I See You're Really Starving

On the return trip, Hogg and the others would first return to Macragge to drop off Guilliman, then resupply with supplies and personnel before passing through Alicia and breaking into the Solar Segmentum, eventually entering the Solar System.

Ever since Khorne had infused him with power, Hogg had been digesting the huge amount he'd eaten at full capacity, leaving him somewhat unstable. The Emperor, who was monitoring him constantly, ordered him to return to Terra for an examination.

If anyone could be called Hogg's benefactor, it was the Emperor—and Khorne. When Hogg had first returned, he wouldn't have been able to save up enough food for his juvenile stage if Big Brother Khorne hadn't showered him with rockets. This time, he'd enjoyed himself even more.

But eating too much was never a good thing. With Hogg's current strength, he could devour at most one Greater Daemon weakened by entering Realspace. If he hadn't timed his escape from Khorne's domain just right, he might have been stuffed to bursting.

Hogg might not die if he burst, but the outcome would certainly be ugly. At best, he'd lose the ability to move. At worst, he might turn into a living dirty bomb, blasting a hole in Realspace and becoming a mindless monster that destroyed everything.

Hogg might make killing Daemon Primarchs look as easy as killing chickens, but that was mainly because Greater Daemons from the Warp were severely weakened when they entered Realspace. A Daemon that mortals could take down with enough Melta weapons might be a fearsome warrior in the Warp, capable of cleaving a continental shelf in two with a single strike.

That was in the far future, during the 40K era, when Chaos ran rampant and the Veil had weakened. The weakening was even greater now, and most Chaos forces fighting on someone else's turf were still keeping hidden.

After completing his routine daily patrol, Hogg returned to his laboratory and climbed into a growth pod. It was equipped with numerous safeguards to ensure no one could spy on him.

Once he dropped his disguise, Hogg began to roar. His twisted flesh could no longer maintain a human shape, collapsing into a boiling mass of flesh that occasionally flashed with Psionic Energy and blood-red flames.

That was right! Hogg had been keeping up his disguise ever since leaving Khorne's domain. He had to make sure no one discovered his condition, so his subordinates wouldn't worry. But the Emperor's recall had convinced him that his condition was already known.

The high-powered Blackstone Device he had salvaged from the Necrons began to operate. Emerald energy poured into the growth pod, stabilizing Hogg's form and suppressing the activity of the Chaos energy.

As time passed, the boiling tissue began to coalesce into Hogg's shape, and the immediate danger was dealt with. Hogg opened the pod and stepped out.

"Damn it, this time I'm really screwed. I need to come up with something. I can't hide in the lab every time."

Feeling as if his body were about to explode, Hogg turned his gaze toward his second-generation Raider armor. He had an idea. If the Raider could merge with his flesh, why couldn't the Blackstone Device? The uninstalled device was brought from the storeroom to the laboratory.

Thanks to his pocket dimension, he could miniaturize the Blackstone Device, which required enormous amounts of power. He put the massive energy reactor in the pocket dimension and implanted the dismantled Blackstone Device in his abdomen. But even then, it was still too big. To ensure its power output could keep him stable, he connected the cables, turning himself into an irregular lump of dough.

Hogg was extremely dissatisfied with this appearance, so he had to keep making adjustments. To make himself look as humanoid as possible, he removed the casing that restricted energy leakage. His body was tough enough to prevent any energy from escaping, so he kept only the basic internal components.

Like a PC-building enthusiast, he gradually stuffed the parts into his own body. To keep the device running stably and stop himself from unconsciously consuming it, he grew a membrane around it for protection.

When there was too much water, he added flour; when there was too much flour, he added water. Once the modifications were finally complete, Hogg had become a giant fully eight meters tall.

There was no helping it. The original Blackstone Device had been nearly as big as a six-story building. Shrinking it to this size was already the limit of Hogg's current technology.

With his worries taken care of, Hogg decided to leave the laboratory and see how Angron was doing. The problem was, the corridors built for people to walk through were far too narrow for an eight-meter-tall Hogg. He could only hunch over and wriggle his way along.

The Blackwatch on patrol saw a lump of flesh squeezing into the corridor and thought Xenos had invaded. Hogg almost got shot by his own sons, nearly making it a case of father killing son. Not that bullets would have killed him anyway.

After telling the Blackwatch that this was his new form, Hogg didn't explain further. He continued wriggling toward Angron's room, leaving behind a group of Blackwatch whose eyes were filled with envy.

"Captain, the Primarch's gotten so huge! He's almost as big as a Knight Mech. I wish I could get that big, too. That's so badass!"

Though they had always believed the Blackwatch's average height was the perfect size, none of them liked being called short. They dreamed that one day they, too, might grow bigger and more Waaaagh, leaving their cousins who'd once mocked them speechless. So Hogg, now a giant in the truest sense, earned envious looks from all his sons.

Angron was reading. Though electronic office systems had been widely adopted aboard the Blacklight, there were still vast quantities of printed books. Over the years, Blackwatch who loved books had scavenged many that were out of print, even antique relics, and brought them aboard the Blacklight.

As a young man on Nuceria, Angron had never received a proper education. He hadn't even touched a book. Simply put, he was illiterate.

The database the Emperor had implanted in him when creating him kept him from being a fool, but Angron enjoyed the feeling of his hands—hands that had only ever held weapons—touching paper. It brought him genuine happiness.

As Angron continued browsing, a book on the shelf caught his attention. It had been handled so often that its cover was worn. Curious, he pulled it down.

"Marcus's Identification Guide! Who's Marcus?"

Even more curious, Angron opened the book and saw all kinds of photographs pasted inside. Without exception, they showed women wearing very little clothing—or perhaps they should be called females, since there were also many Abhumans, and even Xenos.

As he read on, Angron learned that it was the travelogue of a Rogue Trader named Marcus. It mainly recounted how this legendary merchant had met beautiful companions from all walks of life during his travels, including humans, tiger people, Eldar, Ogryn, and all kinds of strange species he couldn't name. In the end, while exploring a Necron tomb, the legendary hero had fallen in love at first sight with a female Necron Overlord and set off to explore beyond the Galaxy with all his beloved companions.

Seeing that no one was around, Angron felt safe continuing to read. It gave him a little thrill.

As Angron flipped through the exotic pin-up photos Marcus had pasted into the book, a huge body squeezed into the library. It was Hogg, who had been looking for him.

Hogg spotted the page with the Necron pin-up at a glance, along with Angron trying to shut the book. For the first time, Hogg was taken aback. After a long pause, all he could manage was, "Angron! I see you're really starving."