Caligos Winterskell

Chapter 40: Caligos Winterskell

"Veil, first send some food supplies over to Omiron to stabilize morale. Also, tell the captains of those Sureyas ships!

The Sureyas Dynasty is finished, and everyone involved will be purged by the Inquisition, but as long as they submit to screening, aren't corrupted by Chaos, haven't sided with the enemies of humanity, and are willing to fight for me, I am willing to intercede with the Inquisition for them.

And have the Confessor Priest go to Omiron to soothe the refugees, telling them that food is already on the way...

Have people collect the bodies of the dead... to be made into nutrient blocks. At least people won't be eating each other; this should hold out for a while. It's a last resort, but we have to push through it first."

"I'll arrange for the team to depart immediately!"

"Also, select a portion of the relatively strong survivors from Omiron to make up the numbers and fill out the ship crews!"

"But if we do that, won't those who are left behind feel abandoned? It might cause riots."

"That will depend on Jie Yi. As long as her movements are fast enough, it should still be in time. Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures, and some casualties are truly unavoidable. Didn't you tell me, Veil, that a Rogue Trader cannot be too merciful? How is it that you're the one starting to consider these things?"

"Indeed so. Perhaps I've been influenced by you; you're becoming more and more like a proper Rogue Trader."

"Go do it!"

"I'll send people right away!"

Shuttle after shuttle began bringing the suitable personnel back to the warships.

And as expected, even though the priests stated in the Emperor's name that food was already on the way, the survivors still rioted.

After the soldiers ruthlessly suppressed the ringleaders, the situation eased quite a bit, but the survivors remained uneasy.

Watching a batch of strong survivors on the planet being picked up, and the warships originally docked in planetary orbit also departing, the remaining people began to fear their own unknown fate.

Gao Yi struggled to calm his anxious inner self. Every decision he made right now affected the lives and deaths of tens of thousands of people.

In the game, he could easily choose to execute some people or abandon others for the sake of a dogmatic victory. Yet once detached from the game, when these things truly happened right beside him, Gao Yi knew just how difficult it was.

He consoled himself that the choices he was making now were merely to save more lives.

"Captain! Everything is ready!"

"Target Agathos! Move out!"

A fleet twice as large as before leaped into the Warp together.

Meanwhile, back in the Landing Port, Jie Yi found that her negotiations were going even smoother than she had imagined.

Those CMC Combat Suits delivered to the navy had already been put into use and tested through actual combat. The effects brought by the combat suits in real combat were even better than the paper data; it was an all-around enhancement.

Under heavy firepower suppression, a team of a few hundred could even dish out results that previously required an entire regiment to achieve.

Moreover, the navy rarely had opportunities for ground combat.

Soon, the evaluation of the CMC Combat Suits spread among those sailors.

Everyone thought that Gao Yi's departure meant they had also lost the chance to acquire such powerful equipment.

As a result, Jie Yi in the Landing Port now claimed she had obtained authorization for 500 sets and could trade on behalf of the Rogue Trader.

This news instantly swept through the entire Landing Port.

Before Jie Yi even took the initiative to approach anyone, countless representatives actively sought her out.

Food in exchange for Power Armor? This deal was far too profitable to pass up.

Jie Yi knew she couldn't hand all the combat suits over to a single faction; only by dividing the transactions could she maximize her profits.

Kasbarika had an extremely strong desire for the combat suits. These guys were much richer than imagined, and they were willing to pay a multiple-fold premium for them.

Facing the Kasbarika criminal syndicate, Jie Yi didn't refuse, though she only brought out 30 combat suits to trade with these people in order to broaden her own network.

She knew Gao Yi wasn't someone who would obsess over details; as long as she could accomplish the task he gave her, he wouldn't care whether she made a profit from it.

However, the transaction volume stopped right there. These criminal syndicates simply lacked the capability to accomplish Lord Gao Yi's mission.

