40k: Midnight Blade

Chapter 77 76. Eighth Legion (XI, 4k)

in silence.

Conrad Koz gently twisted a piece of thin paper with the index finger, middle finger and thumb of his right hand.

On the surface, it is not much different from all other similar papers, with intricate patterns gleaming on the edges—so, what is so special about it, that it deserves to be taken so seriously by the Lord of the Eighth Legion?

".According to the investigation of the third company, the five nests all have their own different embryonic laboratories. Generally speaking, they still follow the same production mode, with only minor differences. The production has been urgently Stopped, but there are still a lot of embryos in the culture stage."

Fair Zalost finished speaking this sentence with a blank face, and a hidden anger flashed across his face, but it was not obvious.

Like most normal people, he was naturally able to control his emotions - after all, he had already vented once before returning to the Nightfall.

"Cultivation stage?" Conrad Koz asked softly.He controlled his emotions very well, which even made Fair feel a little anxious from nowhere.

"Yes." He whispered back. "There are 240 in total."

"People." Curz corrected. "Thirteen thousand two hundred and forty one."

He leaned back, leaned back in his chair, and breathed calmly.

Paperwork has become very handy for him today, and officials who have adapted to his style have begun to work with double efficiency.Because of this, the appearance of him sitting on this chair almost didn't look like himself.

"Primum, those machines have been shut down." Fell said in a low voice. "These people are ripened before they come out of the nutrition tank."

"I know, I've read the report you submitted, otherwise I wouldn't have asked you to come and have an interview with you, my third company commander."

Sighing softly, Conrad Koz calmly repeated the words on that piece of paper.

"There are three age groups, eight years old, 16 years old, and 20 years old. According to the investigation of the third company, eight-year-old children are usually good-looking and will be sent to nobles' mansions. The bodies of 16-year-old children are adjusted However, they are relatively thin and require very little nutrition. Adults aged 20 are the strongest and will be sent to some nobles' private training camps."

"I've seen all these things, Phil." Conrad Curz shook his head calmly. "So, what do you think should be done?"

"I have no experience dealing with such things, Primarch."

Fair Zalost tried his best to keep his tone calm. "However, according to the laws of the empire and related documents, these people should be properly settled."

"I think so too, Phil, but here lies the problem. It will take fifty days for the logistics fleet to arrive properly, and Nostramo is still in the state of rebuilding social order."

Curz rubbed the space between his brows and didn't continue talking.

He was silent, and did not speak again for a long time.Fell knew very well that his primarch was thinking—as he was.

rebuild social order.

For Phil Zalost, this incident was the most incredible thing he had encountered in his long 64-year war career.

In the past, the Eighth Legion was just judges.They'll kill the wicked, clean the population of cancer, and they'll go away.

They are irresponsible for everything that follows.Nostramo's situation at the moment was also a first for him.And Nostramo is the parent star of the Primarch, and if nothing else happens, it will also become the new recruiting place for the Eighth Legion in the future.

No one in the Legion objected to this, especially now that Nostramo's adamantium production was known to all.

——The Eighth Legion does not participate in politics, but it does not mean that they are insensitive to politics.

For the empire, the more pure gold, the better, not to mention, this is the pure gold of the Primarch's home planet.

The profits brought by the tax-free trading routes are astonishing. As soon as the transformation of the logistics fleet is completed, the planet will be able to start trading with those merchants immediately.Nostramo is also close to the Ultimate Star Field, and everyone knows that the Ultramarines are very rich.
Phil gritted his back molars suddenly.

The Eighth Legion rarely cooperated with their cousins, and the Ultramarines were one of the few that did so on a few occasions, with excellent results.However, no one in the Eighth Legion liked them.

In the words of Ciani of the [-]st Company, the Ultramarines, are a bunch of 'proud without borders but completely unaware of it, and if you bring it up, they use that damned aristocratic accent to solemnly declare their extremely humble Hate'.

Although Xiani's words are bad, they are not lacking in fact.

