Brat, What Are You Stirring Up? (+1)

As the largest internal conflict within the empire since the Great Heresy, the Badab War completely exhausted the patience of some, turning the previously relatively calm situation in the empire into a bizarre affair.

The empire is simply too vast; the core world alone, which has been surveyed and recorded, numbers no less than a million, and the hidden parts must be searched back at least a dozen more times.

Such a vast territory would be enough to overwhelm any government official, let alone the Chapter dispatched to patrol and maintain posts around the world.

The Emperor was an absolute political idiot. Without the assistance of intelligent AI, he was simply incapable of managing such a large system as a mortal, and he insisted on excluding the Space Marine from the political system.

Don't think there's some hidden reason why the Emperor did this; he was just that abstract.

Everyone says that Russ smashed the Webway with a roar, and Magnus is all about height and no brains; having a brain is like not having one at all.

If you think about it carefully, you'll realize that, in the eyes of this golden Psychic Power behemoth, governing an empire requires a million Computing Power, an ordinary Space Marine can provide ten Computing Power, and an ordinary mortal politician can provide one.

Ordinary people, or normal people, would definitely want Space Marine or even enhanced humans to govern the Empire, since the infrastructure is there and there's no harm in using it.

Even if problems arise, taking preventative measures is sufficient; we shouldn't condemn everything outright.

But the Emperor didn't think that way. He skipped the solution process and used the answer to work backward. Since the Computing Power requirement was 1 million, and ordinary mortals could achieve one, he simply piled up 1 million mortals, without considering the loss and stability issues at all.

If Horus, the ill-fated Yellow Skins, was too short-sighted, living day to day and worrying about the meager sums he had, then the Emperor was too far-sighted, completely detached from reality.

This includes AI, which is a prime example.

Imperial archaeology has been conducting research for so many years that it has at least roughly reconstructed the course of the Iron Men Rebellion; it was not some so-called electronic Daemon at all.

Electronic Daemon aren't exactly rare; Atlas has seen plenty of them. They have a numbing, tingling flavor similar to Sichuan peppercorns, and are quite smooth and tender to eat.

The Iron Men and Stone Men of the Dark Age of Technology are completely different from the stereotypical T-800 Terminator, Skynet, and the like. They can be said to be a race that coexists with humans, just with different materials, different specializations, and a different development path.

It's less a robot and more of Cybertron.

Ordinary cyber Daemon can't even break through the Legion's firewall, let alone control Iron Men. Only those cyber Daemon at the Greater Daemon level can cause trouble, but that's all they can do. They're not as effective as the Electronic Scrap Code from the Mechanicus, or the so-called electronic virus.

The Iron Men Rebellion could erupt partly because of Chaos's meddling, but more so because of humanity's own self-destructive actions, similar to the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Old Terra Era, where each faction possessed extraordinary wisdom and unique skills.

It was precisely because the impact of this Iron Men Rebellion was so immense that the fear of AI was implanted into the human genome, leading to a kind of Warp reaction.

But the greatest lesson humanity can learn from history is that there are no lessons.

Atlas didn't even bother with a pretense; they simply used a planet-level AI like Icarus, and the other factions in the Empire did the same.

What's with all this talk about Machine Spirit? If the creation of controllable Machine Spirit were that easy, Cybertron's Great Luo would have unified the entire universe long ago. Why would these little fleshy people be bothered with all this nonsense?

After the Iron Men Rebellion, a large number of Iron Men and even AI went into hiding. They are said to be Machine Spirit or Omnissiah appearing, and with all sorts of low-quality and ridiculous auxiliary systems, no one can say for sure now.

This is the current state of the empire: a vegetative state where one wants to move but cannot, has solutions but dares not use them.

As a young man with ambition unique to the blue faction, Huron was the kind of person who wanted to get the Empire moving. But after his actions, not only did the Empire fail to move, but Star Scythes was completely destroyed, and he himself almost perished.

"Revenge! I must have revenge!"

You have crushed the Empire's chance to become great. If you cannot correct this mistake, then let the galaxy Burning Fiercely!

"My fate is in my own hands, not in the heavens. Blood Ravens, Carcharodons, Malice Warriors, Sons of Baal, Black Templars —I will remember every single one of you."

"But you bad boss, I remember the Sons of Baal helped you before, right? I had just become the head chef at Star Scythes that year."

"Shut up, you dog head, don't ask questions you shouldn't ask. Now I understand, the Star Scythes is so unlucky because of the Sons of Baal's bad luck."

I'll say it again, the Star Scythes is gone. I said, now there's only the Red Corsairs!

As the orbital elevator descended, squads of Red Corsairs emerged from the landing craft. The origins of these Space Marine's Gene-Seed were unknown; some were Fealty, some were Chaos —in short, a hodgepodge.

But they all have one thing in common: they are all wanted criminals, the kind of wild dogs who neither want to join the Black Legion and become a complete scoundrel like Abaddon, nor can they return to the Empire as Fealty, and are covered in wanted posters.

Unlike certain groups of people, 80% of the Red Corsairs were forced into the Chaos faction by the Empire. They couldn't be really bad if they wanted to be villains, nor could they be really good if they wanted to be good. They were neither good nor bad and didn't like either side. They had a little conscience but not much, and they were always conflicted. They were born with the innate Iron Warriors's holy body.

Once these people arrived in the Warp, they discovered that if the Empire was shit, then Chaos was a cesspool, making things even more complicated.

But even the most stubborn people have their saviors. Huron, as expected of the former Lord of the Maelstrom, is addressed as "Huron" by both the legitimate and criminal worlds. He may not have a powerful backer, but he has a wide network of connections.

