40k: Midnight Blade

Chapter 73 72. Narrative of a Madman (3k)

conscription

conscription?

Konrad Coates picked up the document and looked at it carefully - he read every word over and over again, then raised his head blankly, put the document down, and picked up the attached document from the side. Read the material.

There are approximately several hundred pages of material and the thickness is astonishing. The pale yellow paper has intricate patterns on its edges, and the Imperial Skyhawk logo shines brightly at the top of each page. Curze wanted to know what materials they were made of to look so solemn.

He read them carefully and carefully, so meticulously that he even considered the punctuation for a moment.

He spent half an hour on this pile of materials and carefully made annotations with a pen. After doing all this, Konrad Coates sighed heavily.

conscription

This is a very serious topic, so serious that it even made Conrad Coates suddenly feel a strong sense of fatigue.

The Eighth Legion currently has only 20,000 people. This number may sound like a lot, but compared with other legions, it can only be said to be pitiful.

After all, a legion is a legion, 20,000 people. Even if the Eighth Legion's duty is to be a judge rather than a frontal assault type of warrior, this number is a bit too small.

In other words, conscription is an imperative.

There cannot be no casualties in the war. If the number of soldiers is not replenished, then no matter how elite the Eighth Army is, they will inevitably die little by little.

But where to recruit soldiers?

Conrad Coates began to slowly recall the words on the material.

The original recruiting ground for the current Iron Hands and the former Tenth Legion was also Terra, but it was not a prison, but spread all over the world. Among them, the Albia region had the largest number of soldiers and the most famous reputation.

The Sons of the Emperor, the Third Legion, are also recruiting on Terra. Their members come from the nobles of Europa. And they are the most outstanding young children among them. They were sent by their defeated parents on their own initiative to express their apology to the Emperor. and respect.

Imperial Fists, 7th Legion, also Terra

The Word Bearers, the Seventeenth Legion, or Terra

Terra seemed like an unavoidable word—but Curze knew something else.

All Legions, after being reunited with their Primarch, would call the Primarch's planet their home planet, and they would recruit troops from the planet where the Primarch landed. This seems to be a tradition, and almost all legions have chosen to do this.

Thinking of this, Konrad Coates opened his eyes numbly.

Recruitment from Nostramo

How many years will it take for him to turn Nostramo into a normal world? ten years? Twenty years? Or thirty years?

Khalil's words sounded a wake-up call for him and opened a heavy door. Conrad Coates has learned how difficult it is to make people wake up by just shouting.

He had to bring the Nostramos to their senses.

silence.

Konrad Curze, the leader of the Eighth Legion, sat in his chair and looked forward calmly, his eyes unfocused. After a moment, he smiled and shook his head.

difficulty? It is indeed difficult, almost despairingly difficult.

However, it is difficult.

So what?

Smiling slightly and lowering his head, he began to continue reading the document.

When you do this, time always flies by so fast that it’s even surprising. Six hours passed in front of Conrad Coates at a high speed. When he raised his head again, a person had appeared in front of him unknowingly.

"."

He leaned back suddenly with such force that the chair specially made by the Eighth Legion for the Primarch creaked.

"Don't be nervous," Khalil said with a smile. "Just came to see you."

".I am at work."

"Ah, is the leader of the Eighth Legion going to drive people away?"

"."

Cozz lowered his head and muttered: "I didn't say that, how long have you been here?"

"It won't take long for you to be very focused and attentive when working. This is a rare quality. Conrad. There are many people who want to enter your state every day, but they have no way of knocking on the door. A few people can enter, but maintain It won’t be long.”

Khalil raised his head and rarely rambled on and said something that confused Coz. In the past, although Khalil would praise him, he would do so with a purpose and would point out his faults after the compliment. insufficient.

But now.

"Yeah." Khalil blinked. "Anyway, come on."

".Is there something you want to say to me, Khalil?"

"Well, probably not."

"Really?"

Khalil nodded nonchalantly: "Fake."

".ah?"

"Fake."

The giant chuckled, leaning on the long silver table and shaking his head. "I won't lie to you, so - it's a lie. Of course I have something to say to you, but I don't know how to say it, Conrad."

"."

Conrad Coates looked at Khalil without saying a word, waiting for his next words.

"."

Khalil Lohars looked at Konrad Coates without saying a word, and also waited for his next words - or, in other words, waited for him to speak first.

"."

Kurtz finally gave in. He pursed his lips and asked, "What on earth is going on, Khalil?"

Khalil lowered his head and was silent for a long time. He had never looked so awkward, so uneasy in the presence of Conrad Coates. An emotion that Cozz didn't know how to express was slowly flowing on that pale face.

".I have something to confess to you, Conrad." He spoke in a low voice.

"What?"

