Great Purge?

The thing attacking the residential district was no simple creature.

Those poor victims had barely left behind intact corpses.

They had been brutally dismembered, their organs and brains missing!

Judging from the traces at the death scenes, it was some kind of beastlike monster.

Now, panic had gripped the residential district.

People were afraid, and even greater despair hung over the territory!

Ron let out a long sigh and asked Bayev, who stood waiting beside him,

"Have you found the culprit?"

"No. Those damned things were hiding too well!"

Bayev shook his head and continued,

"But we have some leads.

Several weeks ago, our agents planted in Homan House territory sent back a report. The same thing had happened there.

This attack was probably connected to the Shattered Eye cult that was rampant in their territory!"

Ron fell silent.

After the Heretic rebellion five years ago, the Upper Hive had sealed off its passageways to the outside world.

Then, under Bayev's leadership, they had launched a massive Great Purge, exterminating the Heretics.

But later, the Palatine District's control had steadily weakened, causing the Upper Hive to split apart.

Three major powers had emerged, led by the Palatine District, Homan House, and the Grey Wolf Warband.

The Palatine District's policy toward cultists within its territory was merciless execution.

Any faith unrelated to The Emperor was forbidden.

Any disloyal or blasphemous person would be judged and executed on the spot!

But the Palatine District could not interfere with matters beyond its territory.

Before long, all kinds of Heretic sects had resurged in the territories of Homan House and the Grey Wolf Warband!

The Heretics then gradually infiltrated the Palatine District's territory as well.

Fortunately, the Palatine District was tightly managed, so they only dared spread quietly along its outskirts.

Until recently, the Palatine District had fallen into a crisis of material shortages and unrest, its control weakening further.

That gave the Heretics an opening, allowing them to infiltrate inward from the outskirts.

The Heretics mingled among the populace and were difficult to identify.

They secretly conducted evil rituals, causing numerous casualties.

Members of the law enforcement teams and the Logistics Department had been killed one after another while carrying out their duties.

This had brought considerable trouble to the Palatine District.

What Ron truly had not expected was that they had actually infiltrated the vicinity of Sacred Plaza!

Would one more step take them into the Palatine District itself, or even Spire Mansion?

What angered him even more was the timing of those Heretics' appearance.

There were only a few days left until Ascension Day of the Emperor.

If the Heretics launched an attack on the day of the ceremony, it would cause enormous chaos.

Despair and Fear would sweep over everyone!

By then, all his hard work would have been wasted.

For this Ascension Day of the Emperor, Ron had invested nearly all of the Palatine District's resources. He could not afford such a failure!

He even had reason to suspect that Homan House had brought these Heretics in.

Just to sabotage the ceremony.

As for the Grey Wolf Warband?

Sorry,

those dim-witted fools were incapable of pulling off something this big.

Homan House excelled at schemes and plots. This was hardly their first time launching an attack.

This time, they had struck directly at the Palatine District's lifeline!

Ron looked at Bayev, his attitude resolute.

"We must clear out every last Heretic in the residential districts around Sacred Plaza before the ceremony!"

Bayev frowned. "Governor, we no longer have the time or manpower to investigate, identify, and deal with the Heretics."

"Think again. See if there's another way..."

Ron felt a headache coming on.

No matter what, those Heretics had to be dealt with. At such a critical time, nothing could go wrong!

Bayev frowned in thought for a moment before proposing an extremely cruel solution.

"Seal off the surrounding residential districts, declare them nests of heresy, and conduct a full purge of everyone inside! It is the fastest, least labor-intensive method, and it will not cause too much unrest."

This was undoubtedly the quickest way to solve the problem, and it was also the Imperium's usual way of thinking.

It merely required some sacrifice.

That meant nothing to the Imperium. Sacrifice was what the Imperium had in greatest supply!

One could say that the Imperium's foundations rested upon sacrifice.

The lives of a hundred thousand people were nothing. Not only would they fail to cause a ripple in the Purgatory Galaxy, they would not stir even the slightest wave on Earth Planet.

Back then, in order to pay the Imperial Tithe, Earth Planet had lost nearly ten billion lives!

"Governor, this is the best response the Palatine District can offer!"

Bayev spoke earnestly. "If those Heretics are allowed to keep spreading, they will not only sabotage the ceremony, but also trigger an even more terrifying disaster!"

It could be said that as long as Ron nodded, over a hundred thousand lives would return to the embrace of the God-Emperor.

Perhaps such a decision would have been no issue at all for other bloated, maggot-like planetary governors.

However, Ron could not accept it.

The education he had received would not allow him to commit such an act!

Those were over a hundred thousand lives, all living, breathing people!

But if they were not dealt with quickly, even more people would die.

All his plans would go up in smoke.

Only now did Ron truly understand how cheap life was in Warhammer 40K.

Before, when he heard Bayev say that tens of millions or even billions had died on Earth Planet just to pay taxes to the Imperium, he had not felt much.

He had treated it as nothing more than a story.

But when over a hundred thousand lives were truly laid before him and he had to choose, he finally felt the weight of it.

Ron somewhat understood Old Grant's pain back then.

What an impossible dilemma!

Bayev thought Ron was worried about the consequences of purging the entire residential district.

Brimming with confidence, he added,

"Please trust in my abilities. I have handled many similar incidents and have extensive experience.

I promise you that the entire purge will not affect any other residential districts.

No one will be able to escape, and no unfavorable news will spread.

Within two days, this matter will be completely settled!"

Hearing this, Ron was completely speechless.

Bayev was not wrong. He did indeed have extensive experience with purges.

But what was with that confident expression?

Did he really not see people as people at all?!

For a moment, Ron felt that those cruel rulers truly deserved to die!

They were capable of doing the most appalling things.

With such a ruthless chief steward at his side, anyone unaware of the truth might think he, the Governor, was the real villain!

Ron had the feeling that if this chief steward ever fell to Chaos, he would definitely become an important figure.

Bayev wore an expression as though he were easing Ron's concerns.

"Governor, what do you think?"

What did he think?

Was he really supposed to purge over a hundred thousand innocent people?

Even taking ten thousand steps back, these people could not die.

They were all his nourishment. He had to protect them!

Ron wanted to lose his temper and tell Bayev to get out, but he restrained himself.

After all, Bayev was merely an executor, a loyal chief steward.

No matter how many cruel atrocities he committed, the ultimate responsibility would fall upon Ron, the planetary Governor.

Of course, it would fall upon Ron Grant.

I had only transmigrated here not long ago. I could not take the blame for this.

On the contrary, Ron still had to clean up after the original owner and salvage this complete mess!

Things had returned to square one.

If he rejected Bayev's proposal, was there any other solution?