The plan had been crafted by Bruce himself, and the Legion's future would also be written by his hand.
So naturally, he could not keep relying on Sevatar and Curze's strength and authority forever.
Damn right—
I'm going to become the Legion's true acting commander!
I can't keep being some mascot, let alone some mommy's-boy hanger-on. I have to learn how to stand on my own!
So Bruce appreciated Sevatar's goodwill, but he was determined to seize control of the Legion in his own way.
"You're not answering? Or are you planning to use the Dark Angels to wear down those traitors?" Curze asked, watching the communicator light up, then dim again.
"No. If I pick up immediately, wouldn't that make us look too deliberate?"
Bruce's lips curled upward, almost to the point of humming.
The initiative was in his hands. He could squeeze Shavok however he liked. After all, the one on the back foot was Zhuodaoer Shavok, so let him stew.
"This kind of negotiation tactic, when everyone's cards are already face-up, doesn't accomplish much besides irritating the other party," Sevatar said calmly. "At this point, anyone with a functioning brain knows the Dark Angels suddenly turning their swords toward Chaguarsa has something to do with you."
The Primarch of the Dark Angels had rushed all the way to Night Lords territory, spent some time on Nostramo, and then stormed off to settle accounts with someone. Given that chain of events, even Angron could piece together the logic.
So, in the end—
what Bruce was doing amounted to little more than a childish tantrum. It offered no real leverage at the negotiating table.
"But it works very well on Scarred—ah, no, on Shavok, doesn't it?"
Bruce continued defending his logic.
"When you're dealing with human trash, you can't think in equal terms. You have to grind him down until he feels worthless."
"Besides, if the Deathwing elites of the First Legion are facing off against his Forty-Fifth Company, then no matter how you look at it, the advantage is mine."
As one of the few truly despicable bastards in the Warhammer setting, Shavok's reputation was only slightly better than Erebus's. His pedigree as a piece of scum was beyond question.
So for a bully like that—someone who only knew how to prey on the weak and fear the strong—you had to come in hard.
Beep beep beep—
As they spoke, the communicator went off again.
This time, Bruce still refused to answer. He let it ring out, then allowed a long silence to settle.
Ordinarily, if things reached this point and still dragged on for that long—long enough that Curze had already wandered off to the bathroom—then the negotiation had obviously failed.
Even a cornered dog will jump the wall.
And that saying applied just as well to Shavok under pressure, because he really did have the means to resist. His manpower and equipment were nothing to laugh at.
But Bruce, who had been watching the universal map gadget the whole time, remained utterly unconcerned. With the map fully open, he could practically tell what kind of crap the other side wanted to take just from the way they shifted their weight.
Take the Chaguarsa system right now, for example. The planetary fleet that had just been poised for imminent attack had gradually shifted into a defensive posture instead.
Which meant Shavok had no confidence at all.
Under those circumstances, isolated and alone, going head-to-head with Dark Angels elites—even if Curze were still present—would not necessarily be enough to save him.
Beep beep—
The communicator sounded once more.
This time, while continuing to monitor Chaguarsa's movements, Bruce deliberately waited a few seconds before finally connecting the call.
After two rounds of communication bombardment, the Night Haunter Council had in fact already begun much earlier. Bruce was simply the last to join, and before his arrival, the others had already been arguing fiercely.
So when Bruce finally showed up "fashionably late," the two sides—who had only just begun to calm down—instantly exploded again.
And the first to launch an attack was that mongrel Shavok.
"Acting Commander," said Shavok, the one who had initiated the council call, his face dark and ugly. "You seem to be late to this Night Haunter Council session."
"Me?"
Bruce first pointed at himself in exaggerated surprise, then put on a completely baffled look.
"I was just handling government business. I didn't notice you'd started the Night Haunter Council. I thought that with Captain Sevatar missing, this thing wouldn't count unless I personally initiated it."
"And besides…"
Bruce swept his gaze across the two rows of attendees, then sneered with obvious mockery.
"Why are there so many unfamiliar faces at this meeting?"
"How about you bring in a few more while you're at it, then start another little group chat among yourselves? You can call it the New Night Haunter Council."
A total of twelve people were attending this session. Four stood on Shavok's side, but two of them were men Bruce did not recognize at all. The other seven on the opposite side were all familiar faces.
