Chapter 687: I want to be a farmer, I want to be a hunter

"Azrael, your mother is dead." Ezekiel's voice sounded in Azrael's ear.

You survived, Ezekiel.

Azrael raised his head slightly and sighed in his heart.

Ezekiel's insult did not cause a ripple in Azrael's heart. His cave-dweller mother had died who knows how many years ago, and her figure had long been blurred in Azrael's memory.

If she were still alive, she would have likely come into contact with some things or powers she shouldn't have, and Azrael would only execute her with his own hands.

So when Azrael heard Ezekiel's voice, his only feeling was to feel glad and happy that Ezekiel had successfully survived the Lion's anger.

The guilt in his heart dissipated slightly... Azrael had to admit that his joining the Black Shields, leaving the Chapter, and living incognito was indeed out of cowardice.

He was not afraid of death; death was a destined end for an Astartes.

He just didn't know how to face his gene-father. As Supreme Grand Master, Azrael had read the most secret records about the Primarch in the Chapter countless times. He revered the Primarch incomparably and loved the Primarch. He naturally longed to see the Primarch.

But the Primarch knew, or to a certain extent knew, the mistakes he had made. Azrael really had no face to stand before the Primarch, didn't know how to explain his crimes to the Primarch, and was even more afraid that he wouldn't even have the chance to redeem himself for his crimes.

Azrael, as Supreme Grand Master, had read the secret records about the Primarch within the Chapter and knew that his Primarch was not always an existence where rationality outweighed sensibility.

When anger reached a certain level, the Lion would often abandon all rationality, smash a fist toward the head of the person who caused his anger.

Azrael believed that there was no Astartes in the world who could take a punch from a Primarch with his face.

To die like this, for Azrael, meant dying with humiliation and sin, without the chance to redeem himself.

And for the entire Chapter and successor chapters, watching their Primarch punch the head of the Supreme Grand Master off, one could imagine what kind of turmoil it would cause, even possibly leading to the split and conflict of the Legion. This was not without precedent in the Legion's history.

After a night of deep thought, Azrael chose without hesitation to return the Lion Helm, which symbolized the position of Supreme Grand Master, left a letter for Ezekiel, and joined the Deathwatch Black Shields without hesitation, living incognito to redeem himself for a lifetime.

However, Azrael also had to admit that his time in the Deathwatch was the happiest time of his life.

He didn't need to think about anything, didn't need to care about the Fallen Angels, didn't need to worry about the Chapter moving in a bad direction, didn't need to face some neurotic brothers, just needed to empty his mind, follow orders, and slaughter xenos.

This reminded Azrael of the Eldar Harlequin... oh no, the psychic-specialized sub-human Astra Militarum art troupe not long ago.

Azrael warned himself in his heart that in the Deathwatch, where xenos were the enemy, what was a xenos and how to define a xenos was a serious political issue.

Not long ago, Azrael watched the performance of the psychic-specialized sub-human Astra Militarum art troupe in the Deathwatch. The content was about the three Primarchs discussing what positions they should take after returning.

"I want to... be a farmer!" Guilliman said.

The Lion stepped forward: "I want to be a hunter!"

Sanguinius clapped his hands in praise: "I want to sell meat sauce!"

"Regent!" Guilliman stepped forward.

"Grand Warmaster!" The Lion followed closely.

"Legion Commander!" Sanguinius stepped forward with a smile.

"It's all Dante's!" the three sang in chorus.

At that time, this drama made Azrael stunned. Now looking back, Azrael felt more and more that the connotation expressed in this play had some truth in it.

Dante was too miserable, acting as both the Dark Regent and the Dark Commander-in-Chief, and even the Blood Angels Legion was operated by him. How could he, Azrael, be as comfortable as being a Deathwatch Black Shield now?

He could continue to contribute to the Hua Hua Hua Di Huang, repay his sins, kill the enemies of humanity with his own hands, and even find pure brotherly love here without impurities.

"Kimeria, brother, what are you thinking about?" a gentle and slightly weathered voice asked.

Azrael raised his head slightly and saw an Astartes wearing the same pitch-black power armor, covering the emblem on his shoulder, walk over and sit beside him.

"Hellel, my brother, my Morning Star, I am thinking about some... past things," Azrael said in a muffled voice.

Kimeria was the pseudonym Azrael chose after joining the Deathwatch Black Shields. This name came from Azrael's hometown, which was a barren, savage planet. Azrael was a member of a primitive cave-dweller tribe on that planet.

It was truly ridiculous. The Dark Angels Chapter Master, who was the model of all Astartes, like the revival of ancient chivalry, was actually a savage who crawled out of a cave.

And Hellel was a brother Azrael had met within the few months he had come to the Deathwatch Black Shields.

Hellel was a veteran Black Shield. According to other brothers in the Deathwatch, Azrael guessed that Hellel's time as a Black Shield might be longer than his time as an Astartes.

And for some reason, Azrael felt an inexplicable closeness to Hellel, as if they were brothers by nature.

And Hellel also took great care of Azrael, often fighting side by side with Azrael in battle, and both of their martial arts were the highest in this Black Shield squad.

Hellel also talked about the meaning of the name he was using now. Hellel meant the fallen Morning Star. Azrael jokingly called him my Morning Star.

"Joining the Black Shields means abandoning the past. No matter what mistakes you have made, or what kind of people you have been hated by, joining the Black Shields means it has all vanished like smoke."

"This is the Hua Hua Hua Di Huang's final mercy for sinners. Don't think too much."

Saying this, Hellel patted Azrael on the shoulder:

"Prepare yourself. We have a new mission. This time it is a grand mobilization. It is said that the order was issued by that Saint Doraemon personally."

Azrael revealed some curiosity.

Saint Doraemon—that existence was not close to the Dark Angels Chapter. In fact, Azrael's understanding of Him came entirely from intelligence and the Eldar Harlequin's dramas.

Things like "Saint Doraemon used a round hand to blow up the sun of the Underworld system," "Saint Doraemon sold a Greater Daemon in a 22nd-century department store," "Saint Doraemon swallowed a Tyranid Titan alive," "Saint Doraemon taught a psychic Ogryn to count to ten," "Saint Doraemon never moves, the universe moves relative to Saint Doraemon," "Saint Doraemon's tears can make the Hua Hua Hua Di Huang stand up, but Saint Doraemon never sheds tears," "Saint Doraemon's hand made the Lord of Hunger abstain from desire."

In short, one was more miraculous than the other, even more exaggerated than the Hua Hua Hua Di Huang in many Ecclesiarchy classics.

"What is the target, and where are we gathering?"

"All are classified information, and the Adeptus Mechanicus will use Any-Star-Gates to lead us to the gathering point."

Hellel shook his head and said:

"I only heard that the number of Astartes gathered this time is so large that it even reached the scale of a Legion."

Legion scale...

Such a large-scale mobilization must have a fairly large fleet gathering, and possibly even one or several Gloriana-class battleships.

Otherwise, there would be no way to accommodate a Legion-scale gathering.

But he hadn't heard of any large-scale fleet gathering recently. Could it be that they were using the *Phalanx*?

The only single ships in the Imperium that could accommodate a Legion-scale Astartes gathering were the *Phalanx* and the Rock fortress.

Thinking of the Rock fortress, Azrael felt a slight sadness.

Perhaps he would never have the chance to return to the Rock fortress, to his hometown, in this life. ===== CHAPTER 688 =====