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Page 360
And they were to meet, as agreed, with Saltak, the Chapter Leader of the Mantis Warriors, at a dilapidated transit station in the orbit of the planet Shadim in the Sorrow Galaxy.
The choice of this dilapidated transit station came from Huron.
According to him, it seems that both sides felt that if the talks were held at the other's venue, they would be worried about being ambushed.
In that case, it would be better to choose a location where neither side has any defensive weapons.
—To this day, the Badakhshan War has not actually begun.
Both sides maintained a certain degree of restraint.
Despite this restraint, it has become quite weak so far.
"Mantis warriors, be alert to the enemy warships' movements. If any problems arise, prepare to open fire immediately. Don't worry about me."
“Glorious warriors of the Red Scorpion, this negotiation may lead us into Huron’s trap, or it may allow us to clear up our misunderstandings and fight together against the enemy of humanity that has appeared in the Great Vortex.”
The two distinct fleets are now preparing to head towards near-Earth orbit around the planet Shadim.
......
"not good."
Approaching the transit point of the Sad Galaxy, standing in front of the noisy bar of a tavern, Casgar put down the tablet display device in his hand.
In the news display interface of this tablet,
"What's wrong, sir? Don't be fooled by the fact that we're about to start fighting. Actually, it's good that we're fighting."
"Once the war actually starts, the mercenaries will be able to find work, and the recyclers will have access to mineral resources... It's much better than this situation where nothing happens."
The bartender smiled apologetically at Casca.
The current Casca has chosen to appear as a burly, rugged man.
"Besides, this is hardly news at all, sir, look at this—"
As he spoke, the display on the tablet in Casca's hand suddenly changed and fluctuated, and a somewhat familiar trading ship and an image of the Emperor appeared before his eyes.
"[The Emperor's Manifestation! A mysterious trading ship suddenly appears in the Badab Sector, having escaped the warp under the guidance of the Great Emperor?]"
"That's it! Seriously, everyone here is talking about it—that ship was incredibly bizarre—all the crew members were wiped out, except for a bunch of low-ranking shipwrights who claimed to be guided by the Emperor!"
“They all say that they were guided by the Great Emperor, that the Emperor manifested himself, and that his golden flames instantly burned all the invading warp creatures to ashes and opened a path for them to return to the real world from the warp!”
"Really an emperor? And then what?"
The person at the bar was talking, asking around as more people from all walks of life who were interested in the matter gathered.
"Then--"
"Then the adults in the court sealed off the matter, and they're probably still inside questioning people."
"Sigh, I guess it will all fizzle out again."
"Who knows? Anyway, we all know what happens when the court gets involved. Let's just pretend we didn't hear what happened earlier."
"That's true. The big shots on both sides of Badab are almost at war lately. If they recruit any mercenaries, keep an eye out for them."
"Very well, sir, the Promethean Breeze always welcomes your visit!"
......
Casca had only recently escaped from that trading ship.
In order to escape from the warp, he had no choice but to have the entire crew of the ship begin the centaur chorus that had been forgotten for millennia.
Under Casca's influence, the entire ship began chanting the Centaur Golden Ring without any instruction.
The results were naturally very significant.
—He doesn't dare to act like an emperor in any way now.
Ever since he last manifested a miracle by transforming into a dark-skinned boy and was mistaken for an emperor and chased after to worship, he has dared not approach the image of the emperor that might appear in the story (including the Roman she-wolf) in any way at the level of psychic incarnation.
His current physique, as imposing as an iron tower, is indeed well-suited to the attire of a mercenary.
As for the money, that's easy to discuss.
Before leaving, Casca used psionic flames to restore a large number of Limitless Coins from the trading ship, and to prevent the currency from becoming unusable, he also took a jar of refined promethium, which was more than enough for his travel expenses.
Casca simply ordered an "Amasek" and walked to the side, leaning against the wall to quietly savor it and observe the passing travelers. As for why he didn't order the "Second Best," it was because its ingredients came from scraps that even slaves in the mines couldn't swallow, useless moldy rat skins, or other household garbage that he wouldn't even dare to imagine.
Unlike the other guys who didn't know anything about the ingredients, Kaska, now empowered by psychic energy, could tell a lot at a glance.
His psionic flames could instantly restore these things to their original state, although Kasgar didn't want to do so.
Knowledge can also be a curse.
"The leaders of the Red Scorpion and Mantis Warriors are about to encounter an accident."
Casca's complexion was not good.
He knew that this peace negotiation was about to break down—according to information from Casca, the negotiations were ultimately interfered with by some unknown third party, and in the ensuing melee, the leaders of both sides, Odiz and Saltak, were killed.
Both sides' fleets suffered heavy losses in this battle.
This event was known to the Loyal Chapter as the "Sorrowful Betrayal," and they vowed to avenge their lost Chapter Leader and brothers in arms.
Huron, however, insisted that he had been framed—clearly, others wanted to frame them, which led to the tragic betrayal, and that not only did the leader of the Red Scorpion Chapter die, but the chapter leader of the Mantis Warriors also perished in the battle.
They are innocent!
But no matter how they declare their innocence in this battle, the two sides, already burdened with deep-seated hatred, cannot easily put aside their feud and talk about peace again.
The Badab Wars will henceforth be a vicious cycle of hatred, leading to a mutually destructive outcome.
"We must prevent the [Tragic Betrayal] from happening."
Kaska murmured to himself.
If it were a matter of forcibly breaking in and rescuing the two through sheer strength, using psychic teleportation to escape, Kasgar was confident he could do it.
But he has not yet figured out a way to resolve this issue without attracting the attention of the court.
He has now been placed under close scrutiny by the court due to his two miraculous appearances.
