Now, let's go back in time a bit.

——————

While Ahriman and Frix were discussing their philosophies of mercy, murder, and death in the ship's cloister, their respective genetic fathers were discussing similar topics in the command room.

"This is not the first time I have carried out a massacre, Magnus, my brother, and I confess to you that when I was a general at Olympia, I did the same thing as I do now, more than once."

"But at that time, I could at least convince myself that they were enemies tainted with blood feuds, stubborn people who refused to submit, and a group of people who did not need my pity and commitment."

"But now it's different, my brother Magnus...... It's really different now. ”

The shadow of the Iron Lord was stretched by the light reflected from the massive floor-to-ceiling portholes, long and long, all the way to the far end of the room, and on either side of him, a dozen crew members and communications officers received a steady stream of signals and reports from the entire fleet informing them of the progress of the cleaning.

But Perturabo wasn't listening, just staring almost stubbornly at the silent glint of the camera in view: it was the Iron Warriors and Chiko's fleet firing, smashing deadly shells into unsuspecting civilian ships, acquiescing in the waste of ships in order to more efficiently purge the cursed Dawn Starmen.

And in a farther place, Li Xing was burning, the edge of the whirlwind torpedo could not wait to roar at the first time the order was given, this terrible star-destroying weapon did not lose its prestige at all, the monstrous flames burned everything in this poor world, from the atmosphere to the mountains, from life to soul, a crimson net devoured them, and finally rolled up the curtain of death across the world, killing Li Xingxing himself at a speed visible to the naked eye, This grand funeral ceremony can be observed clearly even in the void.

Until the blood-red net finally disappeared into the poles of the dead world, and the empire lost a once prosperous living world.

Perturabo bowed his head as the only guest at the funeral to offer his last condolences, and then he turned his head to look at his brother.

As the second tallest figure in the original body, Magnus's expression was clearly observed by his brother: the face of the Lord of Prospero was also mournful, but not much, more like a template to show respect and attention.

"Doesn't all this in front of us even make you think deeply, Magnus?"

Chiko's genetic prototype glanced at his brother, and he was a little unsure of which line Perturabo's mind was now on: a general? Academics? Is it a fury? Or is it that sentimental artist?

It looks like the latter.

"Calm down, brother."

Magnus patted Peturabo on the shoulder.

"You and I have both grown up in death, in the world of Olympia you have been involved in countless wars, and in Prospero I have led my people to exterminate the endless Soul Eater Bees, creatures ten thousand times more powerful and cunning than the most difficult beast you can remember, I have seen my soldiers die in battle, their brains and spirits devoured and drained alive, believe me, for a psyker, there is no more terrible way to die."

The Lord of Prospero's hands were all on his brother's shoulders, until his consciousness told him that Perturabo's spirit had stabilized again.

The genetic prototype is a little uncertain, his brother has long been a battle-hardened general, and even had the evil act of executing his own heir with his own hands, how can he feel real pain because of such a thing as mortal death?

Unless...... It was not mortal death that his brother was disgusted by, but defeat: the defeat of Perturabo.

Perturabo arrived, Perturabo swore an oath, Perturabo tried, Perturabo failed, this result was unacceptable to him, and finally mixed with a grand killing and turned into a feeling of death.

It's really an Olympian thought, isn't it?

Of course, this kind of conclusion, Magnus would not have said.

——————

After just one deep breath, Perturabo calmed down again, perhaps to forget the sentimentality he had just had, and he became even colder.

They talked again, the conversation gradually detached from the previous tragedy, the two like-minded primordials had a lot to talk about, and by the time Magnus ordered Morgan to come, his conversation with his brother had become a kind of reminiscence, a reminiscence of the time they had spent together on the Holy Terra.

"Antikythera, do you remember it now, Magnus?"

Magnus's eyes lit up at Perturabo's voice, and he remembered the time he had spent studying side by side with Perturabo: the two Primitives, like ordinary students, digging through the ancient ruins of Terra, searching for the lost wisdom.

"Of course, brother, of course I remember him, a deceased naturalist, whose relics are one of the most precious finds I have ever found."

Perturabo laughed at the answer, and he turned and walked to a deeper room, where he stepped out with a strange object in his hand.

The Lord of Steel placed it on the table and left Magnus to observe it closely.

The Lord of Prospero stared at the intricate instrument, the curved metal device, the winding device, and the adjustable lens all the more familiar to him, and when he really remembered what it was, the genoplasm took a deep breath that meant something uncanny.

Antikythera...... Yes...... Antikythera ......"

"Oh my God...... Peturabo...... You, you succeeded?! ”

"It's just an imitation, Magnus, and I admit that if it were developed alone, it would have taken many years, but if it was just a copy of the work of its predecessors, if it was just standing on the shoulders of giants and caressing the sky, then a few years would be enough."

"Nope! Now is not the time to say this, my brother, I have no intention of offending, but ...... Can it be activated? ”

Perturabo shook his head.

"I'm not sure, I didn't actually open it, and Magnus, you just gave me a drawing and asked me to copy it, but you never explained what it was designed for, and you didn't tell me what it did or how it worked."

"But you made it, Perturabo."

The Lord of Prospero nodded in amazement, and then he looked at his brother and laughed.

"So what do you think it does?"

Peturabo pondered for a moment.

"I believe it's some kind of navigation instrument, like the sextant used by seafarers decades ago, but it operates on a much larger scale. What kind of oceans would you sail in and need such equipment?"

