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

The Lishan jumped out from Mandeville point.

Upon arrival, the fleet immediately deployed according to the pre-arranged plan. The Ironborn Fleet remained in the rear to maintain the defensive line, while the main force quickly occupied the flank positions of the satellite orbit area after deployment.

On the holographic tactical panel, the distribution map of alien defense platforms in the Merodo Sector almost perfectly matched the flight path drawn by Zhao Zheng before his departure.

The gaps between the wider satellite orbits remained the width recorded in the scan data, without any significant changes.

Zhao Zheng's gaze swept over the dots of light, lingering for a moment at a few relatively large gaps, before turning his gaze back to the side of the main control panel.

"Have we informed Horus of our arrival?"

"I've already sent it, but haven't received a reply yet."

Zhao Zheng did not comment further.

He ordered the fleet to maintain its current formation, commanded the Ironborn fleet to retreat to a safe distance, and ordered the main force to maintain a patrol posture ahead, waiting for the other fleets to arrive.

News of the Second Legion's high-profile arrival on the outskirts of the Merodo Sector arrived three days later when the communication signal reached Horus's flagship, the Soul of Vengeance.

Horus stood on the bridge of the Vengeance Soul, holding the communications briefing handed to him by the staff officer. His gaze swept over the few lines of text repeatedly before he finally put the briefing back on the table.

His fingertips paused on the edge of the table for a moment, then he turned around, glanced at the battle lines marked on the star map that had been stagnant for months, and turned his gaze back to the area where the alien defenses were most concentrated.

"Order the entire army to prepare for a new offensive."

"Tell our brother that I'm preparing to attack, and hopefully they can provide support from the flanks."

Horus's biggest desire now is to get revenge for the humiliation he suffered and regain face in front of his father.

Otherwise, Shadowmoon Wolf's image within the Empire would be completely ruined.

This was something Horus could not accept.

Zhao Zheng quickly received the message from Horus, but he didn't care. Horus could charge if he wanted; he wouldn't help anyway.

Since the emperor summoned him this time, Zhao Zheng must be the one who wants to take all the credit.

Zhao Zheng is a greedy man. Since we've already invited him over, we shouldn't try to fool him.

He didn't want to take all the credit for this victory. He brought so many fleets with him this time, and now Horus wants to play a supporting role himself?

What are you thinking!

Either go back to the Empire and issue a statement to hand over the war zone, or play your supporting role quietly and let Zhao Zheng share some of the credit.

Want to steal the credit? Dream on!

After receiving the message, the two Shadowmoon Wolf officers in the corridor inside the flagship Vengeance Soul looked at each other, then glanced at the information panel in their hands.

"My lord, the Second Legion has replied."

"How to say?"

"He said... if we really launch an attack, their fleet will be prepared to penetrate deep into our territory, and they will follow up after we break through, in order to ensure the stability of the breakthrough and the deployment of subsequent troops."

The staff officer's voice was a little lower than before.

"In addition, he said that if we need, they can conduct a probing fire reconnaissance of the alien defenses before the assault begins."

Horus took the information panel and read it through from beginning to end without making any comments; he simply put it back on the desktop.

He could tell that this guy had come here to attack the sector alone.

Furthermore, their words were almost entirely implying that Shadowmoon Wolf should leave or become a support character, otherwise the Second Legion would absolutely not participate in this war!

ungrateful!

Horus clenched his fist, crushing the data plate in his hand instantly, but his expression remained unchanged.

The crisp sound of Horus crushing the data pad echoed for a moment on the bridge of the Vengeance Soul before being swallowed by the low hum of the air circulation system.

He stood in front of the control panel, with fragments of broken metal and luminous panels still between his fingers. The tiny pieces slid along the edges of his knuckles, bounced a few times on the deck, and then came to rest.

At that moment, the officers on the bridge all looked away simultaneously. No one spoke, and no one looked in Horus's direction.

"How dare the Second Legion? Don't they know how much we've already wasted in this sector? They're just trying to take advantage of our exhaustion with the aliens and then steal our glory!"

"Now they're even unwilling to fight alongside us, and instead they're hiding behind us. Shameless!"

Abaddon immediately started cursing, but Cyonus and Togaton stopped him to prevent him from saying anything outrageous.

