Leman Russ looked at Diego, then at Magnus, and shook his head.
Right... That heartless Emperor was planning to dump all the dirty, exhausting work on me, wasn't he?
Lin Fan cleared his throat. With Nurgle still blocked by the bushes behind them, he turned back and carefully explained the Imperium's current situation.
Some of it was familiar to Leman Russ. After all, during his years roaming the Warp with Diego, they had spoken at length, and he had also found some Imperial chronicle booklets aboard drifting space hulks.
But what Lin Fan described was bizarre enough that even Magnus, who had embraced Tzeentch, kept listening while loudly calling Lin Fan a shameless liar.
"That is the Lord of Pleasure! Damn it! Do you even understand what you're saying? She is the embodiment of pleasure and indulgence, the mistress of all torment and abuse!"
"Yes, yes, we know all that. We don't need an idiot like you explaining it." Leman Russ snapped at Magnus, then tore a huge clump of wolf fur from his cloak and stuffed it into Magnus's endlessly chattering mouth. That would keep him quiet for a while.
Leman Russ then looked at Lin Fan with a cold, stern expression. If rescuing Lin Fan had not been the Emperor's order, he would have kicked him off long ago.
"Is this a joke?"
"It isn't a joke, though I understand how you feel. Your brothers had roughly the same reaction when they heard the news."
"My brothers?"
"The Emperor didn't tell you about that either?"
"No... I've been busy pursuing Magnus. I haven't had much contact with Father."
Lin Fan was speechless at the Emperor's silence. He did not know whether the Emperor could not be bothered to explain or had simply forgotten to. So Lin Fan began