---o---
"Hahahaha!!!"
Watching Dante being wheeled away like a statue, Zhou Ye finally lost it. He teleported back to his captain's quarters, reverted to his original height, and collapsed onto his bed-sized chair, erupting into boisterous laughter.
Every intelligent life form has the right to laugh from the bottom of its soul. This was the Path of Elation.
Unfortunately, in a cesspool of a universe like this, aside from the Orks, how many other intelligent species could truly laugh from the soul? Not even those corrupted by Nurgle or Slaanesh. Their souls and cognitions were so twisted that a genuine, soul-deep laugh was impossible. If Aha were to ever actually arrive here, he would undoubtedly have a field day with the universe's various ghouls and goblins.
Heh heh heh heh…
"Captain, you're laughing like a supervillain."
Watching Zhou Ye, Ai-yi couldn't help but roast him. Some of Zhou Ye's strange antics left her speechless.
If he were in the Honkai: Star Rail universe where he was supposed to be, he would probably get along splendidly with Aha.
"This is just too much fun! Dante must be thrilled right now. His brothers can finally breathe a sigh of relief. Oh, right, prepare a suit of Mark X power armor for him. His old one is temporarily unusable. Let him take it back and modify it at his leisure."
Zhou Ye couldn't care less.
Conscience?
Morals?
What were those?
He had long since fed them to the dogs. He was now a practitioner of pure elation. What made him even happier was that he'd gotten a buy-one-get-one-free deal. Not only did he get Dante, but he also got a Sanguinius who may or may not be Sanguinius.
Buy one, get one free! The guy actually dared to manifest before him.
It was an unexpected development, but it didn't matter. It only brought him more joy.
"Sigh…"
Ai-yi looked at Zhou Ye and quietly sealed the permissions to the captain's quarters. If his sons and subordinates were to see him like this, the idealized image they had of him would shatter, and the shock to their worldviews would be immense.
She felt that if she weren't there to cover for him, Zhou Ye's personality would sooner or later drag the entire universe into an abstract abyss.
---o---
In a corridor of the Hyperion, Karan, First Captain and now acting Chapter Master of the Blood Angels, paced back and forth anxiously, like an old father waiting outside a delivery room. He wasn't alone; nearly all the high-ranking Blood Angels and various Chapter Masters had similar reactions.
They were genuinely worried for Dante's safety. After all, he was so old; there was no need for him to undergo such a dangerous surgery.
Until…
Click!
Dante, still in his gray-white state, was wheeled out on an electric cart by an Armed Puppet. Seeing this, the group let out a collective sigh of relief.
But a moment later, everyone's mouth started to twitch. Dante was still wearing his iconic golden death mask, which confirmed his identity. Otherwise, the mask, a holy relic once worn by Sanguinius himself, would never have sat so peacefully on his face. If a non-Blood Angel Chapter Master tried to wear it, they wouldn't even know how they died.
But the rest of the scene was what made it impossible to maintain composure. Dante was clad in a suit of plain gray power armor and was clutching a large assortment of paint pots.
It was an old tradition of Zhou Ye's. When other chapters came for surgery, he only provided the most basic, unpainted Mark X Primaris armor. He didn't bother with anything else. A mature pawn—no, a mature Space Marine should learn to paint his own models.
After all, Zhou Ye couldn't distinguish between the traditions of all these different chapters. To this day, he still didn't fully understand many of the traditions within his own legions.
He had over a hundred thousand Space Marines under his command now, their origins wildly diverse. It was practically an Astartes zoo. Each company had its own little habits brought over from the Great Crusade, and Zhou Ye couldn't tell any of them apart.
Naturally, he wasn't going to prepare custom paint schemes and decorations for other chapters. They would just have to make do.
"Dante, how are you?"
"Dante's surgery was a complete success."
Before anyone else could speak, the Magos Biologis standing nearby interjected. Of course, this wasn't Zhou Ye; he had long since returned to his quarters to revel in his joy.
As the highest-ranking tech-priest in the Trailblaze faction, bar none, a surgery he personally supervised could not possibly have any issues.
Magos Omega had many young fans, especially after Zhou Ye had stood up for his subordinates and furiously lambasted that large group of Ultramar grease-monkeys. A tech-priest who was so fiercely protective of his own people commanded their utmost respect.
The glorious deeds of Magos Omega were still sung among them. Now that the Trailblaze systems had some foundation, especially after retrofitting various forge-arks for the Imperial Mechanicus, they had more contact with their Imperial counterparts and came to appreciate Magos Omega even more.
Most of those cog-boys were pure scum. They just hadn't caused trouble for anyone from Trailblaze yet. Otherwise, they could expect a visit from the Knights of the Night and a complimentary bolter round.
Of course, you could resist. In that case, the Night Haunter himself would pay you a visit. A group of visiting tech-priests had nearly gotten a squad of Knights of the Night killed. The follow-up was a personal visit from Curze. According to internal rumors, those tech-priests might still be alive, but they now sorely missed the days when their visitors only carried bolters and melta-guns.
"Congratulations, Dante, on becoming a Primaris Space Marine and regaining a younger body. Congratulations on returning to your peak. If Sigismund had had such an opportunity ten thousand years ago, perhaps everything would have been different."
The Magos Biologis said slowly, addressing the assembled Blood Angels. Hearing this, Dante finally snapped out of his trance, his body trembling.
Life is like being assaulted. If you can't fight it, you might as well accept it.
And I'm a Perpetual, apparently. So I can't really blame them…
Dante continuously consoled himself. It wasn't a bad thing. At least he could continue to serve the Imperium. And with the appearance of this ancient Primarch, he saw a glimmer of hope.
"Wait, what did that tech-priest just say? He mentioned a few names. Malcador is one thing… but who are Nios, Erda, and Ollanius Persson?"
