Warhammer: In the Name of Nirvana

[Three Great Crusades?]

[This is the second time in my life that I have heard such a hated title. The last time was when some old man proclaimed himself the Lord of Mankind: So who came up with this?]

"I don't know either."

Faced with the Spider Queen's inquiry, her most trusted psychic advisor had to give a disappointing answer: Ahriman scratched his head with some shame, attracting Morgan's eyes to stay on his dry head, while muttering in his heart.

Why do these little guys like to shave their heads so much?

Morgan couldn't figure it out. She could only be glad that she not only did not leave any bald genes to the blood of the Dawnbreaker Legion, but also gave them a head of attractive silver hair: Although the warriors of the Spider Queen did not like to play tricks on their heads like the Emperor's Children, the slightly dark silver-white hair would become very attractive even if it was slightly groomed.

At least it fits the unique aesthetics of the Spider Queen: Morgan's aesthetics are different from those of most of her brothers. She doesn't like the straightforward violent aesthetics of the Luna Wolves or the World Eaters, nor the excessive embellishments of the Emperor's Children and the Blood Angels. She likes a simple style with a sense of comfort, which is convenient but also makes people happy.

This can also be seen from the Primarch's handling of things around him: although Morgan is used to recording hundreds of to-do items in her own mind or the Star Maids' minds, she is definitely not the kind of armchair strategist who only records and then forgets. As long as the conditions are met, the Spider Queen's action is enough to make Chagatai Khan ashamed.

This is not her self-praise, but the Lord of the White Scars' personal admission.

What makes the Lord of the Ice Blue Sky willing to bow down is naturally the iron-clad facts, which is the result of the Lord of Avalon's spider-web-like tenacious organizational ability and the spider-web-like extensive brotherly connections.

When many elite troops of the human empire were still in the low-Earth orbit of Ullanor, waiting for their turn to enter the surface and enter the camp for the military parade; when the primarchs had just returned to their tents and were thinking about how to spend the next time; when the unsuccessful family reunion on the starport had been less than ten hours; when the Emperor was still selecting his children one by one to talk.

Before night fell, the Spider Queen had completed a private brotherly connection behind the back of the Lord of Mankind: several primarchs including Chagatai Khan and Sanguinius were secretly invited to the Dawnbreaker camp to discuss the possibility of all of them advancing and retreating together at the next Nikea Conference.

A total of nine Primarchs and representatives of ten Astartes Legions attended this secret collaboration meeting: All the participants present expressed their understanding of the proposal that [Morgan's chief psychic advisor, His Excellency Ahriman from the Thousand Sons Legion, would represent the Thousand Sons Legion to attend the meeting, so that Magnus would not have to be notified to attend the meeting], and passed it unanimously.

Chagatai Khan was the first to raise his hand in agreement.

Needless to say, the process of the following meeting was that those who were invited by Morgan were not fools. Even if they could not help, they knew to shut up: only four or five participants could really express their opinions on those key issues, while the others just sat down and listened quietly, or passively accepted their own tasks.

Ahriman was not surprised by this, because the main purpose of the meeting had been made clear by Morgan at the beginning: they should first work together to preserve the think tank system, which was a piece of cake shared by all. As for the internal conflicts of interest or disagreements, they would have to wait until the end of the Nikaea Conference and they had preserved their existing interests.

Hearing this, the Thousand Sons understood why their Gene Father was excluded: it might not be impossible to expect Magnus to give up his [Truth] for temporary cooperation, but it would take a long time to convince him, and now, what they lacked most was time and energy.

In addition, it was not entirely a bad thing to let the Prosperos mess around on their own. With Magnus's example, when they put forward more moderate views, they could get the approval of most of the neutrals present: Ahriman was surprised that he could agree with this method without any psychological burden.

So, he remained silent: for fear that he would agree directly.

In his silence, the negotiation lasted for three hours, most of which were monotonous but efficient voting and unanimous synchronization: when the entire plan was initially implemented, the Dawnbreakers outside the tent just lit the giant bonfire to be used in the party, and all the Primarchs present were invited to the party.

At least they did not refuse immediately.

The participants left in twos and threes, washing off their thoughtful faces and putting on fake smiles to ensure that the brothers who were about to attend the bonfire party would not be aware of the meeting: when the last Primarch pushed the door and left, only Ahriman remained beside the Spider Queen.

He had many questions waiting for Morgan's answers.

The first one was...

"How did you decide that it was a good idea to hold a meeting at this time?"

Ahriman stood by, watching the Spider Queen put the messy meeting materials back together: Virgo has been sent out to organize the bonfire party outside, which is also a social occasion that must be taken seriously. There will be more than a dozen Primarchs and celebrities attending this event, such as the champion swordsmen from different legions.