Bruce had known Shavok was ambitious, but he hadn't expected him to be quite this shameless.
Sevatar had only been gone for such a short time, and already this man had dragged in two more people to his faction, treating the Night Haunter Council—the Legion's core power structure—as though it were some private clubhouse.
The two newcomers clearly caught the barb in Bruce's words.
"So now even the addition of new members doesn't get reported to me?" Bruce pressed on, continuing his performance. "No matter what, I'm still the acting commander, aren't I?"
"Acting Commander."
Kalen Ophion, commander of the Thirty-Ninth Company and one of Bruce's supporters—known as "the Coward"—stepped forward and spoke in an unhurried tone.
"Shavok wants to replace even you. Under those circumstances, what would it matter if he adds two irrelevant nobodies to the Night Haunter Council?"
"Ophion, you may express any opinion you like, but do not slander a member of the Night Haunter Council!"
Shavok had clearly been hit where it hurt, and immediately fired back.
"If you truly cared about the Night Haunter Council, and truly respected the acting commander, you would never have rushed so eagerly to gather support, Shavok."
Malcharion—the commander of the Tenth Company and one of the oldest members of the Night Haunter Council, known as the War-Sage—followed up with cold support.
"Hah."
Facing accusations from the two old hardliners, Shavok remained calm and produced his trump card—also the main weapon he'd brought for today's attack.
"You all claim to care about the Night Haunter Council? Funny… because the person here who shows it the least respect seems to be our acting commander."
He turned the spearpoint directly toward Bruce.
"Wait, how am I involved in this now?"
Bruce looked so startled he may as well have had sweat rolling down his face.
Really? You're going to pivot the conversation onto me that smoothly? Do I just look like the designated punching bag?
"You brought the Dark Angels Legion into Nostramo," Shavok declared, planting himself firmly atop the moral high ground. "You even allowed them to swagger around and display their military strength. Wasn't that with your tacit approval?"
And the reason he was so confident wasn't entirely baseless.
No matter how one framed it, letting outsiders interfere in your own house's business was, in fact, improper.
Even if you won that way, it still wouldn't be honorable.
"Don't go pinning that on me."
Bruce waved his hands repeatedly.
"Yes, I know the Dark Angels ran into your territory. But why they ran there? I truly bear no responsibility for that."
"You know the Primarch of the Dark Angels came recently to investigate our Primarch's disappearance. And then guess what happened?"
Bruce switched into storyteller mode.
"The moment he learned that the Primarch had a daughter, he burst into tears and started babbling about how 'Uncle will take good care of you,' and 'For family,' and 'For the Emperor,' and 'We must never disappoint Father.' Then he gathered his men and rushed off toward your side."
"As for why he went looking for you, don't ask me. I don't know either."
"And really—do you honestly think I, Bruce, have the power to dose the Primarch of the Dark Angels with some kind of love potion and get him to meddle in our affairs?"
"And even if I did…"
Bruce's voice turned pointed.
"Shouldn't you be more concerned about your own situation?"
The moment those words fell, the entire chamber went dead silent.
The loyalists, the neutrals, and even Shavok's own faction all fell into stunned silence.
How to put it?
Bruce sounded innocent, arrogant, and yet somehow still grounded in logic.
Everyone understood one thing perfectly well: the sudden intervention of the Dark Angels absolutely had something to do with Bruce.
But how he had managed it was completely beyond them.
Why would Lion help him?
Surely it couldn't be because Bruce was somehow the Lion's nephew?
Or perhaps…
Was it because Curze's orphaned daughter had cried and begged Lion for help?
If that were the case, then suddenly the whole matter became very interesting.
"Acting Commander."
After quickly reassessing the situation, Shavok's tone and expression became astonishingly sincere.
"May I ask… would you be willing to step in and mediate this matter?"
"After all, no matter how one looks at it, this concerns the affairs of the Night Lords Legion itself, does it not?"
For the sake of survival—and to buy himself precious time to continue growing stronger—Shavok had no choice but to forget all about saving face.
He simply refused to believe Bruce could just sit back and allow an outside force to resolve the Legion's internal matters.
Even if that actually succeeded—
would the rest of the Legion truly accept it?
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! (Chapter100)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 70
From Junkman to Wasteland 60
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 40
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 60
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 50
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 50
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 50
The Way the Umamusume Look at 31
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 26
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