Warhammer, I really didn't intend to form a second empire!

Waldo offered no explanation for the decorations on either side of the corridor; he simply maintained a steady pace, occasionally shifting his body slightly at corners to make sure Zhao Zheng wasn't too far away.

Finally, Waldo led the group to a room. Yes, it was a room, not a reception room or a command bridge, just a room. The door had a number "II" printed on it in Radiant Gold.

"Your Highness, His Majesty is already waiting for you inside."

Zhao Zheng paused in front of that door.

The number "II" on the door panel was not added later, but was cast at the same time as the entire door panel. During the casting process, the gold was evenly incorporated into the refined gold base, forming a gradient pattern that is almost indistinguishable to the naked eye.

This door was pre-installed when the Imperial Dream was built. Each cabin is numbered, corresponding to each of the Emperor's children.

Waldo stood sideways to the side of the door, his left hand raised slightly, his gaze fixed straight ahead.

Zhao Zheng reached out and pushed open the door. The interior space was much more spacious than he had judged from the corridor. The floor was covered with dark gold panels, and the decoration style of the four walls was consistent with the corridor, but more restrained.

Against the wall stood a set of heavy wooden table and chairs, with a flat and wide tabletop covered with an unfolded star map.

A tea set was on the table, but it remained untouched.

The emperor sat in a chair behind the table, wearing a simple white robe with no insignia or decorations at the collar, looking like an ordinary middle-aged man.

But that was Zhao Zheng's perspective. In the eyes of others, he was still that incredibly charismatic human emperor.

Behind him stood another young man.

That was Horus. Zhao Zheng had seen his face in Kosonia, but this was the first time he had met him face to face.

Horus was much shorter than Zhao Zheng, but still over 3.5 meters tall. He was well-proportioned and muscular, wearing a white and gold fitted uniform. He did not wear any legion insignia on his shoulders, only a small double-headed eagle pin on the inside of his collar.

His light gray gaze fell on Zhao Zheng, a perfectly timed smile playing on his lips.

Zhao Zheng did not rush to speak. He first nodded slightly in the direction of the emperor, then shifted his gaze to Horus, met his eyes for a moment, and then looked away.

The emperor did not speak, but simply raised his hand and gestured towards the chair opposite him.

When Zhao Zheng sat down opposite him, his descendants naturally dispersed and stood in the corners of the room.

Kongming stopped half a step behind him, his posture respectful but his expression calm.

Waldo remained outside the door, the heavy hatch closing silently behind him with a barely audible click of the airtight lock.

The emperor's gaze fell on Zhao Zheng's face, without the kind of soul-piercing scrutiny, nor the deliberately restrained gentleness, only a very ordinary gaze.

He reached for the teapot on the table, poured himself a cup, and then pushed the empty cup toward Zhao Zheng.

Would you like some tea?

Zhao Zheng glanced at the cup. It was made of ordinary ceramic, without any patterns or markings. The steam rising from the pot carried a very faint floral fragrance, but he couldn't identify what kind it was.

"No, I'll leave after we finish talking."

Horus behind the Emperor immediately perked up. Wait, what does this guy mean?

The emperor did not insist, but picked up the cup, took a sip, and then put the cup back on the table.

"You have developed faster and more efficiently than I expected. In the first few years of the Great Expedition, none of the human civilizations and forces I encountered from all over the galaxy could achieve this level of development in such a short time."

He paused for a moment, his gaze remaining fixed on the object.

"You found a great starting point and seized the opportunity."

Zhao Zheng did not respond immediately, but listened to the emperor continue speaking.

“I’m not here to order you around or ask you to join us. I just wanted to come and see you and see how you’re doing.”

When the emperor finished speaking, he wore an expression unrelated to psychic powers—a weary, complex, and somewhat compassionate one, though not a profound one.

Zhao Zheng could sense that the Emperor was trying to play the role of a father. The Emperor had never been a father before, and was actually a clumsy newcomer in this regard.

Moreover, because he is an immortal being, he is even less able to experience those emotions due to his detached nature.

In fact, he had consulted his close friend Macardo beforehand before saying these words, because he would never say such things, nor does he have such feelings.

Even Horus, he actually treated him more with guilt towards Orr and with the feelings of an old friend. It just so happened that Horus was also his son, which made him even more fond of him.

