As early as when the Lord of Mankind laid the first foundation for his magnificent palace complex in the Himalayas and laid the original construction idea, he personally instructed the then engineering director of a very important matter.

He said that in front of the palace, at the junction of the pinnacle of imperial power and the mundane world, a wide passage leading directly into the sanctuary of the Imperial Palace should be built, a mile long, wide enough for the vast divine machines to roam through, sacred enough to be used for the memory of heroes.

The Lord of Humanity gave the order, and he was satisfied: the Emperor's passage was one of the first areas of the entire Terra Palace to be built, and it had been in busy use long before the Throne Hall and the Tower of Overlordship were completed, and the Emperor of the Empire had personally given the heroic path a legendary name.

Eternal Gate.

It connects the Emperor's Golden Throne with the people he rules; It connects the Emperor's Praetorian Guards with the Palatine Legion, the Lucifer Black Guard, and the elite forces of Katanda, the garrison of the Terra-mortal Praetorian Guard; It connects the most sacred temple of the empire with the most mundane noisy towns, the kingdom of gods and men, legends and mediocrity, heroes and cowards.

And in between these two realms are countless beautiful and lifelike sculptures, frescoes, reliefs, and resolute faces: only the banners and banners of the greatest imperial heroes can fly here, and most of them have paid for it with their lives.

The requirements for being selected for this passage are even more demanding than being a Praetorian Army, and this harshness makes the sides of the Eternal Gate seem a little deserted at this time, with only a few touches, but it also makes it impossible for anyone to despise the greatness and sacredness of these heroes: not even Astarte, even the genetic prototype.

Rather, to be able to place the statue of himself, or the legion to which he belongs, in this realm that belongs only to heroes, in front of the Emperor's throne, is the supreme glory that every Astarte warrior even dreams of: even though the Great Expedition has been going on for decades, even though many legions have captured countless glory among the stars, there is still not a single genetic prototype, or his legion, that can leave the name of all of them on the stone wall of the Eternal Gate.

But today.

A new page has been turned in history.

——————

"Thousands of tons of white marble, said to be the supreme treasure of the Aegean Valley, would have bought any of the ancient families of pure blood in Terra: the Count of Arcadia paid him a tribute to the emperor during his tour of the provinces of Europa, and all said that the cunning Boeotians had taken advantage of the opportunity to claim dominion over his native province."

[Did he succeed?] 】

"It's a success, but it's certainly not the work of the stones."

The wolf king rubbed his jaw, and as soon as they could see the spires of Terra's Palace, which seemed to pierce the sky, the Fenris suddenly stopped his explanation, and let his eyes jump back and forth between Morgan and Conrad, revealing the sly smile of a wolf that only a wild wolf would show when the hunt was successful.

"Let's leave the rest to Conrad to explain: he has been studying history very hard lately, especially in the history of Terra, and he can ask me a lot of times, which is impressive."

【Is it ......】

Morgan muttered confusion and looked at his other brother: at this moment, Conrad had just been dragged back from his wandering world by the call of Riemanlus, and Conrad could only grit his teeth in dissatisfaction at the wolf king of Fenris, who could not keep his secret.

[Are you familiar with the history of Holy Terra's past, Conrad?] 】

Morgan raised an eyebrow, her heart was really confused now: although the Lord of Avalon knew that her brother had been immersed in hard work lately, she had never imagined that her Nostramo brother would have such a strong interest in the history of Divine Terra.

It's not easy.

“……”

Midnight Ghost paused, then reluctantly squeezed out an answer.

"Since we are used to seeing the future, we always want to look at the past again."

【…… Not bad. 】

[Then tell me about it, tell me about the past of these marbles.] 】

"As you wish."

Midnight Wraith raised his chin at the smiling Riemanrus and snorted sullenly, and then, his face became a little serious, and he continued what Riemanrus had just said with clarity.

"Originally, the family that ruled the Boeotia region was called Yeselti, and they had resisted the emperor's attempts at unification by non-violent non-cooperation, and our father even allowed this family to continue to rule as a semi-autonomous state for another hundred and fifty years, in order to allow them to integrate into the rule of the empire at their own pace and with as dignity as possible: but contrary to their wishes, the Yeselti family insisted on their independence until the emperor finally sent his army of a thousand sons."

