Prospecting

Korax let out a heavy breath and wiped the fine beads of sweat from his forehead.

After roughly an hour of treatment, he had finally completed the initial treatment of his severely injured companions.

"Boss, it's done. They just need proper nutrition afterward to recover their strength. I've already healed the hidden injuries on their bodies." Korax naturally adopted the same form of address as everyone else, calling Sandman "Boss."

"Ah, why are you calling me Boss too?" Sandman looked at the young Primarch in surprise.

"I saw everyone else calling you that. You took me in, so naturally I'll call you that along with everyone else," Korax said matter-of-factly.

"Oh, is that so? Then suit yourself." Sandman only came back to his senses after staring blankly for a moment.

That was right. Korax had only just arrived on Lycaeus. Aside from the extraordinary knowledge in his mind, he was practically a blank slate. He was not yet the "Lord of Deliverance" who had been carefully taught by the exiled elites of Kiavahr.

The young Primarch's worldview, values, and outlook on life had yet to take shape, and his sense of self was still unclear.

But with the power of a Primarch, he would quickly grow from a sapling into a towering tree. In the end, he would become a world tree capable of sheltering an entire planet, star system, even star region, and the whole Imperium.

Maybe I should first let this idealist see the evil in human nature? Sandman began considering whether to bring the Raven King along to slaughter those raiders.

In the original timeline, Korax had been an idealist. Compared to many of his brothers scattered across other worlds in the galaxy, he had been fortunate. On this oppressive mining world, he received a complete education and enjoyed the complete love that many of his brothers never had.

But he had also been unfortunate. In this dark and desperate universe, idealists generally did not meet good ends. His brothers' betrayal, his father's grave injuries, his homeworld's rebellion, and the despair of personally executing his own sons eventually crushed that demigod of a man.

Thus, the former idealist became a Warp minor god incarnated from an obsession with revenge, beating the ever-living hell out of the chief culprit who had torn the Imperium apart.

"Would everything that once happened still happen?"

"No, it won't." A sudden realization rose in Sandman's heart.

Before this, he had only considered waiting for Korax to arrive, then entering the Raven Guard under the Primarch's protection. As for what came afterward, he had planned to deal with it later.

But even if he entered the Raven Guard, leaving aside the Drop Site Massacre on Istvaan V according to the original history—

Even the terrifying xenos encountered during the Great Crusade would not be easy to deal with: the Hrud, who controlled entropy increase; the Orks; the Eldar; and, beyond them, the terrifying xenos known as the Rangdan, who could contend with the Imperium for galactic supremacy.

"Damn, this fucked-up universe feels as though a hungry wolf is constantly chasing every intelligent species from behind. It's like there'll never be a day of peace," Sandman grumbled inwardly.

"Boss, you seem to know me very well?" Korax asked, noticing the regretful, pitying look in the other man's eyes.

Yet this was clearly their first meeting, and the other man's attitude made it obvious that he knew him extremely well.

Through Ephrenia, Korax had clearly learned that in this cruel world, accepting someone of unknown origins was a matter requiring great caution.

You never knew whether that person might be a spy for those cunning villains who made their living through raiding.

"You'll understand in the future. I just hope you won't betray our trust." Sandman remained calm and did not explain much.

In truth, he was panicking like crazy inside.

Holy shit, is this a Primarch's insight? How did Kor Phaeron manage to train Lorgar into a dog? Sandman complained inwardly.

Clearly, Sandman needed to reassess the capabilities of Lorgar's adoptive father.

Lorgar Aurelian, Primarch of the Word Bearers Legion, had fallen onto the religious world of Colchis as a child. He was adopted by Kor Phaeron and raised into the local religious leader.

There was no doubt that Kor Phaeron's influence over Lorgar had been immense. That decrepit old man, who had undergone only half of the genetic modifications, had even berated the Primarch during the Word Bearers Legion's war councils.

It was utterly ridiculous.

"You've more or less learned about this world already. Now, come with me into the mines and survey the Adamantite Ore reserves." Sandman set aside matters that were still far too distant for them.

Shadow Kill still needed time to assemble, and gathering intelligence could not be completed overnight. He had many important things to do, but the most urgent task was to reconfirm the Adamantite Ore reserves in the northern mine tunnel and solve the camp's survival problem.

The young Raven King did not object. On the contrary, he was also very interested in the camp boss who radiated an air of mystery. The fact that Sandman had expanded a camp into the largest in the entire region in just a few years, while ensuring no one starved to death, already demonstrated his methods.

At the very least, he was highly skilled at prospecting and mining.

So Sandman took the Raven King and hurriedly boarded Bus No. 11 toward the mine tunnel once again...

To preserve his stamina, Sandman did not talk with the Raven King along the way. His body was nowhere near as monstrous as Korax's; he could not stroll about as though taking a leisurely walk, even if Korax was currently only a child.

Still, it was strange when one thought about it. These genetic creations at the Emperor's pinnacle truly defied reason. They emerged from their Incubation Pods already in childhood, though that was related to having drifted through the Warp for an unknown length of time. There was no concept of time in the Warp.

Even so, their absurdity could not be denied. As a baby, Angron had killed a squad of Dark Eldar with a single stone. It was simply outrageous.

The two traveled in silence and soon arrived at the northern mine in a state of alert.

"Get in." Sandman gestured for the Raven King to climb into the empty, cramped ore cart.

Amid repeated clattering, the light gradually dimmed, and the mine cart began heading deeper into the mine. After traveling a little over a hundred meters, Sandman finally saw his companions continuously hacking away with their pickaxes.

At the same time, a steady stream of ore carts carried ore out from deeper within through the conveyor belts.

Arendi's calculations had been extremely precise. The collapsed section had not affected this place. The problem was that the space here was much narrower than the mine tunnel that could accommodate the Drill Tractor.

It simply could not hold that many people. In the tunnels farther inside, the miners could only hunch over and laboriously use their pickaxes to extract ore, gradually widening the space bit by bit. Along the way, they also had to reinforce it constantly to prevent another collapse.