Chapter 534: Sacred Potato Conference

"So, do you often help peel potatoes at home, Corax?"

"Occasionally, after all, we rarely get to eat such a rare food as potatoes."

"Yeah, that's right."

"But you, brother Conrad, did you often peel potatoes when you were a child? Why do I think your way of peeling potatoes is a bit strange: you look more like you are peeling the skin of these potatoes...off?"

"Ah...habit! Just habit..."

After a moment of surprise, Midnight Ghost coughed awkwardly, and while waving his hands repeatedly, his slender arms swung down, and he casually knocked the whole piece of potato skin under his feet into the garbage pile next to him.

Corax was right: when Conrad concentrated on peeling potatoes absent-mindedly while talking to his brother, he opened a gap in the steel-hard potato skin, and then used the tip of the knife and claws to peel the whole potato skin directly, which was indeed very similar to his craftsmanship on Nostramo.

But Midnight Ghost felt that he was excusable. After all, over the years, neither he nor the Eighth Legion would regard fear tactics as the primary core, but in some special missions, especially in the Ghoul Star Field, some places really needed a little skinning and cramping: Therefore, Conrad has never given up this craft and has even become more skilled.

Compared with him, the Lord of the Redemption Star's methods are much more delicate. The blade in Corax's hand is as light as a hummingbird's wings, so fast that even Conrad can't fully catch it. The skin he peeled off is as thin as a cicada's wing, which is completely different from Conrad's rough and careless, and it also comes with a lot of edible parts.

Really frugal.

"It's just a habit I've developed since childhood."

When he saw his blood relative staring at the potatoes in his hand with a strange look on his face, Corax explained a little embarrassedly, and then carefully piled the peeled potatoes into the food bowl in front of him: this ancient tuber food that has been re-breeding by the mechanical sages in the Far Eastern Frontier is so huge that even the Primarch can barely hold two or three in one hand. When they are piled up, they are like a low wall.

Unfortunately, this great invention that can completely solve the food crisis still has fatal shortcomings: whether it is its inherent [weak] toxicity or the hard tuber that can make a dent in steel, it determines that this can only be a specialty of the Astartes and has not become popular outside Avalon.

Even Guilliman's Five Hundred Worlds have not imitated this technology.

But even so, when Corax saw such abundant civilian food for the first time, the shock and excitement in his pupils were still indescribable, and the Primarch's appearance when holding these potatoes was as pious as Lorgar holding his Holy Word.

"Please forgive me, brother."

The Raven King had to explain again, although Conrad just smiled at him.

"Back on the Redemption Star, my brothers and I could only eat synthetic food that was about to expire and artificial meat of unknown ingredients, but even so, there were endless violent incidents among the prisoners to snatch these foods. After the uprising broke out, Kiawah even cut off these only food sources."

"The battles and life at that time were very hard: but they were also memorable."

At this point, Corax's face flashed a warm smile.

"The first time I ate potatoes was a year after I landed on the Redemption Star. My fosterers took out their personal collection to celebrate my birthday. They were treasures stolen from the guards' storage room. Those potatoes were not even the size of my thumb, but their taste was unforgettable."

"I can understand this feeling."

On the other side, Conrad resisted the impulse in his heart and tried hard to peel the potato skin in his palm into pieces, but when he looked at his brother, a smile rose on the face of the Midnight Ghost. It was a sincere smile without any impurities except blood ties.

That was also nostalgia.

"A delicious meal, a carefully prepared dish, a meal that symbolizes that someone cares about you, is willing to work hard for you, and is willing to work hard for you: when we are surrounded by a desperate world, or just walked out of such a world, a meal like this, no matter what it is, is always unforgettable."

"Have you ever had a similar experience?"

Conrad's words made Corax's pupils flash with a gleam of light. He had a good first impression of the brother in front of him, so the Lord of the Redemption Star was naturally happy to see the possible common points between the two.

"Of course..."

Conrad squatted on the ground. He did not put the peeled potato in his hand into the food bowl, but stood it on the edge of the food bowl, like a small mirror on the ground, and then smiled at the mirror, but the smile was full of bitterness.

"But I wasted it: I threw it at my feet like trash."

"You don't know, Corax: I was a bastard a long time ago."

"So, as a punishment: until the days to come, I will never know what that meal tasted like, and I am even embarrassed to mention it."

