For the Empire, this moment was an unprecedentedly clear situation.
With the Pan-Pacific Empire incorporated into the Imperial territory, the eastern battlefield of the Empire was now completely open, and the influx of population and resources provided a massive boost to the Empire’s recovery.
What made Morningstar happiest was that the relationship between the Thunder Warriors and the Astartes had improved to an unprecedented degree.
The Astartes discovered that these taller, stronger veterans would not look down on them because of their seniority, and on the battlefield, they would even stand in front of them to shield them.
The Thunder Warriors felt that even though these little guys were far inferior to them, they possessed loyalty to the Empire and precious courage, so they didn’t look down on them as much anymore.
Although the Thunder Warriors still enjoyed training the recruits until they were half-dead, the atmosphere wasn’t as hostile as before.
Morningstar saw all of this, and she felt genuinely happy about it.
It was already moving quickly; to solve the genetic defects of the Thunder Warriors, she had even dragged the Emperor in to work overtime.
Perhaps before long, these heroic warriors would no longer have to worry about becoming mindless monsters in the future.
Just a few days ago, the Emperor had even marked out a piece of land next to the Imperial Palace, built a genetic research institute, and appointed Lady Astartes as its director.
Since the institute opened, Morningstar had been spending every day there.
Recently, the number of Astartes had clearly increased; within the Empire, one could see Astartes patrolling or carrying out missions everywhere at any time.
Morningstar had an idea.
The shortcomings of the Thunder Warriors were not limited to just genetic defects; their lifespans were shorter, and their resistance to the Warp was lower.
Morningstar intended to perform similar Astartes augmentations on the Thunder Warriors, which would also help them integrate with the Astartes in the future.
Three months had passed since the war for the Pan-Pacific Empire, and the Empire was in a phase of recuperation and mass-producing troops.
This period could be said to be the most leisurely time Morningstar had experienced since arriving in this world.
“Your Highness, an Astartes lord has come to deliver a message to you.”
A mortal knocked on the door cautiously, and Morningstar nodded to him with a smile: “Thank you, sir.”
“No, no, you are too kind, Your Highness.”
Morningstar bent down, patted the mortal on the shoulder, and walked out.
An Astartes clad in all-black armor was standing tall in the lobby of the research institute.
“Cyrillios, a recruit of the Astartes First Legion, the Death Angels, pays his respects to you, Princess.”
Upon seeing Morningstar, this Astartes performed the Aquila Salute with his hands in front of his chest.
The First Legion was the first Astartes Legion to be formed, and it was also currently the most numerous.
Some time ago, the Emperor had unveiled the emblem of the Empire, a golden Aquila, and the Aquila Salute had gradually become widespread.
Morningstar also returned the Aquila Salute: “Do you have any business, warrior?”
“Your Highness, the Emperor wishes for you to proceed to the Imperial Palace now; he has important matters to discuss with you.”
“Very well, I understand.”
“Then I shall take my leave, Your Highness.” The Astartes turned and left.
Morningstar stared at his retreating figure and suddenly called out: “Wait!”
He turned around: “Is there something you need, Your Highness?”
Morningstar didn’t speak; she walked up to him and looked at him intently, lowering her head.
This Astartes clearly stiffened; the two-meter-plus tall iron can now looked like an elementary school student in front of a teacher.
“What is your name?”
“Cyrillios, Your Highness.”
Morningstar smiled, and her right hand touched the Astartes’ cheek through the helmet: “Cyrillios, I am very glad to meet you.”
…
Alpharius walked into the Chancellors Residence (which was effectively Malcador’s private office) in a daze, like a marionette.
He slumped into a chair, not even noticing when Malcador entered.
“What is wrong, Alpharius?”
Alpharius briefly snapped out of his daze: “Teacher, the Princess, she seems to have recognized me.”
Malcador sat on a small chair nearby: “How so?
What did she say?”
“She said: ‘I am very glad to meet you.'”
Malcador sighed: “You should call her Sister.”
After a moment of silence, Alpharius said softly: “Then, Teacher, can I meet Sister again in the future?”
“Ah…”
Malcador truly pitied this Child.
Despite having returned to the family, he was forced to remain anonymous.
Who else but the Emperor would assign this Child the duty of a secret policeman?
This destined that this Child could not stand in the sunlight.
In the future, when the Brothers returned one by one, he would only be forced to watch from the sidelines.
Thinking about it, this Child was truly miserable.
It was good that Morningstar had recognized him; both were sensible, good children, so there was no need to worry about them letting anything slip.
Let the Child see her if he wants to.
“It’s fine; go whenever you want to in the future.”
Alpharius nodded blankly: “Then, Teacher, I will go attend to my duties.”
Watching Alpharius’s retreating back, Malcador took a light sip of tea: “What a sin…”
…
“How is it?”
Inside the Imperial Palace, the Emperor asked Morningstar, who was flipping through the book in her hands.
“Dad, isn’t all of this just nonsense?”
The Emperor stiffened, his fist clenched.
He shouldn’t have shown the Imperial Truth he had written to Morningstar today.
The Imperial Truth was generally divided into two parts: Human Supremacism and Scientific Rationalism.
The former stated that humanity was the most noble race in The Galaxy / Milky Way, born to rule the galaxy, and advocated for the extermination of all xenos to restore humanity’s past glory.
In reality, it was just an excuse to justify the Empire’s conquest.
The latter advocated that all things could be explained by science, that the worship of gods and superstition were the greatest obstacles to human progress, and it demanded the extermination of all religions and the comprehensive implementation of Scientific Rationalism.
In reality, it was just about cutting off the internet connection to those things in the Warp; once the connection was cut, they would fundamentally be unable to influence humanity.
It looked good, but in Morningstar’s view, it was full of loopholes.
First of all, you say you want to exterminate xenos, but what exactly is a xeno?
After thousands of years, humans across The Galaxy / Milky Way had long since mutated into who knows what; perhaps they were now even more alien than the xenos themselves.
Does that still count as human?
Then, you say everything can be explained by science, so explain the Warp.
In Morningstar’s view, the things in the Warp could not be hidden forever.
While one certainly couldn’t tell everyone about the existence of the Chaos Gods directly, at least hinting openly or subtly that there were some unclean things in the Warp would mean that if the day came when it couldn’t be hidden, everyone would at least have some mental preparation.
Thinking this way, Morningstar said exactly that.
Although from the Emperor’s perspective, Morningstar shouldn’t have known so much about the Warp, she was, after all, a capable Psyker, so she could just say she saw some dirty things in the Warp.
“Ah…” The Emperor sighed.
Naturally, he could think of what Morningstar had thought of, but he was simply too anxious.
He predicted that the birth of Slaanesh would only allow the Warp to remain calm for two hundred years; he really didn’t have the patience to carefully refine every aspect of the Empire.
This was where Morningstar and the Emperor diverged.
The Emperor believed that time was tight and that they should start moving forward first; Morningstar believed that taking too large a step would lead to tearing one’s crotch—the Empire still needed to build a solid foundation.
“This won’t do, that won’t do.
If it really doesn’t work, hand those troublesome matters over to me, and I’ll take care of them for you.”
“Fine.”
?
Watching the Emperor agree instantly, Morningstar’s eyes widened.
It had always been her playing tricks on the Emperor; today, had she actually been played by the Emperor?
“You, you, you…” Morningstar pointed at the Emperor, unable to speak for a long time.
The next day, the Emperor announced to the entire Empire the appointment of Morningstar as Imperial Regent, possessing all authority except for the deployment of the Custodian Guard.
Morningstar: Aminos!
Malcador: What a sin…