Chapter 161 Night Talk and Mushroom Planting by Holding a Candle
"The palace?"
Nicholas fell into his own memories. It was obvious that there were too many things worth remembering in this place that occupied most of his life.
Whether it's participating in the selection process with his twin brothers when he left home as a young boy, or struggling to find his own path in the throne room.
Whether it is the cold wind and lonely bonfire in the blood game on the plateau, or the guard duty outside the Tower of Hegemony year after year.
Compared with his life after becoming Hand of the Emperor, the memories of his childhood in a noble family seemed so frivolous.
Whenever Nicholas recalls it, he has an unreal feeling, except for his brother...
But brother? He also forgot what he looked like and didn't even remember his name.
Whenever he touched this place in the memory that stretched like a ribbon, the sharp fracture on it seemed like someone had cut it with a sword, causing his whole body to suffer.
Is a broken soul like him worthy of wearing this sacred golden armor?
He asked Trajan more than once to his superior, the commander of the imperial army who first confirmed his qualifications.
And the latter's answer always puzzled him:
"The power you contain is something I never knew. Since the Emperor has chosen you, please believe in the Emperor when you don't believe in yourself."
When the answer to a question is too simple, it may also mean that the solution process is painful.
Nicholas led a team through the palace more than once. When he saw the palace that really belonged to the owner from a distance, he also thought:
If he was lucky enough to be on duty in that hall one day, would he not be able to help but go overboard and ask that person about the meaning of his existence?
There is no answer to this question for the time being, and now that he is getting further and further away from the palace, it becomes even more impossible to talk about it.
"What are you thinking about?"
Calvin's voice seemed to have traveled through time, pulling him away from his memories.
"I'm trying to organize my thoughts to describe to you the splendor and greatness there."
Nicholas lowered his head and missed Calvin's gaze, answering the other party's question.
His expression could not be seen under the gilded helmet, but the atmosphere in the air made Calvin know that he had touched some memories of the royal messenger.
He had no intention of pursuing her, so he did not continue the topic.
The conversation with this Custodian was less a matter of curiosity than a sort of inquiry into their existence.
Determine your own attitude towards them by exploring their role in many key moments in the Empire's fortunes over the past eight thousand years.
It's a pity that these closest blood relatives are well hidden. From the many materials in the imperial history, Calvin can only get a glimpse of them through occasional words.
"What do you think of this pollution?"
The inquiries hidden in the daily communication were fruitless, so Calvin decided to change the subject and turn their attention to the matter at hand.
"It's hard to confirm the significance. It's more of an accident than a conspiracy."
Nicholas replied after a brief thought.
This was also Calvin's idea, because he really couldn't understand the strategic value of contaminating Necromunda.
But if we regard it as an accident, it can be explained.
After all, if it hadn't been for this accident, the ship carrying the disease and pollution would have left the Eye of the Moon and arrived on the moon above Terra. That would be the truly terrifying future.
But could this disease really cause any serious damage to Terra?
Calvin is not very optimistic, so this should be just one part of countless conspiracies against the empire, and other plans and infiltrations should still be hidden in the darkness.
Calvin has reached a similar conclusion within the Gray Knights, and a warning to Terra has been solemnly raised in the direction of the home planet Titan.
Everything Calvin can do here has been done, and the only thing left is to return to the Storm Star Territory to deal with the source of pollution in Orps.
"It's been such a troubled time..."
Calvin sighed as he looked at the information about the war in Orpheus that had lasted for nearly a hundred years.
The Storm Star Territory itself was one of the Empire's main battlefields against aliens, and Orps was supposed to be the stable rear on this battlefield.
But now, it is not only the invasion of orcs and pirates that has caused the imperial army to retreat again and again on the front centered on Orps, but also Chaos has a foot in it. The originally complicated situation here is really confusing. Headache.
Calvin shook his head. Under the dim candlelight, the portrait of the emperor behind him was still sacred and noble. Beside the large desk, the only figures of the two were once again engaged in preparations...
