40k: Midnight Blade

Chapter 645 28. The belated trial (1, an old dog grows new teeth)

Leon El'Jonson frowned and looked at the spine in front of him without saying a word. The flesh and blood on it has been removed cleanly, and it is as white and clean as a specimen, but it exudes a pungent smell of blood.

It was as dark as the smoke emitted from a huge factory chimney rising slowly from the cracks in the joints. The originally harmonious warm light was distorted in it. Looking with the naked eye, one could actually see a wailing human face writhing inside.

Corruption, depravity, and distortion. If you hadn’t seen it with your own eyes, who would have dared to believe that this vertebra once belonged to a human being?

The lion controlled the urge to destroy it in his mind and spoke in a calmer tone: "Tell me, Judge Serrano. What are your opinions on this so-called horn?"

Beside the cold iron table, the female judge whose name was called took a serious step forward and reached out to pick up the spine without fear.

The dark smoke immediately rushed towards her, as if it had self-awareness, trying to get into her mouth, nose, eyes and ears.

This attempt naturally failed. With a low muffled sound, Serrano Van Derlev stretched out his free left hand, and the emblem of the Inquisition trembled rapidly in his palm.

A burst of brilliance bloomed quietly, and the human face in the dark smoke screamed back into the spine, no longer showing any signs of activity.

Serrano spoke slowly.

"First of all, one thing must be made clear, my lord, this object is shaped by evil law. It was born out of human flesh and blood, but it has become a twisted evil object through years of betrayal and blasphemy. Even if the heretic claims This thing is a horn, and we can’t use common sense to guess it.”

"The horn is probably just a specious description. The pious finger bone used by my squire Sable when interrogating her can only keep the traitors honest to a certain extent. What she said may not be entirely true."

"Therefore, I strongly recommend that you sequester or destroy this object."

"Aren't you going to take it back to the Inquisition, or keep it for your own use?" the lion asked seemingly casually.

"No." The female judge responded seriously. "We have no right to decide how far we can go in exploiting taboos. Moreover, I don't think this so-called horn is qualified to be included in the "Taboo List."

The lion narrowed his eyes, suddenly stretched out his hand, and held a spear. When he spoke again, his voice had become irresistible.

"Inquisitor Serrano, I give you the authority to mobilize resources on the Blade of Reason. You can also find Inquisitor Shefa to cooperate with him. I don't care, as long as we can get rid of this so-called horn before we arrive in Camas." Just bring me the truth.”

"As you command, my lord."

The lion nodded slightly to her, and then hurriedly walked out of the slightly empty room with the spear in hand. There was no one on the deck outside. Even the guards responsible for protecting the personal safety of the original body were not standing guard here to perform their duties. .

This was one of the Lion's wills. He emptied the sixty-fifth deck of the Blade of Reason. It was originally a separate storage deck filled with all kinds of food that people needed during the voyage. , is now incomprehensibly empty.

The room where the Lion had just met with the female Inquisitor was the only one with people on the entire deck.

"Brother." A voice sounded in his ear. "Look, we have to talk."

The lion looked forward and asked calmly: "What are you talking about?"

"You're not serious, are you? Kamath? Are you going to bring that Thousand Eyes war gang, all traitors, to your second Caliban?"

The lion took a deep breath at these words.

"It's not a second Caliban, it's Camas," he answered word for word. "Don't confuse the concepts, Russ. You know in your heart that I never intended to replace Caliban with Kamath, even though the similarities between them are uncanny."

"You can say whatever you want, but are you really going to blow this so-called horn there?"

"No," said the lion. "Blowing it requires the sacrifice of human flesh and soul. I want to solve the problem from the source."

"So you do intend to blow it."

Leman Russ said thoughtfully, his voice echoing in the lion's ears with unusual clarity. At first, his voice was serious and cold. However, just a few seconds later, the Fenrisians burst out laughing.

"So, you are going to call your rebellious sons like a knight, and then bet that they will come to Camas and kill them? Father, Leon, are you crazy or am I crazy?"

The lion snorted with disdain, and then spit out an insult.

"You idiot, Ruth. Returning to Camas and blowing the horn in Camas are essentially just part of the deception. I have already sent out a signal and mobilized a large number of troops to garrison around Camas."

"Whether they come or not, these troops will not leave unless I completely solve the problem."

"Solve the problem?" Ruth asked softly. He seemed completely unfazed by the lion's vulgarity.

"That horn allows them to know where the traitor is calling them. From this point of view, it should have some kind of positioning technique that I don't understand."

"So my tactics are very simple. Find out the nature of the horn, force it to call, and locate the current location of Ten Thousand Eyes. Like you, I don't think they will really come to Camas, so I will Go directly to them."

Russ chuckled twice, but the laughter did not dissipate, but the Lion heard him smacking his mouth with dissatisfaction: "Not a bad tactic, Leon. But I want to ask you a question, if they really come and get stuck, Mars, what are you going to do?"

"I know you will say that you can rely on your own talents to bring the troops back to Camas quickly. But if they really dare to come, what will they bring with them?"

The Lion didn't answer the question and just moved on. He seemed to have made up his mind and wanted to end the conversation, but Leman Russ always liked to tear away the veil that concealed the truth.

The Dionysus Spear that the lion held tightly in his right hand suddenly lifted up, pulling his arm and falling heavily to the ground. The combination of its own weight and part of the lion's power should have caused the ground to collapse, but for some reason, this did not happen.

The Spear of Dionysus stood erect in the lion's palm, and the spear blade made a slight buzzing sound.

The lion frowned.

The Fenrisian spoke again with a strong tone.

