As the saying went, there were only two possibilities with cross-dressing: never doing it once, or doing it countless times. As his bottom line was broken again and again, in just half a year Fulgrim had gone from refusing to wear women's clothes even at swordpoint to taking it all in stride.
After all, what did the Primarch of the Imperium's Twentieth Legion, Alpharius, known as Snow White, have to do with the Fulgrim of Chemos? When you were away from home, you made your own identity. Who didn't have an alias or two?
As for why this transformation in mindset had occurred, one reason was that Second Brother would always be Second Brother. Mordred always managed to win with all sorts of righteous tricks, and so far, he hadn't repeated a single one.
Since Fulgrim couldn't win even after giving it his all, his relatively high moral standards naturally compelled him to honor their bet.
The other reason was that disguising himself as Snow White to swindle people was simply too profitable.
Take Atlas's current financial income, for example. On the surface, Atlas's primary business was divided into three categories. The first was recovering discarded military supplies, repairing them, and putting them back into use. This was its genuine main business.
Through scavenging and repairs, Serene World had created a huge number of jobs and cultivated batch after batch of potential Mechanicus personnel.
This was the result of discussions between Mordred, all the Captains, and the Arch-Magos. He intended to develop Serenity into a technological industrial base and turn Atlas into a military-industrial complex like the Galactic Mega-corporations the Emperor had mentioned.
They would go from simply repairing military supplies to designing and developing weapons, and eventually make sure everyone was using weapons made by Atlas.
The second category was biological modification—or, more accurately, biochemical experiments concealed beneath agricultural exports.
Mordred had put considerable effort into this. On one hand, most Legions had genetic flaws. On the other, Serenity was simply too ideally suited for biochemical experiments.
There was no shortage of genetic samples. Even if Serenity had none, they could search Catachan next door. Serenity had even once been an amusement park during the Dark Age of Technology, and that Master Computer contained a vast amount of biological modification technology. Failing to make a fortune from it would be a terrible waste.
The final category, and currently Atlas's largest source of income, was entirely thanks to Mordred himself.
Put simply, it was the ticket money for Mordred's nightly dinners.
It sounded unbelievable, but it was the truth. This was also why Fulgrim had gradually grown accustomed to cross-dressing as an imperial idol: those Rogue Traders were simply too rich.
Atlas's Space Marines worked themselves to the bone hauling goods, yet even what they skimmed off the top amounted to only a drop in the bucket. Besides, they took very little each time, bringing back only particularly rare items to reverse-engineer. Atlas had no shortage of ordinary military supplies.
After all, no matter how unscrupulous Mordred was, he couldn't bring himself to let the front lines starve while the rear gorged itself. Sometimes, he even used his own family's grain reserves to support the front.
But Rogue Traders were different. During this period when the Great Crusade was in full swing, this was practically the 30K version of the Wild West expansion.
No matter how many Imperial Legions there were, they still made up only a small portion of the whole. In terms of accumulated wealth and the number of ships, they were nowhere near these interstellar adventurers.
As for why the immensely powerful Rogue Traders revolved around Mordred like lovesick dogs, the reason was actually very simple: they were afraid.
They were afraid of being suddenly devoured by xenos, afraid of having their entire families killed by interstellar pirates, and afraid of being completely swallowed up by their fellow traders.
How did that saying go? "While my neighbor stores grain, I stockpile guns. My neighbor is my granary."
Small-time Rogue Traders were one thing. They were just strays by the roadside, and those with nothing had nothing to fear from those with something. They might even welcome being swallowed up. But anyone who could truly be called a Rogue Trader family dreamed of obtaining the protection of the Second Legion.
"Second Brother, I don't think I can go back anymore. I really want to rest!"
Snow White, dressed in an exquisite gown, sighed miserably, prompting several human maids to whisper among themselves. It was obvious that they had been captivated by Fulgrim's charm.
