"It can't be!" Ranmarok shouted.

If anyone could see through the armor he was wearing, they would find that his face had been flushed with anger and shame. It was certainly a dangerous omen for one Astarte, but the man across from him, Conrad Coetze, apparently didn't care.

"I'm not talking to you, I'm informing you." For the first time here, the Midnight Lord Primordial has taken on the noble and arrogant attitude that the Primordial naturally possesses, and with his surprisingly neat appearance, it looks quite like that.

He was now alone in the Lionmane's teleportation chamber. The moment he first emerged from the fluctuations of subspace, he was surrounded by dozens of blasters, but he was unafraid of these large toys that could barely hurt him now. He simply looked down at Ranmarok in front of him, made his request, and then continued in a slightly burned-out tone after the other party vetoed it: "Ten thousand years have passed, many things have changed in these times, and you will need time to get used to it all - or I can deal with this in a more 'simple' way." ”

All the people on this ship were witnesses of Salamas's expedition, and no one could understand the meaning hidden under the "more simple way". All the dark angels present tensed their nerves as a result, but Conrad Coetzes continued to speak in an attitude that bordered on self-talk:

"I can, of course I can...... But at least this time, I think it's better not to. He said these words with a look of disappointment, like a child who has been robbed of his beloved toy, "10,000 years have passed, and I hope that I can solve the problem by some peaceful and bloodless means...... At least subjectively, I would like to make such an attempt. ”

He let his gaze sweep over the Dark Angel warriors who were confronting him with their spears raised, and secretly took into his mind the various insignia distributed on their power armor, and then slowly but clearly stated: "Personally, I really want your cooperation. ”

The unfinished meaning after this sentence could not be more obvious.

Rika Fujimaru had happily left all her business behind and ran out to plan a premeditated "chance encounter" with the natives of Jestal for three hours. In the three hours she was off the chain of command, Conrad Coetzes felt she could have more autonomy than usual.

He had finally decided not to let that power slip away again. Or perhaps, he finally decided to prove to Rika Fujimaru that it was not wise to leave an unstable factor like him alone on the ship, and to give him access to most of the facilities.

It's hard to say what happened on Jestal had any effect on the often insane Primordial. Perhaps it was the unimaginable feats that Fujimaru Rika accomplished in front of his eyes that shocked him, or maybe it was the fact that Ritsuka's daily good deeds that lasted for half a year finally caused a qualitative change that touched Koz, or maybe it was something vague like a dream that weighed some weight on Fujimaru Rika as an individual - in short, Conrad Cotz finally decided to put aside his nihilistic philosophy for a while and start doing something about their mission.

It's hard to say what kind of mentality drove him to do this: is it the realization of his responsibility? Or is it just another attempt and verification to break free from the snare of prophecy? These viewers have no way of knowing. At least, though, Konrad Coetz has finally decided to take on some work. That's a good thing...... Probably.

Although they had just solved the long-standing problem of chaos on an imperial planet, and transformed it from an agricultural world with little production capacity to a prosperous and prosperous civilization, these things were technically side quests for the crew of the Storm Frontier.

Don't forget, when they leave the Torch, they have an urgent task to accomplish is to "collect a clan-level military force that is not in their current strength". To this end, Rika Fujimaru proposed to "co-opt the Midnight Lords". And when confronted by the Lionmane, the Dark Angel battle barge that housed some of the Midnight Lords of Samarath's expedition — given that Sevita was originally held on the ship, and the other prisoners were likely to have joined the Invincible Reason with Coz at the end of the war, anyone with even a modicum of common sense could have thought of trying to free them as well.

What Fujimaru Rika wants, of course Saivita also wants, the difference is that the former thinks it can be operated, and the latter thinks it's fantastic. And what they wanted, of course Conrad Coetzes, as the original body, also wanted to get it, the difference is that the first two ideas are still in the category of normal human thinking, and the latter is ...... With a radical and hypothetical characteristic of the original.

"I demand: obedience." He commanded the entire Lionmane, "Or bleed, then obey." ”

"This is impossible, the offspring of a lion will never bow to a traitor!" Ranmarok roared angrily.

Normally, such a roar should be followed by the loud sound of a blaster and the painful wails of the enemy. That's what Ranmarlock had planned. He knew that when he was against the Original, his personal attacks would most likely have no effect, but his colleagues would also fire at the sound of his guns—

But he couldn't pull the trigger: before he could shoot, the gun itself had already disappeared from his hand for most of it - except for the part of the structure that he held in his hand, all that was left slipped smoothly from it in an eerie manner, leaving only a burnt-like fracture to note what had happened to it in the moment that Astarte could not react.

"You see, I did come with good intentions." Under the background of the crackling of the activated lightning claws, it was clear that the threat in Conrad Coetze's words was more threatening than convincing, "Otherwise, the hand you raised the gun would have fallen to the ground by now." ”

Ranmarok wanted to stop all this: he was the Grand Master of Firewing, the head of the entire ship, and in this grim state of affairs that had been thrown into subspace for 10,000 years and never faced by the Dark Angels, his responsibility was to consider the survival of everyone on the ship. He didn't know what this Conrad Coetzes, who had suddenly appeared out of the teleportation room after he had established a basic communication network with the Emperor Dream along the record, was here to do, but judging from the other party's actions, it was indeed not without room for mediation.

