I'm in Warhammer, please don't praise Doraemon

Chapter 568 An Old Madman

The massive, crescent-shaped Tomb-class catacombs ship was docked in the catacombs world of Gidrim.

Zandreek, the crowned one, ate in his chambers while watching the tomb ship emit an emerald glow.
At his table, his captives and honored guests watched with twitching expressions as Zandreuk picked up food that forty poison testers had deemed non-toxic and stuffed it into his mouth.
He chewed a few times as if to pretend, as if his useless metal mouth could actually taste something. Then the chewed food spilled from his metal skeleton body and fell to the ground.

"This old man is crazier than the craziest kid I've ever seen," muttered a green-skinned Warboss sitting next to Thor.

Thor, the chapter leader of the Phoenix Clan, had no choice but to nod in agreement with the alien's statement.

Thor was captured by Zandrek, the undead crowned general, about three to five years ago.

At that time, his warband unexpectedly collided with Zandreik's main force. In order to cover the rest of his warband, Thor stood alone on the flagship and engaged Zandreik in a one-on-one duel.
Saul had to admit that although the old general was somewhat eccentric, his martial arts skills were indeed admirable, and Saul was unfortunately defeated by him.

He thought he was going to die, but after disarming him, Zandrek not only didn't kill him, but instead declared that Saul was a respectable opponent and, according to the "Noble War Treaty of the Fearful," he would guarantee Saul the proper treatment as his prisoner.

Zandreik kept his word. He ensured that Thor was treated with dignity, and would invite Thor and his other prisoners to dine together every week. He would also politely introduce them to the culture, customs, and various technologies of the Empire of the Dead, and would even spar with Thor often, teaching him how to fight as if Thor were his honored guest.

Gradually, Thor also figured out the old General Zandrek's way of thinking.

He still considered himself a flesh-and-blood fear-of-the-death being, and even felt that Thor, the green-skinned Warboss beside Thor, the gene-stealing patriarch, the Eldar pirate captain, and the commander of the Astral Army were all fear-of-the-death beings.
All the battles that broke out between them were merely due to internal divisions among the Fear of Death; they were a noble civil war among the nobility.

Therefore, Zandreuk followed the Noble War Pact of the Fearful Ones, refraining from using assassination units, including the Death Mark, and from all barbaric and disorderly means of warfare. He maintained respect for enemy generals, responded to all duel requests, and treated prisoners with courtesy.
Saul had to admit that, although the old general was eccentric, he was indeed a somewhat lovable and respectable old man.

Zandreuk also had a good impression of Thor.
He claimed to see in Thor the demeanor of a fearsome nobleman and promised to release Thor if he ever defeated him in a duel.

Zandreuk picked up a cup of hot tea, poured it into his mouth, and the scalding tea spilled between his metal frame. Then he said slowly:

"I will release you, and my fleet will place you in the location where you wish to be released."

These words startled the prisoners near the dining table, then stirred up a wave of discussion.
"By the Emperor, what kind of necromancy is this?"

"Are you insulting Big Tooth? Old Bones!"

"This must be the mighty power of the God-Emperor with four arms, two roots, and thirty-six legs."

"Xi Gaoqi's ass, you iron lump, you've finally gone completely mad."

Zandrek was not in a hurry in the face of the prisoners' exclamations. He just shook his head helplessly, as if he was saddened that these prisoners had lost the etiquette that the nobles of the Deathfather should have.

"Why?" Thor asked in a clear voice, "Zandrek, I haven't defeated you yet. Are you trying to humiliate us in this way?"

Thor's words pleased Zandrek, who nodded slightly and said, "No, this is to protect you, and also to protect my honor."

"The Silent King has summoned us, and I will answer that summons and leave Gidrim for the time being."

"In this era of moral decay, too many former nobles have abandoned their original honor and etiquette, and have become despicable and shameless."

"Even many of my men have become this despicable. If I leave, they will probably kill you all to prevent future troubles."

"To protect my honor, distinguished guests, I request that you leave my tomb world safely."

"Old Bones, Big Tooth guarantees you'll regret this. Big Tooth might not be able to beat you, but Big Tooth knows someone who will promise you that Big Tooth will find the biggest and strongest Bonebreaker boss to smash your iron lump to pieces!" The orc Warboss shouted, slamming his fist on the table.

“Zandrek, I will leave because of my oath to the Emperor and Doraemon,” Thor said, staring at Zandrek. “But I owe you a fight. Wait, I will return for another one-on-one duel.”

Zandreuk's metallic face seemed to reveal a smile: "I await your revenge, and I also look forward to capturing you both again, so that you can keep this old man company."

Just then, an extremely tall space necromancer wielding a war scythe walked through the gate, came to Zandrek's side, and respectfully saluted the old general.
He is Obi-Long, Zandreuk's vanguard bodyguard, and in Thor's eyes, a formidable opponent.
Zandreuk was only slightly stronger than Thor, while Obi-Long completely overwhelmed Thor.

