"Welcome to Otrama."

"Welcome to Cowes."

"Dear battle brothers."

"Look at the sun here, look at the sun that Cowes has: the world is like the sun around it, rising and vibrant: let us wish the fighting brothers who have gathered here will also have a fiery bond like the sun."

“……”

"What do you think of those words?"

Platus-Augustus, as always, wrapped himself in the heavy armor that never left him, and Killiman's favorite field commander was now biting his rough lips in anguish and trying to put on a pensive look.

"It's not badly written: if it's a welcome slogan, that's enough."

"yes, it's temporary."

After receiving an affirmative answer from the man beside him, a smile quickly appeared on Augustus' rugged face, and he seemed to be busy trying to finish the drudgery at hand.

As the bravest warrior of the Lord of the Five Hundred: At least that's what Augustus himself thought, and he would rather face an entire highland of green-skinned orcs than smear slogans on these fragile walls or hang banners fluttering in the wind.

Welcome speech? Ha!

They are the soldiers of the Legion, and the visitors they have to receive are also the soldiers of the Legion: how can a true warrior need such pompous statements floating in the sky? If it weren't for the fact that this order came from the original body himself, even if the warband leader Gage personally stood in front of him and gave the order, Augustus would only be disdainful of these [playhouse] actions.

But if it's the Primordial, then it must have his own considerations: it's not something that Augustus or any Ultramariner is qualified to figure out, they just need to do their best to do every task that the Primordial gives them.

"Seriously, I don't think you Daybreakers need such a welcome speech, maybe the Midnight Lords will: but I personally have the impression that you Far Eastern Frontier warriors are more ......"

"Pragmatism?"

"yes, almost."

Augustus grinned and laughed, suppressing the sigh in his heart, and he nodded in response to the words of the son of Morgan, and moved his gaze up the shadows: until he felt a sudden tingling sensation coming from the back of his neck.

“……”

The smile of the Ultramariner froze on his face, and he stood in the shadow that could completely cover himself, and the warrior from Macurag could only look at the giant in front of him, and let out a sigh in his heart.

The original body is on top, how does this guy look big: obviously the last time I saw him, he shouldn't have been so tall, but it's just a few years of hard work, why does it look like he's bigger again?

Even if this guy doesn't wear armor, is he going to be bigger than the Terminator veteran?

Augustus frowned, and it took him less than a second to think of the new question in his mind, and he answered it in absolute certainty: however, the thought in his head did not prevent Killiman's son from continuing to take steps forward in reality.

Augustus supervised the mortal minions, smearing their agreed welcome messages on the walls, and continued to ramble with his fellow Dawnbreakers beside him to pass the time.

"Now that I think about it, it seems like a long time has passed since you last came to Macurag: I remember that time, you came with a regular delegation from the Second Legion, we fought in the arena, and you outperformed me."

"I remember correctly, Hector?"

"Yes, maybe...... It's been five years? ”

Morgan's pride hesitated.

"Besides, I didn't beat you in that duel: I just lasted a little longer."

"On the battlefield, this is victory, my sword has fallen to the ground, and my sword is still in the palm of my hand, and though it is broken, you can cut off my head at any time if you wish: is there a more pure victory, my battle brother?"

Gilliman's heir waved his hand, uninterested in the old accounts of five years ago, and did not seem to have any thoughts of confronting Hecht again: instead of these, Augustus concentrated all his memory, and compared Hecht five years ago with the even greater giant in front of him now.

…… It's only been five years......

Augustus sighed softly in his heart: if his calculations were not wrong, according to Hecht's growth curve in the past five years, in another ten years at most, this proud son of Morgan might be taller and more majestic than most of the genetic prototypes.

If only it's more than the Lord of Avalon: maybe next year.

“……”

Isn't this guy really the product of some genetic mutation or cutting-edge experiment?

Augustus was thinking about a malicious suspicion, but Hecht, who was walking with him, was unaware: the Morgan's heir, following the long-ingrained habits of the Dawnbreaker Legion, naturally began to discuss with the Ultramarines about the cooperation between the Far Eastern Frontier and Otlama.

After more than 20 years of nurturing, the warriors of Queen Avalon are generally very sensitive to such [political issues], not to preserve the power in their hands, but to the sons of Morgan know very well: as the de facto dominant institution of the Far Eastern Frontier, every move of the Dawnbreaker Legion will determine the fate of countless mortals, and as a member of the Second Legion, they naturally have to serve their own legion and the Far Eastern Frontier anytime and anywhere.

This service can be to keep an eye out for the gossip of mortals about the latest policies; It can also be to observe the people's livelihood in the target world or the corruption of officials when completing the mission; There is also what Hecht is doing now: quietly spreading the idea of "win-win cooperation" to the largest partner of the Dawnbreaker Legion.

According to their observations: the Ultramarines eat this set.

In front of Hecht's rather sincere smile, even Augustus, who had no interest in these things, had to concentrate all his attention and imprint every word from the mouth of the son of Morgan in his mind: although he had no interest in these red tapes, Augustus was after all the heir of Killman, and their strong memory and excellent ability to analyze documents were their innate talents.

"I remember that I came to Maculag with the fourteenth regular delegation, and you should have some impression of that visit, Brother Augustus: it was during that state visit. The head of our delegation, His Excellency Marshall, signed with Lord Kiliman the final territorial treaty concerning the Far Eastern frontier and the eastern border of the five hundred worlds, as well as the largest share of the trade permit for the circulation of agricultural products to date. ”

“…… Ah, indeed. ”

Augustus paused for a moment before nodding his head reluctantly, he had no interest in the details of these so-called state visits, but he vaguely remembered that in the twenty-five standard years of Terra since Queen Avalon first visited Maculag, there were twenty-three regular state visit teams sent to Otlama by the Far Eastern Frontier alone, and each of them was personally received by Killiman and received a formal reception, and as for the number of Otlama sent to the Far Eastern Frontier, the number was even greater.