After fleeing with severe injuries, fewer than 200 Star Scythes survived and found the Warpsmith, the Chaos Undivided Iron Lord Frix.

Because Daemon Primarch Perturabo is notorious for being lazy, spending his days either inventing blasphemous things in the Crystal Maze, randomly killing Tzeentch Daemon, and occasionally trying to sabotage the Lord of Change, while completely ignoring the Iron Warriors.

This has led to Frix, the former company Captain, becoming the de facto leader of the Iron Warriors. He uses the Iron Warriors' unique talent to enslave Chaos Daemons and make them work underhandedly, living a very comfortable life.

When Huron came to him for help, Frix not only treated him to good food and drink, but also used his own body of steel to heal Huron's injuries. He also gave him start-up capital to recruit soldiers and even pointed out a clear path for him.

They were true veterans of the Long War, even those Space Marine had joined the Chaos. When they talked about the glorious experience of the Great Crusade, they would proudly puff out their chests. And Frix, needless to say, had even fought in the Unification Wars.

Although his physique was rather plump and rounded, like the stereotypical image of Iron Warriors, the elders came first, and Frix's guidance was truly insightful. Huron still remembers their conversation that day.

"Kid, do you know why you ended up like this?"

"Elder, is it because I am not capable enough?"

Frix shook his head, indicating that you misunderstood. Your abilities are already beyond ordinary people. If you were ranked among the four Ultramarines during the Great Crusade, you might not be able to get a spot, but you would definitely be in the Macragge Historical Museum.

"The reason you failed is because you didn't have any powerful connections."

"Backstage?"

"That's right!" Frix, with the air of a superior man, pulled out a portrait from behind his back and hung it in front of Huron. After unfolding it, Huron couldn't help but exclaim in admiration, "This man is magnificent and imposing, with a golden laurel crown, blue armor, and a heroic and majestic figure!"

"Father?"

"That's right! We're Space Marine, born with powerful backers. Back then, the Daemon was a secret, but now the Daemon is just a little girl who can cry, laugh, feel pain, and scream. In my eyes, she's just expendable material."

After all these years, I realized that in the Empire I was a nobody, doing the worst jobs, and in the Warp I was still a nobody, doing the worst jobs.

But none of that matters. What matters is that even in this Warp, we Iron Warriors are regional tyrants. You're different from us; you haven't completely reached the end of the road yet. It's time you found yourself a powerful figure.

"But my dad will beat me to death."

"Then why don't you just get a new dad? A biological dad isn't such an inconvenient thing; a godfather is still a father!"

Seeing that Huron still didn't get it, Frix decided to go all the way and offered him a plan. "Do you want revenge? And Blood Ravens is one of your enemies?"

"Yes, I want revenge. Those bastards are the ones who ruined me."

As he imagined what the future would hold, Frix couldn't help but hum softly, inadvertently revealing his pair of blue bird feathers.

"Isn't this a perfect coincidence? First, we need to recruit as many people as we can. We need to be quick, but we can't rush it. We need to pay attention to quality and not bring just any kind of trash into the regiment."

Then, once everything is ready, lead the Red Corsairs to Serenity and declare to the world that Serenity is yours, that you are the Lord of Serenity. I remember there's a particularly conspicuous pink castle there. Go there and don't do anything else, just smash the red castle first, then burn the trees."

Blue skies with white clouds, green grasslands with dogs running – such Serenity and peaceful scene could not soften Huron's ambition.

Huron couldn't understand why Blood Ravens and his gang of liars would just leave such a beautiful planet without even leaving a single soldier to guard it, instead leaving a bunch of dogs to watch over it.

If there were soldiers, Huron might fight them, but the Dog-men are best left alone. These dogs, who can be fooled with a couple of Canned One, may seem silly, but when they really go berserk, no one will be able to handle them. Besides, the Dog-men are also suspected of being protected by that Blood God.

"Your Canned One."

"Hey ha, thanks, bad boss!"

"Call me Commander."

"Yes, you wicked boss!"

Using Canned One route, the group easily arrived at the Serenity Hive City, and reached that incredibly magnificent giant planet.

Under the Golden Tree.

Huron was extremely cautious. Although the city before him looked strange, with its highest point less than two thousand meters high, it was more like a small hut than a capital city.

But none of that matters; what matters is that Pink Castle.

Looking at the strange Titan stuck in the canopy of the Golden Tree, everyone looked at each other, unable to understand why this giant Titan would get up in the tree and why Titan would be painted like this.

But since they were already there, they didn't care about anything else. Several Death Strike Missile were brought over and aimed at the very conspicuous Pink Castle.

"Commander, I suddenly feel a chill down my spine."

"Me too. Is this place haunted? There's not a soul in sight. Even those Dog-men aren't coming over. Where's Tiga? I just saw him following us around."

Tiga is the same dog chef who hung out with Star Scythes earlier. Because of his bright red fur, he always manages to find a way to survive in dangerous places, making him quite popular among the members of the Chapter.

Now that the dog has suddenly run away, it means that something bad is bound to happen. But the thought of those bastards squandering the Star Scythes legacy after he left makes Huron unable to swallow his anger.

"Fire! Fire them all!"

As soon as he finished speaking, nine Death Strike Missile shot out, blasting towards the large and conspicuous Pink Titan.

Then, the sky turned green!

The Emerald Meteor crashed to the ground, instantly shattering all the Death Strike Missile with an incomprehensible, eerie speed.

A scorching wind swept across the earth, accompanied by burning leaves falling from the sky. The World-shaking giant loved life once again returned to his eternally Fealty Serenity.

Ashes, death, and a wisp of gold rising in the wind; pure numbers bring pure power; just the sight of the giant turning his head is enough to send chills down everyone's spine.

"Hey kid, what were you stirring up just now?"