Silence!!!
As the Grey Knight's words fell, a brief, profound silence descended upon the entire community. Everyone stared with shocked expressions at the silver angels and the black and gold urn in their hands.
What had they just heard? The great Primarch himself had personally dispatched his own sons to return the child of the man standing before them. To a humble family such as theirs. And John…
"What… what did John do…?" Sam's voice trembled as he spoke. He thought of his bright and clever child, and a glint of tears appeared in his eyes.
Although he had selectively forgotten that child, it was a lie to say he felt nothing.
Once upon a time, he too had six or seven siblings. His parents toiled day and night in the factories just so they could survive. But the industrial world they lived on was nearly depleted of resources, and his parents lost their jobs one after the other. At the age of eleven, he had to leave his parents with tears in his eyes to work day and night in a factory.
The memory of when he finally had a moment to spare and returned to his family's small hovel was an eternal nightmare. He found his parents and all of his younger siblings starved to death. The small home that had once given him infinite warmth was filled with the stench of rotting corpses.
That day, he cried for a long, long time, before finally setting it all ablaze.
At that moment, he had frantically questioned the God-Emperor. Why? Why let his kind family suffer such a cruel fate? Where was his salvation? Where was his home?
It was then that he saw the aircraft slowly descending from the sky. He would later learn that his world's Planetary Governor, unable to pay the Imperial Tithe, had sold off the vast population of workers as a resource to a Rogue Trader. That trader was one who served the Lord of Trailblaze, and they were eventually brought to this forge world.
After that, it felt like he was living in a dream. His entire life seemed to have entered paradise. An environment free from polluted air, clean drinking water, and generous rations. The day he received his first supplies, he cried. He cried for a long time.
He didn't know what to say. If only his parents could have held on for a little longer. His younger siblings wouldn't have starved to death. He wouldn't be all alone.
In the end, he stayed here and became a glorious worker. He married a fellow factory worker and started his own family. He swore that he would let every one of his children live with dignity, to become a single, infinitesimally small coin in the treasury of the great Lord of Trailblaze.
His own childhood made him cherish each of his children, but the fact that his fourth child had become a heretic pained him to this day. On one hand, he felt he had failed that child; on the other, he felt a sliver of terror. They were the most devout of believers; how could they have given birth to such a blasphemous existence?
"Sob…" Sam's wife was now weeping silently. No one could know the turmoil in her heart.
But now, seeing the Angels of the Emperor, the sons of the great Lord of Trailblaze themselves, come before them… they knew that not all Astartes were the same. Most Astartes in the Trailblaze Sector were not the gene-sons of the Lord of Trailblaze. The direct sons of that Lord were exceedingly rare, and they were clearly the most glorious among them.
Now, these angels stood before him, holding his son's ashes with both hands.
"The stories of those who die in glory shall be sung as ballads. Courage and sacrifice are the hymns of humanity. Hold your head high, for today, this warrior returns home with honor."
Looking at the man's trembling hands, the Grey Knight spoke with solemn righteousness.
Sam straightened his posture. All the people kneeling on the ground couldn't help but peek, their eyes filled with envy.
Finally, the urn was placed in Sam's hands. Another Grey Knight then announced the highest rewards for their family.
Not only were their rations multiplied several times over, but his children were also given a significant bonus to their academic scores. As long as their grades weren't completely abysmal, they were guaranteed entry into the various academies. There was a whole list of other benefits that made others swallow with envy.
Most importantly, if he just nodded, he could immediately relocate to Trailblaze Prime and become a member of the upper hive.
But Sam wasn't listening to most of it. His eyes were fixed on the urn in his hands.
Then…
"I am just a worker. I am willing to stay here and continue to offer everything I have to the Lord of Trailblaze."
He didn't know what an upper hive was, but he was born in the lower-middle class. He had a natural fear of such places and didn't want to leave his familiar environment.
"From this day forward, Sam Milton, you are the supervisor of Manufactorum 12154. I hope you will dedicate yourself well."
A nearby Tech-Priest spoke up at the perfect moment. He could put on airs in front of other Space Marines, but these were Grey Knights, the gene-sons of the Lord of Trailblaze. He had to show them a certain degree of respect, especially since this was the Lord of Trailblaze's command. The man had no high-level education; putting him in too high a position would only harm him. This semi-retired role was quite suitable.
"Praise the Lord of Trailblaze, the Omnissiah, and the Emperor."
"In the future, you may travel for free on any Rogue Trader vessel belonging to the Trailblaze Sector. Come visit Trailblaze Prime when you have time."
The Grey Knight looked at the man and nodded. Then, in a flicker of light, they used the Star Rails to teleport away. This was not the only family they needed to console, so they were quite busy.
"Hah…"
Watching the Grey Knights depart, Sam felt a wave of exhaustion wash over him, his body about to go limp. But just then, a large, strong hand caught him. It was the priest from their community. Of course, this one wasn't a Word Bearer. The number of Space Marines was still limited, and they couldn't be everywhere.
"Place your son's ashes in our chapel. We will pray for him day and night. Everyone who enters the chapel for mass must pay the highest respects to this sublime one."
"Okay…" Sam nodded.
A flicker of regret crossed the priest's face. Zhou Ye had said that every person was his coin, and only he could decide when they were spent. Therefore, destroying a coin without reason was a great blasphemy, especially through sacrifice!!!
