"Of course not," Guilliman said. "The Illyrians have been divided for too long. The return of the Ring of Aiden won't unify them; instead, they'll fight over it, falling into even more intense internal strife."
"So that was your plan?" Konnor watched his adopted son, his eyes full of approval.
Half a day earlier, Guilliman had led the expeditionary force back in triumph, welcomed by all Macraggians.
Guilliman had proven his outstanding talent as a military commander through his achievements.
If Konnor were to nominate him for the Senate now, although many senators would still strongly object, their criticisms would be limited to quibbling over his background and age.
Even the most stubborn senator couldn't deny the honors he had earned.
This campaign had demonstrated not only his exceptional military command skills but also his remarkable political acumen.
Instead of brutally suppressing the barbarians, he had employed strategic thinking.
This was very much in line with the Senate's style of operation.
In their traditional view, war is politics conducted by other means; its essence is the continuation of politics.
Guilliman shook his head. "Not just that. I genuinely hope for lasting peace with Illyrium. Letting them wear each other down is a means, not an end."
"That land ultimately needs a unified leader, and I hope that person is Ludwig."
Euten: "Why him?"
Guilliman: "I saw his courage and strength, as well as his intelligence."
"Courage means he has the daring to unify. Strength means he has the capability."
"And intelligence means he won't do foolish things. He understands the cost of war."
Macragge's overall strength was greater than Illyrium's. For Macragge, Illyrium was a tough nut to crack, not worth the effort, yet a pity to abandon.
Illyrium was like the 'Land of Bunkers' on ancient Terra: its intrinsic strength was weak, but it had built hundreds of thousands of bunkers, making it impossible to approach.
The cost of conquering it was too high, while the potential gains were too meager.
Using nuclear weapons wasn't warranted, either.
So, everyone just left it alone.
If Illyrium didn't invade Macragge, Macragge had no interest in them.
Macragge could conduct interstellar travel and had trade relations with many worlds. The benefits a mountainous region could bring were extremely scarce, completely disproportionate to the cost of conquering it.
Therefore, achieving peace with Illyrium also aligned with the Senate's interests.
But it wasn't that simple. Illyrium had been divided for a long time.
Even if they wanted to unify, it would have to be through war. That was Macragge's opportunity.
Caelan said, "Ludwig would essentially be Macragge's proxy. But he can't unify Illyrium on his own; he needs Macragge's support, and Macragge is willing to support his unification."
"As long as Illyrium is embroiled in civil war, even if other tribes still eye Macragge warily, they'll be too preoccupied to act because of him. You get multiple benefits in one go!"
Konnor sighed with genuine admiration. He was worthy of being his son.
Although adopted, even if he had a biological son, he wouldn't be better than Guilliman.
Adopting a Primarch as his son, he was set for life.
Euten said, "But a unified Illyrium would be a greater threat to Macragge than it is now. If Ludwig has ambitions to unify the world, he and Macragge will eventually come to blows. What then?"
"That depends on Guilliman's ability," Caelan said teasingly. "But I believe our son has already anticipated this."
Guilliman nodded, "Ambition is built on strength. And I will ensure I am always stronger than him."
The weak have no right to ambition, unless they possess extraordinary strength in some aspect, inner strength also counts.
Guilliman was very idealistic, but he was a primarch. He could turn ideals into reality.
With Guilliman around, all problems would be solved. Trust in the Primarch's wisdom.
The might of the primarch and Macragge could deter Ludwig from war, or a policy of persuasion could win him over.
Building trust takes time, and the primarch is never lacking in patience.
This was an open strategy, built upon a foundation of overwhelming strength.
"Guilliman, come with me."
After the family gathering, Caelan led Guilliman away from the house and into an unassuming residence nearby.
A maidservant in a purple dress was already waiting. She stood silently in the shadows.
An ordinary person would hardly notice her presence.
"This is Lilith. She is one of the half-foster mothers of your brother Angron."
Lilith curtsied gracefully. Guilliman spoke gently, "Sister Lilith."
A flicker of surprise crossed Lilith's face before she regained her composure.
Caelan asked, "Lilith, how is he now?"
Lilith answered, "My Lord, he is still unconscious. It cannot escape."
"Let's go see him."
Lilith led them down the stairs. In the basement, a young man was imprisoned, his mind seemingly elsewhere.
"Olus Avitus?" Guilliman recognized the young senator and wondered why he was here.
Given his father's style, if Olus was innocent, Caelan would never harm an innocent. If he was colluding with Chaos, his father wouldn't spare his life.
There was no middle option like imprisonment.
His father had once told him a story about a batman.
This Batman was the richest man in his city. As a child, he witnessed his parents being shot dead in a dark alley.
When he grew up, he became the Batman, believing himself a partner of justice.
