Warhammer 40: My Fiancée Fulgrim.

Chapter 228 Tiberius: But he really gave too much (Part 2)

"I have one more request before I reveal my identity."

“Our conversation must absolutely not be leaked; that is my requirement for you.”

Before the other party could even answer, Kasgar had already covered his entire body with blazing golden-red flames in the next instant.

Immediately afterwards, a magnificent warrior in purple-gold armor, whose size even surpassed that of the shark, appeared before the man-eating shark in the next moment.

Compared to such noble and magnificent armor, even the massive Terminator armor worn by Tiberius pales in comparison.

"You are--"

"Kasgar Sherlock, Chief Commander of the Legion of the Sons of the Emperor."

After introducing himself again, Casca smiled and extended his hand to shake hands with the other person.

As for his other hand, he removed his helmet, revealing a face that was almost identical to one from ten thousand years ago.

Kasgar trusted the leader of the Man-Eating Shark Battle Group's integrity and intelligence.

They also believed that Tiberius, who had been able to lurk in the shadows for so long, would not be foolish enough to risk being retaliated against by Kasgar and reveal his identity to the High Lords.

To provoke someone who can exact endless revenge on him without any benefit is utterly pointless for him.

Moreover, the current Maneater Shark is in dire need of Casca's help.

They need him to cure gray blindness.

"I see."

"The hero Casgar was unexpectedly one of the leaders of the Imperial Legion ten thousand years ago."

Tiberius's previously tense face relaxed considerably.

It really was ancient times—although the Man-Eating Shark's perception of time flow was extremely slow due to the influence of the subspace—but according to Tiberius's own memories, when he was just a greenhorn recruit, the other party was already a true legion commander, the son of the Emperor, with numerous honors.

As the sole think tank of the Emperor's Sons Legion, he not only possesses a magical psychic flame capable of eliminating genetic defects in Holy Blood Angels, but also has the ability to accurately predict major future events through his psychic prophetic abilities, thus protecting the Imperial Legion from annihilation.

Only he could possess such a mysterious spiritual flame capable of bringing the dead back to life, and such unparalleled swordsmanship.

Unexpectedly, this hero, who had been missing for ten thousand years, would awaken once more.

Losing to a mysterious Red Scorpion Warband swordsman would make the Man-Eating Shark feel utterly ashamed, let alone losing so miserably and so pathetically.

So embarrassing.

Tiberius had just wanted to kill himself on the spot.

But if he had lost to the legendary hero Kasgar, then it could only be said that Tiberius's defeat was indeed justified.

Or rather, the very fact that he could fight against such a powerful opponent was enough to excite him, and the frustration he had felt earlier vanished without a trace.

"Why would a former hero, now that he has returned to the world, not return to Holy Terra to cleanse the empire, but instead hide here and trade with us, the Man-Eating Sharks?"

This has been explained countless times, and Casca is even starting to tire of repeating the same point endlessly.
Just as no one would think that Guilliman's awakening would be hindered by the High Lords and the Assassin's Court—even if these guys were crazy, they wouldn't go so far as to harm the Empire's only hope, the Son of God himself—but that's the reality.

In the midst of a bloody power struggle, the very existence of Casgar or Guilliman is a threat to the power of the High Lords.

"That's why we need more help—including you and your man-eating shark."

"I need to assemble a large army so that when I return to Holy Terra, they can work together to suppress any potential Highlord rebellions."

This request was quite difficult for Tiberius.

The Shark Legion is only subject to the Great Emperor and the High Overlords of the Human Empire who represent the Emperor in exercising power.

For Tiberius, getting them to stand up against the High Lords Council established by the Emperor would be tantamount to launching a rebellion.

"Interesting. So what kind of terms can you offer us?"

As one of the Highlords' strongest and most powerful henchmen, the Shark Legion not only destroys the Highlords' enemies with each attack, but also gains a large amount of supplies due to being allowed to plunder.

[By imperial decree, begging for food]

This is the survival strategy of the man-eating shark.

Since Kasgar has proposed that he needs the help of everyone when he returns to Holy Terra, can Kasgar really offer him an attractive enough compensation?

We can't just promise the Holy Terra to the Man-Eating Shark and let it plunder at will, can we?
Although Kasgar's proposal to overthrow him was very attractive, and he himself was a legendary hero of the ancient Empire who could cure any Space Marine's genetic defects, the Maneater was now so poor that the entire Legion was in a state of extreme shortage of various resources.

Without supplies, the entire warband is likely to come to a complete standstill.

If we can't open up the Endymion system this time, the entire chapter might really have to resort to begging for a living on Holy Terra.

Even if their ideal of saving the empire is noble, they still need to eat.

The man-eating shark is poor.

This is common knowledge throughout the entire empire.

"It's very simple—I, on behalf of the Red Scorpion Legion, am here to discuss our future strategic subsidies with your esteemed organization."

Casca naturally had his own plans.

Since the Shark Gang's weapons and equipment are poorly maintained, and since the Sharks don't have enough food, water, ammunition, and energy, why don't they come to the Red Scorpion Gang, which has these things, for help?
Casca's proposal was very direct.

