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

The remaining alien strongholds that need to be eliminated and the possible relics from the old era also need to be prioritized one by one.

This is a star sector that the Emperor Dragon Legion has worked hard to conquer. Even if the Emperor comes, Zhao Zheng will not give up this territory!

If any officials from the Ministry of the Interior dare to come, Zhao Zheng will only use force to drive them away the first time, and directly seize the fleet the second time. The rest of the personnel will be sent to mine. If they dare to come a third time, they will be bombarded and none of them will be able to leave.

Meanwhile, Zhao Zheng was also waiting.

He knew Horus wouldn't give up so easily, and the Emperor's response would come sooner or later. Given the Emperor's character, that response would most likely not arrive in the form of a document or communication.

The Emperor will likely appear directly in this sector to resolve all issues.

Zhao Zheng didn't know how long it would take for the emperor to arrive, but he knew the emperor would definitely come. After all, on one side was Shou Guizi, on the other was him, Zhao Zheng, and it also concerned the army with the most stable and powerful logistics.

No matter what, the emperor still had to consider the bigger picture and properly mediate the conflict between the two brothers.

Makado is expected to come as well. Although the Imperial Chancellor doesn't participate much in the Great Expedition, he knows all too well how important a stable logistical route is to the Empire's front lines.

If the Imperial Chancellor, who is disliked by most Primarchs, were to personally handle this matter, then there would still be room for negotiation. But if it were the Emperor, who has no emotional intelligence, who knows what kind of outrageous actions he might pull off.

Zhao Zheng no longer wants to have any communication with the emperor.

When you have a short, close encounter with the emperor, you might think he's a god among men. But if you spend more time with him, Zhao Zheng can guarantee that within ten years, you'll start to wonder, "Why has this beast survived this long?"

It was only because Old Ma was young that he actually thought Emperor could succeed. In reality, there was no one else available, so he could only pick a tall person from among the short ones.

When Macardo asked the Emperor to come out of retirement, he thought, how could such a perfect person be betrayed? There's no reason for it!

Those traitors must be ungrateful!

But after spending the years with him, Makado felt that those people's rebellion was justified. He was a man like that; once you got to know him, it would be a miracle if you could stay by his side for even three days.

Macardo was wondering why Olpeson and Erda suddenly looked respectful and admiring after hearing that he had followed the Emperor and become the Imperial Chancellor.

And now...

Sigh, it's all tears when I talk about it, but I chose this path myself, and even if I have to kneel, I'll finish it on my knees!

Besides, the Empire can still be saved. After all, Project Netway has officially begun, and if it succeeds, humanity will be free from the influence of the warp.

Macado was confident about this, after all, you can doubt many things about the Emperor, but don't question the research capabilities of this tech geek.

He may not be as good as the scientists who specialized in science during the Golden Age, but he is definitely one of the top scientists in the empire today.

So, let's just hang in there a little longer. The day the online platform is completed will be the day I retire.

So, just when Lao Ma finally managed to find a moment of free time to have a mocha, he saw another military order that sent his blood pressure soaring.

After learning the whole story, he even had the Emperor come back to pick him up. On the Emperor's Dream, he used his cane to smash a big head on the Emperor's forehead, and then instructed the Emperor on how to smooth things over.

Damn it, only Apocalypse could pull off such a stupid move, and now Macado has to clean up his mess while cursing and swearing.

What can you do if you chose your own idol?

Zhao Zheng also had some regrets about Makado; Old Ma really had a tough time.

As the Emperor's best friend and the only immortal who could keep up with his thinking, he took on the vast majority of the Empire's daily affairs, allowing the Emperor to devote more energy to the Great Expedition and the Web.

Later, it even replaced the emperor and sat on the golden throne, barely maintaining this great project that supported human survival and maintenance with its "broken and aged" body, until it was completely drained, leaving not a drop.

Zhao Zheng still has a good impression of Makado, provided that no one tries to take advantage of him, otherwise, the hypocritical Makado will get angry and throw a tantrum.

For example, you could drive a battleship onto Terra and unleash a devastating attack with the Starshatter Cannon.

……

On the sixteenth day after the Imperial Dream achieved full control of the Merodo Sector, it jumped out from Mandeville Point.

Almost simultaneously with the arrival of the Imperial Dream, an encrypted document from the Terran Ministry of the Interior was also sent.

The document was drafted under Makado's personal supervision, and its contents were concise: the military order was withdrawn, the Second Legion's Imperial Dragon Legion would be responsible for the subsequent construction and defense of the Merodo Sector, the Shadowmoon Wolves would withdraw any claims to the sector, and the Emperor would personally mediate the dispute between the two sides.

As the silhouette of the Emperor Dream gradually emerged from the deep-space background through the observation porthole of the Lishan, Zhao Zheng was standing in front of the main control console, holding a cup of Lion Peak Longjing tea in his hand.