Of all the people Thor has ever met, only a few, such as Kahn and Sharokin, could reliably defeat Obi-Rong.

"My lord," Obi-Long whispered in Xander's ear, "Emperor Imhotep has arrived."

Zandreik belonged to the Sothek dynasty, and the de facto emperor of the Sothek dynasty was none other than the Storm King Imhotep.

Zandreek was loyal to and directly subordinate to him, but Imotek had a lot of grievances against the Silent King, and he didn't seem to understand why Zandreek would actually try to respond to the Silent King's actions.

"I apologize, everyone, but my Holy See has summoned me, and I must go to answer his questions." "Please forgive my rudeness; I will see you off after your meal."

After saying this, Zanderek stood up, bowed, and apologized. Then he and Obi-Long left the banquet hall and went to the reception room.

Zandreik spotted the figure of Storm King Imotek from afar. His towering metallic frame was almost as tall as Zandreik's guard, Obi-Wan, only slightly more slender.
This French emperor, like Zandreuk, was once a crowned general, until he was awakened by a powerful ruler who sought to exploit him.
Imhotep was shocked to find that the former Sothek dynasty was embroiled in a brutal internal strife. Enraged, Imhotep killed the overlord who had awakened him and reunified the Sothek dynasty with his own power, crowning himself Emperor.

To be honest, Zandreik and Imhotep have a fairly good relationship. While Imhotep is an extremely capable commander, he's not very good at dealing with orcs because he's too logical and often can't understand their thought process.

Zandreek can fill this gap perfectly, helping Imhotep deal with the greenskins, and Zandreek has always remained loyal to Imhotep.

But this time.
"You old madman, are you still playing your game of pretending you live millions of years in the past?"

Storm King slammed his staff of light into the ground, his eyes, gleaming with light, fixed intently on Zandrek:

“I can usually tolerate your feigned madness, but this time you’ve really gone too far.”

"Have you forgotten Szalak's betrayal of our race? Have you forgotten the betrayal of that shameless and tyrannical ruler?"

“Old friend, you’re spouting this nonsense about us turning into metal bodies again.” Zandrek’s eyes gleamed. “You know I was promoted to Crowned General because I suppressed those traitors who tried to separate us and maintained the unity of our empire. I earned that honor.”

"Even if we really were, as you say, long ago, turned into lifeless metal skeletons—of course, old friend, you know I never believe in such things—does becoming a metal body mean we can abandon honor, loyalty, dignity, and love for our fellow human beings?"

“The Silent King is issuing a summons in the name of the Three Holy Council. I am loyal to you, but even more loyal to the Three Holy Council. Of course, I will respond to the summons.”

Imotek stared intently at Zandrek with his glowing eyes, as if trying to see through his unfathomable mind.
“Your so-called loyalty is worthless,” Imotek said. “Szalak betrayed us first, and everyone understands that. There are hardly any people in this galaxy who follow your code of honor and loyalty anymore.”

"Old friend, I've been reading a new novel these days."

Zandreuk's eyes gleamed as he said:
"The story of that novel takes place in an era where vice triumphs over virtue, cowardice over courage, and baseness over honor. The knights who once represented these virtues are nowhere to be seen, and all that can be seen is depravity and madness. But the protagonist of the story, an old man, is unwilling to admit all of this."

"He donned his armor, rode his skinny horse, proclaimed himself a chivalrous knight-errant, and swore to punish evil and promote good, roaming the land as a knight-errant."

"What exactly are you trying to say?" Imhotep slammed his staff of light down, speaking impatiently.

“My old friend, what I mean is, if the world is really as depraved as you say, wouldn’t it be better to be a fool and pretend not to see this vile world?”

Zanderrick said with a slight upward inflection:

“Degradation is undoubtedly further from virtue than stupidity. I never care when people laugh at me, because I know I am no more ridiculous than those who have fallen into depravity.”

“Imothek, my King, please believe me. Whatever I do, this fool will only walk on the narrow and rugged path of virtue.”

"Everything I have done is for our honor, our empire, our galaxy."

Imotek stared at Zandrek for a while, then finally just shook his head.

"Go ahead and be whatever you want, you old madman. I'm fed up with your charade." With that, Imotek turned and walked away without looking back.

Zandreuk did not stop him, and calmly watched Imeryk leave.

Then, he gently raised his head and looked at his blind spot: "You were right, Imotek really didn't stop me."

“This is not the first time I’ve seen this scene, old general.”

"Although Imotek verbally calls you a crazy old man, he has unwavering faith in your character."

A young man with glasses, a buzz cut, and a revolver at his waist slowly removed his blind spot star and said:

"So, are you ready to head to the Ghost Exorcism Dead Zone?"

"We're ready, let's go and punish the wicked!"

(End of this chapter)