"I know you're already upset, brother, but I have one last question to ask - you can ask Khalil for help regarding that horn, right?"

"I can't think of a reason why he would refuse, and if you have his help, I think you can know their location without Wanyan knowing."

The lion slowly exhaled a breath, his expression finally changed, and the heart-stopping anger was fully expressed on his face.

"Are you treating him like a god, Ruth?"

"No," said the Fenrisian. "I never thought about it that way."

"Very good, we have reached a consensus again. If you agree that he is not a god, then he is not omnipotent. I would not say that he is just an ordinary person, but he is indeed a human being, just like you and me."

"And what does this matter have to do with him? He is the witness I invited. This is my matter, and the sin and blood will be counted on my head. If I need his help in everything, I will need him Participation, then who am I?”

"Don't mention anything like this again, brother."

The lion said to Russ in a colder tone, gripped the spear tightly, and stepped forward again. This time, until he arrived at his meditation room, Russ did not stop him or make any noise.

But is this really the case? Was he convinced by the Lion?

The answer may not be the same as what the Lion imagined. In his imagination, Russ had been impressed by his words.

But the truth was that Ruth was sitting on a dirty wooden throne, shaking a long-dried wine glass gently in his hand.

His sitting posture was quite leisurely, like a lazy drunkard. Countless empty wine tables were waiting quietly under the throne, and many flags were floating above them. Their textures were old, as if they had been waiting for many years, but their coat of arms was blank.

Russ rested his face with his left hand, looking at the wine tables, listening to the wind coming from outside the fortress, and smiled calmly - this smile could almost be called a snicker.

They also say old dogs don't grow new teeth, Leon. The Fenrisians thought with joy.

——

Holding a book with a dark cover in his hand, Khalil slowly fell into deep thought.

The book in his hand was not technically named, but it was an absolute bestseller in the empire - at least ten thousand years ago.

Nowadays, even the most high-end black markets dare not auction this book or other works by its author. Khalil has heard of its name a long time ago, but unfortunately, he didn’t really have time to read it until today.

To be honest, this book brought back some memories for him.

From the bridge to the duel cage, from the sarcasm in leisure time, to the blood and fire on the war battlefield - it sounds horrifying, but in fact it is just daily life, at least for a legionnaire. in this way.

Yes, you have probably guessed what this book is about and who its author is.

Khalil found this book in a library on the Blade of Reason. The Dark Angels unexpectedly attached great importance to books. They built almost as many libraries as arsenals, and the books in them were 'Used' as often as weapons.

The same is true for this book. The book cover made of some kind of tough animal skin has even wrinkles and holes. It seems that someone accidentally used too much force when reading.

Thinking of this, Khalil couldn't help but smile - for those who have not read this book, or do not know Yago Savitarion, every sentence in this book is probably Worth a shocked clench or a furious tear.

"He's really famous," Conrad Coates said.

"Do you really have the heart to ridicule him like this?" Khalil asked without looking up.

"I'm just telling the truth. Isn't he famous? Eight of the ten Chapter Masters know him, and he watched the remaining two grow up."

"What a great seniority, Khalil. I can already imagine how those poor, dedicated soldiers would be bullied and suppressed by him - alas!"

The Night King in the Shadow sighed heavily and turned to a pompous aria.

"Look at what kind of monster we created with our own hands! A monster that is unattended and unaccompanied!"

Khalil closed the book and shook his head very calmly.

"If you want to speak up for him, you can just say it, Conrad. There is no need to use such rhetoric, although it is indeed true."

"Really, father? Is it really okay?" Curze asked sadly. "Will this not incur your anger?"

".Just say it if you have something to say."

"Then I will be disrespectful, father."

Khalil stood up and looked down at his shadow, which began to swell. An illusory, tall figure slowly stood up from it and stood in front of him, with an expression so calm that it was disturbing.

A few seconds later, the King of the Night took off his crown, suddenly bent down, and began to look at Khalil. The two once again played the familiar bloody drama of holding a sharp knife to cut open each other's hearts.

"Father."

"I'm here."

"What are you going to do this time?" Koz asked in a gentle tone. "You were asked to be a witness, but I don't think you will be content to be just a witness. You will definitely contribute and do something that others can't do at all."

"I won't do anything unless Leon needs it."

"He needs it?" Koz smiled. "Well, does he need it, or do you think he needs it?"

"He needs it." Khalil repeated slowly. "Believe me."

"In other words, you have finally made up your mind? This really surprised me that my extremely arrogant father with a self-sacrificing plot has learned to respect."

Khalil narrowed his eyes and laughed a little uncontrollably. In Koz's puzzled eyes, he stretched out his tone and deliberately asked a question.

"Which one?"

"You old thing!"

Khalil was furious, put on the crown and returned to the shadow. Khalil was not angry, but just strolled in the empty library. After a few minutes, he returned the book in his hand to its original place.

"Conrad"

"What?" A sullen voice came from the shadows.

"Did you foresee anything?" Khalil asked with deep eyes.

He stood between the wide bookshelves, his face divided by obsidian and steel, the faint reflection and the dust in the cold air slowly flowing. He was talking and exhaling, but the dust floating in the air in front of him was completely indifferent.

Everything gradually fell into stagnation, including time.

"Yes." Coz said.

"Is the ending good or bad?"

"Do you really care?" Coz asked coldly. "Don't bother me now, I'm digging someone's grave and don't have time to talk to you, an annoying old thing."

Khalil sighed helplessly, the stagnation dissipated, and time returned to normal. He put his hands behind his back and walked out of the library slowly. A emerald green planet slowly emerged outside the porthole in the corridor.

Kamas.