40k: Midnight Blade

Chapter 100 3. Short meeting

The Ultramarines' meeting hall is an interesting place - or, at least, only the meeting hall on the Macragge's Glory.It has four entrances, which are divided into four discussion areas from front to back.

The tapestry woven by the distinguished warbands blows on the wall with the wind. The thick tapestry bears a heavy history and everything that happened here.Every argument, every vote, takes place under their gaze.

Of course, you can also use this as a basis to imagine how noisy this kind of meeting of the Ultramarines is.

However, for Khalil, in fact, he has long been used to it.

One and a half months of voyage, except for the first day, every day is like this, you have to get used to it if you are not used to it.

He nodded to the ever-victorious soldiers at the door, pretending to be a greeting, and then followed Guilliman into the conference hall.The Ultramarines noticed their arrival, but didn't stop talking.

On the Glory of Macragge, the meeting has always been brought forward, and will never be terminated or ended early unless there is an emergency—in a sense, this is also a trend brought about by Robert Guilliman himself.

Guilliman didn't care about his heirs either. Only military officers could enter this conference hall, and this was just a routine meeting, so there was no need for complicated operations.

He walked in and came to a small compartment that wasn't too big, then picked up three data pads from the table and handed them to Kalil.

"Only these today?" Khalil raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Marius gave me a piece of advice yesterday. He said that I shouldn't add too much work to you, lest you be 'unnecessarily attacked with words'." Guilliman said deadpan. "I told him that it was your request, but he didn't believe it."

Khalil couldn't help but laugh—who would believe it?A person who offers to do paperwork.
Moreover, in the eyes of the Ultramarines, most of them would think that this was a kind of favor from the instructors of the Eighth Legion to the Ultramarines Corps.

Although they were indeed shocked by how quickly he processed the paperwork.

"I'll finish them tonight."

Khalil nodded, but didn't forget to complain—he wasn't really okay with it. "By the way, the empire's paperwork is surprisingly cumbersome. Each batch of material records must be confirmed individually. Has no one thought about reforming?"

"The bureaucracy of the empire is enormous."

Guilliman sighed bitterly, and for the first time found someone to confide in.He couldn't help but began to pour bitter water.

"If you search for the word 'processor' with a thinker with a built-in search function, you will find hundreds of processors with similar titles and duties in the bureaucratic system of the empire, but there can be dozens of processors in one department."

"But they're not wasting time, being tax thieves. In fact, these people are working hard every day - what is the job? Naturally processing paperwork."

"So we have to follow this rotten system if we're going to keep the damn system going. God knows how many times I've wanted to suggest changes"

At the end of his speech, he even started to gnash his teeth a little bit.Khalil looked at him and felt a pang of sympathy.

Robert Guilliman was a man of efficiency -- and for such a man, seeing these things in person would have been more painful than a beating.

"Didn't you advise your father?" he asked casually, looking down at the data slates.

"Of course I have!" Guilliman replied loudly, while sitting on the sofa in the room.

"The results of it?"

"He asked me to push it in the limit star field first." Guilliman said quietly. "He didn't say why, but I can roughly guess why."

The Lord of Macragge sighed, took off his laurel crown, and stared at it before his eyes, with a complex expression that could hardly be described in detail.

"So, why?" Khalil asked softly.

"Because this matter is not important." Guilliman said, staring at the laurel wreath solemnly. "As you may already know, our mission—the Primarch, Legion, and Auxilia, from top to bottom, is the goal that everyone wants to achieve."

He paused for a moment. "The only goal."

"The Great Crusade," Khalil replied calmly. "I know."

"The vastness of the Milky Way is almost hopeless, Khalil." Guilliman said dazedly.

"I have seen a star map, and there are many points of light covered by darkness. It is hand-painted and completed by a hundred painters. From Terra to the far end of the Milky Way. Darkness covers the stars. I looked at it for a long time. If it wasn't for my father's personal guard to remind me, I'm afraid I wouldn't even attend the dinner that day."

"This star map. It's too huge for me, and it even scares me a little because of its huge size. Because I began to realize that without warp space travel, it would take us hundreds of years to reach another galaxy. How terrible is this?"

"But when the galaxy belonged to humans, we had free access to the stars. We found them, and we owned them. The galaxy once belonged to us, Khalil."

He said, smiling uncontrollably.It was a kind of smile that was difficult to define, between regret and yearning, but with a little childish and naive dissatisfaction.

"That's why I'm willing to trap myself in this endless paperwork." Guilliman chuckled. "That's why my brothers are willing to leave their homeland, armed with weapons, and stained with blood. We all understand what this means to the human race as a whole."

He smiled proudly, set down his laurels, and looked at his guest - while Khalil Rohars just returned a calm stare.

"It's just a sacrifice." He replied softly. "So let's talk about the next planet to be recovered."

Guilliman raised his eyebrows: "You got the information before me? Who gave it to you?"

"Of course not. I just heard them discussing when passing by the conference hall. If there is no accident, in another 10 minutes, I am afraid that specific information and mature plans will be sent in."

"You really know the work efficiency of my heirs very clearly."

Khalil smiled softly, didn't say anything, just continued to look down at the data board.Guilliman belatedly realized how embarrassing his answer sounded.

　It's finally over.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)