Magnus turned his head and continued to stare at the intricate object.

"The Vast Ocean."

"The ...... of the Vast Ocean"

Behind him, Perturabo's voice was becoming uneasy.

"I want to ...... Are you referring to subspace? ”

"Yes, there it is."

The Lord of Prospero is obsessed with the creature before him, which carries a part of his dreams.

"You can't imagine its wonder, Pertulabo, if the deceased naturalist hadn't recorded the error, then this magical little thing, even complete navigation in subspace, and ...... then"

Magnus looked up and looked around cautiously.

"At that time, ships will no longer even need a navigator to determine and find their way in subspace, and even a group of mortals will be able to use it to move safely in the fog of subspace."

Magnus ...... You should remember what our father used to say about the vast ocean, he didn't want us to go too deep in it, let alone these mortals, deep represents danger, do you remember? ”

Perturabo sighed, and he walked around the room, rummaging behind Magnus, finally lifting up something heavy that Magnus was so focused that he didn't notice at all.

"I know, man, but that's okay."

"Nope."

"It matters."

Perturabo's heavy footsteps shook the ground as he dragged a piece of hard metal: a war hammer, and rushed in front of Magnus.

Before Chiko's genogen could react, the Iron Lord's arm turned, and the hammer rattled through the air in front of him, and finally fell.

The next moment, with a crisp cracking sound, the ingenious, infinitely future creature had reverted to cracked metal and shattered lenses, which fell to the ground along with the smashed, table wreckage, and a rain of steel.

Magnus's expression froze.

"No...... No, no, my brother, what are you doing! ”

"Do what you have to do, Magnus."

——————

Then, there was the scene that Morgan walked in and saw.

——————

The Primordials were roaring at each other, and they did their best to accuse each other with elegant words and heated tones.

In Magnus's rage, Perturabo became a thug, a saboteur, a hopeless Spartan, who rebuked his blood brother for not caring for the fruits of wisdom and effort.

Perturabo, on the other hand, was much calmer, he just repeated his point over and over again: the power of the genetic prototype was far inferior to that of the emperor, so what qualifications did they have to act on their own in a field that even the emperor did not dare to set foot too in.

The quarrel was violent, frenzied, but swift, and the two Primordials confronted each other perhaps a thousand times, but it seemed to outsiders only a few minutes, and their wisdom and calmness determined that the argument would not continue forever.

"You have a gift for cruelty, my brother."

In the end, Magnus ended the discordant debate with a resentful description.

"Maybe."

Peturabo didn't deny it, he nodded instead.

"But cruelty is good, at least, you know where I stand now, Magnus."

The Lord of Prospero did not continue the conversation, he waved his hand, as if trying to dispel everything that had just been from the restless air, while the Lord of Steel turned around once more and took out a scroll of blueprints.

"This is the blueprint you gave me, Magnus, and I won't make a second one...... If you can find and convince a clever guy, then I'll be a brother and good luck. ”

Magnus didn't pick it up, his gaze wandering around, finally to Morgan.

"Ah, Ms. Morgan...... Sorry to keep you waiting. ”

The genogen gave a slightly apologetic look before he remembered what he was going to do.

On Li Xingxing, he had promised to give the mortal in front of him a solemn enough ceremony of inauguration, and he was indeed prepared to do so.

One Primordial host, the other Primordial witness, the so-called scenes and guests in the mortal world are nothing to mention in this configuration, and Magnus believes that Morgan will agree with this as well.

Morgan bent his knees slightly, and the genogen stretched out his hand, and naturally his attendants came from the side, presenting badges and papers.

——————

"I'm not like my brother Fogham, I'm not that much of a fancy for rhetoric and red tape, so let's make things a little easier, Ms. Morgan."

"From today onwards, you will be a high-ranking advisor to the Fifteenth Legion, and your opinions will be cherished by me, and your requests will be promised by me."

"I grant you the power to visit as an envoy, as the duty to lead a battle, as a gift for scholars to seek knowledge, and as a burden for officials to manage."

"From now on, you don't need to call any of my heirs [Your Excellency], for you, like them, are the pillars of my army."

"I, Magnus, hereby confer responsibility and authority on you, Morgan; I will always keep my word, unless you betray your loyalty to the Emperor, to the Empire, to humanity, and to me, and I am sure you will not do so. ”

"Here, as my brother, Perturabo, the Iron Lord of the Fourth Legion, is witnessing, from now on, you are my high-ranking advisor and my right-hand man."

"Now, get up, there is no need to be so restrained, we are all the vanguard of the empire now, we are all the arms of the emperor, and we are all side by side travelers who will never give up on the road of knowledge."

"Welcome, Morgan."

——————

Magnus's words landed, and Perturabo clapped his hands ceremoniously to prove that he had witnessed the ceremony.

"A mortal advisor, Magnus?"

"Maybe you should try it too, my brother."

"If I could really meet such good people, then I would."

The two genogens laughed as if their previous quarrel didn't exist.

"So what are your plans for the next step?"

"Absolutely."

Magnus nodded.

"I'm going to perform a ritual with my heirs and Morgan, and I'm going to go deep into the subspace to find a way to heal their soul wounds."

"I think you can trust the real-life doctor, brother."

"No, Perturabo, no kidding."

Magnus shook his head with a smile.

"In front of you is Magnus, the great scholar second only to the Emperor."

"Who else in the world can be trusted more than me?"