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

No, Father, is this a duel for honor? Are you really still brothers?

Did you two have a grudge from a long time ago? You turned a duel for honor into a battle that humiliated your brother legion.

Now look what happened. The Shadowmoon Wolves have lost, and the Imperial Dragon Legion has also lost all its reputation within the Empire.

Aside from the four legions already fighting under Zhao Zheng's command, would any other brother legions be willing to contact them in the future?

Who knows, every time we meet in the future, we'll say, "Hey, isn't this the guy who likes to humiliate the Brotherhood?"

Why would someone so powerful need the Empire's help? And why would they need our friendship?

How could things have gotten like this!

Therefore, Kongming was very tired. It seemed that since his father solved the problem of managing the river center area, he paid less and less attention to progress in other areas.

They even had the leisure to replicate the "chess pieces" of the Imperial Dragon Legion using refined gold and living metal in equal proportions.

Father, do you have no great ambitions? Are you merely a "pawn" for amusement?

If you're really bored and have nothing better to do, come and help with some government affairs!

My brains are practically spinning from working to death, along with those of Xiao He, Zifang, and Han Feizi! And you still have the leisure to do these frivolous things!

Now look what's happened! They've finally gotten down to business, but the battle hasn't even started yet! And instead they've come to humiliate the Brotherhood and even destroyed the Primarch!

Just because they went a bit too far doesn't mean you have to go even further! Father.

How will the Imperial Dragon Legion survive in the Empire if you act like this?

"A grudge? If you put it that way, then there is indeed a bit of one."

Zhao Zheng was taken aback by Kongming's words for a moment, then responded with a smile.

"What is it? Is it big?"

"It's not that big."

"what is that?"

"Last time on the Emperor Dream, this kid actually tried to stand behind the Emperor and curse me. I've disliked this kid for a long time."

"Kongming, you know me. I hold grudges and am petty. I can't stand the slightest grievance. I even have to dip poached chicken in strawberry sauce, otherwise it won't taste sweet, and I won't feel right."

Then go back and eat your steamed sea bass with chocolate condensed milk and pearl milk tea!

Leave the fighting to the marshals. Let the duels of honor be duels of honor. What's the point of you doing all this?!

Kongming didn't understand; his mind was blank. Sometimes he even wished that the alpha+ psionic energy had burned out his brain so he wouldn't have to deal with these messy things anymore.

"Your Majesty, Father, Father, I beg you, please don't do this kind of thing again. Just sit on your throne, eat and drink well, and occasionally go to the laboratory to do some research. Let me handle these things from now on, okay?"

"Okay, okay, I know, let's go get something good to eat."

Kongming was at a loss for words.

"How Much Pressure Does a Willful Father Put on His Offspring?" — By Zhuge Kongming

In fact, Zhao Zheng didn't care much about this. After all, with his current strength, even if he reached 31K, he was destined not to grow much further. Chaos would still invade as it was meant to, and he couldn't stop it.

Some brothers will definitely be deceived; at most, he can only save those who are still salvageable.

Rather than doing that, it would be better to choose one that you are most familiar with, have the Four Gods bless it, and then treat it as a rebellion.

Anyway, he had disliked Horus for a long time, so why not do something according to his own preferences?

Whether Horus will rebel this time or not, he doesn't know, but that's what he plans to do.

If he really rebels, Zhao Zheng and the Emperor can join forces and even if Horus is stuffed into a puff pastry, Zhao Zheng is confident that they can kill him together!

Zhao Zheng had actually thought about it long ago: why must he change some things after coming to Warhammer?

Wouldn't it be enough if he could ensure that people at the bottom of society have enough to eat and wear, have jobs and access to education, and provide them with opportunities for upward mobility?

Are the Primarchs, Astartes, and Emperors worth saving and changing?

Admittedly, most of my brothers are worth helping.

For example, the Lord of Fire Dragons and the Lord of Ravens, as well as the Son of Vengeance and the Iron Warrior, but so what?

