For 10,000 years—his old friend had been gone for a full 10,000 years—now, seeing his old friend the Emperor again, he felt a unique, indescribable emotion.
Over 10,000 years ago, he himself had no intention of ruling humanity, nor to become the human master—the Emperor.
Throughout the long river of human history, he only guided humans in the early days, never intending to be an eternal ruler. He preferred to play an ordinary role in history, quietly watching humanity's story unfold.
It was Malcador who persuaded him to step forward and save humanity, which was then on the brink of extinction.
"Emperor! Is that you? I—I thought I was dead? Why am I still alive? And what… what happened to you?" Malcador looked at the Emperor on the Golden Throne, so emaciated he was little more than skin and bones, almost a mummy, and spoke in shock.
As a powerful immortal, the Emperor should never be in such a weakened state.
"My old friend, it's been a full 10,000 years. You left this world, the Imperium, 10,000 years ago. The Golden Throne's energies killed you, drained even your soul," the Emperor said.
"What did you do? Did you use some strange technology—or did you make a deal with those four bastards? I warned you never to trust them!" Malcador seemed to realize something and immediately questioned the Emperor loudly.
Resurrecting the dead was beyond even the Emperor's power; only the four Chaos Gods of the Warp could do that.
Back then, he was truly, utterly dead.
So, if he'd suddenly come back to life now, it probably meant the Emperor had made a deal with the Chaos Gods! That was terrifying—he didn't want the human master he admired to stoop so low, even to deal with those evil Warp entities. Though he had once done so himself, that time he had tricked the four Gods.
"Don't worry, my old friend. I haven't made any deals with those evil beings of the Warp. I've made no compromises. I'm still the Emperor you remember—I always have been," the Emperor said with a smile.
"Then why do you look like this? You're immortal—even if you were atomized, you could reconstruct yourself."
Malcador looked deeply skeptical.
No one knew the Emperor better than he did. Before they'd even met, the Emperor had the power to compress a star into an energy source and gift it to Sanguinius; back in the 5th century, he had the strength to battle the Void Dragon itself, which even as fragments could easily destroy dozens of Necron Tomb Worlds.
Because the Void Dragon was sealed on Mars, humanity could master mechanical forces; the Martian Mechanicum, and even the basis for human science, could develop because of this.
"A millennium has passed. I sat on the Golden Throne, sealing the whole Webway with my psychic might! But the Golden Throne has tortured me endlessly—my soul, my flesh. It's turned me into something neither alive nor dead, spawning countless negative and dark personalities, almost causing me to lose myself completely. I'm much better now—before, I was just a corpse, unable even to speak," the Emperor said.
His condition was much better now! Before Malcador awoke, before Rhodes arrived, before Magnus returned, before the Goddess of Life used her power on him, the Emperor was basically a dead man—or something between life and death.
"So, how did you resurrect me? Did you use some special method?" Malcador asked.
"A lot has happened—I'll explain slowly. But you should know, humanity has new hope. A new savior, stronger than me, has appeared," the Emperor said, looking at Rhodes.
Malcador followed his gaze and saw a man two meters tall, not particularly remarkable at first glance.
Could he be a new immortal born after his own death? Malcador could sense a powerful life force from Rhodes, comparable to the Emperor in his prime.
At this moment, Rhodes was not displaying any super lifeform abilities or revealing his cosmic phantom beast, yet his very presence shocked Malcador.
"Chancellor Malcador, I am the Empire's new Primarch—but not created by the Emperor. I fused with a mysterious creature: a cosmic phantom beast. This being can fuse with ordinary humans, turning them into super lifeforms, with lifespans of tens of thousands of years or even eternity. Physically, this evolves to a level even stronger than Primarchs, and can even produce their own gene-seeds," Rhodes greeted Malcador warmly.
Rhodes had a good impression of this former Imperial hero.
"Hello, new Primarch. It seems I've missed much these years… So can you tell me how I was revived?" Malcador asked.
His old friend, the Emperor, would never act without cause. As a sly old fox who had lived thousands of years, Malcador keenly guessed his resurrection must be connected to this man.
"In ancient Eldar legend, there is a Death God who will end Slaanesh. I obtained this Death God's power in a certain way. I created a very special lifeform, which has one resurrection opportunity—it can choose to revive any dead being, ignoring all conditions and rules," Rhodes explained.
"I see. It's really unbelievable," Malcador said.
A perfect resurrection opportunity—Old friend, you shouldn't have wasted that on an old man like me; at best, I'm just a more powerful psyker.
What you should have done is revive Ferrus Manus!
"Don't worry. Ferrus Manus will return soon—I now have the power to repair his soul," the Emperor smiled, seemingly reading his old friend's mind.
"It's been 10,000 years, Chancellor Malcador. You must have much to discuss with the Emperor. I won't disturb you," Rhodes said, smiling at them both, then left the Imperial Palace.
Following him was Guilliman. The Emperor's relationship with Malcador was even deeper than that with the Primarchs, so he would not intrude on their reunion.
"When do you plan to return to your territory?" Guilliman asked.
"I'll leave tomorrow—the sooner the better. I doubt I'll get much rest; those Chaos bastards won't let me be idle," Rhodes replied.
Having accumulated over 100 million system coins, Rhodes planned to boost his power significantly: first upgrading the advanced system shop, then empowering his top generals, and if there were any left, doing another hundred draws.
He wanted to strengthen his territory's defenses—he had a sense his land would become the center of this war. This time, Nurgle's attack likely wouldn't target Macragge, as in the original timeline.
"Understood! I'll keep a close watch on Chaos. The second phase of the Indomitus Crusade still needs your leadership—you probably won't get much rest," Guilliman said.
"Got it!" Rhodes waved, smiled at Guilliman, and walked off.
In the second phase of the Indomitus Crusade, Rhodes had to lead the human fleet to explore and expand humanity's territory, saving more worlds.
It was a great chance to gain prestige, on par with the Emperor's Great Crusade. But he couldn't leave his homeland unguarded, so this time, Rhodes had another plan.
Previously, Barbarue had already gone to Space 40. Rhodes planned to summon another Barbarue, or perhaps a Alien Zarab.
He'd have them take on the forms of himself and Elena, leading the Crusade while he provided remote command.
After decades of war, could he not enjoy some warmth at home, with wife and children for once?
That night, Rhodes told Elena his plan.
"You mean, have your two subordinates impersonate us to lead the fleet while we return to the Phantom Beast Planet?" Elena looked at Rhodes in confusion.
It seemed a bit odd to her. The Empire needed him badly.
"Don't worry. We can still control things remotely, and those two can perfectly mimic us. No one will notice. And if anything urgent happens, we can teleport instantly—distance is meaningless with Tartarus," Rhodes said.
With the golden boy around, life was easy!
"Well, when you put it like that, it could work. Should we tell the Emperor and Guilliman?"
"No, not at all! This is our honeymoon—just us, Yvraine, Lelith, and the goddess. Nothing will go wrong. We can defend against Chaos attacks more effectively, hiding in the shadows," Rhodes assured.
Actually, Rhodes wanted to set bait: his real self would hide, while his two subordinates drew Chaos's attention.
"So you're setting a trap!"