And that's not even counting the semi-official, or entirely civilian-run exchanges: countless treaties and memoranda were signed in the midst of this coming-and-going, and just to store these written documents, Killiman built a regimental library with the highest level of secrecy right next to the fortress of Hera, and even henchmen like Augustus did not have access to most of the library's contents.

It can be said that there is no more intimate combination of Avalon and Maculag in the current political plate of the Human Empire: the most intuitive manifestation of this intimacy is that in the compulsory education colleges of Macullag, the teaching of [low Gothic in the style of Avalon] is already in the textbooks of the new generation of students, and it is said to be a compulsory subject.

"I've received about twenty regular visiting teams with Master Killiman, and thanks to the Primordials' trust, I've always been the security guard for such large public gatherings: the last few were because I was on an assignment.

"Of all these visiting teams, the one that impressed me the most was the one who was on the list of visits many times, and I remember about eleven or twelve times: he always attended the highest-level psionic seminars between the two legions, and appeared as the most important guest, on the same level as the primordials."

"But beyond that, he has left a name of his own in the arena of Macurag, and even matches his reputation in the psionic realm: in my personal impression, in the Thirteenth Legion, only the commander of the company, Gage, and the company commander Orfeo, can outperform Ahriman in battle."

"It is said that the name of Ahriman's martial arts has even spread to legions such as the Imperial Fist or the War Dogs, and even the Shadowmoon Wolf: Abaddon, the most trusted wolf god, has great respect for Ahriman's martial arts, and even boasted in front of Saint Res."

When he said words such as "Athletic", "Primordial Body", and "Duel", Augustus's pupils shone with great excitement.

But soon, he shook his head again.

"But it's a pity: I haven't had the opportunity to compete with such a person in the arena, after all, His Excellency Aliman's schedule is always very full, and the number of think tanks in the Thirteenth Legion that want to consult him alone is enough to reach four figures."

Four-digit ......

Hecht's eyes narrowed, and his smile was hidden in the haze cast by his short silver hair.

He spoke.

"In other words, every time His Excellency Ahriman comes to Macurag, he has to be surrounded by all the think tanks of the Ultramarines Legion? No wonder his evaluation of the Otlama Star Zone is [pain and happiness]. ”

"It's not all."

Augustus touched his head.

"Hmm...... Half of it. ”

"I remember that the number of think tanks among the Ultramarines was not more than 10,000, but it wasn't much worse: it is said that when Lord Ahriman gave his last psionic lecture, more than 4,000 think tanks attended, and they said that was half of the total number of Legion think tanks."

“……”

Hector gasped as he struggled to make his voice sound normal.

"Eight thousand think tanks?"

"Maybe."

"Isn't that going to ...... Some are too many? ”

“…… Many? ”

Faced with the confusion of the Ultramarines, Hector had to organize the language.

"I mean: the Ultramarines are not the Astarte Legion, like the Thousand Sons Legion, who specialize in think tanks, and having too many think tanks is not entirely good for your overall strategy."

"It makes sense."

Augustus laughed.

"But don't worry, brother: not all of these 8,000 think tanks are full-time psionic warriors, many of them are part-time cultivators, and their number is barely more than five percent in the current Thirteenth Legion."

Per cent......

“……”

Hector was silent, quietly wiping the sweat from his ears.

"You're expanding your army again?"

"Expanded a little."

At this, Augustus raised his head with some pride.

"According to the statistics not long ago, we have about 150,000 troops: the original body said that there will be no too large-scale expansion of the army in the future, and it is not a good thing that the troops are too bloated, for the current 500 world, the expansion of the army to about 250,000 is probably enough."

“…… It's better to be ......"

"What?"

"Ahem...... It's nothing. ”

Hector coughed, and he decided not to discuss the issue anymore: any question about the number of people would give the Dawnbreaker a subtle, self-inflicted sense of humiliation.

"We ...... Let's talk about Ahriman. ”

"Yes."

Augustus nodded, his pupils lit up again.

"Hecht, you just said that His Excellency Aliman is also on the team for this visit?"

"Yes."

The Dawnbreaker nodded.

"After all, this is our genetic mother's own visit: what could be more authoritative than a face-to-face meeting between two genetists on the Far Eastern frontier and the Five Hundred Worlds?"

"Believe me, Augustus: the number of documents signed on this visit will exceed the sum of the more than twenty previous state visits, and perhaps your genetic father will build a new library."

"And in these documents, there will obviously be content about psionic powers, so it is only natural that Ahriman will be on the side of our genetic mother as her advisor on psionic powers."

"That's ......"

Augustus nodded, looking a little lost.

"Do you mean that Lord Ahriman may be too busy this time to be able to step into the arena of Maculag?"

"Not necessarily."

Hector touched his chin.

"As far as I know, all the questions about spiritualism are just a small element that is not important in this state visit, and you and I have more important things to talk about, so Your Excellency Aliman's itinerary may not be as rushed as the previous times."

"What are the primitives going to talk about?"

"Uh......"

Hector paused, pondering the words he had heard: Morgan had discussed with his henchmen the bills she was about to bring to Killiman before he set off on his journey, but Hecht didn't remember them well.

"I've heard them say ......"

"It seems to be ......"

"Hmmm......"

“……”

"Far Eastern Customs Union?"

(End of chapter)