This was Zhou Ye's secret workshop, his personal space for relaxation and entertainment.
Honestly, it was only because he was in the great cesspool of Warhammer that he had to be so industrious. In any other world, he would have just slacked off and enjoyed a carefree life. After all, possessing the power of the Herrscher of Reason—the very thing he had craved most when playing games—meant he could build all sorts of fun things.
Gundams, Kamen Rider belts, Super Sentai mechs, Iron Man armor… Wouldn't that be a blast in any other world? If he were a bit more ruthless with himself, he could even create something akin to EVA, Mihoyo's white whale.
Even so, he still had plenty of fun little toys here. He had already created figurines of the Great Angel, Guilliman, the Lion, and the Khan, among other loyalist Primarchs. There was also a special life-sized figurine—the body he was preparing for his "daughter," the AI of the supercomputer Prometheus—which was also here, still in need of some adjustments.
He hadn't made one of the Golden Fiend, though. That guy was a bit too weird.
Upon receiving the message, Zhou Ye dazedly put down his hammer and stepped away from the forge. He placed the katana-form of the Seven Thunders of Retribution, which he had just casually forged, into his collection cabinet. Beside it lay a sniper rifle-form of the same weapon. That thing could reduce a person to atoms—though of course, one had to account for psychic resistance. If Zhou Ye himself took a shot from it, he wouldn't feel a thing.
"My children? Since when do I have children? What kind of stunt is he pulling now?"
Zhou Ye began to think. Or rather, it wasn't really thinking. The moment he snapped out of his inventive state, he realized what had happened.
"Dammit, I forgot to tell them about the difference between them and the other Grey Knights!!!"
In that instant, Zhou Ye pinpointed the problem. Because the original Grey Knights were so few in number, the chances of encountering them were practically zero. So, he had subconsciously overlooked the matter. The other brothers in his legions were even more clueless; there were no Grey Knights in their time. And thus, this strange situation had arisen.
"What a mess. Ah, whatever."
Zhou Ye didn't need to think hard to know they had most likely run into Imperial Grey Knights and then enthusiastically invited them back. He had no doubt his boys were capable of such a thing. After all, while their own trials were dangerous, they couldn't compare to what the Imperial Grey Knights endured. The greatest risk his men faced was withstanding the tearing sensation when Zhou Ye used Imaginary energy to wash away their psychic connection to the Warp. Other than that, they were no different from standard Astartes—just with twenty-two surgeries. Zhou Ye hadn't erased their humanity, and that went for all his Astartes.
Thinking of this, Zhou Ye felt a wave of exhaustion. Then…
"Ashira, you two go. Tell them I'm busy and can't meet them right now. Also, have them prepare for deployment to support Macragge at a moment's notice."
If you don't want to face a problem, then don't face it. Avoidance may be shameful, but it's very effective. Zhou Ye decided he was a true genius!!!
With that, Zhou Ye turned back to continue tuning Prometheus's body. It was an artificial AI, after all. And Zhou Ye was certain that if Vashtorr ever found out about it, he would come here to fight him to the death. Therefore, the body he prepared for it had to be able to withstand the direct corruption of a Warp god. The last time that entity had made a casual move, it had crashed his Emperor Titan. This was an unprecedented enemy; he needed to be cautious.
---o---
Out in space, after dropping the group off at their destination, the Emperor's Children simply allocated a Thunderhawk gunship to them and then continued on their patrol. The Great Rift had opened, and the Astronomican had not yet been restored. It was a great time to stake out claims—no, to trailblaze.
As the aircraft slowly landed, the Imperial Grey Knights were about to say something—suggest heading to a secure landing bay, locking down and clearing the area—but before they could speak, the cargo bay door slowly opened.
The Imperial Grey Knights stared in silence at the bustling, prosperous spaceport outside, teeming with people.
Of course, Zhou Ye's Trailblaze Grey Knights had no idea what they were thinking and just enthusiastically ushered them out.
"..."
The Imperial Grey Knights now felt their mysterious brothers were perhaps a bit too undisciplined. How had this one passed the brutal trials and the 666 stress tests?
But since it had come to this, the Imperial Grey Knights accepted their fate and walked out with them. It was a bit uncomfortable being exposed to so many gazes… while they had hidden their identity before by claiming to be from other Chapters, this was the first time they had walked out openly in their Aegis Terminator armor.
The Inquisitor beside them was already numb. The thought that there might be a Primarch here so secret that even the Inquisition didn't know about him had completely desensitized him to the sight of Grey Knights walking around in the open.
But as soon as they stepped out, they saw several people drop to their knees and kowtow to them.
Normally, Imperial citizens were indeed required to do this upon seeing an Astartes. But here, under Zhou Ye's rule, especially on Trailblaze Prime, such things didn't happen. There were simply too many Astartes around. You might go out for a meal and find the chef was an Astartes. Go to a doctor, and the doctor was an Astartes. Hire a construction crew, and an Astartes would show up to pour your concrete. If you had to kowtow all day long, you'd never get anything done. So, unless the Astartes were on an official mission and making a declaration, no one was required to kneel.
"You are… hmm, here on a pilgrimage?"
Looking at the family before them, the Grand Master of the Trailblaze Grey Knights recognized them. It was a middle-aged couple with five children, the same family they had met when returning the ashes. Because of the generous benefits Zhou Ye had provided, including free travel on any civilian vehicle under his command—first-class, no less—the family had found the time to come to Trailblaze to see the place where their son had made his sacrifice.
"Rise. And get in, I'll give you a ride."
The Grand Master nodded and got into a nearby oversized vehicle designed for Astartes. There were only eight of them, so there was more than enough room for a few mortals.
