Gold Ring, Oh Gold Ring, Lizardmen, Oh Lizardmen

A bucket of Tofu Pudding topped with cilantro, chili oil, and chive blossoms, paired with 30 pounds of crispy-on-the-outside, tender-on-the-inside flatbreads thickly coated with Sanguinius' meat sauce, and finally served with three liters of yogurt—this was the breakfast of Great Commander Mordred.

After breakfast, Mordred will ride the hoverbike he borrowed from the former Grand Marshal Valdor of the Adeptus Custodes around Terra's Hive City to inspect his territory.

If she's in a good mood, Mordred might even take a trip to the Underhive, transforming into Happy Superman with Atlas and randomly selecting lucky gangs to behead in order to eliminate evil and uphold justice!

What's even better is that Mordred is never troubled and is always happy. He's a true Happy Superman, and he hates evil. Anyone who makes him unhappy will become his superhero.

After repeated interventions by Dark Angels, Ultramarines, Atlas, and even Mordred himself, the security level of Terra's No. 1 Hive City the Imperial Palace is Underhive, has been reduced to the best in all of Terra and the entire Empire!

Saying that no one would pick up lost items on the road is a bit of an exaggeration, but at least the scene of all sorts of monsters and demons gathering together will not happen again. It can be said that filial piety will truly emerge from under the beating.

This change wasn't limited to the Underhive; with Atlas's arrival, a large amount of infrastructure was repaired and rebuilt, and jobs were provided to a large number of unemployed people through a work-for-credit program.

Those with good physical fitness were sent to the army, those with bright minds were given special training, and those who were good for nothing and couldn't finish anything were sent to do manual labor.

The Second Legion is not a purely Legiones Astartes, but a true Galactic Mega-corporation, with the Atlas- led armed forces at its core, encompassing many sectors such as military industry, healthcare, energy, food, communications, and transportation.

Thanks to that STC module that synthesizes edible starch, Atlas never lacks food. The only problem is whether it tastes good. However, within the empire, where human rights are low, being able to eat one's fill is already a dream come true for many Underhive inhabitants.

You could say Atlas was a shrewd businessman, but even shrewd businessmen have to be compared to someone else.

Ultimately, it's due to Mordred's higher Morality standards. Compared to the Adeptus Mechanicus, Mordred's exploitative system is a benevolent enterprise, while the Adeptus Mechanicus truly treats people like spare parts in a physical sense.

There are no useless heroes, only players who don't know how to play. The Ambition Guilliman controlled the government, patching things up with policies and bringing the civilization concepts of the Great Crusade to the Empire.

The Ecclesiarch, under the leadership of Pope Luojia, combines theocracy, guiding the people ideologically, arming humanity with faith, abolishing religious groups that even Daemon would consider too extreme, and guiding them to initially purify humanity's faith in Emperor.

As for how it's guided, don't worry about it. Between the unsettling giant skeleton and the pleasing Rome's She-Wolf, is there even a choice? Of course, trust your own eyes.

This pertains to politics and education, falling under the category of civil administration. In terms of military prowess, however, it is led by the Lion King, the empire's first Batuulu, a man of refined manners, unparalleled martial arts skills, and kind nature.

Zhuang Sen's personality was not suited to be a planner; at best, he could only be a war strategist, and a war strategist specializing in military affairs. He was certainly not as well-rounded as Horus, but he was the most suitable general for the current era.

As time went on, with Mordred's Gene-Seed supply, Mortarion's Death Guard had begun to take shape. Russ's Space Wolves also began to gather their companions, changing from Chapter- based organization to a legion.

The million-strong Space Marine target set by the High Lord has long been overturned. In this increasingly chaotic galaxy, the Empire needs a stronger military and a more assertive leader.

Atlas is the lifeblood connecting the various legions, and it nourishes the legions to give the Empire, a giant that is already half-paralyzed, a lifeline.

