Nimrod's Demand

After one standard hour, Nimrod returned and listened to Howard's allocation plan.

"My King, among all the factories awaiting allocation, House Szymanski's pharmaceutical industry is the largest in scale."

"House Kournikova operates in the chemical industry and was previously involved in Potions as well. Its average annual output is approximately fifty-two thousand doses."

"Considering industrial relevance and integration time, House Szymanski's assets should be handed over to House Kournikova."

"..."

After hearing the allocation plan, Nimrod nodded in satisfaction.

"Very good. Proceed according to your plan. Send messages to each House immediately."

"You are a true Arbites. Return to see me in one standard hour."

"Arbites?"

Howard asked in confusion. Wasn't that the title used for the administrators of the Lower Hive Domes?

"You will find out shortly."

"As you command, my King."

After Howard withdrew, he descended to the twelfth level, arrived at the court chancellor's office, and activated the communicator.

"Count Howard, I am carrying out my King's orders. What are his instructions?"

"Countess Yelena, congratulations. My King has decided to place House Szymanski's pharmaceutical industry under your management. Send people to take it over immediately."

Howard restrained his envy and spoke in his usual tone.

"Really?"

Yelena's excited voice came through the communication channel.

"Of course it is true."

Howard understood her surprise. Every noble knew that relying solely on the workers of the Khanty-Mansi Dome, taking over House Boleslaw's massive holdings was already the limit.

But overcoming the human weakness of greed was another matter entirely. The former king had been unable to do it; his greed had known no end.

"Praise my King! My King is wise!"

After that, Howard continuously heard nobles from the great Houses praising Nimrod.

[My King had already won the people's hearts and gained a firm foothold in Tezwork.

Of course, the most important thing was still the power he possessed.]

His deep blue eyes brimmed with longing. As his thoughts wandered, the timer's beeping reminder sounded. He immediately straightened his formal attire and hurried toward the palace.

At the same time, within the Kingdom of Disorder, Nimrod tossed the gavel into the furnace.

Golden light bloomed, the furnace crackled, and a golden gelatinous potion slowly took shape.

He scooped up the Arbites potion. His decision to have Howard follow the Justiciar pathway was not merely because the materials currently at hand could only brew this particular potion.

It was also because, although Howard's loyalty met Nimrod's minimum requirements, it still fell short of Bukayo's and Rawlslev's.

The Justiciar pathway was an adjacent pathway to the Black Emperor pathway!

Some pathways could be switched between relatively safely; they all belonged to the same Source Essence.

The Kingdom of Disorder corresponded to the Black Emperor and Justiciar pathways. Once he unlocked its authority, he, as the holder of the Source Essence, would exert significant influence over Beyonders of the Justiciar pathway.

Both the Black Emperor and Justiciar pathways produced Beyonders he could control after advancing to a Great Old One.

After returning to the real world, Nimrod walked up to Howard and opened his palm.

"Drink it!"

Howard looked at the golden gelatinous medicine in the bottle before him, and a flicker of fear passed through his eyes.

[*Poison? Impossible! If my King wanted to kill me, it would be as easy as crushing an ant.

Could this be the gift Rawlslev mentioned?*]

Knowing he had no choice at all, Howard took the potion, gritted his teeth, and tilted his head back to gulp it down.

After teaching Howard a meditation method to contain the potion's overflowing power, Nimrod instructed him.

"That is all. Meditate regularly from now on, and serve well as an Arbites. Then you will be able to control the power I have bestowed upon you."

Only then did Howard understand the meaning of a gift. Only an existence as great as the Omnissiah could grant him power through such a miraculous method.

He looked at Nimrod excitedly. "As you command, my lord!"

"Vostonia's arbitration system is not bad. It balances the nobles and the Adeptus Mechanicus, but it is still not perfect."

"My lord, what do you mean?"

If Nimrod wished to rule as a dictator, Howard had no doubt that he could do so.

"Arbitration as it exists now is balance. True arbitration is the maintenance of order."

Seeing that Howard seemed to grasp something, Nimrod continued.

"The technology of Mars has flooded into Vostonia, rapidly industrializing this world."

"But what about those in the Lower Hive, even the Underhive? They never see hope in their entire lives. They live in a daze, fighting, killing, and betraying one another over a single meal."

"I believe you should have seen, from the path of my rise, the power contained within the people of the Lower Hive."

Howard suddenly understood, and light flickered in his azure eyes.

"You mean that once the people of the Lower Hive see hope, they will burst with initiative, work hard, improve production efficiency, and thus increase output."

"Yes, but it is not merely that. You will understand in time."

Chaos was still unknown to the people of Vostonia, so Nimrod did not explain further.

He thought of what another gene Primarch, Roboute Guilliman, would say to Dante after awakening more than ten thousand years later.

Just as Guilliman had said, only by giving people better living conditions could a clear boundary be drawn between loyalty and betrayal, allowing them to understand exactly what they were fighting for.

Through his own experiences, Nimrod understood what a single meal meant to those in the Lower Hive.

He also truly understood the question Guilliman had posed to Dante: when a great enemy came, what reason would someone living in a cruel hell have to reject temptation?

Even if the uneducated masses at the bottom of society personally listened to Ecclesiarchy Chaplains preach grand principles, they would not accept them. They only knew the oldest and simplest truth: without food, they would die. Whoever fed them was their god.

Since the Black Emperor was to establish his own order, it would begin now. He lacked the ability to change humanity as a whole, but he could begin by changing his home.

Nimrod wanted to build a prosperous world with immense potential for development. This would be the initial version of his realm.

"I want you to go to the Khanty-Mansi Dome and use the equipment already there, along with the system I previously established, to build an entirely new Dome."

"I will assign you a worker team. You may draw upon my previous system, or recruit personnel from the surrounding Domes."

"I hope you will learn how to be an Arbites and learn how to establish a new order."

Nimrod emphasized his words. "The order I want is not one where you hand out charity to the people at the bottom, but one that provides them with a system through which they can eat their fill and live like human beings through effort and contribution!"

"This system can be used in every Hive City, every Lower Hive, and every Dome!"

Howard's brows drew tightly together at this.

If Nimrod had merely asked him to build a developed Dome, House Finde's wealth could easily accomplish that.

But what Nimrod wanted was for all of Vostonia. Even if every noble in the Tezwork Upper Hive went bankrupt, it could not be done, let alone when the other Houses would never agree.

Seeing Howard sink into deep thought, Nimrod decided to broaden his thinking.

"Do not let the doctrines of the Adeptus Mechanicus bind you. Technology is merely a tool. I want you to establish a wholly new order."

"You may set a qualification standard. Workers who meet their quotas receive a standard share, while outstanding workers may go to the Upper Hive for work."

"New factories can be built in the Upper Hive, which may even become a Mid Hive. Hive Spires can be demolished to establish new Upper Hives, and new Hive Spires can be built above them."

Howard's eyes suddenly lit up, and he spoke with complete confidence.

"As you wish, my lord."

"Make good use of the power I bestowed upon you."

At those words, Howard's deep blue eyes shone brightly, and he said with complete confidence.

"I will not disappoint you."

"Now, take me to your House's treasury."

"My lord, please follow me."