The Bizarre Adventure of the Warhammer Guard

Elpis returned to the strange space he had previously traveled to. This time, he felt something behind him protecting him with its energy.

Elpis locked onto the thread he had previously traversed, and with a thought, returned to the sphere containing the Warhammer universe.

Leon and Ada felt like they'd been thrown into a washing machine and tossed around for three days and three nights. Standing next to Elpis, they only saw a flash of white light before their eyes, and when they opened them again, they found themselves in an unfamiliar place.

They were in a huge room with no windows, only a massive metal door, and the room was decorated with large gold carvings. A few candles burned in the corners of the room.

Elpis's communication device once again connected to the Empire's communication network. Through the Imperial Guard's internal communication network, he learned that most of the Primarchs had disappeared, with only the Primarch of the Ultramarines, Robert Guilliman, and the Primarch of the Space Wolves, Leman Ruth, still alive in the Empire.

Elpis never imagined that less than a day had passed in the Resident Evil universe, yet more than a decade had gone by in the Warhammer universe.

Elpis set aside the time difference for the moment and immediately contacted the Marshal of the Imperial Guard, requesting a meeting to discuss the details. After receiving the Marshal's notification, he summoned Lyon and Ada to go with him.

Leon and Ida jogged close behind Elpis, overwhelmed by the labyrinthine passageways and vast architectural spaces, feeling like dwarves who had stumbled into a land of giants. They now completely believed everything Elpis had said before.

Finally, they opened a door and entered a conference room. Leon discovered another golden-armored giant inside, his face resolute and authoritative. Giant tables and chairs, befitting the size of these giants, were placed in the center of the room.

"You're back, Elpis." Waldo glanced at the two mortals behind Elpis before turning his gaze to Elpis. "It seems a lot has happened to you."

"Marshal," Elpis removed his helmet and explained to Waldo, "That's right, I used special methods to find a lost human world and brought back some mortals and technology from there."

"Very good," Waldo nodded, "This may be part of my lord's plan."

"I haven't figured out the specific mechanisms yet," Elpis said, placing all the spoils of this journey on the table. "I need to assemble an expeditionary force, which I will lead, independent of the Highlord Council. It also needs to be done in secrecy, without letting anyone else know. I need your support."

"Okay, just tell me what you need and I'll arrange it."

Waldo stared into Elpis's eyes, and after some thought, agreed to Elpis's request.

"I need loyal Martian mechanical priests; I have some technology that I need them to study. I also need the help of the Silent Sisters and the Ten Thousand Men." Elpis glanced at Ida and stated his needs. "How's Loken doing now?"

"Still in the palace," Waldo replied.

"Transfer him to my expeditionary force as well. I've found a way to end the closed loop." Elpis then looked at Lyon. "Besides, the Sixteenth Legion's gene seeds can't be wasted."

"Okay," Waldo said after looking at the liquid in the test tubes on the table and thinking for a moment. "I will set aside a space in the palace for you to use, and I also have some broken STC templates for you, which you may find useful."

-

Leon had been in Holy Terra for over two years. After leaving the conference room with Elpis, Elpis sent him and Ada to the Loyal Heir Academy on Terra to learn.

Lyon felt like he was back in college, no, even more hard-working than in college. Here, there was endless knowledge to learn and physical training every day, and he was quickly absorbing what the academy instructors taught him.

Of course, Leon also learned a great deal about this new world. He knew that this human empire ruled over almost the entire Milky Way galaxy, though it was called the Milky Way, its extent was far greater than the version he had previously known. Here, any area illuminated by starlight was called the Milky Way galaxy.

The highest government body in the entire empire is called the High Lords Council. In theory, they can decide the fate of the entire empire, but as far as he knows, the Imperial Guard, most of the Astartes, the Primarchs' home planet, and other forces do not care about the High Lords Council.

Moreover, he had heard from those veterans that the Empire had once experienced a great rebellion, supposedly led by the Primarch who was then serving as "Warmaster," along with half of the Primarchs. In the end, the Emperor, the supreme leader of the Empire, killed the traitor, but was also seriously wounded, sitting on the Golden Throne, maintaining the light of the Star Torch.

Lyon also felt that this empire was both advanced and backward. Advanced in that it lacked the artificial intelligence, robots, and automation often depicted in science fiction movies. Backward, however, it possessed laser weapons, teleportation devices, and numerous fleets in space.

There are also many inhumane things among them, such as machine servants, who are modified from humans. They could be ordinary people who have made mistakes, or they could be humans who are enemies of the Empire. After being captured, their brain lobes were removed, and some organs were installed or replaced to carry out people's orders.

And what they ate was also quite bizarre; Lyon himself ate mostly synthetic protein blocks and nutritional pastes. Of course, he also ate some strange things.

At the time, the instructors gave the trainees some canned ant-cow food to sample, which was said to be very delicious. Following instructions, Lyon used a flamethrower to heat it for over an hour. However, upon opening it, the food inside gushed out, nearly biting him. Fortunately, an instructor nearby was prepared and grabbed a flamethrower to continue cooking, eventually managing to heat the food up.

Since then, Leon has been afraid of some strange foods, but that's not the most terrifying thing.

On one occasion, out of curiosity, Lyon tasted a grayish-white, gelatinous "biscuit" that an old soldier handed him, which was said to be a common food on the battlefield.

It had no obvious smell when eaten, like chewing cement, with a slightly bitter aftertaste, like compressed biscuits. But when he heard the words "corpse starch," Leon almost vomited, and he could hardly swallow any of his food that day.

Besides, Lyon received daily indoctrination on loyalty and studied the "Imperial Truth," but secretly, most of the instructors and veterans in the academy, especially, believed in the Emperor. They said that the Empire's enemies were demons from the Warp, and only by believing in the Emperor could these demons be defeated and those beasts banished.

Advanced and backward coexist, technology and faith are intertwined. Before Lyon could recover from this sense of disorientation, he received a communication from Elpis, urging him and Ada to proceed to the marked location in the palace area as soon as possible.

Afterwards, Leon bid farewell to his instructors and classmates at the academy, and together with Ada, followed the map to the palace to assemble.