Chapter 174: Huang Laohan's Reward

High orbit above Fenris, the Emperor's flagship, the Bucephalus.

Ninglu met Huang Laohan in the magnificent, golden palace; after he sat down, Huang Laohan said with a smile.

"Ninglu, the progress of the Eleventh Legion satisfies me. Since your return, over fifty worlds have joined the Imperium."

"The return of the first Knight World, the Daxos Binary System, is of great significance."

"How is the situation with the Vickstrix Family?"

Upon hearing this, Ninglu opened his mouth to reply.

"The Legion's Techmarines and the Sages of the Adeptus Mechanicus are helping them repair their Knight Mechs. It is expected that combat capability will be restored after one Terran year."

"Very good," Huang Laohan nodded in satisfaction, "The victories achieved by the Knights will inspire the people of Terra to contribute to the Great Crusade."

"You were ordered to go to battle and won the duel against Leman Russ."

"And you followed my request, not using any psychic powers."

"I have decided to gift you five warships left over from the 'Dark Age of Technology'; they are about to arrive at Fenris."

Upon hearing this, something illusory within Ninglu seemed to shatter, merging with his own spirit.

Having received feedback, the digestion progress of the Potion increased significantly.

"You may also choose two items from my private treasury."

Ninglu felt the Potion digestion progress increase significantly once more, nearing complete digestion.

【Huang Laohan gives so much, and the 'Briber' Potion feedback is obvious.】

Ninglu felt that the Huang Laohan before him was the most pleasing to the eye since they had met; he said with a smile.

"Thank you, my Master."

"This is what you deserve," the Emperor looked straight at Ninglu, his tone shifting, "Leman Russ, I need him. We also need him."

Ninglu saw the light radiating from Huang Laohan's eyes and immediately felt heavy mental pressure, as if a great mountain were pressing down on his mind.

In an instant, the Primarch almost succumbed to the mental pressure exerted by Huang Laohan.

Ninglu immediately entered the first layer of the Thelema Mindset, and the mental mountain vanished.

A flash of surprise crossed the Master of Mankind's eyes; Ninglu had actually withstood the mental pressure he had exerted.

Just as the Emperor felt surprised by the Primarch's willpower, Ninglu spoke slowly.

"I will cooperate with him and fight in coordination."

The Emperor frowned, then relaxed; he pondered for a moment and gave up on continuing to exert pressure.

Although Ninglu did not acknowledge Russ as a brother, it satisfied his minimum requirement, so he said.

"Competition between brothers is encouraged, because it will drive you to work even harder."

"Let's go, we are going to the treasury."

Ninglu stood up, followed behind Huang Laohan, and thought to himself.

【Huang Laohan's art of conversation: first reward, creating a good atmosphere for the talk, then making a request, and finally using the trip to the treasury to dissolve the tense atmosphere.】

Ninglu followed Huang Laohan into the treasury gate and still saw the Magical Item—the Spear of Dionysus—inserted in the most conspicuous position.

The Primarch walked around once, relying on his superhuman memory to recall all the items and their placement.

He discovered that Huang Laohan's collection had fourteen more items and three fewer.

Among the added items, there was one object flickering with the light of Spirituality.

It was a blood-red chain; the translucent chain body, about one finger-width of Ninglu's, was composed of over a thousand interlocking diamond-shaped crystals, with dark red, flocculent matter resembling capillaries suspended inside.

A ring was embedded at the base of the chain links; it looked as if it were condensed from thick blood, or like the halo of a crimson Moon.

Seeing that Ninglu was very interested in the blood-colored chain, Huang Laohan began to introduce it to him.

"This chain comes from a Xenos race called the Vlad, and it is a ritual item held by the Dajiashi."

"The Vlad people love to consume blood; when they hold ritual ceremonies, the Dajiashi would soak this chain in the fresh blood of the sacrifices."

Upon hearing this, Ninglu had a sudden realization.

【Fresh blood, an item of the 'Moon' pathway?】

"I want this chain."

The blood-colored chain contained the most concentrated Spirituality, and he could determine its pathway with high probability; choosing it was the most appropriate.

Huang Laohan turned off the stasis field of the display cabinet; as the blood-colored chain came into his hand, Ninglu immediately felt his Spirituality become a bit more lively, and his body was filled with power.

【It can increase the recovery of Spirituality?】

He reached a preliminary judgment and decided to conduct in-depth research later.

Ninglu discovered that the base of the blood-colored chain's links fit perfectly around the base of his little finger, so he wore it on his little finger, with the ruby-like chain body wrapped around his wrist.

Subsequently, Ninglu came to one of Huang Laohan's old collection items with the brightest light of Spirituality; it was shaped like a ring made by space apes.

The ring was entirely like blazing fire, its diameter several times that of the ring made by space apes, and its light of Spirituality was only slightly weaker than the blood-colored chain.

Considering that the blood-colored chain had the effect of restoring Spirituality, its light of Spirituality would be brighter than a Magical Item of the same Tier, so the two should belong to the same Tier.

"This ring comes from a volcanic world; the race named Surtur are a group of tall giants, and the rings they forge are also larger than those of ordinary people."

"It originally belonged to the giant king who wore the Iron Crown," the Emperor glanced at Ninglu's fingers, "The size is just right for you to wear."

After the stasis field was turned off, Ninglu took the ring from the display cabinet, tried it on, and it fit perfectly on his middle finger.

He was wearing a Power Fist on his left hand, so he wore the ring on the middle finger of his right hand.

Returning to the Shadow of Sovereignty, Ninglu summoned Arsena.

"Open the holographic image of the Fenris scan."

The Primarch Attendant immediately used the Control Staff to open the holographic image.

"I have two tasks to give you."

Ninglu said, highlighting a location in the holographic image, "This valley here, the Fenrisians call it Firestone Valley."

When the Primarch read the minds of the Fenrisians to master their language, he simultaneously learned the locations of several landmarks on Asaheim, including Firestone Valley and the Tomb of the Ancient Kings.

"The mountain tribes here are composed of exiled psykers and are known as the Vulture Clan."

"You are to lead a squad to this location and subject them to testing."

"Bring back all who pass the test, and take the boys among them as candidates for the Legion."

"Among the adults and girls, if there are any you fancy, take them as your attendants; send the rest to the Ninth Battle Company to serve as Chapter attendants."

Arsena noted down the Primarch's orders and then asked.

"What is the other mission?"

Ninglu moved his finger to another location, "This place is known to the Fenrisians as the Tomb of the Ancient Kings; it is the burial site of the ancient royalty of the Asaheim Continent on Fenris."

"These ancient tombs and cairns inter the ancient royalty and lords of Fenris, and the Fenrisian Runes are carved upon the burial chambers, recording the history, glory, and stories of the deceased during their lifetimes."

"The Fenrisian language originates from here, and the power of Fenrisian psykers is also another form of practice involving these runic scripts."

Ninglu could not help but think of the Wolf King's double standard in opposing the use of psychic powers while arguing that the Rune Priests of the Space Wolves were not psykers; a hint of mockery could not help but color his tone.

"They argue that they are the Sons of the Storm."

"Even if the Fenrisians are hypocritical and their way of using psychic power is relatively primitive, it still holds research value; you are to record all the runes."

Since he had come to Fenris, Ninglu naturally intended to seize every benefit he could.

"As you command."

After the Primarch Attendant noted this down, he immediately assembled a squad of the Honor Guard and his own retinue, boarded a Gunship, and flew toward Asaheim.

(End of this chapter)