Golden Age
117. M31,
To meet the Emperor with an open and honest heart: Time is a great healer; no matter how severe the wound, it will slowly heal over time.
Two hundred years ago on this day, Great Heresy broke out in the empire; ten years ago on this day, the empire finally quelled the Great Heresy and successfully dismantled the overgrown legions, at the cost of the Lion King, the Imperial Warmaster, disappearing without a trace.
However, Zhuang Sen's departure did not discourage the other Primarchs; on the contrary, it made them work even harder.
The Imperial Palace gates, closed for nearly a century, opened again, and the Primarchs gathered before the Golden Throne.
Looking at his father, who was now hunched over on the tall throne and looked like a bunch of dehydrated vegetables, even the Primarch, who was standing at the top of the imperial pyramid and revered as a demigod by billions of humans, couldn't help but feel saddened.
As Lord Regent, Guilliman was the first to step forward, taking out a plate of Macragge sweets and placing it on the throne, then lighting a candle.
"Father, your way of governing the empire was too incompetent. The empire could not afford such a war of conquest. So I dismantled the legions and made Luojia the Pope of the Ecclesiarch."
From now on, I will focus on Develop Civilian Livelihood, but rest assured, the Chapter is more suitable for the current empire and there will be absolutely no problems.
Other brothers have always suspected that I imprisoned Zhuang Sen, but I've only thought about it, I've never done it! I've kept the Warmaster Position vacant all this time, just waiting for the day Zhuang Sen returns."
He glanced at the Emperor subconsciously, and upon seeing that his father's mouth and eyes were still crooked, Guilliman let out a long sigh of relief and quickly retreated.
Upon hearing Guilliman mention himself, the second person to come up Luojia, took out a bottle of red wine and placed it next to the Emperor's feet.
"Father, the Imperial Truth you previously compiled are outdated. We cannot lie through our teeth. The Psyker, the Empyrean, and the Chaos Daemons are no longer fictions."
I had no choice but to become pope; if I didn't take the position, someone else would. So I had to become the Ecclesiarch.
This isn't my fault; blame Guilliman. If everyone in the Empire had enough to eat, there would be no need for such emotional support.
But Father, rest assured, the doctrine I have compiled is a reskinned version of the Imperial Truth, emphasizing loyalty to the monarch and patriotism, with the aim of herding your sheep.
With me here, this Imperial Cult will absolutely not be in chaos!
The third to appear, Dorn, didn't bother with anything fancy. After all, in his view, his father was already in a vegetative state, unable to eat or drink. Rather than letting things get moldy, he might as well do something practical.
A small blanket woven by Dorn himself was draped over the Emperor's legs, and like Guilliman, Dorn also took out a stick of incense, lit it Luojia, and inserted it between the Emperor's toes.
"Father, I am Rogal Dorn!"
Guilliman not only Split the Legions, but also coveted a Battle Moon, and now he's even eyeing my Mountain Array.
You know me; I am your Most Proud Son!
But Father, rest assured, I will absolutely not engage in fratricide. At least with me here, Holy Terra will not descend into chaos!
With the departure of the Primarchs —the Governor of Terra, the Lord Regent, and the Ecclesiarch —only Corvus Corax remained to mourn the Emperor.
The Raven King lit a cigarette with a grinning dog's head printed on it and tucked it between the Emperor's fingers.
"Father, while I was taking inventory of the Raven Guard's warehouse, I found many strange-looking things, as well as some research files left behind by Atlas."
Moreover, I always have a bad feeling about it. Guilliman's behavior of exploiting the descendants of the deceased is too unethical. Although it wasn't said explicitly, we are all afraid of becoming the second Atlas.
Now that Zhuang Sen is gone, everyone suspects Guilliman of doing it.
I didn't believe it at first, but after going to Caliban, I did find traces of a third force emerging.
Because of this, Ferrus had a huge argument with Fulgrim and Guilliman, and Vulkan even ran straight back to his Nightfall Star.
Father, don't worry, I will definitely investigate this to the end!
After paying homage to the Emperor, Guilliman lifted the lockdown on the Imperial Palace, allowing the Empire's countless believers to come to the Holy Terra to pay their respects.
That very night, a figure sneaked into the Imperial Palace, perfectly evading all the Adeptus Custodes' patrols. Only the Dog-men, fast asleep in a corner of the underground palace, noticed something amiss. But he was quickly bribed with two cans of Ant Cow Canned One.
The one who arrived was none other than the mysterious Alpharius:
"Father, I discovered a Gloriana-class Battleship in the Maelstrom. Based on its serial number, it should be Atlas's flagship, the Abomination Exemplar."
I also encountered a Daemon stuck on the ship; this guy called himself Vashtorr, but unfortunately, I couldn't capture him.
Guilliman's Split the Legions has given me a great advantage. I've already sent people to infiltrate various Chapter, especially that suspicious Blood Ravens!
Also, I have something to tell you. That bastard Guilliman has started charging admission fees; I even have to buy a ticket to see you.
It's not that I didn't want to come during the day, it's just that I was so angry, so I sneaked in at night.
