Warhammer: Filial Piety Makes Power

Chapter 373 Kid, what are you doing? (+1)

As the largest internal conflict within the empire since the Great Rebellion, the Battle of Badab completely exhausted the patience of some people, making the previously relatively calm situation in the empire turn strange.

The empire is simply too vast; the core world alone has been surveyed and recorded to be no less than a million, and the hidden parts must be searched back at least a dozen more times.

Such a vast territory would be enough to overwhelm any government official, let alone the warbands dispatched to patrol and be stationed in various parts of the world.

The Emperor was an absolute political idiot. Without the assistance of intelligent AI, he was simply incapable of managing such a large system as a mortal, and he insisted on excluding the Space Marines from the political system.

Don't think that there's some hidden reason behind the emperor's actions; he's just that abstract.

Everyone says that Russ smashed the net with a roar, and Magnus is all about height and no brains; having a brain is the same as not having one.

If you think about it carefully, you'll realize that, in the eyes of this golden psionic behemoth, governing an empire requires a million computing power, an ordinary Space Marine can provide ten computing power, and an ordinary mortal politician can provide one.

So ordinary people, or normal people, would definitely want Space Marines or even enhanced humans to govern the Empire, since the hardware facilities are there and there's no harm in using them.

Even if problems arise, taking preventative measures is sufficient; we shouldn't condemn everything outright.

But the Emperor didn't think that way. He skipped the solution process and worked backward from the answer. Since the computing power requirement was 100 million, and ordinary mortals could achieve one, he simply piled up 100 million mortals without considering the loss and stability issues.

If Horus, the ill-fated couple, was too short-sighted, living day to day and worrying about the meager sums he had, then the Emperor was too far-sighted, completely detached from reality.

This includes AI, which is a prime example.

After so many years of archaeological work, the Imperial Archaeology Institute has at least roughly reconstructed the course of the Iron Man Rebellion, proving that it was not some so-called electronic demon at all.

Electronic demons aren't exactly rare; Atlas has seen plenty of them. They have a numbing, tingling flavor similar to Sichuan peppercorns, and are quite smooth and tender to eat.

The Iron Man and Stone Man of the Dark Age of Technology are completely different from the stereotypical T-800 Terminator, Skynet, and the like. They can be said to be a race that coexists with humans, just with different materials and specializations, and belong to a different development path.

It's less like a robot and more like Cybertron.

Ordinary cyber demons can't even break through the Legion's firewall, let alone control Iron Man. Only those cyber demons at the Great Demon level can cause trouble, but that's all they can do. They're not as effective as the electronic junk code from the "machine oil guy," also known as the electronic virus.

The Iron Man Rebellion could erupt partly because of Chaos's meddling, but more so because of humanity's own self-destructive actions, similar to the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period in ancient Terra, where each faction possessed extraordinary wisdom and unique skills.

It was precisely because the impact of this Iron Man rebellion was so great that the fear of AI was implanted into the human genome, leading to a kind of subspace reaction.

But the greatest lesson humanity can learn from history is that there is no lesson.

Atlas didn't even bother with a pretense; they simply used a planet-level ordinary AI like Icarus, and the other factions in the Empire did the same.

What's with all this talk about machine souls? If the creation of controllable machine souls were that easy, Cybertronian Da Luo would have unified the entire universe long ago. Why would these little fleshy people be bothered with all this nonsense?
After the Iron Man rebellion, a large number of Iron Men and even AI went into hiding. They are called Machine Souls or Ohm Messiah, and with all sorts of low-quality and ridiculous auxiliary systems, no one can say for sure now.

This is the current state of the empire: a vegetative state where one wants to move but cannot, has solutions but dares not use them.

As a young man with ambition unique to the blue faction, Huron was the kind of person who wanted to get the Empire moving. But after his actions, not only did the Empire fail to move, but Star Claw was completely destroyed, and he himself almost died.

"Revenge! I must have revenge!"
You have crushed the Empire’s chance to become great. If you cannot correct this mistake, then let the galaxy burn!
"My fate is in my own hands, not in the heavens. Blood Raven, Man-Eating Shark, Malice Warrior, Lamenter, Black Templar... I'll remember every single one of you."

“But bad boss, I remember the Weeping One helped you before. I had just joined Star Claw as head chef that year.”

"Shut up, you dog head, don't ask questions you shouldn't ask. Now I understand, the reason why the Claw of the Stars is so unlucky is because of the Wailer's bad luck."

I'll say it again, the Star Claw is gone. I said, now there's only the Red Pirate!

As the orbital elevator descended, squads of Red Pirates emerged from the landing craft. The origins of these Space Marines' gene seeds were unknown; some were loyal, some were chaotic—in short, a hodgepodge.

But one thing they all have in common is that they are all wanted criminals, the kind of wild dogs who neither want to join the Black Legion and become a complete scoundrel like Abaddon, nor can they return to the Empire as loyalists, and are covered in wanted posters.

Unlike certain groups of people, 80% of the Red Pirates were forced into the Chaos faction by the Empire. They couldn't be really bad if they wanted to be villains, nor could they be really good if they wanted to be good. They were neither good nor bad and didn't like either side. They had a little conscience but not much, and they were always conflicted. They were born with the innate Iron Warrior Holy Body.

Once these people arrived in the Warp, they discovered that if the Empire was shit, then Chaos was a cesspool, making things even more complicated.

But even the most stubborn people have their saviors. Huron, as expected of the former master of the Great Vortex, is addressed as "Brother Huron" by both the legitimate and criminal worlds. He may not have a powerful backer, but he has a wide network of connections.

After fleeing with severe injuries, fewer than 200 Star Claws survived and found the Dimensional Blacksmith, the Iron Lord Frix, who was shrouded in chaos.

