The Value of Ms. Euten Continues to Rise

In truth, Magnus had already guessed something when Hogg proposed the solution, but after seeing the results, he chose to selectively forget it.

However, reality is no fairy tale; there is no such thing as a lucky break, and he had no choice but to accept the facts.

The encounters within the phantasm had made him understand the wretched nature of the Warp, and this month of experimentation had taught him that the cause of the Legion's mutation was contamination by Warp energy.

Yet, for the sake of the Great Crusade, the Thousand Sons could not abandon the use of psychic powers. The gene-seed of the veterans had been fundamentally tainted, and he had to make a choice.

Whether to watch them endure agony as slaves to the Warp, or to let them depart with dignity and allow new blood to take their place and continue the fight for humanity's survival—in truth, he already had his answer.

Distraught, Magnus crawled up from the floor, silently using his psychic powers to cremate the remains of his fallen son, carefully collecting the ashes and compressing them into a small pyramid.

Watching the little Magnus, who was on the verge of being drowned in sorrow, Hogg felt he might have misunderstood something and hurried over to comfort him:

"Little Magnus! I didn't say that everyone who mutated has to die. I've looked at this one, and it was the most severely mutated case; the others can still be saved."

Hearing this, Magnus snapped back to his senses and roared:

"Why the hell didn't you say so sooner, you damn Dwarf Ogryn! I... I thought I was going to lose all my sons, you... sigh! Forget it!"

"You never asked, who knew what you were thinking? Besides, you participated in the experiments yourself; don't blame me if you couldn't understand the lab reports!"

Regaining his composure, Magnus wanted to laugh at the sky but couldn't bring himself to do it. Having experienced such great highs and lows these days, he was already numb; even if Emperor were paralyzed right now, he wouldn't even furrow his brow.

Having finalized the treatment plan, the two began their work. Hogg had already grasped the principles of the Blackstone device when he dismantled it, and he had ample experience in modification.

This time was different from his own situation; the mutated Thousand Sons could not withstand such a high-power null-field, so after reducing the power, the overall size of the device was significantly shrunk.

Possessing a wicked sense of humor, Hogg fashioned the Blackstone device directly into the shape of a coffin and named it the "Black Coffin," assuming the Thousand Sons wouldn't mind such a trifle.

For Hogg, as long as he had materials, he could conjure whatever he wanted out of thin air. Dozens of *Black Coffin*s were placed in the laboratory, and he directed Magnus to begin the installation.

Having completed the assembly, Magnus began to muster the Legion. The Fifteenth Legion, now reduced to only a thousand warriors, quickly gathered on the Blacklight, bringing with them several hundred stasis pods.

A large quantity of materials for manufacturing gene-seed was moved out of the Fifteenth Legion's warehouses and transported to the Blacklight.

After receiving the data packets sent by Hogg, the Tech-Priests of the Blacklight Cult began to examine every Thousand Son, categorizing them according to the degree of distortion.

*Space Marine*s with mild mutations were pressed directly into the *Black Coffin*s to have their gene-seeds excised, while several biological magi operated mechanical arms to scrape away the corruption, quickly removing all mutated organs.

Those with severe mutations were connected to life-support systems, having everything removable—from the head down—amputated, before being tossed into the Flesh Reshaping Chamber for a complete overhaul.

If you ask what to do if the head is also mutated? Naturally, give him a dignified end by burning him into ashes and packing them up for little Magnus.

As the saying goes, many hands make light work; the mobilized Blackwatch medical sergeants were also assigned a Black Coffin to gain experience.

In just two days, all surviving Thousand Sons had undergone surgery, and the mutated tissues had been completely excised.

However, this method was merely a stopgap for veterans whose gene-seed had already mutated, but Hogg had long since prepared a countermeasure.

Using Magnus's blood combined with a large amount of Blackstone material and the flesh tissue of a creature known as a Catachan Devil, Hogg created a psychic-blocking injection.