Just like a certain extremely abstract Slav Region, those Russians simply couldn't manage an economy. Their only economic system was a wartime economy, and the empire was the same.

Under this model, Atlas was able to expand rapidly, with ships bearing the Atlas A Character Mark coming and going in every port hub world.

However, as the expansion progressed too quickly, the disadvantage of Atlasian became apparent again. As a result, Mordred had no choice but to restart Spartan Project and upgrade it a second time.

Atlas filled the Legion with these knock-off, weakened versions of Atlas, which were somewhere between Auxilia and Space Marine, serving as the second link in the three-tiered command structure. However, Mordred's most important task was still technological restoration.

With Legion Commander Goff and Roland managing the legions, Huron, their adopted son, guarding the Maelstrom, Atlas's development didn't require Mordred's micromanagement at all.

Those 3,000-plus Atlas who fought the entire battle and survived were all key personnel, ranging from sergeants to the Four Heavenly Kings. With these true veterans of Long War leading the way, the new recruits were able to quickly get into the swing of things and transition from counterinsurgency warfare to large-scale troop operations.

The Atlasian a small but highly skilled workforce; no other legion has so many veterans who fought throughout the entire Great Crusade. Mordred established the Atlas Sergeant Academy around this core, training outstanding talents for each Chapter.

With these obedient children serving as her servants, Mordred can focus her energy on restoring technology.

The decline of the Empire was comprehensive. Take the Stormraven, which was widely deployed by the Legion during the Great Crusade, for example. With its ruggedness, durability, large capacity, and the ability to carry Void Shield, it was used as the Legion's airborne combat boat.

But this very thing has now become a rare commodity. Small Chapter don't have it at all, medium Chapter can't afford to maintain it, and only First Founding have a small number of units equipped with it.

The Stormraven's ecological niche was replaced by the Thunderhawk, and the reason for this was that the Arch-Magos of the Forge World, who was the main producer of Stormraven back then, died.

It doesn't matter if he/she/it dies; once it's gone, the core technology is gone, and other worlds that possess this technology are also ruined by prolonged turmoil, making conventional vehicles like the Stormraven rare.

Countless examples like this exist; even the Stasis Field generator on the Golden Throne could not be repaired due to the sudden death of a certain Arch-Magos forged it.

Finally, the Adeptus Custodes was forced to use their extraordinary wisdom to bring a group of Kabalite to Terra. The madmen were terrified and exclaimed that humans were truly insane, actually putting such a terrifying instrument of torture on their own gods and leaving it there for a full 10,000 years, which made them lose all confidence.

So after completing his daily tasks as usual and blowing the heads off a few lucky ones, Mordred returned to the underground laboratory he had transformed into the Fourth Hive Research Institute.

With time running out and the task heavy, Mordred was planning to go all in five years to completely eliminate the Orcish Ork Empire of Orctavius, so he was working very fast every day, which made him, who was used to slacking off, miserable.

Mordred has cursed the Mechanicus more than once. At least the Adeptus Mechanicus from 10,000 years ago was somewhat human-like. After all, they were Sanguinius investors, and they could also profit from the Great Crusade, so they didn't keep good things to themselves.

The faith in Omnissiah is something that people believe in a little bit since it doesn't cost money. The Tech-Priest, forging sages, and Forge Lord at the top of the pyramid are all among the very people who fought alongside the Emperor to conquer the world.

They knew what Omnissiah was, and they also knew the secrets of the Void Dragon; they belonged to the Emperor's hardcore faction.

But as the Webway War broke out, these rare talents died or were injured, just like how brainwashed Guilliman released Mordred's 200 years of painstakingly cultivated technical talents and threw them to the front line as cannon fodder. This was the greatest loss.

Without the guidance of these people, the Adeptus Mechanicus 10,000 years later would no longer be anthropomorphic; they would be completely inhuman, just like Gollum who saw the One Ring, guarding their knowledge with utmost care.

