The Adamantium Ore Dispute (3k)

Lucretius Corvo did not answer Karyl Lohars's question immediately.

He understands politics well, and his understanding of Adamantium is limited but sufficient. He also understands war well; in fact, he was born for war. Politics and urban planning were things he learned later in life. In his early years as Astartes, he was a living machine, acting solely for killing.

He knew a lot, but he knew absolutely nothing about Karyl Lohars.

He knew his name, he knew his identity, but what else?

I know absolutely nothing about it.

Looking into those calm eyes, Corvo was momentarily at a loss for words. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that this question needed to be treated with utmost care.

The silence lasted for a full two minutes. Hollow echoes reverberated from the far end of the dark corridor. The pipes inside the walls of the Nightfall rumbled, and the machines operated steadily, doing their usual work without wavering or hesitation, maintaining absolute rationality.

They are rational because they lack intellect.

The idea flashed through Corvo's mind, and the next second, Karyl Lohars slowly spoke, interrupting Corvo's tense and orderly thinking.

His voice remained calm as always, and although he was much taller than Corvo, his manner of speaking did not appear arrogant.

"Don't worry about it too much, Corvo. I just asked a question," he said calmly. "You don't have to think about it with political undertones, nor do you have to be overly cautious. Like I said, it's just a question."

"A question that could involve many things, Instructor Karyl."

"So you're going to take a strictly businesslike approach? Well then, Company Commander Lucretius Corvo—let's take this seriously. You've already read the documents, haven't you?"

"Yes," Corvo replied seriously. "I have a general understanding of Nostramo's Adamantium production, and frankly, I can hardly believe it."

"What can't be believed?"

"."

Lucretius Corvo's first instinct was to lie—he didn't want to tell the truth, which was often unpleasant to hear and easily angered people. At the same time, he was also annoyed by the very sentence he had just blurted out.

However, looking into those dark and calm eyes, he simply couldn't convince himself to lie.

The eyes he was meeting were empty, except for an almost unbearable calm. This calm, like a sharp knife, pierced his heart, meticulously searching for traces of lies within.

If you want your heart wound to heal, you'd better tell the truth.

Corvo clenched his fists.

"I can't believe that a cursed planet like Nostramo could have such rich deposits of Adamantium," he said in a deep voice.

"That's true."

Karyl smiled gently, the almost indifferent calm from before vanishing without a trace. "This is indeed hard to believe, even hard to understand. And if you ask me, I would say it's like an accumulation of misfortunes."

"I don't understand what you mean," Corvo replied curtly.

He truly didn't understand.

"The instructor is the limit of my tolerance, Company Commander Korvo."

The smile on Karyl's face vanished in an instant.

"So, let's not use honorifics anymore; I respect you."

Corvo was stunned. His common sense made it difficult to connect respect with not using honorifics—according to human common sense, he believed that if you respect someone, you should address them with honorifics.

Before he could answer, Karyl had already changed the subject.

"An accumulation of misfortunes."

As he spoke, Karyl calmly shook his head.

"Let me preface this by saying, Company Commander Corvo, you can take what I'm about to say as a not-so-funny joke."

"After all, my personal sense of humor has always been terrible."

He grinned, a smile unlike any he had ever given before, one that was extremely threatening, like having a spinning Chainsword slowly brought closer to your neck, suffocating you.

"To me, Nostramo's enormous Adamantium production seems like a form of revenge for the accumulated misfortunes of the unjustly killed."

Don't you think that's ironic?

"This planet treated its people cruelly, and its unremembered people retaliated with the minerals formed from their blood and lives, over-exploiting it and leaving it an empty shell." Karyl chuckled and asked.

"."

Lucretius Corvo didn't know how to answer. He knew that the birth of Adamantium had nothing to do with blood or human lives.

To be fair, Karyl Lohars told the joke in a rather mild tone, almost like casual conversation. But Corvo didn't find it funny at all; in fact, he felt as if a heavy weight was pressing down on his spine, making it hard to breathe.

