Because of the Emperor's presence, the victory banquet ended in silence. The Primarchs' legions dispersed to various war zones to rest and refit, while the Primarchs themselves began preparing for their brief return journey.
The transport ship transformed from Mimic would carry the Primarchs and Flame and Thunder back to Terra at the greatest possible speed.
On the night after the war's end, Qin Mo quietly leafed through the detailed records of the Great Crusade, examining information on those xenos and other human factions.
He was not preparing for strategy. He simply wanted to read it.
The Emperor sat across from Qin Mo, one leg crossed over the other. He seemed relaxed, but his expression was extremely serious as he read the documents resting on his knee.
They were documents concerning abhumans.
During this brief expedition so far, the Imperium had already discovered many kinds of xenos and abhumans.
The Emperor flipped through the files on those abhuman races.
"Cat-people."
"Fish-people."
After reading for a while, the Emperor casually placed the documents on the table and said to Qin Mo in what sounded like a complaint, "Human subspecies come in every variety. Some have cat heads and human bodies; some, on ocean worlds, have become fish-bodied and human-headed. But after testing, the Imperium's research institutions have confirmed that, academically speaking, they truly are human subspecies."
Qin Mo shifted his attention from the documents on the table to the Emperor. "How will these human subspecies be dealt with?"
Malcador was responsible for the Imperium's racial affairs. He was the Emperor's man, and Qin Mo did not know much about such matters. Still, he felt that Malcador's actions would definitely be influenced by the Emperor.
"I don't know." The Emperor shook his head. "At present, I do not decide a race's fate."