But Speaking of That

"Disgusting, absolutely disgusting! You bunch of bastards have really disgraced me."

"My Atlas family has been loyal for generations. We clearly have the ability to rebel, yet we have acted with Fealty. What have you done? Have you been corrupted by Slaanesh?"

A total of 743 Atlas and 832 Dog-men, all the missing persons are here, and all of them are from the Fourth Company. When they were found, every single one of them was accompanied by Necron.

The good news is that my Rebellious son is heterosexual, and all the Necron accompanying him were female in life. The bad news is that they are all Necron, and even the dog has gone astray.

"What are you doing? Why don't you learn from those Mechanicus who get a collective orgasm just by hugging a toaster? Humans can't, or at least shouldn't. Be normal!"

"Second Brother, stop talking. They were just hugging and cuddling; nothing happened."

"Human lives! You think you can kill people with this? Am I crazy, or are you all crazy? Those are Necron, a bunch of metal skeletons without flesh and blood. Tell me, how can you kill people with that?"

Looking at this group of Rebellious son sons and dogs kneeling on the ground, Mordred's men were numb. Although Pepe was right, their interactions were limited to hugging and cuddling, applying lubricant, and doing some kind of physical examinations and maintenance.

But Mordred just felt something was off, and even thought the opposite: isn't maintenance just the same as an aromatherapy massage? And learning a foreign language? What a convenient excuse!

"Gawain, what were you thinking? And you, Bane, you're a Dog-men, I won't say anything about liking to eat bones, but why were you licking someone's feet? You should be licking engine oil!"

"Father! Eldest son, we're innocent! We're just pursuing a hobby. Don't you also like to sleep on your Adamantium at night? And you even drool over your little blanket, biting anyone who dares to touch your gold."

"Shut up! That's just a hobby of mine. No matter what, I don't agree to this marriage."

"No, Father, why are you being so fussy? Anna and I are just good friends, a sincere Platonic friendship. She's from an old noble family, and she even has a whole troop of tomb raiders under her command."

"That's certainly a long-established family, a noble family from the last era, right? Wait, how many technicians did you say?"

Upon hearing Mordred's question, Gawain, taking advantage of the situation, quickly pulled up the slender Necrons beside him and introduced her on the spot, "Father, you see, my beloved relative and sister Anna Kastark is a descendant of the last generation of the Kastark Dynasty, a family of impeccably trained technicians, and she commands a regiment of tomb raiders."

Their eyes met, and no matter how Mordred observed, he couldn't discern any emotion from the Living Metal, nor could he use his telepathic abilities.

But then again, Gawain didn't do anything that would incur public wrath.

After all, you see, almost all the members of the Fourth Company are Techmarine. Even if they haven't made any great contributions, they have certainly worked hard. They have been maintaining and repairing the army's equipment all day long, and dealing with machines every day will inevitably pick up some Adeptus Mechanicus habits.

Furthermore, the Necron are just a group of robots who believe they are not dead yet. Since they are machines, it is quite reasonable for them to be maintained and repaired.

Even if we take a step back and Gawain didn't collude with the Xenos, and as for Bane, Dog-men is still a canine, while Necron is just a metal skeleton—what's wrong with licking its bones a couple of times?

"Then, regarding the technicians in this group—no, Father—I understand your interests and hobbies. It's normal to have some hobbies. Who says people can't have hobbies? We at Atlas are known for our erudition and versatility."

"Second Brother, that's not what you said just now?"

Russ's words seemed to have struck a nerve with Mordred, who turned and grabbed his shoulder. "What do you want to say? What do you want to ask? I'm telling you, Atlas No Secrets. We are loyal for generations and will never allow anyone to slander or defame us."

"I didn't say anything!"

"Hmph, it's good you didn't say anything. This is my most beloved child. I don't want to hear anyone talking about my offspring at any time or place. The rest of you can erase your memories in a bit. Don't make things difficult for me."

Mordred has truly grasped the essence of changing faces compared to flipping through a book; in terms of Morality flexibility, she has already achieved eighty percent of the Emperor's skill.

But soon everyone will see what it truly means to be a mere amateur compared to a master. After all, when it comes to shamelessness, Mordred sometimes still has some sense of propriety. Some truly skilled individuals are the real veteran artists.