Dante had finally come to his senses. As color returned to his form, his sharp mind reasserted itself. As a politician nearly on par with Calgar, he realized something.
A terrible question suddenly struck him: who were these Perpetuals who could be named in the same breath as the Sigillite, Malcador? He didn't know the other three, but to be mentioned alongside the Sigillite of the Imperium meant they were significant. And that name, Nios, was mentioned even before Malcador, with himself being listed alongside them. Wasn't that blasphemous?
This had to be a secret. A secret that could not be shared. Did Dante even deserve to be mentioned in the same sentence as Malcador?
"Who's next for the Primaris surgery? This is a rare lull in the fighting. For glory, and for the Imperium, self-improvement is essential. Furthermore, our Chapter Relic, the White Flower, is present, guaranteeing a 100% success rate for the surgery. Guilliman and Calgar themselves have certified it. Would you like to try?"
"Guilliman?"
A murmur erupted through the ranks of the Blood Angels. Calgar was one thing, but Guilliman was a Primarch of the Imperium. Unlike the mysterious, hidden Lord of Trailblaze, Guilliman was a true living legend of the Imperium. As Blood Angels, most of them had, at some point, made a pilgrimage to Macragge.
"Guilliman has awakened?"
"Calgar, the Chapter Master of the Ultramarines, also underwent the Primaris surgery!"
"Of course. And not just them. Logan Grimnar of the Space Wolves as well. Though he didn't have his done here. He probably suffered quite a bit."
"Gah! Such an honor! Give us one, quickly!"
"I want one too!"
There was nothing more to be said. The Blood Angels exploded on the spot. They all rushed forward to sign up. A cold sweat suddenly broke out on the tech-priest's forehead.
He thought of his seniors back on Trailblaze, working day and night performing surgeries on Astartes. None of them had come this time. The entire contingent accompanying Zhou Ye on this magnificent Great Crusade was composed of fresh graduates like himself. He now understood the looks of pity his seniors had given him.
Any veteran Astartes who had seen Primaris Marines tear across a battlefield couldn't resist. In the original timeline, the high mortality rate discouraged many rank-and-file Astartes from the procedure.
But now it was different. With a 100% success rate, who could possibly hold back? It was a moment of glory, a chance to seize the future.
Incidentally, Zhou Ye had also whipped up another Black Abyss White Flower and left it on Trailblaze. There were simply too many Smurfs, and they still hadn't finished all the surgeries. And when Guilliman found out the success rate here was basically 100%, he had signed off with a flourish: from now on, all surgeries would be done on Trailblaze.
With a Star Rail directly connecting Trailblaze and Macragge, the travel time was negligible. And with the Golden Age technology (as Zhou Ye explained it) of time-acceleration rooms, the troop deployment time was also shortened.
Guilliman wasn't getting it for free, of course, but this had forced Zhou Ye's Magos Biologises into a cycle of endless overtime.
Before becoming tech-priests, most of them had come from common backgrounds and held a special reverence for Astartes. But now, the sight of them was annoying. The sight of gene-seed was even more annoying.
Since Guilliman was awake, Zhou Ye hadn't held back and had drawn quite a bit of his blood. He had already used it to create a large batch of Ultramarines gene-seed. Zhou Ye's own gene-seed had high requirements for aspirants, but Guilliman's was not as demanding.
Since he had to go on a crusade, he had made another one for them as a backup.
So far, there hadn't been a single failure. Calling it 100% successful wasn't an exaggeration. While the three surgeries were dangerous, they were nothing compared to the original eighteen.
If they could survive those, this was nothing. Besides, anyone with the chance to become a Space Marine had a bit of "chosen one" luck about them anyway.
They would certainly have a high compatibility with the gene-seed and wouldn't suffer from rejection, which was something even Zhou Ye had trouble dealing with.
The young tech-priest now saw his own future and slapped himself hard across the face. But considering Zhou Ye's orders…
No refusals allowed.
He could only grit his teeth and begin tallying and scheduling the surgeries.
After all, not everyone was qualified to have Magos Omega personally operate on them. That great man surely had his own important and busy schedule to attend to.
---o---
Soon, in the bridge office of the Hyperion.
"It seems the surgery was a great success. Your techmarines can handle modifying your power armor when you get back. I've approved the surgery for everyone except your Terminator veterans."
Sipping his black tea, Zhou Ye glanced at the report beside him.
The Terminator veterans couldn't undergo the procedure just yet. Terminator armor wasn't compatible with Primaris Marines. It would require extensive modifications back home. Zhou Ye had no time for that, and besides, it wasn't his problem. They could have their Sanguinary Priests and Techmarines handle it.
"Oh, right. I've approved a large batch of Redeemer Dreadnoughts for you. They have an overload function. Activating it will significantly boost their firepower and combat effectiveness, but it will burn the occupant to ash. Even without the overload, its base stats are better than a standard Castraferrum. Go and receive a batch. The war isn't over yet. Contemptor Dreadnoughts are too expensive to produce, so use this… hmm? Where'd he go?"
Zhou Ye looked up and realized Dante had vanished again, which made him tilt his head in confusion.
At that moment, the Sanguinary Priests and Techmarines who were receiving the Castraferrum Dreadnoughts discovered, to their utter dismay…
"Get me in there, now!!!"
"Chapter Master, please, have mercy on me! I'm in the middle of transferring Brother Ignis to a Redeemer chassis! Don't scare me like this!"
The Techmarine could not comprehend his Chapter Master's thought process. Or rather, after discovering he had become young again, Dante had also become much more… proactive. After all, when you let Zhou Ye perform surgery, if he doesn't add a little something extra, he feels as uncomfortable as if he'd been bitten by Nios.
---o---