Valentus Dollo hurried to a side door, holding in his right hand two mechanical tablets that had just been rushed in, and in his left hand a stack of heavy papers from Robert Kiliman's office.

This side door is made up of two huge marble blocks, which are very large, even for Astarte.

It's hard to say what the ancients who built them were thinking, could it be that some of them had prophets who could foresee the future? Knowing the existence of the Astartes in advance, they specially built such a huge parlor.

The two victorious soldiers pushed them away, and the sound of boiling people behind the door made Yingjie's footsteps pause, and he couldn't help but sigh.

It's been a long time since the hall has been opened, and while it's unimaginably large – that's why Robert Killiman has a lot to say about it.

The Lord of Maculag was stubborn in his belief that his court did not need a reception hall with a thousand columns, and he complained many times about it.

"It's too extravagant." He used to sigh like that to everyone. "It's just extravagance, look at the gold and silver decorations, what do I want them for? Manifest my identity? It's ridiculous, only incompetent kings need these things. ”

He wanted to demolish it, but he couldn't do it because of its ancient history. In the end, all the decorations and paintings had to be put up for sale, but the hall was left empty, which made Robert Killriman even more disliked it.

But now. Valentus was eager to ask his primordial a question if he could.

Are you sure you really don't need it, sir?

Yingjie couldn't help laughing at his clumsy joke for a few seconds, then straightened his expression and strode into the hall. Two Death Guards who were talking to each other saw him, one gave him a solemn salute, the other handing out his right hand in a friendly manner.

"Need help, Lady Yingjie?"

"No, I don't have to." Valentus said. "Please continue your discussion, Commander Garo, Lord Kaifa."

One of Motarian's personal guards, Kefa Morag, with a gloomy face and still grief, nodded. His old MK2 armor was well maintained, matching his short pale hair.

To this day, it is not uncommon for warriors to choose to wear older models of power armor among the major legions. There are many reasons for this, such as habits, honors, or simply a reluctance to change. Which one does Kefa Morag belong to?

Valentus didn't know the answer, but he made a note of it, and planned to notify the logistics department after tonight so that they could prepare some more replacement parts and repair materials for the Death Guards.

Compared to his brother, Garo, the commander of the seventh company, seemed to be more sensible, he was not as silent as Kaifa, but he did appear to have mixed emotions. He barely lifted his spirits and chatted with Valentus, the Aquila emblem on his forearm armor gleaming.

"In short, we have not come to any useful conclusions for the time being. Defensive warfare is not what we are good at, Lord Yingjie. We're probably not good at anything."

Valentus pursed his lips, he didn't know what to say about it, but Garo had let him go. The commander of the combat company smiled bitterly knowing that he had lost his words, raised his hand, and pulled his brother, who was still grieving, to clear a way for Valentus.

The hero of Ocruz nodded gratefully and walked through it.

But navigating this crowded hall is no easy feat.

The large pieces of stained glass reflected dazzling brilliance, and all the people, things, and things he saw in front of him were covered with psychedelic light. The black and white checkerboard floor, which is supposed to be an inconspicuous canvas, is exacerbated by overly good care

It's a torture visually, it's also a sensory one, not to mention the smell.

With the throne on top, at least a thousand Astartes huddled together won't make it taste good. The pre-war assembly was fine, and the smell of the maintenance oil was reasonable.

But now it's different, everyone in this hall except the Ultramarines has experienced the battle, and they have just returned from the battlefield. Some even had blood on their faces, and medical servants were shuttling around them.

To make matters worse, almost everyone Valentus met wanted to talk to him.

He had only met with the salamanders on his front foot, answering the Woodguards' question about where he was in the forge hall in Maculag, and on his back foot he was going to answer the Iron Warriors' questions about the terrain of Maculag. They wondered if they could build a defensive outpost on the famous Crown of Hera in Macurag.

This is naturally possible, there are wartime regulations in wartime. Valentus told them. He decided to discuss the matter with Lady Jurdon later, knowing that Lady Euton would agree, but he and the Governor of Internal Affairs still needed to convince Robert Killyman's court staff.

It is well known that there are many people in the makurag, and this is true in every sense of the word.

In this way, the road of several hundred meters took Valentus half an hour, extremely tormented. The only consolation to him was that when he arrived in front of Pertulabo and Vulcan, sweating profusely, they all looked up from the projection of the tactical table and looked at him.

The hero of Ocruz puffed out his chest and cleared his throat, "Honorable Primitives—"

"—give me those papers." Peturabo said impatiently. "I've already found out, why do you deliberately remind me of your presence by coughing before you speak?"

