Silence.
A bizarre atmosphere had settled over the banquet hall, and the more people gathered, the stranger it became. The sons of Curze stood there staring at one another, each looking as if they'd just eaten something thoroughly vile.
The Atramentar were the elite of the elite within the Night Lords, but under Curze's merciless "experiments," every last one of them had changed.
Now, stripped of their power armor, the former superhuman killers had become fairy-like girls with pointed ears, dressed in maid outfits.
The Astartes who had once been towering warriors found this utterly unacceptable.
But there was nothing they could do about it.
Because this was the Primarch's command.
Besides, the Primarch and the First Captain had both turned into women too, hadn't they? If they followed along and changed as well, didn't that at least make them look loyal?
A Legion was supposed to share hardship and advance or retreat together.
"I see…"
Curze took a sip of the black tea Sevatar had prepared with meticulous care and suddenly seemed to understand something.
She immediately declared, "This is a curse! It seems that ridiculous-looking xenos was telling the truth."
"I already said so!" Blue Fatty cried, looking on the verge of tears. "If you use those gadgets without first fixing the abnormalities in their effects, irreversible consequences are guaranteed!"
It honestly felt to him as though nobody in this world understood plain speech. He had repeated the warning countless times, but had anyone listened? No. Not a single one of them.
After all that chaos, the only result had been dragging more and more people into the mess while solving absolutely nothing.
"Shen, what are you doing?"
Once again ignoring Blue Fatty completely, Curze turned to Shen, who was fiddling with something that looked like a flashlight.
In Curze's view, that absurd-looking xenos was not worth taking seriously. It was not as though he could truly stir up any trouble.
"Lord Curze, I'm testing how to shrink the power armor, following the Acting Commander's suggestion."
Shen turned his head and grinned.
Under the effects of the Transformation Drink, Shen had become a red-haired beauty with a braid hanging over the front of her shoulder. For some reason, the whole look had a very rustic feel to it, especially in that dark green outfit with white lining.
Still, the green military cap with the star on it gave off a strangely distinctive air, as though it contained some mysterious power.
Shen had now completed her transformation. Compared to before, she had become much more upbeat and cheerful. Right after changing, she had even broken into some kind of performance called "Eastern martial arts," which was oddly entertaining.
Curze had even laughed at it.
"So…"
Curze sipped her tea and then glanced sideways at Bruce.
"Why is it that after drinking it, the recruit didn't turn into a woman?"
"Probably because he isn't from this world," Blue Fatty answered while eating dorayaki.
"Hah! I'm super strong right now! Heat vision!"
Bruce had turned himself into a version of Superman, complete with red trunks worn over the outside, and was now floating slightly off the ground.
After repeated testing, Bruce discovered that the Transformation Drink was even more overpowered than he had imagined. In theory, he could become any character he knew and inherit their abilities.
Of course, there were clearly limitations. The stronger the character, the less power he could inherit, and the shorter the transformation would last.
Still, if used well, this gadget could absolutely turn the tables.
For example, Bruce could transform into a Primarch too, then team up with Curze and jump another Primarch together. Easy win.
"May I beat him up?"
Sevatar refilled Curze's cup to two-thirds full with tea and then asked for permission.
"Not recommended."
Curze lifted her cup and shook her head.
It was not because she was fond of Bruce. She was simply worried that Sevatar might genuinely kill him. After all, with everyone else turned into women while Bruce alone was immune, he was drawing an absurd amount of aggro.
If she truly let Sevatar punish Bruce, the others would definitely swarm him together.
As for trying to use the drink or other gadgets to turn them back, Curze and the others had already tried. Unfortunately, the best-case scenario was that they became even cuter. The other outcome was turning back for a few seconds, only to revert again almost immediately.
So at this point, only Bruce could use these gadgets properly. Anyone else who touched or used them paid some kind of price.
"F-Father, what do we do now? Are we really supposed to remain in such a ridiculous state forever?"
One of the Atramentar spoke in a soft, delicate voice laced with pain and despair.
She would not hesitate for even a second if asked to die for the Primarch.
But becoming a woman—and an increasingly cute one at that—was one thing she absolutely could not accept.
She could not even wear power armor properly anymore. A Black Guard in such a state was simply too humiliating.
"Xenos, tell us your solution. Whether you live or die depends on it."
Curze looked at Blue Fatty and threatened him.
At this point, she had no choice but to pin her hopes on this xenos. As for those mysterious gadgets of his, she did not dare touch another one.
"Well…"
Blue Fatty was stumped for a moment.
"Acting Commander! The armor resizing worked! The parameters you gave me were correct after all!"
Now wearing the newly adjusted power armor, Shen sounded delighted.
"Well done, Meiling. Truly well done."
Bruce gave her a thumbs-up while already thinking about what he should transform into next time.
Maybe the Emperor?
Wouldn't it be hilarious to give everyone here the full experience?
"What do you mean, Meiling? I'm Shen!"
Shen could not understand why the Acting Commander had suddenly given her such a strange name.
"It's fine. From now on, you are."
Bruce just shrugged.
"Who else wants their power armor adjusted? Come here!"
Shen scratched her head and raised the flashlight-like tool.
"Me!"
"I want mine too!"
"Ahhh! I can't take this anymore!"
The Atramentar—now all fairy maids—hurried forward with their armor in hand. Judging by the results, so long as they kept their helmets on and stayed sealed inside power armor, no one would know they had turned into women.
This was the last remaining way for them to salvage their dignity and protect the secret.
"There is definitely a method," Blue Fatty said after thinking hard for a long while. "But… it comes with some risk."
"Speak."
Curze had no patience for concerns about risk.
If it would turn her back, forget risk—she would agree even if it meant open rebellion and blowing up the Imperium itself.
