The restoration of the Han Dynasty began with the Horus Rebellion.

Chapter 13: The Most Loyal Man of the Son of Horus

Grell Noctua was an ordinary sergeant of the son of Horus.

Like most of the Astartes in the Sixteenth Legion, Grell came from a Kosonia gang and was thus influenced by the gang culture.

They value brotherhood, fight bravely and fearlessly, and are ruthless towards their enemies...

And of course, there's the most important thing.

The desire for honor—and status.

During the Great Crusade, these qualities were virtues that the Son of Horus and his predecessor, the Shadowmoon Wolf, could boast of.

But in peacetime, the situation is somewhat different.

When Grell had just undergone nineteen modifications and become a proud Space Marine, he, like all his brothers, was filled with passion and ambition.

When he saw Gavial Loken elected to the Council of the Four Kings and become the Primarch's right-hand man, he couldn't help but fantasize that one day he too could rise above others and enjoy the envy and admiration of his other Legion brothers.

To achieve this goal, he was willing to train harder than anyone else and fight more bravely than anyone else...

However, he soon discovered that his dream was nothing but a fantasy.

As the Great Crusade nears its end, the galaxy is encountering almost no powerful enemies, and sporadic rebellions and alien attacks can be dealt with by the Astronautical Army.

Without war, there are no military achievements, so how can one talk about promotion?

To make matters worse, the Emperor suddenly left the Great Crusade and returned to Terra, where he established the Terran Council, placing the Astartes under the mortals, and rumors of the Legion being split up and its numbers reduced spread like wildfire.

Regardless of position, they were all loyal to the Emperor—this was easy to say, especially when Grell found that these were often the words of veterans from the Shadowmoon Wolf era, and his dissatisfaction gradually turned into resentment.

You just became Astartes a little earlier, so why are you able to gallop across the battlefield, adorned with mirror coins that symbolize honor, while I can only stand guard on the ship, possibly remaining a low-ranking officer until retirement?

Driven by this idea, when Horus announced the overthrow of the tyrant, Grell did not hesitate to join him;

Driven by this idea, when Sun Qian claimed to be acting on a secret order from the war commander, Greer chose to help without hesitation.

It was under this kind of thinking that...

boom! !

Grell ruthlessly smashed an Astartes' head with his blaster, but at the same time a figure roared and charged up behind him.

Those were the Katuran Raiders, Abaddon's most elite melee-specialized Astartes special forces, and one of Grell's former aspirations for promotion.

After dodging the opponent's first shot, he drew a short knife from his waist and parried the chainsaw axe's swing, the high-speed spinning blade instantly sending sparks flying.

A sneer seemed to emanate from the raider's helmet. Everyone knew the chainsaw axe was the most brutal weapon in terms of impact; trying to block it with just a monomolecular combat knife was simply—

But soon, the sound coming from the helmet turned into gasps of surprise.

Grell managed to deflect the chainsaw axe aside with just a combat dagger, then swiftly slammed his elbow into the raider's face.

"For the God of Shepherds."

"Uh, wait a minute—"

This Katuran raider is truly incomprehensible. This guy who roars with the title of Horus doesn't seem like a loyalist, so why did he suddenly launch a sneak attack on them? Moreover, his combat strength is simply astonishing.

boom! !

However, with Grell finishing off the enemy, he no longer needed to ponder this unanswerable question.

When the last enemy was taken down by Grell, Sun Qian, who had been focused on operating the data panel, also finished his work.

"All done. Now the power system will automatically shut down... How are you, Grell? Are you hurt?"

"It's nothing. Thanks to Brother Sun Qian's psionic enhancement, I'm more energetic than ever before! Hahaha, haha... cough cough cough."

Looking at Greer, who was coughing incessantly, Sun Qian narrowed his eyes thoughtfully.

"Sergeant Noktua still has an old head injury, so why don't you go back to the medical room to rest? I should be able to complete the rest of the mission by myself."

"No—please, Sun Qian! I can still fight. Let me complete the mission assigned by the War Commander with you!"

Sensing the other person's fervent, pleading gaze, Sun Qian hesitated for a moment before nodding.

"Understood, let's set off then. And one more thing..."

"Don't ask any more questions, I'll remember that!"

Greer followed behind Sun Qian. As the two walked out of the engine room side by side, he looked back with some emotion at the corpses lying scattered on the ground.

"I never imagined that not only the Light Spear Turret, the Void Shield Generator, the Subspace Engine Room, the Geller Force Field Generator... even the engine room had been infiltrated by the enemy. This is truly terrifying. Fortunately, Brother Sun Qian discovered it in time, otherwise, who knows what these guys who are blindly loyal to the Emperor would have done."

To be honest, in terms of headcount, I doubt anyone in the entire galaxy is more loyal than you, buddy.

Although Sun Qian initially chose him simply because he wanted someone easy to fool, this hangar guard who thought he was the "secret messenger of the War General" was naturally the best target.

Unexpectedly, this guy was far more formidable than Sun Qian had imagined.

The "Standard Version Liu Bei" skill only increases strength and lasts for a short 10 seconds. After the effect ends, there will be some backlash.

However, Grell's combat skills were already unexpectedly high, and with the added enhancements, he immediately became a terrifying killing machine.

I never expected that a mere sergeant would be so skilled. The Son of Horus is truly a place where hidden talents abound.

However, in reality, Sun Qian himself was just a non-commissioned officer.

"So where are we going next, Brother Sun Qian? Ah, sorry, I forgot I shouldn't have asked..."

The only problem with this kid is... to put it in terms of high emotional intelligence, he's straightforward; to put it in terms of low emotional intelligence, even Abaddon would seem like a strategist in his presence.

Of course, this is only beneficial to Sun Qian at present.

Thanks to his assistance, the plan is progressing much more smoothly than expected, and now only the final step remains.

"Next, we're going to the bridge to complete the final task given to us by the Wolf God—to take control of the Great Tyrant."

Greer's eyes widened in disbelief.

"To think we were put in charge of the Great Tyrant while Lord Abaddon was away... The War Marshal actually gave us such an honorable mission! Now the whole warship will know us!"

Just as Sun Qian had imagined, this brilliant Gretel did not have any doubts.

"That's right, that's right. It's not just the entire warship. Once our mission is complete, the war commander will probably never forget our names for the rest of his life."

Sun Qian wasn't lying at all, but what Horus's feelings about missing them were another matter entirely.

"Wait, this is bad!"

Suddenly, as they approached the bridge, Grell exclaimed and stopped in his tracks, startling Sun Qian who was standing next to him.

Could it be that he's sensed something? If all else fails, we'll just have to deal with him here...

Just as Sun Qian became more vigilant, Greer slapped his fist in frustration.

"We just eliminated the traitors in key positions. Won't it be difficult to operate the entire warship later? I usually only enjoy combat training and haven't really studied ship command and control..."

Oh, so that's what it was. And isn't it a bit too late to only realize this now?

Sun Qian shook his head helplessly and patted Greer on the shoulder.

"Don't worry, I've already set up the automatic operation logic, there won't be any problems in the short term, and..."

As he said this, Sun Qian glanced at the porthole next to him and looked out at the Istvan III.

"Soon, the commander will arrange enough crew members to take over for us."