On the thirtieth day of the subspace voyage, the return fleet headed by the Indomitable Will arrived at the Fedman System in a dusty journey.
Elder Richelieu, who was already well prepared, did not disappoint Calvin. The Supreme Decree and the two full-scale Gray Knight strike detachments coming from nearby for support, a total of forty people, were already on standby, just waiting for his arrival.
The war was urgent, and Calvin was unable to stay longer.
After leaving the Purifiers on Titan II, Calvin, who transferred to the battleship High Order, took a battleship, a small fleet of four strike cruisers, a total of 102 Gray Knights (including members of the Honor Guard), and the entire court. The 2 million soldiers of the Dalos Army on active duty disappeared again at Manzeville Point in the Federman System.
The fleet's goal for this jump will be directly towards their destination - Orps.
War is like a fiery earth vein. While nourishing the growth of civilization, it also licks the foundation of civilization like a flame.
If the former can be controlled, the growth of civilization will be even more powerful driven by a predatory economy;
The opposite is not true. The flaming invasion of the former will fundamentally challenge the survival of civilization. The latter will exert all its potential to maintain its own continuation under this threat.
Countless ships shuttled between planets in the empty space of Orpheus. Under the special system of wartime economy, the star ports between worlds were extremely busy after putting aside the pursuit of profit.
Large and small transport ships set out from the industrial worlds of various star systems like schools of fish, and finally gathered at the star port of the star sector capital, and then headed towards the war zone at the edge of the star sector in the distance.
This was the first scene that Calvin's fleet saw outside the planet Amara, the capital of Orpheus, after breaking out of the subspace.
The fleets passing by were frightened by the sudden appearance of these warships, but after hesitating for a long time but still not receiving the star port alert, they knew that the reinforcements belonged to their own forces and continued their mission calmly.
This is obviously not the first time they have seen warships from other regions coming to support.
With the average life expectancy in the empire's hives being less than 36 years old, the war that lasted for more than three generations has permanently engraved certain events into the hearts of these people, forming a unique customs and customs.
Calvin was not in a hurry to communicate with the battlefield ahead. After all, the mission of him and his fleet was not to fight aliens.
After communicating with the representatives of the local Tribunal to confirm their authority, these behemoths with completely different livery from previous warships began to float quietly in the orbit of Amara, the capital of the sector.
The huge Inquisition logo on the battleship is so dazzling that even civilian observation equipment on the ground can easily identify it.
The stationing of these lead-gray battleships was very unusual, making the big shots on the planet feel uneasy as they were worried about the frontline war and also under the influence of the Inquisition's consistently good reputation internally.
Communication with the star port has been completed, and the new theater communication authority and enemy-friendly situation map have been transmitted.
In the background of the fleet's quiet standby, is the fact that the Inquisition's intelligence agents lurking throughout the sector have been activated.
Countless pieces of information, big and small, collected by personnel sent here before and after the start of the Orpheus War were compiled by representatives of the Tribunal and sent to the fleet in space.
The crew members on the fleet are also working intensively, trying to find the truly valuable part from these inextricable and mostly unrelated information.
After the final intelligence information from the Tribunal was completed, and with the support of this information, Calvin and his subordinates began to patrol the entire Orpheus sky with their scrutinizing eyes.
There are no abnormalities in the edge sector, and the Drusilan sub-sector behind is obviously not the problem;
Excluding the direction of Hessennebra in the direction of the front line, Calvin finally set his sights on Karakol, which is only one star system away from the capital Amara:
Since ten years ago, there has been no feedback from Tribunal personnel.
At first, the Tribunal thought it was due to the transfer and recruitment of regional personnel.
The forced recruitment of regional intelligence personnel to lose contact is not a new thing here, so it has not attracted their attention.
But under the premise that the Holy Hammer Order has followed the clues all the way, the unusual "silence" here seems extremely dazzling.
The subsequent data from Terra also confirmed some of Calvin's conjectures:
The merchant ship carrying the pollution did come to Karakol after tracing its route.
"This is it."