Only the Dog-men maids remained expressionless as they wondered what to do after work: beat up their husbands, or go to the arena and beat each other up? After all, Fulgrim's beauty was beyond their appreciation. Not only was he hairless, he didn't even have a tail.
But the dogs soon grew excited, because their true leader had arrived before them.
"Well done, girls. Eat your fill once the banquet starts. When you return, you'll get double pay. Pack up whatever you like and take it with you. You've earned it."
"Yay! Long live the Chieftain!"
Even now, Fulgrim still couldn't understand why the Dog-men were so simple-minded. He understood even less why the big dogs were so inexplicably loyal to his unscrupulous Second Brother. Could there be a Dog-man beneath Mordred's skin?
"Thump~"
A finger tapped Fulgrim on the forehead, interrupting his thoughts.
"Fulgrim the Third, were you cursing me behind my back again? Get moving. So many people are still waiting for us outside. Don't you want to go to bed earlier?"
"Of course I do. Right now, I only want to get a good night's sleep."
Mordred felt not the slightest psychological burden from exploiting child labor. Under his childcare plan, Fulgrim only got two hours of sleep each day.
Then again, Mordred himself replaced even his sleeping time with the Learning Machine every day, immersing himself in all sorts of wondrous bits of knowledge. Giving Fulgrim two hours of rest was already very merciful, all right? Why didn't he reflect on his own reasons?
Mordred hoisted the "delicate" Snow White up by the collar and reminded him:
"How can someone your age fall asleep so easily? Fortunately, Second Brother isn't exactly a Daemon. Once we finish this job, I'll give you two days off. After that, you can show your true face again."
"Huh? Really? But why? I still want to keep fooling those merchants. What I've earned in this half a year is more than what I saved up over three years."
Glancing at Fulgrim, who had already developed a path dependency, Mordred couldn't tell whether his education had been too successful or whether Third Brother had awakened the feminine side of his heart. In any case, he patiently explained:
"A solution has been found for your Wasting. Including the supplies being allocated to you, it'll be enough for you to rebuild the Legion's framework. As for why you can't keep fooling them, that's entirely because we have a better plan for controlling them..."
In the banquet hall, countless family heads gathered together. On the surface, they were courteous to one another, but in reality, every one of them wished they could punch their competitors to death. The younger generation in particular was practically radiating gunpowder.
They didn't know why Lord Mordred had summoned them all, but they knew that they absolutely couldn't let themselves be outdone by their peers.
Every lady had dressed herself to the nines, doing her utmost to release her charm, while the gentlemen held forth grandly, adorning themselves with eloquence and personal valor. Everyone hoped to attract the Primarch's attention.
Of course, some great minds took the opposite approach. Their styles were bizarre beyond description. They didn't seek the Primarch's approval, only the chance to display themselves to the fullest. They were a bunch of complete jokers.
Before the guards could drive this bizarre faction away, two tall figures arrived before the crowd. They were none other than the long-awaited Lord Mordred and the Imperium's Twentieth Primarch, Her Highness Princess Alpharius.
"You may be wondering why I gathered you all here, but there's no need to panic. I understand all of your thoughts.
"But you also know that Atlas is short on troops and has no ability to control such a vast trade zone. So this time, I've invited my younger sister as a witness and decided to join forces with the Third Legion to establish the Serenity-Chemos United Economic Zone, in order to protect all of you Imperial citizens brave enough to explore."
Having already coordinated their stories, Fulgrim naturally didn't let himself slip. He immediately began explaining the zone's main structure. Below the stage, the crowd whispered among themselves, discussing what benefits this policy might bring them.
Once he finished speaking, and after the atmosphere had been stirred up sufficiently, Mordred threw out another bombshell.
"Atlas is going to establish a special unit directly under the Legion. When I think of how loyal all of you are, I find myself unable to repay you, so the first people I thought of for the recruitment list were all of you, my esteemed subjects.
"I won't keep this glory to myself. Every family head may send their children to enlist and serve the Imperium.
"What do you say? You wouldn't refuse this goodwill of mine, would you, my dear friends?"
Before you continue