Click—
The sound of an anywhere door opening echoed in Roboute Guilliman's office.
Guilliman quickly slipped the draft of the Codex Astartes into a hidden compartment in his desk and calmly looked towards the anywhere door.
Alexander emerged from the anywhere door's vacuum, a hint of exhaustion on his face.
"How many more batches?" Alexander asked, rubbing his temples.
The fatigue from constant busyness weighed on Alexander. Too many fleets needed to go to Terra, and there was only one four-dimensional pocket, the one Alexander held.
To get all the fleets into the four-dimensional pocket as quickly as possible, Alexander even started using the acceleration gear and high-efficiency pills simultaneously.
In the end, he couldn't escape Roboute Guilliman's overtime curse.
Alexander was beginning to suspect that making himself and everyone around him work overtime was some manifestation of Guilliman's Warp nature.
"You'll need to make about two more trips," Guilliman quickly answered Alexander's question. "How are things in the Webway?"
Hearing that, Alexander felt an even greater headache.
Things had recently become restless in the Webway.
Even the Eldar Webway was not an absolutely safe place.
As early as the War in Heaven millions of years ago, the C'tan The Burning One, Nyadra'zatha, had burned through the Webway with his eternal, burning material fire, allowing the Necron armies to invade the Webway.
In the long years that followed, the Eldar had almost no ability to maintain the Webway. Many parts of the Webway were damaged and collapsed, and even many Warp entities invaded the Webway. All the Eldar could do was close off and avoid those fallen Webways.
If it were just that, it would be fine. After all, the Webway's interior was intricate and complex; even if daemons invaded, they would find it difficult to launch an effective invasion without a guide.
However, Tzeentch's chosen, Ahriman, happened to possess an Eldar 'Labyrinth Compendium.'
That item was different from the navigation-like Infernal Map Alexander had. The 'Labyrinth Compendium' was a collection of maps drawn by Eldar wanderers over years of exploring the Webway.
With this 'Labyrinth Compendium,' Ahriman was more at ease in the Webway than in his own home. Even before the reconquest of Ultramar was over, he was already roaming the Webway near Macragge, occasionally flying out on a disc to snatch a few Eldar.
The most frustrating part was that Ahriman, as a top-tier combatant below a Primarch, was virtually free to come and go as he pleased.
He was as annoying as Gargamel chasing the Smurfs.
If it were just that, Ahriman alone couldn't cause much trouble.
But now, it seemed Ahriman had likely cooperated with Magnus, and Tzeentch daemons were beginning to run rampant in the Webway near Macragge.
Alexander calmed his mind slightly, and his vision shifted. In a blink, he was observing the Greater Daemon in the Webway.
The Eldar Death Guard, the Doraemon Battle Group (composed of Blood Angels and Ultramarines), and five hundred Black Templars fought side-by-side, fiercely battling in the Webway.
Tzeentch's daemons surged like a tide from the other end of the Webway. They were like the materialization of the ever-changing Warp, roaring as they hurled colorful flames and lightning at the Imperial forces.
These bizarre spells would produce completely unexpected effects, turning people into screaming glass sculptures, or a cluster of butterflies with wailing human faces, or into old men, babies, or even a horrifying mass of writhing flesh.
Flamers spewed sickly yellow flames, colliding with the Death Guard's whispers. The flickering flames illuminated the entire Webway.
Endless Horrors clashed with Roboute Guilliman's sons; each Pink Horror killed would split into two Blue Horrors.
Screamer-killers, like manta rays, flew across the sky, clashing with Blood Angels wearing Take-copters in mid-air. The aether that burst forth from dying daemons rained down like water.
Tzeentch's Horrors, who believed in Tzeentch, clashed with Dorn's sons and Sigismund's successors, the Black Templars. Blasphemous and sacred prayers echoed simultaneously on the battlefield.
And behind the Tzeentch daemon army, a Tzeentch Great Unclean One, as vast as a mountain, stood in place, wielding its staff, constantly raining down scorching fire in the Webway.
Sharp mockery continuously emanated from the Lord of Change's mouth.
The Greater Daemon took a deep breath, raised the straight, flame-burning baseball bat in his hand, and held it to his mouth like a microphone.
The Eldar Death Guard and Astartes saw this and hurriedly began to retreat using the Take-copters on their heads.
The Tzeentch daemon army hadn't reacted yet when they saw the Greater Daemon open his mouth slightly.
"What's yours is mine! What's mine is still mine!"
A furious roar erupted from his mouth. The retreating Eldar Death Guard and Astartes almost instantly felt their strength drain away, realizing their power was flowing into the Greater Daemon's body.
Tzeentch's Lord of Change showed an expression of terror, its sensitivity to fate making it perceive something.
"I am! I am the King of Children!!!"
"Invincible!!! Man of men!!!!"
Alexander withdrew his gaze from the Webway and looked at Roboute Guilliman in front of him.
"The Webway will be cleared soon. What about Terra?" he asked.
