive Quatis wine. Zhou Yun had no doubt that countless planetary governors would be willing to go bankrupt to exchange for a bottle.

But, but this thing tasted bitter in the mouth, bitter to the point of astringency, astringent to the point of cutting the mouth. The sharp tannin taste made Zhou Yun's lips and teeth ache, and it was even so bitter that Zhou Yun faintly saw the Emperor beckoning to him on the Golden Throne.

Zhou Yun stared at this glass of wine with an ugly expression. He even began to suspect that after Ma Genusi turned traitor, he used psychic powers to curse the winemaking craftsmanship the Angel learned from Prospero, making every glass of wine the Angels brewed become bitter...

But on second thought, if Ma Genusi really had this ability, he should have cursed every glass of wine Russ drank first!

Seeming to notice Zhou Yun's bitter expression, Dante also shook his head helplessly: "Baal is a world full of radiation. Not to mention grapes, even people are bitter."

"It's already not easy for such an environment to grow grapes..."

As he spoke, Dante picked up a bunch of grapes from the table and placed them in front of Zhou Yun.

Zhou Yun glanced at those grapes...

The surface of that thing was covered with a layer of sturdy hard shell. After peeling off the shell, there was greenish-yellow skin, and the skin tightly wrapped around a huge seed.

"This is definitely not a grape." Zhou Yun said, picking up the grape that had well-developed skin, seeds, and shells, but no fruit flesh.

As a native human from the third millennium of Old Terra, Zhou Yun absolutely did not admit that this was a grape.

Even if he were made to admit that a banana was a purebred human, he would absolutely not admit that the heaven-defying thing in front of him was a grape.

"... This is Baal's grape." Dante peeled a grape and squeezed out the pit; the pit was stained with fruit flesh that was almost invisible to the naked eye.

Dante stuffed the pit into his mouth and sucked on it; that counted as eating a grape.

"Baal's radiation is severe, the sunlight is sharp, and the Scarlet Scars themselves induce mutations in crops. We have made many efforts... from greenhouses to ecological pods completely isolated from the outside world, and even invited Biologis Magos to study it, but Baal's grapes just grew like this!"

Dante said in a somewhat sorrowful tone:

"It is said that before the Archangel passed away, Baal's grapes were still relatively normal. But in the ten thousand years since he passed away, Baal's grapes have mutated more and more severely..."

Zhou Yun looked at Dante with a dull expression.

The grapes becoming hard to eat were actually all because of Sanguinius's death? Sanguinius's death even affected the variety of grapes??

Could it really be that someone was attacking the Blood Angels' wine in the Warp??

Could it really be that Ma Genusi was chanting little spells in the Warp day and night to curse Baal's grapes?

Zhou Yun sipped the bright red wine in his glass again in silence.

Then his face twisted instantly, revealing uncontrollable pain.

Zhou Yun felt that his painful expression now was probably about the same as when Perturabo strangled his sister.

It was too bitter; Mephiston and Dante on the side could actually sip it down in small mouthfuls.

"This bitterness is originally part of our missing the Archangel." Mephiston on the side flashed a wry smile and explained: "We often slowly savor this bitter and mellow red wine to miss Sanguinius."

"Believe me, Sanguinius would definitely be willing to let you drink something better." Zhou Yun glanced at the winged figure in the white light at the corner of his eye and said.

The winged figure in the white light flickered a few times, as if agreeing with Zhou Yun.

Chief Sanguinary Priest Corbulo, who was sitting next to Dante, was not far away and heard this sentence; he couldn't help but frown slightly.

Although he could guess that this man's identity was not what he claimed—a common Ultramarine—

the words in his mouth were still an offense to Sanguinius and the Blood Angels' traditions...

"My lord—" Corbulo had just opened his mouth to speak, but saw Dante looking at the wine glass in his hand with some contemplation.

"Perhaps we should get some wine produced by agricultural worlds and put it in the wine cellar..." Dante said in a low voice.

Corbulo's expression stiffened slightly, but he saw Mephiston also nodding in agreement.

"It doesn't need to be too luxurious, just from an agricultural world will do—"

"... There are no nearby agricultural worlds anymore." Dante interrupted Mephiston's words. Mephiston's face twitched a few times, and he suddenly remembered that dozens of nearby worlds had been subjected to Exterminatus, ordered by Dante himself,

especially the agricultural worlds with abundant biomass, which were destroyed most thoroughly.

Mephiston sighed slightly.

Dante believed that as long as Baal did not fall, the swarm would have to starve in the Scarlet Scars.

But Dante did not say that if there were not enough sacrifices in the upcoming battle, Baal itself might also fall into famine...