"...I have an idea, Phil," Conrad Coates said slowly. "However, this idea requires me to ask our instructor."

"I won't ask what that idea is, Primarch. But... don't you think that the instructor has been a little too busy recently?" Fell asked cautiously.

"...It's normal for him to be busy."

The Lord of the Eighth Legion turned his head and stared at his wall, which had neither windows nor paintings, with a serious expression. "Instructor of the Eighth Army, why don't you be busy?"

Phil decided not to answer the sentence.
-
Khalil put down the training sword in his hand slowly and calmly, but Leonard standing opposite him was not.The captain of Retribution Blade's hands were shaking at the moment, not because of emotion, but because he had endured too many collisions in a short period of time.

"How?" Khalil asked.

"I can still bear it, instructor."

"Don't lie," Khalil said softly. "Unless you want to try and act with me one more time."

"...I benefited greatly from that operation, my lord."

Khalil smiled.

Benefited a lot?He chuckled and shook his head, not revealing Leonard's remorseful but still stubborn face that night.

That night, more than a week had passed. As the instructor of the Eighth Army now with increasing authority and responsibility, he led these teams that were separated from the eight Dalian companies back and forth across the North Tramori walked around a few times.

Few people can get his approval, and few people dare to look at him for a long time.The first-night mistake never happened again, but that doesn't mean Khalil will be comforted by it.

Those mistakes didn't happen because he acted with them, that's all.

These squads accounted for almost one-third of the Eighth Army, a total of 400 men.If it is divided according to a team of 20 people, it can even be divided into 320 teams.There is no doubt that this is a huge number.

However, not many squads have names.

This organizational form was originally proposed by veterans who had differences in tactical concepts with their brothers, and it was officially affirmed after being approved by the company commanders at a meeting.

In the beginning, there were only eight teams with names. As the number of people increased and some recruits joined, the number of teams increased to twelve.

The Retribution Blade is the most special one among them. It does not recruit recruits for training like the other eleven squads. Its total number will always remain at twenty. As for the reason, I have to ask Leonard.

Or in other words, the former first company adjutant, Leonard.

"If you really think so, I'd be happy, Leonard," Khalil said.

"This is indeed my true thought." Leonard said in a deep voice. "There is absolutely no falsehood."

"Perhaps." The instructor of the Eighth Army shook his head noncommittally, stretched out his hand, and opened the door of the iron cage.

After confirming the expansion of the training ground, the number of dueling cages was increased to thirteen.These horrible metal cages have also improved a little bit compared to before.

For example, there is a biosensor attached to the door of the cage. When neither of the two people inside is down, only the biosignal of Legion instructor Khalil Rohars can open the door.

In other words, his behavior at the moment also represents a hint.

"...I can still persist, instructor." Leonard said, unwilling to flicker on the weather-beaten face. "It's far from my limit."

Khalil didn't speak, but calmly stood by the open iron door and looked at Leonard's hands.His sight was as sharp as a knife, piercing Leonard's insistence abruptly.

"I understand." He lowered his head and walked out of the iron cage in silence.

"Next!" Khalil shouted towards the audience.Soon, a person who also held a training sword walked into the cage, but his appearance surprised Kalil a little.

"VanCleef, I didn't expect you to come."

"You are an instructor, what's wrong with me coming here to ask for advice?"

Khalil chuckled: "Don't do this, Van Cleef. You just want to talk to me about Leonard."

"...He is not worth my troubles, instructor. Leonard is no longer a member of the First Dalian."

"Really? But I checked, and his name is still listed among the honorary officers of the First Dalian Company. You haven't completely eliminated his traces."

"I can't erase his previous achievements just because of his current mistakes, instructor."

VanCleef spoke very rapidly. "Furthermore, Leonard was not kicked out of the First Dalian Company. The squad system was the result of discussions among the eight company commanders. We all agreed that this system is necessary."

necessity.
Khalil said nothing.He didn't want to debunk the false facade of the system that VanCleef and the other seven company commanders had painstakingly created for the moment.

