The Back of the Warp

When dense virus bombs poured from the bellies of warships, their bright yellow exhaust trails weaving a net of death across the skies of the tainted planet.

The invitation from the Warp to Mortarion had finally reached its conclusion.

The virus bombs screamed as they struck the atmosphere, the Death-Spreader virus instantly dispersing as an aerosol.

The green pathogen, like the breath of a god of death, permeated every inch of air. Microbial spores in the atmosphere and residual muscle tissue on the ground dissolved violently within minutes.

The Death Guard had long since retreated to their warships in orbit, looking down on this purification through their viewports.

The Death Guard silently watched as the virus swept across the tainted planet like a tide. The strange vines in the jungle withered and melted away rapidly, and the microorganisms in the mines were completely eradicated.

Even more terrifying was the chain reaction triggered by the virus. As the planet's surface organic matter decomposed, it released a massive amount of methane gas. This flammable gas was ignited by the lingering embers of artillery fire in the tainted planet's high-temperature environment.

In an instant, a global firestorm erupted. Tongues of orange-red flame devoured all living things, burned away all organic matter on the surface, and even dyed the atmosphere a searing red.

The firestorm raged for a full three standard hours, gradually subsiding only when the oxygen in the atmosphere was completely consumed.

When the smoke cleared, the tainted planet was utterly transformed. Once-prosperous mines and refineries were reduced to scorched earth. The green atmosphere had become thin and transparent, leaving only barren rock on the surface, along with the ash-white traces left by the virus and flames.

A planet utterly dead, yet also utterly "clean."

This was a great victory. The Death Guard had once again purified an Imperium planet that had been corrupted.

In the verdant gardens of the Warp, Kurgas's obese form thrashed restlessly in the picturesque Nurgle's Garden.

His eyes, the size of mung beans, were fixed on the image of the tainted planet in the psychic projection—the moment the orbital bombardment's pillars of light tore through the atmosphere was an indelible thorn in his sight.

The projection suddenly cut off. He couldn't see the subsequent scene of virus bombs covering the entire planet, turning it into a dead, molten world. After the Warp altar was destroyed, he could no longer see what happened next.

At this moment, only one thought roared in Kurgas's mind: "Warships, always warships!"

This was the core reason for Chaos's covetousness of the Astartes Legions—they lacked their own fleets, their own warships. Chaos's power would be confined to a single planet or star system, like a caged beast.

Even if they could corrupt a planet, the Imperium only needed to dispatch a fleet to cut off surrounding supply lines and isolate reinforcements. The Warp corruption would slowly be purged according to the laws of the material universe.

The Warp was, after all, a dimension of pure psychic energy, extremely lacking in matter.

Any planet discovered in the Warp would incite the frenzied covetousness of countless Chaos daemons—planets meant vast material resources and populations ripe for corruption.

And for the Imperium, besides the insidious invasions of Chaos, the most fatal threat came precisely from those renegade Astartes who controlled fleets. Abaddon's Black Legion had launched thirteen Black Crusades, constantly sabotaging the Blackstone Pylons set up by the Necrons, making the laws of the material universe increasingly fragile.

The warbands that had split from the various renegade Legions, using captured or modified warships, were familiar with Imperial shipping lanes and defensive weaknesses, plundering everywhere in the star-sea and causing immeasurable losses to the Imperium.

If Mortarion and the Death Guard could be completely drawn to Nurgle, this Legion, possessing a complete fleet, would become Chaos's sharpest weapon for grasping the material universe.

"I don't care what method you use, you must bring Mortarion back into the embrace of the Great Father!" Kurgas's voice was an undeniable command, his gaze fixed on a shadow cloaked in black robes beside him.

In the faint light of the psychic projection, the green-painted MK4 Power Armor beneath the shadow could be vaguely seen—it was clear the other party had long been lurking within the Legion.

"This matter can only be handled slowly," the shadow's voice was low and hoarse, with a hint of caution. "Mortarion has been unusually sensitive to Warp corruption recently; he seems to have sensed something is wrong.

To convince him completely, we must first control more of the Legion's rank-and-file soldiers and let him see the power of the 'Father's Gift'."

"Hurry! You have witnessed the Benevolent Father's might, so you should understand that time waits for no one. Only by offering sufficient sacrifices—whether they be corrupted planets or loyal warriors—will the Benevolent Father bestow more blessings upon you, allowing you to gain greater power in the Benevolent Father's hands," Kurgas said with extreme firmness.

