40k: Midnight Blade

Chapter 191 16. Melted Steel (4)

"You knew this would happen all along, didn't you?"

"No."

"Stop joking!" Fricks growled, clenching his fists.

"You could have stopped this with me, VanCleef! Look at him! How could this collaboration continue? We still have a planet to recover, and our Primarch was sent in by your instructors Ward!”

Van Cleef breathed gently. He turned his head and followed Fricks' words and glanced at the surveillance video in front of him.

There are no windows aboard the Ironblood, including the infirmary. This order was issued by Perturabo himself. Van Cleef didn't know the reason, but he still felt funny and absurd about the situation at this moment.

Didn't anyone raise any objections when we could only observe patients through surveillance? The pharmacists and medical officers in Iron Warriors all acquiesced to this matter that would bring inconvenience to their work?

"Captain Fricks." Van Cleef withdrew his gaze and looked at the Iron Warriors' first company commander.

He stood up straight, completely indifferent to the hostility displayed by the other Iron Warriors, with a calm expression.

"I have to correct you on one thing about what you just said. There is no way we can stop this. Your Primarch is very stubborn, and I admire stubborn people, so I never try to convince them."

"What do you think would have happened if I had walked into the dueling cage with you? Would your Primarch have listened patiently to our advice? No, I guess he would have just roared at us to get out."

"But at least you can convince your instructor!" Fricks shouted out of breath.

"Our instructor," Van Cleef emphasized coldly. "Besides, why do you think I can convince him?"

"because--"

Frix's face twitched, very clearly. There was silence in the monitoring room of the infirmary, and the Steelers silently surrounded the only Night Blade here.

Some of them looked clearly indignant, others had malicious expressions. Only a few people still remain rational. Although they are dissatisfied, they also know that taking action at this time is definitely not a wise decision.

Fricks was one of them, and although he looked like he was going crazy, Van Cleef knew that he still had his wits about him.

Even just a little bit.

And VanCleef would not blame him for this - seeing one's Primarch beaten, tortured and humiliated before one's own eyes would be too much for any Legion to bear.

At this time, Van Cleef was very grateful to Perturabo for that order. If he ordered all the Iron Warriors to be present instead of just high-ranking officers to watch the battle.

Then, the local people on Cordibo, which is located below the orbit where the Iron Blood and Night Veil stay, may wake up laughing in their sleep.

"For what reason, Captain Fricks?"

"Because, compared with our original body, your instructor is obviously more rational." Frix gritted his teeth and said. "Even if he's a lunatic willing to hold a Primarch accountable for a negligent sergeant."

Van Cleef frowned sharply.

"Neglect of duty?" His calm voice finally changed slightly.

"The duel has ended for forty-three minutes. You have a lot of time to investigate the cause of the duel, that is, the cause of Sergeant Elteros's death. But you actually just simply called him 'neglect of duty'?"

"He did not arrive at the attack location within the stipulated time!" Fricks growled in reply, his voice still high, but he lowered his head and did not look at Van Cleef.

"Your Majesty! What nonsense are you talking about?! Who can reach that damn attack location on time without the cover of heavy vehicles?!"

After Van Cleef finished speaking, he pursed his lips and took a deep breath to calm down his overly excited emotions. He was silent for a long time before uttering the next few words.

"Sergeant Elteros and his team advanced a distance of 400 meters on the ruined position despite the cannon fire from the fortress. The 400 meters took them less than two minutes, but Do you know how many lives they sacrificed for this? Your primarch actually said that Sergeant Elteros betrayed his trust."

His voice became deeper and deeper, more and more sinister, and in the end it almost turned into a low roar that swept through the entire room - Frix suddenly realized that this voice was almost the same as the voice that the skeleton made in the duel arena. Exactly the same.

"Okay, then let him lie down in the ward! If you want to take care of him, that's up to you. The Midnight Blade will take over this planet and take it back!"

Van Cleef declared angrily, and left without hesitation. He left so simply that the Iron Warriors who had not yet recovered from the anger he radiated did not even have time to stop him.

Some people subconsciously wanted to chase them out, but the two doors that had just been closed were opened again at this moment, and a tall and dark shadow stood there, staring inside.

