Chapter 445: Ke Ban Yin Dora Kao's Great Work

Seth's words made Zhou Yun's lips twitch.

He felt that if Seth continued to quote classics like this, his own mouth would lose its purpose.

However, Seth knew enough to lower his voice, speaking only loud enough for those very close to him to hear, not challenging Ji Li Man's authority at such a moment.

In fact, if the two Primarchs did not possess superhuman hearing, only Zhou Yun and Kahn should have heard it.

But alas, all Primarchs have superhuman hearing; Sanguinius's lips brushed past a smile, while Ji Li Man remained expressionless.

"What is about to be revealed will dispel all your doubts." Ji Li Man emphasized with solemn and grave words.

The massive heavy door behind him rumbled open, exposing an oval space behind it.

Zhou Yun saw figures within it.

At least a hundred towering figures stood in the depressed area in the middle of the oval space, like a group of gladiators standing in an arena waiting for a performance.

Ji Li Man strode into it with long strides, as if waiting to receive the Emperor's Ascension Day gift that had been waiting for ten thousand years; the Empire's delegation, led by Zhou Yun and Sanguinius, followed closely behind into it.

Upon entering, Zhou Yun and the others heard a sharp, stirring horn sound, brilliant, strange, and catchy.

Zhou Yun's lips twitched slightly; the rhythm of this horn was clearly "The Doraemon Song." Zhou Yun had previously used it as a hymn.

A beam of light illuminated the front of the delegation; a gravity platform descended from the sky, and the Great Sage Ke Ban Yin Dora Kao, massive as a giant beast, revealed a body large enough to face a Primarch eye-to-eye.

He had just raised the metal arms beneath his robes, like a conductor unveiling an opening.

Exaggerated, magnificent, and carrying Ke Ban Yin Dora Kao's unique style.

"Welcome, distinguished nobles of the Empire!"

Kao switched his vocal cords, making his voice warm and gentle, quite suitable for a speaker; it seemed he had collected Ji Li Man's voice data and intentionally imitated Ji Li Man while speaking.

Ordinary people often view the Adepts of Mars through stereotypes; they often believe the Adepts of Mars must be mechanical, cold, and rational to the point of cruelty.

In fact, many members of the Adeptus Mechanicus do indeed pursue becoming more like machines.

But Kao is different; Kao was actually a minority in the past. He firmly believed the Hua Di Huang is the Omnisiah, and since the Omnisiah appeared in human form, then humanity is the most perfect and flawless form among all machines, all beings, and all spirits.

Therefore, Kao always refused mechanical modification, taking pride in maintaining his human body.

It was only to cross the long ten thousand years and complete the task entrusted to him by Ji Li Man and the Hua Di Huang that he was forced to modify himself into this inhuman, terrifying form.

But even so, Kao's stubborn, domineering, and extremely self-aware soul still allowed him to retain flexible and human emotions within his mechanical body.

For example, a strong sense of self-esteem and a love for exaggeration... Hmm, I suppose keeping a secret for ten thousand years must have been somewhat painful for Kao.

"And most welcome to you, my comrade-in-arms, offspring of the Omnisiah, and perfect creation, my lord Luo Bote Ji Li Man!"

Kao raised his voice a notch, bowing to Ji Li Man; he particularly emphasized the four words "my comrade-in-arms."

"And equally welcome to you, brother of my lord Luo Bote Ji Li Man, also an offspring of the Omnisiah and perfect creation, my lord Sanguinius."

Kao bowed to Sanguinius with the same precise arc, then bowed to Zhou Yun with a deeper arc:

"Especially welcome and praise for your visit, the First Prime Mover of the Universe, the source power flowing within all beings, all machines, and all spirits; not a god yet your greatness as the Prime Mover is unaffected. Praise Holy Doraemon!"

Kao spoke in a nearly magnificent tone, but when he saw Zhou Yun's mortal-like body, a fleeting sorrow passed through his remaining single eye.

Every time he saw the Prime Mover's body, which was almost indistinguishable from a mortal's, Kao's non-existent heart would twist in pain.

The Omnisiah and the Prime Mover both chose a human body, proving that Kao's view from ten thousand years ago was correct: the human body is perfect.

Yet Kao himself, to complete the task, was forced to curl up inside this pitiful mechanical body; this is truly...

Kao took a deep breath, operating the hormone regulation device within his body to suppress the sorrow in his heart, refocusing his attention on his task.

Ten thousand years of work has ended.

He must present his work to this world in a glorious manner, present it to my lord Ji Li Man, and also present it to the Prime Mover.

Ke Ban Yin Dora Kao suddenly turned around, pointing with his metal arm at the hundred Astartes standing in the arena behind him.

Bright white lights illuminated those hundred Astartes.

They wore power armor with varied paint schemes, some blue, some red, some yellow, some purple; their gene-seeds seemed to come from different Legions.

They seemed to have undergone considerable training, standing in the arena in perfect unison, like a military formation during a parade.

And if there was anything they had in common, it was their excessive height.

For Astartes, they were somewhat excessively tall.