"And the family of the Count of Arcadia took advantage of this battle to rebel, or rather welcome the king, and succeeded in becoming the new ruler of the province of Boitia: as for these white marbles, they were just a gift of icing on the cake, but these stones were indeed beautiful, so the emperor brought them back to the palace of Terra, piled them up in the square of the heroes, and used these marbles to create a new statue for the new original for each genetic prototype returned."

[That is, so far, there are seventeen statues?] 】

Morgan raised her head slightly, her eyes narrowed, and she looked at the walls of the palace in the distance: somewhere behind that wall was called Qunying Square, and a statue of her stood on the square, opposite which might be Johnson or Chagatai Khan.

If it is arranged according to the serial number of the clan, it is the former, and if it is in the order of return, it is the latter.

"No, you're wrong, sister."

Midnight Wraith shook his head, his characteristic cruel smile.

"It's sixteen: don't forget, one of our brothers has lost his standing on the Square of Heroes, and his statue has been shattered into a pile of white stones."

【……】

[I thought they were just covering it up.] 】

"It may be that our father felt that covering him up was not enough insurance."

Conrad's laughter was sharp, and Riemanrus's face was a little gloomy, and the wolf king did not respond to his brother's words, he just sniffed the rotten wind on Divine Terra, and then put on a retching posture.

"Morgan, I heard that this was proposed to my father?"

【……？ 】

[It's not me.] 】

The Lord of Avalon shook her head, dissociating herself from the matter: while she didn't feel guilty, or deeper, for the rebellious brother who had already been excommunicated by the Emperor, she didn't want to be associated with the impression of destroying the statue.

[I only proposed to the Emperor that he could prepare the necessary honor for the Dark Angels on Sacred Terra: even the words "Eternal Gate" only appeared once in the corners of the words, and I never thought that the Emperor would place the honor of the Dark Angels there. 】

"It's not just about being there, it's something as simple as that."

Conrad took over, and with a wink, he looked at their destination, which was already so close: a little more on the way, across a kilometre long passage, where Johnson and his sons awaited his brothers.

"The Emperor has given you more than you can imagine: and, if our father doesn't say it, everyone will think that you have earned it for the Dark Angel."

"At least, that's what the Dark Angels definitely think."

【……】

"Do you think he'll say that?"

[I don't think he will.] 】

——————

At the end of the Gate of Eternity. Next to the front gate of the palace, which symbolized the emperor's authority, Johnson and his high-ranking knights were waiting for his blood brothers, waiting for the look of consternation on their faces.

He successfully waited.

When the three primordials finally arrived at their destination, even Morgan couldn't control the flash of astonishment in her pupils because of what was in front of her.

After a long silence of astonishment, a shrill whistle from the Nostramo man pierced the proud smile on Johnson's face.

"Wow......"

Conrad sighed loudly, amazed.

"I even envy you a little, my dear brother Caliban."

Next to the Midnight Ghost, Morgan and Riemannruth raised their eyebrows at the same time, and they carefully observed the scene in front of them, expressing their silent approval of Conrad's words.

“……”

Johnson did not respond, and at the same time, he had no emotion, let alone anger, for Conrad's yin and yang weirdness: in fact, the knight king of the Caliban was in a strange and pleasant mood at this time, his waist was still straight, his etiquette was still impeccable, but the smile on his face revealed that Johnson was not at peace at this time.

And the same expression also appeared on the body of the dozen or so high-ranking knights behind him, these high-ranking armed lords in the First Legion, all of them were big names who could represent the entire Dark Angel Legion, they stood on Johnson's side like angel wings, the same serious face, but the same could not suppress the smile.

Behind Johnson, in the place guarded by the dark angels, was the root cause of these strange sights: a gigantic statue of pure white marble, undoubtedly the most delicate hands of the entire Holy Terra, which belonged only to the clans of artisans who had served the emperor and the forbidden army for generations.

During the time when several of the Genotypes were heading towards Terra, the Master Sculptors erased a Genotype sculpture and recreated the sculpture as a symbol of the entire First Legion.

The sculpture, the symbol of honor of all the Dark Angels, is a colossus about ten meters tall, though the armor is not ornate, and its appearance does not have many facial features: in fact, it wears a winged helmet that is most prevalent in the First Legion, and wears a suit of armor that can be worn by any Dark Angel, and the few decorations on the armor are swords and wings, double-headed eagles, and roaring lions.