The most important part was still the navy. Seeing the power of the combat suits, they had no intention of missing the opportunity to acquire more.

They stated that they would find a way to gather a portion of the food and the required transport ships, but that only filled about a third of the gap needed for Omiron.

Although the navy had the capacity to resolve all the food and ship requirements, there wasn't enough time. They needed approvals—the Departmento Munitorum, the Departmento Munitorum... Under normal circumstances, the Empire's approval procedures were enough to drive a person mad!

They wouldn't care whether the navy needed these equipment. In the absence of an emergency war, even naval generals couldn't sway those pedantic Imperial bureaucrats. What did the Rogue Trader's lack of grain have to do with the Empire?

Needing to process countless documents of manpower daily, they simply didn't fear the navy's threats.

So what if everyone on Omiron starved to death? There were plenty of places across the entire Empire lacking food.

Think I'm slow, are you? Fine, let's see you come do it if you've got the ability!

This single sentence was enough to shut the mouths of anyone trying to pull strings. After all, these Departmento Munitorum officials of the Empire truly suffered, and people working themselves to death was a common occurrence.

The Adeptus Arbites and the Inquisition also participated in the trades, but half the gap in the food supply still remained. The time was too short, and the official factions moved too slowly!

Just as Jie Yi was pondering how to resolve the subsequent food supply, however, a bigwig also arrived at the Landing Port and sought her out.

"Respected Rogue Trader Caligos, Jeyd Hadaly greets you! May the Emperor protect you."

Looking at the brawny man before her, Jeyd Hadaly felt nervous as well.

The Rogue Trader before her, Caligos Winterskell, was one of the most powerful Rogue Traders in the Expansion Zone; he was a legendary figure in the region.

He loved combat and enjoyed hunting xenos. Under his leadership, the entire Winterskell Dynasty had become extremely bellicose. They favored evenly matched opponents, and their passion for battle even surpassed their desire for profit.

The massive dynasty fleet prowled about various uninhabited planets, extracting profits and hunting prey for the dynasty.

At the same time, Caligos was also notoriously mercurial. There were even rumors that he had used an axe to take down an enemy clad in power armour. Jeyd believed this was a rumor, but she nonetheless believed that Caligos's personal combat prowess was off the charts.

If she didn't know he was a Rogue Trader, Jeyd would have felt the man before her resembled a powerful pirate even more.

His muscular physique looked nothing like that of a typical Rogue Trader.

Caligos, who loved combat, heard rumors about the CMC Combat Suits from his informants in the Landing Port and immediately rushed over there. He was also very interested in this kind of equipment! As long as it could improve hunting efficiency, he didn't mind spending money. Failing to run into Gao Yi, he instead bumped into Jeyd, the spokesperson.

"Jeyd Hadaly, I've heard your name. Someone as pretty as you is actually so capable—you might as well come work for me."

"I'm sorry, Lord Caligos, I have already pledged my allegiance to Lord Gao Yi Mongert."

"Hmph, doesn't matter. I originally thought the Mongert Dynasty was finished, but I didn't expect them to find another heir. I suppose you know why I've come?"

"Of course. I also believe you'll definitely be interested in these combat suits. Lord Gao Yi needs food and transport ships to send these supplies to Omiron and Agathos. However, My Lord, these combat suits are not currently in stock."

"Whether they're in stock or not doesn't matter. It's just a few months' worth of food for tens of millions of people, and I have transport ships aplenty! Have the Astropath send a message to your master, telling him that I will personally transport this cargo and head to Agathos myself to collect from him!"

"You're actually going personally? Please rest assured, I will definitely inform Lord Gao Yi. I believe he is also very much looking forward to meeting you."

With that, Caligos left the room.

Seeing the man leave, Jeyd let out a sigh of relief. Dealing with such a figure carried too much psychological burden, fearing one might say the wrong thing or make a mistake. Yet given Caligos's strength, Jeyd knew that the task Gao Yi had assigned was securely within reach!