Yearning was the farthest distance from understanding.
As a Golden Giant specially suited to dealing with humanity, the Emperor was naturally gifted with a powerful ability to charm everyone. This made all his communications smooth sailing, much like having a brain-dead aura. He was even more Long Aotian than Long Aotian himself.
However, this ability had caused the Emperor to develop a reliance on a fixed approach. Throughout his long life, he had never learned how to communicate. Combined with his fantastical level of social anxiety, this meant that the Emperor's parenting skills were even less humanlike than those of the Giant Shark Old Man next door.
Fortunately, Mordred had enjoyed a wonderful childhood. After coming here, he had also encountered Old Thomas, a Good Father comparable to Yuton. He had no need for the so-called affection of the Emperor, his biological father.
He was not some daddy's boy. At his age, did he still need someone else to coax him?
Instead, after several days of interaction, these two morally flexible lumps of garbage had developed the mutual appreciation of two kindred bad friends.
After all, although the Emperor was a scumbag, he had not been wrong about one thing. To Mordred, there was nothing left in the entire galaxy worth lingering over. Perhaps only the Emperor, that ten-thousand-year-old bastard, could ease his loneliness.
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The two went from discussing various works of literature from the 3K era to humanity's past exploration of the stars, then from the Age of Great Navigation to humanity's current scattered and weakened state.
This then shifted into exposing each other's embarrassing secrets and trading insults. They discussed whether humanity could instantly become great if the Empire had Ultraman. In the end, however, they concluded that Tofu Pudding was best eaten salty, and finally ended with the sentence: "I believe the world shouldn't end like this."
"Old Man Huang, I believe your methods of dealing with xenos are still far too merciful!"
"Ah! I'm too merciful?"
Mordred had barely finished speaking when the Emperor looked at his equally rotten son with a slightly bewildered expression.
Since the beginning of the Great Crusade, the xenos had given the Emperor all kinds of titles. He had been called a Tyrant and a Butcher, but never once had the word "merciful" been attached to him.
"That's right! You really are too merciful, to the point of wastefulness!"
Mordred, who was absorbing knowledge in the library, opened a dossier and pointed at the xenos named Kors.
"For example, why completely exterminate xenos like these Lizardmen? We could raise them as meat pigs instead. They can't make us sick, after all. Wouldn't it be wonderful to turn them into Canned Ones and distribute them to the soldiers?
"With the technological level of those Mechanicus, using cloned cultivation and fully automated harvesting, even a single planet could produce enough protein to feed an entire star system.
"We could even improve them further, modifying these meat pigs into the Cannon Fodder Corps. We could create Living Wombs and control them through the Gestalt Network, making them eat the corpses of their own kind and their enemies, sustaining war through war and creating a Flesh-and-Blood Cataclysm.
"You don't even use something this simple. You're really embarrassing us 3K countrymen."
The Emperor understood now. From only a few descriptions, he could see how efficient this method of warfare would be. But what difference was there between this and the lunatics who had once plunged into madness over Dark Technology? It merely replaced Iron Men with biological weapons.
"No. This violates the Imperial Truth. Toying with xenos is an untouchable red line for the Empire. You're being too extreme, my son."
"Then I have other plans."
Still unwilling to give up, Mordred proposed one war-criminal scheme after another, including the Clone Legion, Warp Fusion, Scorched Earth Advance, and Chemical Bliss. He was completely practicing the Imperial Truth in reverse, exciting the several people secretly listening behind them so much that they kept waving flags.
In the end, however, the Emperor used his sincere, flesh-and-blood paternal love to make Mordred understand the righteous path of humanity. He repeatedly warned him not to commit such disgraceful acts that would pollute the Empire's purity.
Looking at the rebellious son who had behaved himself for a moment before starting to search for Abominable Intelligence archives, the Emperor felt his blood pressure rise for the first time. He began regretting that he had not hardened his heart and vaporized this lump of treasure back then.
But then he remembered the Psychic Power residue he had seen on Mordred, which the Four Gods had fought over, and forced his dangerously high blood pressure back down.
"Stop looking. Intelligent AI is deep water, and you can't handle it. With that time, you might as well go see your legion. They've been kneeling for half a month."
"Huh? Why are they kneeling?"
Serene World.
Before the Titan wreckage pierced through by a Lance, ten thousand Space Marines knelt on the ground. They had not drunk a drop of water for half a month, waiting like the dead for their final judgment.
The joy of finding their Gene-Father had been replaced by panic. Whenever they thought of how they had blasted their father in half, and how he still refused to look at them, the warriors of the Second Legion felt as if the sky had collapsed.
Since the beginning of the Great Crusade, no legion had ever bombarded a Primarch. According to Imperial law, the Second Legion could already be considered traitors.
The ten Captains who had jointly pressed the firing button at the time were trembling even more violently, wailing frantically over the internal channel.
"Goff, you're a damn liability! Why didn't you scout first? We're finished! We're traitors of the Second Legion! We nearly killed Father!"
First Company Captain The Khan's accusation received no response. Instead, it drew the mockery of Fourth Company Captain Gawain.
"Shut up. You have the nerve to blame Goff? You were the one who suggested the bombardment. And you call us traitors of the Second Legion? We don't even know whether the legion will continue to exist. Even if we die to atone for our sins, the Soul Drinkers will still be mocked by the other legions. It's over!"
