For His Sacred Majesty, Please Drain This Cup

"What's going on? What happened?" Someone bursting into flames at the Planetary Governor's banquet was no small matter.

The elite of the Defense Force quickly appeared, sealing off the area immediately.

"Planetary Governor, we don't know what happened. Baron Sukov had just invited me to his manor to admire his newly acquired paintings. After taking a sip of wine, he felt unwell, and then he burst into flames. Golden flames erupted from his mouth and body." A nobleman who had been in contact with the spontaneously combusted Baron was brought before Chen Xi. Though seemingly frightened, he clearly described what he had seen.

Listening to the nobleman's explanation, Chen Xi frowned. He walked to the burning nobleman's side, examining his condition and the wine glass that had rolled to the side, sensing something was amiss.

He picked up the glass, which still contained some wine, apparently the new vintage.

Chen Xi looked at Rachel beside him and said, "Go and invite Magos Ovilia over. I need her help."

The scene before him made it difficult for Chen Xi to make an effective judgment. After all, he had only heard of cases where someone was burned to ashes without damaging their clothes in urban legends from the 3K era.

These were usually related to urban legends like spontaneous human combustion and ball lightning, rarely used as an assassination method.

If it was poison, it was clearly too potent, directly incinerating the person. If the goal was simply to kill, there was no need to go to such extremes.

It was less like poison and more like promethium had been splashed on him.

Moreover, the golden flames triggered certain associations in Chen Xi's mind.

Having also been invited to the banquet, Ovilia was quickly summoned. Chen Xi explained the situation, handed her the wine glass, and asked her to analyze it.

"It's not poison. I didn't detect any other substance residue in the glass, just wine," Ovilia said, showing interest in the matter. She carefully examined the glass and the remaining wine, concluding that everything was normal.

"Then, Magos Ovilia, did you detect any Psyker residue?" Chen Xi began to suspect whether it was the effect of a psychic power.

This wasn't a wild guess, as psychic powers could indeed accomplish such things.

However, Ovilia looked at Chen Xi strangely and asked him with confusion, "You're a Psyker yourself. Can't you sense whether anyone has used psychic powers here? Why don't you just divine it instead of asking me?"

Hearing this, Chen Xi realized his mistake. But since this possibility had been ruled out, the range of possibilities narrowed considerably.

"Are there any Adeptus Ministorum priests present?" Chen Xi looked at the crowd. Although he had sent people to invite Adeptus Ministorum clergy, he didn't see any in his line of sight.

Soon, however, an Adeptus Ministorum priest appeared before Chen Xi.

"Apologies, Planetary Governor. The Bishop has a mass to preside over today and specifically ordered me to come in his stead." The priest explained to Chen Xi, then asked what he needed him to do.

"This poor nobleman has returned to the Golden Throne. Would it be possible to offer a prayer to the Emperor for him?" Chen Xi didn't explain his intentions, simply inviting the priest to pray for the deceased nobleman.

This was understandable and seemed like a perfectly normal request to everyone. Only Gutierrez, standing beside Chen Xi, seemed to understand, but he said nothing, watching the priest approach the pile of clothes and offer a prayer to the Emperor.

However, as the Emperor's litanies were chanted, something began to emit a faint golden light, and the golden flames reappeared on the spontaneously combusted nobleman, attracting everyone's attention.

Chen Xi didn't focus on the charred corpse that had reignited but carefully watched the wine glass in his hand.

In the glass he was using for observation, the crimson wine was emitting a faint golden glow, appearing full of divine aura.

"It seems your deduction was correct. So, what's with this guy?" Gutierrez also noticed the change in the wine glass in Chen Xi's hand and asked him.

"To be burned like this, he's most likely a Heretic. Strip off his clothes and check, see if we can find any evidence," Chen Xi said, then poured the golden-glowing wine in the glass into his mouth.

"Lord Governor, what's going on?" As Chamberlain, Rachel naturally wanted to understand what was happening to reassure the panicked nobles.

"The new wine is brewed by the Sacred Sisters of the Order of the Sacred Rose themselves. From the planting, growing, and harvesting of the grapes to the entire winemaking process, the Sisters sing hymns while they work, bathing the grapes in sacred songs, imbuing the wine with the Emperor's power." As Chen Xi spoke, he raised his wine glass demonstratively, allowing those around him to see the golden light in his glass.

Although it was faint, it was very conspicuous under everyone's gaze, especially since the wine glasses in their own hands also had a golden shimmer.

"Then this self-combusting nobleman is..." The crowd clearly guessed something.

"A blasphemous Heretic, ignited by the Emperor's power," Chen Xi said disdainfully, while ordering Rachel, "My Chamberlain, send people to search his family's estate. I think there should be additional gains."

"Yes, Planetary Governor." Rachel hurriedly summoned the Defense Force soldiers and ordered them to search the estate of the self-combusting nobleman.

With such an incident at the banquet, the crowd clearly wasn't in the mood to continue. But Chen Xi didn't say anything, so the nobles naturally couldn't leave, and could only remain in the banquet hall, gathering in small groups and whispering to each other.

At this point, the priest, who had understood the whole story, walked up to Chen Xi, gave him an Aquila Salute, and asked, "Respected Planetary Governor, is this wine truly, as you say, the cause of this nobleman's self-combustion?"

"The wine isn't the key. The Emperor's power within the wine is the key," Chen Xi said, looking at the priest, a slight smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.

"The Emperor's power envelops each and every one of us, and you have allowed this power to gather in the new wine. Any Heretic would be unable to drink this wine blessed by the Emperor." The priest said, taking another glass of wine from a nearby servant, saluting Chen Xi, and then raising his glass, proposing to everyone, "For the Emperor, please drink your fill!"

With that, the priest drained the wine in his glass, then looked at all the nobles present.