Warhammer: Filial Piety Makes Power

Chapter 88: Kurtz is super small (3k+)

Tom wasn't a biological sage, nor was he Lady Astartes; he was just an ordinary Space Marine captain.

But if he can't understand it, can't Mordred understand it too?
In the footage, the thin humanoid figure frantically attacking the observation window of the nursery pod is a juvenile Primarch, and a dangerous one at that, Conrad Coz.

Based on Mordred's own deductions, after he climbed out of the nursery and was adopted by Thomas, the danger level was off the charts due to the extremely pure biosphere system of Tranquility.

Based on the Emperor's mechanism that the more dangerous the location, the faster the Primarch matures, Mordred must have been among the fastest-growing Primarchs, reaching over two meters tall at the age of three.

In other words, Koz, who looks to be a little over 1 meter tall, is at most only one year old, and has very little time left before he climbs out of the nursery pod.

Perhaps sensing something, Coz, who was being filmed by the camera, suddenly stepped back into the shadows, completely escaping the camera's view.

"No, we absolutely cannot let him get away. Noztramo is such a godforsaken place that anyone who comes here will become a monster. We must find him while he is still a toddler."

Leave a portion of the crew behind on the ship to find a way out of the cyberspace and into the physical universe. The rest of you, move out immediately.

"Hey ha, Atlas will win!"

Mordred slapped Brian on the head. He felt that the young man was a bit obsessed. This operation was to search for Koz, and those Noztramo natives were no challenge at all.

"Everyone, pay attention. Don't be fooled by the target's size. My brother may be young, but he is also a Primarch. Prioritize your own safety. His fingernails can even tear through terracotta."

As for the planet's native inhabitants, I grant you the right to act as you see fit. If you encounter any obstruction, you are free to open fire. Do not show any mercy to these scumbags.

Squad 1 to take control of the starport, Squad 2 to take control of the hive, the rest of the personnel to conduct an armed search. All personnel mobilize!

Without hesitation, Atlas, having received the order, began to board the Thunderhawks in battle formation, one after another passing through the small gate of the net passage.

Even without naval fire support, the Thunderhawk, capable of serving as an aerospace fighter, was sufficient. In just 15 minutes, Atlas seized the command tower of Noztramo's aerospace starport.

Meanwhile, the second squad also determined the location of the hive city based on Tom's personal signal coordinates. Finally, they secretly infiltrated using gravity parachutes, avoiding the fire control lock of the anti-aircraft turrets, and began to disarm the anti-aircraft weapons.

As for Mordred himself, he didn't need any external force devices at all. He simply relied on the huge bone wings on his back to glide and silently made a physical breakthrough of the atmosphere and an orbital descent.

They then located the original sports cabin where Tom was hiding.

"Phew! Father, if you hadn't come soon, I would have suffocated."

"Shut up. The original sports cabin has an independent breathing and life support device. If you hadn't held your breath there, you could have easily gasped for air with your mouth open. You almost made yourself die from stupidity."

After educating her good-for-nothing, unlucky son, or rather, the exceptionally lucky Tom, Mordred followed the scent of blood to the crime scene.

The first thing that catches the eye is not human remains, but a giant rat that has been gnawed in half.

Mordred had never seen such a big rat in his life. It was black and strong, but unfortunately it had been gnawed into pieces.

But while it's a rat story, Mordred doesn't really want to raise any giant rats. What he wants is the memory of the rat before it died. Whether it's alive or dead doesn't matter, as long as the brain tissue is intact.

As a fleshy tentacle shot out, the rat, which was originally only half a rat, began to mutate rapidly, undergoing a living remodeling process at the cost of consuming its own biomass.

Mordred also saw the scene of the big rat being preyed on by Coz ​​during this reshaping process.

"This thing has been staying in the sewer the whole time. No wonder it's so dark. It's a veritable sea of ​​maggots."

"So that's why he eats rats?"

“No! That’s not the main reason,” Mordred tossed Tom a quick-fit armor pack developed by Atlas and gestured for him to look up as he put on the armor.

Under the pitch-black sky, the sound of explosive gunfire gradually intensified throughout the city, accompanied by the occasional azure flames from plasma explosions.

"Atlas has already begun to clean up these scumbags. Like I said, this is not the main reason why Koz eats rats, but simply because Noztramo is a completely sinful place."

They physically eat people, and the cause of all this is not a natural disaster, but entirely man-made.

By supplying other worlds with the precious mineral adamantite, the wealthy tycoons of Noztramo have made a fortune; the cost of just one meal could feed a lowly garbage collector for half a year.

But that enormous wealth never flows to the lower classes. Look around, Tom. In such a modern world, with all sorts of household appliances and garbage, they still can't get enough to eat and have to resort to cannibalism to survive.

"The Ninth Legion should have a lot in common with them."

Mordred nodded, indicating that although it was somewhat hellish, it was indeed the case. Before the archangels returned to the legions, the ghouls of the Ninth Legion were indeed the most disliked group of people, second only to the 11th Legion, whose members were highly mutated and gradually becoming inhuman.

These two legions were both incredibly unlucky. The Ninth Legion's Bloodthirst was not only a genetic disease, but also largely due to warp factors. It was contaminated at its source, or rather, it was created specifically for the purpose of sustaining war through warfare.

In addition, their highly compatible genetic seeds were designed entirely as cannon fodder.

As for the 11th Legion, Mordred had barely seen them. Not only were their numbers pitifully small, but they were also particularly prone to genetic mutations.

"Huh? Father, I think I've found a piece of refined gold ore."