Suddenly, he remembered being buried under the rubble of a collapsed building during a battle. Even with the protection of his Power Armour, he would never call it a pleasant experience.

The heaviness at this moment was even greater than that of the massive building that had collapsed.

"Looks like I really don't have a good sense of humor." Karyl shook his head. "That joke wasn't funny, was it?"

"I don't think that's a joke, Instructor Karyl."

"No for you. No for me either. But for some people on Nostramo, yes."

"Those so-called nobles?"

"They are nobles," Karyl corrected.

"I'd love to deny it, but I can't deny the objective facts, Corvo. No matter how much we despise, loathe, or even hate them, they are nobles. They have been for a long time. And nobility has always been a hereditary system, hasn't it?"

"So—" he gestured. "—Power and authority are indeed a poison."

Lucretius Corvo's eye twitched. How could he not hear the veiled warning? But after a brief silence, what welled up in his heart was not retreat, but a kind of indignant anger that was almost maniacal.

"Your implication is completely unreasonable!" He frowned, uttering the sharpest words with the calmest tone he had ever spoken. "We would never do what you imagine!"

A calm gaze, once again.

At this moment, for Corvo, Karyl Lohars's expressionless face when silent was a terrifying threat.

He didn't know why he had this thought, but an instinct rising from the depths of his bones told him not to look away.

He met her gaze.

Half a minute later, Karyl smiled.

"Then, I apologize," he said gently and sincerely. "I hope you can forgive me, Company Commander Lucretius Corvo."

"Do you always do this?" Corvo replied in a gruff voice, a hint of vengefulness in his voice. "Such probing is simply unbearable."

"Testing the waters. That's an interesting way to put it. I wouldn't call it testing the waters. Actually, we were just chatting, weren't we?"

Karyl winked at him. "Who can deny this was just small talk? I was just joking."

"If anyone can laugh at that joke, I'll question their morality."

Karyl chuckled and shook his head.

"Then let's get down to business," he said softly. "You should be able to tell that we have no intention of hiding anything about Nostramo's Adamantium reserves, Lucretius, don't you?"

"That's true, but I don't understand what it means."

"You understand," Karyl smiled slightly. "A completely tax-free trade route—of course you understand what I'm talking about, Lucretius."

"This matter is of great importance, and I'm afraid I cannot make a decision on my own."

Lucretius Corvo cautiously licked his lips—he wouldn't hide his desire; there was no need to.

To say that anyone doesn't need Adamantium is a complete lie. Who wouldn't need it? Warship keels, Titan skeletons—who could do without it? But precisely because of this, he must be extremely careful.

Nostramo is not an ordinary trading planet; it is Primarch homeworld of Konrad Curze Curze, and according to tradition, it will become a recruitment ground for the Eighth Legion in the future.

From this point onward, any trade with Nostramo is no longer a simple commercial transaction.

And

"Establishing a trade route between Macragge and [the region] could take years, Karyl."

He said cautiously, "The distance between Nostramo and Macragge isn't actually that far in the grand scheme of the Imperium. Besides, I don't have the authority to handle this matter."

"I understand—this is something that the Lord of Macragge should decide."

"Understanding nature is the best."

Corvo finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Given the current situation, the best-case scenario is that we return to Macragge in five years and bring this message back. Alternatively, we can have the next logistics fleet that comes to resupply carry the message back. In any case, this matter will take time, just like Adamantium needs time to be mined, won't it?"

"In fact, Lucretius, we have already stockpiled a considerable amount of Adamantium ore," Karyl said noncommittally. "And today's conversation wasn't entirely of my own volition."

Lucretius Corvo frowned sharply.

"Yes, that's exactly what you think." Karyl nodded gently. "I was ordered by Konrad Curze Curze, Lord of the Eighth Legion, to come and discuss this matter with you."

He chuckled softly, seemingly making another joke unintentionally, but looking into those eyes, Corvo knew he wasn't.

Yes, he didn't.

One or two more chapters.