2nd Primarch

The four Primarchs talked for a long time in the cage. When Dukel arrived, even the loyal Grey Knights and Sisters of Silence had been evacuated.

No one knows what the four great Primarchs discussed in the cage that day. But when the Grey Knights left, they overheard a word that was mentioned many times by the Primarchs: Randan.

The aliens of Randan once formed an alliance that caused significant damage to the Empire during the Great Crusade.

In that battle, humans—who were the overlords of the galaxy at the time—deployed nearly half of the Empire's military forces. Most of the galaxy was set ablaze by the flames of war. In the end, they defeated Randan's alien army, but they paid a heavy price for it.

The Dark Angels of the First Legion suffered devastating losses.

The Primarch of the Second Legion was completely exiled after that battle.

The Emperor was humiliated and ordered all memory of that place to be erased, burying the history completely in the long river of time.

No one remembers what happened there—not even the great Primarchs.

But even so, in his conversation with his brothers, Dukel learned two valuable pieces of information:

The Randan aliens control a powerful psychic technology.Although they have been completely defeated, they have not truly disappeared. They still linger in the vast galaxy, waiting for the time to revive.

After learning these two important facts, Dukel's reaction was beyond everyone's expectations.

All the Primarchs present believed Dukel would be eager to find traces of the Randan aliens and unearth the secrets buried for millennia.

But the Second Primarch did not do that. He simply ended the conversation with his brothers and left in silence.

After the Primarchs parted ways, everything returned to calm.

Dukel and Magnus returned to the research team, continuing their work on the Second Legion. Guilliman also returned to his office to deal with the heavy government affairs, while Fulgrim remained imprisoned.

As if nothing had happened.

Dukel's research team achieved significant progress after nearly half a month of sleepless work.

Not only had the surgical plan for the Second Legion been finalized, but research on weapons and equipment had also begun.

For the two great sages, this was also a rare opportunity. The Primarch's mental force field could shield the influence of Tzeentch, ensuring that their design drawings would not be quietly contaminated.

The research team solved new technical problems one after another.

Then, on this day, Shivara brought the first batch of candidates for surgery, recruited from the Second Legion reserve, to the research team's laboratory.

As the first batch of candidates to undergo transformation into Primaris Space Marines of the Second Legion, they were more like experimental subjects, facing great risks and unknown chances of death.

The volunteer soldiers were fully aware of this.

But even so, before beginning the procedure, Dukel still wanted to emphasize the risks of the surgery.

However, when he saw that all twenty-two soldiers who volunteered for the transformation were from the Krieg Corps—including Krieg's twenty-second political commissar—he swallowed his words of warning.

There was no need to remind them.

For these Krieg Legion warriors, even with a 100% probability of death, they would not hesitate to fight for the miracle beyond probability with their lives.

Generally speaking, the Empire selects males between the ages of 14 and 18 for Astartes surgeries. At this stage, their bodies have greater plasticity, reducing the risks of surgery.

However, due to the existence of the life magnetic field and spiritual cultivation technology, the age limit is not so strict.

After receiving encouragement from the Primarch, the twenty-two Krieg soldiers were ready for surgery.

In the underground floor of the mechanical workshop...

After a long wait, Dukel finally received the news that the surgery was successful.

In the basement of the workshop, within this vast and empty experimental field, there were cages engraved with runes.

Dukel stood before one of the cages, blocked by a layer of special glass. Through the glass, he could clearly see the demonic bodies full of blasphemy and madness in the experimental site.

Each rune-carved cage contained no fewer than twenty Chaos Daemons, and at a quick glance, there were over four hundred of them.

Gris and Cawl stood beside the Primarch, the two great sages observing various parameters through the computer.

The Psychic Guards, led by Efilar and Shivara, held their bolters with solemn expressions.

Dukel gazed at the demons in the experimental field.

For the first time, when he looked at the demons, his eyes contained no disgust or murderous intent—only joy.

Today, his first "child" was about to be born.

This vast experimental site was the playground he prepared for his offspring; these hundreds of demons were the first toys for his children.

How could he not be happy on such a beautiful day?

"Your Highness, we may begin," Gris reminded.

"Let's start. We shouldn't keep him waiting," Dukel said with a smile.

As he finished speaking, thick steam rose from the experimental site, and an elevator carved with an Imperial double-headed eagle slowly descended.

Standing in the elevator was a powerful warrior, over two meters tall, holding a chainsword and wearing gray-red power armor.

Seeing the appearance of this human warrior, the demons in the test site fell into even greater madness.

They let out twisted, strange roars, and began ramming into the cages, hungry for the flesh and soul of the human warrior.

"Open a cage first," Dukel instructed Gris.

At his command, a cage was opened, and the demons, who had been impatient for so long, flooded out in an instant.

However, when faced with the approach of the demons, the human warriors standing in the field did not make a move. Instead, they looked up at Dukel, standing behind the special glass.

"Please open all the cages, great gene-father. The power I inherited from you is far beyond what these poor demons can bear."

Hearing this, the Primarch burst into laughter.

"That's right, that's how it should be!"

"Gris, open all the cages!" Dukel ordered with a smile.

"But, Your Highness," Gris said with some embarrassment, "It's already extremely dangerous for an Astartes to face more than twenty Chaos Demons at once with just a chainsword. I fear it may be too dangerous if we open all of them."

"You've never fought Dukel, so you don't understand, Gris," Magnus, who was hanging from the Primarch's waist, suddenly spoke.

"For Dukel, the chainsword is a burden. He carries it because he enjoys the fighting process."

"My brother is at his most powerful when he's unarmed."

"And as his descendant, it must be the same."

Magnus' tone was filled with emotion.

Although he didn't want to admit it, the conclusion could be clearly drawn from their past battles.

Dukel fought back and forth with him, using only the chainsword. Although he was cut with fifteen massive scars, he still held out against Magnus for a long time.

So, what happens when he fights unarmed?

Just look at the Keeper of Secrets, Fulgrim, and Fateweaver.

The Keeper of Secrets had his head ripped off; Fulgrim was severely injured by a knee strike, leaving him paralyzed on one side of his body; and Fateweaver was beaten to death with several punches.

The strength of these three equals Dukel's—and Fulgrim is even stronger.

Dukel looked at Magnus in surprise when he heard this. He had never revealed this to anyone, but he hadn't expected his brother to notice so keenly.