Because Primarch Perturabo is notorious for being lazy, spending his days either inventing blasphemous things in the Crystal Labyrinth, randomly killing Tzeentch Demons, and occasionally trying to sabotage the Lord of Change, while ignoring the Iron Warriors.

This has led to Fricks, the former company commander, becoming the de facto leader of the Iron Warriors. He uses the Iron Warriors' unique talent to enslave Chaos Demons and make them work underhandedly, living a very comfortable life.

When Huron came to him for help, Fricks not only treated him to good food and drink, but also used his own body of steel to heal Huron's injuries. He also gave him start-up capital to recruit soldiers and even pointed out a clear path for him.

They were true veterans of the ages, even Space Marines who had joined Chaos would proudly puff out their chests when talking about the glorious experience of the Great Crusade. And Fricks, needless to say, had even fought in the Terran Wars.

Although his physique was rather plump and rounded, like the stereotypical image of a steel warrior, the elders came first, and Fricks's guidance was truly insightful. Huron still remembers their conversation that day.

"Kid, do you know why you ended up like this?"

"Elder, is it because my abilities are insufficient?" Fricks shook his head, indicating that you misunderstood. Your abilities are already beyond ordinary people. In the Great Crusade era, you might not be able to be ranked among the four Ultramarines, but you would definitely be able to enter the Macragge Historical Museum.

"The reason you failed is because you didn't have any powerful connections."

"Backstage?"

“That’s right!” Fricks, with the air of a master, pulled out a portrait from behind his back and hung it in front of Huron. After unfolding it, Huron couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration, “This man is magnificent and imposing, with a golden laurel crown, blue armor, and a heroic and majestic figure!”

"Father?"

"That's right! We are Space Marines, born with powerful backers. Back then, the demon was a secret, but now the demon is just a little girl who can cry, laugh, feel pain, and scream. In my eyes, she's just expendable material."

After all these years, I realized that in the Empire I was a nobody, doing the worst jobs, and in the Warp I was still a nobody, doing the worst jobs.

But none of that matters. What matters is that even in this warp, we Iron Warriors are regional tyrants. You're different from us; you haven't completely reached the end of the road yet. You should find yourself a powerful figure.

"But my dad will beat me to death."

"Then why don't you just get a different father? A biological father isn't such an inconvenient thing; a godfather is still a father!"

Seeing that Huron still didn't get it, Fricks decided to go all the way and gave him a plan:
"Are you seeking revenge? And Blood Raven is one of your enemies?"

"Yes, I want revenge. Those bastards are the ones who ruined me and made me like this."

As he imagined what the future would hold, Fricks couldn't help but hum softly, inadvertently revealing his pair of blue bird feathers.

"Isn't this a perfect coincidence? Let's start recruiting. Recruit as many people as we can, and we must be quick, but we can't rush it. We need to pay attention to quality and not bring just any kind of trash into the regiment."

Then, once everything is ready, lead the Red Pirates to Tranquility, proclaiming to the world that Tranquility is yours, that you are the Lord of Tranquility. Remember that conspicuous pink castle there? Go there and do nothing but smash the red castle first, then burn the trees.”

………………

Blue skies with white clouds, green grasslands with dogs running – such a peaceful and serene scene could not soften Huron's ambition.

Huron couldn't understand why Blood Raven and his gang of liars would just leave such a beautiful planet without even leaving a single soldier to guard it, instead leaving a bunch of dogs to watch over it.

If there were soldiers, Huron might fight them, but he'd better not bother with the dogmen. These dogs, who can be fooled with a couple of cans of food, may seem silly, but when they really go crazy, no one will be able to handle them. Besides, the dogmen are also suspected of being protected by that blood god.

"Your canned food."

"Hey ha, thanks, bad boss!"

"Call me Commander."

"Yes, you're the wicked boss!"

Using canned food as a makeshift route, the group easily arrived at the Tranquil Nest City and stood beneath the magnificent, enormous golden tree.

Huron was extremely cautious. Although the Chaodu in front of him looked very strange, with its highest point less than two thousand meters high, it was more like a small hut than a capital city.

But none of that matters; what matters is that pink castle.

Looking at the strange Titan stuck in the canopy of the Golden Tree, everyone looked at each other, unable to understand why this giant Titan would get up in the tree and why it would be painted like this.

But since they were already here, they didn't care about anything else. Several Death Straight Missiles were brought over and aimed at the very conspicuous pink castle.

"Commander, I suddenly feel a chill down my spine."

"Me too. Is this place haunted? There's not a soul in sight. Look, those dog-men aren't coming over. Where's Tiga? I just saw him following us around."

Tiga is the same dog chef who hangs out with Star Claws. Because of his bright red fur, he can always find a way to survive in dangerous places, making him quite popular among the members of the battle group.

Now that the dog has suddenly run away, it means that something bad is bound to happen. But the thought that those bastards have squandered the Star Claw legacy since he left makes Huron unable to swallow his anger.

"Fire! Fire them all!"

As soon as he finished speaking, nine Death Strike Missiles shot out and slammed into the large and conspicuous pink Titan.

Then, the sky turned green!

The emerald green meteor crashed to the ground, and in an instant, it shattered all the deadly direct-fire missiles with an incomprehensible and eerie speed.

A scorching wind swept across the earth, accompanied by burning leaves falling from the sky. The awe-inspiring giant who loved life once again returned to his eternally faithful tranquility.

Ashes, death, and a wisp of gold rising in the wind; pure numbers bring pure power; just the sight of the giant looking back sends chills down everyone's spine.

"Kid, what were you stirring up just now?"

(End of this chapter)