He adhered to a no-kill rule, only capturing criminals and handing them over to the police.
However, his city had no death penalty. These heinous criminals would always escape from prison.
They would continuously cause trouble for the Bat-man, only to be locked up again, cycle after cycle.
In another timeline, Batman became dark.
He would become an executioner, sentencing all the criminals he caught to death without trial, reshaping order through fear.
As the number of criminals plummeted, the crime rate dropped sharply.
Thanks to his fearsome reputation that could silence crying children, no one in the city dared to commit crimes anymore, and it was consistently rated as the safest city in the nation.
When his father asked which Batman he wanted to be, Guilliman chose C.
"I will enter politics. Use my wealth to propel myself to the position of mayor. Reinstate the death penalty, clean up corruption, and crack down on criminals."
"If a Batman is necessary, I will become the Batman who brings them to justice."
Guilliman craved order more than any of his brothers. This was different from Curze's desire for justice.
Because corresponding to Curze's justice was, in fact, Guilliman's warfare.
And order is meant to suppress warfare.
Guilliman must use reason to suppress his nature, and order is the best way to fight warfare.
He does not reject war, but rather refuses endless, aimless, meaningless war.
More than war itself, he focuses on the post-war reconstruction and management of order.
This destined Guilliman to be someone skilled at 'cultivating', while most other primarchs paid little attention to post-war order restoration, because the vast Imperial Administration would clean up after them.
If a Primarch had to do everything themselves, what was the point of mortals?
In Guilliman's eyes, his godfather was also a man who valued order.
But since he chose to kidnap this senator, there was only one possibility.
"Father must have a reason!"
Even without a reason, there was a cause. Without a cause, there were circumstances. Otherwise, surely it couldn't be Father's fault, right?
But why had Father brought him to see Olus?
"Lilith, show Guilliman."
Lilith stepped forward, her fingertips shimmering with blue-purple psychic energy, peeling back Olus's soul layer by layer.
Her movements were precise and elegant, like a master butcher dissecting an ox. Such skill would be hard to achieve without diligent practice.
When the soul was laid open, the furry blue creature was revealed.
Its large eyes flickered as they looked at Caelan. Caelan could even read confusion and a sense of grievance in them.
It seemed not to understand why Caelan was treating it this way. What had it done wrong?
"Is this a demon?"
Ever since he was three years old, Caelan had told him the truth about the world, including the Warp and demons.
Caelan said, "If you use the nine-square alignment system, you can think of it as Chaotic Neutral."
"It is indeed a Warp entity, but not a traditional demon."
The nine-square alignment system had limitations and couldn't perfectly classify everyone, but it could serve as a reference.
For instance, the primarchs were all Lawful alignments, but they were hard to simply categorize as Lawful Good, Lawful Neutral, or Lawful Evil.
Human nature is complex; they often lie at the intersection of two different alignments.
In stark contrast, Warp entities are all Chaotic.
This is determined by the nature of the Warp. After years of fermentation, the Warp had become an extremely foul cesspool.
Excrement can be fertilizer for plants, but it must be properly processed and applied to fertile soil. Don't expect any white lotuses to grow from a cesspit.
The methane generated by a cesspool will kill all normal life. Anything that grows in it will inevitably be stained.
As if sensing Caelan's disgust, the blue creature looked even more aggrieved. Its large eyes seemed to mist over.
It extended little tentacle-like hands and pitifully knocked on the host's soul.
Olus suddenly convulsed violently, moaning in pain.
When he finally struggled to open his eyes, he immediately shrank back in terror.
"Wh-where is this? What have you done to me?"
"Don't be nervous. I don't plan to kill you at the moment."
'Don't plan to at the moment' meant he might at any time, right?'
Olus's face turned pale, cold sweat soaking his back.
"I-I recognize you. Son of Konnor."
Olus's Adam's apple bobbed nervously, his gaze fixing on Guilliman. "Is this revenge for the Senate affair?"
"It has nothing to do with Konnor. It's about your transmigration."
Caelan was very patient, as he still needed Olus to answer some questions.
Olus blurted out, "How do you know I'm a transmigrator?"
"I read your memory, remember?"
Olus's face grew even paler. It was all coming back.
He wasn't a three-year-old child who would stupidly ask, 'How dare you violate my privacy?'
His brain, under the critical situation, started thinking fast. He was a prisoner now; his captors had no reason to lie.
If it wasn't about the Senate, why had they taken him?
Olus looked up, his voice hoarse. "Is it because of that thing in my head?"
"So you're not completely ignorant of it. Tell me."
Olus gave a wry smile. "If I tell you, will you let me live?"
"No."
Olus's mind raced. "Then why should I say anything? Since you can read memories, why ask me? Because it's dangerous? You're afraid to read my deeper memories? Is it protecting me?"
