Chapter 262: The Conspiratorial Layout of the Fallen Horus

Ninglu tapped his fingers lightly on the back of his chair and asked, "What kind of rumors?"

"My Lord, please forgive my transgressions," Tierni said after asking for absolution, then continued.

"The rumors first originated from a library, a library in Treon."

"A book titled 'Revelation' was discovered, which tells of the terrible catastrophe of the ancient Old Night."

"Its prologue depicts the abuse of arcane arts as the fuse, and the subsequent content describes the entire civilization wantonly utilizing powerful arcana, ultimately leading humanity to fall into a long, dark night."

As Tierni said this, a look of confusion appeared on his face.

"At the very beginning, this was regarded as a warning of the ancient Old Night, having nothing to do with you or the Eleventh Legion."

"But suddenly, the situation changed for some reason; it seems someone was secretly manipulating everything."

Tierni voiced his confusion, then forced himself to state the facts, avoiding any influence on the Black Emperor's judgment.

"In the cafes of the upper Hive City, in the bars of the Lower Hive..."

"There are scholars, Imperial staff, and workers who have begun to say that the 'Order Shadow' possesses evil wizardry and that they will bring destruction to the Imperium."

"The Imperium's Adeptus Arbites have carried out what can be called a brutal crackdown on those spreading the rumors; now no one speaks of it openly, but in the shadows, in the dark corners, there are still those who mention it."

Tierni took out a data slate and handed it to the Primarch Attendant Arsena Dunn.

"Members of the Treasure Hunting Squad walk in the shadows and occasionally come into contact with those spreading the rhetoric."

"They captured five of them and interrogated them; the testimonies of these five all mentioned that it was a person wearing a standard library dust-proof robe, with a hood covering their face, resembling a monk, who told them the revelation."

"My subordinates have sketched a portrait of that person based on the testimonies."

The Primarch Attendant connected the data slate to the interface, displaying a simulated portrait of the mastermind.

Ninglu looked at the simulated portrait; the person in the image had rounded contours, almost completely devoid of sharp angles.

Wrapped under the milky-white robe, it was as if a fat person had suddenly lost a significant amount of weight in a short time, their once bloated body suddenly becoming loose and sagging.

Their figure was just like a ghost.

Ninglu looked at the simulated portrait and fell into thought.

【Library, revelation, arcane wizardry, accusations of Order Shadow's wizardry, rounded, sudden weight loss, ghost-like body.】

A flash of inspiration struck his mind, and he asked, "Besides the Order Shadow, are there also rumors about the Fifteenth Legion?"

"My Lord is wise," Tierni looked at the Black Emperor with reverence.

He had personally led a great army to campaign on the "Wheel of Fire" and then traveled to Medusa, countless light-years away from Terra, yet he was still able to know the situation on Terra.

"Starting nine months ago, the rumors spread to the Fifteenth Legion, accusing both Legions of being evil spirits that toy with wizardry."

Hearing this, Ninglu had already guessed the mastermind behind the scenes—the fallen Horus.

He remembered that after Horus fell, in order to eliminate the greatest threat in his heart—the Thousand Sons who mastered psychic powers.

Psychic power is the nemesis of Chaos demons; after Guilliman and other loyalist Primarchs discovered this, they unanimously abolished the "Nikaea Edict" issued by the Emperor.

As the Legion with the most psykers, the Thousand Sons were the greatest weapon against Chaos, and Horus regarded them as the primary threat.

Ninglu remembered that in order to eliminate the greatest threat, the fallen Horus utilized the instability of time and space in the Warp to return hundreds of years into the past and begin laying out his conspiracy.

He spread the image of the Thousand Sons as terrifying wizards throughout the Imperium and reinforced the image of the Space Wolves as executioners.

He also possessed Kasper Ansbach Hawser, traveled to Fenris, and misled Leman Russ and the Space Wolves into thinking it was the work of Magnus's Primarch Attendant Amon, further deepening the rift between the two Legions.

In the end, the final warning Russ sent to "Amon" naturally never reached Magnus.

Ninglu believed that, setting aside his stance, this was a brilliant conspiracy that Horus had planned far and wide, completing it through centuries of layout.

The fallen Horus achieved his goal, eliminating the most threatening Thousand Sons and also causing the Space Wolves to suffer heavy losses in battle.

Although there were reasons such as Magnus destroying the Webway and Tzeentch manipulating things from behind, Horus's layout was also indispensable.

What Ninglu did not expect was that the conspiracy was now pointing directly at him; Horus seemed to regard him and his Legion as an even greater threat.

【Because my Legion possesses a large number of Beyonders, and the "Sun" pathway can cause powerful damage to demons?

From the perspective of the fallen Horus, the Beyonders of the Eleventh Legion are all psykers.

The number of "Order Shadow" exceeds that of the "Thousand Sons," and the sum of Beyonders and psykers might also exceed the latter, being seen as the greatest threat.】

Thinking of this, Ninglu cast his gaze toward the "Trickster" and spoke.

"I understand. I will handle this matter; you do not need to follow up any further."

The Treasure Hunting Squad was not suitable for handling such affairs, and Ninglu decided to let the assassins led by the "Assassin" Maria Kurnikova take over.

The fallen Horus had only just begun his conspiratorial layout; he did not dare to show himself and go on a killing spree.

【It just so happens that I have gathered the Potion for the "Instigator," and I hadn't decided where to let Maria and the others exert themselves after their advancement; now it is the perfect time to let them clean up the organization Horus has developed.】

"As you command, my Lord." Tierni accepted the order and then secretly left the Shadow of Sovereignty.

As Tierni ordered his subordinates to build the Altar, Ninglu returned to the surface of Terra to continue cooperating with Malcador's propaganda activities.

On the sixth day of Ninglu's arrival on Terra, the Primarch Attendant received a meeting request from Violet, the Matriarch of the Navigator clan, the Wisher Family.

That night, Ninglu met with Violet Visher at the villa.

The representative colors of the Wisher Family were blue and deep red; Violet wore a blue silk robe with deep red threads embroidered on the collar, cuffs, and other areas.

Violet wore precious jewelry on her forehead, covering her third, gifted eye.

After sitting down, Ninglu looked at Violet; she was young and showed no signs of mutation.

Her hair was like flame-red, her figure was slender, and the lines of her neck were as elegant as a swan's.

Ninglu knew that because Navigators had unstable genetic structures and had to rely on inbreeding to reproduce, everyone was a mutant.

The rate and order of mutations varied from family to family and individual to individual, but the accumulated mutations would eventually turn them into creatures resembling humanoid toads; they were known as Elders.

The mutated appearances of the Elders were not suitable for public appearance, so the Elders chose Patriarchs or Matriarchs to serve as public representatives.

Patriarchs and Matriarchs were selected from the embryo stage and carefully examined to ensure there were no signs of mutation, unless it was a mutation in a positive direction, such as being exceptionally beautiful or elegant.

"What is the important matter for which the Matriarch wishes to see me?"

Violet smiled elegantly and parted her red lips slightly.

"Lord Ninglu, the Visher Family wishes to form an alliance with the Eleventh Legion and serve you."

(End of chapter)