He put down his teacup, lingered for a moment on the outline of the golden behemoth, and then turned and walked out of the bridge.

Stormbird detached from the hangar of the Lishan and approached the hangar entrance on the side of the Imperial Dream along the planned course.

When Zhao Zheng stepped down the gangway of the Stormbird, Waldo was already standing in the center of the hangar waiting for him.

The commander of the Imperial Guards maintained the same posture as he had on every previous meeting: upright and his armor showed no signs of wear.

Zhao Zheng noticed that his fingers holding the Spear of the Sun God were more relaxed than usual, and he did not turn around and lead the way after finishing his opening remarks as usual, but instead remained silent for a moment before speaking.

"His Majesty is waiting for you in the reception room. Your Highness, the Prime Minister is also here."

……

The doors to the reception room slid open automatically to both sides after Waldo gestured to him.

The indoor lighting was softer than in the corridor, with warm golden light evenly illuminating the gray-gold floor and silver walls. A pot of tea and three cups sat on the dark wooden low table in the center.

The emperor sat behind the table, dressed in a white robe, relaxed, his fingers gently stroking the rim of an empty cup.

Macardo stood a few steps behind him, wearing a well-tailored grey robe and holding a wooden cane with a silver-grey metal inlay at the top. He looked like an elderly scholar.

He didn't look anything special; there wasn't a trace of spiritual energy fluctuation in his body. His hair was gray and his face was old, but Zhao Zheng knew that this was just an appearance.

This old man is definitely not much weaker than Zhao Zheng.

Zhao Zheng's gaze lingered on each of the two men for a moment before he stepped into the room and sat down in the chair opposite the emperor.

The emperor looked up at him, picked up the teapot in front of him, poured half a cup of light golden liquid into the empty cup in front of Zhao Zheng, and then put the teapot back on the table.

"You're making progress very quickly, faster than I expected."

"What are you expecting? For me to linger in the Romedo sector for a year or two, and then wait for Horus to come and take over?"

The emperor did not respond immediately.

He picked up his cup, took a sip of tea, and put it down with a soft clinking sound as the bottom of the cup hit the table.

“That military order was indeed inappropriate, and I have already withdrawn it.”

"Just like that, they're withdrawing? No accountability, no remedial measures? Just a casual 'inappropriate' comment? And then what? What should I do with my legion? Should I keep Horus on the sidelines monitoring this sector, or send him back to the expeditionary force?"

"Or are you leaving him here just so that another conflict might break out someday, and then you can come back and act as a peacemaker?"

"Regarding this matter, I will have Makado and you draft a formal statement to ensure that such issues will not arise again in the future regarding similar command disputes."

"A statement? Forget it, I don't have much confidence in your credibility either."

"So what do you want? The military order is withdrawn, the matter is dropped, this sector is yours, the Empire will not make contact, isn't that enough?"

"This is what I was meant to have! It was my legion that took over this sector and wiped out the aliens here!"

The atmosphere became somewhat tense, with a palpable tension between the Emperor and Zhao Zheng. One lacked emotional intelligence, while the other was a miserly and greedy man; they were now locked in a fierce battle, neither willing to yield.

Makado stood behind the Emperor, coughed lightly, took half a step forward, and looked directly at Zhao Zheng.

His movements were small, but the timing of that step was perfect, just before the emperor was about to speak.

"The Empire has a complete record of the Second Legion's contributions and performance in this battle. No one will deny that the Imperial Dragon Legion was the main force in this battle, and no one will try to transfer its achievements to other legions."

"But when the Emperor issued that military order, he did not have all the information from the front lines. The reports he received only mentioned the slow progress of the battle and the situation of the Shadow Moon Wolves, but did not mention the fact that the Imperial Dragon Legion had almost completed the control of the entire area."

Macado spoke calmly, attempting to explain the problems of error and information asymmetry to the Emperor.

"Therefore, the military order has been withdrawn, and the emperor has come in person. The procedure has been corrected."

Zhao Zheng leaned back in his chair, crossed his arms in front of his chest, and glanced between Macado and the Emperor.

"I don't need procedural corrections. Procedural corrections are your standard procedure. Give me a reasonable explanation and compensation, or this matter is not over."

“Your empty words are useless to me. If a similar order comes down again, and I don’t obey, will things escalate to this point again?”

The emperor tapped his fingertips lightly on the table; the sound was soft, but clearly audible in the quiet reception room.

He raised his head and met Zhao Zheng's gaze.

"You want a clear outcome, so I'll give you a definite answer right now."

"From now on, the Imperial Dragon Legion will have independent command authority within the Empire. In combat matters involving the Second Legion and its affiliated formations, the Military Affairs Department's orders will not bypass your direct approval."

"This is a formal permission adjustment. I will have the Military Affairs Department record its contents and notify the archives databases of all major legions."

