The Stormbird landed smoothly inside the hangar deck of the Gloriana-class battleship. Around the deck, an honor guard of the 19th Legion, clad in power armor, already awaited their gene-father to emerge from the Custodes' Stormbird. At this moment, even the Custodes' famously plain golden paint job seemed pleasing to their eyes.
"He's here, he's here!!!" Enjoying the unique tremor within their bodies, the more than 20,000 Astartes of the assembled 19th Legion clearly felt the genetic connection. In that instant, all the Astartes experienced an inexplicable sense of peace, like a young child finally returning home after years of wandering. All their worries, restlessness, and unease vanished, leaving only a deep tranquility, a tranquility born from a cleansed soul.
"Welcome home, great Gene-Father!" More than 20,000 Astartes, neatly arrayed in the largest hall of the Emperor's Shadow, looked with immense excitement at the figure who appeared on the hastily erected platform.
"Greetings, my brothers." The moment Corax spoke, the minds of everyone in the 19th Legion exploded.
"He actually called me brother!!!"
"Could you say that again?" A new recruit couldn't help but break the silent atmosphere.
"Greetings, my brothers. Yes, you heard correctly, and it was not a slip of my tongue." Corax smiled as he looked at the Astartes recruit. "I, Corax, your Primarch, feel that you are all my brothers. Brothers who will live and die together in the future, just like those family members I fought alongside on Deliverance. I promise you, there will be no favoritism based on anyone's original social standing!" Corax shouted from the stage to all the Legion warriors.
"Brothers, brothers, brothers!!!" The neatly arrayed members of the 19th Legion immediately let out a thunderous roar, responding to their Primarch.
"Remove your helmets; let me remember each of your faces!" Corax gave his first command after meeting his Legion.
The sound of helmets opening merged into one, revealing faces—some handsome, some bearing various scars—before Corax. These faces, some young, some weathered, all without exception held an incredibly resolute expression.
"It is your arrival that makes me feel your loyalty and indomitable spirit. The bonds from our genes connect us. Perhaps none of you are perfect, but likewise, I am not perfect either, and we do not need to pursue perfection. To be honest, suddenly having over 20,000 children makes me feel a bit troubled, but it doesn't matter. Moving forward, we have enough time to adapt and to fulfill the great mission of human resurgence. The glory of the 19th Legion will shine upon each of us. In the name of Corax, Lord of the 19th Legion, I will lead you to victory after victory! Glory to the 19th Legion!!"
"Glory to the 19th Legion!!!!"
The 19th Legion's desire for glory, which had been suppressed while they served purely as a weapon of war, was instantly ignited. The moment their Primarch spoke, the warriors of the 19th Legion finally broke through some barrier. The warriors cheered and rejoiced, celebrating their new birth, as excited as a group of children weighing over a thousand pounds.
"Glory to the 19th Legion!!!"
A massive wave of sound swept through the vast hall to every corner of the Gloriana-class battleship. In the communication channels, the mortal auxiliary forces and ordinary sailors in the 19th Legion's ships also couldn't help but shout loudly together.
"From now on, the 19th Legion will be renamed the Dark Raven Guard." At this moment, Corax and the 19th Legion finally reached the peak of emotional resonance, and he renamed it the Dark Raven Guard Legion.
"So powerful, truly worthy of a Primarch. His charisma is undeniable," Swain exclaimed, feeling the deafening shouts and the fervent excitement of the 19th Legion on the field.
He had envisioned the scene of the Primarch meeting his Legion: the Legion's high command would first meet Corax, then transfer supreme authority of the Legion to Corax, and then the Terran-born and Deliverance-born factions would get to know each other. But Corax went straight to this, and it proved that, compared to superficial formalities, Corax's approach immediately captured the hearts of everyone in the Legion.
"Impressive, isn't he? He's my son." The Emperor appeared by Swain's ear, looking proudly at Corax speaking on the stage, and said with a smile.
"Yes, Corax was raised by us." Swain emphasized that this was the achievement of the people of Deliverance; as for the Emperor, he merely provided a little genetic material. He's just the biological father!
