The Grain Crisis

Seeing Ian's tacit approval, Gao Yi knew it was settled. He had no desire to be a puppet or a tool for the high-ranking Inquisitors. He needed to develop his own network of connections and win over those he deemed worthy.

With the system in his grasp, Gao Yi had no intention of remaining a mere Rogue Trader forever. Given time to develop, he was destined to rise, and his Dynasty would not be confined to the handful of planets he currently held.

His nearest major goal was to forge the Expansion Zone into a star domain rivaling—or even surpassing—the Five Hundred Worlds of Ultramar.

The Imperium's borders were already claimed. Attempting such an expansion within Imperial space would invite opposition from both powerful xenos and the Imperium itself, stymieing him at every turn. The Kronus Expansion Zone, however, was a perfect place.

The enemies here were far weaker.

And while rules existed, there was also ample freedom. The explored regions alone contained tens of thousands of worlds, and the unexplored territories were countless.

Most importantly, entering the Expansion Zone from the Imperium almost always required passing through the Warp route known as the Great Maw.

Any threat from within the Imperium would first have to survive that trial. Once Gao Yi's pocket domain in Koronus was established, he could hold the Mandeville Point near the Wrath Nebula to block his enemies—a natural fortress granting him an immense advantage.

It would let him strike or retreat at will.

By now, Zesta, reduced to a Mechanicus Thrall, was under the watch of a full squad of Rangers. After witnessing the bizarre Forge Fiend, no one underestimated him even in his utterly helpless state, wary of any tricks he might pull.

Seeing Gao Yi and Ian approach in their fine attire, Zesta still ranted.

He cursed fervently in binary. Even without understanding, Gao Yi knew it was nothing pleasant.

But no matter how Gao Yi questioned him, Zesta refused to answer in Gothic.

This forced Gao Yi to summon Pavian from the Purification Workshop.

Pavian came to Zesta's side and pulled back his robe. The once pristine red Tech-Priest's robe was tattered and stained with dried blood—blood from the innocent. Beneath it lay a body twisted by heretical technology.

"What blasphemous tech," Pavian said.

Hearing this, Zesta finally stopped cursing.

He sneered at Pavian's level of modification.

"An ordinary Tech-Priest? You have no idea how to wield knowledge. Technology should never be restricted! The decaying Imperium destroys and seals away knowledge, limits its spread, and kills those who seek truth. Vashtor is the true Machine God!"

"Didn't you still fail? Didn't you hear the Machine Spirit's wails? The daemon devoured the sacred Machine Spirit and twisted its perfect body into that blasphemous form. You are the one in the wrong. The Holy Machine is the true guardian of machinery—it protects us, soothes and heals the Machine Spirit."

"The Holy Machine? What is that?"

"You are unworthy to know. All you need to understand is that your blasphemous tech is insignificant before Him. It is He who shields us from your Corrupted Code's invasion."

"An ordinary Tech-Priest withstood the Corrupted Code's corrosion? Impossible!"

The argument seemed endless. Gao Yi stepped in to stop Pavian.

"Enough talk with these devotees of the Dark Gods. Translate for me. I want to know what they did in my world."

But faced with the question, Zesta said nothing. He feared no physical torment. By cutting off his sensory components, his nearly fully mechanical body could ignore any torture.

Seeing Zesta's stubbornness, Gao Yi was momentarily at a loss.

"Perhaps I could try?" Ian offered.

"Oh? Inquisitor Ian, do you have a solution?"

"He can ignore physical pain, but what about his soul? As an Inquisitor, I've encountered countless cultists with abilities like his."

"Inquisitor Ian, you seem to know quite a bit."

"Just a little. In the Expansion Zone, we face so many enemies of humanity. To protect the Imperium, we must learn more. Interrogation is a required course for every Inquisitor."

Ian looked at Zesta and smiled faintly.

"Then I'll leave it to you."

"Consider this my small token of thanks."

Soon, the crew provided Ian with some empty cabins. Before long, agonized screams echoed from within.

Ian was using his psychic power to tear at Zesta's soul, probing the deepest secrets of his mind.

While waiting for Ian's interrogation results, Gao Yi listened to the battle report.

The Golden Ram's armored deck had sustained some damage, with multiple decks breached by the enemy's macro-cannons. Fortunately, the SCVs made repairs manageable. The Sword Rain and Vanguard also suffered varying degrees of damage, but their technological edge allowed them to outfight or outrun the enemy frigates.

What troubled Gao Yi most was the personnel loss. In this battle, the naval soldiers across the three ships had lost over three thousand. The marines who boarded the enemy vessel were nearly wiped out—barely one in ten survived. The rest died repelling enemy boarding parties and bombardments.

The Shipworkers also took heavy losses. Several enemy assault craft had punched into the Lower Deck, killing every Shipworker in sight before reinforcements arrived.

If not for the Rangers' swift response, the losses would have been even greater. Human life was terrifyingly fragile in ship-to-ship combat.

The worst loss, however, was the devastation on Omiron.

Omiron had once held over a hundred million people. After a month of Canto's fleet's destructive raids and plundering, nearly sixty percent were dead or taken. The remaining population made it nearly impossible to restore Omiron's output.

"Captain," Veil said with a bitter smile. "They've emptied all the food stores. If they've been doing this for a month, we're facing a major food shortage too."

"We have a food problem too?"

"We stocked plenty before departure, but what about the forty million on Omiron? You said to do our best to save them, but feeding forty million people requires an enormous amount of food. If Omiron were still functioning, it wouldn't be an issue. But now... we simply can't manage.

If not for the survivors from the Corpse Guild on Omiron turning the dead into Corpse Starch, the death toll would be even higher. We even found signs of cannibalism among some survivors.

My suggestion is to abandon these survivors, conserve our own ship's food, and head for Agathos as quickly as possible. Only by retaking the Capital World can we rebuild this agricultural world."

"So we're supposed to watch these people starve?"

"I'm afraid so, Captain."

This chapter suddenly went missing, so I have to repost it. Sorry, everyone. I'm asking the editor to help reorder it.