"Alright, you all can go rest now. Corax, stay."
Swain dismissed everyone after Nekser finished tallying the gains from their recent battle.
"Corax, what do you feel after seeing this group of wandering criminals?" Nekser tilted his head, looking at Corax. He was very curious about the thoughts of this Primarch, who was historically known for his compassion towards civilians.
In the original timeline, even when Corax was preparing to launch an uprising, he did not choose to slaughter the heinous criminals on Lycaeus. The Crow King mercifully pardoned their crimes, on the condition that they survived the uprising and committed no further offenses; otherwise, all past and future grievances would be settled together.
And the criminals on Lycaeus did not disappoint Corax's mercy; they played an important role in the uprising, and after the Crow King took over the Dark Raven Guard, some even underwent Astartes transformation surgery. Nekser, the head of the Dark Raven Guard's elite Shadow Assassins, was one such criminal.
"It's hard for me to understand why there can be such a huge difference among humans. Since I came to the camp, although life here is difficult, I can feel the kindness of the people towards me, a stranger."
"But in that camp, their way of treating their own kind was like treating... livestock... even worse than the vultures they raised."
"How can human evil and human good be so extreme?" Corax looked at Swain with great confusion, seemingly wanting an answer from him.
"Good and evil are two aspects of human nature; there are many factors involved, and you will understand when you see more in the future."
"Actually, your confusion is how to make people develop towards goodness, isn't it?" Swain asked in return.
Listening to the rhetorical question, Corax fell into contemplation. The harmonious and friendly attitude of everyone in the camp he had experienced along the way formed a stark contrast with the bloody and fear-filled wails in the mine.
"Yes." Corax gave his answer.
"Very good," Swain said with great satisfaction. At least this Crow King was normal, not the madman who fell into the embrace of the Chaos Gods on a certain apocryphal timeline.
"This question depends on me, or rather, on the future you."
"I shape this camp with my will, giving the miners who have been exploited for centuries a glimmer of breathing room, but only a glimmer. So far, this is my limit, but what next? What about the miners in the camps who are oppressed by these overseers and live constantly on the brink of death?" Swain's rapid-fire questions bombarded Corax.
"I..."
"You don't need to answer me." Swain interrupted Corax.
"Corax, I'm giving you a task: go personally to the other camps on Lycaeus, whether it's those heinous criminals in the west, or the various large and small camps and towers. This world is vast, and yet it is also very small."
"Whether it's a week, a month, or a year, don't come back to me until you find the answer you're looking for. Then I will answer your previous questions." Swain finished speaking, and a Shadow Assassin member appeared from the darkness and walked to Corax's side.
"Alright, I will follow your instructions and go see the current situation of the people on this land." Corax did not object. Swain's meaning was already very clear: the future depended on himself, but the other party preferred him to investigate personally.
"It seems boss' expectations for Corax are unusually high." Nekser, who had just returned after dealing with other matters, also revealed himself from the darkness.
"The hope for the miners on Lycaeus to break free from the shackles that have bound them for thousands of years rests on him. Lycaeus, a place that cannot even be called a puddle, cannot hold him back." Nekser walked to the window, watching Corax's retreating figure and smiling.
"Then do we need to send escorts?" Nekser asked.
"Escorts? Does he look like he needs escorts? Can you keep up with his speed?" Swain remembered something particularly amusing. That was about the Primarch's honor guard.
Speaking of a competent Primarch guard, it would naturally be Guilliman's Invictarus Guard.
Invictarus Guard Commander: "Are the stretcher teams ready? When we charge, I'll carry Lord Guilliman first, you guys carry Calgar, and the others pick up weapons from the ground. Try to run back to the Thunderhawk gunship within 1 minute."
The most competent Primarch guard was probably Corax's Shadow Assassins.
Shadow Assassins: "Where's our lord father?"
"Don't know..."
Dealing with a dad who was so used to acting alone and was skilled in stealth and infiltration, they were also helpless; they couldn't find him, and they couldn't keep up.
Instead of saying the Shadow Assassins were Corax's Primarch guard, it would be more accurate to say the Shadow Masters were. Because when Corax usually carried out various infiltration missions, he more often acted with the Legion's Shadow Masters. However, the Shadow Masters had very high authority within the Legion, and the only one who could manage them was Corax. This also fully demonstrated how terrifying Saro Jin's potential was.
"Nekser, get ready. After Corax returns, you will accept his leadership." Swain threw out another bombshell.
"Swain, isn't this too rushed?" Nekser said very anxiously. Although everyone could see that Swain highly valued Corax, directly handing over the Shadow Assassins to him was too exaggerated. How many days had it been since Corax arrived? Although he was far more capable than the Shadow Assassins and could indeed guide them, what were the Shadow Assassins? The Shadow Assassins could be said to be the professional soldiers of the entire camp; there were very few people on all of Lycaeus who could be fully disengaged from production.
"So far, the limit of the Shadow Assassins is here. The camp can provide you with various resources, and I can't guide you in terms of stealth and infiltration."
"Corax will lead you to the pinnacle of the world, and even the galaxy. Trust him, just as you trust me." Swain said with a smile, looking in the direction where Corax had disappeared.
"Alright, since you made the arrangements, we'll do as instructed." Nekser said. Anyway, it was just accepting Corax's leadership, not saying that they wouldn't listen to Swain in the future. Ultimately, Swain was the core of the entire camp; even if he wanted to abdicate to Corax in the future, it wouldn't happen overnight.