This injection would generate a living circulatory system within the subject's body that attached to the blood vessels, accelerating the replacement of all bodily tissues before the agent died and was expelled from the body after 7 Terra days.

Having collected enough materials, Hogg had already begun manufacturing new gene-seed. Once cultivation was complete, it could be implanted into these "blank slate" Thousand Sons, providing pure gene-seed for those who followed.

The Fifteenth Legion, having thoroughly resolved the mutation issue, regained its vitality, but Magnus established strict standards for the use of psychic powers within the Legion.

To ensure sufficient potential for rapid reinforcement, Magnus's personal reserves were completely exhausted. After having another warehouse's worth of blood drawn, he received the full set of shared technology from Hogg.

Returning to Terra, Magnus held a grand celebration in the plaza before the Imperial Palace to celebrate the rebirth of the Thousand Sons, and Emperor even found time to attend.

Hearing that there would be free food and drink, Hogg hurriedly brought the entire Blackwatch to offer congratulations. Seeing the Primarch who had solved the flesh mutation arrive, the Thousand Sons, filled with intense gratitude, warmly welcomed the Blackwatch.

This caused the gluttonous Blackwatch soldiers to stop their petty theft of food and pretend to greet their cousins as if nothing were amiss.

After the celebration, Magnus was summoned by Emperor to the palace, walking deep into the Gate of Endings buried beneath the earth. No one knew what happened inside, but soon the Fifteenth Legion began to mobilize.

Just as Magnus, having no more worries, intended to bid farewell to Hogg and prepare to participate in the Great Crusade to complete Emperor's plan, he was dragged by the mysterious Hogg into a room on the Blacklight.

"What are you doing?"

Honestly, even now, Magnus couldn't understand why Hogg possessed such immense strength in such a small body. He was dragged along, completely unable to resist.

"Little Magnus! Brother and I need to discuss something with you."

Hearing Hogg's uncharacteristically kind tone, Magnus, who had come to fully understand him, knew this guy was up to no good. Having been corrupted by Hogg, he lost his scholarly refinement:

"Speak, spit it out, I'm in a hurry to get to the Great Crusade! I only came over this time to say hello."

With a mysterious expression, Hogg ignored his bluster, dragged Magnus to the corner of the room, and twisted a vase, revealing a secret chamber before them.

Entering the secret chamber, Magnus saw three banners hanging on the wall, each depicting the distinctive emblems of the Blackwatch, the Ultramarines, and the World Eaters.

Beside them lay the banner of the Fourth Legion with its iron skull emblem, not yet hung on the wall. Seeing this, Magnus did not understand why Hogg had brought him here.

"Magnus, I hope you understand one thing: a person's power is limited. In this vast and cruel galaxy, even the power of a single Legion cannot solve everything.

So, we brothers in the back must huddle together for warmth. Guilliman and Angron have already agreed to form an alliance with me; now it's just you missing. Listen to your brother, playing with us has its benefits."

"So you want me to join your little clique? I'll join, I'll join, just move that Vortex Torpedo away! If that thing goes off, we're both finished."

Hearing the affirmative reply, Hogg released the torpedo nearby and said solemnly:

"Talk is cheap; I've already recorded this. You go to Macragge first and acknowledge Guilliman's mother, Euten, as your godmother, or I'll send this footage to Malcador and falsely accuse you of treason."

The points of contention were too dense; Magnus felt he couldn't speak.

"Little Magnus! You don't get it, do you? If we brothers get together, we can definitely achieve great things.

By then, with your world-shaking wisdom, Guilliman's superb martial arts, Angron's scientific research capabilities, plus my wise leadership, our Imperium Secundus will surely make Emperor feel gratified."

"?! Imperium Secundus? (⊙⊙)(._.) Gasp!!! I don't want to join!!!"

It has to be you, Alphabet Company, creating a female Adeptus Custodes directly—self-insert fanfiction, are we?