Return to Manros

The Ragefang prepared to enter Warp travel status.

During the preparations, Vengar's four ships arrived to port and starboard of the Ragefang. There was no communication, and Vengar himself did not board the Ragefang as he had during the fight against the Flesh God.

Another ship then arrived, delivering some "cargo" into the Ragefang's hangar deck before departing.

The cargo consisted of one hundred Chaos Space Marines who worshipped the Blood God.

"The Navigator's Sanctuary... can Onaas navigate normally?"

"I went to see her. She said she'd pull herself together and guarantee this navigation mission."

Lu Jin and Kao entered the hangar deck side-by-side, spotting the hundred Blood God worshippers at the same time.

These hundred Space Marines were all clad in crimson armor, adorned with strings of skulls. Judging by their size, some were Space Marine skulls, and others were from mortals.

"Onaas was terrified after seeing that psyker blow his own head off," Lu Jin said. "But thankfully, she can still navigate..."

After accepting Huron's mission, Lu Jin had gone to see Onaas once.

But Onaas still refused to see anyone.

Then came the preparation phase for Warp travel. With no other options, they had asked Kao and his sister, Carly, to go inquire.

From the results Kao obtained, Onaas had at least recovered somewhat.

"She's still just a young girl, after all," Kao sighed, shaking his head. "Her family sent her here with her parents. When the Inquisitor ambushed us, her parents were cut in half, and she watched... If she hadn't awakened her psionics and opened her third eye then, we would have all died at that Inquisitor's hands."

Lu Jin paused, stunned, and looked at Kao.

Onaas had never mentioned this before. He had assumed she was simply sent to be a navigator and hadn't disembarked during the Inquisitor's ambush...

With a sigh, Lu Jin then walked towards the Chaos Space Marines.

The latter stood in a tight formation.

They were not World Eaters, merely Space Marines who worshipped the Blood God, so they lacked the Butcher's Nails.

Still, Lu Jin felt he needed to discipline them.

"On my ship, my rules apply."

Lu Jin stopped, facing the Space Marines.

The hangar bay began to seal off, but the sound of the massive hangar doors slowly closing did not drown out Lu Jin's voice.

"First, you will stay where we designate, which is this hangar."

"Second, you are not to kill any crew members or Astartes."

The men listened intently as Lu Jin spoke, having been drawn to him by his feat of fighting three opponents alone in the arena.

However, indiscriminate slaughter of mortals had become their habit. Even though they had heard Lu Jin cared about mortals, they couldn't help but want to protest.

"We've never followed rules like that!" one Chaos Space Marine roared.

Lu Jin approached the dissenter.

He was now 2.3 meters tall, allowing him to look any Space Marine in the eye.

"Then tell me directly, how can we follow them?" Lu Jin asked.

"Let us or yourself shed some blood," the Space Marine replied.

These worshippers of the Blood God were drawn to Lu Jin, but that didn't mean they would obey their idol's commands or discipline like loyal hounds. On the contrary, the more famous Lu Jin became, the more they wanted to challenge him.

"Then come," Lu Jin reached behind his back.

His battle axe was drawn from behind him and swung in a fluid motion, shattering a chain axe and simultaneously decapitating three Chaos Space Marines.

It took less than a second for the three corpses to kneel in perfect unison.

The death of their comrades did not instill hatred in these Blood God followers. Instead, they screamed and cheered, excited by their companions' demise.

"Now we're willing to follow the rules!"

"Only the strong can make the rules!"

"..."

Lu Jin placed his battle axe back behind him. "Anyone among you who wishes to break the rules, come find me first. I will take your head and sever your delusions of breaking the rules from their source."

Another round of cheers erupted.

Kao had observed the entire scene and inwardly affirmed Ninos's brother's insightful judgment, especially when it came to selecting people.

There was one thing Kao couldn't understand: how could a mortal... Lu Jin's augmentation had failed, after all... how could he, after only a few days in the Chapter, grasp the temperaments of different Chaos Space Marines and devise the optimal response strategy?

He could only describe Lu Jin as a genius, as if he had been yanked out of the womb with one hand raised and the other on his chest, telling those who delivered him and his mother: "Take me to the Fierce Angels, don't waste my time, OK?"