Due to his personality, Alpharius has a particular fondness for uncovering other people's secrets, but contrary to his image as a secret agent, Alpharius is essentially a repressed chatterbox.
Now that the Emperor is in a vegetative state, Alpharius has completely let loose, sitting under the Beneath the Golden Throne and unleashing a barrage of attacks.
Alpharius was thrilled, but he didn't realize that as these little secrets were revealed bit by bit, a light drizzle began to fall outside the Imperial Palace.
120. M31,
As some Primarchs have stated, with the passage of time and through the combined efforts of the Imperial Cult and the Department of the Interior, the Empire is beginning a full recovery.
Luojia did not lie; she did indeed integrate the Imperial Truth into the doctrines of the Imperial Cult. This prevented the people of the empire, who had suffered greatly from war, from falling into panic. Instead, they became even more Fealty under the added layer of faith.
In order to repair the ruins caused by the Great Heresy, Guilliman proposed a groundbreaking new policy, taking into account the existing Chapter organization.
That is to further decentralize power to the Chapter, no longer conscripting soldiers in a unified manner, but allowing the Chapter to choose their own home planets to recruit soldiers, and use this to carry out infrastructure construction around the home planets, similar to a production and construction corps.
This policy greatly mobilized the enthusiasm of the Chapter, and even the Primarch strongly agreed with it, since once the Chapter developed, the area surrounding their homeworld would also be greatly stimulated.
And most importantly, it's easy to manage!
Although the Divine Seal Spire was relit, its power was completely insufficient to cover the entire empire, instead forming a network of isolated areas.
At this point, how to manage grassroots levels has become an extremely serious issue.
After all, Space Marine are cyborgs. We don't expect them to build the area around their homeworld into something like Macragge, but at least they're intelligent.
The Great Astartes Doctrine never really disappeared. To the Space Marine, those high-ranking but foolish mortals were simply too stupid, completely out of their depth to command experts.
It is precisely because of this situation that Guilliman had no choice but to implement this policy. After all, the Empire's territory is simply too vast, and without the assistance of quality control AI, even the Primarch cannot be managed.
On the other hand, this was also a sweet treat, intended to reassure the Space Marine of the Split the Legions, and, together with the High Lords Council led by Guilliman, to achieve a simple yet effective management structure.
Moreover, it's not like we're just giving you a piece of land and telling you to go farm. We'll provide basic assistance, and if you do a good job, the rewards will be substantial.
If the natural environment is good, build Garden of Nurgle world; if the natural environment is particularly harsh, then consider the geographical location. If the environment is bad and the location isn't great either, then there must be resources, right?
Analysis of the Atlas legacy reveals that a significant amount of technology has been applied to everyday life.
Meanwhile, the Adeptus Mechanicus was relatively open-minded. Although it was a small religious group, given the current situation where everything needed to be rebuilt, the Mechanicus also brought out his best and most powerful skills.
After all, besides Mars, there are many other Forge World that aspire to become independent rulers.
With such a huge piece of fat meat like building an empire right in front of them, even just a tiny bit could feed an Adeptus Mechanicus Sage to his heart's content. Only a fool would oppose Guilliman's policies.
A massive wave of infrastructure construction swept across the country, uncovering countless technologies and investing them in previously unimaginable projects related to people's livelihoods.
People believed that under the leadership of the son of the God-Emperor, the empire was about to enter a Golden Age of its own.
The most thrilled among them have to be Iron Warriors and Imperial Fists, since everyone has their own expertise, and who wouldn't want these civil engineering guys doing their work?
In an instant, whenever Scion Chapter of Iron Warriors or Imperial Fists appeared, it would be instantly snatched up by a host of Chapter.
By simply sending personnel to guide other Chapter in their dust suppression efforts, the civil engineering guys have become incredibly successful, not only rolling in money but also enjoying immense prestige. (Sigh~ Corgi's daydreaming again.)
Meanwhile, with the help of his dog brother who had already infiltrated the Adeptus Custodes, Tom was the first to identify Serenity as the Legion's homeworld.
995. M31,
The Golden Age: During this vast window of peace in the Warp, with the arrival of the Adeptus Astartes, world after world was freed from hunger, savagery, and even poverty.
In military matters, the Empire did not remain stagnant. Instead, it began to explore the dark side of the galaxy little by little. Although it was not as rapid as during the Great Crusade, its steady and methodical approach was more effective.
People believed that the Warp was so peaceful because the Emperor was protecting them, which was a manifestation of divine intervention.
As a result, countless churches sprang up, and the empire's faith in the God-Emperor became even more devout.
But what no one knew was that the reason for the peace in the Warp was not the Emperor, but the aftermath of the fall of a certain god.
In fact, compared to the warehouses scattered throughout the empire, this is Mordred's greatest legacy to his brothers, but this VIP membership comes at a price.
The more enjoyable the Atlas meal is, the more miserable it will be afterwards.
001. M32,
Green Tide is coming: The Salamanders mothership guarding the Pluto Fortress has gone missing, with only a three-second audio clip reaching the Divine Seal Network:
"Waaaagh!!!"