The squads independent of the company are not so much a discrete tactical group with a high degree of freedom, but rather a disguised expulsion, used to isolate those soldiers who have been dehumanized by the war from the rest of the Eighth Army.

That's all, what else could it be?Is it true that some people would dislike the large number of companies and set up a small team system to disperse the original cohesion and combat effectiveness?impossible.

"It's no use talking, VanCleef—are you planning a sword fight today?"

"Yes, Sergeant Richter of the Eighth Company said that you have completely mastered and improved his sword skills, so I plan to come to ask for a lesson or two."

"...His rhetoric is really getting more and more exaggerated."

Khalil shook his head, took a step forward, held the sword with one hand in his right hand, and pointed the tip of the sword casually at the ground.

"Come on," he said.

The next second, Van Cleef waved his hands violently.Different from Kalil's casual and calm posture, he uses a standard two-handed sword starting posture.

The ancient swordsmanship spanned countless years and was reappeared in the first company commander of the Eighth Legion.He turned his wrist swiftly, causing the long sword used for training to spin continuously.The steps are light and strange, like some kind of mad bee waiting to strike and sting the enemy.

Khalil frowned, realizing that the first company commander had obviously come prepared.

But this is not enough.

In these days of fighting, whether it is him or his 'students', they all realized one thing.

Even if Khalil Rohars did not use any strength and reflexes beyond the level of the Astartes, in a simple sword fight, the Astartes of the Eighth Legion could hardly gain the upper hand at all.

For, besides these two things, Khalil possessed a terrible instinct.

He is able to strike his opponent in the most dire of lines between the blades, and his opponent will not even realize that he has such a big opening until he is hit.

In this regard, Richtner of the Eighth Company was extremely excited.

- Yes, not depressed, but excited.

It had been a long time since he had met an opponent in a pure sword fight, and Khalil was the only one in the Eighth Legion who could inspire him to fight.

Moreover, the most crucial point is that Richter knew that Khalil would not use power beyond the scope of a normal Astartes.

For Richter, this is his hope.A powerful enemy within reach made his fighting spirit soar.

Little did he know, though, that Khalil actually wanted him to win, too.

He wanted them all to beat him.

"Well done, VanCleef!" exclaimed Khalil. "Keep going, I'm going to attack!"

The first company commander gritted his teeth silently, preparing for the storm.Still turning his wrist, he made the blade airtight to form a wall.

The whistling of the wind rang out, bringing a dull and dangerous melody between the interlacing.Van Cleef knew that if he attacked, he would not have much chance of winning, but defense was different, and defense would allow him to—

"boom!"

Accompanied by a muffled sound, there was a burst of pain in Van Cleef's hands.His sword twirled and flew out, landed on the ground of the ring, jumped a few times, and then returned to calm.

what happened?
"It's a good choice to rely on experience, memory and swordsmanship for defensive counterattacks, but you shouldn't be distracted by me."

Khalil whispered and patted him on the shoulder. "The enemy on the battlefield won't tell you they're going to attack. You shouldn't listen to me, Van Cleef."

After a while of silence, the first company commander nodded, and said in a low voice, "...Understood, instructor."

Khalil smiled at him, the smile was full of approval and encouragement.Unconsciously, the haze of failure dissipated from Van Cleef's heart.He calmly picked up the sword and stepped out of the dueling cage, only to find their instructor walking out with him.

"This is the end of today's sparring session." Khalil said loudly. "Free practice, I will check the progress one by one during the day tomorrow, especially you, Siani, you have been stuck at the fourteenth step for two days."

In the corner of the training ground, a man covered in sweat responded muffledly.

"Instructor? You seem to have ended the day a little early." Van Cleef asked doubtfully while wiping off his sweat.

"Earlier, Van Cleef."

Khalil shook his head and walked towards the exit of the training room.

Others didn't notice, but he could tell at a glance that Conrad Koz was staring behind the open door of the training room.

　Calvin, just an update today.

　　I have to sort it out, it's been more ruthless recently
　　
　
(End of this chapter)