Chapter 715: Gathering

Guilliman's nose was not red, his eyes were not swollen, and he looked no different from usual, except that there was a deep sense of fatigue between his eyebrows. In contrast, Duanmu Huai looked refreshed and comfortable.

"Thanks to the great assistance of the Inquisition before, I would like to express my gratitude to you here."

"You're welcome, you look very tired."

"No, I just... forget it, but you, the Grand Inquisitor, look very relaxed."

"Of course."

Duanmu Huai raised his eyebrows.

"Before, your father came to me and we had a big fight. I scolded him away, so I was naturally very comfortable."

"Uh... ..."

Hearing Duanmu Huai's answer, even Guilliman didn't know what to say for a while, so he ignored the topic directly.

"I am currently re-planning the Ultramarines Legion to cope with the next challenge."

Erebus is only a vanguard, everyone knows this. In fact, Erebus's original role was only to launch a surprise attack on the Ultramarines on Calth. If it succeeds, it will be the best. If it fails... Don't forget that among the Imperial Legions, the Ultramarines are the most numerous, and the second is the Word Bearers. In addition, there are also legions such as the Sons of Horus, the World Eaters, and the Emperor's Children. Compared with the number of people on both sides, the Ultramarines do not have an absolute advantage.

Now the main force of the Word Bearers has not reached the Five Hundred Worlds, but it is only a matter of time before they invade the Five Hundred Worlds, so what Guilliman has to do now is to explode the troops, explode the troops, and explode the troops again.

Just like a real-time strategy game, you know that the other party is going to come over in a wave, so what you have to do is naturally to send troops and strengthen the defense.

And Guilliman found Duanmu Huai, hoping that he could make some suggestions on this. After all, at present, the Inquisition is the most familiar with the Warp Demons.

"What should I pay attention to?"

Duanmu Huai thought about it and quickly gave an answer.

"That's easy. Lorgar has three Abyssal-class warships under his command. Those are the ones you need to pay the most attention to."

"Abyssal-class? Sorry, I've never heard of it..."

"Of course you haven't heard of it. This is the most terrifying warship built by Horus for the Adeptus Mechanicus in the late Great Crusade. They have perfect defenses and fierce firepower. Your orbital guns may not even scratch the opponent's skin."

"So powerful?"

"Of course, you know the Phalanx, right? Just think of the Abyssal-class as a dark version of the Phalanx."

Hearing this, Guilliman understood it immediately. The Phalanx is the home of his good brother Dorn, how could he not know.

But wait...

"Horus has rebelled, and the Adeptus Mechanicus still obeys his orders?"

"How fresh."

Faced with Guilliman's question, Duanmu Huai sneered.

"The Primarchs and Astartes have rebelled. What makes you think that the group of oil men on Mars can still remain loyal?"

"So you mean... Mars has also rebelled?"

Duanmu Huai didn't say anything, just spread his hands and shrugged his shoulders.

Everything is self-evident.

Guilliman's face became more and more serious. He now deeply felt that Horus's rebellion was not just a problem between the Primarchs, the Astartes and the Emperor. On the contrary, this rebellion has extended to all aspects of the Empire. Every organization and every force will probably change because of it.

The Mechanicus is no exception.

"It seems that the problem we are facing is very serious."

Guilliman took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

"I have another question that I would like to ask the Inquisition for help. Now we know that Lorgar and his Word Bearers have reached an evil and unclean pact with those demons in the Warp, but we don't know how to deal with them. In fact, although we were on high alert on the ground, we still lost a lot of people when we were attacked by the Word Bearers. Their fighting methods are completely different from the Astartes we know. We need to study them thoroughly and find their weaknesses to improve our offensive. But now time is limited, and the Inquisition is experienced in this area, so..."

"I understand what you mean, Mr. Guilliman."

Duanmu Huai nodded, and then his eyes turned.

"In that case, I just have an idea."

"What idea?"

"I hope you can select a group of warriors who are loyal to the Empire and have powerful psychic powers to come to the Inquisition for training. At the same time, they will have weapons and armor blessed by the Inquisition, which can ensure that they firmly guard their hearts when facing the corruption of demons and the warp. They will become an indestructible shield in front of the incoming darkness, a sharp blade forged in contempt of fate, and they will become the pioneers of judging and purifying demons... They will become a brand new existence, the Grey Knights."

Yes, this is Duanmu Huai's plan. Originally, the Grey Knights were thought of by the Emperor after defeating Horus, but now he has directly intercepted them. Not only that, he also intends to use the power of the Inquisition to restrain the other party---now Duanmu Huai's hoe has finally hit the corner of the Emperor's wall.

I don't like you, so what's wrong with loosening the soil for you?

"I know."

Originally, Duanmu Huai thought Guilliman would hesitate, but he didn't expect him to answer very straightforwardly.

"Is it really okay? You know, purifying demons is against your so-called imperial truth. If you do this, be careful to be expelled like your two brothers."

