The Ecclesiarchy Submits

Huron recalled Old John's background records.

As an ordinary porter from the Underhive, Old John had displayed astonishing willpower and perseverance, standing out during the first Auxilia training program.

There had been ten "Outstanding Auxilia Representatives" at the graduation ceremony because ten were required, not because Old John was on the same level as the other nine.

Using Old John's performance as the standard, even now, few people could meet the benchmark after two months of training.

What was even more commendable was that throughout his subsequent appointments and advanced studies, Old John had continued to display astonishing perseverance and willpower, constantly surpassing his limits and leaving many Astartes Brothers in awe.

Moreover, neither the Librarian nor Huron himself, with the genuine Emperor's Gaze, had detected anything, which showed that Old John had not been corrupted by Chaos.

When faced with such outstanding talent, naturally, one had to pile on the responsibilities.

Thinking this, Huron smiled encouragingly. "Everyone has seen your performance, Old John. The Astral Claws look forward to seeing you become our Battle-Brother. This appointment is only the beginning. For now, you will serve as Odinson's deputy and learn administrative management from him. Later, we will develop the Badab System, and the burden of Badab Primus will fall upon your shoulders."

Old John was momentarily speechless. He could only silently resolve never to disappoint the Chapter Master's expectations.

"Does anyone have any other questions?" Huron swept his gaze across the hall.

No one raised a question.

The formation of this government had been discussed in advance. Every appointment at every level had been privately discussed with the individuals concerned beforehand, ensuring that no one objected.

Any problems were to be resolved in private. Otherwise, if they were brought before the assembly, they would become matters of principle.

Seeing no opposition, Huron gave the order to adjourn.

Everyone swiftly departed and went about their own business.

With five batches of Auxilia trained, the number of grassroots administrative personnel had already exceeded one hundred million.

Yet excluding the Ecclesiarchy's core districts, the Hive City's recorded population had reached around 25 billion. In particular, most Auxilia possessed limited education and lacked specialized administrative knowledge.

The Planetary Government still lacked the capacity to establish an administrative system with sufficient executive power through the Auxilia alone.

Thus, all government officials were busy addressing this problem. Fortunately, the nobles had given their full support, so it was not too serious.

The confiscated estates had yielded quite a few Intelligent Devices, including large numbers of Weak Artificial Intelligence management systems.

The nobles had squandered such gifts, using high-performance artificial intelligences as butlers. It was simply a waste of these devices.

Armenius led the Techmarines in rebooting the management systems of these artificial intelligences. Combined with a large number of high-performance personal communication devices, they built a small-scale electronic office system.

With this office system and the assistance of Weak Artificial Intelligence, the Auxilia maintained order throughout the Hive City without causing any major disturbances.

However, the entire Hive City still had many problems, the greatest of which was the Ecclesiarchy.

During the previous Underhive census, they had obstructed registrars from carrying out their duties, resulting in significant discrepancies in the actual population count.

Only after taking control of the entire Hive City did Huron realize that the Badab Ecclesiarchy truly deserved its place as one of the landholders. From the Spire to the Underhive, their properties were everywhere, and they occupied no small amount of land.

Without resolving this issue, there could be no overall planning for the Hive City, and it would severely obstruct Huron's plans to transform it.

Therefore, Huron had Damien Lux, the Master of Sanctity of the Chapter Reclusiam, take several Chaplains to have a little talk with the bishop of the Badab Ecclesiarchy.

Weren't they devout believers? Now the angels of the God-Emperor had come in person to verify just how devout they were.

And how would that be verified? Naturally, by seeing whether they obeyed the Astral Claws' call.

If they answered the call, reformed the Ecclesiarchy's organization, and submitted to the Planetary Government's rule, then they were naturally devout. If they refused the call, stubbornly resisted, and opposed the God-Emperor's angels, then the Salome Family, branded heretics, would serve as their warning.

The bishop had originally been unwilling to agree. Having worked with the Spire nobles for so long, he naturally was not clean himself.

Given the Astral Claws' current methods, even surrendering would not necessarily spare him from death.

But the Public Trial before, followed by the various tribunals afterward, had proven extremely effective. The Astral Claws had rallied believers in the name of the "God-Emperor's angels," and vast numbers of believers had joined them.

Furthermore, more than half a year of infrastructure projects had ensured that nearly every Underhiver had a full stomach. Most Ecclesiarchy believers naturally chose to trust the God-Emperor's angels.

As a result, apart from a handful of fanatics, the bishop could not even gather anyone to confront the Astral Claws.

And the Planetary Government showed no courtesy to those fanatics. Auxilia clad in Riot Exoskeletons marched straight in, greeting the fanatics with fully charged shock batons.

Those who continued to resist were shot dead on the spot.

Most of the Ecclesiarchy's private domains had actually already fallen under the Planetary Government's control, while Bolters were already pressed to the heads of the rest.

Under such circumstances, facing Damien in Terminator Power Armour, who truly looked like an angel, the bishop could not summon even the will to make a trapped beast's final struggle. He could only compromise to survive.

After all, if he had truly been willing to die rather than yield for his faith, he would not have colluded with the nobles and treated Ecclesiarchy believers as a business.

Though dying sooner or later was still dying, it was better to die later.

Thus, at Damien's demand, the bishop issued a public broadcast throughout the Hive City, calling on all Ecclesiarchy believers to reform themselves and embrace the new Badab Cult.

With the bishop taking the lead in surrendering, along with the temptations of reality, vast numbers of Ecclesiarchy believers naturally turned to the Badab Cult backed by the Astral Claws.

As for the small minority who could not see reality clearly and had become complete religious lunatics, they were killed, arrested, tried, and sentenced as appropriate.

When Damien relayed the news back through the Chapter channel, Huron was discussing how to transform the Hive City with Odinson and personnel from the Administration Bureau.

"Hmm? The Ecclesiarchy problem has been resolved? Excellent work, Damien." Huron praised him with some satisfaction.

Damien replied, "It is my honor to serve the God-Emperor."

Seeing Huron pause, the others in the meeting room looked at him curiously.

Huron announced the good news to them all. "The plan to absorb the Ecclesiarchy has been completed ahead of schedule. Most areas of the entire Underhive are now under our control."

"Using the Underhive areas already under our control as a foundation, let us carefully discuss how to balance the Underhive's living environment and productive capacity."