Keeping!

As one of the three members of the "Aifu Dabuliu" group, which can be compared with the Minotaur and the Shark Eater groups, if there is one characteristic of the Red Scorpion group, it is only one thing - rich.

It's not just ordinary wealth, but the kind of wealth that allows you to create a world where you can continuously supply Mark powered armor, RAND vehicles, and powered weapons on the production line.

The Red Scorpions' armory contains reserves that are unimaginable to most Astartes, and is renowned for its various types of vehicles—especially the drop pods and Land Raiders—when facing attacks from the Red Scorpions.

They even incorporated the combined tactics of automated machine soldiers left behind by the chief lord commander, Casca, integrating information and firepower. With ample weaponry, the Red Scorpions often strive to achieve the perfect kill-to-loss ratio in battle.

This is also proof of their confidence that they can be the best successors of the most glorious legion of ancient times, the legion of the Sons of Emperors.

The Red Scorpions' possession of such advanced weaponry is inextricably linked to their secret protection of their chapter's fortress monastery and homeworld.

It can be said that, apart from the Emperor and the Mechanicus, very few people throughout the Empire knew just how terrifying the wealth and territory this warband possessed.

Their forges are renowned for their ability to maintain (and produce in limited quantities) various models of Astartes power armor, particularly the MK4, which is typically issued to veterans of the chapter as a mark of rank.

As for the weapons and equipment, they are even more luxurious. Special weapons such as power swords, power axes or power gauntlets have even become standard issue for Red Scorpion. The power sword that Kasgar originally had was just a random product that he picked out from the armory and used casually.

Armed support from the Red Scorpion Squad.
This made Tiberius greedy for money.

He was initially reluctant to say much about the High Lord's arrangements, but seeing the other two warbands enjoying themselves, Tiberius couldn't help but feel resentful.

Both are legions directly commanded by the High Lord, so why do the Red Scorpions and Minotaur eat so well, while the Man-Eating Shark has to wander around in the Void and search for prey on its own?
This is naturally related to their primitivist warband culture—but!

Battle group culture can't put food on the table.

Each raid claims they can hunt whatever they want, but how many resources are actually usable?

The chaotic resources are unusable; they're all corrupted, and anyone who uses them will be doomed.

Most of the Xenomorph's resources were also unusable. The entire warband was short of pharmacists and technical sergeants, and they dared not use Xenomorph items indiscriminately.

In the end, aside from raiding the human world like a pirate, the man-eating shark had no way to resupply!
But how many times has a man-eating shark actually been used to suppress a rebellion?

Therefore, after receiving the order from Badab, the starving man-eating shark ignored all the hypocritical talk of a peace agreement and rushed straight to the Endymion system.

They're so poor, yet they still have to work their lives for others.

It would be absolutely impossible for him to have no resentment towards the High Lord.

".good!"

After a brief period of deliberation and rational consideration, Tiberius accepted Casca's proposal. In fact, Tiberius had initially refused when Casca suggested bribing their Man-Eating Sharks.

The man-eating shark will forever lurk beneath the boundless waters, forever hungry, forever cruel, forever the most feared enemy of the Empire, until the time is ripe to mercilessly devour its prey.

How could we possibly sign any agreement with Red Scorpion and get weapons, equipment, supplies, and repairs directly from them?

This is an insult to the Shark Eater crew!

—But Casca gave too much.

"I accept your invitation. What should we do next?"

“Then please follow me back to the Red Scorpion’s temporary encampment and wait for the time being,” Casgar said. “Currently, the Red Scorpion Chapter Master, Otis, is still on his expedition to the Maelstrom. The specific terms will need to be discussed after his return.”

"But I can assure you that, as the chief lord commander of the Emperor's Son, the Man-Eating Shark will reap a great reward from the agreement."

Casca's promises are not important, but his strength is.

Even if the man-eating shark wanted to plunder Endymion, it would be impossible for it to succeed in plundering this powerful ancient hero.

It would be better to agree to Casca's request and do him a favor for now, and then decide whether to side with Casca in the future based on the specific agreement with Red Scorpion.

Having survived in the void for so long, the Man-Eating Shark is definitely not just a mindless hack-and-slash madman.

Ultimately, under Casca's coercion and enticement, the Maneater chose to sail the entire combat barge back to the near-Earth orbit above the Red Scorpion Legion's encampment.

The next period of time was when they waited for the battle in the Great Vortex to completely end.

As for Tiberius, he wasn't idle either.

During this time, he kept sending Star Language communications to the liaison officer of the High Lords Council, requesting them to provide more support.

Just think about it—as a man-eating shark, it can't even sustain its own equipment supply, and will only fall into the awkward situation of being unable to defeat anyone or steal anything from anyone.

Now look at another Minotaur Warband directly under a Highlord—how well-equipped they are, how abundant their Warband ammunition is!
The Man-Eating Sharks have never received any supplies other than the gene seed. Having lurked in the void for so long, their weapons and equipment desperately need repair!