Seeing that his unfilial son had interrupted him again, Mordred snatched the piece of adamantite ore and pointed to the ground, saying:

"Look at your lack of ambition. The entire Noztramo is just a ball of adamantite and iron. We won't lack adamantite in the future. We can talk about it when we get back. Anyway, he can't travel back and forth like Katachon. The most important thing now is to find Koz!"

"And let me add something, your helmet is also made of adamantite, isn't it? Father treats you well, doesn't he!" Mordred, who was shrinking in size and putting on a Mark III power armor, flicked his wrist, manipulating his flesh to form a neural interface that resembled a black carapace and connected it to the armor.

He only needs the armor's information platform; he doesn't need anything like electronic muscles, as his powerful physical strength is more than enough to carry it.

As the gunfire intensified, the nest was gradually brought under Atlas's control. After each area was taken over, all the lights in that area were turned on to dispel the darkness and reduce the target's escape range.

But Mordred knew that it was impossible to find Koz in this way. After all, the little thing's prophetic ability was terrifyingly strong, completely different from his own extremely weak, knock-off prophetic ability.

After all, Mordred's prophetic abilities are inaccurate, and aside from being able to watch movies, they are basically useless.

As for Koz's prophetic abilities, they are something that can be described as metaphysics. They only allow you to experience the future, but the outcome is not necessarily accurate!
It was precisely because of this special ability to experience a target's entire life, much like virtual reality, that Koz, who fell into Noztramo, eventually went mad.

"So when dealing with this kind of person, never engage in a direct confrontation with him. The most terrifying thing is to kill him at first sight. Once you fall into his rhythm, you will eventually be played to death."

Mordred, who was strolling through the underground passages of the hive, explained things while sharing trivia with all the Atlas through the internal channel.

"Then how can we defeat this enemy? Or rather, break his prophetic abilities!"

This kind of electronic cricket fighting is something that people of all ages and genders enjoy immensely, especially Atlas and his group of daydreaming types, who are particularly adept at it.

Some say that only magic can defeat magic, and to deal with a prophet, you need to use another prophet to make a counter-prophecy.

Some people say that prophecy is useless. If you can predict someone else's prophecy, why can't others predict your prophecy?
Instead of repeatedly using nested dolls, it's better to use overwhelming firepower. Once the location is determined, unleash a super-powerful barrage, and even the Primarch will have to kneel.

Mordred made a big fuss about this man, planning to teach him a lesson when he got back, and first send him to Katachon for three months.

"There is actually more than one way to deal with those who have the ability to predict the future, but they can be roughly divided into three categories: interference, manipulation, and guidance."

The common characteristic of these three types is that they aim to distort and invalidate predictions, causing information chaos in the target's mind, ultimately leading to incorrect decisions, such as our current situation.

Tom still didn't understand what his Primarch wanted to do, but through the oracles, he could see that Atlas was gradually forming an encirclement.

But this encirclement is like a random arrangement, constantly changing.

"Father, I still don't understand."

"Tom, you really should get your head checked."

They randomly chose a fork in the road and, after many twists and turns, Mordred proceeded entirely haphazardly. When they suddenly came to a slightly spacious underground cavern, the two finally stopped.
"He always wins the game outside the chessboard. Why should he let us fall into his rhythm? As long as I lure him out, I will definitely be able to capture him."

Tom seemed to understand something, yet he also seemed a little confused. He knew that his Primarch was very powerful, but shouldn't the problem now be how to find a target?
"Let me be frank. The simplest way is to cast a wide net and force him to show himself, but our environment here is too complicated to apply that approach. But what if his prophecy was something I planned?"

"But none of you have seen him. Out of everyone, I'm the only one who has ever met him face to face."

No sooner had Tom finished speaking than a small, thin figure descended from the sky and pounced on his neck, staring intently at the figure that had suddenly appeared behind him.

Even though he's just a tiny Coz, a Primarch is still a Primarch. Angron could use stones to take down Eldar raiding parties, and Coz could just snap Tom's neck in one go.

"Let me leave..."

"Get a divorce my ass."

Koz was not given a chance to react. In the face of pure numbers, all mechanisms are meaningless. Mordred's current achievements are entirely due to his hard work and sweat.

With a single punch, Tom's head was sent flying, and Koz, who was clinging to him, was also slammed into the wall by the force of the impact, and was immediately captured by Mordred, who appeared in a flash.

"Let me go, you hollow monster! Why did you kill him? You would have let me go because of him."

Mordred was annoyed by the incessant hissing low Gothic language with its Noztramo accent, so she picked up Tom's skull and smashed it over Coz's head.

"You're making a fuss over nothing. You even want to predict my thoughts. I don't even know what I'm thinking. Can't I just change my mind at the last minute?"
"Little one, I'll say it again, I'm your second brother. Can you guess what will happen to you if you don't listen to me?"

Koz was indeed terrified because he saw the horrific image of himself being swallowed whole and completely devoured.

Why did you eat me?

"Because you didn't listen to me, and who said I was going to eat you? I don't want to eat you anymore."

As Mordred spoke again, Koz no longer saw himself being devoured alive, something that was completely incomprehensible to a consciousness that had only been born for 10 months.

"If I behave, you won't eat me, right?"

"Not necessarily, but I can make sure you have a full meal and call me 'Second Brother'."

Driven by a simple craving for satiety, Kurtz, who has grown to his current size solely by eating rat meat, longs to eat a few more large rats:

"Big brother."

"Oh my, the core members of the Second Legion must be trained from a young age, which is exactly what I want!"

　Hehe, I overslept.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)