As he spoke, Macardo reached into his robe and pulled out a thin data plate. His fingertips moved quickly across the surface, inputting the keywords from the Emperor's words into a draft amendment.

But what Zhao Zheng said the next second made the expressions of the two people present change drastically.

"How about this, let's stop scheming against each other and save ourselves from getting annoyed by each other."

"I'll go it alone. I've taken over the Romedo Sector. From now on, the Qin war zone will be independent. The Ministry of Military Affairs is not allowed to use the Qin fleet to provide any form of assistance to other legions. Unless war breaks out, we will not provide any assistance to any legion."

"If you don't agree to this plan, that's fine too. I'll just bombard Terra!"

The Emperor's gaze suddenly turned serious, and even Macado couldn't help but frown.

Number Two has an overly strong personality and extremely low political intelligence. He may even have a rebellious streak and be quite arrogant.

"Are you threatening the imperial core?"

"Whether it's a threat or not depends on how you interpret my statement. I'm just stating a possibility: if my legion and I don't receive the respect we deserve within the Imperial system, then why should I continue to stay in this system?"

"I have no shortage of resources, fleets, or territory. The Qin system can function perfectly well even without the empire, so why would I join it?"

"You all know how much tax Great Qin pays. I have also allocated part of the fleet specifically to transport supplies to the front lines. Some of these supplies were even purchased by me for the Empire. You could say that Great Qin is now practically a blood transfusion for you."

"And what was the result? What did you do? You used my existing qualifications and conditions to fob me off? If you don't care about the Qin Dynasty anymore, why should I care about the Empire?"

"You've taken so much from me, and this is the answer you give me? I'm already being very lenient by not using the Starshattering Cannon to bombard the Emperor Dream."

The emperor remained silent for a long time.

He sat in that chair, his gaze fixed on Zhao Zheng's face. His golden pupils showed no obvious emotional fluctuations, but Zhao Zheng could feel the weight of that gaze changing.

"Macado, you guys go out for a bit."

The emperor spoke, his voice steady and without any emotional fluctuation.

Makado glanced at the Emperor, then at Zhao Zheng, nodded slightly, and turned to walk towards the door.

“You’re right, you certainly have the confidence to say such things.”

The emperor spoke, his tone devoid of emotion, yet seemingly more serious than before.

“You have given the empire enough taxes, but I have not given you a corresponding status and authority. From a purely transactional point of view, this is indeed unfair.”

"But have you ever wondered why I handed over command of the Merodo Sector to Horus?"

"I can assure you that I have no ulterior motives in this matter..."

Zhao Zheng laughed upon hearing this; the emperor's ability to spout nonsense with such a straight face was something Zhao Zheng could never hope to match.

"Horus has been stagnant in his war zone for too long. The progress of the Great Crusade must be guaranteed. I chose to let you help him break the deadlock and then let him take over the follow-up. Although I admit that this is indeed a way of picking the fruits of others' labor."

"But all of this is for the Empire. You must know that the Legion should not, at least not in the early stages of the Great Expedition, or even now as the Shadowmoon Wolf Legion, suffer defeats. Otherwise, it will be detrimental to the efficiency of the expedition."

"So you chose to sacrifice my interests?"

“I can give you appropriate compensation, and I will give you autonomy over this sector. As long as you pay your taxes, I will not interfere with you. However, you must cede the victory of this battle to Horus, and you must continue to provide him with logistical resources.”

Just when Zhao Zheng was about to lose his temper, the emperor's words calmed him down again.

“You can choose ten more items from my treasure trove. There are also black technologies related to the Golden Age. As long as you don’t choose those Abomination Intelligences, you can choose any of the rest.”

"Including the last one, there are a total of seventeen treasures."

Zhao Zheng sat down, his smile no longer concealed, and even refilled the Emperor's nearly empty teacup.

"This matter ends here. Do not escalate the feud between you and Horus any further."

“As long as he doesn’t bother me anymore, I have no interest in dealing with him.”

The emperor's gaze lingered on Zhao Zheng's face for a moment, but he did not pursue the matter further.

He picked up his teacup again, took a sip, and then placed the cup back on the table, the rim of the cup making a soft, crisp sound as it touched the wooden surface.

"Alright, you can go now."

Zhao Zheng stood up, took two steps toward the door, paused by the door, did not turn around, but turned half a body to the side, leaving behind a short sentence.

"I'll have Kongming send the specific terms of the tax bill to the Ministry of Military Affairs. I'm leaving now. Let's not have this kind of nonsense again next time we meet."

The moment Zhao Zheng's Stormbird left, the Emperor almost couldn't resist smashing the coffee table in front of him.

“Macado, I don’t understand…”

"With your brain, it's better not to understand, otherwise I'm afraid you'll cause trouble again."