Happy times always passed in a flash. Even though the flow of time had been altered within Malcador's private garden, it could not keep the moment of parting from ever arriving.
The nodes of fate were like unavoidable dams along the river of time. Perhaps some fish leaped from the water, glimpsed a corner of the future, and struggled upstream to evade danger, but in the end, they would still be swept toward the dam by the tide.
Whether they were smashed to pieces or leaped over the Dragon Gate remained unknown.
Once every primarch brother had enjoyed the feast and left behind precious group photographs, everyone immediately returned from their relaxed state to normality.
Lox made several copies of the photographs and sent them to each primarch as keepsakes. As for the primarchs who had not attended, he would give them theirs at a suitable time.
Dorn returned to the heavy task of reinforcing Terra's defenses. There were now hundreds of billions of mortal soldiers gathered within the Solar System, along with even more logistical personnel.
Even a primarch had to devote immense effort and thought to deploying such vast numbers of troops. Fortunately, the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence and Stone Men had multiplied Rogal Dorn's efficiency, allowing him to devote his precious energy to matters of greater value.
Large numbers of Stone Men were being assembled and produced in the forge world of Ganymede. These cutting-edge bionics, with their formidable learning and execution capabilities, far surpassed most Imperial bureaucrats in both competence and character.
Lox and Malcador were secretly advancing the widespread adoption of Stone Men, bringing them into Imperial administration, military affairs, scientific research, and many other fields.
After spending some time with the Stone Men and testing them, Rogal Dorn decisively recruited more of them