Alexander regretted attending the banquet.
He regretted it from the moment he took the first sip of wine.
This wasn't because the wine was mixed with blood; in fact, both he and Dante were drinking versions without fresh blood, brewed from local grapes grown in Baal's Angel Keep. The entire process, from planting to brewing, involved the Blood Angels.
This was the first fruit-based wine Alexander had tasted since coming to this galaxy. Furthermore, the brewing technique used was one left by the Archangel from the Great Crusade era ten thousand years ago, reportedly learned by the Archangel himself from Prospero through the Thousand Sons Primarch Magnus.
Ten thousand years after the Archangel's passing, brewing this wine had almost become a ritual. The blood thralls and Blood Angels involved all brewed it with honor and piety, strictly following the ancient methods.
Alexander was currently drinking the highest-grade bottle, with only one barrel brewed each year for the Sanguinius Festival.
Ancient techniques from ten thousand years ago, grapes from holy Baal, brewed by the Blood Angels in memory of Sanguinius, with only one barrel made for the Sanguinius Festival.
This nameless wine, contained in an intricately carved bloodstone bottle, was worth even more than the most precious Quartis wine. Alexander had no doubt that countless planetary governors would be willing to lose everything for a single bottle.
But, but this stuff tasted bitter in his mouth, so bitter it was astringent, so astringent it cut his lips. The sharp tannin flavor made Alexander's lips and teeth ache, and it was so bitter that Alexander vaguely saw the Emperor waving at him from the Golden Throne.
Alexander looked at the glass of wine with a grimace. He even began to suspect that Magnus had used psychic curses on the Archangel's winemaking techniques from Prospero after his betrayal, making every glass of wine brewed by the Archangels bitter.
But then he thought, if Magnus truly had that power, he should have cursed every drink Leman Russ had first!
Seemingly noticing Alexander's bitter expression, Dante shook his head with a hint of helplessness: "Baal is a radiation-filled world. Not to mention grapes, even people are bitter."
"It's already quite remarkable that grapes can be grown in such an environment."
With that, Dante picked up a bunch of grapes from the table and placed it in front of Alexander.
Alexander glanced at the grapes.
The surface of the fruit was covered with a hard shell. After peeling it, there was a greenish-yellow skin, tightly encasing a large seed.
"This is definitely not a grape," Alexander said, holding up the grape with its well-developed skin, seed, and shell, but no pulp.
As a native Ancient Terran from the third millennium, Alexander would absolutely not admit that this was a grape.
Even if he were to admit that a banana was a pure-blooded human, he would absolutely not admit that this monstrous thing in front of him was a grape.
"..These are Baal's grapes." Dante peeled a grape, squeezed out the seed, which had almost invisible pulp clinging to it.
Dante put the seed in his mouth and sucked it, considering that eating a grape.
"Baal's radiation is severe, the sunlight is sharp, and the Scarlet Scar itself can induce crop mutations. We've made many efforts... from greenhouses to completely isolated ecological pods, and even invited an Archmagos Biologis to study them, but Baal's grapes just grow like this!"
Dante said with a hint of indignation:
"It is said that before the Archangel passed away, Baal's grapes were relatively normal. But in the ten thousand years since his passing, Baal's grapes have mutated more and more severely..."
Alexander looked at Dante with a blank expression.
The grapes becoming unpalatable was actually due to Sanguinius' death? Sanguinius' death even affected the grape varieties??
Could it be that someone was truly attacking the Blood Angels' wine in the Warp??
Could it be that Magnus was tirelessly chanting curses in the Warp day and night on Baal's grapes?
Alexander silently took another sip of the crimson liquid in his cup.
Then his face immediately twisted, revealing uncontrollable pain.
Alexander felt that his expression was probably as pained as Perturabo's when he strangled his own sister.
It was too bitter. Mephiston and Dante next to him could actually sip it slowly.
"This bitterness is part of our remembrance of the Archangel." Mephiston, at his side, offered a wry smile and explained, "We often slowly savor this bitter yet mellow red wine, remembering Sanguinius."
"Believe me, Sanguinius would absolutely want you to drink something good," Alexander said, glancing at Sanguinius at the corner of his eye.
Sanguinius flickered a few times, as if agreeing with Alexander.
Corbulo, the Chief Blood Priest, sitting near Dante, heard this and couldn't help but frown slightly.
Although he could guess that this man's identity was not what he claimed, a common Ultramarine,
His words were still an offense to Sanguinius and the traditions of the Blood Angels.
"Your Excellency—" Corbulo had just opened his mouth to speak when he saw Dante looking thoughtfully at the wine glass in his hand.
"Perhaps we should get some wine produced by agricultural worlds and put it in the cellar," Dante said softly.
Corbulo's expression stiffened slightly, but then he saw Mephiston nodding in agreement.
"No need to be too extravagant, just from agricultural worlds will do—"
"..There are no nearby agricultural worlds left," Dante interrupted Mephiston.