The shadow was silent for a moment, then slowly nodded. "I naturally know this, Lord Kurgas." Before he finished speaking, the psychic projection abruptly cut off, and the shadowy figure in black robes also dissipated into the pus-laden clouds.

Kurgas's gaze returned to the direction of the tainted planet. This had been a failed invitation; Mortarion hadn't even seen it. But it didn't matter. He would continue to harass the Death Guard; it was their destined fate.

The infiltrator had planted a crucial pawn for Nurgle. He extended a twisted finger and drew a green rune in the void—the "purification" of the tainted planet was merely a temporary victory for Mortarion.

Next time, when a more powerful Warp corruption appeared, this Death Guard Primarch would inevitably walk the path the All Father had laid out for him, choosing between "destruction" and "eternity."

"Hmph, imbeciles whose brains are filled with maggots!" Typhons violently threw off the black robe covering him, hurling the cloth stained with Warp filth to the ground. Before the cloth hit the ground, a ball of eerie green psychic flame ignited in his palm. The moment the flame surged, the black robe curled, carbonized, and finally dissipated into wisps of foul-smelling black smoke in the air.

Typhons was somewhat agitated. Ever since the Death Guard had encountered these abnormal situations one after another, Mortarion had become vigilant. Once or twice might have been a coincidence.

But after repeated occurrences, Mortarion naturally sensed something was amiss. This was not accidental; there was a traitor within the Legion, and not just any traitor, but one of considerable rank, at least capable of accessing the Legion's strategic deployment and route planning.

Mortarion had even specifically planned a strategic deployment that did not involve Warp travel, yet the traitor had still followed them like a persistent leech. Only then did he confirm the existence of an internal traitor.

Mortarion's internal investigation order was issued silently. The troops carrying it out were unknown even to Typhons. Although he had implemented layers of isolation, this also meant that the pawns Typhons had at his disposal would become fewer and fewer.

"Haste makes waste? What does that fool Kurgas know," Typhons muttered, the psychic flame at his fingertips dancing slightly before disappearing completely.

"Mortarion is already suspicious. If we delay any longer, let alone drawing the Primarch into our God's embrace, we infiltrators will be exposed and used as experimental material by him!" As a native of Barbarus who had been among the first to contact Mortarion, Typhons knew this very well.

Mortarion's ruthlessness was not only directed at enemies but also at traitors—once his allegiance to Nurgle was exposed, they would not meet a swift death. Becoming material for Mortarion's biological laboratories would be their best outcome.

The Typhons of this timeline was not as carefree as depicted in the background. Perhaps the pillow talk from Sandman and Korax had worked, but now one of the Death Guard's companies was personally commanded by Mortarion, and Typhons had been assigned the position of Company Commander in the Third Company.

However, the combat effectiveness of the Third Company was not the strongest, apart from the First Company. The strongest companies in the Death Guard were two: the first was naturally Mortarion's First Company, where most of the veterans who survived the Rak'Gol War were stationed.

The second was Garo's Seventh Company. Yes, Garo's Seventh Company had combat effectiveness second only to the First Company within the Death Guard.

As a company composed primarily of veteran Terrans, Garo had the right to recruit directly from Terra. This meant Typhons had no way to infiltrate Garo's company.

This made it extremely difficult for Typhons to cultivate more Nurgle followers within the Death Guard, as Mortarion was very attentive to the Legion's affairs.

Especially in the area of new recruit training, Typhons's authority was severely restricted. The only time he could interact with new recruits was when they were assigned to the Third Company after completing their training.

But the problem was that these new recruits were already part of the Third Company, weren't they? Typhons's authority was firmly confined to the Third Company. He had even recently heard news that Voss of the Death Shroud was about to withdraw from the Primarch's honor guard and take over as Company Commander of the Second Company.

As one of the earliest Death Guard to rise with Mortarion from Barbarus, Voss's abilities were more than sufficient to serve as a Company Commander. However, the Primarch had kept him by his side for training. Meanwhile, the commanders of the other companies were also core Barbaran members.

Typhons was also within this core circle. Although Mortarion treated everyone the same, Typhons felt as if he had swallowed a dead fly, and the reason was simple: Typhons's ambition was growing, especially after inadvertently coming into contact with the great entity known as Nurgle.

Typhons was no longer satisfied with his current power. He wanted to gain more power, power comparable to, or even surpassing, that of a Primarch.

Thus, he decisively accepted the embrace of Nurgle and became a follower of Nurgle. Nurgle, naturally, would not refuse such a high-ranking Death Guard Company Commander. As a pawn arranged long ago, Nurgle had generously bestowed his blessings upon Typhons.