While the Emperor focused more of his attention on Qin Mo, the clone Primarchs and the Iron Warrior named Locke had just captured a fortress.
The ground was littered with the corpses of mortal slaves, yet there were scarcely any Iron Warrior traitors in sight.
Only then did Perturabo display a noticeable emotional reaction before Horus and the others.
"This is supposed to be a fortress?"
Perturabo smashed the triple-barreled Melta Cannon positioned at the fortress's main firing point with one punch, kicking aside several mortal slave corpses as he raged.
"I thought this was a public latrine! We can come in whenever we want and leave whenever we want!"
"Forget us—even a squad of Thunder Warriors, a squad of Astartes, or a squad of Inquisitors could come and go freely through this damned public toilet!"
Perturabo's anger was not without reason.
The clone Primarchs could clearly tell that they had already penetrated quite deeply.
Locke directly pointed out that they were inside the Iron Ring Defense Line itself—the iron ring structure binding together seven planets covered in defensive fortresses.
It was naturally surprising that such a critical place had so few defenses.
This drove Perturabo's disappointment in the post-rebellion Iron Warriors to its absolute limit.
The other clone Primarchs had no particular attachment to the Iron Warriors, but they instinctively felt that something was seriously wrong with the situation.
Given how lax the defenses were, there was no need to hurry to complete their mission and leave, so they gathered together to discuss the matter.
"Did the Iron Warriors Legion decline drastically after the rebellion?" Horus asked Locke.
"I don't know." Locke shook his head. "After all, I wasn't in the Legion for very long."
"Then is there anything here that strikes you as particularly wrong?" Horus asked again.