LRAB Page 49
Page 49
However, Zhou Qing's identity this time is that of a lifelong Sun Lord, which means he will become a war commander of the human empire, just like Horus.
In other words, Zhou Qing can launch a great expedition, but after returning from the expedition, he will still be the Lord of the Sun, and he can launch another great expedition at a time he deems appropriate!
The entire human empire will serve the Sun Lord, including Guilliman, the Imperial Regent!
The emperor placed his unfulfilled hopes on Zhou Qing.
He saw in Zhou Qing the hope of launching another great expedition, and he believed that this expedition would be victorious.
The Human Empire can still choose to appoint a new Sun Lord after this, but Zhou Qing's identity and status have been recognized by the Emperor.
When the new Sun Lord launches an expedition, if Zhou Qing also needs to launch a major expedition, then Zhou Qing's needs will be prioritized.
Sun Lord, Imperial Warmaster, represents the Emperor's will!
His orders supersede those of everyone, including the Imperial Regent!
As long as Zhou Qing is willing to launch a great expedition, the human empire will undoubtedly do everything in its power to support it.
This was the Emperor's last gamble; he discovered he had drawn a winning card, a card that could fulfill his long-held ambition.
Chapter 70 So please join me in fulfilling humanity's glorious destiny.
Everyone present stared blankly at Zhou Qing, who had become the new Sun Lord of the Empire's War General Empire.
The Imperial Guards reacted the fastest; they knelt down and addressed Zhou Qing as Lord of the Sun. This was the first time the Imperial Guards had knelt before anyone other than the Emperor.
The Imperial Guards are not required to kneel before the Sun Lord, but Zhou Qing is an exception because he saved the Emperor.
Guilliman looked at Zhou Qing with complicated emotions. He never imagined that Zhou Qing, who had come with him, would become the Sun Lord of the Empire and the Imperial War Marshal.
However, this was an imperial decree, and they had no room for objection.
For some reason, Guilliman felt a sense of relief.
He was originally troubled by the current situation of the empire, but now things are different. Zhou Qing's sudden emergence means that he now has someone to discuss things with.
The war can be left to the Sun Lord; he only needs to manage domestic affairs. Guilliman is a competent domestic affairs officer.
He is also known as the Son of Vengeance, but his greatest strength remains his ability to govern.
Besides, and more importantly, he is a scientist with impeccable ethics; you can ask him anything you don't understand.
Of all the people present, only Zhou Qing remained sitting listlessly in his chair, resting.
He didn't say a word to the Emperor, yet he achieved all his goals. He could easily mobilize the resources of the entire human empire to launch an unprecedented great expedition.
Even though this human empire has been split in two due to the appearance of the Great Rift, and even though this human empire is now teetering on the brink of collapse, its enormous size still represents everything.
Even though it's only half of the Milky Way, so many colony planets are enough for Zhou Qing to make his mark.
What does the Sun Lord represent?
Zhou Qing was unaware of this.
Zhou Qing did not speak with the emperor. He stood up and looked at Guilliman.
He also heard the Emperor's voice, so he needed to figure out what the Sun Lord meant.
Furthermore, knowing that Zhou Qing seemed unaware of what the Sun Lord represented, he had no choice but to explain it to him. Meanwhile, the Imperial Guards formed a defensive formation to protect the two. They were people personally appointed by the Emperor.
Guilliman is excluded; what they are protecting in particular is Zhou Qing, because only Zhou Qing can restore the emperor.
“I just heard this fellow human bestow upon me the title of Sun Lord. I am aware of the Sun’s status here, so please tell me what Sun Lord means.”
Zhou Qing hesitated for a moment, and in the end, he did not choose to call the emperor a god, but instead chose to continue calling him a human.
Zhou Qing's words were approved by the Emperor. Everyone could see the Emperor sitting on the golden throne, nodding slightly. He was very satisfied with Zhou Qing addressing him as a fellow human being.
Since the emperor was satisfied, the Imperial Guards naturally had nothing to say, while Guilliman began to consider how to respond to Zhou Qing's inquiry.
After thinking for a long time, Guilliman finally figured out how to reply and slowly began to speak.
"The Sun Lord is one of the entities with the highest military command authority in the human empire, second only to the Emperor, which is..."
Guilliman pointed to the emperor sitting on the golden throne, and Zhou Qing understood.
Isn't that equivalent to a Grand Marshal?
From Zhou Qing's own perspective, it's like being a Grand Marshal, able to mobilize all the troops. Seeing that Zhou Qing understood, Guilliman continued.
"The Sun Lord can mobilize all military units of the entire human empire, including the Astartes, the Imperial Guard, the Imperial Navy, the Mechanicus, and even the Imperial Guard you can see here."
“Generally speaking, the Sun Lord cannot mobilize the Imperial Guard, but you are different. You are the Sun Lord personally appointed by the Emperor, so the Imperial Guard will also obey your command.”
Perhaps feeling that Guilliman's statement was not accurate enough, Trajan Valloris, the commander of the expedition, added.
Zhou Qing nodded again upon hearing this, indicating that he was aware of the matter, and then gestured for Guilliman to continue his explanation.
"The main task of the Sun Lord is to launch large-scale expeditions to reclaim lost territories, suppress rebellions, or fight against alien threats such as the Tyranids and the Chaos Legion."
