40k: Midnight Blade.

Chapter 343 63. Interlude: Steel and Fire Dragon
"Nice to meet you, brother," Perturabo said.

He told the lie expertly, and now he was quite familiar with it.The truth is: no, he didn't want to see Vulkan at all.

At least not now.

Don't ask why.

"Me too." The dark-skinned and red-eyed giant replied with a smile.He wore a dark green robe with a clean gray shirt underneath, which fit his strange skin color and threatening eye color very well.

He sat on a large chair specially prepared by Perturabo. Despite the surprising size of the chair, Vulkan still looked strong.Of all the Primarchs, only his was so intensely inhuman, in every sense of the word.

As the master, the Lord of Steel did not take his seat.After greeting him, he turned around and started busy facing a huge screen hanging on the wall.

This was his private war room, where few people could meet or talk to him.It's a quiet place, mostly filled with files and datapads, and a few artifacts that bear the strong stamp of Perturabo of making something extraordinary and then discarding it.

If it were Vulkan himself, he would never do this.Anything you put your heart into should be taken seriously, whether it's your own or someone else's.

However, he did not try to change Perturabo's mind.Everyone's personality is different, and forcing others to change will only lead to disgust.However, it is worth mentioning that Vulkan actually found a flower here, sitting quietly in a silver flower pot.

It was placed on a long table, and someone carefully covered it with paper.But the man forgot one thing
After all, flowers have fragrance.

Vulkan smiled, and Perturabo coughed without looking back, and threw a piece of synthetic metal placed under the screen with his backhand.Vulkan caught it steadily with one hand, and the cold and rough touch made him very satisfied.

There is no blacksmith who does not like iron.

He touched its surface and began to think about what kind of weapon it was suitable for, without saying a word about what he had discovered before.

There was no need for him to mention it, Perturabo would have said it himself.

Sure enough, in just a few seconds, the Lord of Steel turned around.He stared at Vulkan expressionlessly and pointed in the direction of the flower.

"I didn't find anything." Vulcan said immediately. To a certain extent, this kind of statement was no different from asking for help.

Perturabo frowned: "How come your lying skills are so poor? Are you not even willing to seriously deceive me?"

"I don't think lying is a good thing, especially lying to you, Perturabo." Vulkan smiled, replied, and put the piece of metal on the table beside him.

Perturabo stared at him for a while, then calmly let go, finally revealing the secret.He put his hands behind his back, stood up straight, and spoke slowly, as if he was giving an academic report.

"That's Califon's gift," he said. "The dizzy tyrant ran away from her duties and left everything to others. She ran away and opened a research laboratory to study how to reproduce the animals or plants of ancient Terra. This is her result. one."

Vulkan nodded and did not ask Perturabo why he knew these things so well. You know, the Lord of Steel's tone was clearly calm and even a little disgusting.

He looked at the potted flower again. Its looming purple petals were closed together. There were lines on the petals, which reflected an astonishing splendor under the light. It was very noble.

"She said it was a purple variety of tulip," Perturabo said. "I know what Tulip looks like, but I'm not going to discourage her."

"Yeah, yeah" Vulcan nodded again, looking a little lost in thought, and his answer was a little perfunctory, just two dull nasal sounds, which was very unusual.

Perturabo snorted, turned around and continued working.

Vulkan glanced at him with a slightly strange expression, but didn't say anything. He just looked at the screen and began to follow Perturabo's train of thought, trying to find some relief from this embarrassment that was destined to be silent for a while. Find something to do.

To be honest, watching Perturabo work is a joy.

He kept manually deriving, classifying, and summarizing the complicated data without stopping.Countless data and words flashed across his eyes, but only a few deserved his careful attention. Most of the rest were categorized by him seemingly casually but with incomparable precision.

While doing these things, he even had the time to conduct war deductions and tactical drills based on the conditions of the Istvan system. This work sounded complicated and tiring, but in Perturabo's hands, it was like art.

Vulkan looked at him with appreciation, stood up with satisfaction, and his expression changed accordingly.The relaxed and cheerful atmosphere disappeared from his face, leaving only a frightening seriousness.

He walked to Perturabo and waited quietly for a while. He didn't speak until Perturabo finished his work.

"Did you hear Conrad talk about those things?"

"what's up?"

"Prophecy, story-" Vulkan made a gesture. "--words that would confuse people and make them think he has a mental problem."

Perturabo's expression also became serious. He crossed his hands and looked at Vulcan silently but solemnly. After a long time, he slowly spoke.

"Yes, I have."

