The Lord of Ravens’ Shock

A talking black Raven said he wanted to help him.

All he needed to pay was a tiny price.

It sounded like the devil’s trick from a fairy tale.

Corvus frowned.

"A price? Do you want my soul? Or do you want me to harvest enough souls for you?"

Either way, I won’t agree.

Corvus silently added in his heart.

He shifted quietly, preparing to seize the Raven at the right moment.

The risks this Raven brought were uncontrollable.

If it exposed his whereabouts because of this—

Not only would he be in danger, but the entire uprising might also fail.

"Souls? Only those fools in the Warp need those."

The Raven raised his little head, looking disdainful.

"I am a noble Raven. I don’t need that stuff."

"You only need to find me ninety-nine different flavors of fries or ketchup, and this planet will be yours. Fair deal, clearly priced."

Several huge question marks appeared over Corvus’s head.

Ninety-nine different flavors of fries or ketchup in exchange for rule over a planet? What kind of new scam was this?

"That is all you need?" The ignorant Corvus had no idea how demanding that condition was.

The Empire possessed countless research institutes developing different flavors of fries.

Imperial forces roaming across the galaxy, and even those planning to venture beyond it, had been tasked with collecting potatoes and tomatoes from different planets.

The Empire already had every flavor anyone could possibly imagine.

Even black holes had been used as experimental potato-growing sites.

The potatoes grown there were denser than iron. Thrown hard enough, they could punch through a starship.

To find ninety-nine different flavors of fries and ketchup, Corvus would have to visit other universes.

One universe might not even be enough. He would need to visit many.

"Of course. A noble Raven only needs delicious fries and ketchup. Souls? Those are for the uncivilized barbarians in the Warp," the Raven said.

"That doesn’t sound impossible." Corvus began considering the benefits of the deal.

They were only fries. It was hardly a major matter.

Suddenly, footsteps sounded from the window to Corvus’s left.

Corvus hurriedly pressed himself against the wall to avoid being discovered.

The Raven also flapped his wings and landed on his shoulder, hiding in the darkness with him.

Two fully armed soldiers walked up to the window, lit cigarettes, took deep drags, then slowly exhaled with contented expressions.

"That son of a bitch getting taken from behind one day wouldn’t be surprising at all."

One soldier complained about his superior as he smoked.

"Stop complaining. Think of the money," said the other soldier.

"If it weren’t for the money, who the hell would come to this shithole?"

"Just endure it. If you can’t, think about the humiliating things you’ve done for money."

"You’re damn right, Bern. By the way, I’m curious. What humiliating things have you done for money?"

"Couldn’t afford a wife, so I could only mooch off the neighbors on both sides."

"You’re just like that son of a bitch. You really deserve to die."

"Ha ha…"

The two soldiers’ conversation left Corvus, lying outside the window, speechless.

The Raven perched on his shoulder also grumbled inwardly.

Well, damn. A cuckold right in front of me.

Corvus seized the opportunity, leaped up, and charged through the window.

The two smoking soldiers stared wide-eyed at the Primarch. Before they could react, they were kicked flying.

Then he walked over and efficiently snapped both their necks.

"This is the revenge of the true-love faction," the Raven grumbled as he watched the soldiers with broken necks. Then he turned to Corvus. "So, how about it? Want to make a deal? As long as you offer me ninety-nine different flavors of fries or ketchup, you can have my help."

"No need. I will lead them to victory."

Corvus refused. He strode deeper into the black tower, moving like a phantom, unnoticed by anyone.

He executed the sentries at several key points and eventually reached the black tower’s central control area.

Before the slave masters’ lackeys stationed there could scream, Corvus slaughtered them all.

He took control of the black tower.

"Lyssia will gain freedom starting today."

After saying that, he shut down the surveillance and defense systems. He also implanted the virus code he had prepared long ago into the core mainframe, crippling the automated weapon arrays.

When the searchlights watching over the mining area went dark, the first explosion erupted alongside the gunfire of the uprising.

A massive explosion thundered out, deafening and echoing through the mining area.

Slave miners burning with rage rushed out of the mine tunnels with weapons in hand. Shouting for freedom, they charged toward the slave masters’ army.

The slave masters’ army was caught completely off guard.

They were still wondering why the surveillance and weapon systems had suddenly shut down when the slave miners they usually enslaved and oppressed charged out with weapons.

