"Father, you sent Rambo and the others to Catachan. Could something go wrong?"
"What could possibly go wrong? I can tell you don't understand anything at all!"
At that moment, everyone was resting in the upper-floor bar of the Abomination Exemplar. Hearing Father's reply, the Space Marines all gathered around and expertly ordered drinks. Clearly, it was time for Father to tell stories again.
Under the bartender Tom's mortified expression, Mordred, whose head was spinning from days of experiments, gulped down a mouthful of orange juice and said:
"You think I was doing something else before returning to the Legion? Let me tell you, it took me eight years to unite the Dog-men Tribe, but uniting all of Serenity took less than four years. And in those latter four years, at least half the credit went to the Dog-men."
The Atlasians understood. As a wildlife park from the Dark Age of Technology, Serene World was dotted with countless plants and animals that could be called monsters. Aside from its excellent natural environment, it could absolutely be called a mini-Catachan.
Without their armor, they might not even have been able to defeat those Serene Wandering Chickens. After all, those chickens were nearly four meters tall, could fly and run, and could peck through adamantium with a single bite.
As for those Explosive Toads and One-Punch Mushrooms, they could only be eliminated with ranged firepower. But why had uniting the tribe taken longer than uniting the planet?
Seeing that his sons understood how formidable the wildlife of their homeland was, Mordred revealed another piece of history that made people question their lives.
"Don't think Rambo earned my favor just because he was one of my old subordinates. I'm a fair man. The dogs may be lazy and gluttonous, but they're genuinely capable. Forget anything else—if I put you in command of tens of thousands of Ogryn soldiers, could you do it?"
Everyone shook their heads. Never mind commanding tens of thousands of Ogryn; they probably couldn't even manage a hundred. And that was despite the fact that the Ogryn of Serene World were generally smarter than those outside.
"But the Dog-men can. Otherwise, why do you think I was able to clear out all those monsters?"
Calling over Tom, who was still pretending to be dead, Mordred pulled out a patent-leather Bunny Girl outfit and gestured for him to change quickly. If he said Tom was going to be a Bunny Girl, then Tom was going to be a Bunny Girl—there would be no discounts.
"Father, do I really have to wear this? It's so embarrassing."
"No. Keep whining and I'll make you work as a bartender in this bar for the rest of your life. Go change. I still have to inspect the experiment later. Otherwise, you'd better pray no one else helps you change."
The Eighth Company Captain resigned himself to his fate. Amid countless schadenfreude-filled gazes, he walked toward the backstage area to face his public execution.
"It was only by relying on this group of dog subordinates that I was able to command eighty thousand Ogryn warriors. And this time, I sent out all of the smartest members of the Dog-men—the Canid Eight.
"They are: Breath of Storms—Canid-Niz, Arid Earth—Bane, Savage Lightning—Rehgar, Brilliant Pure Ice—Seven, Bloodhound—Guts, Death Wish—Vera, and Shadow Hunter—Casca.
"Finally, there's my personal disciple, Rambo, known as Flame of Destiny.
"Every one of them has extraordinary skills. Their fighting spirit and endurance are even more exceptional. They are absolutely not ordinary useless dogs."
After saying this, Mordred took a pocket watch from around his neck and opened it, showing everyone the photograph inside.
In the center of the photo, Mordred wore scrap-metal armor and looked radiant. Behind him stood eight imposing Dog-men. Beneath them was a line of small text: "One heart and one body, glory eternal!"
An indescribable sense of absurdity rippled through everyone's hearts. They had no idea why, but they felt that Father was being rather ridiculous. He had even given the dogs such incredibly cool titles. They wanted titles too!
Mordred saw through his sons' thoughts at a glance, but this glory did not belong to them. If they wanted cool titles, they would have to earn them themselves.
"All right, I'm going to run some experiments. When that dog Tom comes out later, make sure you leave him with an unforgettable memory. Take a picture if you can. I want to put it in the album as a memento."
Watching their Primarch's departing back, the Tin Can Kids hurriedly switched on the recording functions of their Power Armor. The moment Tom appeared, they would be able to capture a high-definition Dark History photo.
While everyone was waiting, one Atlasian suddenly said:
"Hey, have you noticed something? Since all eight Dog-men have cool titles, then given Father's personality, he must have one too! So why hasn't he told us?"
"Don't ask about things you shouldn't ask about. Since Father hasn't said anything, he must have forgotten. Why are you thinking so much? Look! Tom's coming out."