Corax's and the Dark Raven Guard's family reunion lasted for two days and one night. During this time, Corax even had everyone sit down and converse while he walked through each company, primarily to recognize people. With his superhuman brain, Corax managed to roughly remember the attendees in such a short time; a review of their personal files later would suffice.
Towards the end, it was time for fresh blood to be injected into the Legion. Corax introduced the key personnel from Deliverance and the Terran-born commanders to everyone, and both sides finally completed this ice-breaking journey in a harmonious atmosphere.
Soon, Corax announced the news of conscription on Deliverance and Kiavahr. As long as one passed the Dark Raven Guard Legion's tests, they would be able to receive gene-seed implantation and undergo gene-enhancement surgery to become a powerful Astartes. Corax also informed everyone about the ridiculously high mortality rate of the augmentation surgery, but both the people of Deliverance and Kiavahr, looking at the magnificent fleet in space, disregarded the warnings about surgical risks.
The desire to conquer the stars and the sea seemed to be an inherent aspiration etched into the genes of every human being. Just like people from a certain great Eastern nation, wherever they go, they have to plant something, even in the icy polar regions, otherwise they always feel like something is missing.
Soon, seeing the continuously soaring number of applicants, Corax directly set strict conditions for joining the Dark Raven Guard Legion: anyone over 30 years old would be eliminated. The Astartes augmentation surgery has a characteristic: the older one is, the higher the risk of death. Corax did not completely extinguish people's enthusiasm; those over this age could choose to apply for the Dark Raven Guard's mortal auxiliary forces screening, and they would fight alongside the Dark Raven Guard.
"I personally witnessed Horus kill the Emperor…" Swain read aloud this famous opening, completely ignoring Neoth, who wanted to draw his sword and attack him.
"I was only severely wounded and fell, not killed!" Neoth corrected Swain's slip of the tongue.
"You don't understand." Swain only left this inexplicable remark for the Emperor. There was nothing he could do; he suddenly remembered this matter and couldn't possibly tell the other party that above the gods, there was a supreme god named Emperor interfering with everything in the galaxy, could he? The Emperor didn't possess the abnormal strength of those super superheroes in Marvel comics to break the fourth wall, slaughter the editorial department, or make the editors write according to his wishes. So Swain was happy for the Emperor to misunderstand.
"Corax has already familiarized himself with his legion, and the people on Deliverance and Kiavahr have also completed their initial screening. Isn't it time to get down to business?" the Emperor urged impatiently. This was the real reason he sought Swain.
"What do you mean, 'get down to business'? Don't you know I haven't even signed up for the Astartes modification program yet? I've always dreamed of becoming a great Angel of Death since I was little!" Swain said to the Emperor with righteous indignation.
"What? You want to be my grandson? Valdor, take him for the modification!!!" The Emperor immediately began arranging for the Custodian Guard leader to personally supervise this matter without another word.
"Yes, my Lord." Valdor stepped forward, preparing to take this problematic child to the medical bay on the Emperor's Dream for the modification task.
"Which Primarch's gene-seed characteristics do you prefer? I'll allow you to choose. I think the 13th's is quite good; it's more suitable for you to manage the Dark Raven Guard, don't you think?" The Emperor looked at Swain with ill intent. Since the other party wanted to talk nonsense with him, he would turn him into a can.
"Get lost, you're the grandson, your whole family are grandsons! Prepare to depart in two days, I'll take you to find your son!" Swain instantly exploded. He didn't expect this dog Emperor to openly take advantage of him, and he couldn't find a single mistake in his words. The Emperor is the father of the Primarchs, and the Primarchs are the genetic fathers of the Astartes, so the Emperor is the grandfather of the Astartes. No problem there.
"Alas, what a pity. I thought I could have another good Holy Grandson." The Emperor was very regretful.
"It's okay, you'll have good grandsons in the future, and more than one." Swain thought of the topknot and the Black King.
"With your physical quality, Astartes modification is useless to you. By the way, what's going on with you? Your physical strength is a notch stronger than before and is still continuously strengthening?" The Emperor stared at Swain with the eyes of someone looking at a rare treasure, even considering the necessity of slicing him up. The Emperor was, after all, a strong individual capable of modifying the Custodian Guard and the Astartes, so Swain's constantly changing physical strength naturally couldn't be hidden from him.