The Emperor didn't actually have much affection for the Primarch.

The Great Expedition has only just begun, and he still has the time and energy to teach these offspring.

Zhao Zheng wasn't particularly moved by this, since although he was now known as the Second Primarch, he wasn't actually the Primarch.

However, the emperor did come to see his son with genuine sincerity this time, even though every word he said was a lie.

Zhao Zheng did not expose the emperor's disguise.

He sat on the slightly low wooden chair, his back relaxed against the backrest, his gaze falling across the table onto the emperor's calm face.

The cup of tea on the table was still steaming, but the emperor did not pick it up to drink. Instead, he placed his fingers on the rim of the cup, his fingertips slowly sliding along the curve of the ceramic.

"Did you come here just to spout this utterly fake nonsense to me?"

The emperor's finger stopped on the rim of the cup.

He looked up, his gaze lingering on Zhao Zheng's face.

Kongming and his four other sons stared at Zhao Zheng in shock. No, Father, he had come to them with a smile on his face!

"What are you saying? Father came all the way from..."

Horus was the first to lose his temper. Even though he had only been in contact with Zhao Zheng for less than five minutes, he still felt that Zhao Zheng was so annoying.

But the emperor stopped Horus, preventing him from continuing, thus silencing Horus's anger.

"The Great Crusade has begun, and I need the Primarch to return to the Legion to complete this expedition to save all mankind, but you are different."

The emperor paused for a moment, his golden pupils fixed on Zhao Zheng.

"You accomplished interstellar expansion without my help, established a regime, and even created the Space Marines on your own. I must say, I am truly amazed by your genius."

“My original intention in coming here was to take you back to Terra and then personally teach you, just like Horus did.”

"But it seems you don't need this, so I won't force you."

"I have only one condition: you must join the Empire, and then the Empire will provide you with everything you need."

"Technology, weapons, equipment, fleets... and your offspring, they will soon be under your command, and I will not interfere with what you do within your own sphere of influence."

"I only have two requirements for you. First, do not let down the efficiency of the Great Expedition. Second, I need resources, lots and lots of resources. Therefore, you must pay taxes to the Empire regularly."

After the emperor finished speaking, looking at Zhao Zheng's still expressionless face, he no longer pretended. Wearing a layer of emotion ultimately restricted him.

“I have no intention of participating in your Great Expedition. I will continue to expand my territory and continue to eliminate the aliens and those troublesome human forces, but that is for my own empire, not for your Great Expedition.”

Zhao Zheng paused for a moment, his fingertips hovering over his knee.

"As for paying taxes, that's fine, but you'll have to exchange them for something. The Empire has the materials I need, fine gold, radiant gold, and some other things, like the technologies and biochemical modifications you mentioned. If the conditions are right, I don't mind making this deal."

The air in the room was silent for a moment, Horus's anger was already at its peak.

The emperor picked up the half-cooled cup of tea, took a sip, and put it down with a soft thud on the table.

"Then it's settled."

The emperor eventually agreed to this unreasonable demand.

Chapter Thirty-One: The Second Legion

The way the negotiations ended was somewhat unbelievable to Kongming. He knew the conversation would end this way, but he didn't expect it to be so clean and efficient.

After saying "Then it's settled," the Emperor did not ask any further questions or try to make up for the awkwardness that had been revealed during the negotiations.

He simply spread out an imperial star map on the table, unfolded it in front of Zhao Zheng, and tapped the intersection of several major shipping routes with his fingertip.

"These are the Empire's current supply nodes and Star Speaker relay stations. You can arrange for your resource transport ships to be handed over at these nodes first, and then the fleet will start transporting them back to Terra or the expedition front from these locations."

“For each transaction, I will have the current Imperial Chancellor Macado assign a special person to handle it. The tax rate will be calculated according to the star sector standard. I will send you the tax rate standard later. You can also send him a list of the specific materials you need.”

Zhao Zheng's gaze lingered on the star map for a moment.

The Empire's Great Expeditionary Territory has expanded significantly since Zhao Zheng first met the Emperor. The density of flight paths extends radially outward from Terra, reaching deep into the Solar System in some directions.

"Row."

As Zhao Zheng stood up, the chair moved slightly across the fine gold floor, making a soft scraping sound.