As men of the physical world who fought in the War in Heaven, ordinary Necrons minions would have already met their demise under prolonged Fel Energy radiation, but the superior bodies of high-ranking Necrons are no joke, especially those Necron Overlord standing at the top of the pyramid.

But there's no need to worry. Although Gawain is an honest man, honest men can be dishonest at times. Faced with a group of Necron who dared to steal his own Legion Flagship, he would have to use some ruthless methods to uphold Atlas's reputation for being a good-for-nothing.

When the bridge doors opened, this was the scene that greeted everyone.

In the vast space of the bridge, a giant long table was placed in the center, where a group of high-ranking Necrons Collapsed on the Ground, twitching occasionally. In front of them were dishes and drinks that had been laced with an excessive amount of Chaos Energy Crystal and were now completely green.

Due to absorbing excessive amounts of Fel Energy, the Living Metal bodies of these Necrons have mutated, and some have even become one with the tabletop.

"You did all of this?"

"Of course, Father, but this wasn't something I did alone. Without Bane and the others cooking, I absolutely couldn't have taken down so many Necrons. And in terms of Fel Energy resistance alone, Necron Overlord is no match for me."

But those two named Trazyn and Zalasus were different. I always felt that those two had drug resistance. They didn't take down the two until they emptied our crystal inventory. They even hugged me and cried their eyes out, spraying engine oil out of my mouth, and saying some incomprehensible things.

"I will never give up on you. We'll be best friends for life. I only teased you on purpose, but without you, my life would be meaningless."

At this point, Gawain couldn't help but sigh, "This must be Trazyn's wife. I never imagined this Xenos could be so emotional; no wonder it went so crazy after death."

"Not his wife."

"Oh, I thought this person was quite honest."

Honesty is clearly not a word that applies to Trazyn, but it's funny, the Necron on the long table in front of him are definitely leaders, or at the very least minor bosses, and there are even three Necron Overlord.

But these Necrons, which could have instantly disrupted several star sectors, are now completely paralyzed at the dinner table. In fact, because the Necron inherit the abstract social system of the Necron, they basically don't treat Civilians as human beings.

In other words, 90% of all the Chaos Energy Crystal inside the Abomination were consumed by these Necrons, which instantly paralyzed the command center of the entire Necrons force.

This also explains why no Necrons intervened when Perturabo bombarded the World Engine; they were all unconscious.

Mordred wanted to go up and say hello, so he went straight to the most flamboyant Necron Overlord and started slapping him repeatedly.

Even after several slaps that blew his head off, the Necron still didn't wake up, so he had to pick up the head again and shove it back on.

With things having come to Necron, Mordred had no choice but to leave some personnel to salvage the engine debris, while he escorted Perturabo and the Xenos back to Terra.

As for Russ? The Iron Warriors aren't all Death Guard died instantly, so their Fealty remains to be verified. Since Space Wolves are military police, they'll be escorted back to Holy Terra together.

The more rushed they were on their way there, the more leisurely they returned. The only problem was that the Abomination was filled with Necron, making Atlas, who was re-entering the ship, feel slightly uncomfortable.

"Second Brother, I can't eat anymore. Although you've prepared such a delicious meal, it's all staple food with not a single green leaf. If I keep eating, I'll get fat."

"What do you mean by getting fat or not? Look at you, you're so skinny you're practically skin and bones. If you don't eat, you'll get bloated. It's better to grow up and be stronger!"

"But everyone says I'm fat and short. You're the one who fattened me up back then."

Mordred didn't like hearing that. Although Perturabo was indeed a bit plump, that was all. Olympia was a Greek-style world, which fit the theme perfectly.

"Don't listen to their nonsense. Peipei, you Pepe too much about what others think, that's why you're so conflicted. When you get back, go and properly purify yourself in front of the Yellow Skins, and get rid of this strange smell of yours."

Once the legion's review is complete, your Second Brother will arrange a great job for you, a position that perfectly suits your personality.

What is that?

"Collect taxes!"

"Tax collection?"

"That's right," Mordred nodded, gesturing for Icarus to pull up a list of Atlas's past tax data for Perturabo to look at. "See? Taxes are absolutely the lifeblood of the Empire. Although Outside World always say that Atlas only cares about money and not people, that's complete slander. We Atlas can cheat, steal, and rob, but we absolutely will not falsify taxes."

