Before Robert Killiman returned to the Empire and joined the Emperor's Great Expedition, the 13th Legion was not called the 'Ultramarines', but they were called the 'Children of War'.

The first Ultramarines were born during the period of the Unification War of Terra, when the ancient Terra was full of brutal and violent technological barbarians and self-contained warlords, which caused a lot of obstacles to the emperor's cause to unify Terra.

The unreasonable arrogance of warlords and bloodthirsty barbarians put up fierce resistance to the Emperor's army of thunder warriors, and was finally wiped out.

The Emperor's army slaughtered the most radical warlords and the rudest barbarians, and the resulting large number of war orphans were taken in by the Emperor to join the research project of a new generation of genetically modified warriors, the original 13th Legion, later known as the Ultramarines.

Known as the 'Children of War', the 13th Legion was known for its intense warfare and devastating violence until Killiman's return, a berserk army forged from blood and fire to serve the Emperor's cause.

Since Astarte's genetic seed was born from the original gene, the empire generally believed that Astarte's life style and even personality would converge with his genetic father, because many people believed that the original child of war would also be a war maniac before Killman's return.

As it turned out later, they were wrong, Robert Kiliman grew up in a beautiful family full of warmth and love, and his adoptive father and adoptive mother gave him all the good qualities, so when the Emperor's Great Expeditionary Fleet came to Otrama, he was greeted by Robert Kiliman, who was wise, rational, sober, and easy-going.

Soon after taking over the Legion, Kiriman began to transform the 13th Legion with his own philosophy, teaching his genetic offspring that in addition to the skills of war, they should also study politics, history, philosophy, mathematics, and other subjects, and suppress the fury of war with sober reason, so that they could seamlessly transition from warriors to internal affairs officials governing the empire in peacetime after the end of the Great Expedition.

Although Kiliman's ideals did not succeed in the end, under his teachings, the original rough and wild children of war began to change, their war fanaticism was replaced by rational thinking, and the children of war of the 13th Legion, who had only known brutal suppression, became disciplined extreme warriors.

And now, 10,000 years later, when Kiliman puts on the Helmet of Domination and rises from his throne in the stagnant force field.

The war fanaticism and bloodthirsty desire buried deep in the subconscious of the Ultramarines were ignited by the flames of the Emperor's Sword, and the warlike genes of the 13th Legion, which had been silent for thousands of years, awakened today.

Looking at the Emperor's Sword in Kiriman's hand, Magnus knew it was time for him to go.

"Don't send me, Robert, I don't want to see you again." Before the words could be spoken, Magnus's fiery red body had disappeared into the church.

In the center of the church, Kiliman's consciousness was drowsy, the crown on his head seemed to weigh a thousand pounds, the heavy pressure made him have a splitting headache, and the sound of war cries and fighting from nowhere kept ringing in his ears, as if he had tinnitus.

Can the original also have tinnitus?

No, now is not the time to think about that......

The cold touch of the pitch-black thorns that wrapped around his helmet and collarbones cleared Killiman's consciousness, and he took a deep breath and opened his eyes to see Elliud and the Ultramarines Guard of Honor on their knees at the bottom of the steps.

After 10,000 years, the Ultramarines' power armor models have been upgraded many times, but Kiliman still recognizes the crest on their shoulder armor, which he personally designed for the 13th Legion.

So Killiman asked these strange heirs the most pressing questions in his heart:

"What year is it?"

It is now the 40th year of the 035th millennium, and the news of Robert Kiliman's return has detonated the whole of Otlama.

After urgently summoning and having a long conversation with several Ultramarines who had survived the Battle of Macurag, Killiman quickly grasped the current situation of the galaxy with the Primordial's otherworldly thinking ability and learning speed.

There is mainly one bad news and one good news.

The bad news is that in the 10,000 years since he was in a coma, the Human Empire has completely degenerated into what he tried to avoid, religious superstition and criminal torture have taken root in the Empire, and the poison called ignorance has soaked the marrow of every human being.

The era of ideals, pioneering, enterprising, and struggle has passed.

The great quests for which Kiriman was willing to die are gone.

The human empire is dead, and only a rotting and swollen stenching corpse is left to move forward with its sheer size and inertia, gradually moving into decay and destruction.

- The good news is that an ancient Eternal named the Bullet Star Man has stepped forward in this era, and he has brought humanity the decisive technology to escape from subspace navigation: the stargate.

According to Eliud's report, Killiman learns that the Starbearer has teamed up with the Emperor's Prophetess to assemble a massive expeditionary fleet of 13 to travel to Terra to deliver the Torch of Hope/Stargate construction template to humanity's ancient home planet, the only hope for humanity to rise again.

Upon learning of this, Kiliman was speechless for a long time.

As a master of operations, the most outstanding statesman and military strategist of mankind, no one knows better than Killiman what Stargate means to the human empire.

It's transportation, it's economic, it's military, it's politics...... Stable faster-than-light navigation technology is the foundation of everything and the lifeblood of the Empire. The appearance of the star bulleter and the stargate can be said to have handed a life-saving hemp rope to the drowning person.

As for whether or not he can rely on this rope to leave the deep pool and go ashore safely, it depends on the Human Empire itself.

After much thought, an agitated Killeman vetoed Elliod's request to hold a ceremony for him to return to the original body, and the Lord of the Ultramarines couldn't wait to confirm the authenticity of the Stargate.

In the eyes of the absolutely sane Killman, this matter is a higher priority than anything else.

However, when Killiman offered to personally use the Cornaught system for an interstellar voyage, Elliud politely rejected the request.

Looking at the slightly angry Father of Genes, Ellioud stubbornly said, "Father, I didn't mean not to open the stargate to you, it's really your current appearance...... Not very suitable for public appearances. ”

"Is there anything wrong with my current image?" Kirimanton wondered.

The veteran of the sword guard next to him then brought a luxurious full-length mirror decorated with a golden branch pattern up to 5 meters high and placed it in front of Killiman.

From the mirror, Killiman understood Elliud's reason for advising him not to appear in public.

The sky blue armor on his body has become mottled, the dark blue armor is crawling with black scars, the pitch-black and cold thorns are wrapped around his collarbone and neck like a poisonous snake, and the crimson helmet with two curved horns on the top of his head is even more terrifying and hideous.

It was as if standing in front of the mirror was not a genetic prototype created by a human emperor, but a bloodthirsty demon blessed by fear and abuse.

"If you appear in public in front of the citizens of the Empire in this way, the Inquisition and the State Church will probably recognize you as a heretic tainted by Chaos." Elliud whispered.

"If anyone dares to be disrespectful to me, kill me." Kiriman said.

As soon as he spoke, Killiman raised his head in shock, and looked at himself in the mirror as if he were facing a great enemy.

(End of chapter)