Just One Step Away

"The Emperor's future has no place for you. You have already done unforgivable things; you can only embrace Chaos."

"Come, only slaughter can bring you pleasure. By personally beheading the Emperor, you will completely possess him."

"Do you feel it? The scent of betrayal."

"..."

Whispers from the Warp echoed incessantly in Horus's mind. He trembled, struggling to suppress them, his reason still fighting for control.

Until Abaddon's furious voice came from outside the door. "Warmaster! The Word Bearers Legion claims the Soul Drinkers Legion is a spy!!"

"The scent of betrayal."

"Do you smell betrayal? Your brother has been betraying you all along."

"He is ready to sacrifice you for the False Emperor. Betrayal! This is betrayal!"

"..."

Countless voices, male and female, constantly murmured in Horus's ears. Horus clenched his fists.

"No! No! He wouldn't lie to me!"

"This is all your lies! Fulgrim is innocent and pure!"

Horus roared in madness, even deforming the armor on his hands from the force of his grip.

Bang bang bang~

"Warmaster, should we capture them!" Abaddon was still asking.

"No, I'll go ask him myself!" With a bang, Horus kicked the door open, sending it flying. Even Abaddon, standing outside, was knocked away.

"Primarch, we've been discovered," Salpador said into Fulgrim's ear in a voice only they could hear.

Instantly, Fulgrim frowned and berated him loudly. "What is this! You can't even handle a small experiment! Now I have to clean up your mess."

He turned to Fulgrim and continued, "Think about it first. I'm going to deal with an experiment and I'll be back shortly."

Before he finished speaking, he vanished from his spot.

Fulgrim couldn't help but sigh. "Fulgrim is a good person, first-class as both a friend and a brother."

"With so many options, I really need to think carefully."

As he was contemplating, Fabius Bile, the chief Apothecary of the Emperor's Children, walked in. Just as he was announcing his optimized results for the gene-seed...

"Swoosh~ swoosh~ swoosh~"

He smelled another scent. Following the direction of the smell, he saw the half-finished potions and other gene-modified items from Fulgrim's experiment on the table.

He rushed to the table and began rubbing the Super Pineal against his face. "Hiss-ha~ hiss-ha~ This has so many alien scents~"

"Hiss-ha~ hiss-ha~ This smell is amazing! Primarch, how about giving me Fulgrim's experimental notes for this? Hiss-ha~"

Fabius rubbed the Super Pineal, incredibly excited by the new modification!

"Uh, this is something Fulgrim made. You can ask him for the notes. However, you can't experiment with this one right now."

Saying that, Fulgrim snatched the Super Pineal from his hand.

After all, he still needed to use it; he couldn't be without it!

Fabius, having his treasure snatched away, looked reluctant. He stared longingly for a moment before reacting. "Then I'll go ask him for the notes right away! Heh heh heh~"

Without a moment's hesitation, Fabius immediately ran in the direction Fulgrim had left.

???

Seeing everyone looking for Fulgrim, Fulgrim was a bit impressed with his brother, living such a full life.

As expected.

Not long after, Horus also arrived. Seeing only Fulgrim sitting inside, his clothes disheveled.

He roared, "Where is Fulgrim!"

"He said he went to the laboratory to deal with some experimental issues. Are you looking for him urgently?"

Looking at Fulgrim's clueless face, Horus didn't say another word and ran out.

Fulgrim: ???

Until Abaddon ran over, panting, and told him, "The entire Soul Drinkers Legion has rebelled!"

After speaking, the other party continued to chase after Horus.

Hearing the news of Fulgrim's rebellion, Fulgrim was completely bewildered. He had no idea what was going on.

"How is this possible! The False Emperor would tolerate such heresy? How is that possible?"

"This can't be right? No one loyal to the False Emperor could be Fulgrim!"

"Impossible! This is absolutely impossible!"

Fulgrim fell into confusion, unable to believe that Fulgrim had not fallen to Chaos. "Is there some mistake?"