Factional struggles and the proliferation of cliques intensified, eventually forming one academic warlord after another. There was virtually no academic exchange; their forte was, ironically, physics-related exchanges.

The fierce battle between the two Adeptus Mechanicus Arch-Magos was even more intense than the war between humans and Xenos Daemon. Armored vehicles, intelligent legions, knight families, Titan Group, and the Skitarii— things that were usually begged for but never available—were all brought out.

Moreover, it wasn't that no Mechanicus wanted to share resources; Kaul was one example, but he ended up being ostracized by all of Mechanicus and almost killed.

A certain man surnamed Huang in history proved through practice that entering Chang'an was a hundred times easier than passing the Chang'an examinations.

So, faced with this dreadful dilemma, Mordred chose to overturn the table, directly establishing his own faction and recruiting figures like Huang Quan 8.

The Forge World from the number, the Iron Ball, the Ryza, and others, and a branch of the Adeptus Mechanicus was established in the Holy Terra.

With its Super Brain, which it rarely uses but is indeed a planetary computer, Mordred revealed a large amount of technology and even used the STC modules that Blood Ravens had obtained through swindling and deception over the past 10,000 years as ballast.

By joining Atlas and sharing technology, one can exchange their existing knowledge for new knowledge, and if they overcome a technical challenge, they can also receive preferential treatment in terms of resources.

When the business takes off, we won't give out any of those empty promises; we'll just give you direct dividends, every year, every month.

Others might not be able to, but Mordred could. After all, he was the Primarch, and you could even say that if the Emperor were to die right now, the first in line to the throne would be Zhuang Sen, and the second in line would be Mordred.

In terms of technological reserves, needless to say, even the Orks' Horus the Second Brother called him C'tan scum, and cooperating with the Great Commander is equivalent to cooperating with all the Primarchs, making us royalty.

As soon as the news of Mordred's plan to establish the Holy Terra Vocational Technical College spread, the Forge World, which had long suffered under the influence of the Adeptus Mechanicus, came to pay tribute. On the first day of the school's anniversary celebration, 13 Arch-Magos of forging were awarded the title of professor.

This naturally includes Kragg, the domesticated Arch-Magos of Atlas, and Zeratul, the Arch-Magos of Angstrom.

Of course, since there are professors, there must also be a principal.

Following a petition signed by a group of Arch-Magos, Mordred exclaimed, "You've really put me in a difficult position!" He declined the position three times before reluctantly accepting it, adding another layer to his already complicated list of titles.

However, some technologies can be made public, while others cannot, such as the Mushroom Knight Mordred is currently developing.

As a unique unit of Atlas, the Mushroom Knight originally came from the ground mushrooms on Serenity, which could serve as both food and vehicles. Now, Mordred's task is to modularly upgrade them to adapt them to other Space Marine soldiers who are not part of Atlas.

This modular upgrade was quite simple; Mordred cultivated a new generation of Mushroom Knight in just five days.

With a more compact size and a standard length of 5 meters, the mycelial network inside its cockpit can perfectly fit the Black Carapace interface, and maintenance is quite simple. As long as it does not suffer a devastating blow, damage can be repaired simply by watering, fertilizing and sunbathing. External armor and weapons are a separate matter.

Although its size appears to have shrunk considerably, it is more versatile. Its cost is less than one-fifth of the cheapest Castaferrum-pattern Dreadnought, and it can also operate in low and narrow terrains such as pipe compartments.

Most importantly, you can still eat it when you're extremely hungry, but it tastes terrible, and eating too much can cause constipation. It needs to be eaten with spicy crispy fried dough.

Now that the Mushroom Knight were available, the Lizardmen certainly couldn't be left behind. Reckoner, the only survivor to have survived until now, was found by Mordred, who used him to revive the Lizardmen population, making them the third link in Atlas's military structure.

After 8,000 years of slumber, plus 2,000 years of wild growth, Reckoner, the First Returned Son of the Lizardmen race, has grown to a height of 12 meters, making him a true warlord among the Orks.

