Envy immediately surfaced in Azrael's eyes, and hearing that these were the Emperor's words, he couldn't help but chime in.
"I think the Emperor is right, Mother!"
"You bastard!"
Lion roared in anger and immediately dragged Azrael away to give him a severe beating.
Although he wasn't beaten to death, it was quite brutal—eventually, Asmodai had to bring along an Apothecary to drag the man away.
Asmodai couldn't help but ask, "Grand Master, what on earth did you say?"
"The Primarch is so furious; surely you didn't say something treasonous?"
Azrael, still receiving treatment from the Apothecary, couldn't help but lament, "I just thought His Majesty the Emperor made a lot of sense, so I called him 'Mother,' and then I got hit."
Emmm..." Azrael fell silent. Although everyone would privately use terms like 'gene-mother' or 'lioness' and such...
But to address her directly like the Grand Master did—that was truly courageous!
The Primarch likely held back this time. In the past, the Inner Circle might have been electing a new Grand Master today.
"By the way, Asmodai!"
"According to information I got from the Primarch, the current Guilliman may have also become the Emperor's good daughter!"
"It seems the secrets of our First Legion are only growing!"
"Given the Primarch's personality, this matter will likely be kept confidential within the Inner Circle!"
"Is that so?"
Interrogator-Chaplain Asmodai was slightly stunned. He never expected that the Primarch of the Ultramarines had actually turned into a woman just like their own Primarch.
Now he had reason to suspect that this was all the Emperor's handiwork. It must be the Emperor's arrangement that turned the former gene-father into a gene-mother.
"In that case, it's a good thing for us!" Asmodai pondered for a while.
He then revealed his thoughts to the Grand Master of the Dark Angels.
"If Guilliman had simply stood back up, we might have had to fabricate an identity for our gene-mother!"
"But now that Guilliman has suffered the same fate, the Primarch should no longer look down on Guilliman, right?"
"Hard to say!" Azrael shook his head, disagreeing with the Interrogator-Chaplain.
Others might not understand Lion of the past, but Azrael understood him very well.
While the relationship between their Primarch, Lion, and the Ultramarines' Primarch, Guilliman, wasn't bad...
As far as he knew, the two Primarchs were actually in a state of mutual disdain.
Back during the Second Imperium era, the two Primarchs had their share of conflicts, though most were verbal disputes and hadn't reached the point of a real physical brawl like with the Wolf King.
If one had to name someone they truly got along with, it might really only be His Majesty Sanguinius.
Unfortunately, Sanguinius is long gone. It would be wonderful if he could be resurrected.
"Sigh—"
"Heading to support Ultramar this time, who knows what kind of trouble our Primarch and Regent Guilliman will stir up?"
"Without His Majesty Sanguinius to mediate, what happens next is hard to say!"
Other members of the Inner Circle didn't know the truth, but Azrael was special because he had essentially traveled from the 40k era to 30k, and then mysteriously returned to 40k.
He had relied on the tuchulcha engine to achieve this incredible feat; within the Warp, time itself has no meaning.
Others might not know the vast difference between the current Primarch and the Primarch of the past.
But Azrael and some of the Fallen Angels knew very clearly.
In a daze, the entire Rock, including the planet Caliban being towed behind it, entered a very strange space.
They plunged headlong into a strange shadow where even Warp engines lost their guidance.
"What's going on!"
The entire First Legion was squeezed out at the Mandeville Point.
They had just arrived at the edge of Ultramar, on a planet currently being invaded by a swarm!
When they set out, they already knew the enemies this time were the bugs and Chaos.
They didn't expect to encounter them so soon.
[Caleb: Has the Warp engine failed?]
[As expected, the Shadow in the Warp of the The Devourer is no simple matter!]
As soon as Caleb's communication ended, Lion, disguised as a Bartender, couldn't help but ask.
[Lion: Father, what do we do now? If we can't perform efficient Warp travel and have to rely on short-range jumps, it'll take a very long time to reach Macragge!]
[Caleb: No rush!]
[It's not just the bugs causing trouble in Ultramar this time, but Chaos as well!]
[However, due to the arrival of the The Devourer, the forces of Chaos are currently being suppressed by a certain power!]