Perhaps finding Guilliman's speech too slow and his inability to get to the point, Trajan Valloris, the commander of the Imperial Guard, also spoke up to explain to Zhou Qing.
“You are different from a regular Sun Lord. In addition to being a Sun Lord, you are also a War Commander personally appointed by the Emperor.”
"Warlord not only means that you can command the troops that the Sun Lord can command, but you can also command all Primarchs. You are essentially an entity that acts on behalf of the Emperor's will."
"The entire empire will pulsate because of your existence. Before the Emperor speaks, your words are equivalent to the Emperor's decree."
At this point, Zhou Qing understood that he could mobilize any military force within the entire human empire to launch a war against humanity's enemies.
Theoretically speaking, Zhou Qing has already accomplished his mission of coming to the human empire to meet the emperor.
As the Empire's Warmaster, he could easily mobilize psionic personnel to form the psionic legions he needed.
However, in addition to having achieved his own goals, Zhou Qing once again shouldered a heavy responsibility.
He was merely a scientist, yet the Emperor bestowed upon him the title of Imperial War Marshal, making him a commander.
The task of protecting all of humanity in the universe from alien invasion fell upon his shoulders.
As a scientist of the Federation of Humanity, Zhou Qing was well aware of what this responsibility meant, and he would not shirk it.
This is what a human scientists should do, but the workload will inevitably increase dramatically, and he had already seen Guilliman handling those things on his way here.
The administrative efficiency of the human empire is truly appalling.
Zhou Qing was deep in thought, standing still and contemplating what to do. Neither the Imperial Guard nor Guilliman disturbed him; they simply waited for Zhou Qing to finish his reflection.
Until Zhou Qing opened his eyes again, then stood up straight and stood in front of everyone.
So be it, I'll be the military commander. Even though things are developing in a way that's completely different from what I imagined, so what?
Since we're here, let's keep going.
The people here are also fellow human beings.
Human beings deserve the protection of humankind!
And this galaxy should rightfully belong to humankind; it is humanity's destiny.
Moreover, putting aside everything else, he received aid from the human empire, which laid the foundation for his desire to develop a powerful human federation.
This emperor seems a bit reluctant to be emperor. Does that mean he'll eventually swallow up the human empire?
Zhou Qing looked at the Imperial Guard Commander, Guilliman, and the other Imperial Guards in front of him and spoke.
"Gentlemen, I will not shirk my responsibilities. Now that I am here, now that I have become the Lord of the Sun, I will continue to do so."
"Aliens roam the Milky Way, and there are creatures in space that dare to corrupt humanity. This is not in the basic interests of mankind. So please cooperate with me to realize the glorious destiny that belongs to mankind!"
"Everything is for the glorious destiny of humankind!"
Others' reactions may not matter, but when Old Huang heard the words "humanity's manifest destiny," his eyes lit up.
Chapter 71 The Battle of Lionsgate
Guilliman was appointed Imperial Regent, and Zhou Qing was personally appointed by the Emperor as Lord of the Sun.
These two consecutive appointments were announced to the entire Terra under the public notice of the Imperial Guard.
This appointment came directly from the Emperor of the Human Empire, and was witnessed by the Imperial Guard.
Therefore, although the high lords were somewhat dissatisfied with this appointment, they still had no choice but to compromise and submit.
Guilliman became the regent of the empire, while Zhou Qing became the Sun Lord of the empire. The human empire they faced was still devastated.
Due to the influence of the Great Rift, the human empire is currently unable to contact its colonies in other places; they can only contact those within the solar system.
Meanwhile, while Zhou Qing and Guilliman were inside the throne room conversing with the Emperor, a conspiracy was brewing in Terra.
The situation on Terra has deteriorated further, with supernatural atrocities escalating as the Emperor's Light has been deprived of its protection.
Although Zhou Qing intervened and made amends for the Emperor, it will still take time for the Emperor to reignite the Star Torch, and that time will be quite long.
Because Zhou Qing's purification not only restored some of the emperor's energy and physical condition, but also reduced the spiritual energy that the emperor could draw upon.
After all, if he uses those unclean things again, the toxins will inevitably reappear.
Emperors need time to consolidate their power.
At this moment, screams and cries of death filled the air on Terra.
The chaotic instigators hidden among the crowd have spread corruption on a large scale.
When the guards protecting the city walls opened fire on the frenzied demonstrators, the soldiers were surprised to find that some of the highly aggressive people had developed physical distortions and mutations.
The sinister eight-pointed star symbol looms in and out, and waves of the warp are overflowing.
The pressure on the city wall defenders is increasing.
Originally protected by the Emperor's Light, it was impossible for a chaotic manifestation event to occur.
The situation is very different now.
In the fallen city far from the palace, the Chaos cultists have torn off their disguise and erected one blasphemous altar after another.
The evil human sacrifice ritual is being carried out on a large scale, with bloodied skulls piled up in one place.
The screams echoed throughout the city, and the sky above the palace, torn apart by the great rift, was stained a horrifying blood red.
It turns out that throughout the long history of the world, Khorne relics have been secretly brought into Terra.
Sacred objects made from human bones and corpses were not uncommon in human empires that worshipped death.