harleyscars Chapter 6: The Era of the Primarchs Has Ended
Chapter 6: The Era of the Primarchs Has Ended
The Astartes, with an average height of 2.5 meters, were already figures that mortals had to look up to. But Abaddon still stood out among these giants. Wearing a specially crafted Terminator power armor, he was nearly 4 meters tall. Just standing there was enough to make ordinary Space Marines tremble.
However, Sun Qian can now easily observe Abaddon's uniquely styled Kosonia-style high ponytail from above.
Is this the perspective of Horus, the Warmaster, the Primarch who is a demigod?
Sun Qian glanced at the system panel that only he could see. He could see that the interface, which originally only had one card, [Standard Version Sun Qian], now had two new cards next to it.
The one currently highlighted and active is one of the newly acquired character cards—
[New Three Kingdoms - Sun Qian]
Skill:
Effect: After activating the skill, you will assume the person that others believe should be here. The effect of assuming the person changes with the fit rate. The ability will be removed when the fit rate is below 60 (LV1).
Above the panel, you can see a green "83", and as Sun Qian followed Abaddon, this number fluctuated up and down every moment.
"Commander, we've arrived."
Abaddon suddenly stopped, almost causing the distracted Sun Qian to bump into him.
This is a room deep within the Great Tyrant, an area nearly the size of a football field, spacious even for the Astartes.
In the center of the room was a table connected to countless Thinker devices, with a projection of the entire Expeditionary Fleet No. 63 floating on it.
This appears to be the strategic command center of the Great Tyrant.
Originally, there should have been Imperial crew members such as navigators, star speakers, preachers, and recorders involved in decision-making here.
However, now, due to Horus's conspiracy, these crew members are either "protected" and closely guarded in their own cabins, or have become the first blood debtors in this rebellion.
Sun Qian was aware of this, which is why his first order to Abaddon was to have him come here alone with him.
"Is the Life-Eating Bomb ready?"
After striding into the strategic command room, Sun Qian unceremoniously sat down on the command throne.
"Of course, according to the original plan, the bombing will begin in thirty minutes to eliminate all the 'unreliable ones' on the ground."
Abaddon's words were full of respect, but also carried a hint of doubt.
Logically, he should be the one to go to the Soul of Vengeance and formally report this matter to the Father of Genetics.
Then, together with the Wolf God, they witnessed the dawn of a new order.
However, he did not dare to raise any questions.
He knew very well that what Horus needed now was unconditional loyalty.
"At that time, under the leadership of our War General, we will launch a new great expedition to Terra!"
Clearly, even Horus's closest subordinate failed to notice Sun Qian's transformation—
No, a more accurate term is "stand-in".
Although they differ by only one character, they are fundamentally different.
In fact, the ability to disguise one's appearance is not uncommon in this world. Not to mention the biochemical surgeries that originated in the Golden Age, many excellent psionicists can use psionic energy to temporarily or permanently change their appearance.
However, what these "transformations" have in common is that their abilities are all aimed at themselves, in order to deceive the eyes of others.
But Sun Qian's "stand-in" did the opposite—
"A stand-in" is someone who uses other people's perceptions and combines them with the environment to mimic others.
It's like seeing a familiar extra in a TV series; if you put him here, you wouldn't know if he's playing Sun Qian, Cai He, or some other minor character.
But if he is accompanied by Liu Bei, Zhang Fei, and Zhao Yun, riding the Red Hare and carrying the Green Dragon Crescent Blade, you would naturally not doubt his identity.
The associated locations, objects, roles, and the perceptions of others are all calculated by the system and then materialized into a data called "fit rate." This data serves as both an indicator of ability maintenance and a condition for Stand activation.
So although Sun Qian really wanted to become the Emperor and give Horus a powerful psionic attack to bring him back to his senses, thus resolving the Horus rebellion in a simple and brutal way, unfortunately, this was completely impossible.
Because in everyone's mind, the emperor could not possibly appear here, and most people have never even seen the emperor in person, which naturally makes the fitting rate almost zero from the beginning.
But Horus is different. As the Primarch of the Sixteenth Legion, he must have visited this legion's secondary flagship many times, so it wouldn't be surprising if he appeared here. Furthermore, the Primarch's honor guard, the "Gastaline," led by Abaddon, is stationed here. Their understanding of Horus became the template for shaping Sun Qian's Stand form.