The emperor remained seated without rising. Horus stood behind him, his gaze following Zhao Zheng's every move. The smile on his lips widened almost imperceptibly when Zhao Zheng stood up and turned his head.

"Oh, right, I forgot to tell you, your offspring are actually trained to do this kind of work."

Zhao Zheng stopped at the door and turned his head.

The emperor remained seated in his chair, and Horus's face returned to its somewhat angry expression.

"Your genetic seed has almost no defects. It is pure, stable, has low rejection rate, low mutation rate, and the modified Space Marines are the strongest among all the Legions. They are even taller than the Space Marines of the Eighteenth and Twentieth Legions."

"Moreover, in terms of individual strength, your offspring should be much stronger than the First Legion and the Third Legion. If possible, I would really like to draw personnel from Terra and all over the galaxy to carry out modification surgery, regardless of the cost."

Zhao Zheng sat back down in his chair, which made Horus's face look even uglier, but neither the emperor nor Zhao Zheng paid any attention to it.

"So? What are you trying to say?"

"Their surgical modification has a high success rate, but there is a prerequisite: the patient must meet the physical requirements and have a strong will."

"This should be standard equipment, right?"

"But their standard requirements are too high."

The emperor spoke these words with a hint of regret in his voice.

"Not many children of this age possess the physique of a Sun Auxiliary Army soldier at this stage, and their mental fortitude must be comparable to that of a battle-hardened veteran. These stringent requirements are far too demanding. Even I cannot find many such promising talents."

For a child, such a demand is far too high. For the Empire, the Space Marines of the Second Legion are far too difficult to manufacture and not cost-effective. Therefore, the number of people in the Second Legion has never been high.

However, compared to the Third and Fifteenth Legions, which were afflicted with wilt disease and flesh mutation, the Second Legion's situation was actually quite acceptable.

"So how are they doing now?"

They are still my own children after all. I can't just hate them and ignore them because they are of Terran descent. I should bring them all over as soon as possible.

"The Second Legion is one of the earliest legions I created, but even now, it only has 3000 people at most. So I'm actually quite curious, how did you manage to create so many of your offspring in such a short time, and how are they generally stronger than your offspring on Terra?"

The emperor asked with some curiosity, as he genuinely wanted to know, but Zhao Zheng certainly wouldn't tell him.

"I have my secrets too."

Zhao Zheng brushed it off with that one sentence. The emperor didn't think much of it, but Horus felt that his self-cultivation was inadequate. In just this short meeting, he felt his blood pressure had already soared.

"How are my offspring? What is the casualty rate on the battlefield? Is the armor coverage up to standard? Are the warships complete? Is the artillery fire sufficient...?"

Zhao Zheng asked a series of questions, which were his biggest concerns. After all, a small number of people was fine, but too many people should die.

"It should be better than you expect."

The emperor's words surprised Zhao Zheng.

"What do you mean?"

"Perhaps because of you, they have always been a very stable and efficient legion while traveling through the warp."

"For the Empire at present, the logistical supply of the Great Expedition has always been very tight. Moreover, due to the instability of the warp, the Empire's supplies are often delayed in arriving on time, and the integrity rate of the supplies after they arrive at the front line is greatly reduced."

“Your offspring are different. If there is a fleet with more than a hundred men, the transport efficiency of that fleet can be increased by five times! And there will be almost no loss of supplies.”

"This is extremely important for the empire now. We need stable transportation, my son."

"So they've been doing logistics and transportation work all these years?"

The emperor nodded.

"Yes, and they're doing a very good job. Apart from the unification war, they haven't been on the front lines for many years, so despite their small numbers, their numbers are slowly increasing."

Zhao Zheng sat in the specially made chair and tapped his fingertips lightly twice on his knee.

The Emperor's description gave him a preliminary outline of the Terran legion he had yet to meet. Three thousand men was indeed not a large number on the scale of the Great Crusade, but the ability to maintain stability and improve the efficiency of transporting supplies during warp travel was an extremely rare characteristic.

He suddenly remembered the black hole-like essence within his body, and his offspring who were gradually resembling his own characteristics in the psionic pulse field experiments.

This ability to "stable subspace travel" is likely related to the transmission of his essential characteristics at the genetic level.

"And what about their casualty rate?"

"So low you won't believe it."