He stood in the corridor, pale lights flickering above his head. However, in the eyes of the Iron Warriors, there is only darkness behind him.

This counter-intuitive scene made many people take a step back subconsciously. Then, the shadow stepped in, relaxed and natural, as if something had never happened.

"Good day, everyone," he greeted hoarsely. "I apologize for what our first company commander just said. He was controlled by a surge of anger. It is rare that the Midnight Blade will not do this. You can rest assured."

"What are you doing here?" an unfriendly voice asked from the dark crowd of steel.

Khalil raised his eyes and glanced over there, but said nothing, still calm. However, combined with what he had just done, this turned his expression into a very provocative hint.

The person who spoke fell silent at this moment, for unknown reasons. His brothers could only see his trembling lips, the corners of his eyes that were slowly twitching, and his ugly face.

"I come to see your first captain, Frix the Citybreaker, one of the Trident Council." Khalil said. "I have something I want to discuss with him."

".I am." Fricks walked out of the crowd, he had forced himself to regain his rationality.

Steel does not accept rust, and steel will not be rusted. He would not allow irrational behavior to happen to him - at least not now, not when facing this person.

"Hello, Lord Frix." Khalil nodded to him and spoke with the utmost respect. "Can you ask your colleagues to leave for a while? I have something that I must communicate with you alone."

"And then duel with our first company commander again? Do you want to repeat the same trick?"

Another discordant sound came from the crowd, and this time, Khalil did not look back to observe the speaker. Because Fricks had already raised his right hand, his movements were quick and firm.

"Shut up." City Breaker said coldly. "Dantioch, don't say anything inappropriate at this time."

"But--"

"——All leave." Fricks glared hard. "Everyone, please leave and let me and instructor Khalil talk alone."

"."

In silence, the Iron Warriors left silently. At this moment, this completely unnecessary monitoring room finally felt empty after a long absence. Frix wrapped his heart with steel calmly and rationally. He abandoned all distracting thoughts and unnecessary preconceptions, leaving only pure reason. Then, he spoke.

"What do you want from me?" City Breaker asked briefly. "If it's about military cooperation, I'm afraid I can't do anything. Without orders from Perturabo, any unauthorized action will be regarded as a betrayal of him."

"Well, I already know about this." Khalil nodded gently. "Sergeant Elteros fully explained this matter as soon as he came into contact with us. His original plan was to conduct a frontal feint attack to coordinate with our surprise strategy, but he gave up this plan himself."

Fricks' throat rolled up and down: "What exactly do you want to say?"

"I wanted to say something very offensive." Khalil laughed slowly, gently, but for some reason it made Fricks feel strange in his heart.

"You can say so," Fricks insisted.

Khalil looked at him for a moment, then finally gave in.

"Okay." He said softly. "I have been holding these words in my heart for a while. Although they are not to the level of being unhappy without vomiting them, it is not a good thing to keep holding them in."

"And since you asked, let me say it - I think your original body, Perturabo, is very paranoid and extreme in character. But he is also very sensitive, and he seems to have a self-consistent logic that can justify himself. Have you read any books on spiritual matters?"

The expression of the Captain of the Iron Warriors became uglier than ever before, and the steel that wrapped him was easily torn apart. The really sad part is that the person who did this to him had just done it to their Primarch in the duel not too long ago.

Did it once in a physical sense.

He cut Perturabo out of the special Terminator armor. To be fair, the original body did not bleed much afterwards, but every Iron Warrior who watched the duel in full felt that A shiver came from my heart.

"No." Frix forced himself to answer the question, his voice becoming very dry, as if he had just swallowed a powerful corrosive liquid. "I've never read a book on that."

"I've read it," Khalil said. "Read it on the Emperor's Dream."

Frix's eyes slowly widened. He saw the instructor of the Night Blades slowly raise his right hand, and a glittering golden sky eagle appeared in the palm of his hand.

"This little thing proves nothing, but if you can, I would like to ask you to let me meet your primarch in the ward. We have a war to fight, Captain Fricks."

The City Breaker took a deep breath and fell into a deathly silence.

There are two chapters left, updated today.