Are they, the emperor, and even Zhao Zheng himself, really that important?

Even in the Golden Age, there were no Primarchs, and the Emperors weren't necessarily any more useful. Wasn't humanity's development advanced? Wasn't it powerful?

It could even force the peak Spirit Race to retreat further into the net channel, and then both sides would each occupy half of the Milky Way.

The peak spirit race was a race that even the undead, who had been half-crippled at the time, had to slumber and flee to avoid their sharp edge. Humans, having developed for less than tens of thousands of years, were already standing shoulder to shoulder with them.

Did the Primarchs exist back then? Did the Astartes exist?

Therefore, Zhao Zheng felt that sometimes the emperor's ruthlessness and cruelty were not without reason, because humanity itself is a race with incredibly bright and enormous potential for development.

Aside from his own double standards, Zhao Zheng felt that if he put himself in others' shoes, even if he were sitting in the throne room of Terra, he wouldn't care too much about the Primarch and Astartes.

Old Ma and the Emperor did absolutely nothing wrong. As long as the dangers of the warp can be solved and the persecution of religious beliefs can be eliminated, humanity will one day be able to reach the Golden Age again.

Therefore, for the sake of humanity, Horus has to be sacrificed to induce a wave of chaos.

Zhao Zheng thought to himself, "This is a shameless double standard."

Chapter Sixty-Six: If you dare to step into this star sector today, I'll beat you up too!

Three days after the duel of honor ended, the starry sky of the Merodo sector returned to the quiet of the eve of war.

Zhao Zheng didn't care about Shadow Moon Wolf, after all, he never really thought Horus would give up the Soul of Vengeance. Even if Zhao Zheng did take it, the Emperor would probably come and forcibly take it back.

If the Emperor can spare the time for this honor duel, he will probably personally pilot the Emperor Dream to negotiate peace.

At this time, the emperor, while not exactly idle, certainly had time to deal with some Primarch disputes.

But Zhao Zheng didn't care; if he had the guts, he'd take him down!

He wanted to see if the Emperor was truly willing to give up the Qin Dynasty's taxes and the Emperor Dragon Legion's highly efficient transportation.

Could any Primarch or Legion possibly compete with us in terms of the efficiency of the Great Crusade?

Besides, it only hurt Horus's fragile heart, what could the Emperor do about it?

Let's deal with the aliens in this sector first, the Merodo aliens. By the way, were there any aliens like this in the Great Crusade?

Zhao Zheng thought back for a moment and realized that there probably wasn't one, but someone who could keep Horus at bay for eight months shouldn't be unknown.

But it doesn't matter. We can just bombard them with our fleet. There shouldn't be any problems.

The Lishan remained at the rear of the fleet, maintaining a sufficient distance from the front-line troops. This ensured that the command and dispatch of the marshals would not be affected, and that Zhao Zheng could launch a timely attack if any of the attacking fleets encountered difficulties.

Zhao Zheng stood in front of the porthole on the bridge. The holographic tactical panel in front of him was divided into five independent war zone views, each corresponding to the propulsion axis that the five marshals were responsible for.

The views refreshed at a steady frequency, layering the real-time positions of each fleet and the enemy's defensive distribution onto the star map surface to form a multi-layered, three-dimensional battlefield situation map.

The first round of attacks officially began on the fifth day.

Han Xin, who was in charge of the eastern front, launched the first attack.

The point of light appeared at the entrance to the star system on the eastern outer edge of the Merodo sector, its marker color changing from blue in standby mode to orange in progress, extending forward at a steady speed along the route pre-determined by Han Xin.

Zhao Zheng stood to the side of the main control panel, his gaze lingering on the point of light for a few seconds. After confirming that it was progressing as planned, he moved his gaze to several other directions.