Amidst the cheers, the Ragefang entered the Warp.

Onaas guided the Warp travel normally, without any errors.

Lu Jin returned to Kao's side, and together they began to patrol the entire ship, ensuring no one was driven mad by the supernatural phenomena during Warp travel.

"Actually, we were very worried you wouldn't want to be Chapter Master. Your attitude back then confirmed our concerns..."

Kao suddenly said.

"I really don't want to."

Lu Jin looked helpless.

"It's not that I dislike you, nor am I being ungrateful, but I'm just worried that being a Chapter Master will force me to do things I don't want to do."

"Like working for Huron... it's predictable that after I repay his favor, he'll make us continue working for him, and he definitely has the means to do so."

After a week of travel, the fleet, including the Savage Fangs, entered Imperium space and arrived in the Manros system.

Vengar remained silent. Lu Jin, on the command deck, was happy for them to keep quiet and began planning how to obtain the power armor Huron wanted.

Following conventional thinking, the obvious choice would be to directly attack this Imperial world and steal the armor.

However, Lu Jin recalled that when they annihilated the Botulism Gang, Manros had proactively offered to trade, indicating that this Imperial world was one of "unwavering faith."

Therefore, there would naturally be better ways to obtain the armor.

While he was contemplating, a transport ship capable of landing and taking off from the planet in the Manros system sailed near the fleet and requested communication.

After the communication request was granted, the face of a middle-aged man appeared before Lu Jin.

"What is it?" the man asked, hands behind his back, looking nonchalant, showing no vigilance towards the "Chaos enemy." "Are you here to buy supplies, or information? You represent the Lord of the Maelstrom, right? I have some intelligence regarding the Imperium's military..."

"We are here to acquire a set of armor," Lu Jin instructed the communications officer to send an image of a "Red Butcher" Terminator.

After viewing the image, the man's face showed confusion, and he then said, "I don't know where this armor is, but if it exists, I'll definitely help you get it... as long as the price is right."

The man raised his right hand and rubbed his index, middle, and thumb together.

"I happen to want to trade with Manros as well," Lu Jin suddenly thought of his plan. "My ship has enough weapons and equipment. Do you have enough reserves of food and a smart person who can find this armor?"

"Warp storms have cut off the transport routes, and Manros is currently starving... Don't misunderstand, I'm not saying it's impossible to get, but the price will be higher."

A cunning glint flashed in the man's eyes, and his tone was flippant yet confident.

Lu Jin hesitated before nodding.

"Looks like we have a big customer," the man turned and ordered his slaves, "Same as usual, set up a market at the spire of the hive city, and then invite these guests to the governor's mansion."

"Respected sir," the man said, looking back at Lu Jin and bowing with a gesture, "Would you and the other distinguished guests honor us with your presence at the governor's mansion?"

Manros was a hive world with a population of twelve billion.

Normally, a hive world wouldn't have so few people, but Manros only had one relatively small hive city, with limited population capacity.

Lu Jin, the Fierce Angels, Carly, and several hundred crew members boarded a transport plane to the hive city spire.

Hive worlds shared a common trait: the higher you were from the ground, the better the air, the more resources, and the higher the social status of the residents.

The transport plane landed on a helipad in a garden within the governor's mansion.

As soon as Lu Jin stepped off the transport plane, the first thing he saw was a magnificent Emperor statue, about a hundred meters tall, standing in the center of the garden.

The armor and sword of the magnificent statue were forged from gold.

However, Lu Jin noticed something strange about the statue: its eyes were tightly closed.

Slaves approached and guided the guests to the reception hall of the governor's mansion.

As Lu Jin walked along, he noticed various symbols of Ecclesiarchy faith along the way, such as the Emperor statues and portraits, all with their eyes closed.

Recalling his time as a loader slave, the Emperor he saw then had his eyes open.

But he wasn't an Ecclesiarchy missionary, so Lu Jin didn't dwell on it and proceeded into the reception hall.

The Governor of Manros had prepared a grand feast to entertain these distinguished guests from the Maelstrom who could bring benefits to Manros.

Everyone was guided to their seats by slaves.

The seats were arranged in a circle, with guests on the left and local nobles on the right. Lu Jin and the Governor sat together.