But to have a saint, personally commended by a great Primarch, a god of the Imperium… To not sacrifice thirteen people to the remains of this saint? It just felt improper.
And very soon…
"Father, I've been accepted into the Academy of Mechanical Engineering!!!"
Looking at his acceptance notice, Sam's second son said in astonishment. His grades hadn't been a sure thing, they were even a bit borderline, but he had still received a special admission slot.
"You have your younger brother to thank for this. After dinner, the whole family will go to the chapel to see him. This is just the beginning for you. You must study even harder to dedicate yourself to the great Lord of Trailblaze."
Sam looked at his son with relief. From that day on, his family's status had changed dramatically. The scornful looks vanished. If any child dared to mock them, their own parents would grab them and give them a sound thrashing, all while shouting about heresy and blasphemy.
Sam's job also changed. It was much easier than before. The community council consulted with a few other families and had them move elsewhere. Now, all three apartments in their building section belonged to them.
Most importantly, their monthly rations had multiplied several times over, so much that their family couldn't even finish it all. His wife's biggest complaint now was that the house was too big to clean.
"I wonder if the nobles from my old world ever had it this good…"
---o---
In the great hall on Trailblaze, Zhou Ye looked at the silver knight before him.
"You've delivered them all? Hmm, are they really that fertile?"
They had finished delivering the condolences. Zhou Ye always gave the highest respect to those who died for his cause. But while chatting, he had accidentally heard about the families' situations. Good heavens, seven or eight children per household on average. No wonder his population was exploding. But it wasn't a problem; this population was still far from enough. What limited him now wasn't a lack of worlds, but a lack of people. His database still held many worlds suitable for immigration, but for now, he had only planted a flag on them due to population constraints.
"Yes, Father. And they all refused to come to Trailblaze Prime. They believe they can better dedicate themselves by staying where they are, and that it is their duty."
"Er, ah…"
"Father, the life you have given them is better than that of many upper-hive citizens on other worlds."
Seeing Zhou Ye's lack of awareness, the Grey Knight Grand Master couldn't help but add.
"Er… never mind. You are dismissed."
Zhou Ye scratched his head. He really did feel like a beast. He could probably compete with some of history's most infamous "benevolent" tyrants. There was clearly a mountain of difference between his perspective and theirs. In truth, his initial reason, aside from needing people to build and use the Star Rails, was that he simply couldn't stand to watch their suffering any longer.
"The world…"
Thinking of this, Zhou Ye stood up and looked out the window. He wasn't always swamped with work. He was becoming more and more proficient at handling political affairs and could now process dozens of documents simultaneously.
Through the window, he could see smoke and fire swirling around the high platform in the distance. Many people were already praying before the massive monument. The Imperial Fists were highly efficient; they had built it for him in no time.
"How are the Genestealers? Don't use the pure-strains."
Zhou Ye turned to Klee, who was holding a data-slate. She nodded at his question and quickly replied.
"The Magos Biologis from the Academy of Mechanical Engineering have sent joyous news. The first phase was a success. The Genestealers have been severed from the Great Devourer's influence, which has been replaced with Imaginary energy. They are now addressing the genetic issue to ensure they won't produce any pure-strain genestealers. More importantly, Tyranid genetics are very interesting. They have made many discoveries, but they are still in the experimental phase."
"Good, tell them to speed it up. Construction of the second forge world is accelerating. I need a massive population. The wars are endless…"
Zhou Ye nodded. He had his reasons for being anxious. This galaxy was in a constant state of war. His people were currently putting out fires everywhere. With the opening of the Great Rift, several of his worlds had even seen sacrificial rituals, from which daemons and Chaos Space Marines had emerged. He had already sent out more than half of his Grey Knights. The company-sized reinforcements that had arrived had also been dispatched one by one. He would not tolerate his Trailblaze Sector being tainted by Chaos.
This time, he didn't have any strange, elaborate plans. He was simply throwing forces wherever a problem arose.
"We should be leaving…"
As Zhou Ye was staring blankly at the monument below, Cawl and Yvraine walked over.
"Is the Webway safe to travel?"
"Yes."
Yvraine nodded. She had let her guard down considerably around Zhou Ye. She had discovered that this Primarch seemed to be quite different from the typical Imperial figures.
"Then I wish you good luck. I cannot leave just yet."
Zhou Ye nodded. Those were his words, but Cawl was carrying a super-coordinate anchor. When the time came, he could use it to perform a super-jump, forcibly linking this place with Macragge. He had originally thought he had more time, but the Great Rift had opened much earlier than expected, so Zhou Ye planned to leverage the Thirteenth Master's power.
Of course, Yvraine didn't know any of this. She now needed to travel to Macragge with Cawl's Ark Mechanicus, the Iron Soul.
As for Zhou Ye, he had no intention of going there openly. He refused to travel through the Immaterium. He wouldn't even use the Webway, the very thing the Emperor had dreamed of, because he was genuinely afraid of the Chaos Gods. Those beasts, the Emperor included, were simply too bizarre. Zhou Ye refused to have any contact with them.
"Farewell, Primarch of the Imperium."
Yvraine didn't say anything more. She led her people and left Trailblaze. The Webway gate slowly opened, and they all stepped through.
"It will probably take some time to reach Macragge from here. Hmm, let me think. Should I draw up another plan? After all, once Guilliman wakes up, everything will surely be different."
---o---