Chapter 225: Me! Out of Wood But I Am Dante! I Love Work!

"The Warmaster will come to accept your surrender."

Gavriel Loken, or the cunning chicken thief who claimed to be Gavriel Loken, said so.

Zhou Yun and Mephiston exchanged a brief glance.

The Warmaster; only a handful of people in human history have earned this title, especially after the Horus Heresy, where the name Warmaster seems to carry an ominous meaning, and the Imperium has almost completely abandoned this title.

And the Warmaster mentioned by this "Gavriel Loken" can only be...

Sweat trickled faintly down the forehead beneath Mephiston's clay.

Even knowing it was fake, merely the emotions of the masses projected onto a cunning chicken thief, Mephiston still felt nervous.

He had once witnessed Horus's form with his own eyes in the Black Rage, knowing what manner of monster that was.

"Do not panic, Sanguinius gave me his assurance; none of these cunning chicken thieves can harm me." Zhou Yun glanced at Mephiston and said in a relaxed tone.

Mephiston's body twitched slightly.

"Did my Lord say that these cunning chicken thieves would not harm me either?" Mephiston could not help but ask.

"Ah, I think I did say that?" Zhou Yun pondered for a moment, his expression looking somewhat confused: "I was too busy plucking his feathers at the time to hear clearly..."

Mephiston smiled awkwardly, his voice stiff.

Zhou Yun no longer kept his gaze on Mephiston; this was Mephiston after all, he could surely take care of himself, and Zhou Yun did not need to pay him extra attention.

He turned his gaze to that cunning chicken thief Loken and continued to enjoy the scene.

Zhou Yun vaguely had a feeling that everything happening before his eyes was like a play, giving Zhou Yun a strange sense of familiarity.

These three cunning chicken thieves before him seemed to be performing according to a set script, yet they themselves did not know it.

"Will he come now?!" the old man in purple robes asked in an urgent voice.

"I have already sent a signal to the Warmaster." Loken said with some headache.

He had already reported the situation before him to the Warmaster.

The Warmaster respects those who surrender, willing to grant them their final honor, and is also curious about that strange Astartes.

Loken gritted his teeth; the hallucinations before his eyes grew increasingly severe.

He did not seem to be standing in the luxurious palace of the "Emperor," but rather inside an inverted black iron Gao Ta, where the Wang Zuo in the center of the Gao Ta had also become a crude, ugly, and massive structure assembled from black scrap iron.

Loken vaguely saw the flow of light and shadow upon it.

All these illusions vanished in an instant, yet he sucked in a sharp breath, suddenly understanding why the old man in purple robes demanded to see the Warmaster.

"You are not the 'Emperor'!!!" Loken roared: "This is a trap!!"

He suddenly twisted his head, pointing the power sword in his hand at the invisible presence coiled upon the Wang Zuo.

The true "Hua Di Huang" sat upon that Wang Zuo the whole time, maintaining an invisible state, not revealing his form.

He was waiting for the Warmaster's arrival to ambush and kill the Warmaster.

A beast-like roar sounded; Loken's hallucinations and reality overlapped, light and shadow constantly shifting, and powerful psychic power howled throughout the entire room.

He suddenly felt as if his chest had been struck by an armored personnel carrier, his whole body lifted like grass in a hurricane, and he crashed heavily against the black iron wall.

Loken spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, his body collapsing like a rag into the corner of the wall.

He saw the light and shadow on the Wang Zuo flowing constantly, as if a beast five or six meters tall was coiled within the gaps of the light and shadow.

And the Astartes with the unknown paint scheme and the psychic Ogryn stood amidst the psychic storm raised by the giant beast, a faint psychic barrier enveloping the two of them.

"Help——————"

Before Loken could finish speaking, a burst of intense teleportation light erupted in the room, right next to Loken.

"Wolf God!" Loken roared, reminding his gene-father.

Within the teleportation light, a towering giant god revealed his form.

It was a giant, much taller than Loken, clad in power armor between pale gold and bone white, like the first ray of light when the sun wheel rises over Terra, scorching and bright, instantly filling the entire room with brilliance.

Various runes flashing on his power armor shone brilliantly; the Eye of Terra on his chest added even more majesty, and the beast-fur cloak behind him moved with the wind generated by the teleportation, commanding awe without anger.

That was the embodiment of human strength, the most perfect warrior.

The moment he appeared, the strange illusions coiled before Loken's eyes became thin and almost vanished.

However, from Zhou Yun's perspective, it was a different matter.

He saw no warrior full of glory and majesty, only a strange Genestealer Patriarch or quasi-Patriarch.

It was a creature about six meters tall, with a triangular head completely exposed, a bald chicken thief not covered by any chitinous carapace.

Its entire body was covered by extremely thick chitinous carapaces; these chitin interlaced and coiled, actually resembling a set of power armor.

Furthermore, the gaps between these chitinous carapaces seemed to slowly twist into a series of complex runes, gradually forming a broken Eye of Terra shape on its chest.

Its hideous alien face twisted as it looked toward the Wang Zuo where light and shadow flowed.

The invisible giant beast on the Wang Zuo let out a roar and suddenly rose to pounce on it.

