Vacation Arrangements

Inside the Governor's Office on Rostov's primary world, the air circulation system hummed softly, like a tireless mechanical servant, evenly spreading purified, slightly cool air throughout the room.

A distinctive scent permeated the chamber—the faint ozone produced by precision instruments at work, the dusty fragrance of ancient parchment scrolls, and the rich lingering aroma of the long-forgotten glass of "Loyalty" red wine at Chen Xi's side.

Chen Xi casually tossed the last data-slate onto the top of the mountain of documents and sank deeply back into the broad chair made of precious Katara wood and tanned grox hide.

He closed his eyes and pressed his fingers firmly against his slightly heated brow. A long sigh steeped in exhaustion silently dissolved into the room's stillness.

Even for his body, tempered by psychic refinement and biological enhancement, the continuous overload had become a heavy burden.

Deep within his mind, it felt as though countless tiny gears were shrieking in protest from excessive wear.

Outside the window, the capital of Rostov's primary world was bathed in the afterglow of dusk.

The magnificent space elevator and Orbital Ring pierced heaven and earth like spears of judgment cast down by the Emperor, throwing colossal shadows hundreds of kilometers long beneath the sinking sun.

Countless transport vessels, like swarms of worker bees obeying some deeper law, wove ceaseless trails of light between the orbital spaceports and the surface.

The glorious victory in the Medusa Sector had been like a boulder thrown into a placid lake, its ripples spreading through every corner of the Imperium at unprecedented speed.

Praise and doubt, awe and calculation, surged toward Rostov like invisible tides.

Ferrus Manus's return and Fulgrim's complete annihilation had not only reshaped the galaxy's balance of power, but also pushed Chen Xi and the Sub-sector under his rule