Chapter 48: The Deal
Couldn't persuade him! Absolutely couldn't persuade him!
Angron, with his Butcher's Nails removed, was utterly broken. Even with Francis holding a knife to his throat, he merely shifted his position and lay down.
"Don't say anything. I'm just going to rot here," Angron said flatly.
"I will never serve the Emperor again. Give up on that idea."
"I'm so tired. I just want to rest."
"If you're not going to kill me, close the door on your way out."
After speaking, Angron scratched his backside and closed his eyes, ready to rest.
Francis stared in disbelief.
"Come with me. I can resurrect your father and comrades. No one but me can help you do that," Francis offered.
"Or how about I let you butcher Nuceria? If anything goes wrong, we can just run."
"If, even then, you still—"
Before Francis could finish, Angron instantly sat up. "Deal!"
In a moment, he had donned his power armor and stood before Francis, excitedly saying, "Let's go! I'm ready!"
Francis stared in disbelief at the sudden transformation.
All the way out, Francis kept reflecting: was Angron's weakness really that simple? He said he would resurrect them, but he didn't say he'd resurrect their original bodies. He could just clone a fake father using their genes. A fake father is still a father, isn't he?
He didn't even notice the changes around him.
The battle had entered a white-hot stage. Numerous Warlord-class Titans exchanged fire wildly with Ork Gargants. Ork Boyz driving ramshackle vehicles continuously collided with Predator tanks. The entire sky was dyed black. Countless broken parts fell to the ground, and the air filled with the smell of roasted mushrooms and charred meat.
...
When the two appeared outside the battleship, all the World Eaters looked at them. They actually saw a smile on Angron's face? Moreover, his head was completely bald, with not a single Butcher's Nail visible.
This made the World Eaters feel a chill down their spines. A World Eater with a broken arm, blood seeping from his scalp, asked in a trembling voice, "What exactly did you do to the Primarch? What did you DO?!!"
Other World Eaters looked over, and Francis snapped out of his daze, suddenly blurting out, "Your Primarch, he's uh... very smooth."
Angron said nothing.
The other World Eaters clearly didn't realize Francis was mocking them. Instead, they were absolutely certain that their Primarch had suffered something terrible at the hands of the Ork in front of them!
All of them roared, their eyes bloodshot. "Beasts!"
"Kill him!"
Seeing this group of tin cans charge toward their Ork Boss, the Ork Boyz cheered and clapped their hands. "Boss! Boss! Waaaaaaagh!"
Francis's mouth twitched. He knew these Boyz were unreliable. He nudged Angron beside him and said, "Say something. You don't want your descendants beaten to death by me, do you?"
Angron knew Francis wasn't joking. He quickly stepped forward and shouted, "I'm fine, and he's not an Ork. He is the Eleventh Primarch, Francis. We don't need to fight them."
Hearing this, the surrounding World Eaters' eyes flickered with confusion. What was their Primarch saying? These Ork xenos were the Primarch's subordinates, and that Ork Boss was the Primarch?
They couldn't believe any of this. Even though they had betrayed the Imperium, they still detested all xenos. To fight alongside xenos, and xenos they had fought before? Could a Legion Primarch really say something like that?
Just as everyone was lost in confusion, with a bang, Khârn burst out from a mountain of corpses in the distance. He dragged his injured body, walking step by step toward Angron.
Half of his power armor was gone, and he was covered from head to toe in unknown blood. Beneath his blood-soaked face, a pair of chilling eyes emerged.
"Primarch, are you serious?" Khârn asked, his voice cutting through the confusion.
"Have you also abandoned the Butcher's Nails? What are we supposed to do?"
"If you insist on doing this, I will choose to obey."
Saying this, Khârn pulled out a Butcher's Nail he had found and looked at Angron. If the Primarch said he wanted it installed, Khârn would immediately install this Butcher's Nail for the Primarch.
Unfortunately, Angron didn't say that. Instead, he said, "Soon we will return to Nuceria, and then we will be a true family."