They really need help from the Highlord Council right now!
To prevent the legion from running out of supplies due to prolonged lack of replenishment and proper plundering, Crimson Scar Tiberius believed that the Maneater needed special assistance from the Highlords in order to better fulfill the tasks entrusted to it by the Highlord Council in the future.

Therefore, the document that the man-eating shark returned to the high lord was filled with just a few words.

"Man-eating shark, poor, send money."

They can only survive by begging.

Before getting food from the Red Scorpion, let's grab one last bite from the High Lord Council.

It doesn't matter where you beg for food.

Although they didn't gain anything from plundering the Endymion system, the man-eating sharks, which managed to gather resources from both sides, seem to have discovered some ways to supplement their resources besides plundering.

Begging style!
Although doing so is neither honorable nor in line with the warband culture.

But the food is truly filling.

"Judge Jerome Serkis, you are found guilty by the court of fifteen counts, including murder, treason, framing, unlawful detention, and conspiring with heretics."

Do you have any further questions?

"."

"take away."

Judge Ferrer delivered a swift and decisive verdict to the opposing party.

Jerome Serkis, the sinner who imprisoned Inquisitor Feren and conspired with the forces of Chaos to launch a tragic betrayal, will have his tainted life purified directly under the flames of the Inquisition.

Shortly before this trial, the Maelstrom Crusade had already come to a successful conclusion thanks to the combined efforts of Otis, the Red Scorpion Chapter Master, and Huron, the tyrant of Badab.

With the combined efforts of these dozens of warbands, the Great Whirlpool was quickly swept away—except for the pirate fleet that had followed Casca and received protection beforehand, all the filth that had originally occupied the place was wiped out.

After Luo Jia fled in panic to the subspace, the entire Great Vortex was left with only a chaotic void devoid of any will to fight. Even though this place was enough to harbor filth and depravity, the resistance of the remaining remnants was futile against the countless human imperial fleets armed with the Extinction Order's firepower.

No demon world could escape the firepower of the human empire's fleet.

For these demons, aliens, cultists, and Chaos Space Marine scum, artillery ammunition was indiscriminately dropped on every demon planet they swept through, as if it were free.

In the end, all the remaining chaotic and alien pirate forces in the vortex were wiped out.

Both parties fulfilled their promises as they were.

However, the Badab galaxy was not peaceful during those few short months.

Shortly after the two sides signed the ceasefire agreement, the Minotaur Chapter arrived in the Pale System at the High Lord's request and launched a carpet bombing and purge of the planets that were originally under Huron's control, eliminating a large number of "traitors" on the planets.

Fortunately, Judge Ferrein arrived in time and, acting as a special envoy of the Inquisition based on the Emperor's oracle, stopped the continued massacre.

Meanwhile, in the Endymion Sector, the Manhunter Chapter was also stopped in Kasgar, preventing them from plundering the territory of the Mantis Warriors Chapter in almost the same way, thus maintaining this fragile balance.

Despite the Highlords' interference from the rear, neither the Manhunter nor the Minotaur Chapter ultimately succeeded in disrupting the peace talks.

The suppression of the rebellion by Badab was ultimately successful and ended peacefully.

As for the various problems that arose along the way, the final solution was quite simple—

It's all blamed on that guy, Jerome Serkis.

If Judge Ferrein had even the slightest bit of leniency, he could never have become the Imperial Court's special envoy.

Thus, the tyrant Badab will once again pledge his loyalty to the human empire.

"Actually, after the matter in the Sadness Galaxy is resolved, you can leave Badab and take our ship to Chemos."

Standing on the main bridge of the Red Scorpion battle barge, Otis spoke to Casgar.

Kaska could have traveled to the Emperor's home planet, Chemos, aboard Red Scorpion's ship after meeting him.

Instead of insisting on successfully resolving the Badab war for them.

Even if Huron is ungrateful and ultimately chooses to betray, the Imperium of Man still has an endless number of Astartes Chapters that can replace him as the new Guardians of Badab, more loyal and more obedient.

"Huron is not an innocent guy; there are countless people who could replace him."

“You’re right, Otis.”

Casca looked at the brilliant starry sky outside the bridge and replied.

"It's easy to blame him for his own greed and ambition, but it's difficult to ensure that the empire will never see another Badab tyrant again."

The human empire can kill or convict countless unruly and ambitious individuals like Huron.

But humanity's drive for progress will never die, even if the human empire is no longer willing to go any further in the direction it should have taken. Countless people in this world will continue to advance in the same direction.

"A spirit of enterprise is the cornerstone of human empires."

"I am ready and will be heading to Chemos soon."

Casca turned his head with a smile. With the help of his lieutenant Titus and a ragtag army of pirates, along with the combat barge he had captured earlier and the supplies provided by Red Scorpion, they were actually starting to look quite formidable.

A spirit of enterprise is the cornerstone of human empires.
Otis sighed.

His face, beneath his gray hair, seemed to have aged even more.

"What a pity, a hero from ten thousand years ago."

"The current emperor's son may disappoint you."

(End of this chapter)