Gawain's words left everyone silent. It was indeed true. The Second Legion had already possessed a poor reputation, and now they had also been saddled with the crime of patricide. If they had not wanted to see their father one more time, they would probably have already died to atone for their sins.
Even more terrifyingly, their Primarch had yet to look at them even once. It would have been better if he had executed them!
"So you're kneeling here to confess your sins, hoping to see the Primarch once more before being judged? But why didn't you go explain yourselves? Are you announcing a death?"
"Explain? How am I supposed to explain?" Goff's voice, coming from the front row, sounded as if he was about to cry. He spoke excitedly to the voice on the internal communication channel.
"I gave the order. I shattered Father. When I reached the surface, Father was already only half a body. I couldn't even find Father's butt."
After receiving a response, the voice spoke again.
"Are you afraid?"
"Yes, I am afraid. I don't care about what the other legions say behind our backs, but I'm afraid of seeing the disgust in the Gene-Father's eyes. I don't want the beautiful thing I pursued to vanish. I'm a coward."
The internal channel fell silent once more. Clearly, all ten thousand Space Marines of the Second Legion thought the same way. This left the eavesdropping Mordred feeling utterly exhausted.
Is this really my legion? Why are they all so fussy? Am I going to inherit a group of kindergarten pupils whose mental ages are under eight?
At that moment, Mordred finally understood how the Emperor felt. Waging war across the galaxy with a group of overgrown children truly was not easy.
But when Mordred looked through the porthole at the ten thousand hulking figures kneeling before him with their heads lowered and bodies trembling, the genetic bond made him realize that they were all his sons.
"Sigh, you're right. But I'm even less willing to see my sons kneeling before anyone. Not even me."
The voice inside the helmet began to distort. As wind whipped through the wild grass, the hatch of the Stormbird that had landed on the ground was pushed open from within.
Surrounded by a group of fat dogs, Mordred, wearing nothing but a linen robe, stood with his back to the sunlight and walked before his sons.
"Stand up. Let me look at my sons!"
The voice of the Gene-Lord instantly soothed the Second Legion's unease. As they raised their heads, they saw a smile illuminated by sunlight, a smile that seemed like the most beautiful thing in the world.
Incomparable pride and happiness struck every warrior of the Second Legion. They could not even keep their bodies steady, and had to increase the output of their servo motors to stabilize themselves.
"Father, I... I..."
"Shh!"
A palm pressed down on Goff's head. Amid the gazes of 9,999 people who wanted nothing more than to kill Goff, Mordred stopped his confession and spoke loudly.
"Children, warriors of the Second Legion, the moment I came to your side, I already felt your loyalty and indomitability.
"My proud sons! The bond of blood connects us. Perhaps you are not perfect, but in a father's eyes, everything about you is a source of pride.
"Even though the sudden appearance of ten thousand sons has caused me some trouble, we have plenty of time to grow accustomed to one another and complete our great cause!
"And I will not enjoy this glory alone. In the name of Mordred Wayne, Lord of the Second Legion, I hereby promise that I will lead you from one victory to another.
"Glory to the Second Legion!
"Waaaagh!!!"
The desire that had been suppressed for so long was satisfied in an instant. The warriors of the Second Legion welcomed their Gene-Primarch. They cheered and celebrated their new beginning, howling like a group of foolish children weighing over five hundred pounds.
"Glory to the Second Legion! Waaaagh!!!"
At the same time, two Old Ones, one large and one small, watched the scene on the surface through a Holographic Projection.
[My Lord, you're finally satisfied, aren't you?] The old man before the chessboard raised his head. With eyes completely at odds with his aged appearance, he looked at the Emperor, whose grin had stretched all the way to his back teeth.
[Yes, Malcador. Our plan succeeded. The Second Legion will become the bond that stabilizes Mordred, and we have gained an ally beyond fate.
"As for those Dogs and Donkeys still spying on him, I'll settle accounts with them. With my supreme Overlord's Will, I will blast those Four Useless Ones into dust, Kiya!"]
Ignoring those strange verbal tics, Malcador realized that the Emperor had been contaminated again. He promptly raised his cane and struck him. The blow was so powerful that it even created a sonic boom inside the room.
"Urgh~"
After several retches, the Emperor returned to being that expressionless Golden Giant. The smugness in his eyes, however, remained unchanged.
[It's merely Cognitive Pollution. As long as it can make humanity great again, everything is worth it. Besides, Mordred has already become my son. With this profound bond between us, I'll definitely be the one laughing at the end!]
Pfft... cough, cough!
[My friend, what are you laughing at?]
[I... I thought of something funny. But, My Lord, the future we glimpsed shows that your son will...]
This time, the Emperor could not hold himself together either. But the Golden Giant soon slammed his hand on the table and argued.
[The Second Son is different. Even if he's somewhat bizarre, I can tell that he and I are the same kind of person. He's even more human than I am. He has an enviable head of golden hair, and he calls me Father!]
Hearing this, Malcador suddenly felt the burden on his shoulders grow heavier. But before he could say anything, the door was kicked open from outside.
"Old Man Huang, what secret are you and Malcador talking about? Come over here. Daddy has something to ask you."
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