Kellam Purion, the Grand Master of the Astra Telepathica, stood silently in a corner of the Eternal Wall, gazing at the distant spaceport.
This wide, high wall was large enough for Titans to rampage and starships to land, and Kellam Purion's poor, hazy eyesight couldn't even see its edges.
In the Adeptus Ministorum's propaganda, this wall was forged by the Primarch Rogal Dorn, the divine son of the Emperor, using steadfastness, loyalty, and sacrifice as materials, the Phalanx as his hammer, the Himalayas as his anvil, and eighty-eight days of labor.
It was said to be unyielding and never to collapse.
However, Kellam Purion, who was linked to the Emperor's Psyker power, often heard the Emperor's song, and was one of the most powerful figures in the entire Imperium's upper echelons, knew this was a lie.
Primarchs, to a certain extent, far exceeded the imagination of mortals, but in another aspect, Primarchs were also far more mortal than people imagined.
They were like special beings woven from the radiance of divinity and the fire of humanity, each of them embodying the extreme of some human trait.
Rogal Dorn's steadfastness, Perturabo's obsession, Sanguinius' nobility, Angron's rage, Lorgar's faith, Guilliman's ambition...
The Adeptus Ministorum, in its propaganda, was always eager to promote and exaggerate the Primarchs' divinity, while neglecting their humanity.
Presumably, the next scene would also be greatly exaggerated in the Adeptus Ministorum's propaganda.
They would say that Sanguinius and Guilliman were welcomed by countless citizens, and that the number of supplicants gathered on the Eternal Wall was greater than at any time in the past thousand years.
Countless people would reach out, wanting to touch Guilliman's cloak or Sanguinius' feathers, the supplicants would weep with joy, and some would even commit suicide due to the fulfillment of their lives.
Hymns would resound constantly, the Primarchs would display their divinity with pure words, the Emperor's glory would shine upon them, and traitors would flee in terror.
The people would be so enthusiastic, and the Primarchs so merciful in responding to their faithful, that it would take them two days and two nights to reach the Eternal Gate.
The Adeptus Ministorum would use false records and fabricated images to prove all of this.
But unfortunately, the commoners who should have been piously welcoming the Primarchs were now yelling for food beneath the Eternal Wall.
Even if the starving commoners wanted to welcome the Primarchs' return, their bodies no longer had the strength.
Even if they forced out a little strength through faith, the autocannons on the Eternal Wall would not permit it.
Of course, just asking for food was fine; in this situation, merely craving food already proved their piety.
Those less pious commoners had already begun to disembowel overseers, nobles, and even priests, then cook and eat them.
As for those who had completely abandoned their faith, they had already begun to offer blood sacrifices to Khorne.
Kellam Purion had secretly used the corruption network built by Tieron to send a portion of loyal Astra Telepathica psyker into the hive city, attempting to purge the followers of Khorne.
But unfortunately, Khorne's followers had existed almost since the dawn of human civilization, developing alongside humanity over long ages, influencing human culture, accumulating a vast number of Khorne artifacts on Terra, and developing a wide variety of cults.
Kellam Purion's efforts ultimately amounted to nothing more than a drop in the bucket.
Commoners could not come to welcome the Primarchs; only scholars who did not know the truth, palace guards kept by the High Lords or a high official, bureaucrats from the Adeptus Administratum, acolytes from the Adeptus Ministorum or other departments, and the Astra Militarum on the high walls could.
Among these, only the Astra Militarum could be called loyal and reliable; the other scholars, palace guards, bureaucrats, and acolytes were simply there to delay the Primarchs.
These people would be more useful if they were chopped up and made into corpse starch for the commoners outside than being here.
And when the Primarchs arrived, they would swarm forward, blocking them and slowing their progress into the inner court.
Some untouchables, kept as pets, were even mixed into this crowd, clearly to guard against Kellam Purion or the psyker in the Primarchs' retinue.
They were certainly not strong enough to resist truly powerful psyker, but they could make Psyker reactions completely visible.
Any use of violent means would awaken the High Lords' memories of that hidden history.
It would make them recall the slaughter of mortals by Horus' Sons before the rebellion, and recall that half of the Astartes and Primarchs had once betrayed the Imperium of Man.
The High Lord or Lords who instigated these crowds would surely seize the opportunity to make a big fuss, and might even sway some originally neutral High Lords towards the faction opposing the Primarchs.
The question was, who instigated them to do this? Irthu, the Director of the Adeptus Administratum? Pope Baldo of the Adeptus Ministorum? Avellisha, the Minister of Justice?
These people all had the capability to pull off such a stunt.
Irthu was the most suspicious, but that fat man from the Adeptus Administratum carried an amulet made from the ashes of an untouchable, so Kellam Purion couldn't secretly pry into his mind.
The Pope and the Minister of Justice each had their own anti-Psyker methods. Oh, and there was the worst possibility.
Fadix, the Grand Master of the Officio Assassinorum; if he opposed the Primarchs, that would truly be terrible.
Across all of Terra, the other nine High Lords posed no real threat, at most creating minor or major troubles.
The only truly threatening High Lords were Trajan Valoris, the Captain-General of the Adeptus Custodes, and Fadix, the Grand Master of the Officio Assassinorum.