One of his hands was attached to the hilt of his sword, the blade of which was plunging into the ground, while the other hand clutched a large sturdy shield, the edge of which was hidden along with his arm in the vivid cloak on the back of the sculpture.

This statue: it is not Johnson, it is not Coswayne, it is not Astrand, it is not Aracus, it is not any of the Dark Angels who are famous in the galaxy, but it can be Johnson, it can be Coswayne, it can be Astrand, it can be Aracus, it can be any of the First Legion soldiers who are famous, obscure, alive, or have died in war.

He's not anyone,

He can be anyone.

He is not an individual, he is the symbol of the entire First Legion: the symbol of the countless bloody sacrifices, the countless gritted teeth, the countless exploits that have endured the odds and will never be recognized.

It was placed in a position that anyone could boast of: at the very end of the Gate of Eternity, on the side of the gates of the Palace of Terra, above the countless heroes of the Empire, it was the last and most heaviest being on this great pilgrimage, the guardian of the palace of the Lord of Men with his sword, shield and eyes, and until then only the Forbidden Army could stand on the ground beneath its feet.

While the other Genomorphs and Astarte warriors were still trying to carve the names of their legions into any section of the wall at the Gates of Eternity, the nameless Dark Angel was already standing at the very end of the path, looking down on them all, forever.

Of course, considering the vastness of the Gate of Eternity and the splendor of the Palace of Terra, even if this statue is so beautiful and huge, it is still insignificant in the eyes of mortals who can only look at the palace from afar, even unnoticed, after all, very few people are allowed to enter the palace through the passage of the Eternal Gate, and therefore, it is destined that few people will see the eternal honor of the Dark Angel Legion standing here.

No one can record it, no one can remember it, but no one can compare it: this is the Emperor's reply to the First Legion.

Now, Johnson and his sons have seen how this reply came to pass, and no one knows what their mood was like at the moment: maybe joy, maybe something else, but anyway, they accepted it.

"It's more exaggerated than I thought."

Conrad's hoarse voice muttered to himself in a very low voice, as if he had been defeated on an invisible battlefield.

"At the end of the Gate of Eternity, in front of the gates of the Palace of Terra, a new statue made from the raw materials of another Genoplasma: I can't even imagine that this is our father's handiwork."

“……”

Riemanlus, on the other hand, nodded a little dazedly, agreeing with Conrad's suspicions, and then, he blinked his eyes and turned his gaze to the Lord of Avalon, who was beside him, in a similar state as him.

"Is this really not your proposal? Morgan? ”

【…… I've said it all! No! 】

Morgan gritted his teeth.

"It doesn't matter anymore: the dark angels apparently think so."

Conrad raised an eyebrow, his voice gloating.

"You should be glad to be there, sister, these Calibans are reserved guys: if a group of Fenris are full of gratitude to you right now, you won't be able to resist it."

"Conrad is right."

【……】

Morgan didn't want to speak.

"Look, Johnson is waving at us."

【……】

"Let's go over. 】

The Lord of Avalon shook her head, and she heard a sigh of her own.

……

"You're here?"

As the three Genogens approached their brother, each of them could clearly feel some unnatural shaking of Johnson's fingers resting on the hilt of his sword: like his face struggling to settle down.

"Pretty statue, brother."

Riemanrus grinned and laughed wildly, and he strode forward and hugged the Lord of Caliban as if they had not seen each other for a long time, while Johnson maintained his stiff posture, passively bearing the embrace of Riemanrus, who did not seem to be angry at the offense.

"I hope the other brothers don't see this statue, or someone will be jealous: in fact, I'm already a little jealous of you now, Johnson, and I want a big guy like that."

The joke of Riemanrus echoed in the ears of the Lion King, and Johnson showed a rather unmistakable smile in response to his brother.

"It doesn't matter, Riemann: I don't deliberately publicize these things, and I don't care about the rumors that are stirred up because of a mere statue, and it would be too pitiful for a man to be worthy of all his pride in the hundreds of tons of marble and the vain honor of the few hundred tons of marble on it."

"It's not rough."

Conrad shook his head, and then Riemanrus came up, stretched out his slender arms, and hugged Johnson fiercely, as if it were some formal ritual.