[Communication for the entire Rock might have to rely on you from now on. You can see the nearby star charts in your mind; you'll have to use that to navigate for your children!]
[The new sector sandbox in your mind is real-time. You can use it to cut off the bugs' reinforcements while carving out a lifeline to Macragge!]
Having received the orders, Lion quickly set to work as instructed.
If nothing else, Lion truly lived up to the title of 'The Sword'.
Unlike Guilliman, that fellow with a bad signal, communicating with the Little Lion was incredibly simple.
*Ding~*
A sudden sound made Caleb feel invigorated.
Upon learning that this campaign was a sandbox, he had ordered a batch of Imperial warships.
Soon, the courier was stacking cardboard boxes one after another at his doorstep.
If this continued, he might need to move to a larger house.
"Mr. Watson, please sign for these!"
"These are all high-value items this time!"
The courier took out a pen for him to sign for the valuables.
Because the individual value of these items was very high, he needed to sign with his real name to receive them.
"Sure enough, have they finally arrived!"
Caleb excitedly opened the massive cardboard box. What met his eyes were models of various types of Imperial warships.
The small warships weren't overly intricate, but they were decently sculpted, while the large warship models were impeccable in their detail.
The largest model wasn't something like the Maccrage's Glory.
The Macragge's Glory only ranked third in this batch. Above it was the Imperator Somnium.
And a complete version of the Phalanx!
Looking at this Phalanx, which could be hung from the ceiling and used as a chandelier, it was just right.
At this moment, Caleb couldn't help but marvel at the so-called 'world Speed'.
He had paid extra for expedited shipping, and the factory had quickly produced this model.
Although there were still many small burrs and flaws—when placed on the gameboard, such minor imperfections were acceptable.
Looking at the swarms covering the sky, Caleb couldn't help but smile.
"Even if Guilliman's signal is poor, my deployment capabilities haven't weakened because of it!"
"The bugs' ability is indeed to jam Warp signals, putting an area under the Shadow in the Warp."
"But my hand—it won't be stopped from reaching in just because of your Warp jamming!"
Caleb intended to turn the entirety of Ultramar into a Great Wall of Steel, bit by bit, to resist the bugs.
As long as that planet with infinite biomass was still within Ultramar, the bugs would never let go of such a treasure trove.
There was no other way—as long as they could take that biomass gas giant, there was no such thing as a 'loss' for the bugs.
This time, the bugs would likely fight to the death without retreating. Concepts like 'retreating at a loss' probably didn't exist in the current Hive Fleet.
Ultima Segmentum—Macragge.
As the first wave of the Hive Fleet arrived at Macragge, the battle officially began.
To defend Macragge, Guilliman had essentially summoned back most of his sons who were stationed elsewhere.
Many Imperial departments had heard the news of the attack on Macragge.
They also dispatched the Imperial Navy and a large number of fleets to support Macragge.
Speaking of which—the reinforcements on Guilliman's side were actually called in by Caleb for him.
If it weren't for the good sister Lion, Macragge's distress signal might not even have gotten out.
Of course—the little dummy Guilliman didn't know any of this yet.
He had no idea his good foster father was helping him from the shadows.
"Let me out already!"
"I really am a nanny robot sent by your father, I'm really here to help you!"
Locked in the dungeons of Hera Fortress, Doraemon could only keep shouting.
Although these Ultramarines hadn't harmed him, being locked up here was truly frustrating.
However, until the Ultramarines' Primarch Guilliman decided his fate, they would not release this Man of Iron.
At the same time, the ringing of the anywhere door placed nearby continued incessantly.
The Emperor and Lion had almost called the phone to its breaking point, but Guilliman just wouldn't answer.
"Lord Guilliman, everything is arranged!"
"The Starclaw units have established several defensive lines on the Endless Agri-World!"
"We have also dispatched nearly 30% of our forces to the Endless Agri-World!"
"We have contracted all fleets and defensive facilities to Macragge and the Endless Agri-World!"
"The other planets can likely only serve as delaying actions for us!"
"That won't do!" the calm and collected Guilliman replied immediately with a stern face.
"Increase the forces on the Endless Agri-World to 60%!"