Swain couldn't hide it either. In the past few days, he had already ravaged all the various galactic delicacies treasured by the Emperor on the Emperor's Dream, exhausting the Emperor's chefs. At the same time, he had also ravaged the Custodian Guard's energy bars. It would be a miracle if such a commotion could be hidden.
"Want to know? Join my Saviors Camp and I'll tell you." Swain's eyes lit up when he heard the Emperor's words. He was just worrying about how to bring it up to the Emperor, and now the Emperor himself had presented the opportunity. Isn't this like someone bringing a pillow when you're sleepy?
"Alright, then I'll join your so-called Saviors Camp." The Emperor agreed without hesitation.
"It's coming, it's coming!" The day when I can kick the Emperor isn't far off! Swain trembled with excitement.
"Hmm? Why isn't it here yet? Is Emperor too strong? Is there a delay in activation?" Swain was a bit confused but also felt it was reasonable.
One second… two seconds… one minute…
"Are you done posing?" the Emperor asked, looking at the excitedly shaking Swain.
"That's not right…" Swain was bewildered. Why was there no reaction at all?
"Dream on."
After a long while, a voice seemed to echo in Swain's ear from the depths of his mind. Clearly, Swain's dream of kicking the Emperor and punching the Second Brother was shattered. A feeling told Swain that deities or tribal leaders could not be chosen.
"Ah… Emperor, you deserve to die…"
Bang…
Before Swain could finish cursing the Emperor, a golden slap had already descended…
"Speak…" The Emperor waved his hand, dismissing everyone, and said concisely.
"Damn it, I was hoping my cheat would be more powerful, but this is it?" Swain crawled up from the ground and found an intact chair again, saying.
"You know about the greenskins, right? My ability is somewhat similar to the greenskins. The more people in my territory, the stronger I become. Corax is considered a person of my territory, and naturally, the Dark Raven Guard also counts, so my physical body is constantly strengthening. The more elite individuals there are, the stronger the reinforcement becomes. Unlike the greenskins, my body's strength needs to be supplemented by various energies I find myself, rather than relying on the greenskins' peculiar 'Waaagh!' energy.
The advantage of this is that there won't be the same flaws as the greenskins, where if many people in the territory die, those reinforcements have to be returned… There's also a sort of bonus ability: a high affinity for machinery. For example, any machinery I touch, its machine spirit becomes unusually excited." Swain roughly explained his abilities.
"So you're poaching my people? No wonder you said you'd get angry at anyone who stopped you from finding the other Primarchs. So this is what you were waiting for!" The Emperor, in his great fury, flared up!
"Ah, talking about all this, we're all brothers. I'll help you beat those four lumps in the future!" Swain glanced at the Emperor with a slightly guilty conscience.
"But your ability is still quite interesting. The galaxy is so vast, and the number of human populations is so great that even the Imperium itself doesn't know the count. So you'd better lay low and not let those bastards discover this secret." The Emperor's eyes almost turned into 24k titanium alloy, blinding Swain.
"Aren't you afraid that I'll come to Terra and take your throne then?" Swain asked, somewhat confused.
"Feel free to take the Golden Throne and sit on it, we're all brothers." Now it was the Emperor's turn to call Swain his brother.
Memories from the Old Man made the Emperor clearly feel the horror of the Golden Throne, the most terrifying torture device in the galaxy. Continuously draining psychic energy was the smallest problem. The most terrifying aspect of this torture device was that it would amplify the Emperor's pain tens of thousands of times, while countless people constantly prayed to the Emperor in his ears.
All sorts of devout prayers tormented the God-Emperor every moment, and the God-Emperor could only focus his attention on the most important places or people. However, receiving the Emperor's gaze was not a blessing, but rather a misfortune for these people and places, as it meant that the gaze of the Chaos Gods would also turn towards these areas. The God-Emperor could only constantly weigh gains and losses in these worlds. Under such continuous choices, the God-Emperor became increasingly numb, and his humanity was continuously lost…