"Chapter Master, stop checking. It's real."
"Powerful Warp turbulence can alter the local flow of time. Stargazers and Astropaths have to cross-check it."
"But... ten years really have passed. It's now year 310 of the Chapter Era."
The moment Evan arrived, something felt wrong. Where had all these Neophytes come from? Hou Wenk World had participated in the Commorragh campaign, and its warriors had joined the Chapter directly afterward rather than returning to dormancy. There shouldn't have been several companies stationed here.
At first, Evan had thought they were secretly hoarding troops and hadn't committed their full strength when the Psyker War Drum sounded.
But instead...
They had been lost for ten years...
I missed the three-hundredth anniversary! My feast~~~
There were benefits, too. At least the army enjoyed far more peace and quiet while Evan was away from the Main Force.
The Great Thousand World had been recuperating. Everyone feared receiving a summons from the missing Evan's Psyker War Drum in the middle of a critical war, so they had avoided any major operations.
Half the troops in each region stayed to defend their territory. The other half embraced the piratical spirit of William's time wandering astray, raiding and plundering rebellious worlds and xenos strongholds.
The enemy's defensive density steadily declined, while their active forces were conveniently drawn together.
Imagine several thousand Primaris Warriors wearing Terminator-grade armour throwing their weight around in regions already starved of resources.
Any faction would shudder at the sight.
Once rebellious worlds were thrown into internal chaos, how could they spare the strength to attack our territory?
What? What if we ran into warlike Orks?
A certain old Necron general had proved extremely reliable. His cleanup was thorough.
The Great Thousand World sat right beside the Sautekh Dynasty. The Storm King intercepted the