Macragge had been trying to contact Terra, but humanity's only current means of faster-than-light communication was through Warp-based Star Speaker communication, the content of which was very susceptible to interference from Warp disturbances.
Therefore, communication between Macragge and Terra was always difficult.
Upon hearing Alexander's words, Roboute Guilliman put on an indescribably strange expression.
He silently picked up a data-slate from the table, handed it to Alexander, and tapped to play an audio recording.
Static crackled from the data-slate, interspersed with the incoherent moans of a Star Speaker, then the sound gradually became clearer.
"Guilliman, you're a goddamn traitor! Remember what I said! I'm on Terra cursing you!"
"Guilliman, aren't you bringing your damn Second Imperium to Terra? I'm going to ram you with the Phalanx right now!"
"I, Rogal Dorn, am waiting for you on Terra, to blow all you traitors to kingdom come with the Phalanx, one by one."
"…" Alexander listened silently to the voice from the data-slate.
"That is indeed Dorn's voice. The first reply we received from Terra claimed that Rogal Dorn has returned to Terra. He knows about the Second Imperium and is coming to Macragge with the Phalanx to quell the rebellion."
Guilliman said with a helpless expression:
"It's not over yet, listen…"
"Guilliman, don't be afraid. I am Lion El'Jonson. Although Dorn managed to escape, Terra is now under my rule."
"As long as you let me be Warmaster, I'll make you Regent right away."
"Guilliman, I am Leman Russ. Don't believe the previous communications, those are all the Lord of Change's tricks. I just returned to Terra. Our Father has become the Dark King. This is not home! This is not home!"
"Hello, Guilliman, I am your future self. You've been deceived! It's not Sanguinius who was resurrected, it's Horus! Kill him quickly!"
"I am Jaghatai. Ahriman seems to have set up some ritual near the Webway. I advise you not to use the Webway."
"I am Angron. Actually, I'm a spy sent by Father to Khorne's side. I've already knocked Khorne out with Nuceria's anesthetic."
"I am Lorgar. Actually, I haven't betrayed you. You can call me the Golden Speaker now!"
Guilliman turned off the communication and then covered his face with his hand.
"The Lord of Change is still so lively…" Alexander couldn't help but let out a soft laugh. Clearly, these Star Speaker messages were all Tzeentch's interference.
Guilliman also nodded, quite helplessly.
"Genuine information from Terra is probably very scarce. I'm not even sure if Terra truly knows that Sanguinius and I have returned."
"Fortunately, Macragge has information about the current twelve High Lords of the Imperium, allowing me to speculate and analyze what those current rulers of the Imperium might think of us."
"The current Chief of the High Lord Council and Minister of Adeptus Administratum is someone who insists that imperial law is inviolable and unchangeable, believing that everything in the current Imperium is the best situation arranged by the Emperor. He will be a problem."
"Roughly half of the High Lord Council supports him, and half opposes him."
"The Mars Forging General in the High Lord Council is the most unique. Due to Mars' status, he is probably relatively indifferent to us, but he might care about Belisarius Cawl."
Guilliman showed a bitter smile. Belisarius Cawl had done an excellent job fulfilling the mission Guilliman gave him, but he had also offended many people over ten thousand years.
"The Pope of the Adeptus Ministorum supports the Minister of Adeptus Administratum's view. He believes that all imperial law is a manifestation of the God-Emperor's will. I think he will welcome Sanguinius, but you and I…"
Alexander looked at Guilliman. He felt that Guilliman had probably already pieced together intelligence about the current Terra High Lord Council from the fragmented information, and perhaps had already decided who would be replaced and who could be kept.
"If that Pope is unwilling to accept anything new, then we had best replace him."
"I'm considering Sanguinius directly taking on the role of Pope. This would allow us to better control the Adeptus Ministorum."
"The Fabricator-General General position clearly cannot be given to Cawl. I have no reason to interfere with Mars, and Cawl is not suited for that position either."
Guilliman noticed Alexander's gaze, seemingly understanding what Alexander was thinking, so he laid out his arrangements for the High Lord Council.
His tone was so relaxed; in just a few words, he began to decide the fate of the twelve most powerful High Lords of the entire Imperium, as if the High Lords' authority was made of paper in front of him.
Alexander understood that Guilliman's combat power was not outstanding among their twenty-one brothers, and many could rival or even surpass his military command ability. Although his operational ability was superior, it wasn't to the extent of one man against the other twenty Primarchs combined.
But in politics, Guilliman was probably equivalent to the Four Gods-corrupted Horus' status in Primarch duels—he was on a level where the other twenty combined couldn't beat him.
This was also why Guilliman was able to implement the Codex Astartes after the Great Heresy; the political abilities of the other Primarchs were no different from children in front of Guilliman.
"Oh, right," Guilliman suddenly looked up at Alexander. "The most important position among the High Lords is still the Minister of Adeptus Administratum. The current Minister of Adeptus Administratum is unreliable."
"I plan to replace him—are you interested in serving as Minister of Adeptus Administratum and Chief of the High Lord Council?"
"Huh?"
"Me, a High Lord? Is that for real?"