"First, you already know that Old Wang and I do not belong to this world. In that case, one possibility is to exceed the threshold and force the world to reset itself."
"Every world has its own limit threshold. Once that threshold is broken, the world restarts. It's a basic failsafe mechanism."
"Of course, the cost would be that Old Wang and I would be squeezed out of this world and never be able to return. But, well…"
You're saying I can leave the Warhammer 40K cesspit forever and get permanently blacklisted from returning?
You've explained the advantages. So where exactly is the downside?
"Then how do I break this threshold?"
Curze listened to Blue Fatty and, though she felt something about it was odd, still found the reasoning plausible enough.
A program, after all, would automatically restart if it encountered too many errors. That part made sense.
But how exactly was she supposed to make the system produce enough errors to force the reboot? That was the real issue.
"Chaos! Break everything!"
Blue Fatty gestured wildly as he explained.
"You just have to make the world become uncontrollable. Change the future. Change the predetermined ending. Make the train derail, and the world will reset."
"So what you mean," Sevatar said as though she had understood, "is that we need to transform even more Night Lords into women?"
Then gather the entire Legion! Turn every last one of them into women too! In the name of the Primarch!
"Uh…"
Blue Fatty visibly paused, then answered awkwardly, "Lord Sevatar… that actually wouldn't affect anything."
"It's like a historical event. If Zhang San doesn't do it, Li Si will. One way or another, someone will always step in to move the event forward and complete it, allowing the world to continue following the script."
"Whether it's the original Lord Curze or the current Lord Curze, as long as she doesn't step outside that script, nothing changes."
"Interesting."
The moment Curze heard the example, she immediately understood.
Crossing her arms over her chest, she struck a posture of full, commanding dignity.
"So what you're saying is, we have to do something that prevents the story from proceeding normally. Only then can the world reset. Correct?"
"Yes."
Blue Fatty nodded and quietly let out a sigh of relief. So they could understand plain language after all.
"Recruit!"
Curze called for Bruce and beckoned him over.
"Your humble subordinate is here!"
Bruce, who had just been about to drink another potion, slid dramatically to his knees in front of her.
"I have a task for you," Curze declared. "I'm handing the Night Lords Legion over to you. Do whatever you want with it, but there is one condition."
"Based on what you know of how things are supposed to unfold, stir this world into as much chaos as possible. Understood?"
"Huh?"
Bruce was baffled by the sheer abstraction of the order.
What exactly did "stir this world into chaos" even mean?
"Let me put it another way," Curze said after thinking a moment. "If I handed the Legion over to you, what would you do next?"
"Simple. Stockpile grain, build tall walls, and create a five hundred worlds of our own. Then let Horus and the Imperium tear each other apart like mad dogs."
Bruce answered with his real plan.
"Does that count as a change?" Curze asked Blue Fatty.
"It counts, I suppose. It's just not enough to trigger a reset," he answered honestly.
"Wait a minute. What exactly are you two planning?"
Listening to the conversation between those two people who clearly had something in mind, Bruce suddenly had a very bad feeling.
"Why, naturally—bring chaos to this world! Do exactly what you envisioned. Go do it boldly and without hesitation."
Curze rose onto her toes and patted Bruce on the shoulder.
"???"
Report! I have no idea what that means!
Also, why does this suddenly smell like Tzeentch?
"Oh right! I almost forgot!"
Now fully re-equipped in resized power armor, Shen waddled over.
"Please forgive me, Father, Lord Sevatar, Acting Commander. I forgot to report the messages from the Warmaster's Command and the Imperial War Council."
She quickly began making her report.
"Regarding our earlier refusal to increase the pace of the Great Crusade, the Warmaster's Command has expressed extreme displeasure and has dispatched the First Legion, the Dark Angels, to hold us to account."
"And as for the War Council, they said that if we do not wish to continue advancing the Great Crusade, then we are to hand over our controlled territories to be administered by another Legion. Otherwise, they will escalate the matter directly to the Emperor."
"What?"
After hearing those two explosive pieces of news, Bruce felt both furious and deeply chilled.
The War Council was whatever. They were nothing.
But the Warmaster sending the First Legion directly to hold them accountable—was that really okay?
If Bruce remembered correctly, whenever the First Legion was sent to deal with something, it was usually because someone was meant to disappear. Otherwise, the ones sent to enforce things were usually the Space Wolves.
Of course, there was always the possibility that the Dark Angels just happened to be closest to the Night Lords, so Horus had sent them over to check on the situation.
"If I remember correctly, in your prophecy, the Night Lords and the Dark Angels were destined to clash sooner or later. Is that right?"
After hearing the news, Curze merely smiled in fascinated amusement.
Because that proved one thing:
Blue Fatty had not lied to her.
And the method he proposed was real and effective.
Otherwise, events would not be "correcting themselves" this quickly.
"Y-yes, but that would only happen if you chose to rebel alongside the Warmaster," Bruce said, unable to make sense of it.
"It doesn't matter. If a battle between us is inevitable sooner or later, then let's make it more interesting."
Curze reached out and stroked Bruce's cheek, then said gently:
"Recruit, I am entrusting you with a very important mission."
"Huh?"
Bruce's bad feeling intensified immediately.
"Take my brother…"
"…and turn him into something just as ridiculous as I am!"
As she said it, Curze bared a savage grin, clearly relishing the thought of what expression that honor-bound elder brother of hers might wear once transformed into a woman.
Let him suffer this pain too.
Lion El'Jonson!
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 150)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 115)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League (Chapter 110)
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter105)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter100)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter69)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter95)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 70
From Junkman to Wasteland 55
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 40
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 45
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 32
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 31
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 31
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