Seth himself was a tall one among the Astartes, but placed before this group of Astartes displayed by Kao, he was actually slightly short.

This situation made Seth somewhat anxious and uneasy.

Especially since some of these Astartes even used the paint scheme of the Blood Angels.

But Seth smelled no scent from them... no scent of the Thirst, no scent of the Black Rage at all.

"What has he done? What are these things?" Seth growled in a low voice: "Does he intend to replace us with these things?"

Seth's fangs showed slightly.

After Sanguinius's return, the Thirst was suppressed, while the Black Rage underwent a subtle change.

The occurrence rate of the Black Rage itself hardly changed; only the warriors who fell into the Black Rage entered a strange state. Their souls seemed to have established a connection with Sanguinius, as if they had become avatars of Sanguinius: powerful, divine, and unstoppable.

The Black Rage is essentially the result of Sanguinius's offspring being influenced by the essence of Sanguinius, specifically the echo generated by Sanguinius's death, becoming a small part of this grand sacrifice of Sanguinius's death, connecting and merging with Sanguinius.

Now that Sanguinius has been resurrected, the dark and deep part of Sanguinius's essence was swallowed by Zhou Yun, and the dark part within the Black Rage disappeared accordingly, becoming a pure fusion and link with Sanguinius.

However, these new warriors had no scent of the Black Rage; they had no link to Sanguinius, and furthermore, they had no Thirst!

Not only Seth, but some Ultramarines were also in turmoil, and even non-Astarte mortals fell into panic.

Sanguinius was relatively calm, and Zhou Yun was the same.

They both knew what these warriors were; Zhou Yun was even anticipating the appearance of these warriors.

The appearance of these warriors meant the beginning of the Indomitus Crusade, and at the same time, on the day the Indomitus Crusade set out for all corners of the galaxy,

the Indomitus Crusade would greatly squeeze the operational range of Chaos forces; the traitors, including Erebus, could only be compressed into a smaller range.

Zhou Yun could then, with the support of the Indomitus Crusade, begin to rapidly hunt down Erebus, both for revenge and punishment, and to pursue the fate of the galaxy foretold by the Hua Di Huang.

After all, the current Erebus can move freely throughout the galaxy; the range is too large, and Zhou Yun has no interest in passively playing a game of cat and mouse with him.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please bear witness!"

Belisarius Cawl proclaimed in a grand voice:

"Ten thousand years ago, Lord Roboute Ji Li Man set me a sacred challenge: to improve upon the Emperor's creations, to iterate upon the Death Angels He made."

"Today, I have completed this mission. Standing before you are the next generation of Death Angels — the next iteration of the Adeptus Astartes."

"They are stronger, tougher, more agile, more loyal, and have been implanted with three new reinforced organs of my own design, correcting countless flaws."

Belisarius Cawl laughed proudly at his own creations:

"They are the Primaris Space Marines! Warriors stronger and greater!"

He had absolutely no sense of the mood in the room.

A heavy, deathly silence hung over the heads of the Ultramarines and the Blood Angels.

The Blood Angels were all right — their sensibility let them firmly believe their father would not abandon them.

But the Ultramarines, with their rationality, understood that these Primaris Space Marines would sooner or later replace them; it was only a matter of time.

Or rather, the Primaris were exactly what their gene-father had ordered forged ten thousand years ago to replace them.

Bitterness spread through the hearts of the Ultramarines, while the Blood Angels, as if for reassurance, drew a little closer to Sanguinius.

Ji Li Man also slightly furrowed his brow at Cawl — such remarks showed a certain lack of political awareness.

Indeed, the appearance of the Primaris was bound to provoke resistance among the older Space Marines, but Cawl should at least have been more careful with his words.

Still, Cawl's saying so was not without its merits — Ji Li Man could use Cawl's remarks to position himself as a sympathizer with the older version of Space Marines, making the transition smoother.

"Cawl, enough talk — let us demonstrate the abilities of these new warriors." Ji Li Man raised his voice and said: "My Legion needs the finest warriors, warriors as outstanding and irreplaceable as the ones I have now!"

What a goddamn political monster. Zhou Yun watched Ji Li Man's speech and muttered inwardly.

Cawl bowed deeply.

"My lord, I know many harbor hatred toward my creations, believing them a corruption of the Emperor's work."

"But this is not so. They are entirely built upon modifications of the Emperor's creations, just as an ancient Terra sage once said: I merely stand upon the shoulders of giants."

No, dear sage Cawl, that is not what they are worried about. Zhou Yun silently mocked in his heart, then continued watching Cawl vent his desire to perform.

"You shall soon witness the might of these Primaris Space Marines." So saying, Cawl turned and waved his hand, and dozens of heavy combat servitors abruptly rose up in the arena.

The Primaris Space Marines also set down their ranged weapons and, to best display their capabilities, engaged these heavy combat servitors — carefully designed by Cawl — in close combat.

Zhou Yun watched the battle with great interest, and at the same time could not resist asking Khorne and Seth beside him out of curiosity:

"What do you make of these Primaris Space Marines?"

(End of chapter)