Horus remained silent for a long time before finally deciding to compromise.

After all, they were the ones who asked the empire for help, so they have no choice but to suffer this loss now.

"Tell the Second Army Corps that we will not launch an attack, and the original offensive plan is postponed."

"Also... send over that 'firepower reconnaissance' plan proposed by the Imperial Dragon Legion. I want to see its contents."

"Father!"

Abaddon, who was quick to anger, couldn't take it anymore, but Horus stopped him and silently went into the lounge, whereupon started venting his anger on his brothers again.

"Damn it! This is outrageous robbery! And it's robbery of the Imperial Brotherhood!"

Chapter Sixty-Four: A Duel of Honor? Sure! Let Horus come and fight me personally!

Horus remained silent in the lounge for about an hour.

Abaddon's angry curses could be faintly heard from outside the door, interspersed with Cyranus's low words of dissuasion, but no one pushed the door open to disturb him.

Horus stood by the porthole in the lounge, his gaze fixed on the gray starfield outside, which was occupied by alien defense platforms.

He knew that Zhao Zheng was right.

If he were to launch an attack, the Second Legion's massive fleet would not need his assistance at all; they could conquer the sector entirely on their own.

So he ultimately accepted Zhao Zheng's conditions, because if he refused, he would lose his last shred of dignity and might even lose the emperor's favor.

Horus took the new data panel from the communications officer, paused his fingertip on the edge of the screen for a moment, and then sent a formal confirmation to Zhao Zheng.

"The Shadowmoon Wolves will be reassigned to a support role, with the Second Legion taking the lead in the attack. I wish you all the best."

He turned around and, while Abaddon was still cursing, interrupted him expressionlessly.

"That's enough, Ezekiel."

"Father……"

"I've said enough. Go and prepare. We will help the Brotherhood achieve victory in this sector. This decision has been made and will not be changed."

Abaddon didn't know what to say, so he just stomped his foot angrily.

……

On the Lishan, after receiving Horus's confirmation reply, Zhao Zheng put the data panel aside and focused his gaze on the holographic tactical panel.

Zhao Zheng glanced at the marshals beside him and said in a calm tone.

"Proceed according to plan and tear a hole in the alien Empire's defenses in the Merodo Sector."

Han Xin spoke first, drawing an arc on the star map, pointing to an area with a weaker energy signal in the middle of the alien defense line.

"The defensive platforms there are spaced several hundred kilometers apart from those in other directions. Although there are no obvious weaknesses on the surface, if we first use the Ironborn Fleet to draw fire from the front, and then have the main force quickly penetrate from the flanks, there is a good chance that we can complete the penetration before the enemy readjusts its firepower distribution."

Wang Jian added.

"We can also have some ships launch a feint attack, mimicking the Shadowmoon Wolf's assault formation, to draw the enemy's attention to the front of the first line of defense."

"Once they begin to adjust the angle of their gun barrels, the main attack formation will then make a rapid breakthrough from the weak points on their flanks."

Bai Qi remained silent, but his eyes held a terrifying killing intent; he had already figured out how to carve out his way through this star sector.

Zhao Zheng made a decision: he appointed Han Xin as the overall strategic commander, Wang Jian and Sun Wu to be in charge of the flank feint attack, and Bai Qi to lead his fleet as the main attacking force on the front.

His fingertip paused at the end of the arc on the star map, then turned to the flank and added a supplementary instruction.

"Order the Ironblood Fleet to maintain suppressive fire in the first phase and not to break through. Wait until the enemy's defensive platforms begin to rotate their gun barrels to the side before launching a feint attack."

After the order was given, the marshals returned to their respective command ships.

The bridge of the Lishan has returned to standard navigation information mode, with officers on duty exchanging dispatch information in hushed tones at the console, and the encoded stream on the data screen scrolling line by line at a steady frequency.

At the same time, the temporary communication terminal on the Lishan received a message with the sender's identifier "Vengeful Soul - Shadowmoon Wolf - Council of the Four Kings".

Zhao Zheng was reviewing the data on the Ironborn, and when he saw that mark, his brows furrowed slightly.