Everything ran like a pre-programmed routine, orderly and efficient. It was clear that Manros had hosted guests like this countless times.

Therefore, the Governor didn't engage in much small talk. This beautiful, white-haired middle-aged woman sat upright, not even glancing at the guests, waiting for the banquet to officially begin.

It wasn't until after they were seated that the performers for the banquet entered the reception hall.

Various exotic beasts native to Manros were brought to the center of the seating area and began performing circus-like acts.

Lu Jin observed the exotic beasts... They were similar to the creatures on Terra, or Earth, but in this era, they could be considered ancient creatures.

Roosters, seals, dogs... The characteristic of these ancient creatures was their large size; even a rooster was as big as an adult human.

"You seem different from those common heretic Space Marines," the Governor raised his wine glass. "You fought for the Imperium before, which Chapter?"

"Fierce Angels," Lu Jin raised his wine glass in return, then set it down without drinking.

Kao took a sip and complained, "This wine tastes like a person who has been traveling for a day and a night wearing cotton clothes, and finally gets to rest, sitting by the campfire and taking out their underwear and socks to dry... The two smells are exactly the same."

Lu Jin thought Kao had quite a way with words.

The Governor ignored Kao's negative review of the local wine, drained his glass, and murmured, "Ah, Fierce Angels... My grandfather seems to have met you."

"Our primary purpose here is still for this suit of armor." Lu Jin took out a picture of the Red Butcher armor. "Please help us find it."

The Governor leaned in to examine it, moving closer and closer to Lu Jin. After taking a deep breath, she looked at Lu Jin with hazy eyes. "I know where that armor is. What are you willing to give to get it?"

At this moment, Carly walked over. "Chapter Master, a child on the ship has fallen ill, and there's no doctor on board. If the medical standards on Manros..."

"Send my personal physician to treat the child," the Governor said, turning to the slave behind her.

After issuing the order, the Governor lazily rested her chin on Lu Jin's arm. "Continue."

"Just as my people will trade weapons and equipment for food here, I will naturally trade weapons and equipment for that suit of armor," Lu Jin replied.

"You're a rather rigid man," the Governor said with a smile. "Then let's conduct normal trade."

She then issued several more commands in succession.

The crew members Lu Jin brought down were escorted by noble guards out of the audience hall to trade at the spire market.

The sick child and his mother had also come down with Lu Jin and were taken by the Governor's slaves for treatment.

The entertainment for the banquet changed. The circus ended, and the ancient creatures, only seen in Earth's ancient era, were all taken away.

Carly stood behind Lu Jin the entire time, staring at the ancient creatures for a long while.

Even after the creatures were led behind the curtain at the back of the audience hall, Carly continued to stare at them until their figures completely disappeared.

Just then, the rooster walking at the very back turned and glanced at Carly.

Carly froze.

She had never felt so many emotions from an animal's eyes... fear, hope, confusion...

When no one else was looking at Carly, she glanced around and silently followed the ancient creatures.

The animals were led away by their handlers and stopped behind the curtain.

The handler heard the sound of vehicles and walked out to direct the transport vehicles for the animals to stop at the back door of the audience hall.

Carly walked over.

The animals were just lying on the ground, not noticing her, except for the rooster.

As Carly approached, the rooster's eyes widened, filled with terror.

It pecked frantically at the ground, its beak breaking apart, its mouth full of blood.

However, this was not an animal gone mad, because Carly discovered that after the rooster had drawn blood, it was writing a word on the ground—"Run."

"You... you're human..." Carly took a deep breath, her face as pale as snow.

The rooster raised its head and looked behind Carly.

Carly sensed something and abruptly turned her head, seeing a Space Marine.

Not a Fierce Angel, but a Space Marine from a Chapter she couldn't name, clad in black armor.

"Shh." The Space Marine covered Carly's mouth. He only released her after she slowly stopped struggling.

The Space Marine stepped over Carly and went outside the back door.

One hundred fully armed Space Marines holding Bolters stood in a neat formation.

The handler who had just run out to direct the vehicles looked bewildered because when he had run out, it was the Angels of the God-Emperor who had disembarked from the vehicles.