"..."

Corax was silent. He opened his mouth but didn't know what to say. The Lord of the Redemption Star was never a good communicator. He was not like some fools who believed that he had special powers in words. Moreover, he really knew nothing about what Conrad said.

So, just like before: Corax retreated to the corner and worked.

Whenever he stayed in public for too long or encountered difficulties, Corax would do this: retreat to his corner and stay quietly. Maybe to outsiders, this is called autism, but to him, this is just normal solitude.

And this time, he was lucky.

Instead of making a fuss about his indifferent observation, his brother quickly adjusted his mood: when Conrad held another potato and peeled it quickly, he first carefully looked at the little guy in his hand, and then laughed strangely for no reason, which made the Crow King very uncomfortable.

Then, Midnight Haunter stretched out his arm, patted his brother's shoulder, and then placed the potato in front of him like a treasure in front of the Lord of the Redemption Star, and his voice had returned to excitement.

"Okay, don't think about these things: look at this, brother."

After that, the peeled, naked potato was placed in front of Corax.

"Look, what does this look like?"

"Uh... potato?"

Corax didn't quite understand what his brother meant.

"No."

Midnight Haunter just shook his head meaningfully, and the expression on his face looked hideous because of the smile he tried hard to suppress: the Lord of the Redemption Star could only be thankful that because of their bodies, there was no crowding of other people in the kitchen, it seemed quiet, and no one would be scared by Conrad.

"Let me tell you, Corax."

"This looks like... Horus!"

"... ah?"

Before the Raven King could react, Conrad had already squatted on the ground holding the naked potato, laughing so hard that his legs trembled.

"Well... a little."

After all, they are all bare...

Corax thought of the mural about Horus' weights that he saw on the Emperor's Dream. In contrast, even he couldn't help laughing a few times: although this was somewhat unfair to his wolf-shepherd brother.

"It's not over yet, Corax."

After laughing for a while, the Midnight Ghost turned around again and took out a new potato: the skin was also peeled, but on the surface of this potato, you can see a lot of potato sprouts, and it is even disturbing purple-green, symbolizing the internal toxins.

"What do you think this looks like?"

Conrad shook the potato in his hand that was already rotten inside.

"Ah..."

Corax still couldn't guess.

"The answer is: it also looks like Horus."

"......?"

In Conrad's rampant laughter, only Corax was left with a confused look.

"Is this... a joke, brother?"

"I guess so."

Conrad wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes.

"It will be very interesting in the future."

"Is that so..."

Corax laughed dryly, as if responding to his blood relative, and then lowered his head and continued to peel potatoes silently: although the conversation with Conrad was pleasant, he liked this job more, especially for the Lord of the Redemption Star, being able to see so much food flow into people's mouths and solve more hunger would bring a simple sense of happiness.

Because of this, when Conrad finally wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes, he sighed that no one could understand his jokes, put the rotten potatoes aside, and prepared to take them back to feed the warmaster: when he turned his head and accidentally glanced at Corax's results, he suddenly found that the low wall in front of the Lord of the Redemption Star was more than three times higher than his.

"Tsk!"

Looking at Corax's face that was very similar to his, an inexplicable desire to win made the Midnight Ghost's good mood disappear in an instant.

"You are quite clever, brother."

"?"

Clarks looked at Conrad and naturally understood the sourness in his words: the Crow King seemed to be hesitant to speak, but finally reached out his hand, pointed at the belly of the Midnight Ghost, and smiled and replied.

"Brother Conrad, if you didn't eat a potato raw without peeling it every time you peeled it, I think you would have more work results than me now: Aren't you really afraid of getting sick from eating like this?"

"I've eaten worse things."

Conrad blinked and pointed to the poisonous potato behind him.

"For example, this, for example, some lovely rodent friends, or moldy potato skins: Do you know how to fry potato skins to the crispness of potato chips, brother? I am an expert in this area."

"...Awesome."

"Of course, compared to our great shepherd wolf god, these things are still good."

"Hmm?"

Corax didn't understand why Conrad changed the topic to the Wolf God so abruptly. Although he had heard this name countless times on the Emperor's Dream: from the contemptuous tone of the Imperial Guard, or from the mortal He had heard of this most beloved son of the Lord of Mankind countless times in people's respected explanations, or from the Emperor's doting smile, but he didn't think there was anything wrong with it.