The miners pulled their triggers and sprayed the slave masters’ lackeys with fire.

Dense lasers and bullets poured forth like a tidal wave.

In mere moments, they were beaten into a rout.

The slave masters’ army fled in defeat.

But they were quickly reorganized. They sealed off key passages and cut off the underground miners’ life-support systems.

The rebels had prepared for the uprising for a long time.

They had run countless simulations, refining every detail they could think of.

Things went smoothly at first, but the slave masters’ army possessed such overwhelming firepower that the rebels suffered devastating losses.

When they used atomic mining explosives to destroy the enemy’s command center, large numbers of armed drones came screaming in and began wildly strafing the ground.

The slave masters’ army also took the chance to counterattack.

The fierce fighting inflicted terrible casualties on the rebel forces.

Corvus witnessed this and joined the battle.

His sharp claws slaughtered enemy soldiers with ease.

But there were too many enemies, and the number of rebel casualties soared.

The slave masters’ army was stationed inside an iron fortress.

Not only did it possess fierce firepower, it also had vast numbers of drones and automated walking war machines.

"So many people are dying."

The Raven stood on Corvus’s shoulder.

Watching this war born for freedom.

"My offer still stands," the Raven said. "Otherwise, with your current armaments, winning this war will cost you enormous casualties."

"Do you really only want those fries and ketchup?" Corvus tore open an enemy soldier’s throat. Scarlet blood gushed out, staining the ground red.

"Yes." The Raven nodded.

Corvus looked at the rebel forces struggling forward in the distance. "Fine. I agree, as long as you can reduce the casualties."

"Good."

Corvus waited for a while before turning to the Raven on his shoulder.

"What about the contract? Aren’t we signing one?"

"A contract?" The Raven shook his head. "No need. I trust your character. Now I’m going to summon my exclusive summoned beast."

"A summoned beast?!" Corvus frowned. Why did this suddenly feel so unreliable?

"Come forth, Big Corn Cob Beast." The Raven raised his wing, and a ring of light appeared in midair.

Then several golden figures fell from the sky.

They hit the ground with a thunderous boom.

They were Waldo and several senior Adeptus Custodes.

They had been inspecting a biological research institute, planning to fully equip the Adeptus Custodes with fourth-generation Gene Engines and develop exclusive fifth-generation Gene Engines.

A ring of light had suddenly appeared. Before they could react, they had fallen into it.

Who am I?

Where am I?

What am I supposed to do?

Waldo looked around, confusion written across his face.

"Big Corn Cob!" The Raven flapped his wings and shouted. "Get to work! Wipe out those slave masters’ troops."

Hearing the voice, Waldo turned and saw the Raven on Corvus’s shoulder. He instantly understood what had happened.

"Raven!!" Waldo’s blood pressure shot through the roof.

Being a servant was one thing. Now he had become a summoned beast too?!

Whenever something happened, this Raven just cast a summoning spell, huh?!

This was too much bullying for the commander of the Adeptus Custodes!

"What are you muttering about?" the Raven asked.

The Adeptus Custodes commander clenched his fists, then displayed an astonishing ability to change expressions and smiled. "I was saying that you shouldn’t exhaust yourself. Leave these enemies to me. It is my honor to serve you, Lord Raven."

"Is that really so?" The Raven tilted his head.

La and Sagittarius, standing behind him, struggled to hold back their laughter.

Seeing the normally serious and stern commander of the Adeptus Custodes suffer was inexplicably delightful.

"Yes." Waldo nodded.

"Then hurry up and get to work. Oh, right, let me introduce you. This is Corvus, the nineteenth Primarch."

The Raven paid no attention to Waldo’s private thoughts. He gave him a new task and introduced Corvus as well.

Waldo looked at Corvus. "The last Primarch to return?"

"A Primarch?" Corvus asked in confusion.

"You didn’t tell him?" Waldo looked at the Raven.

"Giving people the basics isn’t my job. Your subordinates are responsible for recovering the Primarchs. How do you have the nerve to ask me?"

The Raven’s words made Waldo want to vomit blood.

Sure enough, it was still that lazy, greedy, damned Raven.

"You are the Emperor’s biological son and the lord of the Empire’s nineteenth legion." Waldo activated the engine within his body and transmitted a piece of information into Corvus’s mind.

