"Father, will you sacrifice us one day?"
In a golden dream, Magnus waited silently.
The golden giant arrived as promised, as always.
They were physically separated by tens of thousands of light-years, but in the dream, they were only a step apart.
"Is the sacrifice necessary?"
"Yes."
"Then I will."
Their answers were resolute, without a shred of hesitation.
In the dream, lies were meaningless.
Their psychic powers were both incredibly strong, far beyond what reality could contain.
Only in the Warp could they use their power freely, but Magnus was ultimately no match for him.
If he decided to sacrifice Magnus, Magnus would be doomed.
But before being sacrificed, he could cause great destruction to the Imperium.
He was not alone. He had his Legion, and his brothers.
They would resist. They would start a rebellion, making the galaxy burn.
They would march on Terra and seize the Golden Throne.
But the giant still did not lie to Magnus.
When faced with sacrifice, would Magnus resist?
Magnus's heart still struggled.
If his sacrifice was necessary, would he willingly give his life?
"For my own selfish reasons, or for the greater good?"
"I don't understand," Magnus murmured.
It was too early to talk about sacrificing himself for the Imperium. But if the time came when sacrifice was unavoidable, what would he choose?
For his own selfish reasons, or for the greater good?
"I do not intend to deceive. But for the final victory, anyone can be sacrificed, including me."
The giant's expression was as calm as a deep pool. Magnus stared at him quietly, then suddenly chuckled.
Yes, this was his father.
The Emperor of Mankind.
He deserved this honour.
Magnus: "Then don't let such a future come to pass. Don't let sacrifice become inevitable."
"The future is changeable. We still have a chance to change it."
The giant: "We all have choices, but we have no alternative."
Magnus understood. They all had the right to choose, but they had no room to choose.
The moment Prometheus stole fire from the peak of Mount Olympus, he had already prepared for the worst.
He just wanted to bring fire to mortals. He didn't care how mortals used it, nor what consequences he would bear.
Magnus's voice was surprisingly calm. "Father, I want to create my Legion. To save those cursed sons."
The giant: "I will help you. A fleet will arrive at Prospero soon. Half a year at most."
Magnus: "No. I will create my sons with my own hands."
The giant stared at his son. Finally, he gave a slight nod. "Alright."
Magnus woke up. He had been awake all along.
Primarchs don't dream. Their special physiology prevents them from entering REM sleep.
Their sons are the same. This allows them to remain awake even while sleeping, and to fight continuously for days without rest.
Besides them, the Custodes also don't dream and can fight continuously for months without rest.
If they do dream...
It cannot be a dream. It must be some kind of revelation.
Magnus had them more frequently than anyone. He dreamed every day, receiving new revelations from his dreams every day.
Some came from the truth. Some came from the golden giant.
His father could be very kind, and also very cruel.
It depended on whether they, his sons, shared the same goals as him.
If someone blocked his path, he would crush them without mercy, whoever they were.
Magnus did not want to block his path. Neither would his brothers.
But there were always things that wanted to use them to block the path. That was the root of the contradiction between them, and this contradiction could not be resolved.
Because whether the contradiction existed or not did not depend on them, nor on the Emperor of Mankind.
As long as He existed, as long as He did not give up, the contradiction would remain.
"Knock, knock."
Magnus heard the steady knock. He didn't need to open the door; he could sense the mortals outside with his psychic power.
It was Eskandar and Izara.
He had come to him, as promised.
"My Lord."
When the door opened, Khayonn lowered his head, respectful and slightly nervous.
Izara was even more uneasy than him. Magnus hadn't asked her to come. She had come because she was worried about her brother.
Izara looked up, as if summoning all her courage. "My Lord, please allow me to participate in the experiment alongside my brother."
"You cannot." Magnus shook his head.
Izara was brave. He appreciated that.
But the genetic modification technology for Astartes could only be applied to males.
Astartes are inferior clones of the Primarchs, and the Primarchs are male. Only candidates with a Y chromosome can undergo the process.
Although, with humanity's current technological level, changing a Y chromosome to an X chromosome is not difficult.
Although the complex gene fragments would become a mess due to the alteration, leading to a sharp increase in mortality and making it impossible to find the bugs, with continued research and improvement, the possibility of modifying female Astartes does exist.
But the Emperor would not allow such experiments.
Genetic modification projects inevitably consume vast amounts of time and resources. Adapting gene-seed to females would not significantly improve combat effectiveness. Instead, it would destroy the stability of the gene-seed. The input-output ratio is extremely low.
Custom-made Custodes can be female. Astartes cannot.
The selection criteria for Astartes must be ordinary mortals, not children born from male and female Astartes.
Otherwise, Astartes, originally meant to benefit mortals, would become a new monopolistic class, or even a new species, creating an irreparable rift between mortals and Astartes.
Even within the Astartes, they would split into two groups: hybrids modified from mortals and pure-bloods descended from Astartes parents.
Since a Astartes's genes come from the Primarch, Astartes of the same Legion, despite different origins, are genetically speaking, brothers from different mothers and fathers.
If there were female Astartes, any offspring they produced with male Astartes would also have a high probability of being freaks with extremely high mutation rates.
From any perspective, it would be all harm and no benefit.
But the Dark Age of Technology also had genetic enhancement procedures for women, though not as good as the Custodes or Astartes, still far beyond mortals.
Magnus also possessed this knowledge, but he would have to spend time searching through his vast directory.
Khayonn lowered his voice. "Go back, Izara."
Izara bit her lip nervously. "Then... can I just watch from the side?"
"The procedure will take a long time. But if you want to watch, you may. You can come to the lab to be with your brother anytime."
Magnus bent down to look at the young woman, a gentle smile appearing on his face.