Horus is indeed excellent.

And he remembered that there should be no grudges between Conrad and Horus, right?

"Of course I have nothing to do with him."

Midnight Ghost laughed, as if he could read Corax's thoughts.

"On the contrary, brother, you are actually the one who has something to do with the Wolf Shepherd God."

"How to say?"

The Crow King's curiosity was aroused. It happened that there were not many potatoes waiting to be processed in front of him, and in the canteen, which was only separated from the kitchen by a wall, the conversations of the first batch of diners could already be heard. .

Even though they were separated by theoretically soundproof walls, Corax could still hear clearly: he heard at least sixty-two different accents in these conversations, mentioning fourteen Different Legions of Astartes. There are also countless world names and proper nouns.

Just like what Conrad told him before: Because of the active atmosphere within the Dawnbreaker Legion, every canteen in the Second Legion is like an information exchange center that is neither rigorous nor formal.

In this regard, the descendants of Morgan formed a very sharp contrast with their neighbors in the five hundred worlds: although in the eyes of Holy Terra and the Empire, the Far Eastern Frontier was far less conspicuous than Ultramar, but in the eyes of these two countries Within the country, the Ultramarines have very little interest in the empire, while the Dawnbreakers are just the opposite. They will pay close attention to everything with Terra as the core. Intelligence from all corners of the galaxy will also be captured on the Dawnbreaker battleships. It spreads in every corner.

Especially: the canteen.

"Specifically: the cafeteria."

Conrad raised his lips and signaled his blood relatives to be quiet. Then, they listened to the voices of the first group of diners who came to take their meals. Judging from their accents, they did not seem to be the Daybreakers. , but instead come from other legions, and are legion think tanks who are learning psychic knowledge here.

During the conversation between the two diners, Corax heard [Legion 19], which made his spine tense up. The original body knew that this was his legion, and finally remembered: Now The 19th legion seems to be under the command of his Wolf Shepherd brother.

Is this what Conrad said about his relationship with Horus?

Is this the reason why Conrad wants to involve the topic so abruptly?

Before the Lord of the Redemption Star could figure this out in his mind, he had already heard the discussion between his two heirs.

"Hey bro, did you hear that?"

The sound penetrated the walls and sounded particularly loud in the primarch's ears.

"Not long ago, our legion commander, Lord Alkas Farr, sent a unified message to all legion squadrons: the emperor told him that our genetic father had returned to the empire, and he would never live again. After a while, he will be able to meet with us."

This man's accent made Corax feel inexplicably friendly, but the content of the conversation made him frown: Why was the commander of the 19th Legion a Lord? Is this their internal title? But there seems to be no habit of using this kind of noble title within the Dawnbreaker Legion, or even within other legions or even the Forbidden Army?

noble……

Corax didn't like the word: it meant too much.

But before his brows could relax, another voice came as expected.

"Really, that's just right. When we finish our studies here, we should be able to return to Lord Horus's fleet and meet our genetic father: I hope he can be like Lord Horus. great."

"..."

Such words made the Crow King feel a little mixed, but what happened next made him truly find it difficult to accept.

"I'm a bit pessimistic, brother. It is said that he grew up on a prison world and was taken away by the Emperor before he was a minor: I think he may not reach the level of Lord Horus. I hope Horus Lord Si can educate him, after all, among all the primarchs, who is better than Lord Horus?"

"You're right: what can those mortal prisoners teach you?"

"Mortals are unworthy, let alone a group of scum among them: when I was on Holy Terra, the mortal prisoners I saw were only worthy of being slaves. Now, they are not even worthy of being slaves of the Legion. , the auxiliary army is more qualified for the job of servants than they are."

"But I feel like our auxiliary army is not as good as the one here in Avalon."

"It's obvious: maybe we should train them harder when we go back."

"Inflict new punishment torture?"

"Sounds like a good idea..."

In the midst of countless bloody and dazzling discussions, the voices of the two legionnaires gradually faded away, leaving Corax's face hidden in the shadows. Only his deeply frowned brows could be seen: The original body is like this , and was silent for a full ten seconds. When he raised his head and looked at the smiling Conrad, Corax's voice had changed from the previous caution to a completely different seriousness.

"So, that's what you're here for, brother: to tell me these things?"

"Yes, there are always some things that you need to determine personally."