"Sicarius, I've heard from Calgar that once the bugs obtain infinite biomass, their numbers will become truly endless!"
"In the past, Calgar used scorched-earth policies to deal with these bugs, but now with Macragge behind us, we cannot adopt such a policy!"
"To win this battle, the status of that Endless Agri-World might be even more important than our home, Macragge!"
"I've thought about it for a long time; even if Hera Fortress and Macragge are reduced to ash, we cannot allow that Endless Agri-World to fall into the hands of those bugs!"
Guilliman's words were powerful and resonant, a decision that showcased his decisiveness and rationality.
Emotionally, Guilliman didn't want to abandon his home at all, and even felt the urge to send heavy troops to defend it.
But after understanding the nature of that agri-world which could infinitely produce food, Guilliman knew its importance had likely surpassed Macragge!
No matter how important Macragge was, it was essentially just the economic and political center of Ultramar.
Worlds similar to Macragge were arguably plentiful within the Imperium.
Even if Macragge were destroyed and completely scorched, there would be a chance to rebuild.
But if that planet capable of producing infinite biomass fell to the swarm...
Then both Ultramar and the entire Imperium would have to face an inexhaustible army of bugs.
"But Primarch, if we do that!"
"Macragge might truly only serve to buy time!"
"This is the place of your birth; can you really bear it?"
Sicarius actually wanted to persuade the Primarch further, at least not to send so many troops to the Endless Agri-World.
Keep at least half—that way, if the bugs didn't take the Endless Agri-World, they would never be able to move against Macragge.
Guilliman fell silent; he still had a trace of sentimentality in his heart after all.
He walked to the window on petite, jade-like feet, staring at the sprawling industrial zones ahead in silence.
To resist this bug army, almost all agricultural and civilian facilities on Macragge had been converted into military production by Guilliman.
Guilliman utilized Macragge's efficient political system, turning the entire structure into a wartime machine.
This way, with a steady stream of equipment and resources, the various Chapters coming to support them would have an endless supply of weapons and gear.
Of course, this all came at a price, which was Macragge's ecological environment. It had been damaged to the extreme by the equipment of the Adeptus Mechanicus.
The once calm and romantic oceans were now covered in chemical reagents and radioactive materials.
Formerly serene resorts and estates had been transformed into factory after factory, continuously churning out military hardware.
"Sicarius!" Guilliman said firmly in a slightly youthful voice.
"Remember, you must never let emotional thinking dominate your body!"
"When my adoptive father was killed by those conspirators, I felt great rage too!"
"But my mother told me not to let hatred blind my eyes. The more you hate, the more you must think rationally!"
Despite saying this, whenever he thought of his mother's words and her teachings...
Guilliman's heart couldn't help but feel a pang of sorrow, or rather, an urge to cry.
He missed his mother of the past so very much. However, ten thousand years had passed; even a mortal who had undergone physical augmentation should be gone by now.
Guilliman took a brief glance at the current production status.
He found that every time he set a quota, the divine machines of the military factories could exceed his targets.
The increase was consistently between 20% and 30%.
Most absurdly, some Ceramite plants only needed one ton of raw ore to smelt 1.2 tons of steel armor!
On administrative reports, this seemed physically impossible, yet after investigating, Guilliman found it was damn well true.
The explanation given by the Adeptus Mechanicus was that the machine spirits on Macragge were exceptionally pleased, leading to the surge in yield, even exceeding the input.
Only Guilliman felt this was utter nonsense; if the facts weren't right before his eyes, he would never have believed such an absurd thing could happen.
"Bang bang ka-bang!"
Some machinery in the factories was rhythmically striking various metals.
Their rhythm was very similar to Alice's catchphrase.
Some construction templates were even generating materials internally.
You clearly only put in 40 million tons of steel and materials, but they could somehow build you 50 million or even 60 million tons worth of warships.
As long as the Tech-Priests actively appeased the machine spirits—then the current shipyards, and even the military facilities on the planet, could explode with almost unbelievable production capacity.
What the Adeptus Mechanicus didn't know was that these extra construction materials possessed souls.
And these souls would merge into the entire hull to become machine spirits, even giving these warship facilities a life of their own.