Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Thirteenth Lord's Astonishment

With three Primarchs present, not a single Chaos traitor would escape Hera Fortress today.

Wang Xiaofa also used the information terminal in his power armor to contact the Travelers assisting the Ultramarines on the outer walls of Hera Fortress, instructing them to come and provide support.

Led by the three Primarchs, the loyal warriors inside and outside the sanctum annihilated every Chaos traitor within. Guilliman assumed command of the Ultramarines from Calgar—the God of War of the Imperium had returned. He rapidly grasped the current state of the battle, issuing swift and effective orders.

Wang Ming as well handed over command of the Travelers to Guilliman, hoping they could learn valuable combat experience under his leadership.

Guilliman was initially quite pleased when Wang Ming entrusted him with command of 2,200 Astartes, believing their strength would quickly turn the tide.

But when Guilliman witnessed the battle tactics of these Astartes, he was utterly astounded.

The Travelers’ First Company seemed relatively normal—at least in comparison to the Second Company. In Guilliman's eyes, the Second Company was nothing short of a band of madmen.

Each one of them wielded firepower far greater than that of a typical Space Marine. When Guilliman ordered them to attack a position, they flattened it with heavy weapons, even though lighter arms would have sufficed.

Wang Ming would never forget the look on Guilliman’s face—dumbfounded—as he watched the Second Company turn dozens of Chaos Space Marines into a bloody pulp with an endless barrage of heavy firepower.

It took a long moment before Guilliman finally turned to the calm-faced Wang Ming and asked, “Why are they using such precious heavy weaponry against such unworthy targets?”

Wang Ming's answer nearly sent him back into stasis: “If you can use heavy firepower, why bother with tactics?”

Guilliman was left speechless. If heavy firepower is available, why even bother with tactics? Do you think your gear grows on trees? Who fights a war this extravagantly? I’ve never dared fight such a wealthy battle in my whole life!

What Guilliman could never have known was that, for these Travelers, their equipment might as well have been conjured by the wind—Wang Ming simply retrieved it from the “store,” specially to cure the Travelers’ chronic fear of insufficient firepower.

It took all of Guilliman's effort to adapt to the Travelers’ style of warfare.

Nevertheless, he did his utmost to bring order to their ranks. In practice, it was simple enough: give them a clear objective and let them steamroll everything in their path. Yet every time Guilliman watched the Travelers fight like a swarm of Orks, it gave him a headache.

Still, under Guilliman’s command, the war on Macragge stabilized. Chaos traitor positions were obliterated one after another, cities were reclaimed, and once more the Imperial Aquila soared above the corpses of the heretics.

Now, let us shift our gaze to the Warp, to the Chaos Realms of the High Heavens, where four figures sat around a table, playing mahjong.

“Are we going or not?” asked a man in a deep blue cloak, glancing at the others.

“No way. The Four Gods dumped us into the 40k universe for no reason—who’d be crazy enough to risk their lives for them?” replied another man, clad in red armor, making it clear he had no intention of serving the Chaos Gods.

“I’m not going either. I don’t fancy getting curb-stomped by the Emperor’s cornmen,” agreed the group’s only woman.

“What’s the point? You want us to go torment our fellow humans?” added a frail-looking man, also in agreement.

So, the Chosen Travelers of Earth—whom the Four Gods had gone to such lengths to steal from the Emperor—collectively decided to do absolutely nothing.