Even if the Primarchs and Saint Doraemon themselves were not afraid of the living weapons within the Officio Assassinorum, those around the Primarchs would find it very difficult to resist.
"Hmm?" Kellam Purion suddenly looked up; she seemed to have noticed something.
The voidship carrying the Primarchs landed in the spaceport, and the crowds, whose instigator was unknown, swarmed forward.
However, when the voidship's hatch opened, they were not greeted by the divine faces of the two Primarchs, but by the dark muzzles of lasguns.
The officials, acolytes, guards, and scholars shrieked in terror, watching as the dark green mortal warriors, armed with lasguns, poured out of the ship, quickly surrounding and controlling them.
"What are you doing! This is Holy Terra! This is the Imperial Palace! Is there no imperial law anymore?!"
"We are here to pay homage to the Primarchs! What do you want?!"
"Traitors! They are traitors! Where are the Lucifer Blacks? Subdue them!!"
These bureaucrats from the Terra Imperial Palace let out shrill protests.
The Lucifer Blacks guarding the wall were about to come to their aid, but upon seeing the uniforms of the mortal warriors pouring out of the ship, they all lowered their lasguns.
"Traitors? Who are you calling traitors?!"
A female voice rang out from the ship, and a powerful and unruly Psyker force surged forth, unleashing itself chaotically into the surrounding air.
The untouchables hidden in the crowd couldn't even suppress this powerful Psyker energy.
Kellam Purion showed an intrigued expression; this Psyker power, although weaker than hers, was among the top tier for mortals.
A woman in a worn, dark green Cadian uniform stepped out of the ship, a deep scar on her cheek:
"Are you implying that the Cadian Shock Troopers are traitors?!"
A roar erupted from the woman's mouth, devoid of any Psyker power, yet the words themselves made the Terra Imperial Palace bureaucrats tremble.
Only then did they realize that the mortal warriors surrounding them were all wearing many-times-washed Cadian uniforms and bullet-scarred flak armor, staring at them with murderous eyes.
The loyalty of the Astartes could be questioned, Inquisitors could be questioned, the loyalty of other Astra Militarum units could be questioned, and even the loyalty of the High Lords could be questioned.
But no one could question the loyalty of the Cadian Shock Troopers, and no one could replace the Cadian Shock Troopers' position within the Astra Militarum.
The Astra Militarum and PDF forces of countless worlds emulated the Cadian Shock Troopers' training and organizational methods, and took pride in imitating Cadia.
Especially these Cadian Shock Troopers warriors before them, who had clearly experienced the cataclysmic battle of Cadia.
Every Astra Militarum soldier who knew of their heroic sacrifice would respect them from the bottom of their hearts, and the Lucifer Blacks guarding the Imperial Palace were still Astra Militarum.
"In the name of the Emperor, the Emperor, and by the command of the Lord of Ultramar, Primarch Roboute Guilliman, and the Emperor's designated heir, Primarch Sanguinius, Reyna, Commander of the Cadia 184th Regiment, demands to take over the defense of the Eternal Wall."
The Cadian Shock Troopers Commander, who called herself Reyna, stepped out of the ship's hatch and onto the city wall.
The Lucifer Blacks commander guarding the wall saluted her with an aquila salute, and Reyna directly showed him the order signed by both Primarchs.
The commander seemed a bit hesitant; Kellam Purion guessed he had received orders from certain High Lords not to relinquish command of the Eternal Wall.
However, very quickly, the commander realized that resistance was meaningless.
A large number of Astartes in red or blue power armor surged out of the ship like a tide; their numbers completely exceeded the ship's capacity, and in the blink of an eye, they formed a formation of over a thousand on the wall, equivalent to the size of an entire Chapter.
Along with the Astartes, there also emerged from the ship the heavily modified Tech-Priests from Mars, mortal soldiers in Ultramar Auxiliary Army uniforms, Custodians, Great Canoness Morven Vahl of the Battle Sister, an Inquisitor, and... the soaring Saint Celestine.
The appearance of this force was decisive; the Lucifer Blacks commander saluted Reyna again, smoothly handing over command.
Only the bureaucrats were still somewhat restless, seeming discontented—
"I just heard someone slander the Cadian Shock Troopers as traitors?"
The Inquisitor, wearing a monocle and unknown to Kellam Purion, raised her Inquisitor's seal:
"I am Inquisitor Greyfax of the Ordo Hereticus, and Lady Saint Celestine and I are very concerned about your loyalty and faith."
"Which volunteer would like to let me test if my skill in white phosphorus immolation has deteriorated?"
The restless crowd immediately quieted down.
Kellam Purion watched this scene with amusement, wondering if the masterminds behind the scenes had realized that playing such tricks in front of two Primarchs and a divine being was meaningless.
At the same time, she couldn't help but wonder: Where were the Primarchs? Where was Saint Doraemon?
Meanwhile, in front of the Lion's Gate spaceport in the inner palace of the Imperial Palace,
Trajan Valoris, the Captain-General of the Adeptus Custodes, stared intently at the pinkish-red wooden door that had suddenly appeared before him.