The moment he finished speaking, Eighth Company Captain Tom appeared before everyone in his humiliating outfit. As flashes went off around him, Tom let out an enraged, humiliating roar:
"Quack! You bastards! Fine, humiliating me when Father was here was one thing, but he's gone and you're still bullying me! I'll blast you all apart!"
Just as Tom's Dark History was being turned into a high-definition 1080p recording, Mordred arrived at the Secret Room where Demon Xil was being held.
In just one month, the Secret Room had undergone a complete transformation. It had expanded from the size of a living room into something the size of a football field, and the Arch-Magos was conducting the final data comparisons inside.
"Your Highness!"
Waving for everyone to continue working, Mordred came to the Arch-Magos' side and stared at the row of cultivation tanks containing a large number of sealed Daemons.
"Are the results confirmed?"
Kragg nodded and handed over an experiment log for Mordred to review.
"Your Highness, the experimental results show that the Second Legion inherited this trait from you. Or, to put it another way, this trait is the true strength of the Second Legion."
Three-dimensional models of two Atlasians were projected into the air. From the obvious difference in height, Mordred immediately determined which sons the two data models belonged to.
"The one on the left is Fourth Company Captain Gawain, who returned from studying with the Fourth Legion. The one on the right is 9th Company Captain Joseph, who returned from studying with Alpharius.
"Through comparing the data, I discovered that recruits implanted with the Second Legion's gene-seed would enter an extremely long period of weakness. Their souls would become weakened to varying degrees and would begin to deteriorate.
"By contrast, Legion veterans did not display this phenomenon. However, when compared with that Son of the Emperor Dreadnought in the storage room named Rilano, even Atlasian veterans showed signs of having thin souls."
"Wait! What was that Dreadnought called?"
Mordred interrupted the Arch-Magos. He thought he had heard an extraordinary name.
"Rilano. That Dreadnought is named Rilano—the one the Third Company Captain brought back, the unwanted Dreadnought."
At this point, even the Arch-Magos Kragg laughed without the slightest restraint. An unwanted Dreadnought, my ass. Anyone installed in a Dreadnought is a powerhouse of the Legion. Why couldn't I ever pick one up?
"...Continue.
"I'll deal with that unlucky son when I get back. What the hell, ■■. Picking things up is one thing, but you just had to find such a famous thief. No, wait—our Atlasians rescued allied forces on a battlefield and brought it back. Yes, that's what happened. That's the truth!"
Ignoring his Primarch's self-deception, the Arch-Magos continued reporting:
"Therefore, based on the data comparison, I can confirm that the Second Legion can replenish its souls by devouring Daemons, these Warp Creatures, and undergo adaptive evolution.
"Moreover, even without devouring Daemons, the Legion's gene-seed will slowly absorb the substances released by the surrounding souls according to the environment they are in.
"That is also why the Legion veterans display such obvious differences."
The Arch-Magos' report had explained everything clearly. Because of Mordred, every Atlasian had become soul-deprived, while simultaneously craving the completion of their souls.
This caused them to increasingly resemble whichever Legion they went to study with. Their instinctive absorption of soul fragments also made their cousins from other Legions dislike them.
This phenomenon reminded Mordred of the Soulless, though there were some differences. They were more like the Undead from a game he had played in the past.
However, the matter was far from over. After reporting this pile of news—of uncertain value—the Arch-Magos finally revealed a piece of "good news" that excited Mordred.
"Your Highness, I've found a solution to the Second Legion's low gene-seed compatibility rate!"
???
"Really? Tell me quickly! If you can truly solve this problem, then from now on, we'll each call the other whatever we want. I'll call you teacher, and you can call me Dad!"
As long as this problem could be solved, Mordred was willing to abandon all dignity. The three-meter-ninety-nine giant hugged the Arch-Magos and refused to let go, afraid she might escape.
Several sounds of breaking metal rang out. Hearing the frantic alarms from her internal organs, Kragg hurriedly shouted:
"Stop, stop! My waist is about to snap!"
Looking at the Arch-Magos, whose body had already been twisted into a dangerously sharp angle in his arms, Mordred hurriedly set his good teacher down and immediately began fussing over her.
"Your Highness, stop fussing. I can handle it myself. Let me explain the solution!
"By studying that batch of Thirteenth Legion gene-seed in the storage room, along with blood samples from you and the Primarch Vulkan, I discovered that when Atlasian recruits undergo Gene-Modding Surgery, implanting another gene-seed from a different Legion at the same time will drastically improve the success rate!
"In other words, how about you go steal some more gene-seed from the other Legions?"
"..."
Silence was Cambridge tonight. Mordred smiled in relief.
Before you continue