You Must Be Starving

For the return journey, Hogg and his crew first had to head back to Macragge to drop off Guilliman, then resupply with materials and personnel on-site, before cutting through Alicia to breach the Solar Segmentum and finally enter the Sol System.

Ever since being infused by Khorne, an overstuffed Hogg had been struggling to digest the excess, leaving his condition somewhat unstable. Emperor, monitoring him at all times, urged him to return to Terra immediately for an examination.

If one were to ask who Hogg's benefactors were, aside from Emperor, it would be Khorne. If not for the "rocket" gifts Khorne had showered upon him when he first returned, Hogg never would have been able to stockpile enough rations for his juvenile stage; this time, he had truly gorged himself.

However, overindulgence is never a good thing. With his current strength, Hogg could at most swallow a weakened Greater Daemon that had manifested in the material universe. If he hadn't timed his departure from Khorne's domain perfectly, he likely would have been burst asunder.

Had he been burst, Hogg might not have died, but the outcome would certainly have been unsightly. At best, he would be rendered immobile; at worst, he might have transformed into a living dirty bomb, tearing a hole in the material universe and becoming a mindless monster that destroyed everything in its path.

Do not be fooled by how Hogg slaughters Daemon Primarchs like chickens; it is primarily because Greater Daemons from the Warp are vastly weakened upon entering the material universe. A daemon that can be gunned down by mortals with melta weapons in the material realm might be a terrifying entity capable of cleaving tectonic plates in the Warp.

This is even during the era where Chaos ravages the 40K galaxy and the veil is thin; the suppression is even more severe now, and most Chaos forces operating on away turf are still keeping to the shadows.

After completing his daily routine of inspections, Hogg returned to his laboratory and placed himself into a cultivation pod, where numerous protective facilities ensured he would not be spied upon by anyone.

Shedding his disguise, Hogg began to roar. His twisted flesh could no longer maintain a human form, melting into a pool of boiling gore that flickered intermittently with arcs of Psionic Energy and blood-red flames.

Yes! Hogg had been maintaining a facade ever since leaving Khorne's domain. He had to ensure his condition remained hidden from others to keep his subordinates at ease, but Emperor's recall order confirmed that his state had already been discovered.

A high-power Blackstone device, salvaged from the Necron, began to operate, infusing emerald energy into the cultivation pod to stabilize Hogg's form and dampen the volatility of the Chaos energy.

As time passed, the boiling tissue began to coalesce back into Hogg's shape. With the initial crisis averted, Hogg opened the pod and stepped out.

"Damn it, I'm really in a bad spot this time. I have to find a way out; I can't just keep hiding in the lab forever."

Feeling his body on the verge of rupturing, Hogg cast his gaze toward his Mark II Raider armor. He hit upon an idea: if the Raider could integrate into his flesh, why couldn't the Blackstone device? The uninstalled Blackstone equipment was transported from the storage room to the lab.

Thanks to the existence of his pocket dimension, the Blackstone device—which required massive energy input—could be miniaturized. The massive energy reactor was placed into the pocket dimension, and the dismantled Blackstone components were implanted into Hogg's abdominal cavity. Even so, the volume was still too large. To ensure the power output remained stable enough to sustain himself, and with the addition of connecting cables, Hogg became a lump of irregular dough.

Deeply dissatisfied with this appearance, Hogg had no choice but to continue refining it. To keep his silhouette as humanoid as possible, the outer shell meant to prevent energy leakage was removed—Hogg's own physical density was sufficient to contain the energy—leaving only the essential internal components.

Like a DIY enthusiast, he stuffed the parts into his own flesh bit by bit. To ensure the device operated stably without being eroded by his own subconscious, he generated a membrane around the apparatus for protection.

Adding flour when the dough is too wet, and water when it is too dry—Hogg, having finally completed his modifications, had transformed into a giant standing eight meters tall.

There was no other way; the original Blackstone device was nearly the size of a six-story building, and shrinking it to this volume was already the limit of Hogg's current technology.

With his worries behind him, Hogg intended to leave the lab to see how Angron was doing. However, the awkward reality was that the corridors designed for human passage were far too narrow for an eight-meter-tall Hogg, forcing him to crawl through them with his body curled up.

The patrolling Blackwatch saw only a ball of flesh squeezing through the corridor and, thinking it was an alien invasion, nearly fired upon their own master—a "fatherly" misunderstanding that Hogg narrowly escaped, though their fire wouldn't have killed him anyway.

After informing the Blackwatch that this was his new form, Hogg offered no further explanation and continued to crawl toward the room where Angron was staying, leaving behind a group of Blackwatch soldiers wearing expressions of envy.

"Captain, the Primarch has grown so huge! He's almost as big as a Knight Mech. If only I could grow that big too, it's so badass."

Although they firmly believed that the average height of the Blackwatch was the most perfect form, none of them liked being called short. They all fantasized about one day becoming larger, more "Waaaagh," and making the cousins who once mocked them drop their jaws. Thus, Hogg, having become a giant in the true sense of the word, received looks of envy from his progeny.

Angron was reading. Although electronic office work had been popularized on the Blacklight, there was still a massive collection of physical books. Thanks to years of scavenging by Blackwatch soldiers who loved literature, many items that were out of print or even considered antiques had been brought aboard the Blacklight.

As a youth, Angron had never received a proper education on Nuceria, nor had he even touched a book. Simply put, he was illiterate.

While he possessed the database implanted by Emperor during his creation, which prevented him from being a fool, Angron enjoyed the sensation of his hands—which were used to gripping weapons—touching paper. It brought him genuine happiness.

Just as Angron reached for another book, a frequently handled, worn-out volume on the shelf caught his attention. Driven by curiosity, he pulled it down.

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

An even more curious Angron opened the book and saw various photos pasted inside. Without exception, they were all of women—or rather, females—wearing very little clothing. There were many sub-humans, and even aliens.

As Angron continued reading, he learned that this was the travelogue of a Rogue Trader named Marcus. It primarily recounted how this legendary merchant had encountered various beauties on his journey, including humans, tiger-folk, Eldar, Ogryn, and all sorts of strange races whose names he couldn't pronounce. In the end, this legendary Champion had fallen in love at first sight with a female Necron Overlord while excavating a Necron tomb, and had flown off into the galaxy with his beauties to explore.

Seeing no one around, Angron felt at ease to continue reading, which gave him a little thrill.

Just as Angron was flipping through the photos of alien species that Marcus had pasted into the book, a massive body squeezed into the library. It was none other than Hogg, who had been searching for Angron.

Catching a glimpse of the Necron photo on that page and Angron trying to close the book, Hogg was shocked for the first time. After a long pause, he could only manage to say: "Angron! I see you're truly famished."