"The Nikaea Conference was a mistake. We, no, the entire Empire has faced an unprecedented threat. In this case, we must study the enemy and find ways to destroy them. The Empire has completely changed... I can see that this is not the end, but the beginning. Humanity must find a way to survive it, and then talk about other things."

"Well, since you said so, then I won't object."

Duanmu Huai was not surprised by Guilliman's answer. This was the reaction of a normal person with normal IQ who had lived a happy life since childhood without any psychological shadow. To say something treasonous, in Guilliman's heart, he valued the Five Hundred Worlds the most, followed by the Empire. The reason is simple. Guilliman spent his childhood here. He has a deep affection for the people of this land and is willing to give everything for them.

Unlike other Primarchs, they were either brainwashed, abused, or played with, and even wanted to blow their homes to pieces - so the influence of childhood will indeed last a lifetime.

It is better to find a normal person than a psychopath with psychological trauma. The biggest reason for Horus' defeat is that his subordinates are all narcissists, masochists, sadists... basically there is no normal person.

This is also the reason why Chaos can never beat the human empire. A group of lunatics still expect to rule the world?

"So how many people can you find?"

"Since the Conference of Nicaea, all the Astartes Legions have disbanded their think tanks, so there are not many psychic warriors I can recruit in a short period of time..."

Guilliman frowned, took the data board, looked at the information on it, and then he raised his head and looked at Duanmu Huai.

"Is 5,000 enough?"

"…………………………"

MMP, you have more people, right?

As expected of the Smurfs with the largest number of Astartes, other war groups can only take out one or two hundred people, but Guilliman took out 5,000 people, and you still think it's too few, right?

"You have so many people, and the Inquisition doesn't have so many resources to rebuild armor and weapons."

The Inquisition only sent one fleet, where can it have so many manufacturing units.

"The factory in Calth will operate 24 hours a day. As long as you provide the manufacturing blueprint and materials, we can complete the casting in the shortest time."

"………………Okay, then I'll leave it to you."

Damn, it's really awesome to have a lot of people with strong wealth and productivity.

Duanmu Huai silently gave a thumbs up.

[Time: -40.35.16]

Lorgar stood on the observatory of the flagship, watching the warp lightning flashing in the dome in front of him. Around the Lord of the Word Bearers, his descendants were screaming, reveling, and praying. But Lorgar didn't care about this. He just stared at the unpredictable warp outside the dome, and then closed his eyes.

"Erebus failed, and the fire of his soul has been extinguished."

"This is the end of your arrogance, brother."

Standing next to Lorgar was a red Cyclops, his skin was redder than blood, and the bronze helmet on his head made him look more like an ancient Roman gladiator.

"You invited me here to appreciate a victory, but what did I see? A complete failure. The Word Bearers were blinded by their hatred. What are you going to do now?"

"……………………"

Faced with his brother's questioning, Lorgar was silent for a while. He certainly understood that this was a failure, because Erebus's plan was to use a planet as a sacrifice to set off a subspace storm that swept across the empire's territory and completely cut off the connection between various galaxies and Terra.

Of course, this does not necessarily mean choosing Calth, they can choose any planet. But they chose Calth for a simple reason. The Word Bearers and the Ultramarines had an irreconcilable hatred. The Ultramarines destroyed the Word Bearers' Perfect City under the order of the Emperor, which made them feel heartbroken. This hatred can only be washed away by blood. So they chose Calth, using the Warmaster's order as bait, and the Word Bearers tried to launch a surprise attack on Calth. In this way, they could not only inflict heavy damage on the Ultramarines for revenge, but also achieve their goal.

Originally, in Erebus's view, this was a two-birds-with-one-stone move.

Now, the old hatred has not been settled, and new hatred has been added.

Calth is the gateway to the Five Hundred Worlds. If it has not fallen, it means that the Word Bearers cannot enter the Five Hundred Worlds as planned.

However...

"It doesn't matter, it's just a small failure."

Lorgar shook his head.

"Everything is planned. Guilliman can't compete with the gods. He will eventually understand what he is fighting against."

"Then what about the Inquisition."

The words uttered from the mouth of the one-eyed red-skinned giant made Lorgar's expression change slightly.

"They defeated the 62nd Expeditionary Fleet, making Horus furious. Isn't that why you asked me to come here? To show your strength and attract my joining, but now it seems that your and Horus's plan is not as smooth as you imagined."

"It's just a small deviation, a small mistake."

Lorgar stared ahead, where the fleets of the Word Bearers and the World Eaters were moving forward, and they had only one goal.

"I heard the whispers of the gods, and now I am going to deal with this mistake."

The storm in the warp turned into waves and roared past the fleet, tearing apart the chaotic airflow and energy. Lorgar put his hands behind his back and looked forward. He was waiting, thinking, and praying.

And the war was already at hand.