Mephiston's face twitched a few times. He suddenly remembered that dozens of nearby worlds had been subjected to Exterminatus, personally ordered by Dante.
Especially the agricultural worlds rich in biomass, which were destroyed most thoroughly.
Mephiston sighed softly.
Dante believed that as long as Baal did not fall, the Tyranid would have to starve in the Scarlet Scar.
But Dante didn't say that if not enough sacrifices were made in the upcoming battle, Baal itself might fall into famine.
"Actually, there's no need to only focus on the Scarlet Scar. There are so many planets in the entire Ultramar Sector. The Blood Angels' influence can completely extend beyond the Scarlet Scar."
Alexander swirled the red wine in his glass, but didn't drink a drop:
"Robert Guilliman could create the Great Ultramar back then, so why can't we create a Great Baal? Encompassing five hundred nearby worlds with the Scarlet Scar as the core, bringing the entire northern Ultramar Sector under the leadership of a military—oh no, a Chapter."
"People only know that the Ultramarines' gene-seed is stable and good for rapid recruitment. But is there a possibility that the Blood Angels' gene-seed also has its own characteristics, with relatively low requirements for candidates, so that even the radiation-affected tribal people on Baal can undergo transformation?"
"If the Blood Angels could establish a Great Baal comprising hundreds of worlds, I can't imagine how many Astartes warriors we would produce."
Mephiston's hand, holding the wine glass, paused in mid-air. Dante first stiffened, then sighed with exhaustion. Corbulo was dumbfounded.
"The Codex Astartes dictates that each Chapter is only allowed one thousand Astartes. Recruits from hundreds of worlds would definitely be Legion-level, possibly even exceeding the former Ninth Legion," Corbulo said, believing he had pointed out the biggest flaw in Alexander's plan.
"No need to be so honest," Alexander continued, swirling his glass. "Not all Legions strictly followed the Codex back then. In fact, the Blood Angels were among the more honest ones, actually disbanding the Legion."
"The Imperium would not agree to the existence of a Legion-sized Astartes organization now," Corbulo stated firmly.
"We can use some little tricks... like signing a secret 'Final Blood Wall' agreement with the successor Chapters, making the command system so complex that outsiders can't understand it, establishing a bunch of ship-based successor Chapters to patrol near Baal, forming a bunch of Astartes fan clubs, putting Astartes into stasis for rotation, or simply ignoring the opinions of certain people in the Imperium... There are always ways," Alexander said casually.
Corbulo's expression went blank for a moment. He wanted to refute, but quickly realized that several Chapters actually did operate that way.
"The High Lords cannot destroy a loyal First Founding Chapter, the Inquisition doesn't have that capability, the Custodes are still cooped up in the Imperial Palace... Moreover, the twenty-nine thousand Blood Angels present here are already almost a unified force," Alexander said, shaking his glass. "They are loyal to Dante."
Listening to Alexander's words, Corbulo suddenly felt a chill, because he suddenly realized that Alexander made sense.
If Dante truly led the Blood Angels and their successor Chapters through the Battle of Baal, he would be fully capable of achieving the plan Alexander spoke of.
Establishing a Great Baal, uniting all the descendants of the Blood Angels... Dante was just one step away from this power.
Dante, however, sighed with exhaustion and shook his head.
Managing one thousand Astartes exhausted him; managing twenty-nine thousand Astartes exhausted him even more. In Alexander's plan, he would also have to manage hundreds of worlds and an entire Legion-sized Astartes force.
Dante looked at Alexander through Sanguinius' mask. He deeply suspected that this Warp entity's domain was overtime and endless work.
He was silent for a moment, then glanced around, looking at the position allocated to the Flesh Tearers Chapter.
Chapter Master Seth was not among them. The Flesh Tearers' Chapter Master always avoided interacting with other Chapters. Dante could feel that Seth was also one of those seeking sacrifice in this battle.
Seth had actually come to the banquet, but left when Dante wasn't paying attention.
"I need to leave for a moment. Corbulo, you and Mephiston host the banquet."
With that, Dante rose from his seat and walked out towards the Angel's Well.
"The Blood Priests and Chaplains of the Blood Angels also occasionally take responsibility for suppressing the Bloodthirst and Black Rage of the successor Chapters, right?"
After Dante left, Alexander, as if on a whim, looked at Corbulo and asked.
"..Yes," Corbulo said with a strange expression, vaguely realizing something.
"Then we can also use the management and suppression of successor Chapter gene-seed mutations as a pretext to unify the Blood Priests of various successor Chapters into a single organization, and through the Blood Priests, establish a command structure to control the major successor Chapters, indirectly resurrecting the Legion..." Alexander said, a smile involuntarily appearing on his lips.
In the hundreds of years Corbulo had been a Blood Angel, he had never felt so uneasy.
He felt like he was being roasted over a fire.