The purge might not have counted as a success. The combined fleet itself had barely caught so much as a glimpse of the pirates.
But in terms of results, it had hardly been a complete failure.
The pirate hideouts concealed within the Maelstrom had been utterly destroyed, and the Men of Iron had brutally cut the pirate fleet in half.
Although Huron's whereabouts remained unknown, Jaghatai believed he would soon emerge again to cause trouble for the Imperium.
Juba's body had recovered, however. Though he had spent a long time bedridden, Jaghatai believed that once he resumed training for a while, he would soon be able to stand on the battlefield again.
Perhaps this was the Emperor's way of giving Juba a chance to exact revenge himself.
In fact, the Panacea had not only repaired the damage to Juba's body, but had also begun steadily enhancing his gene expression.
His body was larger than before, his muscles firmer, and his thinking increasingly sharp. Once he resumed training, Juba soon discovered the changes in his body.
Even though he knew these effects came from the legendary Panacea, that did not stop him from attributing everything to a miracle wrought by the Emperor's will.
After all, word had it that these Men of Iron had been recovered by the esteemed Imperial Regent, Roboute Guilliman, under the guidance of the Emperor's will.
The outcome of this string of coincidences inexplicably made the corners of a certain being's mouth twitch in the Empyrean above.
Yet none of this affected realspace.
As numerous Men of Iron industrial ships arrived at the battlefield, the Lucian Adeptus Mechanicus fleet, which had been preparing to depart, quietly shut down its engines.
The combined fleet had disbanded, and the Red Corsairs had vanished without a trace. Calgar had no