In the Warp, Mordred, as the Lizardmen artifact master, is equivalent to a racial god, while Reckoner is the god's son. The entire Lizardmen race was already bound to Mordred when the magic was sealed.

Mordred spared no expense on this upgrade, investing all the rare materials Atlas had accumulated over the years.

He once used the Lizardmen as cannon fodder, deceiving the entire Lizardmen race with a so-called grand plan. In the end, they didn't even have a peaceful end; they were directly sacrificed.

Ultimately, Mordred felt guilty towards the Lizardmen.

If the Lizardmen were merely pure the Beast, that would be one thing, but they possess intelligence, and legally speaking, they are an officially recognized Abhumans race of the Empire, a designation personally bestowed by the Emperor.

The Lizardmen wholeheartedly supported their creator, regarding themselves as his underlings. They worked diligently and conscientiously in the Webway Project and proved their Fealty in the subsequent Webway War, truly serving as loyal and virtuous for generations.

But Mordred was not a good creator, nor did he fulfill his responsibilities as leader.

A single sentence, "I will not let down the Legion's cultivation," has kept Atlas steadfast to this day. A grand plan, unknown even to him, led to the extinction of the Lizardmen through self-sacrifice.

As a master of manipulating genes and flesh, Mordred told Kaul ten thousand years ago not to impose emotions on his creations, but humans are different from machines precisely because they possess emotions.

Mordred's human-like qualities are not high; he doesn't even possess the soul that machines have, but he still firmly believes that he is human, not some strange thing.

Looking at Rexa in the Incubation Pod, who had been reshaped by his Biochemical Alchemy and upgraded a second time in the form of creating Primarch, ultimately shrinking to 5.55 meters, Mordred pondered for a long time before finally choosing to preserve his memories and emotions.

"This time I won't lose. I'm not the same person I used to be, and they won't be my weakness. Neither Atlas nor the Lizardmen will."

"Rise, my First Returned Son!"

Emerald lightning flashed, and the placenta that once gave birth to Horus was now nurturing a new life. With Mordred's call, Rexxar, the Lizardman High Chieftain, opened his eyes.

"Waaaagh!! I fight for you, my His Majesty."

The past events need not be elaborated upon. Looking at Mordred, who was half a body length shorter than him, Rexa knelt on one knee and sniffed his boss's scent in a way unique to Lizardmen, as a sign of submission.

Looking into Rexa's wise eyes, Mordred couldn't help but sigh, "It's back, everything's back, my Atlas has everything I need!"

"Boss, something feels off about you."

"Shh!" Mordred grabbed Rexa's mouth and waved his hand, saying righteously, "Boss, I'm not the same as before. In other words, I've changed classes and started over, unlocking dual talents."

"Don't say anything now, just tell the boss what your favorite zodiac sign is."

Despite Rexa's enormous size—he could be considered a blank Primarch after his second upgrade—he was naturally lazy and simple-minded, like other Dog-men. However, he could sense that Mordred's attitude towards him was different; he couldn't quite put his finger on it, but he assumed it was for the better.

That's definitely a good thing. After all, he's the only one left. Mordred not only upgraded and reshaped him, but also prepared a gift for him.

"I like Taurus, and I love eating beef."

"Oh, Sagittarius!"

"No, boss, I meant Taurus, you know, the 'Taurus' with four hooves."

"I know, I know. A centaur has four hooves, right? And that centaur with four hooves when it shoots arrows is Sagittarius."

A Golden Shining ring, engraved with a centaur drawing a bow and shooting an arrow, was taken out by Mordred. However, because Rexa had shrunk by more than half, the Gold Ring, which was made to resemble his original size, seemed a bit too big. In the end, Mordred put it on him as a bracelet.

"Rexa, the boss was too cold to you before, but rest assured, you have proven your Fealty. The Lizardmen have been loyal for generations."

So, boss, I've Reshape Flesh, allowing the Lizardmen to evolve once more, and that's my way of affirming my Fealty to you.

