Mortarion, the time to choose has come

Mortarion stared at the Magorath, Dreadnought size of Leviathan. "What do you mean by that?"

"Of course they're related," Fabius Bile said.

"Since I cannot remove this toxin, let's change our approach. As long as your growth rate exceeds the rate at which the toxin spreads, you will recover your health."

"You will even become stronger because of it."

"An interesting idea." Mortarion's amber eyes gleamed.

The toxins will coexist with his body, sculpting it and making it more resilient.

He will become even more powerful, even surpassing Nimrod and Horus Lupercal.

"I don't believe your potion will have any effect on the Primarch," Cori Bulku said.

Bile glanced at the folded tools behind Bulku. "Apothecary, the difference in skill between you and me is like that between a mortal and Astartes."

"Or do you have a way to help the Primarch?"

"I really have no way to cure my father, but after a comprehensive examination, it's clear that his rate of death is extremely slow."

Bulku raised his hand and pointed to the violently trembling body, from which blood gushed out like a waterfall.

"Given the current situation, Father can hold on for over seven hundred years; we have plenty of time to find a solution."

"But your medicine might harm him, even—"

"Enough!" a deep voice rang out.

"I am the resilient Mortarion; nothing can kill me."

"I must recover immediately. The Warmaster needs me; without me, he cannot win."

He must kill the despicable Hasik and the cowardly Jaghatai fled.

He will prove that his magic is more powerful than that of Magnus and Nimrod.

Mortarion looked at the two mutated Astartes, who resembled wild beasts. "Where are they?"

"They are my spin-off projects, a great attempt."

Bile's gaze swept over the workbenches arranged along the wall, finally settling on the silver cryogenic storage tank fixed to the wall.

The chamber is connected to a series of cooling pipes and testing cables, and inside are twelve embryo tubes, each a product of gene fusion.

Each one is branded with a name: Honsou ----

"Start!"

"As you wish." Bile pulled a Dark Green Potion from his waist.

Mortarion took the potion, ignoring Bulku's pleading gaze, popped the cork open, and drank it all in one gulp.

The medicine entered my mouth, and its taste, a thousand times more pungent than the wasabi offered by the Rogue Trader, filled my throat.

Mortarion's face twitched, but because he quickly put on his breathing mask, those around him couldn't make out his expression.

Without making a sound, he swallowed the entire bottle of medicine, his throat bobbing.

The medicine slid into his stomach, which churned and gurgled loudly.

Grunt grunt----

Bang!

With seven gurgling sounds, the Adamantium door of the Gene Vault clicked open at the junction with the bulkhead, and countless key-driven mechanical structures began to rotate simultaneously.

A cold, biting wind blew out of the room, gently brushing against Mortarion's face. He could taste a familiar scent in the air.

A piercing alarm blared, Bulku strode forward, pulling out a recognition pen from his waist and scanning the spiral code on the doorway.

The Apothecary gazed at the gleaming door, the spiral code flickering with an eerie, ghostly green light.

He reached out and touched the door, glancing inside the warehouse.

The Gene Vault of the Tenacious is 100 meters square, with rows of centrifuge drums standing in the middle corridor.

The Freeze pipes hissed and gurgled, the splashed white frost shimmering with a faint silver light.

The fertilized egg is bathed in a chemical liquid and differentiates into glands.

Half-formed organs float in the development tank, and bubbling eyeballs bubble in the petri dish.

The Apothecary's gaze fell on the brass-rimmed Data Slate, where swaying command runes represented the purity of the genes and the mental map inferred from fragments of the Primarch genetic code.

He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the green runes.

"Come out!"

My father's shout came from behind me.

The Gene Vault is unmanned.

Since taking on the heavy responsibility of the legion, Bulku has never slacked off, especially after the Carium Gate, when his father recruited Fabius Bile.

He glanced cautiously at the holographic projection floating above Nathersim Gauntlet. "Father, nobody's here."

Bulku spoke, he pushed hard against the Adamantium gate.

They're here, they just haven't shown themselves yet.

"Them----"

Boom!

A tremendous force struck, Bulku was sent flying like a cannonball.

Mortarion's voice echoed eerily across the deck of the apothecary, and responses rang out around him like rocks rubbing against each other in a mudslide.

"Meat—I need—meat—"

The Magorath roared and howled, violently thrashing its body as if shaking off something terrifying.

Pfft pfft----

With seven explosive sounds, the Magorath's body exploded, its flesh and blood splattering everywhere.

The air in front of Mortarion seemed to crack, outlining a shadowy silhouette.

The splattered blood began to flow slowly backward, the fertile life-giving water flowing into the corpse of the Magorath, reshaping its body.

First the feet and ankles, then the calves and muscular thighs, followed by the pelvis, spine, and internal organs.

What finally emerged was green, fatty flesh covered in adipose tissue, surrounded by wisps of miasma.

The pus-filled blisters popped and crackled like soap bubbles, oozing a thick, sticky fluid.

Bang bang bang----

The glass shattered, and the alarm blared.

The rapid runes spurred Bulku to his feet. He looked toward the warehouse, where containers storing developing fertilized eggs were exploding one after another, growing uncontrollably.

Rampant gangrene gradually swells from the algal foliage of stem cells and the granulation tissue of organs, wrapping around thick, black blood vessels.

The bloated chunk of flesh broke apart, and a hissing, foul stench gushed out.

The chemical bath solidified instantly, with scum and foam rising to the surface.

The samples inside the centrifuge exhibited a pattern of rapid growth followed by rapid withering.

"They've been contaminated."

Along with Bulku's frustrated cry, a slippery sound rang out.

"Cori Bulku, aren't you welcoming your old friend?"

Bulku turned his head and saw that the strange creature's rough, mottled skin was constantly thickening.

The New Life formed skin instantly rotted, peeling off and splattering streaks of bloody, black scabs.

Pale skin slowly enveloped the monster's skull, revealing a striking face.

Bulku looked at the face of the Second Company Captain Commander of the Legion, "Ignatius Grulgor!"

The Nurgle Daemon Prince's torn skin kept regenerating, only to rot away.

"It's me."

"My son, my commander, I welcome you back."

His gaze went into the depths of darkness. "And what brings you here?"

Fabius Bile ran past Mortarion and headed toward the writhing wall.

The cooling pipes came to life, thrashing about like giant maggots.

Bile reached for the cryogenic storage box, and suddenly a highly infectious voice rang in his ears.

"Mortarion, the time for choice has come."