Using Angron's cells, he cultivated a batch of auxiliary brains for the surgery.
The operation began.
He used local Nucerian anesthetics to put Angron halfway under. After all, he needed to keep asking him how he felt.
Sure enough.
The inside of the Butcher's Nails was far more complicated than the outside. Dense black coils wrapped around Angron's brain.
They seemed to be constantly twitching, and one section had already completely turned into the shape of a nail.
Francis inserted an auxiliary brain beside the Nails, then asked, "How do you feel? Anything else?"
"I want to cry. My adoptive father died by my own hand. I still remember the despair and helplessness in his eyes at the end. Waaaaah~" Angron started bawling as he spoke.
"It's all right. It's over now. They'd want you to live well, too," Francis said, flustered, trying to comfort him.
"I'm a coward! If I'd fought back sooner, this wouldn't have happened! If only I'd—waaaaah~" Once Angron started crying, he just wouldn't stop. No matter how Francis tried to console him, it was no use.
Only when Francis removed the auxiliary brain did Angron immediately return to his usual poker face.
Francis asked, "Do you still feel like crying?"
Angron replied, "I can't cry."
"Good. The unpleasant emotions can be connected to the third wire on its left side."
As he spoke, Francis embedded the auxiliary brain on the other side and continued, "How does it feel? What is it this time?"
But this time, Angron fell silent.
Francis immediately sensed something was wrong and hurriedly said, "Little Twelfth, don't scare me! Did I block the nerves that let you speak? I'll pull it out right now."
Just as Francis was about to remove it, a flush spread across Angron's face. "Don't. I feel really good right now. My heart just keeps going thump-thump. I think I've fallen in love with that gladiator woman!"
Francis: !!!
What?
Th-this... Was it even possible for a Primarch to fall in love with someone?
This wasn't right!
Francis hurriedly changed the connection again. "How about here?"
"Hahahaha~ Hey, let me tell you, I once saw a bunch of sows lining up—hahahaha! They lined up and fell into a ditch—hahahaha!"
Francis: ...
"Alas~ Horus and the others asked me to help overthrow the Imperium. They even want to kill the warriors in the Legion who are loyal to the Emperor. Alas, what should I do? Alas~"
"This feeling, this feeling is so... so... so... wonderful~"
"All those slave masters deserve to die! They all deserve to die!"
"..."
After extensive testing, Francis finally found the points for several common emotions. Next, he began minimizing the auxiliary brain and streamlining its genes, leaving only the part that regulated emotions.
At last, after a full week—
Francis compressed all the nerves involved in emotional regulation into a metal rod about as thick as a finger. He couldn't help exclaiming, "Technology really does change your fate!"
"Come on, little Twelfth! Here comes the little fly swatter!"
Click~
The metal rod was attached directly to Angron's head, though its shape was a little odd.
Seeing Francis's strange expression, Angron asked in confusion, "Did it fail?"
"Not exactly. The shape's just a little strange." Francis rubbed his chin, feeling like he'd seen it somewhere before.
Suddenly—
A long-buried memory resurfaced. Francis gritted his teeth and said, "Try it first. See how it works."
The moment it was inserted, he felt a strange change.
He wanted to laugh, and then he did. "Hahahaha~ I can laugh!"
"Hahahaha~"
"Hahaha~ Why can't I stop? Hahahaha~"
Watching Angron clutch his stomach as he laughed, Francis calmly stroked his chin. "Because, fundamentally, it still relies on the Butcher's Nails. My device has just tricked it for now."
"It thinks that laughter is an emotion tied to anger and slaughter. Otherwise, it works like before: if you don't go fight, the more you laugh, the funnier everything gets."
"Once the Butcher's Nails catches on, it'll switch to another emotion."
Angron rolled around on the floor laughing, tears in his eyes. "Hahahaha~ How long is that going to take? Hahahaha~"
"Probably a day or two before it switches. Usually, it won't take too long, since it's only been fooled temporarily." Francis watched him carefully.
"Hahaha~ This is awful. Hahaha~ I'm going to laugh for a whole day! Hahahaha~" Angron kept laughing and pounding the floor.
"It's not so bad, really. As long as you go fight, you'll lose your happiness and calm down," Francis said with a shrug.
"By the way, you said Horus contacted you and asked you to rebel against the Imperium with him. What do you think?"
"Hahaha~ What do I think? Hahahaha~ All I want to do right now is laugh! Hahahaha~" Angron rolled around on the floor.
Francis: ...
"Actually, there's another way. If I can rule a huge number of Orks and persuade them to launch a Waaaagh, it might help pull the Nails out directly."
"But that kind of opportunity is hard to come by. Sigh, get used to it for now. Come find me once you've calmed down." With that, Francis headed toward the room next door.
Mostly because he was having a hard time holding back his own laughter. With that thing on Angron's head, he looked like a musclebound Teletubby!
Still laughing wildly, Angron ran outside. "Hahaha~ I'm going to find the World Eaters! Hahaha~"
The World Eaters, who had been locked in a standoff with the Space Wolves, suddenly heard a hearty burst of laughter.
That day, the World Eaters finally felt their Primarch's loving fists. He was laughing like crazy as he hit them.
Angron was happy, and the World Eaters were happy too!
Only the Space Wolves were left scratching their heads. One of them muttered,
"Hm? Since when was the Primarch of the World Eaters so amiable?"
"No idea. No idea. Anyway, they seem pretty happy about getting beaten up. Maybe it's some kind of special fetish..."
"We'd better check on the Wolf King. The Warmaster sent orders three days ago for us to bring the Soul Drinkers and their Primarch to meet him."
"Yeah, we can't put it off any longer! The Warmaster's already pressing us to head to Isstvan III."
With that, they headed for the medical room where Leman Russ was.
"So Horus has already been contacting the other Primarchs about rebelling?" Leman Russ's expression darkened. He could have refused to believe one person saying it.
Even if two people told him, he could still have refused to believe it. But now three people had said it.
Leman Russ had no choice but to believe it!
"That's right. If I'm not mistaken, they're about to turn on their own people!" Francis continued.
"Then what do you think we should do? Tell Father?"
Francis smiled bitterly. "Between me, the little horse who nearly caused a disaster, and him—someone Father already dislikes..."
Suddenly—
Francis shuddered. The Emperor couldn't possibly be unaware of the Primarchs' rebellion.
Since he knew and still hadn't intervened, there was no way they could get his help!
Once he realized this, Francis suddenly understood.
He looked at Leman Russ with utmost seriousness and said, "How about I go with Angron and join Horus!!!"
Leman Russ's eyes went wide. "Th-this—this—this!"
Before you continue