Greenskins Arrive

Art Student also noticed Anrida's gaze, but he did not immediately give Anrida the answer he wanted. Instead, he looked at Gray in surprise and asked curiously.

"Oh, you want the Defense Force to become your auxiliary legion? Tell me your reasons."

Hearing Art Student's curious question to Gray, Anrida's mood sank. He stood there looking rather dejected.

"My lord, this time we encountered a Genestealer hybrid force numbering over a hundred thousand in the Underhive. Although we Space Marines are incredibly powerful, our numbers are simply too small. Even if we can carry out decapitation strikes against the Genestealers, we still cannot quickly eliminate all of their forces."

Gray honestly recounted the course of the battle in the Underhive.

Art Student had Gaia bring up the Space Marines' battle records, then quietly watched the entire battle by himself.

While Art Student watched the battle footage, the other administrators waited in silence.

It took Art Student more than ten minutes to finish watching the entire battle. He also noticed some of the problems Gray had raised. The Space Marines were indeed incredibly powerful, but they were still human.

If their enemies realized they could not defeat the Space Marines and scattered in all directions, then the Space Marines would have to spend a great deal of time hunting them down if they wanted to eliminate every last combatant.

Art Student pondered inwardly, With the current number of Space Marines, it is still impossible to quickly steamroll our enemies. We need large numbers of troops to cooperate with them. But with the Space Marines' strength combined with the Defense Force's massive numbers, it would not be good for the balance within the military. The Imperium's example is right before us. If a great rebellion breaks out, dealing with it will become troublesome.

After considering it again and again, Art Student turned his gaze toward Anrida and asked.

"Anrida, what does the Defense Force think?"

Hearing Art Student's question, Anrida immediately dropped to one knee, his expression solemn as he spoke.

"My lord, your words are the highest decree. Whatever you ask the Defense Force to do, we will do."

Seeing Anrida's reaction, Art Student chuckled inwardly. Naturally, he understood what Anrida was trying to say. Besides, Art Student himself did not want the military to become too dominant either. That would not benefit him.

Although even if the Space Marines rebelled, Art Student could easily deal with them, there still needed to be balance within his forces.

"Then for now, whenever there is a battle, the Defense Force will assist the Space Marines in combat. If the Space Marines make demands that do not conform to the Defense Force's operational principles, you may choose not to carry them out.

"Once the Space Marines have sufficient numbers in the future, the Defense Force can return to its own duties."

Art Student looked at Gray and Anrida as he spoke.

"My god is wise!"

Gray and Anrida saluted at the same time.

Both had obtained what they wanted. Gray gained the right to temporarily command the Defense Force in battle, while Anrida understood that Art Student would not turn the Defense Force into an auxiliary legion for the Space Marines. For now, they would only accept the Space Marines' command because the Space Marines lacked personnel.

Thus, both of them were quite pleased.

"I already said I'm not a god."

Art Student protested helplessly.

"My god is wise!"

The moment Art Student's protest left his mouth, the other administrators followed Gray and Anrida in saluting him.

"A bunch of flatterers."

Art Student could not be bothered to explain anymore. He could only wear a helpless expression, though inwardly, he was quite pleased.

At the same time, a dramatic change took place in the starry skies of the Teda Galaxy. The Rogue Trader piloted the Vagabond-class ship directly past the space dock and flew toward the other side of the star.

The Orks who had been closely pursuing it discovered new targets.

Inside the largest space hulk, in the vehicle of the Ork leader, Crooked Mouth, the commander of this fleet, looked at the space dock and the information on the three Teda Hive Worlds appearing on the warship's display.

"Boss, Boss, are we still chasing that fleeing humie? There are even more humies here!"

A boss standing beside Crooked Mouth the Big Mek looked at the information on the ship's display, then anxiously asked the leader, who seemed uncertain whether to pursue the ship or attack the Hive Worlds.

Crooked Mouth fell silent for several seconds, then glanced at the bosses under his command, who were all looking at him eagerly.

Crooked Mouth knew very well that if he continued pursuing the fleeing merchant ship, the bosses under him would lead their boys to attack the humies' Hive Worlds.

He came from the Blood Axes, so his way of thinking differed from those underlings of his who came from the Goffs.

"Attack the humies' worlds. WAAAAAAHG!"

Crooked Mouth looked at the boys eagerly watching him and let out a booming roar.

"WAAAAAAHG!"

After receiving their boss's approval, all the Greenskin boys aboard the warships roared in unison in response.

"WAAAAAAHG!"

"Fire! Fire!"

The captains aboard every warship shouted excitedly.

With their boss's approval, the entire fleet opened fire on the space dock. In an instant, the previously deep starry sky was illuminated.

"Beep! Beep!"

While Art Student was still discussing matters with his subordinates, a deafening alarm rang out across the bridge. Gray and the others looked at Art Student on the throne in surprise. In the ten-odd years since joining him, this was the first time they had heard an alarm.

"Master! The Teda Galaxy is under attack."

After the alarm sounded, Gaia's voice rang throughout the hall.

Art Student clearly knew that if the matter were something only he needed to know, Gaia would not sound an alarm on the bridge. She would only tell him quietly.

"Connect the footage to the bridge."

"Yes."

Another enormous projection appeared in the bridge hall. The scene shown was in space: the space dock in the Teda Galaxy was under attack by a large number of ramshackle warships.

The race behind these ships could be identified at a glance from their style: Orks.

Three space warships assembled from space hulks and eight asteroid ships—the entire Ork fleet consisted of eleven vessels.

These warships looked battered and ramshackle, but the lance batteries, macro cannons, and torpedoes they carried could not be underestimated. After several rounds of concentrated fire, their overwhelming firepower blasted the space dock into dust drifting through space.

Although the space dock also possessed Void Shields, its primary purpose was to resupply arriving warships. The troops stationed there were not elite forces and could not withstand the Ork fleet at all.