But not all dark angels can restrain their humiliating anger and think calmly like Ranmarok. As Coetze's words fell, the ten remaining firing blasters in the room began firing in unison. Ranmarok roared to stop this, but his voice was completely drowned out by the sound of gunfire.

He could only watch as Conrad Coetze's massive body seemed to turn into an amorphous shadow, a black mist that swallowed everything, moving erratically and rapidly in a way that he could barely catch the trajectory. Realizing that his shouts were in vain, he reached for the power sword at his waist, and in this gap two blasters stopped firing with a cry of pain; He turned on the switch to dismantle the force field, trying to find a target, and three more brothers groaned and fell in a second; He couldn't be sure which way he should charge, so he hesitated for another two seconds as the shadow quickly skimmed over the edge of his view and then vanished, and the five remaining blasters in the teleportation room fell silent.

Ranmarok participated in the Salamas Expedition, but this was the first time he had been an enemy of a Primordial. He had visited the majesty of the Lion King, and he had seen the terrible wrath of Ryan El Johnson on the battlefield, but Conrad Coetzes was...... Something completely different.

Astarteri must have lost most of his "mortal" emotions, including fear, during the alteration, but at this moment, he once again felt a visceral fear—and that fear reached its peak when he heard the slight scraping of his armor and realized that his helmet had been grasped by a large hand from behind him.

"As I said, I came with good intentions." Astarte's coagulated blood clot slipped from the front of Ranmarlock's eyepiece, and Conrad Coetze's accent always accentuated the inconsequential mass of aspirated consonants in Gothic, making his words sound like the hiss of a viper, "but alas, my kindness is always scarce, and my patience is limited." ”

Ranmarok gasped nervously, desperately trying to stabilize his tone, so that others could hear the panic in his heart: "What the hell do you want!" ”

"I said, obey." Coetzes whispered, "And there's no other option. ”

- There is no other option. That is, there is no "die" option either.

Ranmaroch realized something from this, and the faint moans of the fallen brothers around him made his panic a little less, and he looked more neutral when he asked again: "Why? You've got to have a reason! ”

"Reason? There is no reason. Coetze's voice seemed to be amused, "Aren't you dark angels the most familiar with this method of doing things?" 'Someone knows a secret that shouldn't be known,' so he went to destroy all possible insiders...... It's a shame that this time it's you who are haunted by secrets that you shouldn't know. ”

"Because I realized the Imperials were here?"

"Because you 'remembered'. Even if it's a fragment. ”

“…… What? ”

"What happened on Jestal is undoubtedly the Empire's top secret." There was some playful cruelty in Koetz's tone, "There are indeed those who believe that the Dark Angels are trustworthy in 'keeping secrets', and therefore do not advocate restricting you in any sense...... But I don't think so. ”

He deliberately made a screeching sound on his armor on Ranmarok's helmet to hint at the more cruel thoughts in his mind. Ranmarok undoubtedly received the hint, but he also quickly remembered that Conrad Coetzes only demanded their obedience.

"You want to silence your mouth. You also have good moral and emotional reasons to do so. "But when you came to the Lionmane, you only asked us to obey - what is restricting your movements, and you must do things within the rules that have been demarcated, such as not killing people at will. Whatever happened on Jestal, which Imperial sector we know or don't know is at work, you are not their commander. ”

Immediately after, he felt the pressure on his head. The helmet made of terracotta steel was no stronger than a cardboard box in the hands of the original body, and the metal twisted and deformed under the pressure, accompanied by the alarm sound of the internal servo system, squeezed each other and pierced the skin under the helmet of Ranmaro.

"I kind of know why even Fujimaru Rika thinks you lion cubs are difficult to get along with." Coetze's voice gritted his teeth, but he still controlled the strength of his hand just right, so as not to really cause irreversible damage to Ranmaroke, "I am indeed acting beyond my authority, but the matter of 'reasonably controlling a part of the Dark Angel forces that have been confirmed missing 10,000 years ago' is essentially nothing to object to. My current 'master' can't even control what means I use to achieve this goal. ”

Ranmarok tried to speak, but the increasingly cramped space inside the helmet nearly deprived him of the possibility of making meaningful sounds. But by this time, he had barely picked up a slight noise on the audio sensor that was still working: the voice of the power armor's internal communication was faintly leaking from the side of Conrad Coetze, who was not wearing a helmet:

"I'm sorry, I'm listening." It was the voice of an angry young girl, "I didn't find the Dark Angels difficult to get along with!" I don't support you to use such violent means to take command! After all, I didn't have such a plan at all! And you can't negotiate, you can not talk, instead of sneaking things while I'm out of the house! ”

Then, he heard Conrad Coetze's sneer: "Okay, then how can you stop me as a mere mortal?" ”

"'Mere mortals' can't stop you, but there are 10,000 ways to make you uncomfortable." The young girl's voice took on a somber menace, "The next time I hit you with a water cannon, Yago Sevitaleone will be at the special seat!" ”

Before Ranmarlock could react to what the small voice was saying, the grip on his helmet disappeared - followed by Conrad Coetze's emotional roar:

"No! You can't do that! His voice almost roared, "You're just relying on me to really kill you!" ”