Conrad didn't deny it, he just sped up what he was doing.

Corax remained silent.

"Do you mean to say that under the leadership of Horus, my descendants developed such a character of contempt for mortals?"

"Um?"

Midnight Ghost turned his head.

"You actually pay attention to this? I thought you would be angry. Your status in their hearts is not as good as Horus: after all, few Primarchs can endure such humiliation."

"I don't care about that."

The Crow King looked as usual.

"I have heard about the experience of the Wolf God and his contribution to the empire. I think that I am far inferior to him in this aspect: Horus is indeed better than me. To admit this, for me It’s not a shame.”

"An enviable mentality."

Conrad snorted.

"So, what you really care about is that your descendant is not friendly to mortals?"

"I can't hear any goodwill in their discussions."

Corax's movements seemed a little impatient, and his sword blade left a hideous scar on the potato.

"Then you have wrongly blamed our Horus brothers on this issue."

Conrad winked at him.

"As far as I know, a considerable number of the soldiers of the 19th Legion are from certain slave-owning tribes on Terra. They have received this kind of education since childhood. This is no wonder Horus: but this does not This means that our Brother Wolf Shepherd is flawless in this aspect. He has indeed brought some bad influence to your legion, but not in this aspect, but in other aspects. "

"...You're not going to tell me directly?"

Corax just thought about it and understood the deeper meaning of Conrad, which made Midnight Ghost look at him with some jealousy: His blood relative of the Redeemer Star is really smart, and his understanding is so high that he is ashamed of himself.

Now, he can understand the importance Morgan places on Clarks.

"indeed so."

Conrad nodded.

"I don't intend to tell you everything at once, brother, because it will only increase your troubles and resentment, and it will not do any good: when you have been trained under Morgan's education for a period of time, After we have our own means and determination, we will confess things to you bit by bit. Anyway, you will have to face them."

"I believe you still have some patience, Corax."

"……certainly."

After a moment of silence, the Crow King lost his venomous aura, and his peeling movements became gentle again, and he once again became that little transparent person harmless to humans and animals.

"But anyway, thank you for worrying about me, Conrad."

"it's okay."

Midnight Ghost laughed.

"In the final analysis, this is just my whim: my original plan was to change into tattered clothes, put on blind glasses, hold a broken guitar, and carry a broken bowl. Sit down and board the ship while you Next to the place, I will give you a bit of shocking philosophy of realism.”

"Oh, maybe I'll even hold up a sign to ask you for some food."

"..."

At that moment, dumbfounded was the best way to describe the Crow King's face.

"But...you changed your mind?"

"That's right."

Conrad pursed his lips.

"While my brain thought this was a sweet idea, my heart and my lungs thought otherwise: their threat was effective, and some things were better off not happening again. "

"After all, that woman's mood seems to be at a low point."

"Even Rana is avoiding her."

"You mean: Morgan?"

"That's right: Triple Fal's side makes Morgan very angry."

Konrad smiled, mocking some of the self-destructive forge worlds.

"Originally, our Avalon blood relative planned to put away his fangs, pretend to be a good guy just like the legend, and peacefully bring that treasure land under the jurisdiction of the Far Eastern Frontier: But it is a pity that , The local snakes in the triple galaxy obviously believe too much in the false rumors about Morgan, and really think that she is easy to bully, weak, pathetic, weak and helpless.”

"A bunch of smart fools..."

Conrad shook his head.

"For more than twenty years, I have reaped all the benefits of the Far Eastern frontier, but I have never let go of my independence. If Morgan hadn't been busy with other things. How could they have been so frustrated like this: now Well, you dare to take advantage of Avalon’s military orders, mix things up, deceive the superiors and the inferiors, and even dare to cause the investigator sent by Morgan to crash. "

"...Crash?"

"Ah, none of your business, Corax."

Midnight Ghost smiled and finished peeling the last potato on hand.

"However, you have indeed caught up with a good time: just wait quietly. In a few months at most, we can see another Ulan Huda-type drama, with three whole forging worlds. , this time the situation is much more lively. ”

"After all, my sister has big plans now..."

"She is plotting three forging worlds?"

Corax also threw the last potato in his hand into the food bowl.

"No."

Conrad shook his head, his eyes flashing with sincere admiration.

"She is plotting..."

"A private territory."

"But on this private territory: there just happen to be three forging worlds."