"No. Long before the Heresy, all records of the Second and Eleventh Legions were wiped from existence. No official historical records today acknowledge that twenty Legions were formed at the beginning of the Great Crusade."
"Those who know more would think that there were eighteen legions in total, while those who know less would even think that from the beginning, the Empire only had the nine legions that remained loyal to the Emperor during the rebellion.
"The very few people who knew about the existence of the Second Legion and the Eleventh Legion believed that these two legions were purged by the Emperor because they violated some taboo, but this has never been confirmed."
Leon spread his hands: "But now, we should know the reason why the Second Legion was purged. Although the news of the existence of demons can no longer be concealed, before the Great Rebellion, when demons could not enter and exit the real universe so easily, the Empire had been concealing the existence of demons."
"If it was discovered at that time that the Second Legion was colluding with the demons, I think the Emperor himself would have executed them in secret to prevent the news of the demons from spreading widely."
"It didn't exist before the rebellion?" Ademir confirmed again.
Leon nodded in confirmation, and the soldiers looked at each other.
From this moment on, they truly realized that the dark secret that Hunter had carried seemed to be a little outdated - everything that should and should not have happened had already happened, and even if someone knew some of the secrets from the past, it seemed that nothing could be changed."But I'm still curious about what a demon is?"
Lieutenant Dwayne still found it hard to believe. "A creature that defies common sense exists? Doesn't that mean that the Imperial Truth is a lie?"
Leon shook his head and denied Dwayne's statement: "In fact, due to the rampant spread of demons in the real universe, more and more people have abandoned the truth of the empire. They are afraid of demons, and regard the Emperor who once restored the glory of mankind as a god who can dispel demons and save them."
"The religious ignorance once dispelled by the Emperor himself is now revived through the worship of the Emperor himself... But the Imperial Truth is not simply a lie to deceive everyone. Tell me, Lieutenant, what is the essence of the Imperial Truth?"
"Of course, it explains the truth of the real universe. It is our principle, standard, and code of conduct..."
"No, the core of the Imperial Truth is a rational and scientific attitude. The denial of supernatural phenomena is indeed a lie of the Emperor, but the scientific and rational attitude is never deceptive."
"What is science? Science is not truth; it is a summary of human experience. Anything repeatable and recognizable can become science. Whether it is an incredible power like psychic energy or a warp creature like demons, as long as we can summarize the laws, it will become human science."
Looking at Lieutenant Dwayne, who seemed to be thinking deeply, Leon continued, "The stupidity of religious thought is that it is thoughtless. The general public regards the demons who like to devour human souls as evil gods, and the emperor who saves mankind as a good god."
"Gods are omnipotent. It is normal for them to do anything. Ordinary people cannot resist them. They can only wait for God's messenger to rescue them. But once they have this idea, humans have lost the ability to save themselves."
"Demons are not mysterious. Humans have generally confirmed that demons are warp creatures that rely on the emotions of a certain kind of sentient creature to exist. They like to flaunt their existence in front of humans. The cunning, pain, anger, and madness that humans feel because of their existence will become their food - this is also the reason why they love to plunder human souls so much. Although they are difficult to explain with common sense, they are not impossible to understand. Although from the nature of the existence of demons, the fewer people who know about demons, the less food the demons can get, so the ignorance and faith of ordinary people are a fortress to protect them. But if even the Space Marines, who are the bridgehead against the enemies of mankind, can no longer look at the existence of demons objectively and rationally, then mankind will be doomed."
"That's why the Emperor concealed the existence of demons in the beginning, and that's why the demons instigated the rebellion. The civil war in the empire must have been a feast for these demons..."
Lieutenant Dwayne nodded in conviction. "You are special, Leon. The tech-priests I have met before were all believers of the Omnissiah. None of them has such a profound understanding of science as you do."
"There are also atheist sects within the Mechanicus," Leon said with a smile.
"So we have a general understanding of what happened after the Great Crusade and the existence of demons..."
Ademir was thinking further ahead: "Now that the Great Heresy has occurred, the Second Legion no longer exists. Do we still need to return to the Empire?"
As soon as this topic came up, the scene fell silent again.
They were once the Sword Bearers of the Empire, so they naturally understood the Empire's style of slashing grass without leaving any roots. Now the entire Second Legion has been branded as non-existent, and their existence will not be recognized by the Empire.
They were not afraid of sacrifice, but they were afraid that after they returned, they would be destroyed by the Empire itself and become a non-existent part of the Second Legion.
"If we can leave this planet, I think we should leave, but whether we should return to the Empire..." Sergeant Arlo suggested hesitantly, "Why don't we continue to roam around the edge of the Astronomican like we did before? Even if we die in battle, it can be considered that we have made the contribution we should have."
The other people stared at each other, obviously no one had a better proposal. Leon was about to speak, but Hunter, who had finally recovered, interrupted him.
"No, we must return to the Empire." His tone was very firm: "Leon, you just said that the Second Legion was wiped out by the Empire, and there is no record of it, right?
Seeing Leon nod, he continued: "There is no record, which means that there is no way to verify whether the Second Legion was destroyed. I think the reason for erasing the records is not just to conceal the existence of demons. Although the Second Legion may have been destroyed, the primarch of the Second Legion will never be eliminated so easily."
"What is your evidence?" Leon was a little confused.
"A hunter's intuition, and some experience."
Hunter's tone was quite firm. He asked Ademir, "Do you remember? Before we left the Legion, our Primarch was already able to transform into an alien. He could even spread his spores everywhere like those greenskins!"