Chapter 128: A Calm Day with Two Children, Jin
The moss-green glow stread through the floor-to-ceiling windows, bathing the entire room in its light. From the massive orbital ring above, Barbarus looked like a beautiful erald.
The once spacious room was now covered with cables and an assortnt of components. Countless tiny black chanical parts were neatly arranged across the floor, while servo-arms hanging from the ceiling extended with precision, picking up pieces as needed.
At the very center of the room, amidst the sea of components, stood a towering black obelisk.
In front of it, Hades wore a simple Techmarine's work uniform, his muscular fra taut beneath the fabric. On the back of his work vest, a grim chanicum skull emblem was prominently displayed.
A finely crafted backpack hung from his back, with a plasma cutter extending from it, emitting a ghostly blue fla.
For a ti, the only sound in the room was the subtle movents of Hades as he worked. Silence filled the air.
It was unclear how long he had been at it before he finally paused, scratching his chin while staring at the obelisk in deep thought.
He could repair it to so extent. His previous reckless actions had only burned out parts of the circuitry—replacing the cables should, in theory, allow the Blackstone Obelisk to restart.
As long as it could generate an anti-psyker field, that would be enough. Hades had no use for its other functions at the mont.
However… the material composing these cables was far too strange. It resembled so sort of highly psyker-conductive, plastic-like crystal. Hades had searched through his entire material database but found nothing quite like it.
Left with no other option, he resorted to trial and error, testing different materials one by one. Eventually, he found one that could barely conduct energy—far from the original’s quality, but at least functional.
Hades looked up at the Blackstone Obelisk, contemplating. If he could find the right materials, perhaps he could cobble together a makeshift, scavenged version of one himself.
Alright, ti to figure out where he could get his hands on so Blackstone.
Stretching lazily, Hades felt invigorated after the prolonged hours of chanical work.
He pressed a communicator button, intending to ask Jin to prepare so food for him. He also wanted Jin to notify the senior Magos and arrange a ti to test the obelisk’s capabilities on Barbarus.
After quickly drafting a report on the obelisk’s status, Hades opened the door, planning to check on the recruitnt registration progress for Barbarus’s new soldiers.
Bang!
—?
No killing intent—just sothing small colliding with his leg.
"Little Herila, you can’t—!"
Down the corridor, Jin was sprinting at full speed, holding Had in one arm and carrying a tray of food in the other.
A flood of question marks and exclamation points flashed across Jin’s display screen.
Hades looked down and saw little Herila, holding a bowl of noodles.
"Brother Hades, try it!"
Originally, these two children were ant to be sent separately—one to the Undertakers and the other to the Sisters of Silence. However, since the Death Guard’s Undertakers were still stationed with the main force in Galaspar, and the Sisters’ Black Ships weren’t arriving anyti soon, Hades had decided to take them in for now.
At the ti, Mortarion had watched the children with great interest, staring at them for so long that Had had nearly started crying again.
Later, Hades had asked Mortarion why he had been staring—had he noticed sothing unusual about them? The answer had been, in true Mortarion fashion:
"Because they’re interesting."
Hades had rolled his eyes.
At present, however, the Death Guard forces in the Barbarus sector were still quite busy—so were handling recruitnt, while others had been deployed to track down that rogue apothecary, Laton.
He had originally planned to call a Legion serf to take care of the two children, but to his surprise, soone volunteered—
Jin.
At present, Jin was still sorting through the various assets and affairs left behind by the late Magos Korklan, as well as managing the relationships Korklan had maintained. Compared to others in the Legion, his workload was relatively light.
Hades didn’t think much of it and simply let Jin take care of the two. At the very least, Jin could teach the two Barbarus brats so basic knowledge about the Imperium—after all, there were no such things as schools on Barbarus.
As for the Magos’s death, Hades couldn’t help but feel a twinge of emotion. But considering the Magos had sent his entire archive to Jin before his passing, he had likely already co to terms with his fate.
Death was common, and it would only beco more frequent in the future. Besides the Magos, hundreds of Skitarii had also perished on that planet.
The scent of food interrupted Hades’ thoughts. He took a sniff—ah, a familiar sll.
Little Herila looked at Hades expectantly. Ever since this big brother had brought her and her younger brother to the orbital ring, the two of them had been living in paradise.
Because all the adults were busy—even Jin, who had volunteered to take care of them, mostly left them to their own devices. Every day, he would tell them a story, then throw them into the dueling cage to play.
The two would swing the lightest training swords around aimlessly.
Occasionally, Death Guard warriors would enter the dueling cage for their own training, and the siblings would obediently sit in the spectator seats, cheering and gasping in awe.
When the warriors finished their training, so would even teach the children a move or two, observing them closely and murmuring among themselves.
Because these children were personally chosen by Hades, and their unusual physiques were undeniable, the entire Death Guard on Barbarus was now aware of their existence.
In a sense, Had was the first recruit to pass the selection process in this round of enlistnt.
Today, when the children heard that their big brother had finally co out of seclusion, they imdiately ran to the servitors, determined to cook sothing to show their gratitude to Hades.
Hades took the bowl of noodles from Little Herila and took a deep breath—
A terrible texture and an odd taste flooded his mouth.
Why was this kind of ‘trait’ being passed down here of all places?
Hades felt like crying.
"Well? Big brother?"
Little Herila’s eyes sparkled with anticipation.
"It tastes good. You have a talent for cooking."
Hades forced a smile of encouragent.
Seeing that Little Herila was about to ask more questions, Jin arrived just in ti to rescue him.
"Little Herila, you must respect your elders!"
Jin, with practiced ease, delivered a flick to her forehead. Another chanical limb extended, lifting her into the air to stop her from causing any more trouble.
As Jin got closer to Herila, a familiar yet inexplicably pleasant sensation began running through his logic systems at the deepest level.
No one but Jin knew this—ever since Magos Korklan’s death, he had found that he enjoyed being in contact with an anti-psyker field. The feeling… was comfortable? That was one of the reasons he had chosen to take care of these two children.
But after spending ti with these naturally born siblings, Jin was also beginning to understand and recognize another aspect of life—the part he lacked.
In any case, even if Little Herila weren’t a blank, Jin would still have chosen to look after them.
Children were easy to understand. After spending ti with them, Jin had already grasped their personalities—
Herila, the older sister, was carefree and naturally sociable. Had, the younger brother, was much more sensitive and thoughtful.
"Sir, the Magos have replied—they can accompany you to Barbarus tomorrow."
Jin efficiently reported the update, then decisively handed over the food he had brought. Based on Hades’ reaction, Jin estimated that the noodles fell into the “offensively inedible” category.
Herila was still struggling in the air, dangling from the chanical arm, but when she saw her younger brother Had looking up at her with a worried expression from Jin’s embrace, she made a funny face at him—then pretended to play dead.
Hades cast Jin a grateful look and accepted the standard Death Guard porridge, eating as he inquired about other Legion affairs.
During the ti he had been locked away repairing the Blackstone Obelisk, the recruitnt process for the Death Guard had nearly reached its final stages. Soon, they would begin the first round of selections.
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