As Calvin's order was issued, the fleet, which had been hovering over Amara for a whole week, left without any warning as it came.
They didn't even tell anyone where they were going, but the local big shots chose to turn a blind eye and remain silent after hearing about it.
"Just leave, just leave..."
The local governor and the indigenous nobles in the parliament temporarily put aside their support for the front line and their fights with each other to celebrate the departure of Calvin and others.
Little did they know that the Tribunal behind them had turned its stern gaze on them. Once the war was over, the verdict belonging to these empire bugs would come as promised, within a minute or a second.
The jump of the fleet continues.
Among the five channels leading from Amara to the outside world, the one leading to Caracol left. In just three days, Calvin could already see the figure of Abelin, the first galaxy under the jurisdiction of this sub-sector.
The gravitational environment of the universe here is extremely special, and the gravitational trajectory of the galaxy here is a manifestation of some kind of dynamics:
Pulled by Karakol, a star with a mass of 30,000 times that of the sun, the stars of the three galaxies in the entire Karakol sub-star region are orbiting Karakol itself at a distance.
On the same spatial coordinates, depending on the time of arrival, the galaxy you are waiting to arrive at will also be different.
But none of this could attract Calvin's attention. Calvin, who had just escaped from the subspace voyage, looked at the green aura that was almost overflowing across the entire Abelin galaxy and instantly knew:
The pollution here is almost irreversible.
Extermination order, yes, in this case, there is no need to explore and save the ground.
Even if the Nurgle demons on the surface are wiped out, it is too late. The pollution here has penetrated deep into the core of the earth, making all attempts at purification futile. Even if tens of thousands of years pass, the pollution here will not fade away. .
Calvin had no choice but to completely purify it.
This is not the first time that Calvin has seen this kind of weapon, but it is definitely the first time that Calvin has initiated it in his own name.
When the fleet set off, it was time for the over-allocated cyclone torpedoes to come into play at the suggestion of Elder Richelieu.
The three inhabited planets in the entire Ebelin system all shined with the unique flares of cyclone torpedoes under the targeted release of the strike cruisers.
"In the name of the Emperor! In the name of the Holy Hammer Order of the Holy Inquisition of the Human Empire! I, High Gray Knight Calvin, announce the final purification of the three worlds of the Amberlin System! I hereby sign the declaration of these worlds Death certificate! Billions of souls, both good and evil, have been destroyed! May the Emperor forgive our sins..."
Calvin's firm voice echoed through the entire fleet's clear code broadcast throughout the Abelin galaxy, letting the humans who may still exist on the three planets in this galaxy know that their final salvation has arrived, and this painful period Life is about to be liberated.
As the three planets were completely melted under the attack of the double-stage cyclone torpedo, the purification mission here was temporarily coming to an end.
But Calvin did not take it easy. His frown reminded everyone on the Supreme Decree;
In the three galaxies under the entire Karakol sub-sector, this is just the beginning.
In the following days, Calvin's fleet "visited" the remaining two star systems under the Karakol sub-sector.
Under Calvin's auspices, the fleet left a total of three "mushrooms" in the two systems to prove its goodwill.
By this time, all six cyclone torpedoes in Calvin's hand had been used up, but there were still residues of chaos pollution inside Caracol.
This serious situation was something Calvin faced like never before, but he had no choice.
After dispatching the last fleet macrogun strike force, Calvin faced the last world of Kalava in the starry sky and chose to deal with it personally.
There are signs that the Nurgle sect now active here is the spreader of this disaster and the source of pollution.
Calvin deliberately left them for last processing, just to retain these people and then judge them one by one with his own hands.
Passing through the already deserted galaxy defense system in orbit, Calvin and the Gray Knights under his command sailed toward the surface in thunderhawks as dense as rain.
These angels, deliberately created by the Emperor to punish demons, will use their actions to prove to those filthy things from the subspace:
The verdict of their sinful lives is late but coming.
Two in one, updated, please vote. In addition, we warmly celebrate the handicapped author who manages to maintain an average of 4,000 per day for a whole month. It is really a historic progress...