I Am Loyal!

The atmosphere between the two parties was tense to the extreme.

Steward Veil stared with wide eyes at the machine gunners wearing unknown combat suits. He had never seen this model of armour, but he could be certain that these people were definitely not Space Marines; the style of the combat suits differed far too much from power armour.

Power armour was a precious, scarce, and important combat material for most chapters, and was even treated as a holy relic. Making such large-scale modifications to power armour was in itself a sacrilegious act.

"Gao Yi! What is the meaning of the people around you? I can assure you that these people are definitely not from the ship, and the personnel report of those who boarded the ship with you absolutely does not contain the existence of these people!"

Veil looked nervously at Gao Yi and the others, the muzzle of the gun in his hand still aimed at the machine gunners.

"These are my warriors. Instead of asking me to explain first, you had better explain why these Chaos Cultists attacked me! They could even easily reach the place where the most important trade warrant of the dynasty is stored.

Looking at the attire of this group of people, they should come from the Lower Deck, right? How many layers of checkpoints do you have to pass through from the lower levels to get here? Surely you cannot not know? They even have lasguns. I am a candidate for Rogue Trader; can I understand this as someone in this ship intentionally wanting me to die? If I hadn't brought my own guards, I would definitely be dead! Maybe even the trade warrant would have been destroyed!

As the steward, aren't you derelict in your duty?"

Faced with Gao Yi's questioning, Veil also had a massive headache.

Looking at the corpses all over the ground, he certainly knew the severity of this matter. The thugs' weapons were obviously smuggled to them by someone. Autoguns could perhaps be cobbled together by hand? But laspistols—relying on the crude equipment in the hands of the laborers below, the magazines alone were not something they could handle.

The defense facilities outside the hall where the trade warrant was stored had also failed for unknown reasons. Not only here, but the entire warship had almost fallen into chaos. Because of the importance of the trade warrant, he had rushed here first.

Except for Gao Yi, all three dynasty candidates who boarded the ship had died, the acoustic array master had been assassinated, the warship's engines had been damaged, and the crew of the Lower Deck had rioted and were engaging in battle with the crew of this warship. What Veil found most unacceptable was that the current Rogue Trader, Ludwig, had also gone missing, with no word on whether he was alive or dead.

Looking at Gao Yi before him, he had to accept a fact: if the worst-case scenario happened and Lord Ludwig was already dead, then the Gao Yi before him was the only person on the entire ship qualified to inherit the position of Rogue Trader.

Looking at the silently brooding Veil, Gao Yi took the lead in asking, "Tell me, what happened to this warship? Did Chaos Corruption happen? All these thugs I took down show signs of Warp Corruption!"

"Some problems have indeed occurred within the ship, Lord Gao Yi. Before explaining the situation to you, you and your warriors who appeared from goodness knows where must submit to an inspection. This is simply too abnormal. As the steward, I must be responsible for everyone. I need to ensure that you have not been affected by any influence of the Warp. Please temporarily lower your weapons!"

After pondering for a moment, Veil said to Gao Yi.

"I'm sorry, Veil, lowering weapons is out of the question. I cannot guarantee that the people among you are not in cahoots with them. If you want to inspect and verify, call the people here to do it before the holy trade warrant. The purity seals and anti-psyker devices here can also ensure the safety of each of us."

"Fine. Sailor Dris, go call the confessor and the navigator here!"

"I'm going right now, my lord!"

Watching Dris leave again by taking the elevator, Gao Yi whispered to Damon at his side.

"Anyone who fires on us first, counterattack immediately!" Having just experienced an assassination, Gao Yi looked at everyone with extreme caution.

"Rest assured, my creator. Before we die, you will not suffer any harm."

"Call me commander from now on! It sounds awkward otherwise."

Both sides remained wary of each other. About twenty minutes later, Dris brought a woman wearing priest robes and with tightly closed eyes to this place.

Veil walked up to the priest.

"Father Kaira, please confirm whether Lord Gao Yi still maintains his faith in the Emperor."

Father Kaira walked up to Gao Yi, holding a silver box in his hand.

"This is a reliquary containing the bones of a martyr. The remains of pious believers coupled with the long-term, unremitting prayers of the Emperor's devout believers give it the ability to identify heretics."

"My loyalty to the Emperor stands the test!"

"Many people say that. I have served on this warship for decades, and many people who claimed to be steadfast have abandoned their faith in the Emperor at some unknown time. My job is to identify those whose faith is not steadfast; I hope you too can pass the test."

Kaira muttered prayers to the Emperor, carefully opening the reliquary. When the ashes stored inside were revealed, Gao Yi distinctly felt a magical force.

Kaira carefully took out a portion of the ashes and scattered them over Gao Yi and the crowd of machine gunners.

Yet no abnormality occurred.

Everyone who saw this scene breathed a sigh of relief.

"Steward Veil, the martyr's ashes show no reaction at all, which at least indicates that Lord Gao Yi has not suffered from Chaos Corruption at this time."

Veil nodded and looked toward the Navigator.

Aside from astropaths, navigators were also among the few legitimate psykers on the warship.

"Eunice, please carefully check whether Lord Gao Yi and his warriors have been affected by the Warp."

Hearing Veil's words, Eunice opened her tightly closed eyes.

"I thought you couldn't see..."

"Lord Gao Yi perhaps has never contacted a navigator of my kind before. Closing my eyes allows me to perceive more information. The Emperor's light guides us to see things in the Warp that others cannot; you do not need to be afraid."

"I am not afraid. Of course I know the diversity of navigators. You play a crucial role in the Imperium, and I thank you for your contribution."

"Thank you for the praise. Then let us begin!"

Eunice placed her hands on her chest, making an Aquila Gesture, and then obvious Warp reactions gathered at her brow.

People without psyker talent could not see it, but Gao Yi saw a deep eye appear on her forehead.

That belonged to the Navigator's third eye.

That eye swept carefully over Gao Yi's entire body and looked him up and down, attempting to find the slightest trace of a clue from him.

Yet no matter how hard Eunice tried, she could not find even a trace of suspicion, nor even the slightest reaction from the Warp. She even felt that Gao Yi was faintly swallowing the surrounding Warp energy like a black hole.

Weirdly enough, humanity was also considered a psyker race. Except for some special beings like Sisters of Silence, everyone else more or less had some connection to the Warp. Eunice had never seen the legendary Sisters of Silence, but Gao Yi's performance at this moment was very similar.

As she kept her third eye open for a long time, Eunice also felt the strain.

"Hoo... Praise the Emperor... I have not sensed any trace of Warp power from Lord Gao Yi and his warriors. In fact, they are even purer than us... Perhaps he is a special existence."

Hearing what Eunice and Kaira said, Veil's nervous tension also eased. No matter how these soldiers had come aboard the ship, at least they were not lackeys of Chaos.

"Since Lord Gao Yi and your warriors have passed the test, please accompany me to the Bridge. The warship's situation is terrible... We need someone with the orthodox bloodline of the dynasty to preside over the situation."

"Terrible? How terrible?"

"Terrible to the point that we might be trapped in the Warp forever..."

"Ah?"

Hearing this, Gao Yi knew that the predicament just now was merely a trifle; the real difficulties were waiting for him there.

What warship trapped in the Warp ever had a few good endings? Most were devoured by demons and beasts of the Warp.

Or perhaps they were forcibly corrupted by Chaos. He was certainly not the Imperium's Five-Star Grand Admiral Spear.

"Good... Take me there!"