"Then that's easy to handle," Vulcan said.

He raised his hand, picked out a single word from the torrent of data on the screen, and placed it in front of Perturabo.

"No matter what you think of them, at least we can save ourselves a lot of words. Do you believe those words, brother?"

Perturabo stared at the word and shook his head slowly.

Istvan. "Then, let's talk about the Warmaster first." Vulkan said, his deep voice echoing in the tactical room at this moment, it seemed so deep that one couldn't help but think of the echo of the mountains.

"It has been five years since my father announced him as Warmaster in Ullanor. Do you remember that day?"

“My memories of the celebrations are more vivid after the celebration,” Perturabo said. "Especially Ruth."

Vulkan tried to stop himself from smiling, but failed - he smiled regretfully. He wanted to appear serious, but now he couldn't help but bring some thoughts that were exclusive to memories.

"Yes, me too. I still remember Russ trying to wrestle me far away. In short, I must admit that the Warmaster did a good job. He lived up to this title."

"However, he has had at least two recent orders that I cannot understand. First, he asked the Word Bearers to fight alongside the Ultramarines. Second, he asked us to gather on Isstvan. As far as I know, Fogg Rhym, Angron and Corax have all set off."

"So, if you and I, Mortarion, and himself are included, there are seven Legions in total. Why do you need so many Astartes to deal with a galaxy-scale rebellion? What on earth is he going to do? What are you doing here?”

"I don't know," said Perturabo. "I guess I don't need to know. Just obey. The Warmaster's orders are as good as the Emperor's, and I have sworn an oath that I will obey all our father's orders."

"Me too, but you and I both know that Horus is not the father." Vulkan was silent for a moment before continuing. "However, this matter can only be regarded as puzzling at best. He has always been like this, likes to show off and make jokes. Maybe there is really a big enemy in the Istvan galaxy that we need to face together."

The Fire Dragon Lord smiled slightly sadly: "Look, brother, I can find many excuses for him. If I hadn't listened to Conrad, I would have done it very happily. But I listened Yes, you too, brother."

"Mere words mean nothing," Perturabo replied seriously. "You said it yourself, and those words make you suspect that he may have mental problems."

"But he mentioned these two things accurately." Vulcan looked away and looked at the tulip.

"Which two things?"

"Istvan, and the tulip."

"What are you talking about?" Perturabo frowned suddenly. "What tulips?"

"The tulip your sister Califon gave you, brother." Vulkan spoke slowly. "Conrad mentioned it to me once, and I watched him recover from a violent seizure, and then he spoke about it."

"Go on." Perturabo said a few words through his teeth without expression.

"He said you will get a gift flower from someone in the future, but you will eventually lose it."

"boom--!"

Perturabo pushed Vulkan against the wall with a gloomy expression, and grabbed Vulcan's collar with his hands.He was far less tall than the Fire Dragon Lord, but his expression at the moment was so violent that it was shocking.

"Say it again if you dare, Vulkan."

"Stop your anger, Perturabo," Vulkan told him very calmly. "I haven't finished speaking yet, and our work hasn't been finished yet. You know in your heart that I didn't mean that, you were just venting your anger on me."

"I won't lose!" The Lord of Steel roared and let go of his hand, but he did not deny that he was expressing his anger.

"Who?"

"that flower."

"Ha." Vulgan smiled and made no comment.

He turned away from the wall, straightened his clothes, and returned to the incident he was recounting.Still acting very sane and calm.

".In short, he proved himself. At least on this flower, there was nothing wrong with the talent he called a curse. This makes me have to take other words of his seriously."

Perturabo fell silent. He walked to the long table and removed the stacked documents.He looked at the tulip, and his hands on the edge of the long table tightened little by little.

Vulkan's voice came from behind him: "I remember these words, and I can still repeat them to you, Perturabo, if you wish to hear them."

"No need," said Perturabo, keeping his eyes on the flower. "This makes no sense. I don't believe that the partial future he described will really become reality. The Emperor will never allow the future of mankind to be so dark."

He turned around.

"Neither can I." The Lord of Steel said.

"So?" Vulcan looked at him inquiringly.

"So let's wait for Mortarion for a moment. If I do have to discuss those matters with you, I hope I only have to do it once."

Vulkan smiled, nodded, and returned to his seat.

　ps: The Horus command mentioned in this chapter is my modified version.In canon history, Isstvan V was an elaborate trap that occurred after the loyalists of Isstvan III fled back to Terra.I made some changes, otherwise the plot progression would be a little inconvenient.

　　I'm not talking about hair scissors.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)