"No mistake! Absolutely no mistake. The Soul Drinkers Legion received your mission and has already escorted the envoy to the Adeptus Mechanicus on Mars."

Facing the extremely stern Tech-Priest of the Adeptus Mechanicus, Horus's expression was as ugly as if he had eaten a Gretchin's fart.

"Francis! One day, you will fall into my hands again."

Horus suppressed his anger, but in the end, he couldn't help but punch a machine.

BANG!

The ten-meter-tall machine shattered on the ground, and he left with a dark face.

The Tech-Priest beside him was silent for a long time and said, "Why are you angry and smashing my machine? Now it's good, it will take more than ten days to repair!"

In the Warp.

On a Dictator-class battleship.

"Primarch, how should we deal with this old geezer?" Salpador held a Multi-Melta gun to Fabius's head, staring intently at him.

Fabius said with a mournful face, "We're all on the same side, why draw weapons? I'm just here as a student to learn gene modification from you, Primarch."

"Uh, you might be mistaken. We're not on the same side. We've betrayed the Emperor again, and now we're enemies. Do you have anything else to say?"

Francis stroked his chin, quite interested in this old man.

"...You can actually switch factions back and forth." Fabius considered himself experienced, but he had never seen someone rebel and then repent.

What was the difference between this and him killing someone and then saying, "Sorry, I didn't mean to"?

Fabius looked at the envoy on the ground, who had already been beaten into a pulp, and smelled the scorched protein in the air. He was sure the other party wasn't joking.

"Is that all your last words? Then we'll proceed."

After speaking, the Multi-Melta gun aimed at Fabius's head began to heat up, and time seemed to slow down considerably as Fabius's brain conducted billions of negotiations and calculations.

Sizzle sizzle~

Just as his head began to emit the aroma of roasted meat, Fabius immediately said, "My gene technology is good, I can be your assistant! Actually, I didn't defect to Chaos, I just wanted to research technology."

"You know, that kind of forbidden technology! I'm just a pure Apothecary, I don't have any rebellious thoughts. Hahaha~"

Fabius laughed awkwardly until the muzzle above his head gradually cooled down, and he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"You guys help him understand our gene technology well."

As soon as Francis finished speaking, dozens of Soul Drinkers surrounded him, stroking their chins and smiling at him.

"Hehehe~ Let you see our treasures!"

After they dragged Fabius into the laboratory, Francis ordered someone to clean up the bloodstains on the ground.

Then he went to the Astropath and said, "Contact the Hrafnkel, ask him why I was exposed, and if he remembers the list of traitor Primarchs I gave him."

As the Astropath's psychic power was unleashed, they quickly contacted the Hrafnkel.

"What list of traitor Primarchs? I don't remember," Leman Russ said, clutching his head in pain upon receiving the information, completely forgetting about it.

"...Word Bearers, Night Lords, Iron Warriors, and half of Alpha Legion have already betrayed."

As Francis finished speaking, he saw the Astropath open his eyes and say, "The communication was inexplicably interrupted, and we need to re-establish contact."

Francis: "..."

There was nothing he could do. He could only wait for the communication to be restored before sending the message.

Fortunately, the Adeptus Mechanicus had not yet split.

When they escaped, they happened to encounter the battleship Horus had sent to the Adeptus Mechanicus on Mars, so he decided to help him check on the Martian Mechanicus.

As for things like illegally recovered STC databases or requests for the Forge Master to support the Warmaster, it was better not to let them do such things that would affect unity.

Just then, the battleship sounded an alarm.

Salpador rushed over and said, "We've suddenly encountered a large number of Chaos Demons! They're heading in your direction."

"...Such a coincidence?" Francis shook his head, hoping he was overthinking.

When he arrived on deck, he saw a giant Thunderbull Daemon King standing there, wildly swinging its massive pincers, surrounded by Chaos Demons primarily in purple, pink, and black.

"Roar roar roar~"

Especially when Francis appeared, they charged even more ferociously.

"No way..."