Damn trolley problem.
By this time, the wails of agony in the interrogation room had also ceased.
Ian walked out with a weary expression; channeling psychic powers had placed quite a heavy load on him, but he was still holding a special storage component in his hand.
"The souls of those who give themselves to the Dark Gods really can endure a fair bit of torture. Fortunately, he was carrying some useful things on him. I hope your Tech-Priest can decode the information inside. Though the data will be a bit fragmented, it should still be useful."
Zesta, who was heavily mechanically augmented, had even modified his brain into machinery. This actually made things convenient for Ian. After completely shattering Zesta's psychological defenses, he used the special data extractor in his hand to extract a portion of the data from inside Zesta's brain.
The cost was Zesta's complete demise, though nobody would care about his death anyway.
Pavian took the initiative to step forward and take the data storage device, coming before the Thinker.
He inserted the storage device and began decoding it, and a large amount of fragmented information also appeared on the screen.
Reading data...
Agathos...
Supplying weapons to the rebels...
End of Dawn...
Searching for the Mongert Dynasty's vault...
The information was scarce, but very crucial.
"End of Dawn... Holy shit, this thing has shown up in my territory? I remember this cult is backed by the Word Bearers, right? My Capital World isn't hiding a few space marines in cans too, is it?"
Although that Word Bearer had been easily dispatched by him in the game, he certainly didn't believe that, placed in reality, a Chaos Space Marine would be so pathetic—there might even be more than one.
It seemed the chaos on his Capital World was not just about power struggles; there was a cult stoking the flames behind the scenes.
Furthermore, this cult even had the Dark Mechanicus providing them with weapons.
In addition, the information also stated that their target was his dynasty's vault. What on earth was hidden in the vault?
"Captain Gao Yi! What did the information mention?"
"Those guys' target is my Capital World. They are secretly providing weapons to the rebels, and there's a cult called the End of Dawn fanning the flames behind the scenes."
"End of Dawn?"
"Inquisitor Ian has also heard of this cult organization?"
"I've heard of them. These cultists have popped up in many places. They believe that this world is destined to perish and that the world can only be rebuilt amidst destruction. They belong on the Inquisition's priority watchlist! No wonder our Inquisition personnel on Agathos lost contact."
Shutting down the Thinker, Gao Yi and the others returned to their flagship.
He discovered that combat seemed to be the easiest part, and cleanup work was the true test of a person. He first asked Veil if she knew what was actually inside the dynasty vault, but Veil didn't know either; only Rogue Traders were qualified to enter that place. However, what on earth could be something targeted jointly by the Word Bearers and the Dark Mechanicus?
As they arrived at Omiron, the distance to Agathos also reached the point where Astropaths could communicate normally.
Gao Yi first had the Choir of the Stars contact Jeyd at the Landing Port. Fortunately, the Warp between the two was relatively stable, allowing the information to be transmitted completely.
Yet when Jeyd heard that she had to figure out a way to scrape together the food needed for forty million people, her first reaction was that this was simply impossible...
The Landing Port itself was a place deficient in food, and wanting to gather all this food, the only way was to procure it from elsewhere.
"A Rogue Trader's demands are truly difficult indeed. Emperor protect us, food for forty million people for two months. I have to hand it to Lord Gao Yi for trusting me enough to hand this matter over to me."
Looking at the information sent by the Astropath, Jeyd felt helpless as well.
"Boss, food for forty million people—this is simply impossible to pull off! Where are we going to find this much food? We usually just sell smuggled goods. Who would have thought there'd come a day when we'd need to buy food? We don't even have the channels! And how do we transport it? Relying on that rotting transport ship of ours? It doesn't even have Warp-travel capabilities!"
Jeyd's subordinates were already trying to get Jeyd to give up. Jeyd only had a little over two hundred subordinates in total; although they were well-informed, their hard power just didn't cut it.
"No... I have no intention of giving up. Opportunity! This is an opportunity! Do you all want to spend your entire lives as rats in the Landing Port?"
"I don't want to either! I want to become someone above others, I want to be a noble lord! But who made our strength lacking?"
"That's right, we couldn't do it in the past, but now things are different..."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Did you see? Lord Gao Yi Mongert hereby announces Jeyd Hadaly as the Mongert Dynasty's representative in the Landing Port!
In the past, we merely covertly used his banner to operate, but now we are entirely justified and righteous!
Those people we weren't qualified to deal with before, we are qualified now. To slight us is to slight the Mongert Dynasty.
And most importantly, he has given us the capital to negotiate with others!
Five hundred sets of CMC Combat Suit trade quota—you should have heard about the trade between the navy, the cults, and my lord as well. You should be very clear on the value of these items; no one will have the heart to refuse.
Go! Go notify all the major powers in the Landing Port that there is big business to be done!
We are no longer criminals either; now I am also a loyal servant of the God-Emperor! The Rogue Trader's representative!"
Jeyd's words left her subordinates exceptionally excited. No one is born liking to be a criminal; if they could, they also wanted to wear gorgeous clothes, enjoy power, and fine food. If this was true, then this was a leap across social classes, and if they missed it, they might never have it again for the rest of their lives...
"Do you really trust a Landing Port gang leader?" Veil felt that Gao Yi giving such an important task to Jeyd was a bit rash. With five hundred sets of CMC, if she messed it up, the Mongert Dynasty's reputation would be ruined.
"She is no ordinary gang leader—an authentic noble descendant of the Empire, someone who came here from a distant star sector and carved out a reputation for herself. Could she be an ordinary person? I believe she can pull this off!"
"How did you find out about her background?"
"The God-Emperor told me!"
"Ah?"
"Have the Astropaths on Agathos replied?"
"They replied. But perhaps the Agathos Astropaths also suffered losses, or perhaps due to Warp interference, the information is very fragmented. There is good news and bad news."
"Let's hear the good news first..."
"The good news is that the Upper Hive and Throne District of Agathos are still in the hands of the loyalists; the hive city has not completely fallen."
"Then the bad news is that other places have already lost control?"
"I'm afraid so... I just don't know to what extent the situation has deteriorated; the Astropaths could only obtain this much information.
These short-sighted fellows! The dynasty's infighting should be limited to political struggles, yet they are creating a war! No matter what, it is a loss for the dynasty!
However, Agathos still has a certain amount of grain reserves. We must resolve the dispute as quickly as possible. If this drags on any longer, the problems will only be more severe than on Omiron. The starving population we will face won't be forty million people on Omiron, but billions!
And the problem Jeyd can help me solve is only temporary; this doesn't resolve the root issue."
"As long as it can solve the pressing emergency, that will do. Once things stabilize, SCVs can rapidly repair this world. We have high-value goods and can completely rely on trade to get through the gap period while Omiron is being repaired."
Gao Yi's plan was to recapture Agathos as soon as possible, and once he controlled his Capital World, he could also load the second game program.
Yet the current Omiron was littered with the bodies of the starved. Gao Yi discovered that before the absolute food problem was resolved, the system didn't even count him as having completed the mission...
It seemed this kind of rule required gaining the recognition of the humans on the planet and doing so under stable conditions.
"There is one more matter. Inquisitor Ian said he wants to report the possibility of cultists appearing to the Inquisition."
"No! Just say the Astropaths need rest because of prolonged astropathic communication! If they really bring an Inquisition fleet here, since it's not their own hive city, they won't feel any heartache when they fight! We can solve this ourselves!"
"I understand!"
Before you continue