"There was."
"Back then, a ship arrived at Dortolia Hive's spaceport. When no one answered our messages, we went with the Defense Force to block its entrances."
"When the gates opened, countless walking corpses poured out."
"But in the end, we wiped them out."
The Mortal, gaunt and so decrepit he looked ancient, knelt before the Gene-father with his forehead pressed firmly to the ground as he recounted what had happened in Dortolia Hive all those years ago.
Back then, he'd been a little kid, running around with his father, who worked as a spaceport inspector.
The incident the Mortal described was the "ghost ship" affair that had caused an uproar on Alert Star decades ago.
A ship had visited Alert Star, filled with nothing but plague-ridden walking corpses.
"I didn't bring you here to hear a story. I want to know how many places in Dortolia Hive suffered outbreaks after the ship's arrival."
Lion glared down at the back of the Mortal's head.
"Uh..." The Mortal hesitated. "I'm not entirely sure about that. As you know, hive administration is chaotic..."
Lion impatiently picked up a steel cup and drained it, then casually crushed it until it was badly misshapen.
The Mortal, who'd been sneaking glances at the Primarch, shuddered in fear. Still, he didn't answer Lion's question directly. Instead, he kowtowed furiously.
He kept at it until his forehead was bloody.
Lion paid no heed, merely looking down at him coldly.
Just then, the command center's doors opened.
Lu Jin entered the command center, covered in blood and carrying his helmet.
Seeing Lu Jin's numb expression, Lion knew he'd spent the past few days killing Orks, tracking down Disciples, and occasionally hunting the Chaos Space Marines who kept deploying to the surface. He'd killed so much that he'd become