"Originally, you didn't have this treatment."

Taking advantage of the embrace, Midnight Ghost leaned in and whispered in Johnson's ear, speaking in a playful tone.

"Thanks Morgan: you lucky Caliban bastard."

“……”

"But you do deserve it: I reluctantly admit it."

“……”

"I see, Conrad."

"Thank you for your unbiased review."

"You're welcome, brother~"

The Caliban's stance was noticeably stiffer towards the brother, but he met the hug with a cold face, and raised a hand and tapped the Nostramo man twice on the shoulder in response.

And when Morgan walked up, the lion was obviously stunned for a moment, he seemed to hesitate for a while on whether to accept Morgan's hug, but in the end, it was still a reserved attitude that took the upper hand of the lion king's thinking, only to see Johnson move his somewhat stiff legs, take the initiative to take a step forward, and stretched out a hand.

In this regard, the Lord of Avalon, who originally wanted to open his arms, only raised his eyebrows slightly, and then stretched out her hand obediently, without the slightest pause or surprise.

The two hands were intertwined, and they were tightly clenched: Johnson spoke first.

"Thank you for your offer. Morgan. ”

Then, the voice was so low that only two people could hear it.

"I didn't expect you to do this for the First Legion: rest assured, about the statue of Heydrich, I vouch for it with my honor, I will not say it, and I will also supervise Riemann and Conrad."

【……】

【……】

[That's the best.] 】

Morgan tried to explain something, but when the Lord of Avalon saw Johnson's sincere gaze, an inexplicable fatigue took over her, and she sighed, smiled in response to Johnson's oath, and did not bother to explain anything more in vain.

Love is what it is, so be it.

[If you're happy, Johnson. 】

"It's okay to be happyMorgan: It's an honor and a responsibility, and I don't really need it, but since the responsibility comes to me, I won't refuse."

Although the smile on the corner of his mouth was almost irrepressible, Johnson's words were still cold, and when Morgan nodded and walked up to him, the Caliban also turned around and looked with her at the Dark Angel dignitaries gathered next to the statue.

These Terra veterans were all men of the past hundred or two hundred years, but at this time, like a group of fledgling young men, they gathered around the tall statue, whispering about some detail of the statue, trying to suppress the excitement on their faces: and in their pupils, Morgan saw an active color that she had not seen in a long time in the Dark Angel, and they seemed to be quietly reviving.

[The statue is placed here, both as an acknowledgment and as a kind of concealment: if there is no accident, after this, perhaps only the Forbidden Army and the Emperor will be able to observe your statue up close, Johnson.] 】

"I don't care about these things."

Johnson's eyebrows were sharp.

"More than that, I wish this statue could always stand here, in front of the gates of Terra Palace, and guard this Terra Palace instead of me."

[The forbidden soldiers will be upset by this statement.] 】

Morgan chuckled under his breath, and following her guidance, Johnson looked to the other side: several of the Lords of Humanity's forbidden troops were standing scattered on the other side of the gate, silently looking at the Gene Prototype and the Astarte warriors with no sadness or joy, no emotion, but no respect.

Johnson snorted.

"They're not necessarily better or better than my First Legion, Morgan."

"After all, not everyone is the First Army."

"The Emperor chose these forbidden armies to defend his palace, and I respect his choice, but if I and my warriors were to do it, we would only do better: the true guards should not be confined to the Terra Palace, but should be cleansed of all threats with sword and fire, so that the flames of war will burn forever beyond the galaxy."

Is that your point of view? 】

"It always has been."

【……】

Morgan snorted, her eyes narrowed, not knowing what she was thinking.

[So, immediately after our trip to Terra, you are about to embark on a new expedition: I had thought that I would invite you to sit down in the Far East, just as Killiman invited me. 】

"Personally, I'm not resisting your invitation, Morgan, but in the darkness, there are too many missions of the Dark Angels to complete: as for Killiman? Don't take his so-called sincere invitation too seriously, maybe he has some bad water in his stomach. ”

As the statue was lowered for a moment, Johnson's words seemed a little relaxed.

[That's ......]

Morgan sighed unintentionally, she didn't speak again, Johnson didn't speak again, and the two genetic prototypes witnessed Riemanruth and Conrad judging the statue, and the high-ranking knights of the dark angels lined up and discussed with each other who should stand in which place: with the official inauguration of the statue, the attendants of the palace came to everyone with a video recorder to record this important moment.

