The Judge Is Human Too

After eliminating the fleet surrounding Omicron 2, Gao Yi immediately ordered his own fleet to close in.

Leaving the battlefield behind, the Golden Ram began approaching the orbit of Omicron.

Even from orbit, the devastation across the entire planet was visible to the naked eye.

Omicron was an agricultural world with a land-to-sea ratio of four to six. There were no hive cities piercing the skies here; the tallest structures were merely mechanical installations used for weather control.

Originally, Omicron possessed an indigenous primitive species that was still in the Stone Age. However, after the Mongert Dynasty discovered the planet was suited to become an agri-world, they completely purged the native race.

Nor should anyone imagine that an agricultural world was any better off than an imperial hive world.

Even for the imperial serfs on an agri-world, eating well was impossible; simply eating enough was already considered the greatest privilege.

Fresh meat and vegetables had nothing to do with these bottom-tier laborers.

Transport ships would ship these expensive products away in exchange for greater profits.

Furthermore, the lifespans of the local serfs tended to be extremely short. Large quantities of plant-growth fertilizers were continuously sprayed across the world by transport planes, along with countless chemical agents. As long as the crops grew faster and more abundantly, the working environment of those laborers was never taken into consideration.

Even the earth itself was polluted, and only crops that had undergone genetic screening could be produced under such harsh conditions.

At this moment, the farmland covering the planet's surface had been destructively harvested, and the shantytowns beside the fields where the laborers lived were reduced to little more than broken walls and rubble.

The palace where the planetary governor had lived was replaced by a massive crater, clearly the result of orbital bombardment from warships!

According to captured crew members, Canto had subjected the planet to destructive looting after destroying the majority of the planetary defense fleet.

The crops in the warehouses were hauled away, buildings were destroyed, and the remaining crops on the planet were harvested with reckless abandon. Such activities had lasted for a full month, and the plunder was not limited to food alone—a massive population was seized as well.

Despite the vast population of the Warhammer universe, human lives remained a precious commodity. To certain worlds, population could even be paid as tithes. Canto had never intended to occupy the planet; he planned to strike and run like a pirate.

Damn bastards! Activate the scanning equipment, locate all survivors, and initiate disaster relief!

Gao Yi had originally thought he would reclaim the first planet that rightfully belonged to him, only to be met with a complete mess.

Shuttles descended toward the planet's surface. Canto could not possibly have killed everyone; quite a few survivors must have gone into hiding.

While waiting for the report on the planet's condition, Gao Yi prepared to head to the Tyrant to inspect the captured tech-priest of the Dark Mechanicus.

Just as Gao Yi and Inquisitor Ian were about to board the shuttle, Pavian and a group of surviving tech-priests hurried forward.

"Captain! Please take us with you. I can feel the pain of the Tyrant's machine spirit, and perhaps we can soothe them!"

Gao Yi looked at the group of tech-priests who had found a new faith and did not refuse. He could sense that some sort of connection had formed between himself and these priests.

"Then come along!"

Upon entering the Tyrant, led by Damon, the group arrived at the corrupted forge workshop.

The once-sacred forge workshop had been defiled by Chaos.

Slender crane armatures, along with the steel and cables inside the workshop, were transformed into an eerie fusion of metal and flesh.

Although the pungent smell of sulfur had dissipated somewhat, it remained acrid.

Workbenches were even strewn with dissected corpses, their bodies stuffed with various blasphemous constructs. A warp furnace providing energy for the forge fiend continued to burn, and even mortals without psionic talent could seemingly hear the agonized wails of the souls trapped within.

"The Dark Mechanicus." Ian also recognized these things. In the archives of the Inquisition, even within the Expansion Zone, quite a few forge worlds had fallen into the embrace of the Dark Gods, and purging such worlds usually required a heavy price.

"It's fortunate that you eliminated them. Otherwise, once the corruption spread and the Suarez Dynasty was utterly tainted, it might have required mobilizing several fleets to completely eradicate it, and countless loyalists would have died for it."

Meanwhile, Pavian and the other tech-priests walked in of their own accord.

They lit holy incense, sprinkled holy water, and—ignoring the sickening mutations on the machinery—anointed them with holy oils.

Under the rituals performed by these priests, the scent of sulfur permeating the workshop faded, and the faintly radiating warp energy was suppressed.

"These tech-priests—why haven't I heard the prayers they're chanting? What is the Holy Machine?"

"Don't make a fuss, Inquisitor Ian. Even within the borders of the Empire, the factions within the Adeptus Mechanicus are as numerous as the stars, let alone out in the Expansion Zone, not to mention the Ecclesiarchy as well. They worship different saints and spread the glory of the God-Emperor in their names across the Expansion Zone."

Observing the performance of Pavian and his fellow priests, Gao Yi realized that this group of priests seemed to have acquired some special abilities. While enabling more efficient communication with machine spirits, it also seemingly carried some of his own capability to purify warp energy.

Their method of utilizing this ability was the ritual of soothing the machine spirit.

The psionic crystals that Gao Yi had been slowly accumulating served as the best proof.

And it had to be said that Gao Yi's gains this time were several times greater than even his previous hauls. The corrupted code, the forge fiend, and the forge workshop about to be purified—all these combined harvests were enough for him to construct a heavy factory and a starport. The Yamato-class was beckoning to him!

Guided by Damon once again, Gao Yi stepped onto the warship's bridge. The corpses on the floor had not yet been cleared away. Norris had once more vanished into the ship like a ghost, leaving only Gao Yi and Damon aware of his brilliant combat record.

Gao Yi walked over to Canto's corpse. The laser-punctuated hole through his forehead had nearly destroyed his entire face; if Norris hadn't witnessed his death with his own eyes, Gao Yi would have found it rather troublesome to verify his identity.

Ian also walked up to the body.

He sensed the mechanical augmentations on Canto's person. Although the man was already dead, traces of the warp still faintly lingered.

"A desecrator, turning his back on the Great God-Emperor to choose those Dark Gods—he can consider himself lucky. Otherwise, he would have undoubtedly suffered the Inquisition's most horrific punishments."

"Ian, to thank you for persuading those warships to surrender earlier, I'll gift this achievement to you. I imagine disposing of a corrupted rogue trader should also help you secure quite a bit of influence within the Inquisition?"

"You're simply giving this credit away to me for free?"

"The Inquisition wouldn't give me any reward for taking him down anyway. You helped me, so I'll help you. As rogue traders, isn't mutual transactions what we value most? And nothing is more pleasing than a mutually beneficial deal."

Although Ian did not say it directly aloud, he was genuinely tempted. Inquisitors were no saints; they enjoyed comforts, harbored desires for power, and even feared death. If he could become a higher-ranking inquisitor, why not?

Countless inquisitors within the Empire fell to corruption each year driven by private desires and various temptations.

Aside from a few religious fanatics, everyone pursued their own interests.