The two bypassed Khârn, and Khârn stood there, still holding the Butcher's Nail in both hands.
Snap!
Khârn crushed the Butcher's Nail, his expression so calm that no emotion could be seen. He said to the still somewhat confused World Eaters, "I will continue to follow the Primarch."
Having said that, he turned and followed the two of them, and the other wavering World Eaters could only follow suit.
Meanwhile, the Ork Boyz surrounded Francis, chattering endlessly.
"I thought there'd be a fight, but the Boss is still awesome! Hehehe," one said.
"Boss, look, I also have Nails in my head, and they still move. It's really exciting!" A single Ork Boy was seen with his head full of Butcher's Nails, and the Gretchin on the ground also wanted some. The Ork Boy dotingly stuck one into the Gretchin's head, which made the Gretchin scream in pain.
"Boss, look, I made a nail gun. Put these Nails in it, it's super fierce!" another Ork announced.
"And me, and me! I made a nail rake," a third added.
A group of Ork Boyz surrounded Francis, chattering endlessly and continuously praising him.
Although Angron didn't understand Ork, he could feel that they liked Francis very much, and then he said, "It seems they like you a lot. Being an Ork doesn't seem so bad."
"Heh heh, it's actually not bad. I'll let you try it sometime," Francis said with an awkward smile. Luckily, Angron didn't know what these Orks were saying.
Around them, Ork corpses were everywhere, but more often, spores continuously emanated from the bodies, and the areas next to the corpses had long turned into swamps. From the weakest Gretchin, new Ork Boyz continuously grew!
Right at Francis's feet, a delicious Squig had just grown, wiggling like a piece of toast bread. Francis picked up the Squig, brought it to Angron's mouth, and said, "Taste it? These freshly grown ones are incredibly delicious. Because the bones are still soft, you can swallow it whole."
"You know crispy beef sausage? It tastes just like that!"
The World Eaters stared in silence.
The Ork Boyz cheered with excitement.
Angron looked confused.
Seeing Angron quickly wave his hand, Francis reluctantly threw the delicious Squig out, letting the Ork Boyz fight over it. He just didn't expect that, to snatch one delicious Squig, the Ork Boyz' melee with warhammers, which started with a few individuals, gradually escalated into a thousand Orks crashing their ramshackle vehicles into each other.
Francis's face instantly flushed. "Uh... they just like to fight over food. Don't overthink it."
Finally, they saw Horus, standing on a mountain of corpses and blood, wearing specialized, gigantic Terminator armor. As he crushed an Ork Gargant on the scene, he also saw them.
A raging fire ignited in Horus's heart. At this point, Angron had joined the xenos?
It was a Disgrace! Utter disgrace! He even wanted to expel Angron and the World Eaters from the ranks of the rebels!
The more Horus thought, the angrier he got, and then he fiercely threw the Gargant arm in his hand toward them, roaring, "Angron! Have you fallen so low as to side with Orks?!"
Francis also swung a punch fiercely, directly smashing the Gargant's arm. The continuously falling metal fragments scared the Gretchin on the ground, making them scurry around.
"Waaaaaagh!"
The Orks watching from the side thought they were dancing and applauded enthusiastically!
The originally solemn atmosphere suddenly became bizarre.
Angron took a deep breath and stepped forward, displaying what he believed to be a look of profound brotherly affection. "Horus, he's not a xeno! He's Francis!"
"He's also your brother!"
Angron pointed at the Ork Boss, over ten meters tall, his voice echoing in the air. At this moment, all fighting ceased, and the Astartes watched in shock.
"Shut up!" Horus shrieked.
"You traitor who sided with xenos!"
"Don't say I'm your brother!"
Horus's eyes were wide like brass bells, his face purple like an eggplant, as he shrieked hysterically. Horus felt his entire head swelling, and all his blood seemed to rush to his head; even his feet began to feel cold!
[End of Chapter]