"Come on, Morgan."

The Lion King reached out and patted his sister on the shoulder.

"Come here, come with me in the middle, by my side."

[This is a photo of you and your children as the subject.] 】

"But, I also invited Riemanruth and Conrad to come along, didn't I?"

The lion king hooked the corners of his mouth.

"Come with me, Morgan."

"Like I said: if you don't stand between us, then what kind of First Legion are we?"

——————

When the shutter is pressed, everyone seems to be in a different state.

Johnson rightfully stood in the middle of all, and he was this day. is the protagonist of this moment, and on his side, there are several of his blood brothers, and on the other side are his most important children.

Morgan stood on Johnson's right hand, she looked as if she was leaning against the Caliban, her silver hair brushing the pure black shoulder armor, her hands crossed, her weight seemed to be a little biased towards Johnson, and it was worth noting that Morgan seemed to remember something before taking the photo, so he put on a helmet.

Zhuang Sheng glanced at Morgan and frowned.

"Luther's?"

[Hmm...... He's supposed to be in this picture, isn't he? 】

“……”

The Lion King nodded, he didn't say anything more, and then he looked a little farther away: although Riemannus was separated from him by a Morgan, the King of Fenris stretched out his arm and took the Calibans and Avalons in his arms, the Wolf King's smile was the most flamboyant of all the people present, and Conrad on the other side was also in his other arm, which really made the midnight ghost look a little uncomfortable: this scene was faithfully recorded in the photograph.

On the other side, the Dark Angels lined up in a neat double line: Cosveen and Arachos were closest to Johnson, and the others stood in turn.

But interestingly, whether these high-ranking knights were famous or obscure, they all wore the same winged helmets at this moment: at first glance, all of them were indistinguishable from the huge statue behind them, making it impossible to tell who each of them was.

These knights erased their identity and honor, and in this moment, they symbolized the countless fighting brothers who could not come, and symbolized the entire First Legion.

Astrand, on the other hand, stood at the back of the line, at the very edge, so that he could leave an inconspicuous position beside him: he didn't know why he was doing it, but he remembered clearly that he had promised someone to leave a place for him here.

He didn't remember who that man was, but he did remember that he had made an oath that he was not going to break it, for the sake of the oath brother he could no longer remember.

And when everyone was standing and the waiter was about to press the key, Morgan's psionic sense suddenly sensed something, and she raised her head and saw the direction of the statue's head: there, it seemed that a mortal waiter was holding a banner and wanted to hang it above the statue's head, and his reckless behavior brought him into the camera.

And when Morgan narrowed his eyes and carefully saw the reckless man's face, the sly pupils and smooth forehead made the Spider Queen recognize his identity in an instant.

【……】

"What's wrong?"

Johnson sensed in an instant that something was wrong with Morgan, he asked, and then they all looked up and looked in the same direction: and the Caliban, almost in the next second, recognized the identity of the man, the brother who had fought alongside them, but had quietly left.

The Lion King was silent for a moment, no one knew what he was thinking in this second, but when he turned his head and looked at the camera, he suddenly commanded in a cold voice.

"Raise the lens a little higher."

So just like that, the reckless mortal reluctantly entered the camera.

He just smiled at that.

In this way, all the guests were present, all the preparations were ready, and the moment when the waiter finally pressed the shutter, perhaps it was an illusion, or perhaps a glimmer of light caused by a glimmer of light: Morgan could feel as if a tear was slowly accumulating from Johnson's pupils.

There is only one drop, a small drop, like the morning dew, fast and dreamy, making people uncertain and unfathomable.

[Are you in tears?] Johnson. 】

"No, Morgan."

"That's your delusion, isn't it?"

【……】

[How many photos did he take?] 】

"One."

【Is it ......】

[What do I think, it's two? 】

Morgan muttered to herself, as she walked over to the waiter, and glanced at the instrument: when she saw the faint drop of dew in the eyes of the Caliban, which shimmered in the second picture, the Lord of Avalon smiled briefly at Johnson.

[Okay.] 】

[Only one.] 】

If you find the last few paragraphs garbled, then please exit the starting point and refresh it, this is the result of my accidental mistake

Daily group number: 684947131

(End of chapter)