Four days after Karl Reiss visited Zeke, the High Lords Council passed a resolution, agreeing to Karl Reiss launching a Great Crusade.
The High Lords Council had agreed, but that alone was not enough; he still needed the consent of the Astartes.
To be honest, Karl Reiss wasn't particularly fond of these Space Marines.
His House was a former vassal House of House Yaeger, a House that traced its lineage back to the Great Crusade era.
He had some, albeit slight, understanding of that glorious period.
He once prided himself on being a mortal.
To be honest, while he respected the Emperor's Angels, he maintained a respectful distance from them.
His swordsmanship was no worse than that of the Astartes, and even surpassed some of them.
This often gave him a strange arrogance towards the Astartes, but this time he truly saw the value of the Angels.
When Karl Reiss stepped into the meeting hall of the Astartes Chapter of Terra, he saw representatives from countless Chapters.
These Chapter representatives subjected him to a rigorous, almost harsh questioning, demanding him to articulate strategic intentions and decisions in a manner akin to an inquisition, intensely scrutinizing his inner thoughts.
It was the first time anyone asked him what benefits the Imperium would gain if the crusade was launched.
It could be said that these questions brought tears to Karl Reiss's eyes.
This was the first time, after operating on Terra for so long, that anyone had asked him about the benefits and advantages such a crusade would bring to the Imperium.
Was it truly necessary to launch a crusade at this time?
What about the reconstruction efforts after the crusade?
How could they ensure that chaos like that of Macarius wouldn't appear in the Cygnus Sector?
These questions were, frankly, a little too serious, so serious that he had never encountered such earnest questions when dealing with other high lord.
No matter who he interacted with, these people always shared one common trait: they all sought benefits from him.
They demanded all sorts of advantages from him; no one ever cared what benefits the Imperium could gain from this crusade.
Karl Reiss answered all the questions, and three days later, his application was approved.
Now, he only needed to find Chapters willing to follow him on the crusade.
When Karl Reiss heard this, he was, to be honest, a little troubled and fell into a state of melancholy.
He had no idea how to bribe Astartes, and based on previous experience, he assumed this would be a lengthy process.
After all, it had taken a long time to deal with the high lord, and if not for the appearance of Zeke, he estimated it would have taken at least ten years.
Ten years would be an understatement; it would have taken at least a hundred years.
But this time, it far exceeded his expectations; due to the presence of Zeke and House Yaeger, the Black Templars made their intentions clear after only one month.
An expeditionary fleet had already set off for the Segmentum Obscurus, and the Supreme Grand Master of the Dark Angels also stated that a strike cruiser and 50 Space Marines were ready.
At the same time, the White Scars also dispatched a strike cruiser.
The Ultramarines had no forces to send.
However, with the presence of Zeke and Guilliman's endorsement on Terra, the Ultramarines sent him a sealed writ from Guilliman.
The Ultramarines stated that at any point during the crusade, if any of Guilliman's sons were nearby, support could be requested at any time.
As for the Wolf Cubs, they directly assigned him three troublesome individuals on Terra to serve as bodyguards.
Even the Imperial Fists dispatched one hundred Space Marines and two strike cruisers, preparing to join this crusade.
Karl Reiss was excited by the support from so many people, but he felt that the Wolf Lord had ulterior motives, at the very least.
These three troublemakers, permanently stationed on Terra, were definitely the Space Wolves' way of offloading them at any given moment.
The reason was simple: these three troublemakers were utterly despicable.
This was the first time Karl Reiss had seen Space Marines flirting.
After settling matters with the Astartes Chapter, there were pretty much no other issues left to resolve, as the High Lords Council had already agreed to this request with Zeke's intervention.
Everything was predetermined!
Everything had been taken care of.
However, his anointment as Solar Lord far exceeded his expectations.
He did not, like Warmaster Slaydo, receive the gaze of the Custodes at the palace gates or a ceremonial sword bestowed by the High Lords Council.
On the day of his anointment, he witnessed a scene he had never imagined in his life.
The Lion's Gate was opened, and the palace gates swung wide.
The entire Ten Thousand Strong Custodes Regiment appeared, arrayed on one side of the Lion's Gate.
Another contingent of Custodes, brought by House Yaeger, wearing silver-white armor, also appeared and arrayed themselves on the other side of the Lion's Gate.
Then, a scene beyond anyone's imagination unfolded: the golden throne was carried out by the Custodes and placed at the main entrance of the Lion's Gate, with the Emperor seated upon it.
Do not ask why the golden throne could move, nor why the Emperor would appear here; Zeke was already here, so wasn't it perfectly normal for the Emperor to make an appearance?
The Emperor did not appear as miraculous and outrageous as proclaimed by the Ecclesiarchy.
Nor was he a desiccated corpse, as declared by chaos; he looked like an ordinary middle-aged man.
But this ordinary middle-aged man instilled a voice in their hearts, telling them: This is the Emperor, the master of mankind.
When the Emperor appeared, the Terra nobles and even commoners who were eligible to participate in this anointing ceremony involuntarily knelt.
This was no ordinary anointing ceremony; it was broadcast live across the entire galaxy.
Zeke, utilizing the Terran Dominion's powerful communication system, projected this scene onto the surface of all Imperial worlds, allowing them all to witness it.
This included the people on the star systems hidden by House Yaeger; they too could see this scene.
When the Emperor appeared, apart from the humans of House Yaeger, nearly all humanity across the entire galaxy involuntarily knelt.
From the upper hive to the lower hive, even the gangs and ordinary ruffians, they all knelt.
Even the most heinous criminals imprisoned in the Adeptus Arbites jails, upon seeing the Emperor, also knelt to the ground, all utterly devout.
Unlike ordinary Imperial citizens, the citizens and family members of House Yaeger did not kneel.
Their gaze was fixed on Zeke, for he was their future leader.
All Imperial citizens knelt.
Even those Imperial worlds embroiled in war and under chaos invasion were stunned by this broadcast; the attacking chaos daemon were brought to a screeching halt.
Now, the entire galaxy's attention was drawn by the Emperor's appearance, and the chaos daemon, to avoid offending the Emperor and Zeke, two evil gods, also ordered their forces to cease their attack.
The galaxy entered one of its rare moments of silence since its birth.
Peace, even if only a brief peace lasting mere seconds or minutes, truly descended upon the entire galaxy; at this moment, there was no conflict whatsoever.