"Actually, there's no need to only keep your eyes within the Scarlet Scars. There are so many planets in the entire Ultima Segmentum; the Blood Angels' influence can completely step out of the Scarlet Scars."

Zhou Yun swirled the red wine in his glass but didn't drink a drop:

"Back then, Roboute Guilliman could create Greater Ultramar, so why can't we create a Greater Baal? Encompassing the Scarlet Scars as the core, along with five hundred nearby worlds, and putting the entire northern Ultima Segmentum under the leadership of a Legion—oh no, a Chapter."

"The world only knows that the Ultramarines' gene-seed is stable and they are good at mass-producing troops. But is there a possibility that the Blood Angels' gene-seed also has its characteristics? The requirements for the subjects are relatively low; even the tribal people on Baal who are heavily affected by radiation can accept the transformation."

"If the Blood Angels could establish a Greater Baal containing hundreds of worlds, I dare not imagine how many Astartes warriors we would have born."

Mephiston's hand holding the wine glass stopped in mid-air. Dante first stiffened, then sighed with exhaustion, and Corbulo was dumbfounded.

"The Codex stipulates that each Chapter is only allowed to have one thousand Astartes. The new recruits produced by hundreds of worlds would definitely be at the Legion level, and might even exceed the former Ninth Legion." Corbulo considered himself to have pointed out the biggest loophole in Zhou Yun's plan.

"No need to be so honest." Zhou Yun continued to swirl his wine glass and said: "Back then, not all Legions strictly followed the Codex... In fact, the Blood Angels were actually among the more honest ones, actually breaking up the Legion."

"The Imperium will not agree to the existence of a Legion-scale Astartes organization today." Corbulo said firmly.

"You can use some little tricks... for example, sign a secret 'Final Blood Wall' agreement with the successor Chapters, make the command system so complex that outsiders can't understand it, establish a bunch of fleet-based successor Chapters and let them patrol near Baal, set up a bunch of Astartes hobby clubs, stuff Astartes into stasis fields for rotation, or simply ignore the opinions of certain people in the Imperium... There are always ways." Zhou Yun said casually.

!. Read

Corbulo's expression went dull for a moment. He wanted to refute, but soon realized that it seemed a few Chapters were really doing exactly that.

"The High Lords cannot destroy a loyal Founding Chapter; the Inquisition doesn't have the ability; the Custodes are still homebodies in the Imperial Palace... What's more, the twenty-nine thousand Blood Angels present now have almost twisted into one." Zhou Yun shook his wine glass and said: "They are loyal to Dante."

Listening to Zhou Yun's words, Corbulo suddenly felt a chill, because he suddenly realized that what Zhou Yun said made sense.

If Dante really led the Blood Angels and the successor Chapters to survive the Battle of Baal, he would have the ability to achieve the plan Zhou Yun mentioned,

establish a Greater Baal, and let all Sanguinius's scions unite together... Dante was only one step away from this power.

Dante, however, sighed with exhaustion, shook his head,

managing one thousand Astartes made him exhausted, managing twenty-nine thousand Astartes made him even more exhausted, and in Zhou Yun's plan, he actually had to manage hundreds of worlds and an entire Legion-scale Astartes force...

Dante looked at Zhou Yun through Sanguinius's mask. He deeply suspected that the domain of this Warp entity was overtime and endless work.

He was silent for a while, then glanced around, looking at the position assigned to the Flesh Tearers Chapter.

Chapter Master Seth was not among them. This Flesh Tearers Chapter Master always avoided interacting with other Chapters. Dante could feel that Seth was also one of those seeking sacrifice in this battle.

Seth had actually come to the feast, but had left when Dante wasn't paying attention.

"I need to leave for a moment. Corbulo, you and Mephiston host the feast."

As the words fell, Dante rose and left his seat, walking outside the Well of Angels.

"The Blood Angels' Sanguinary Priests and Chaplains also occasionally take responsibility for suppressing the Red Thirst and Black Rage of the successor Chapters, right?"

After Dante left, Zhou Yun seemed to have a sudden whim and looked at Corbulo and asked.

"... Yes." Corbulo vaguely realized something, and his face became strange as he said.

"Then we can also use the name of managing and suppressing the gene-seed mutations of the successor Chapters to unify the Sanguinary Priests of each Chapter into one organization, and use the Sanguinary Priests to establish a command structure that controls the major successor Chapters, indirectly reviving the Legion..." Zhou Yun said, and the corner of his mouth couldn't help but reveal a smile.

In the hundreds of years Corbulo had been a Blood Angel, he had never been so restless.

He felt as if he were being roasted on a fire.

(End of chapter)