Looking at his proud older brother, Perturabo couldn't understand what was so proud of, but he still listened attentively.

"Tax collection is a major problem for the Empire. During the Great Crusade, it was a completely unchecked policy, with no consideration for practical issues. As long as enough taxes were paid, it didn't matter whether the Planetary Governor was human or not."

The problem is that these taxes haven't been updated in years, and relentless exploitation will only backfire. So what you need to do next is to have someone conduct an on-site investigation and update the tax data.

And taxes will be levied based on this. Guilliman will assist you. As for those people or things that cause the tax revenue to fail, they will all be punished for treason.

"Then why don't you take such a good job, Second Brother?"

"Of course it's because I have my own ATM. Do you know how many nobles there are in the Empire? These nobles are really fun, like My Little Pony. If you punch them twice and they're half dead, they'll start showering you with candy."

This idea actually came from your Eleven-to-one strategy. It's all about spreading the spoils evenly. As for whether it will wrongly accuse innocent people, well, if you line up ten to shoot them, at least nine and a half wouldn't be wronged.

"But then again, I feel like I've forgotten something important. Do you ever feel that way?"

Perturabo fell into thought. She did have that feeling too, but due to feeling a bit dizzy from the intense carb intake, she couldn't recall it at first glance, "Since neither of us thought of it, it probably isn't anything important, right?"

That makes sense.

Before long, three Gloriana-class Battleship appeared at Terra Port. The news of another Primarch's return to the Imperium spread like wildfire, causing a certain Chaos Warmaster, who reigned supreme in the Eye of Terror.

But when he realized he was feeling inexplicably afraid, Abaddon started attacking his right brain with his left brain, saying he couldn't go on like this and had to prove he wasn't a pushover. So he went to find his good brother Kāyān.

"Warmaster? You mean you want me to go to Holy Terra alone?"

"Right!"

"And then, with at least four Primarch on Terra, you point your finger at them, berate them, and declare that the 14th Black Crusade will Victorious in a Hundred Battles?"

"Yes! We must severely damage the enemy's morale; this is called winning hearts and minds."

Looking at Abaddon, who was blessed by the Four Gods, had a spiky ponytail, held the Claw of Horus, and carried the Daemon Sword Drach'nyen, and was clearly the leader of the Chaos Space Marines, Kayan couldn't help but think that this guy was a spy sent by Sorcery Salted Meat.

And your pupils are golden, and all the Primarchs came back to life immediately after the 13 Black Crusade ended—isn't that too much of a coincidence?

"What, you don't want to?"

"No, no, no, Warmaster, whatever you say is fine. I'm definitely willing. I'll start preparations right away and make sure we can show the might of our Black Legion."

With that, Kayan turned and left without a second thought. To the Chaos Warrior, this was an act of unwavering loyalty. But what no one knew was that Kayan had turned and gone straight to the Iron Throne aboard the Vengeful Spirit.

"I'm sorry, little sister, bear with the pain, I'll cut you off right now."

While Kayan displaying his loyalty and courage, the witchcraft-infused salted meat he was talking about was silently watching his somewhat reserved daughter in front of him.

When two oddballs get together, silence is the best outcome; neither is willing to speak first. But if they had mouths, they wouldn't be oddballs anymore.

"I'm back!"

You shouldn't have come back.

"But I still came."

59

Fortunately, they weren't alone in the dungeon. Guilliman's current scribe Ephraime, and Isha, the Imperial Palace steward and Aeldari goddess, had also arrived after hearing the news. Most importantly, there were three large chests, each containing a Necron Overlord.

As for the most pathetic Zalasus, he didn't even get a single box; Mordred grabbed him by the neck and dragged him to the Golden Throne.

"Come on, Yellow Skins, wake these four bastards up. I want to have a serious talk with them."

Perhaps to cover up his embarrassment, the Yellow Skins put in a lot more effort this time, bursting forth with dazzling golden light, and he single-handedly unleashed a Psychic Power attack on the Necron Overlord.

As the four Necron Overlord slowly awoke, a voice suddenly rang in their ears. The words sounded inexplicable, but Trazyn and Orikan were startled. "Oh~ Orikan, your eyes are as bright as stars... Hmm~ Trazyn, you've really angered me this time!"

"What's wrong, you two? Have you remembered something? Bend over properly."