This, however, threw the family into a state of panic. A great Astartes, a son of the Lord of Trailblaze himself, was going to drive them? Were they worthy?
"Those who sacrifice themselves for the Imperium, for humanity, and for the Emperor… as I said that day, hold your heads high."
The Trailblaze Grey Knight gave them no chance to refuse, simply plucking them up and placing them in the vehicle, especially since the woman was holding an infant in her arms.
The Imperial Grey Knights were now completely desensitized. Was a Grey Knight's vehicle something just anyone could ride in? But beyond the numbness, there was also a hint of envy.
Alright, maybe they were dying of envy.
They were Astartes too. They also craved for their glory to be sung. But because of the heavy duty they shouldered, their honors could only be buried in secrecy. To change the subject, the captain of the Imperial squad asked, "What honor did these mortals earn?"
"Not long ago, the Blood God tore open a Warp rift on this very planet."
Hiss…
Hearing this, both the Imperial Grey Knights and Inquisitor Eli Morgan couldn't help but suck in a sharp breath. As specialists in fighting daemons, they knew exactly what that meant.
"One hundred psykers voluntarily burned themselves out to close the Warp rift. This is the family of one of them. The Father built a monument for them and had us return the remains. He permitted their families to make a pilgrimage. Since we're going the same way, we're taking them with us."
"What an incredible honor…" both the Imperial Grey Knights and Eli Morgan thought.
"So this is what it's like to have a Father? Even we can live in the light…"
The Imperial Grey Knights grew even more envious. This was the life an Astartes was meant to live. The squad captain thought with a hint of anticipation. Honestly, Malcador had only told them to hide; he probably didn't mean for them to hide to this extent. The main reason for their secrecy back then was that Horus was about to attack, and they needed to avoid being discovered.
With the Trailblaze Grand Master flooring the accelerator, the group soon arrived at the parking lot in front of Zhou Ye's palace. And then…
"Custodes???"
Inquisitor Eli Morgan, now in a state of having given up on thought due to sheer numbness, cried out in shock. Before them stood two black-and-gold giants, each over three meters tall, wielding massive power halberds, and lacking the iconic Astartes power pack.
Although the paint scheme and helmets were different, Morgan was certain it was Custodian armor. He wasn't wrong. Zhou Ye had been too lazy to design his own and had just plagiarized the Golden Fiend's design, only modifying the ridiculous corn-cob helmet. After all, there was a bruised and battered golden corn-cob still trapped in a stasis field in his prison, perpetually frozen in a state of being beaten up.
"We are not Custodes, merely the honor guard of our Lord. The Lord is currently working on a new project. He asked us to tell you to be ready for battle at a moment's notice. On Macragge, the Imperial Primarch Guilliman is about to awaken. Chaos will surely make a major move."
"Understood. Brothers, it seems you should rest in our monastery for now."
"..."
Hearing "Macragge" and "Roboute Guilliman," the Imperial group felt another wave of numbness wash over them.
"Wait, I remember now…"
Just then, the Imperial Grey Knight captain recalled something. He had heard that not long ago, they had received a prophecy from the Emperor that Roboute Guilliman was about to awaken. A Grand Master of the Grey Knights had already taken his Brotherhood to Macragge in secret. Which meant…
The Imperial Grey Knights didn't want to think about it any further. What a glorious moment this was!!!
"Follow me. The Platform of Sacrifice is this way."
Looking at the family in the vehicle, Ashira and the other guard led them and the group of Grey Knights away, heading towards a towering platform outside the palace where incense and smoke billowed.
---o---
Meanwhile, on the other side of the galaxy, in the Imperium Nihilus.
"Is the Gellar Field finally repaired?" Abaddon asked, a hint of impatience in his voice as he addressed the Dark Mechanicum tech-priests.
Unfortunately for him, these cogboys were not his subordinates. They were equal partners. He didn't want his fleet to be left without maintenance; Chaos was truly poor. So, he spoke to them with a calm demeanor.
"It is repaired. We can now travel through the Warp." The tech-priest, who was even larger than Abaddon, nodded.
Abaddon nodded in return, but in the next moment…
"Two individuals have come to see you."
"Hmm?" Abaddon was taken aback. In a flash of light, Lucius and Khârn appeared before him, making him frown.
He had sought them out during his Thirteenth Black Crusade. Lucius and his warband were nowhere to be found. As for Khârn, he had found him, but the man had gone berserk at Cadia and started a fight with him. It was only stopped by the intervention of Khorne's chief Greater Daemon, An'ggrath. Naturally, Khârn had withdrawn from the subsequent battles. But the man was a true monster; he had beaten the Living Saint Celestine so badly she was left with psychological trauma.
"What do you want?"
"The Blood God wishes to teach the Imperium a lesson," Khârn said bluntly, pointing to the warship behind him, and upon it… Angron.
"My father is looking to settle a score. He will be taking part this time," Lucius stated, simple and brutal. There was a vacant look on his face. He had been resurrected not long ago, but he felt that too much was missing, and too many strange things had been added. So now he was in a special kind of emo state. Even so, he had brought a main force of Slaaneshi daemons with him.
"..."
Looking at the two of them, Abaddon suddenly had a very bad feeling. He felt that these two factions were about to unleash something massive. And if they were investing this heavily, then on the Imperial side…
The thought made a drop of cold sweat run down Abaddon's forehead. He felt that things were about to spiral out of his control.
"Could it be that Primarch? No, that can't be right. He's tens of thousands of light-years from Macragge. Without the aid of the Chaos Gods, and with the Astronomican out, he shouldn't be able to get there…"
---o---