The unique biology of the Aeldari left her legs long and perfectly straight, her skin as pale as jade and so smooth it seemed poreless.
Years of combat had gifted her with clean, elegant muscle definition that carried a beautiful, powerful aesthetic without looking bulky.
Her ankles were slender, and her pale feet held a healthy rosy glow from excellent circulation, resembling freshly bloomed petals.
Guilliman stood there calmly, his gaze direct and unblinking.
Yet, internally, he couldn’t help but marvel:
*(The Aeldari are indeed one of the Old Ones’ most perfect creations. Their form and grace truly far surpass ordinary humanity.)*
In his eyes, the two peak races created by the Old Ones before their demise—the Orks, representing the absolute peak of chaotic violence, and the Aeldari, symbolizing beauty and order—were both biological wonders.
Yvraine, of course, felt Guilliman’s burning gaze—quite literally.
The Primarch was like a humanoid star; wherever his gaze fell, the air seemed to grow warm, crackling with life and vigor.
This was no crude, lecherous ogling, but rather a pure look of appreciation and analytical interest.
And indeed, it was.
At this moment, Guilliman was driven mostly by scientific curiosity.
He was pondering a biological question.
And as everyone knew, the most fundamental question of biology was mating.
What Guilliman was wondering was whether he could mate with the Aeldari in his current state.
With his current Viltrumite-hybrid physiology and those highly adaptive, aggressive Smart Atoms, could he break through species boundaries and bypass the reproductive isolation between himself and the Aeldari?
After all, although humans and Aeldari looked similar, they were fundamentally different species.
By all normal laws of nature, producing offspring was an absolute impossibility.
However, the genetic material of a Viltrumite was anything but ordinary.
In their original lore, as long as a species was warm-blooded and viviparous, Viltrumites could interbreed with them, forcing their offspring to inherit Viltrumite traits.
While the offspring might initially carry some physical characteristics of the maternal race—such as skin tone, hair color, or minor physical differences—as long as they lived long enough, the Smart Atoms would continuously rewrite their biology.
*(Just like in the original series, where Omni-Man and that mantis-like female produced a child who inherited the rapid-growth traits of her species…)*
Guilliman’s thoughts drifted a bit.
“Lord Guilliman?” Yvraine’s sweet voice snapped him back to reality.
Without him realizing it, she had finished dressing and was now standing before him, gently waving a hand in front of his eyes.
Her height, a towering 2.3 meters, was exceptional even for an Aeldari female, yet standing before Guilliman, she still appeared somewhat petite.
Guilliman quickly gathered his thoughts, a perfectly measured look of apology appearing on his face.
“Forgive my bad manners, Lady Yvraine. I was just pondering some matters and got a bit distracted.”
“As the future master of humanity, you have a thousand things to attend to every day, Lord Guilliman. It is only natural that your mind is occupied,” Yvraine said with a slight smile of understanding.
“As the leader of the Ynnari, Lady Yvraine, you must be equally busy. I am glad you understand my plight.”
As Guilliman spoke, he unceremoniously pulled over a specially reinforced oversized stool and sat down.
At the same time, he raised his hand, his palm glowing with a faint, barely perceptible blue-gold light—a combined application of his Smart Atoms and his newly awakened psychic power.
With a wave of his hand, he telekinetically summoned a heavy jade tea table, letting it settle steadily between himself and Yvraine.
This display caused a flash of undisguised surprise to flicker across Yvraine’s emerald eyes.
*(Psychic power? How can he wield psychic power? According to all the records we possess, Roboute Guilliman should be one of the very few Primarchs with almost zero psychic potential…)*
She threw a deep, searching look at Guilliman, a cold shiver running through her heart.
*(It seems… this ten-thousand-year slumber and his subsequent awakening have brought about changes far greater and deeper than we ever imagined.)*
Yvraine sat gracefully in the cushioned chair opposite Guilliman.
Her emerald eyes crinkled with a knowing smile as she gazed at this human Primarch who radiated the heat of a star.
“Our dear Lord Guilliman makes a special visit so early in the morning. Surely it is not just to wish me a simple ‘good morning’?”
“As a man, of course I would like to bid good morning to a beautiful woman.”
“But given my current position, I cannot let my gender dictate my actions.” Enjoying the story? Read on at g.com.
“You are correct. I did not come merely to offer morning greetings.”
Guilliman laughed heartily, scratching his short black hair, his posture thoroughly relaxed.
“Since we are now allies, I believe I should be more open with you.”
He reined in his smile, his expression turning solemn as he looked Yvraine dead in the eye.
“I wish to establish a much deeper level of cooperation with the Aeldari.”
“A deeper level of cooperation?” Yvraine arched an eyebrow, her smile unwavering.
“I have already led the Ynnari here to aid in your resurrection and fight off Chaos. Is this pact not deep enough, Lord Guilliman?”
Her demeanor remained completely unruffled.
Strictly speaking, in terms of age, this two-thousand-year-old Aeldari warrior was far older than Guilliman, who had been awake for less than three hundred years of his life.
As the guest, she believed she should be far more composed than him.
“I am deeply grateful to you, Lady Yvraine, as well as to the Ynnari and the broader Aeldari race for your assistance,” Guilliman said sincerely.
“This cooperation has already been incredibly generous to me personally. After all, your initial goal was simply to help me resurrect and ensure my safety. To demand more would indeed make me seem greedy.”
Then, his tone shifted, becoming deep and powerful.
“But right now, I must be greedy! Because that help is far from enough for an Imperium of Man that is currently riddled with holes and teetering on the brink of ruin!”
Yvraine leaned forward slightly, showing a polite touch of interest.
“Then what kind of ‘deeper cooperation’ does our dear Lord Guilliman wish to achieve with me, the Ynnari, or even the wider Aeldari factions?”
“We both know,” Guilliman said, crossing his hands over his knees, “that when it comes to the study and understanding of the Warp, the Aeldari are the undisputed masters of the galaxy. Whether it is the wondrous Webway, your unique wraithbone technology, or your intricate infinity circuits, they all fill me with… well, admiration.”
He made no attempt to hide his desire.
“By comparison, the Imperium’s utilization of the Warp is laughably primitive. Our only practical tools, warp drives and Geller fields, are highly unstable. Every year, tens of thousands of personnel and countless ships are lost forever to the Warp’s currents. It pains me to see such preventable losses.”
He raised his head, his eyes burning bright.
“If my Imperium’s ships could navigate freely and safely within the Aeldari Webway… I believe this bloated, corrupt ‘corpse’ of an empire, which has almost ceased to crawl, could at least stand up once more and limp forward.”