Warhammer: Filial Piety Makes Power

Chapter 5 The True Imperial Weightlifting Champion

Imperial Dream
Two burly men sat facing each other at the giant dining table. The bright yellow candlelight added a touch of warmth to the room, keeping out the group of dogs frolicking and feasting in front of the Imperial Guards outside the door.

Beneath this warm atmosphere lies an unsettling silence; only the sound of food slid down the throat reminds one that this is not a deathly tomb, but the first dinner party of a father and son's reunion.

With the last piece of food gone, Mordred, having fully replenished his nutrition, had recovered completely. Looking at the still silent Emperor before him, Mordred spoke:
"Let's have an open and honest talk. How about we start with why I became the Primarch? My beloved biological father—Neos."

"Of course, you have the right to know this secret."

Upon hearing the word "secret," Mordred's eyes widened involuntarily, a longing compelling him to lean forward, and the Emperor's voice began to ring out.

"Outer Wanderers, that's what we call your kind of structure. For our world, Outer Wanderers are undoubtedly a disaster."

Whenever you appear, those illogical, distorted forms pollute the world like cancer cells, leaving behind a group of twisted and grotesque deformities as they gnaw at the world's barriers.

Whether in the physical universe or the subspace, the first thing to do upon discovering you is to eliminate you, and the same will be done with those few pieces of trash.

After all, no one knows what kind of terrifying monster an extraterrestrial wanderer will eventually become if left unchecked, but…

"But what?" Driven by his desire for the secret, Mordred leaned forward again.

"But I'm not like those good-for-nothings. Rules are meant to be broken. Why should humanity be played like pawns? I must make humanity great again, and your appearance makes me even more determined to advance on the scales of victory."

As if everything before was an illusion, the emperor, who had taken off his sunglasses, instantly transformed from a person with facial paralysis into an art student who loved public speaking. He grabbed Mordred's wrist and began to talk about his grand ideals.

Undoubtedly, the Emperor's speech could command the loyalty of any human, but for Mordred, it was nothing but noise. His mind was buzzing, and even the golden giant in his eyes began to blur, as if it had transformed into a dark-skinned older woman with a long, fluffy tail.

Then he saw a pair of eyes radiating an eerie light.

"Eyes, tail? No, you dog, how dare you bewitch me! Damn weasel, I'll blast you away!"

After regaining her senses, Mordred grabbed the dining table and smashed it over the wall. Before the Imperial Guards could break down the door, she pounced on the Emperor, ignoring all the probing and suspicion, and started wildly beating his face by grabbing his hair.

In just a few breaths, Mordred threw a hundred punches, and in a very unsportsmanlike manner, he aimed specifically for the eyes.

The deck was scorched by a tangible rage, turning the surroundings crimson, and a few slippery vines could be vaguely seen writhing around the enraged blond giant.

However, the emperor, as the ruler of mankind, is no ordinary person. He has already begun to expound his grand ideals, and you, this rebellious son, not only refuse to turn around and bow down, but also dare to hit me. This is no ordinary rebellion, and I must strike hard.

Golden psionic energy shone brightly across the world, and with a single slap, Mordred was knocked to the ground. But immediately afterward, an elbow strike landed squarely on the Emperor's nose, drawing blood from both nostrils.

Looking at his rebellious son, who clung to him like an octopus and tried to tear at his hair like a wild dog, the emperor finally lost his temper and shouted:
"I'm your father!"

"Pah, you're talking nonsense. My father died a long time ago. You just treat me like a tool. What kind of father are you? If you're so tough, then don't use your psionic powers."

The Emperor remained silent. Even though he did create Primarchs to serve the Great Crusade, it didn't mean he didn't love his offspring. But the golden giant's first thought wasn't to explain, but to let his fists do the same thing he had done when he found Felus.

Pure violence began to rage. After a brief brawl, the two big guys got really angry. The Emperor was both ferocious and swift, and Mordred was both swift and ferocious. The two of them tore and wrestled on the ground like thugs, turning what should have been a cozy restaurant into ruins in an instant.