[What you care about is this? ]

Morgan glanced at this friend who had the aura of a strong man. Although Ahriman has gradually withdrawn from the public eye in recent years, any Primarch with a brain will not ignore the opinions of the Scarlet Duke on issues related to psychic power and think tanks: In the mouths of the think tanks of various legions, Ahriman is the first Astartes brother to embark on the path of think tanks.

They respectfully call him [Pioneer].

For Morgan, this Thousand Sons friend is equally important. After all, although the Spider Queen is the founder who actually opened the Think Tank Academy, the operation of the academy over the years has relied on Ahriman's ability. He is even more experienced and has more say than the Primarch on some issues related to think tanks.

But what really gave Morgan a more intuitive feeling was Ahriman's power: this former Thousand Sons chief was the most psychically gifted Astartes Morgan had ever seen, and there was no need to add one: he learned almost every ability that Morgan taught him, and at the same time did not fall behind in his sword art.

This was also the reason why Morgan was so surprised by the title of the Three Great Crusades. What really surprised her was that Ahriman was not included in this title: even strong men like Sevatar or Bayar did not dare to be sure that they could have a 100% survival rate in front of Ahriman in a life-and-death battle.

For the Astartes, psychic power is still an excessive power: and Ahriman's psychic power is simply cheating.

The Spider Queen actually wanted to know what Ahriman thought of the Three Great Crusades, which included a little indignation out of friendship: although Ahriman was always reserved, Morgan did regard this Thousand Son as her friend, just as she was also cultivating her friendship with Dantioch, although Dantioch was more rigid than Ahriman.

Ahriman at least occasionally joked with Morgan, and Dantioch still faced the Primarch as a half-subordinate to this day: but he had a good relationship with other Astartes. Many Iron Warriors who came to the Far East to study or work, and even the warriors of the Imperial Fists, liked to follow behind this big brother.

It is said that even Dorn was curious about this famous fortress builder and invited Dantioch to meet with the Grand Duke of Salamas before returning to Holy Terra to serve as a guard, and listen to his opinions on building the fortress: the premise is to wait until Dorn returns from his conversation with the Emperor.

[It won't take long. ]

Morgan glanced at the timer.

[My Gene Father will end his conversation with Dorn before seven o'clock Ullanor time. His next target should be Ferrus. The call will last until ten or eleven o'clock in the evening: that is, we still have plenty of time to discuss other things with the Primarchs outside. 】

"That's true, but..."

Ahriman opened his mouth, but he never asked the question in his mind.

[You want to ask me how I determined the time for the Emperor and the Primarch to talk? ]

Before the Thousand Sons made up their minds, the Spider Queen had already sorted out the documents in her hands. She crossed her legs, leaned back in her chair, and leisurely pointed out Ahriman's confusion: the Thousand Sons were used to this, and the Primarch seemed to always be able to see what he was thinking.

"Yes: I am confused about this."

Ahriman nodded honestly.

"You summoned nine Primarchs, including yourself, to attend the meeting, and the Emperor was constantly dispatching Primarchs to talk to him: the meeting lasted for half an afternoon, how did you make sure that in the middle of the meeting, the Emperor's conversation partner would not become a Primarch in the meeting, so that the Guards would not notice the abnormality?"

Ahriman's tone slightly increased the word "abnormal" by half a gram, and he had to admit that he had been maintaining a mixed state of mind of excitement and tension during the meeting.

Needless to say, he was excited: the main purpose of this meeting was to protect the interests of all the psychics in the Empire at the Nikaea Conference. In Ahriman's opinion, no goal could be higher than the content of the conference. When he thought that he could participate in it, he would proudly stand up.

But at the same time, Ahriman couldn't help but worry: After all, the Nikaea Conference was a direct order from the Emperor. Would he really tolerate so many Primarchs colluding privately before the meeting started? Although theoretically, this is a tolerable behavior, but who can say for sure what the Lord of Mankind is thinking?

What if he found out that so many Primarchs were colluding privately behind his back...

Cold sweat soaked Ahriman's neck.

[You... are you worried about this? ]

Morgan finally understood what Ahriman was hesitating about. Her expression stiffened in her instinctive smile, and she finally failed to close her teeth in time, letting the brisk laughter pierce Ahriman's eardrums: When Ahriman looked up in surprise, Morgan casually threw a file into his arms.

【Take a look at this and you will understand.】

“This is…”

Ahriman just glanced at it.

(*)!!

"This... this is!"

[Right. ]

Morgan searched for the half-drunk chocolate milk in the sea of ​​books and articles in front of her.

[This is the order and approximate time for the Emperor to meet with each Primarch: To be safe, I have arranged the audience time for the Primarchs attending the meeting to the second half, that is, the earliest will be tomorrow, so there is no need to worry that they will be called away this afternoon. ]

"You... arrange it?"

Ariman managed to squeeze out a voice.