But I like Taurus----

"Um?"

"Boss, I made a mistake earlier. I like Sagittarius."

"Um!"

Mordred patted Rexa on the head and explained the ingenious use of the Centaur Ring: "Don't underestimate this thing just because it's a ring, oh no, it's a bracelet!"

But it's actually a tiny latitudinal pocket, extremely precious. If you really put the space inside together, you could fit a Fenrisian Titan, and it can even serve as a miniature Titan shield. It's far more valuable than the ring that the Yellow Skins gave to Horus. I've only crafted five of them so far. You see how much I value you, boss."

"What about the other four?"

Unexpectedly, this kid is quite greedy. Mordred told him to forget about those few. One was given to Guilliman as a collar to prevent him from being slit in the throat, two were given to Mortarion and Russ as food bags, and the smallest miniature one was given to Angron as a collar, which contained nothing but catnip and cat food.

Rexa, unaware that he had already undergone Mega Evolution, was somewhat flattered. His boss had never been so kind to him before, making him a little flustered. Mordred, angered by this, immediately slapped him. "What kind of look is that? And what kind of expression is that? So you think I'm a bad person?"

However, on the other hand, we'll soon have a major operation, and the Lizardmen will join the war. I must avenge that blow and teach those Orks a lesson.

Rexa, feeling much more at ease after being slapped, said, "Boss, don't worry, the Orks are with us. So, what should I do?"

"What to do? Of course, get out there and develop your clan! You're the only Lizardmen left. Get to the mushroom fields and start planting mushrooms. And let me tell you, your reproduction rate has been weakened again, and the price is that you'll become stronger."

This was actually a last resort. First, to avoid getting out of control, the Lizardmen's breeding rate couldn't be as high as the Orks'. And to improve quality and lay the foundation for the subsequent Webway repair plan, the breeding rate had to be cut again.

But all of this was worthwhile, demonstrating that the Lizardmen were no longer merely a cannon fodder race, but rather, like the Dog-men, Abhumans living alongside the towering empire.

As for why Mordred didn't make the Lizardmen as fierce as the Dog-men, it wasn't that he didn't want to, but that he couldn't.

The former Wolfkin Empire was built by him and Russ, but heaven knows what happened to the former Wolfkin Empire. The genetic sequence underwent a radical change, still a six-base sequence, and the racial stats were even higher than those of the Aeldari.

The growth cycle of Dog-men is extremely long. In fact, it could be said that Mordred's eldest apprentice, Rambo, was still a minor. The longest-lived Dog-men known to be was Old Thomas, who himself did not know how long he had lived and did not explain it clearly before his death.

This is another historical issue. Old Thomas was able to live so long entirely because of Khorne. Even if Mordred was slow-witted, she could see that the Dog-men were the remnants of the former Wolfkin Empire, and Khorne was very likely a product of the Dog-men's destruction and the War in Heaven and a series of other wars.

Perhaps this is the price of playing with time—a messy account that no one can clearly explain.

Now that things have come to this, Mordred no longer wants to think about those messy things. What he wants to do most now is to kill the Orks on the Orctavius side and bring that half of the Extreme Sector completely under the rule of the Empire.

But the more Mordred sought stability, the more unexpected situations arose. Before Mordred could even have a few days of peace, Jubal Khan arrived in Holy Terra with a letter of reassurance from the Khan.

With Mortarion already on a tentative expedition into the Storm Sector, and Russ leading the Space Wolves to support the Soul Drinkers, Terra now only has Mordred, Guilliman, and Angron remaining.

So when Jubal Khan placed the suggestive little piece of cloth before the three Primarchs to prove his innocence and show that the bastard who wrote the letter was definitely not their father, the two men and the cat fell into deep thought.

"Father and brothers, do not worry! I am Chagatai. I am doing very well here in Commorragh. The Eldar Girl is very exciting. I can't go back now, so please don't come to save me."

Please don't come!