Caelan said, "You are indeed clever. Half right."
Olus had been able to get into university in the M10 era. His past life was hardly ordinary.
Although humanity at that time wasn't as glorious as the Golden Age, it had already begun to step into interstellar civilization.
Olus often considered himself mediocre, but in reality, his abilities far exceeded ordinary people.
Otherwise, even if he had lucked into becoming head of the Avitus family, he wouldn't have been able to hold onto the power.
But what Caelan was wary of wasn't the blue creature living inside Olus, but Chaos itself.
He was just an ordinary psyker. Knowing a little bit about psychic powers didn't mean he would be careless around Chaos.
People like that tended to die the fastest.
Olus was silent for a while, then finally spoke. "Actually, I don't know where it came from either. I just remember that after I transmigrated, it was in my head. I don't even know what it is, or what it looks like."
"Only..."
Olus paused. "It seems to make my wishes come true."
How exactly it made wishes come true, combined with Olus's life trajectory, wasn't hard to guess.
Caelan questioned "Has it signed a contract with you?"
"A contract? What's that?" Olus was taken aback.
"How much do you know about the Warp?"
Olus answered honestly, "Nothing at all. I just know that Macraggians use the Warp for interstellar travel."
In his era, humanity knew very little about the Warp. Psykers were still an unpublicized secret.
Therefore, Caelan had to give him a brief explanation of what the Warp was.
Caelan didn't fully subscribe to the theory that human nature is inherently good or inherently evil. He preferred a compromise.
Both theories were based on extremes. The 'blank slate' theory suited most people.
People are born like a blank sheet of paper. What they become depends on what color stains the paper.
Except for those born evil, like Erebus.
Primarchs couldn't be considered ordinary people. Their natures were closely tied to their Warp essence.
But Guilliman, whose nature was warfare, had instead been raised by his adoptive parents to become the primarch known for rationality and calmness.
The Warp has no concept of good or evil, and no one teaches these Warp entities what is good or evil.
Good and evil are, in essence, moral boundaries defined by humans.
Even in the material universe, there are vast differences in the perception of good and evil across civilizations. The Drukhari, for example, are completely incapable of understanding 'love'.
If that's the case in the material universe, it's even more so in the Warp.
These Warp entities simply don't understand what 'good' is, just as fish don't understand why land creatures can't breathe underwater, because there's oxygen in water too.
Land creatures don't understand why fish can't breathe out of water, because there's more oxygen on land.
A crocodile drags you into a river. You think it's going to death roll you, but actually, it might just be inviting you to see the beautiful underwater world.
If you accidentally drown, it will feel sad and heartbroken, reluctantly eating its newly made friend.
In human understanding, Void Whales are very gentle Warp entities because they almost never attack human ships traveling through the Warp.
But it's also possible that no ship attacked by a Void Whale ever survived.
These Void Whales, over 10,000 kilometers in length, are larger than Terra itself.
If attacked by one, the chances of survival are indeed low.
And even if Void Whales don't actively attack human ships, the Warp tidal waves they generate can easily destroy humanity's most powerful vessels, leaving few survivors.
So, zero negative reviews.
That's why Warp entities belong to the Chaotic alignment.
Their behavior cannot be predicted by human logic. Helping you might be for fun; harming you might also be for fun.
There's no pattern, only pure emotion.
Therefore, the only way to constrain these Warp entities is through a contract.
This contract isn't written on paper; it's the underlying logic of the Warp, just like a demon's true name.
Even the four Gods are bound by contracts.
There must be a contract in the symbiotic relationship between Olus and this Warp entity.
Otherwise, he would have been possessed by a demon long ago.
But even with a contract, safety isn't guaranteed, because contracts often have loopholes.
Olus muttered thoughtfully, "Like children."
Before children develop a sense of good and evil, they might grab a butterfly on a whim because they think it's pretty.
But they don't understand how fragile butterflies are, and they crush them.
They might pour boiling water on an anthill, catch cicadas out of curiosity, feel sorry for an injured bird, or adopt a stray dog.
Inherently evil children might even take pleasure in torturing small animals.
It's all for fun.
Caelan said "After all I've said, that's what you think of?"
Olus trembled, explaining in a shaky voice, "But I really don't know anything about a contract!"
"I can't trust you, because your transmigration wasn't voluntary. The contract likely wasn't either."
Olus looked like he was about to cry. "If it wasn't voluntary, then wouldn't I be even less likely to know about it?"
"Any last words?"
Seeming to finally understand that his end was near, Olus fell silent. He hesitated, then asked, "Will it die too?"
"That's a good question. When a demon is killed in the material universe, it's banished back to the Warp. But what about a Warp entity that doesn't belong to the four Gods?"
Caelan was thinking.