Its expression remained unmoved as it suddenly raised its sharp claws covered in chitin——————

Boom!! Boom!!! Boom!!!

The howl of the meltagun arrived faster than its claws.

The head of that invisible giant beast exploded amidst the howling of meltagun sparks.

Precise, swift, and casual, as if he felt no hesitation at all about where his bullets would land.

Loken was shocked; he had never seen such exquisite marksmanship.

It was as if he was not shooting at an enemy, but rather the enemy was destined to pass through his bullet trajectory.

Loken even noticed that a trace of barely perceptible surprise flashed in the Warmaster's eyes; this marksmanship also seemed to trigger...

"I swear to destroy all tyrants and liars."

The Warmaster looked at the Astartes warrior with the unknown paint scheme:

"But this time someone has beaten me to it."

"It's fine, Warmaster. I believe that one day you will personally strike the galaxy's greatest tyrant and liar until he is paralyzed."

Zhou Yun put down the meltagun in his hand and looked at the massive Genestealer before him with a light expression.

Whether it was an illusion or not, after the invisible Genestealer on that throne died, its body seemed to have grown even larger.

Was it mutual competition between the Genestealer Patriarch candidates?

As the candidates decrease, the remaining individuals will also become stronger under the stimulation.

Zhou Yun had noticed early on the invisible Genestealer crouching on the throne; that was obviously the true "Emperor," the Genestealer Patriarch candidate of this group of invisible Genestealers.

It had simply kept its camouflage on while crouching on the throne and not moving, so Zhou Yun and Morpheus hadn't paid it any mind.

Hearing Zhou Yun's words, that Genestealer Patriarch candidate, whose body was covered in chitinous armor like power armor, let out a loud laugh, his gaze falling on Zhou Yun.

"Very flattering. Your mouth is as dangerous as your gun. Which of my brothers' progeny has such a silver tongue? Guilliman's?"

As he spoke, the Patriarch candidate's gaze fell on Zhou Yun, and his expression became serious:

"Warrior, I am the Lord of the Moon Wolves, the Warmaster appointed by the Emperor, Lord of Mankind beloved by all living beings, the Primarch bearing the Great Crusade."

"I am Horus. I am the Emperor's first-born son."

As he spoke, the Patriarch candidate who claimed to be Horus's gaze became sharp, as if examining Zhou Yun:

"Now, reveal your identity and the reason for your intervention in this war!"

Morpheus stepped back slightly, his expression somewhat fluctuating.

It was because Morpheus truly felt the aura of Horus on this Genestealer.

Although it was fake, a false Horus projected from the emotions and faith of all living beings in the Warp, it gave Morpheus a genuine feeling.

Morpheus could even feel that the Black Rage, which he had originally overcome and suppressed deep within his soul, inexplicably became active again, as if something dwelt within the body of the monster before him.

Morpheus vaguely saw a pair of black wings behind this Genestealer, as if the Black Angel from the legends of Baal was gazing at him.

He hurriedly transmitted the scene he saw through the psychic link to Zhou Yun's mind.

Zhou Yun merely pressed the hat on his head, smiled slightly at the corner of his mouth, and reached his hand into the fourth-dimensional pocket.

Loken almost thought he was going to pull out a weapon, but the Warmaster remained standing still, gazing at Zhou Yun.

Then, Loken held his breath.

A light brighter than that on the Warmaster instantly illuminated the entire room.

The Warmaster also stepped back sharply, gazing at the object Zhou Yun held up.

It was a feather, about the length of Loken's arm, pure as white snow, with a slight blue at the tip, entirely shrouded in light like warm sunlight.

The moment this feather was taken out, as if a clear sound of a holy bell rang out, the things before Loken instantly became clear, and many mists and illusions were disappearing.

In the light bursting from the feather, Loken vaguely saw the Warmaster turn into some kind of six-meter-tall monster, but it was only for an instant.

Because the Space Marine warrior with the unknown livery gently put down the feather in his hand, letting the light stop shining on the Warmaster and Loken.

"So it was Sanguinius who sent you." The Warmaster's voice became slightly softer.

The Space Marine with the unknown livery nodded slightly and said softly, "I am a member of the Sanguinary Guard, Sanguinius's personal guard. You may call me Firstborn Dante!"

Instantly, Loken's eyes seemed to suddenly see clearly; the power armor on the Space Marine who called himself Firstborn Dante turned into gold inlaid with bloodstones, with the symbol of the Sanguinary Guard on the shoulder pads.

For a moment, Loken felt some guilt that he had only just now recognized this was a member of the Sanguinary Guard.

"So it is the Sanguinary Guard."

A slight smile appeared on Horus's lips. The Sanguinary Guard was Sanguinius's personal guard, but they were sometimes dispatched as personal bodyguards for other commanders to show the Great Angel's closeness and favor.

Horus obviously thought this was his brother expressing friendship to him. He had just been appointed Warmaster and had a good relationship with Sanguinius, so this was normal.

"Then, in the name of the Warmaster, I agree to your joining the 63rd Expeditionary Fleet and becoming my personal guard, boarding the Revenge Spirit with me."

(End of this chapter)