The Day the Duke of Zhou Feared Rumors

Uslan had to admit that the harm caused by Abaddon's vicious scheme was enough to surpass that of an entire Legion of traitor Space Marines.

Against the Imperium's current strength, even if Abaddon relied on the favor of the Chaos Gods to bring the newly fallen Luna Wolves Legion over from another timeline, they would not be able to stir up much trouble.

The Imperium of Man had now recovered from the ravages of war: new equipment, new warships, and even the Astartes were undergoing Primaris upgrades, not to mention the Iron Men Legions watching like tigers from the sidelines.

The age of the Great Crusade had passed. Humanity's overall strength had long surpassed what it once was.

But Abaddon's scheme concerning the "Second Imperium" would bypass the Imperium's formidable military power and strike directly at the most sensitive and fragile part of its foundations: trust.

The righteous Guilliman had once betrayed the Imperium as well. Lion El'Jonson, who proclaimed absolute loyalty and claimed to have no secrets, and Sanguinius, the Emperor's holiest son—they too had false and hypocritical sides.

It could be said that the more humanity revered and believed in the Primarchs, the harder they would be hit upon learning their idols' dirty secrets.

The higher they were raised, the harder they fell.

Trust was the strongest thing in the world, and also the most fragile.

Once suspicion began to spread, the situation would spiral out of control.

The Duke of Zhou feared rumors in his day; Wang Mang seemed humble before he usurped the throne.

If humanity began to doubt even the loyal Primarchs, if they could no longer trust them completely, it would deal a fatal blow to the cohesion of the entire Imperium.

Taking a city was inferior; taking hearts was superior. What Abaddon wanted