All the inquisitors in this sector are looking for someone who can wield golden-red flames.
Moreover, simply rescuing the two chapter commanders is not enough.
Kaska must seize this opportunity to find the guy lurking in the shadows, preparing to sabotage the negotiations and force Wang Xiulun into a corner.
—Although it is definitely chaotic.
Primarchs are powerful, but in the Void Sea Battle, even Primarch-level beings cannot directly confront a Macro Cannon Light Spear or a Whirlwind Torpedo.
To win this battle decisively, we need to deploy a sufficiently powerful fleet to intervene.
Casca chose to stay in the tavern.
Even in the era of 40K, such places are still good for recruiting talent.
He wants to recruit soldiers and horses here.
But... how could someone with the strength to participate in the Badab Wars now be hanging around in a small tavern like this?
After listening to everyone's conversations for hours by the wall, Casca could only helplessly admit that the quality of the visitors was indeed not high.
"...However, if you want a job with a higher survival rate, you can find a merchant group two streets to the right of the gate. They are recruiting mercenary bodyguards to prevent pirates from boarding and plundering their ships."
"pirate?"
Kasga feigned surprise and walked over with concern to inquire.
“That’s right! It’s pirates. Right now, the Human Empire and the Tyrant (Wang Xiulun) are arguing fiercely. As long as the pirates know how to avoid the main fleet of the Human Empire, the other side will not have time to care about these small fry. After all, important matters are more important.”
"But sir, you shouldn't underestimate those pirates—they are actually quite capable, and their fleet is also quite powerful—it's just that at this critical juncture, they dare not make any big moves."
The Badab sector is located near the Maelstrom, which is also the most rampant gathering place for pirates in the entire galaxy.
Due to the natural geographical advantage of the Great Whirlpool, the pirates' power naturally grew stronger (including the later Red Pirates).
However, due to the tense situation of the war, they only robbed a portion of the money and left after taking it.
The pirates also knew that it was time to quit while they were ahead.
If they dare to jump out and fire indiscriminately again, and happen to cut off the supplies of those adults one day... then we'll have to watch how the Inquisitor transforms into the Lord of the Night.
"My lord, with your size and strength... you would be a suitable candidate."
"Even if they fail to save their weapons and surrender, the pirates will most likely not kill them all."
"When you're in the world, you're just navigating it."
As he spoke, the guy looked at the Limit Coin in Casca's hand and gave him a knowing look.
......
At the desk of the special envoy of the Human Union Investigative Tribunal.
Jerome Serks, one of the leaders of the War of the Badab in the Empire of Man, serves as an envoy of the Inquisition.
As a disciple of the legendary demon killer Inquisitor Faust, he has always harbored a deep hatred for traitorous Space Marines and indeed all Space Marines: in his view, the Space Marines were the culprits of the Great Rebellion and the root cause of the Empire's decline.
What surprised him even more was the message he had just received.
A ship that had been lost in the subspace has successfully returned.
The surviving crew members insist that it was the Emperor's salvation.
According to the testimonies of existing crew members, they encountered some kind of evil sorcery during the warp storm, which killed everyone except them with a plague.
But just as they were about to be wiped out, golden-red flames...
The typist beside the judge transcribed the contents of the message word by word.
...It seems that after that, everyone on the ship became a staunch believer in the Emperor.
[Furthermore, we have also collected what appears to be footage of the Emperor's apparition...]
His servo skull on his shoulder spoke in a broken, electronic voice.
"Um......"
After examining the situation carefully, Jerome Serkis immediately drew a conclusion based on his extensive combat experience.
"This must be the corruption of chaos."
"...It must be completely eradicated."
"Block the news and eliminate everyone who knows about this. Don't delay."
Chapter 217 Kaska Wants to Become the Pirate King
The courtroom must not show even the slightest leniency.
Since the Great Rebellion, it was precisely the lack of a certain intelligence and surveillance organization throughout the empire that ultimately led to the tragedy of the Great Rebellion.
Faced with this situation, the Emperor appointed the Sealholder, Makador, to gather a group of outstanding and virtuous individuals to find and eliminate traitors, aliens, demons, warlords, and ambitious individuals lurking within the Empire. These individuals would act as secret guardians, protecting the Empire from internal and external conspiracies and exercising the power of judgment.
By order of the Emperor, a group called the "Ranger Knights" was formed at the call of the Imperial Chancellor, Macado, and it was the prototype of the Inquisition.
Although the influence of Chaos has almost subsided over the past ten thousand years, most matters can be handled by the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of the Interior. The Inquisition no longer needs to travel to various worlds to issue extermination orders as it did in the original timeline.
But traitors like Abaddon and Space Marines and pirates continue to harass various parts of the world, alien forces within the Empire continue to invade planets, and countless undercurrents are always surging within the human forces—for example, both sides in the Badab War actually believe they are on the right side.
At this point, the Tribunal, which is most loyal to the Emperor, must step in to determine which side is right.
They must be wary of any power within the Empire and have oversight of all organizations within the Empire, because everything could be a conspiracy by alien or Chaos traitors.
Apart from the Imperial Guard.
—Even the Imperial Guard.
As for the Badab Sector, Chapter Master Ruft Huron of the Star Claws insisted that he could not afford the tithe of the Mechanicus...
The special envoy from the court, Judge Jerome Serkis, after consulting numerous ancient historical texts, decided to grant Wang Hulun a just trial.
"death penalty!"
One of the two distinctive features of the court is that it begins with the death penalty.
According to Judge Serks, Great Astartesism was the root cause of the great rebellion and corruption in the empire!
Without these people insisting that they were the creators of the Great Crusade, looking down on other mortals, and valuing the bond between brothers in battle more than loyalty to the Emperor... the Great Rebellion would never have happened!