He was not cold-hearted and emotionless. In this regard, he was more like his father, not the Emperor of Mankind.
...
In the laboratory, someone was already waiting.
Amon: "When will the experiment begin?"
"Now."
Magnus needed to conduct two control experiments: minors and adults.
In genetic modification procedures, the success rate for minors is significantly higher than for adults.
Because minors are still in their developmental stage, they have a higher adaptability to genetic surgery.
Although an adult's body is more mature, it has also lost its potential for modification, and its physical condition inevitably begins to decline.
This is not only true for Astartes modification procedures, but also for other genetic surgeries. Custodes, especially, must be trained from infancy.
Eskandar Khayonn and Amon were the subjects Magnus had chosen.
The laboratory was pure white. They lay on the operating tables.
But there was no medical equipment here, making it impossible to understand how Magnus would conduct the experiment.
Magnus held a dagger and gently cut his palm. "Father, what do you think a Primarch is?"
Caelan: "The Emperor's son and mine."
Izara was very surprised. "Big brother, when did you arrive?"
"I've been here all along."
Magnus's mouth twitched slightly. "Although I'm very happy, please answer me seriously."
Two drops of blood, brilliant like rubies, seeped from the wound on his palm and fell into a test tube of dark green solution.
The two tubes of solution shimmered with a strange light in the ripples, while his wound had already healed.
One drop per person.
Caelan: "A combination of Warp essence and mortal flesh."
Magnus: "A perfect combination. When Father created us, he did not directly create our bodies. Instead, he injected the genetic blueprint directly into our 'essence', allowing our essence to automatically evolve based on it."
This was fundamentally different from cloning technology.
Although the Emperor injected differentiated gene templates into each Primarch, what truly made them exhibit such different traits was the adaptive evolution of their essence in response to the genes.
The Emperor did not create the bodies that would house the Primarchs' Warp essences. Rather, the Warp essences, using the genes provided by the Emperor as a blueprint, prompted the gene sequences to self-optimise and iteratively evolve, the better to perfectly carry and match their essences.
The Emperor did not provide the Primarchs' bodies. They chose the bodies best suited for them.
Therefore, each Primarch's body is unique. Their essences and genes are mutually drawn to one another.
This is far more complex than simple genetic coding. It is a perfect fusion of the laws of the material universe and the laws of the Warp.
Magnus: "Different Primarchs have subtle similarities in their genes and organs. The function of many organs is unknown. Even Father cannot analyse them, because he did not create them."
"Although he provided the genetic blueprint, the iteratively evolved genes are now very different from before."
"Although we are all Primarchs, the genetic similarity between us may be lower than between mortals."
"But among all Primarchs, there are also some genes with shared characteristics."
"This is the basis of the Astartes implantation surgery. The eighteen gene-seed organs."
Astartes have a total of nineteen implanted organs. Eighteen of them come from the Primarchs.
The most important nineteenth organ, the Black Carapace, does not come from a Primarch. It was designed by Lady Amar Astarte and perfected by Ezekiel Sedayne.
The purpose of the Black Carapace is to allow Astartes to maximise control over their power armour.
Although power armour can be worn without the Black Carapace, the effect is greatly diminished.
Astartes who fail Black Carapace implantation are failures, relegated to serving the Legion as servants.
They are only one step away from being true Astartes, but that step is like a chasm.
Although other neural link technologies exist in the Imperium, the Black Carapace was designed specifically for Astartes, to adapt to their unique genes.
The Black Carapace is just a simplified adaptation system designed for Astartes. Primarchs do not possess it nor need it, because their physiology already far exceeds the scope of Astartes.
This dumpling was made just for that vinegar.
"Drink it." Magnus handed the two test tubes, now turned red, to the two men.
They tipped their heads back and downed the liquid. It slid down their throats into their stomachs. A burning sensation exploded in their stomachs, like swallowing a lump of burning charcoal.
"Now, rest."
Magnus injected anaesthetic into their necks. Shortly after the liquid was injected, they lay completely still on the operating tables.
Magnus: "My blood is just the medicinal catalyst. It provides the blueprint for their genes to adapt."
Caelan: "You're refining a great elixir?"
"You could say that. On the material level, their bodies will evolve based on my genes."
"But they cannot fully carry your genes. They wouldn't survive."
Magnus: "That's why I need to guide them. Conventional modification surgery requires growing unique organs from the genes and implanting them one by one. All this is to increase the success rate of implantation."
"I don't have the technical foundation for implantation. I can't perform the surgery physically. But I have psychic powers."
Gene-Primarchs are themselves products of the Warp. They are born with a close connection to it.
They once existed in the Warp, at constant risk of falling.
But the Emperor stole them into the material universe and gave them bodies.
Although the body would bind their power, it would also protect them from persecution by Warp entities.
Mortals see psychic power as metaphysics, but in Magnus's eyes, it is a rigorous science.
Science is not ignorant blind faith. It is a systematic and formulaic knowledge system that reflects the essence and laws of the world.
It is not rigid knowledge that solves one problem at a time. It is something that allows us to transcend the mundane.
Chaos is disorderly. Psychic power is not. It can be understood formulaically.
Magnus had mastered this formula.
He did not possess the Astartes modification technology invented by Lady Astarte, but he had the memory of the Emperor creating the Primarchs.
By selecting the eighteen organs suited for Astartes from his own birth experience, he could create his sons using the same method used to create the Primarchs.
This technology wasn't difficult. Easy as pie.
Although the Black Carapace was lacking, Prospero also had no power armour. This procedure could be added when he returned to the Imperium.
The priority was to first create the Astartes, then identify the cause of their flesh-change from their genes.