This is also the advantage of the "Stand" ability.
Logically, given Abaddon's familiarity with Horus, no disguise or transformation could possibly escape his notice. However, Sun Qian, now serving as Horus's "stand-in," is shaped according to Abaddon's understanding of everything, from his voice, appearance, physique, psionic fluctuations, to the appearance of his equipment. Therefore, the more Abaddon understands Horus, the more perfect Sun Qian's mimicry will be.
In a sense, this is somewhat similar to the emperor's ability to "represent a thousand people".
However, the drawbacks of this ability are also quite obvious.
As mentioned earlier, the conditions for activating a "Stand" are very demanding. Moreover, in Stand mode, Sun Qian only mimics the target's appearance. His actual combat power will not only not increase, but he can also clearly feel that his physical and mental energy consumption has increased due to the increase in size.
Therefore, we must act swiftly and decisively.
After thinking at lightning speed, measured in nanoseconds, Sun Qian began to formally implement his plan.
"This was never what I wanted."
Sun Qian stared at the war sand table and spoke slowly in a hoarse voice, the weariness in his tone genuine.
"...War General? You mean...."
Abaddon raised his head and looked up at Sun Qian with surprise and uncertainty.
At the same time, Sun Qian could see the cognitive rate dropping rapidly, falling to 70 points within seconds, and the color changing from green to a dangerous orange-yellow, before falling below 70 points again and turning into a glaring red alert.
But he didn't seem to care and continued talking.
"I never intended for the Legion to launch an attack; together we drove out the ignorant Old Nights."
A voice can be faked, but the emotions contained in words are hard to fake, and these are all genuine expressions of Sun Qian's heart.
Abaddon could naturally sense this, which is why he frowned and had a complicated expression.
Does this mean the War General wants to terminate the plan?
It might not be too late now, but...
"But the Emperor betrayed me, betrayed all of us! He stole the power of the gods and lied to his son—and his legions!"
At that moment, Sun Qian suddenly became agitated, raised the Claw of Horus (pseudo) and let out an angry growl.
The fitting rate, which had already dropped to 63 points, stopped falling instantly.
Stop Horus's rebellion? Of course, Sun Qian wouldn't have such unrealistic fantasies.
Putting aside the fact that he was just a "stand-in," in reality...
At this point, even Horus himself could not turn back.
"Humanity has only one chance for revival. If the Emperor doesn't seize it, then I will..."
In Sun Qian's unique perspective, the fitting rate began to rise rapidly, but even without looking at the data, Sun Qian knew from Abaddon's increasingly fervent gaze that he believed in him.
This is not only because what Sun Qian said at this moment was in line with Horus's lines, but also because he touched Abaddon's inner thoughts.
Hundreds of thousands of Astartes rebels, including Abaddon, were both incited by Horus and a force that drove Horus toward betrayal.
The discontent of their emperor and empire was like a powder keg, and Horus was merely the most crucial fuse.
Sun Qian understood this very well, since he couldn't stop it—
Let this barrel of explosives detonate next to Horus!
"...The most outstanding offspring, you—Azekel Abaddon—will fulfill that role."
Sun Qian slowly placed the mimicry of Horus's Claw on Abaddon's shoulder armor.
Logically speaking, the weight of this mimicry item should be very different from that of the real Claw of Horus, but judging from Abaddon's expression, he did not suspect anything.
It's unclear whether he thought Horus had controlled the power, or whether he was too shocked by Sun Qian's words to process what he had just heard.
"Father... Father... I don't understand what you mean... I'm just one of your subordinates..."
"Azekael, with your intelligence, you will surely understand my intentions and the important task I am about to entrust to you."
Sun Qian looked at Abaddon, whose head was pointed at the top of his head. This was his only breakthrough.
"I want you to defeat that imposter puppet created by the Chaos Gods on the Vengeful Spirit, and prove to all your brothers and the Empire's enemies—"
The last sentence was a thunderbolt to Abaddon.
That was something he never dared to think about, but for some reason...
But it made his blood boil involuntarily.
"The era of the Primarch has ended."