"I didn't originally intend to stay in the Eighth Legion." Khalil said in a low voice.

Conrad Coates stood up suddenly, his palms holding the table trembling.

"Don't worry, listen to me, Conrad."

Khalil didn't look at him, but stared at the table, looking for his blurry reflection in the flickering light. He sighed softly and spoke again: "At the beginning, I didn't want to live long."

“I can’t stand Nostramo—I can’t stand every part of it, even every smallest detail.”

"The rotten and sour air, the sky forever covered by thick clouds, workers coughing on the roadside, cannibal gangs, corrupt nobles and colluding officials."

"Even fucking rats eat people, Conrad. They only eat people."

"Nostramo, this place, it drove me crazy. Especially after I found that no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't save this planet in the best way. I went completely crazy. "

"So, when I found you at the bottom of that mine, I almost felt like a treasure. There was no sin in you, you were not contaminated by Nostramo, you were still pure. Yes, you knew nothing about the world. I know, but so what? I don't care, Conrad. I know what I can do. I've always known it."

"The Empire calls my abilities psionics, but I used to think of them as something else. I thought of them as responses from the dead, and the obsession with wasting the dead haunted me, Konrad. They were calling. I want to avenge them. I can't live up to this power. My original plan was to raise you, and I planned to let you learn the best way to change the world little by little."

"And I will use the stupidest and fastest way to ignite the whole world. I will let it burn. Otherwise, where will the nourishment for you to change the world come from?"

"And you know what happened next."

"I failed. My plan was not perfect, and it could hardly be called a plan. It was just a shell, with a starting point and an end point, but a complete blank in the middle."

"And for a madman like me, it's the limit of what I can do. I mentioned the countdown to you, and yes, at that time I really thought there was such a thing. People's obsession is in vain It gave me strength, but also exposed me to the gaze of something, and I had to complete my mission quickly and die, or I would endanger the entire world."

"I couldn't live like this, Conrad. I wanted to die until you saved me. After that, everything changed."

"My plan failed, but I also succeeded. But now it's different, Konrad. I met with the Emperor, and there was a covenant between me and him. I can't tell you the content of this covenant, But he is definitely not asking me to join the Eighth Army, and he has no restrictions on me, but I know it, I know it very well."

"I can't join your legion arbitrarily. Although I want to and he has advised me, I can't ignore the rules that your legion relies on and enter it."

"The Eighth Legion is the judge, Conrad, and your legion is the enforcer of the rules. And the enforcers of the rules themselves must not cross the line."

"If, as your adoptive father, I join the Eighth Legion, how will you convince the public? These warriors have gone through countless hardships to become Astartes. Why should I join without doing anything?"

"And what would others think of you if they knew about it? This empire is huge, Conrad. What would they think of you if they knew about it?"

I do not care. Conrad Coates thought. I don't care at all. I know you are doing the right thing, and I will do the right thing in the future, and I will keep doing it, so why should I care what they think?

He didn't speak, didn't interrupt, just waited sourly for Khalil to finish.

"Your first company commander came to see me today because of this matter, and he didn't even know how to speak. I guess it was Siani who told him. After all, Siani is also in the first company."

"He was sitting in front of me, and I could see that he was a well-behaved person. But he took the initiative to violate the rules. I could see his uneasiness and shame. He struggled with the torture of these two emotions. Sitting in front of me and trying to get me to stay."

Khalil closed his eyes.

"I tried to tell him that I wanted to stay too, but I couldn't."

"So I'm asking you." He said in an almost sleepy voice. "Do you think I should stay?"

Conrad Coates didn't speak for a long time. He lowered his head, then raised it again, a sparkle beneath his eyes. Khalil never opened his eyes, he just waited, waiting calmly.

".Legion instructor."

After a long time, Conrad Coates spoke.

"Legion Instructor Khalil Lohars, you have been recruited. With the power granted to me by the laws of the Empire, and in the name of the Primarch Konrad Curze, I recruit you into the Eighth Legion to become a combat and melee fighter. Are you willing to fight the instructor with cold weapons?"

".Conrad——"

"—In the name of the Emperor, will you! Khalil Lohars!"

After a moment, Khalil chuckled, and there was endless complexity in that laughter.

and gratified.

"You're taking advantage of the rules," he whispered. "A quick study, Conrad."

"So," Khalil said softly. "I'm joining."

Sorry, I sat for too long today. My back hurts and I can’t write anymore. I owe 3k and I’ll pay it back tomorrow.

In addition, I saw some readers saying they didn’t understand why Khalil struggled with this issue for so long. In fact, it’s normal. He is a madman. Don’t you see? If only you could understand a madman, right?

This chapter is not included in the Eighth Legion.

Finally, I will probably call it Midnight Lord tomorrow.