Let's Just Assemble the Team

It must be said, when it comes to being utterly speechless, the Empire always finds new ways to surprise you.

Ever since Mordred departed for Terra, the Second Legion had been waiting at Serenity for a full month and a half. Yet, the reinforcements dispatched from Terra were still on the road, with every report claiming they would arrive immediately.

"Wenbai is incompetent and brings shame to the nation. A month and a half is enough time for me to purge the court, so where are my people? Why aren't they here yet! If we wait any longer, we'll run out of rice."

Bang! A bowl of rice was slammed onto the table, venting the Primarch's anger and causing the numerous officers to fall silent, burying their heads in their meals.

"Father, please calm your anger. There is nothing that can be done; after all, Terra is not like us where we only need to worry about unloading cargo. The Department of the Munitorum has much more to consider."

"Indeed, indeed! My Lord, you may not know, but this is actually quite fast. At the very least, they haven't lost contact." An Imperial Navy officer belonging to the Fourth Legion said:

"Ever since the spearhead of the Great Crusade crossed the Sol Sector, the operational efficiency of the Department of the Munitorum has dropped exponentially. An order, once issued, must pass through at least a hundred layers of verification before it finally reaches an officer's hands.

Even then, the authorized Imperial Navy must still gather the troops and replenish supplies before they can depart. Most importantly, there is a possibility of encountering enemies on the way, which will further delay the schedule."

Following this, another navigator with three eyes added: "Furthermore, Your Highness, you must also consider the issue of Warp Voyage tides. Sometimes, when encountering storms, the fleet must immediately surface.

If they are caught in a storm without time to dodge, they might lose part of the fleet if they are lucky, or be completely wiped out if they are not."

The navigator Said Correctly, and the naval officer spoke the truth. In this current era where the borders of the Empire are only just being reclaimed, a month and a half to travel from Terra to Serenity is not long at all; it could even be called efficient.

Even so, Mordred was not accustomed to this god-awful transport speed. It is no wonder the Emperor would even take out high-interest loans to build the Webway; this Warp Voyage is simply too unstable.

Unable to vent his rage, Mordred gave up, scraped the rice grains back into his bowl, and began to eat frantically as if seeking revenge.

But soon, a piece of news caused Mordred to slam his bowl onto the table once more, for the troops he had been waiting for had finally arrived—and they were Space Marine.

Thinking that he could finally begin his Great Crusade, Mordred was excited to the point of madness. He led a swarm of his subordinates rushing toward the starport, preparing to hold a grand welcome ceremony.

However, Mordred was happy too soon. Looking at the three lonely Lunar-class Cruiser docked at the starport and the one thousand Space Marine lined up on the pier, he didn't even have the mood to curse.

"My Lord, the 33rd Grand Battalion of the Alpha Legion has Gathered. Captain Jerry reports to you. Your Highness, do you have any instructions?"

The Space Marine, wearing Mark II Crusade Pattern Power Armor, stood straight. Relying on his Primarch-level keen sense of smell, Mordred could even smell the protective oil smeared on the armor's surface—and it was lemon-scented, for heaven's sake.

This all went to show that these Tin Can Kid had made ample preparations to meet him. But that wasn't right! What about the hundred-thousand-strong army I asked for? Why is there only a thousand?

Still unwilling to face reality, Mordred pressed a hand on Jerry and asked in a low voice:

"Captain Jerry, how many people did you actually bring? It certainly can't just be this few!"

"Of course not, how could we have so few people."

Hearing the other party say this, Mordred Nodded, thinking that this was more like it. I asked for the Fourth Legion, and since they didn't appear, these Alpha Legion must be here to link up.

"Then how many people did you bring?"

Jerry stretched out his fingers and gestured a three.

"Thirty thousand Space Marine?" Mordred's hanging heart returned to its place, and he comforted himself: "Thirty thousand is thirty thousand. After all, the front lines are tight. If that old man Malcador can mobilize thirty thousand Space Marine for me, that's already good enough.

Well done, Captain Jerry, right? It must have been hard for you thirty thousand to squeeze into the cruiser. Call them all out, and I will send people to hold a welcome banquet for the Brothers."

With that, Mordred pulled Jerry along, intending to head to the banquet, but he didn't expect this Captain to look embarrassed and wave his hands hurriedly:

"Your Highness, I didn't mean thirty thousand Space Marine, but thirty thousand Auxilia, or to be precise, thirty thousand Solar Auxilia, plus our one thousand Space Marine.

Although the number of people is a bit small, there is good news: the Arch-Magos has ordered Atlas to immediately head to Inkarati to support the Fourth Legion. As long as you take down this Forge World, all those Fourth Legion warriors will be under your command.

Alas, Your Highness, what is wrong? Why is your face so red? You aren't sick, are you?"

God damn it, a Primarch getting sick? Mordred was clearly Angered. Thinking that he had waited for a full month and a half only to end up with 30,000 Auxilia and a thousand Tin Can Kid—it would have been better to go it alone—his head ached with rage.

But in front of so many people, Mordred did not want to lose his temper and make things difficult for this Captain, so he could only suppress his anger:

"It's nothing, I'm just too happy to see you all. Look at your Lunar-class Cruiser, it's small and quite cute, haha, let's leave it at that."

After saying this insincere remark, Mordred just wanted to leave quickly. But as he lowered his head, he saw Jerry in front of him looking like he had something to say, which gave that big bald head an indescribable sense of comedy.

"What is it? My Captain Jerry who commands an army of thirty thousand, do you have anything else to say?"

"Well, Your Highness, is the banquet you mentioned earlier still being held? We were mobilized urgently, and we've been eating nutrient porridge every day for this period; we haven't set foot on land for several years."

Now Mordred had nothing left to say. He could only signal his descendants to take action, to welcome these miserable kids, and incidentally announce the order: three days later, Atlas would begin its expedition, with Inkarati as the target.

Once the order was issued, the Long Prepared Atlas immediately began combat preparations. In fact, there wasn't much to prepare; they had been ready for a month and a half, and everything that needed to be prepared was already done.

The only thing that needed to be handed over was the Second Battalion of Atlas. These administrative-specialized Tin Can Kid, in order to escape their paperwork, all swarmed into the Duelling Cage; only the winners were qualified to go out.

Soon, as the third day ended, a "Pinduoduo" legion consisting of a total of ten thousand Space Marine gathered at the starport. Behind them were 500,000 mortal Auxilia fully equipped with Atlas weaponry.

But among these Auxilia, the most eye-catching were the Ogryn Apes being commanded to stand at attention by Canids. After all, to outsiders, Ogryn Apes clearly had nothing to do with discipline, yet those of Atlas actually listened to commands.

Such a large-scale military operation could not be hidden from everyone, and Mordred didn't intend to hide it anyway. After all, the ugly daughter-in-law must eventually meet her in-laws. Having been the Baili Po Sword Saint for more than three years, it was time to announce the existence of their Atlas to the world.

"Listen to my command, the whole army, advance!"

"Heh ha~ Atlas will prevail!"