41 Can Skip Work, Of Course He Has To Skip Work

Endurance.

Now.

"This is a private observation room."

Mortarion's voice echoed in the empty space.

A whole piece of reinforced glass was embedded in the dark gray wall, starlight slowly scattering in from the other side of the universe.

Several dark green banners bearing the Death Guard symbol hung slowly from the walls, and two rows of black sofas were casually placed in the center of the room.

Mortarion stood by the window, watching the vast and infinite universe outside.

Hades looked out, countless stars twinkling, the deep space seeming to swallow everything.

In the very center of the observation window, a planet shrouded in green mist was slowly rotating, a hazy, mossy green embracing it.

A massive, mechanically shimmering ring hovered above it, with ships flying out from the ring from time to time.

Barbarus.

The faint, dim yellow light shone on Hades' face, fine dust floating in the weak light.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

Mortarion's hoarse voice sounded.

"But who would have thought that such a beautiful planet would be so ugly beneath the mist."

"Will the Imperium help improve Barbarus's toxic environment?"

Hades said casually, In the original plot, the Emperor used the promise of transforming Barbarus's environment as bait, hoping Mortarion would join the Imperium, which Mortarion naturally rejected.

Hades hoped that since Mortarion had already killed Nac'Lare, he wouldn't refuse the Imperium's proposal to transform Barbarus's environment.

As the Primarch's homeworld, wouldn't it be nice to have a prosperous construction after reducing the tithe?

"They did make that suggestion."

"But I wonder, will the people of Barbarus become weak if they lose their toxic environment?"

Hades was speechless.

But in fact, not only did Mortarion have this idea, but Leman Russ, the Primarch of the Sixth Legion, thought so too.

Leman Russ's homeworld was a death world covered in ice and snow—Fenris. When the Imperium made Fenris the new recruitment point for the Sixth Legion, Leman Russ demanded that the people of Fenris not be informed of the Imperium's existence.

He believed that only those who had independently overcome the ice and cold could become warriors of the Sixth Legion.

Hades couldn't directly deny this view either, but in his simple values, since it was possible to make the whole better, there was no need to deliberately use hardship to temper others.

After all, not everyone wants to become a war machine like a Space Marine; some people may just want to live their lives peacefully.

Hades thought for a moment, then he spoke, "Resilience is an innate quality of the people of Barbarus. It flows in the blood of every Barbaran and will not change because of changes in the environment."

"Moreover, I believe that a non-toxic environment will allow the new generation of Barbarus to grow stronger."

Mortarion was silent.

He thought of those children who died young because they had inhaled too much toxic gas, their skin turning purple.

Were they weak? If given a chance to grow up, would they become good warriors?

He hesitated.

"Perhaps... I should accept the Imperium's proposal."

Hades smiled.

"I don't think you'll regret this decision."

"The people of Barbarus will be grateful to you."

Mortarion shrugged.

"I hope they don't become cowardly because of this decision."

At the same time, Mortarion reached out and touched the glass. Instantly, an image appeared on the glass—

It was as if a huge warship was really slowly floating in the universe outside the glass.

Huge and cold dark green, the silver-white metallic luster flashing mercilessly, a smooth hull like a dagger, slender spikes protruding from the bow, stabbing straight into the void.

The streamlined dark gray metal frame, the huge Imperial double-headed eagle emblem on the plow-shaped bow, the golden double-headed eagle inexplicably out of sync with the style of this giant ship.

Next to the double-headed eagle emblem was an iron-gray skull emblem of the same size—the Death Guard's emblem.

Beside it, those exquisite small warships paled in comparison, merely mediocre ants.

This giant ship was like the scythe in the hands of the Grim Reaper, silently cutting through the universe.

Hades certainly knew what it was—the Death Guard's flagship, a Gloriana-class Battleship, the Endurance!

It was truly... beautiful.

Unlike the church with engines strapped on that Hades had imagined, the understated and cold Endurance was every bit the cosmic warship anyone could dream of.

Such a beautiful flagship, given to Mortarion by the Emperor for free.

Hades admitted, for a moment, he was jealous.

Mortarion smiled, "This is the Endurance; the warship we're currently on."

"It's beautiful."

"I decorated her; she wasn't this pretty before."

Indeed, the grey-green primary color was Mortarion's touch; before him, the Dusk Raiders used crimson.

"Too much decoration would only obscure her natural beauty."

"In the future, I plan to engrave all the battles the Death Guard has fought on her prow."

Mortarion rarely smiled with such pride, You little showoff!

Hades felt his teeth itch.

Afterward, Mortarion told Hades to start training with the company tomorrow; these next few Terra-standard months would be a small training period.

Hades would first need to familiarize himself with how a Space Marine fought by following the company.

Even though Mortarion desperately wanted to place Barbarus natives in the company's management positions as soon as possible, the Barbarus warriors, fresh from their transformation surgery and with an average training time of no more than six standard Terra months, were currently unfit for any position.

They hadn't even met the standard of being a qualified Space Marine yet.

If Mortarion wanted to assign Barbarus natives to management positions, he'd need veteran officers with seniority to be short on manpower, and the new generation of Barbarus natives would have to earn their merits in battle before he could even begin to consider it.

So, for now, all of the Legion's affairs were still handled by Terra-born veterans.

Mortarion couldn't openly offer Hades any help either; after all, as a Primarch, he needed to establish his authority within the Legion, and promoting a "rookie" in the eyes of the Terra-born so soon after taking office would be a rash move.

Following Mortarion, Hades basically toured all the places on the Endurance that he might frequent in the future, taking in some of the scenic spots, or high-tech, dazzling, and visually impressive areas.

They started to return, Mortarion and Hades riding the Endurance's internal elevator, slowly ascending towards the Space Marine barracks.

Looking at the dense rows of floor numbers on the elevator, Hades suddenly remembered something during the long elevator ride.

Wait, Mortarion came to find him alone?

The Death Guard had another highly distinctive unit, the Primarch Mortarion's personal guard—the Deathshroud.

These warriors, clad in heavy Terminator armor, would silently follow Primarch Mortarion at a distance of forty-nine paces to protect the Primarch's safety.

And the warriors who became Deathshroud would be marked as "deceased" in their own companies.

Maybe it's because they're still in the shakedown period, so Mortarion hasn't established the Deathshroud yet, Hades thought.

But something still wasn't right?

During the "country bumpkin visits the big city" tour just now, Hades hadn't seen any other Death Guard besides some mortal crew members and servants.

Hades looked at Mortarion somewhat cautiously, "Mortarion, you are currently the commander of the Death Guard, right?"

"Mm."

Mortarion hummed pleasantly.

"...Then you must be very busy right now?"

As if realizing what Hades was getting at, Mortarion's usual calm voice sounded, "It's break time now."

Hades glanced silently at the elevator wall, which displayed the time,

[Standard Terra Time 21:36]

Given that Space Marines were all tough guys who only slept four hours a day, it was far from break time at this point.

Hades looked at Mortarion again.

Mortarion was silent.

Silence was the Cambridge of tonight.

Finally, Mortarion couldn't take it anymore.

"I had First Company Captain Barasyn temporarily oversee the Legion's training."

So you're telling me you skipped out on work to come here?!

(;Д｀) Holy crap, some QQ Reading reader has been giving me recommendation votes one by one. They cast over two hundred votes last night, spending an hour or two doing it. Who are you, man? You really don't have to do this! (;Д｀) It makes me feel like someone's trying to set me up! (;Д｀)

Also, to my QQ Reading friends, I might not be able to see your comments here. I'm very sorry.

(;Д｀)

Happy reading! (òó)