Corvus’s eyes widened.

He turned to look at the Raven.

This fellow was actually, like the father he had never met, one of the Empire’s rulers.

"Enough nonsense. Go get to work, and make it quick. Otherwise, I’ll send you to guard a pond," the Raven said to Waldo.

Waldo did not dare object to the Raven’s orders. He could only vent his anger on the slave masters’ army.

He activated his weapons and charged into the enemy ranks like a golden god of war.

La and Sagittarius charged alongside him.

"You dare resist?"

A huge, powerfully built soldier who had undergone biological augmentation roared.

Before he could finish speaking, the commander of the Adeptus Custodes smashed him into pieces.

A crimson mist slowly drifted through the air, while fragments scattered everywhere sent chills down the spine.

La and Sagittarius also unleashed astonishing combat power.

Corvus stared in stunned disbelief as the three Adeptus Custodes entered the battlefield.

The rebel soldiers around him were stunned as well.

They could not see how many enemies had been killed, nor could they see how they had been killed.

The speed was too fast.

The Adeptus Custodes used no firearms, only some kind of radiant spears.

They sliced through iron like mud and shattered everything in their path.

Tanks, bipedal walker mechs, and gun emplacements were all overturned and chopped into heaps of burning scrap metal.

In only a few breaths, the iron fortress that the rebels had failed to overcome despite paying such a heavy price was breached by the Adeptus Custodes.

The garrison commander’s head was cut off and hung from a flagpole amid the fortress’s smoking ruins.

With the help of the Adeptus Custodes, Lyssia was quickly liberated.

Even the industrially advanced capital planet, Kavah, fell soon afterward.

Faced with three demigods who could casually open space and cleave through tanks and mechs—

The local elites were utterly powerless to resist and were slaughtered as easily as chopping vegetables.

The planet was liberated just like that.

"You owe me ninety-nine different flavors of fries or ketchup," the Raven told Corvus, who stood stunned, feeling as if he were dreaming.

Corvus came back to his senses and said, "That will be easy. I can have them offered up very soon."

"Anything I’ve already eaten doesn’t count," said the Raven.

"Don’t worry." The ignorant Corvus confidently guaranteed it.

Waldo, who had finished the job nearby, looked pityingly at the Primarch, who had incurred a massive debt before even returning to the Empire.

Hopefully, after learning the truth, he would still be able to maintain his current confidence and optimism.

A brand-new flavor of fries could sell for an astronomical price in the Empire.

It was an era when even a rogue trader could easily conquer an entire planet.

Not to mention one planet—even a hundred planets, plenty of people would be willing to make the trade.

At the very least, the Primarchs would be more than happy with such a deal.

To them, conquering planets was as easy as eating and drinking.

Several Primarchs were already fighting in the Other Universe.

If they wanted planets, they could produce them whenever they pleased.

"Big Corn Cob, now that the work is done, take Little Raven back with you while you’re at it."

"Let him study on Terra for a while, then have him lead the Nineteenth Legion," Raven said. "Let him work for my fries and ketchup."

Corvus was somewhat reluctant to leave the newly liberated Lyssia.

But Raven easily persuaded him.

"You need to go and see Terra. On Lyssia, you can’t be of any help. They need reconstruction, outside resources, and technology. Go to Terra, and you’ll be able to obtain those things."

The spacetime passage opened.

After taking one last look at Lyssia, Corvus followed the Adeptus Custodes commander and departed.

The surrounding space twisted, then returned to normal.

In the blink of an eye, he crossed tens of thousands of light-years and arrived at a gigantic platform somewhere in the Solar System.

The platform was immensely grand, larger than an entire continent.

Countless magnificent machines and facilities filled it.

The guards stationed there immediately sensed the spatial fluctuation and activated their weapons, preparing for battle.

When they saw that the arrivals were led by an Adeptus Custodes commander, they put their weapons away.

The activated gun turrets also turned aside.

The person in charge quickly arrived. After offering a salute, he arranged a transport craft according to Waldo’s orders.

The moment Corvus stepped out of the spacetime passage and saw the Solar System, he was deeply shocked once again.

Gigantic structures could be seen everywhere throughout the entire star system.

Even the stars were surrounded by colossal structures.

"Come on," Waldo said to Corvus. "I’ll take you to meet your father and your brothers."