Bai Qi's fleet attacked directly from the northwest, while Wang Jian's fleet maintained a feigned attack posture at a moderate speed on the western front. Sun Wu and Yue Yi's fleets formed two flanking sequences on the northern and southern fronts, respectively, cutting off the outer defense perimeter of the entire star sector from five directions simultaneously.

Han Xin commanded a mixed fleet consisting of one thousand Great Wall-class battleships and more than three thousand frigates.

As usual, the first wave of firepower was provided by the Ironborn unmanned ships at the front. They maintained a loose column formation and approached the nearest outer defense platform of the star system at a moderate speed, remaining silent and not firing until they were within effective firing range.

The alien defense platform reacted quickly in the first round of contact.

The platforms activated in stages as soon as the Ironborn Fleet's sensor signals appeared at the edge of the detection range. The turrets slid along the tracks to the preset firing positions, and the energy shields on their surfaces switched from standby to active mode, shimmering with a faint halo under the starlight.

The Ironborn Fleet launched its first volley of probing shots as soon as the guns on the defense platforms were turned around.

Several Ironborn battleships fired a barrage of macro cannons and light spears forward in alternating bursts. The shells traced stable trajectories in the vacuum, landing precisely on the shield surfaces of the two outermost defensive platforms, creating two brief flashes of light on the energy layer.

The torpedo followed closely behind, flying towards the planetary defense platform's firing point.

The defense platform responded swiftly after that round of firing, pointing its cannons at the Ironborn fleet and unleashing a high-density barrage in their direction.

The shells produced a series of flashes when they hit the Ironborn ships' void shields, but the Ironborn ships continued to maneuver along their predetermined trajectories after being attacked, maintaining a steady firing rate during the maneuver and continuously applying pressure to the energy shield surfaces of those defensive platforms.

The alien defense platform gradually increased its firepower over the next period of time, turning more turrets toward the Ironborn fleet.

Han Xin stood on the bridge of the command ship, observing the firepower shifts of the defensive platforms. He confirmed that when faced with sustained pressure, they would prioritize deploying frontal defensive forces to deal with direct threats, while the firepower density in the lateral and rear areas would decrease accordingly.

After completing his observations, he ordered the Ironborn fleet at the front to retreat, and then, as they retreated, he ordered the capital ships behind them to quickly maneuver.

The main warships cut into the battlefield from behind the Ironborn fleet in a high-speed column formation, quickly passing through the gaps exposed after the alien defense platforms shifted their firepower.

Because those Great Wall-class capital ships equipped with "Star-Shattering" giant cannons completed two rounds of standard charging of their main guns, and while passing through that gap in firepower, they released a wide-area strike with a fan-shaped energy field directly in front of them.

The energy field covered an area of ​​approximately a thousand kilometers, bringing all the defense platforms and some ships along the way into its strike range.

After being covered by the energy field of the Starshattering Cannon, the surface shields of those alien defense platforms were first squeezed and deformed, and then began to shatter layer by layer. The metal armor was also disintegrated under the impact of that energy, turning into large pieces of fragments.

Han Xin did not stop after the fleet passed through that gap, but ordered the fleet to continue advancing.

The first round of contact did not encounter too many obstacles. Although the aliens showed quite sophisticated firepower calculations in the layout of the defense platform, their reaction seemed somewhat stiff when faced with Han Xin's equally high-pressure frontal breakthrough.

They seemed unaccustomed to someone being able to so precisely pinpoint the weaknesses in their defenses and quickly deploy sufficiently powerful heavy firepower to suppress them.

Horus had previously employed the Empire's traditional frontal assault tactics in its attacks, and the Empire's Void Shield was not particularly effective, and its fleet was smaller than that of the Qin Dynasty.

The boarding tactic was also not ideal, because there were simply too many alien fleets, and it was impossible to gain an advantage in naval warfare. Furthermore, those near-ground defense orbital platforms could not be easily teleported.

Therefore, they were unable to break through the enemy's defenses when they were under the most intense firepower, just like the Qin Dynasty, nor could they achieve tactical victory through boarding or decapitation strikes.