"Thank you, Yingjie." Vulcan raised his right hand at him in embarrassment. "I beg your pardon for the fact that my brother is now in a rather peculiar state of thought. Uh, I mean, he's not very polite and doesn't really want to be polite. ”

Valentus shrugged and handed over the papers, as well as the datapad to Vulcan, and whispered.

"It doesn't matter, Lord Vulcan, I'm used to it. I mean, our primordial may have been more excessive than Perturabo at some point. ”

The Lord of the Fire Dragon looked at him in shock.

"It's true." Valentus said. "It is certainly reasonable for someone with such a heavy responsibility to lose his temper in some places. However, our original will apologize to us at the end of the reflection. ”

"And I'm not him." Perturabo buried himself in the papers, and at the same time coldly replied to Valentus's words.

His tone sounded quite unmistakable, but it made Vulcan, who was on the side, show a strange expression. The expression of the Lord of the Fire Dragon who wanted to speak and stopped was quite obvious.

"I'm telling you, Yingjie, I'm a person who doesn't like red tape, and I hate beating around the bush. It's in my nature to be straight, it's your job to bring these documents, and you still expect me to thank you for it? Impossible. But you're doing a good job. ”

Valentus frowned, opened his mouth, and looked at him silently. His expression was similar to Vulcan's, he wanted to say something, but he couldn't speak.

Perturabo looked up from the file and beckoned to him, "Come now, I have a lot of questions for you - how many more documents like this are in Robert Killiman's office?" ”

"It depends on how much you want." Valentus replied as he approached. "I mean, if you need it, I can take care of all those cabinets and datapads."

"Give me—" Perturabo lowered his head again, then pulled out a heavy paper. "--That's it, I want this kind of document that he specifically marked your Ultramariner crest."

"Understood."

"It's still the old rule, you can identify for yourself which secrets should be hidden, and which ones I can read, it's up to you, I just need the data."

He handed the document to Valentus and looked at him solemnly, waiting for an answer.

"Of course." The hero of Ocruz nodded in resignation. "And there are no secrets in wartime, I will take all the documents here, I hope my original body will not be angry about it."

"He's got the priorities." Perturabo lowered his head again, his voice muffled and mocking. "You're looking down on your own primordial formalities. Yingjie. ”

The corners of Valentus' eyes twitched twice, and then he turned away without saying a word—angry? Not really, but there is definitely resentment.

To put it more bluntly, he couldn't understand how the Iron Warriors had followed such a primordial march for so many years. Could it be that they all have no temper?

With a sense of helplessness and admiration for Peturabo's immediate devotion to work, Valentus Dollo left the reception hall once more.

This time, he called five porter servants, intending to move all the documents in Robert Killman's office directly, saving him two more trips.

After he left, Vulcan carefully bent down and made a suggestion to Perturabo.

"Brother, don't you think your attitude towards Valentus is a little too rough?"

"He'll get used to it, and he's used to it." Peturabo said without looking up, and asked a question. "Tell me, how many barracks are there in Maculag?"

"Twelve." Vulcans glanced at a datapad in his hand and quickly found the data that the Iron Lord needed.

"But." The Lord of the Fire Dragon made a gesture. "He's an Ultramarine, after all, and Robert must be rushing to his hometown."

"So what?"

"If you continue like this, I'm afraid there will be a quarrel with him."

"No, it won't."

"Why are you so sure?" Vulcans frowned. Perturabo's performance finally made him a little angry.

"Because Robert Kiliman can become an absolutely rational person when he needs to, and now is the time for this. Look, Vulcan, he will only thank me for guarding his macullag so well, and will not complain to me about these secrets I see—"

The Iron Lord looked up and reached for the datapad in Vulcan's hand, his expression smiling.

—not classified at all, he was as naïve as ever, and even marked those things as confidential. Also, there are thirteen barracks in Macurag, you are wrong. ”

"What?" Vulcan asked suspiciously. "But I checked the databoard?"

"I just looked at the map and there was an error in the comparison between the data and the floor plan of the city, and according to the calculations, I thought it was a hidden military camp and it was not marked on any documents. This is probably one of Robert's little secrets. ”

Vulcan looked at him and sighed: "There are certain qualities that you sometimes show that really make me shudder"

"Try to get used to it, Vulcan." Perturabo told him calmly. "It's like you're used to war."

There's also a 4.5k pinch in the chapter, don't wait, go to bed early.

(End of chapter)