Chapter 72: Convergence
After Francis closed all the videos, he waited quietly for the daemon to stop singing.
He wasn't sure if it was his imagination, but the Red Angel's form seemed much more ethereal now, less solid than before.
In the quiet room, the Red Angel initially continued to sing, but as time passed, his singing grew slower and slower. His eyes, which had been glazed over, gradually cleared.
When he finally saw Francis's face, the Red Angel spoke politely. "Hello! May I ask why I am here? I am Carlos, the Chief Apothecary of the Blood Angels Legion. Can you let me out? Why have I become like this?"
Francis raised an eyebrow and reached for the switch on the containment box.
The Red Angel's heart surged with excitement. He hadn't expected such a simple disguise to fool this Primarch! Once he was free, he would kill the man standing before him.
Just as he indulged in this fantasy, Francis's hand suddenly retracted. "Alas, you are truly a disgrace among daemons. To actually use such a childish trick to deceive people?"
"You are simply pathetic. Why don't you ask the Blood God you worship if you are shaming him by doing this? You can fight, yet you choose trickery! Tell me, did others send you specifically to disgrace the Blood God? You've completely shamed him."
The Red Angel, initially stunned, understood he had been played. He was instantly furious and roared madly.
"I'm going to kill you! I'm going to kill you! I want to duel you! Ah ah ah ah ah! Let me go! Let me out!"
Watching the Red Angel's impotent rage, Francis shook his head. "Alas, I didn't expect a daemon could speak without a tongue. This time, I'll just break its jaw."
Francis installed a dripping device above the daemon's head, with water constantly dripping downward.
"Alas, still so irritable. Let me give you some water to cool down. Oh, and increase his treatment. Play it not only on the surrounding walls but also on the floor and ceiling so that he can experience all of this from every angle."
Accompanied by the daemon's screams, Francis left the room.
He looked up and shouted toward the ceiling, "Blood God, quickly look! Your old home is about to be infiltrated by that blue fellow! You're not going to do anything about this? Then you're truly too pathetic."
He hadn't gone far before a group of Soul Drinkers stopped him. The warriors who were originally from the Alpha Legion had been brought forward.
This confused Francis; he didn't remember arranging this. But soon, Sarpedon explained the situation, approaching Francis. "My Lord, after all this time of reflection, they have understood."
Francis raised his hand, signaling him not to continue. Instead, he turned to the warriors. "You should speak for yourselves."
These warriors all knelt on one knee and offered their gene-seed. "We swear to follow you to the death. No matter where you need us to go, we will go without hesitation!"
The other Soul Drinkers looked at them with complex expressions. To say they had no feelings about this would be false, but the other warriors were...
The scene remained silent for a quarter of an hour.
"If I ask you to maintain contact with the Alpha Legion and tell me their plans, would you do it?" Francis became uncharacteristically serious, scrutinizing them.
Their faces turned pale. Francis continued, "You can also choose not to..."
He didn't finish speaking, nor did he rush for their answer. Instead, he continued toward the laboratory.
Ultramar Spaceport
They landed at the spaceport soon after.
Hiss...
The hatch opened, and Sanguinius and Francis emerged from the vessel. Sanguinius immediately asked, "How is Carlos?"
Francis rubbed his nose. "Hmm, normal progress. It's not that fast. This thing is very troublesome."
They continued walking down the ramp. Guilliman and Lion El'Jonson both went excitedly to meet them. More accurately, they went to meet Sanguinius, then turned and nodded to Francis.
Francis helplessly rubbed his chin. As expected, Sanguinius was on good terms with everyone. Even among the successor Chapters, the Dark Angels and Ultramarines clearly had better relationships with the Blood Angels.
Conference Room
Back in the conference room again, only the four of them occupied the space this time. The other Planetary Governors had already left; many things waited for them on each planet, and they couldn't stay away indefinitely.
After Sanguinius and Francis walked in, Guilliman personally closed the door. He turned to face them. "You should all be aware of the current situation. To preserve the Imperium's last spark, Lion and I have established the Second Empire. Currently, Lion serves as Regent, and I serve as Governor of the Border. Now that you are here, perhaps we can rearrange positions."
Sanguinius's face darkened. He immediately rebuked them. "Are you not planning to save the Imperium? Are you planning to secede? Do you not care about the Imperium at all?"
Guilliman "..."
Lion El'Jonson "..."
What could they say? There was no information at all right now, so how could they get through the storms?
Just as they were about to retort, Sanguinius pulled Francis, who had been observing silently, forward.
He spoke with great pain in his voice. "Do you know? Francis to save me; he actually crossed through the Warp. If he, who had just recovered, could do it, can't you? You disappoint me too much. If you won't save it, I will! Francis, let's go!"
Sanguinius dragged Francis toward the door. Francis looked utterly bewildered. He was still waiting to see Sanguinius ascend to the throne.
Why were they splitting up as soon as they arrived? And being praised so much made him a little embarrassed.
Hearing this, Guilliman and Lion El'Jonson were utterly shocked; if Francis could actually cross the storm to reach Ultramar! Then he must know the situation of the Imperium!
Guilliman and Lion El'Jonson immediately pulled Francis back. Sanguinius, feeling the resistance, looked back and became even angrier.
"Let go! Eleven is coming with me. He's going to the Imperium with me!"
"Don't be so hasty. Let's first ask about the situation of the Imperium. It's not too late for you to leave then," Guilliman said.
"What's there to ask? Father is fine! You just want to stall for time. You disappoint me too much!"
Francis was being pulled back and forth by the three of them. He felt like he was about to split apart, in a physical sense.
Hearing that the Emperor was fine, Guilliman and Lion El'Jonson's faces turned red.
"Father is fine, so why isn't he doing anything about this?" The two of them were very puzzled.
Sanguinius looked at Francis, prompting the other two to do the same.
"Don't look at me! I don't know either," Francis said.
The three calmed down and patiently listened to Francis explain the events again.
Then they asked, "Then how did you get through? Can you take us back with you?"
"That's not possible at the moment. My successor Chapters still need some time to recover." Francis quickly waved his hand.
Hearing that successor warriors were needed, Guilliman suddenly became confident. He slapped his hand down on the table. "Just tell me how many you need. I can arrange as many as you want."
Francis "..."
Sanguinius "..."
Lion El'Jonson "..."
As they had walked here, they had seen Ultramarines everywhere, as if they were free, too many to count.
"Uh, using your Ultramarines won't work," Francis said.
Lion El'Jonson's eyes lit up, but quickly dimmed again.
Francis deliberated for a moment. "Dark Angels and Blood Angels won't work either. My Soul Drinkers can turn into Orks. Can yours?"
Lion El'Jonson "..."
Guilliman "..."
They certainly couldn't do that. Not only could they not, but relying on xenos technology was something the Emperor would not permit.
Seeing their expressions, Francis curled his lips. "Oh, C'mon brothers ~ You've already founded a nation! And you're still afraid of this?"
[End of Chapter]