"The Council of the Four Kings? What are the Shadowmoon Wolves up to now? What are they planning? Did Horus send this message or one of his men?"

Kongming, standing to the side and slightly behind, quickly gave his answer.

The communication terminal then sent more information, in the standard format of a battlefield honor duel application.

Zhao Zheng looked at the application twice to make sure he hadn't misunderstood it, then put it back on the desktop, his tone carrying a hint of strange surprise.

"A duel for honor? That term sounds so familiar!"

Kongming took the application, read it through, and then explained.

"This is a traditional, informal method of adjudication used by the Space Marines. It is typically used to resolve disputes between two corporations regarding the attribution of war achievements, command authority, or other matters that are difficult to resolve through conventional channels. Each party sends a representative to engage in a one-on-one duel, and the winner gains the right to adjudicate."

Upon hearing Kongming's words, Zhao Zhengcai, who had always been indifferent to affairs and only concerned himself with enjoyment and research, suddenly remembered that he had almost forgotten this tradition of the empire.

"You mean, Horus's offspring want to wage a duel of honor against us, and then what?"

"Yes."

"The Four Kings Council of Shadowmoon Wolves launched this challenge, probably to regain control of this war."

After listening to Kong Ming's explanation, Zhao Zheng did not immediately express his opinion; his gaze swept over the application again.

"Why do they think I wouldn't just refuse outright? Am I out of my mind? Would I agree to such a brainless duel?"

“Generally speaking, no legion would refuse such a duel, because it is a duel of honor, concerning the honor of a legion, and also concerning our future reputation in the Empire.”

"After all, these honorable duels will spread our reputation among the various legions."

"Heh~, they can't win on the front lines, so now they want to do this kind of thing. If they're so capable, why don't they go fight the aliens? They even need us to come and support them. Now that we've come to rescue them, they want to freeload off our fleet and credit."

"They get all the good things in the world!"

A battle for honor? They don't want to contribute anything, yet they want to take so much from me. They're so used to getting freebies from their brother legions, and now they want to profit from me too.

Honor duel? Zhao Zheng wanted to laugh when he heard that. Without Horus's tacit approval, what kind of bullshit Council of Four Kings could send information to Zhao Zheng's flagship?

This was clearly Horus's last desperate attempt to salvage his reputation!

Zhao Zheng sneered, "Fine, a duel for honor, is that all you want to do?"

Then let's fight!

But we absolutely must get something from Horus, otherwise this is not an equal fight at all.

If you want the Second Legion as support, fine, trade it for the Soul of Vengeance!

“Tell Shadowmoon Wolves that if they want a duel of honor, they can bring out their Glory Queen. If they don’t dare, they should just go back to the Empire.”

"Otherwise, I'll personally report to the Emperor and the Ministry of Military Affairs and tell them to get lost! If they don't leave, then I'll leave, and let Shadowmoon Wolf fight this damn war on its own!"

"Oh, right, also, tell Horus that it's too boring for his offspring to just fight each other. Why don't we have a duel between him and me as well?"

"Of course, if he's scared, then disregard what I said. After all, I've never thought that a small-time hoodlum from Kosonia could possibly beat me."

Kongming's face showed helplessness; his father was acting impulsively again.

This duel of honor should never have happened in the first place. Kongming didn't think this one-on-one fight was anything special. This was a war between star sectors, how could a one-on-one fight decide the course of the battle?

But since Zhao Zheng had already said so, Kongming had no objections.

Besides, the Qin Dynasty has countless fierce generals and brilliant strategists under its command. Although Kongming had heard of the small Council of Four Kings, even a humble person like him did not think that the Council of Four Kings had any chance of winning.

To put it bluntly, the Qin Dynasty has come this far by looking down on everyone. If it weren't for Horus backing the Emperor, would the Qin Dynasty have been able to hold its own against a mere Shadowmoon Wolf?

……

Zhao Zheng's response arrived on the Vengeful Spirit within half an hour of being sent.

Horus stared at the formal reply written in standard Imperial format, his gaze lingering for a long time on the line concerning the wager of the Soul of Vengeance.

He messed up this time.

He originally thought that although Zhao Zheng was powerful, he would at least consider the rules of the Imperial system and the face between the Primarchs.