But the Imperial Dragon Legion can, because their Void Shield and artillery fire are too powerful.

Therefore, in just seven days, Han Xin had successfully captured seven star systems.

In other directions, Bai Qi's advance was even more astonishing.

On the first day, he proactively deployed forty capital ships equipped with star-shattering cannons to launch a saturation attack on the defense platforms of eight star systems along the way in a formation salvo.

After clearing the defensive platforms, Bai Qi immediately ordered the fleet to switch to high-speed advance mode and continue to advance along a nearly straight course.

On the fifth day, Wang Jian's fleet encountered a relatively dense defensive line.

The defensive platforms on the outer edge of that star system are laid out in a compact manner, with a large overlap between their fire coverage areas, making it difficult to find usable gaps.

Wang Jian shifted his attack target from the front to the flank. After changing direction several times, he discovered a point of entry on the connection path between the defensive platform's energy supply system and the rear base.

He dispatched a task force of Ironborn unmanned ships to bypass the frontal defenses and cut into the energy supply system from the flank and rear. Then, a precise salvo from the Starshattering Cannon severed the connection between the defense platform and the energy supply system.

Wang Jian's fleet made a rapid advance during the window of opportunity after the defensive platforms were deactivated, breaking through the defensive line after losing dozens of Ironborn unmanned assault ships and two frigates.

During his advance on the southern front, Le Yi encountered a large number of alien fleets that intercepted him head-on.

The outlines of those ships matched the reconnaissance images he had seen before the battle: flat, streamlined hulls that gleamed darkly under the starlight. Their formation was rather loose, but there was a clear multi-layered tactical intent in their arrangement.

This fleet was quite large, and Le Yi's fleet was not superior in number. After confirming the enemy fleet's formation and firepower distribution, he did not choose to engage immediately, but instead ordered his fleet to slow down and begin to retreat into a contracted formation.

He observed the enemy's movements for a moment from the bridge of the command ship. When he confirmed that the enemy fleet was beginning to accelerate and chase after him, he ordered some of the Great Wall-class capital ships equipped with the Starshattering Cannons to move forward and give them a taste before the first wave of enemy engagement.

Several wide-area energy fields were released from the bow of the capital ship, spreading outwards and precisely covering the central area of ​​the enemy fleet, either disintegrating or paralyzing most of the ships in the frontal fleet.

The enemy fleet was briefly thrown into disarray after the attack, and its formation was visibly deformed and torn apart in that instant.

At that moment, Yue Yi issued the order to the fleet to turn and attack. The fleet advanced in full formation and engaged in close-range firefights with the alien fleet, which had already broken up its formation, using conventional firepower.

The battle lasted for some time, during which the enemy fleet was gradually pushed back and withdrew from the battlefield after losing more than 90% of its ships.

Le Yi did not pursue. After the sensor signals in the direction of retreat disappeared, he and the enemy ordered the fleet to restore formation and continue to advance along the original route.

These alien fleets are highly elite and should not be pursued to avoid falling into an ambush. As long as we advance steadily, this sector will not be able to hold out for long. Then we can use the Starshattering Cannon to annihilate them.

Just one month later, the outer defense perimeter of the Merodo Sector had been simultaneously advanced through several star systems by attack fleets from five directions.

Those alien defenses that had once held firm against the Shadow Moon Wolves' attacks and even managed to push back were crumbling layer by layer under the Qin Navy's relentless bombardment, which disregarded resources, and the advance was extremely rapid.

Outside the window, in the gray starfield cut by five blue thrust lines, the occupied territories marked in orange are steadily expanding, now covering a considerable area on the outskirts of the sector.

Those star systems are gradually changing from gray to pale blue, compressing the aliens' defense network into a smaller and smaller area.

Horus's Shadowmoon Wolf fleet remained silent during this period, resting in the outer system and not sending any form of communication except for the occasional standard patrol reports sent to the Lishan.