"What do you mean by arrange it?"

[Literally. ]

Morgan found her drink and snorted happily. The fatigue after the long meeting accumulated in the corners of her eyes, which was quickly dissipated by the happy mood. The Spider Queen did not forget to find another cup and poured a drink for her Thousand Son friend.

[You should not mind drinking something I have drunk, right, Ahriman? ]

Unfortunately, a Thousand Son who was still in shock did not notice this sentence.

"You said you..."

[I said, literally. 】

The Primarch waved his hand indifferently.

The idea of ​​the Emperor meeting the Primarchs one by one was originally proposed by me. The process and approximate time of the meeting must be arranged by me first, and then made into a script, and then let him go according to the script: his precious brain computing power will not be used for such humanistic care, and letting him decide how long to talk with each son is already the limit. 】

Speaking of this, the Spider Queen did not forget to touch her chin proudly.

Of course, this job is not as easy as you think: some topics between Primarchs are coherent, so you must first discuss with the previous person before deciding what to talk to the next person. It is not easy to arrange our nine participants at the back. 】

[It's not easy. 】

[But if this is met, it will be much easier to arrange work for the Emperor. 】

"..."

Ariman was silent. Obviously, this sentence is not long, and he knows what every word and every letter in it means, but why when they are combined together, he, the well-informed Thousand Sons Chief Captain, can't understand these words from Morgan's mouth at all?

What does it mean to: arrange work for the Emperor?

If this sentence spreads, will it really not cause riots in Ullanor?

"Uh... My Lord..."

Ahriman was silent for a long time, then took several deep breaths, and then did not forget to cheer himself up in his heart for a while, and then he found the courage to speak. He stammered and spoke to the Primarch, completely without the professor's style of standing in front of dozens or hundreds of elites from various legions in the past.

"What you did..."

[The Emperor knows. 】

"Then... Then this meeting."

[Of course I know. 】

The Primarch rolled his eyes at Ahriman.

【Please, it's just some small things like collusion, conspiracy, usurpation of power, and undermining. Why are you so nervous? If I tell you that this meeting was ordered by the Emperor, will you faint on the spot? 】

"This meeting?" Ahriman pointed to the desk.

"Did the Emperor ask you to summon the eight Primarchs for a private meeting?"

【What do you think? 】

The Primarch smiled.

"He... Isn't he afraid that you can really discuss a common plan?"

【He would like this, otherwise he would have to find eight people to talk to one by one, which would be more painful than killing him: Guilliman and Johnson are becoming more and more difficult to fool, Sanguinius and Chagatai Khan are even more important, and talking to them for half an hour is enough to shorten the life of our beloved Emperor by 10,000 years. 】

【So, if we Primarchs can come up with a greatest common divisor, my Gene Father will definitely be happy to see it. He is very lazy: one plan is much easier than eight plans, at least it saves him the trouble of shopping around. 】

Morgan's brisk words are still flowing in the room, but Ahriman's mind is no longer on it: the Spider Queen's previous treasonous remarks are like a heavy hammer, easily smashing the Thousand Sons' spiritual bottom line that they have been holding on to for all these years. Those sacred and inviolable things seem to be broken, and then reveal a corner of the absurdity of the world to him.

The Emperor himself... allowed this?

Ahriman took a deep breath, and he suddenly felt a little sad for no reason: In the eyes of him and Magnus, the sacred Nikaea Conference, which was like a heroic sacrifice, was actually a toy that the Emperor could easily give to others? Was it something that had been decided on the table long ago?

If the Emperor had already decided what kind of ruling he would make at the Council of Nikaea, why did he invite all of them here with such fanfare: to use their reverence for him to justify all this?

Or... or...

[Nothing to say. ]

The Spider Queen drank her drink slowly, glanced at Ahriman who was still in shock, clapped her hands, and called the soul of the Thousand Sons back: Although this world now has the Emperor in charge, Morgan did not dare to let Ahriman's soul wander around in the warp for too long.

The Primarch sighed: the sound of the party was faintly heard outside the window.

[If you really still don’t understand, just follow me tonight and listen to what some people and I will discuss: to disenchant you, increase your knowledge, and let you understand what this empire is. In this way, you can also shoulder your own responsibilities in the future. 】

"responsibility?"

Ahriman looked up blankly.

"What responsibility?"

【How to say...】

The Spider Queen half-smiled, but the cold light in her pupils made Ahriman tremble.

[We can’t really watch nineteen legions turn into eighteen, right? 】

[Some legions, although they seem to be hopeless now, we still have to find a way to pass them on and find someone who can carry the banner. 】

"You mean..."

Ahriman didn't dare think, but Morgan just nodded casually.

[Be prepared, Ahriman: I can assure you. 】

[Your shoulders will soon carry some extraordinary existences]