This scene stunned the imperial guards who had come to protect the emperor for a moment, but then several barks rang out from behind them. Seeing that the situation was beginning to deteriorate irreversibly, a loud shout came from outside the door:

"Step back! What do you want to do? I, in the name of the Emperor of the Empire, order you to return to your posts immediately."

"Retreat! Boss, I'm safe and sound!"

At the same time, Corn and Dog, having received the order, retreated. A withered old man came to the door, exchanged a glance with the Emperor, and then closed the door directly.

Looking at the Emperor beside him, his face bruised and swollen, with a black eye from his elbow, Mordred mumbled with his remaining half-tooth:

"Let me go! You've broken my spine! I'm your son!"

"Didn't you disown me as your father?" The emperor released his grip on his rebellious son's arm and immediately retorted.

"Can't I change my mind now? Come help me up." "Your moral compass is far too flexible."

"Isn't that just like you, Old Man Huang!"

With a series of unsettling cracking sounds, the Emperor used psionic energy to reconnect Mordred's spine, and incidentally used a molecular recombination technique to instantly restore his seemingly gruesome injuries to their original state.

Unable to run away or fight back, and with the opponent capable of both attacking and healing, Mordred was truly at his wit's end. He could only slump in his seat like a lump of mud and start to give up. Then, he saw the Emperor's hesitant and awkward posture, as if he wanted to say something but couldn't.

Honestly, it's really hard to look at a giant, five-meter-tall, psionic inflatable guy with arms big enough to run a horse on, showing up like this.

"No, brother, what exactly do you want?! I've already acknowledged you as my father, what more do you want from me?"

"No, you don't acknowledge my existence. Instead, you think I'm a hopeless madman. In your eyes, I might be just like those four good-for-nothings. The contempt on your face has never disappeared."

To you, everything around you seems irrelevant; you even look down on everyone with disdain. The only thing you might care about is those giant dogs, you…

The Emperor paused for a moment, then stopped criticizing and instead changed his previous arrogant demeanor, sitting down next to Mordred.

A drink was placed on the table. Mordred didn't refuse and picked it up to drink. When she felt the bubbles bursting in her mouth, Mordred fell silent.

"Cola?"

"That's right, it's still the same taste as in the 3K era, the taste you remember. Actually, I didn't read much of your memories."

As I just said, your memories are toxic. Even that small amount of contamination took me a great deal of effort to purify, burning down half of the Alps in the process. But I think it was worth it, because it was a necessary sacrifice…”

The emperor paused once again.

Another drink was placed on the table, and Mordred downed it in one gulp. This time it was orange juice with pulp, and the delicious taste of the orange juice made the big guy, who had been away from it for 12 years, feel an indescribable loneliness.

"So why didn't you erase me back then? Maybe I could have gone home after I died."

"It's possible, but as far as I know, you're just a remnant of a higher dimension. Going from high to low is very simple, and it's basically impossible to go back."

The Emperor continued, “When your remains streaked across the stars, through the warp, and crashed into Terra, you were already on the verge of death. To prevent contamination, I prepared to end your life myself.”

But do you know what I discovered the moment I touched you?

"He is a fellow human being who can understand me, a partner who can help me make humanity great again."

Since they met, Mordred had never seen such a genuine smile from the Emperor, and she could clearly sense that it was not some damned charm.

"Modred, my child, since the day you were born, your name has echoed throughout the Himalayas, and you will eventually embrace my ideals and lead humanity to glory."

After he finished speaking, the Emperor remained silent, staring longingly at Mordred.

At first, Mordred didn't care, but he soon couldn't take it anymore. He thought to himself, "What were you doing before? Can't you talk properly? Why were you acting like an idiot just now?"

"Then say something nice and beg me."

"What? You want me to beg you? I..."

The emperor's fist hardened again, and the corners of his mouth twitched repeatedly, as if he were hurling insults at someone who didn't exist in the void. But he quickly sighed and said reluctantly:
"Help me, child, I need you!"

"Oh, I really can't do anything about you."

Upon hearing this response, Makado, who had been acting as an external brain outside the door, decisively severed his psionic link, thinking to himself that this was inhuman work, and muttered:

"It seems the heavy burden of this empire still rests on my shoulders!"

(End of this chapter)