On one hand, the wills of the other Four Gods had all fallen dormant, and their daemons did not dare provoke the Emperor, greatly reducing the effort the Emperor had to expend.
On the other hand, although the Emperor was now mighty in essence, His actual power was weak. He could not govern places too far away, and the Maelstrom Zone happened to be ideal for Him to exert His influence, allowing Him to focus solely on this little patch of territory.
Moreover, there were nearly a hundred genuine God-Chosen here, giving Him a practical foothold through which to exert His power.
With all these factors combined, the Astropaths received treatment unlike anything they had ever experienced before.
The souls of the three Choirs stood dumbfounded within the Emperor's domain, looking at one another in silence.
Had it not been for the familiar sensation of the God-Emperor's gaze, along with the sight of daemons wailing as they fled in every direction, they would have thought they had run into something unholy.
But while the Choir Astropaths did not dare speak, Amos had far fewer reservations.
He had only just received the Emperor's blessing and believed that Huron was a man chosen by the Emperor. Was the current situation really so strange?
Don't ask. If you asked, the answer was the Emperor's might.
He looked toward the members of the other two Choirs. "You are the Choirs of the Lamenters and the Mantis Warriors Chapters, correct? I am the Chief Librarian of the Astral Claws. We wish to travel to your Chapters' home territories to discuss an important matter, and we hope to obtain permission to visit."
This was also why Huron had wanted to contact the two Chapters first.
No matter how one dressed it up, the separatist nature of Space Marine Chapters could not be denied. Entering another Chapter's area of operation without warning would be seen as disrespect, or even an insult.
If they encountered a particularly hot-tempered Chapter, it could lead directly to battle—or even a fight to the death.
The administrators of the other two Choirs exchanged a glance. "Understood, but we need to relay the message to our Chapters before we can decide."
"That is fine," Amos suggested. "You can awaken several Astropaths and have your Chapters' Librarians connect to the Astropathic Network for a direct discussion."
The two administrators accepted the proposal. The souls of several Choir members vanished from the Astropathic Network, as though they had logged off.
After a while, several Librarians from each of the two Chapters appeared in the Astropathic Network.
The Lamenters were led by Chief Librarian Patrick, while the Mantis Warriors were represented by Chief Librarian Ahaz Razar.
After entering the Astropathic Network, they were astonished by this face-to-face, real-time method of Astrotelepathy.
Amos greeted them. "It has been a long time, Brother Patrick, Brother Ahaz."
As members of the Maelstrom Wardens, they had fought side by side several times already.
Patrick was somewhat amazed. "Unbelievable, Brother Amos. You truly managed to accomplish something like this."
Amos shook his head. "This is the Emperor's might. It has nothing to do with me. I am merely a foothold through which the Emperor exercises His power."
Ahaz was more interested in another matter. "Brother Amos, how long can this method be maintained? Can it remain stable? If it can, then the efficiency of our future joint operations would become unimaginable."
Real-time, stable communication across hundreds of light-years—if it could be maintained over the long term, the benefits would be immeasurable.
"This is the Emperor's might, not something we can speculate upon."
"All right." Ahaz sounded somewhat disappointed. "Then, Brother Amos, what did you contact us for?"
Amos grew serious. "Chapter Master Huron hopes to form a Raider Fleet with you to strike at the Human Pirate forces in the Maelstrom Zone, seize their Warships, and strengthen our fleet."
Patrick was somewhat confused. "Huron? Lufgt Huron? Wasn't he the captain of the 3rd Company? Did Loretz step down and yield his position?"
Amos was saddened. "Chapter Master Loretz died at the hands of an Ork Warlord. It was Brother Huron who led us out of the encirclement, so we elected Huron as Chapter Master."
"Our condolences." Patrick and Ahaz shared Amos's grief. "But we need to discuss this matter with our Chapters' senior leadership."
"No problem." Amos naturally did not mind. "In fact, we plan to dispatch one fleet each, carrying gifts to your home territories for further discussion. This communication was mainly to inform you and gain your approval, so as to avoid misunderstandings."
"That will be acceptable. We welcome the arrival of our Battle-Brothers from the Astral Claws." The two of them could make the decision themselves, so they settled the matter directly.
As for the gifts, according to Amos, they had just suffered a defeat. They were probably only a few Artificer weapons.
Ahaz, however, was somewhat expectant. Even a mosquito's leg was still meat. The Mantis Warriors were so poor that they had to conserve Bolter ammunition; a few Artificer weapons would already be quite good.
Once the discussion was complete, the parties chatted a little about their recent circumstances before reluctantly leaving the Astropathic Network.
It could not be helped. This method of communication was simply too tempting, and no one wanted to leave.
Not to mention that being within the Emperor's divine domain was an immense honor.
After withdrawing from the Choir Ritual, Amos found Huron. "Mission accomplished, Chapter Master. I have reached an agreement with Brother Patrick and Brother Ahaz. We can dispatch Warships to their defensive sectors."
"Very good. Go and continue interrogating those Pure Ones. Remember not to use violent punishments or similar methods. If we make those acknowledged by the Emperor hate us, that would be our shame."
"Yes." Amos left the Astropathic Chamber with the Librarians.
Huron then began arranging the Warships and gifts for the visit.
The Warships would naturally consist of one Strike Cruiser and two Gladius-class Frigates, lest they be intercepted halfway by Chaos or Xenos.
As for the gifts, each Chapter would receive 300 basic sets consisting of Mk7 Aquila Power Armor, Chainswords, and Bolters, ten Phobos-pattern Land Raiders, and a large quantity of ammunition.
Though it looked like a great deal, aside from the Power Armour and Land Raiders, the other items were basic equipment that the Hive City could already produce itself and were not particularly valuable.
Not to mention that the Chainswords and Bolters confiscated from the homes of various nobles were no small number either.
There were two reasons for providing so many resources. On one hand, Huron already regarded the two Chapters as his future possessions. On the other, he feared that some accident might cause the two Chapters to disappear.
The Lamenters were not much of a concern. Though unlucky, they were exceptionally hard to kill.
But a Chapter like the Mantis Warriors, where everyone had to patch together their Power Armour because they were so poor—if they disappeared due to a lack of supplies, Huron would not even have a place to cry.
Leaving aside the political influence represented by an Astartes Chapter, he also intended to use the Mantis Warriors to establish ties with the White Scars.
As for the Lamenters, those unlucky fellows were discriminated against by every Imperial Faction, even including the successor Chapters of the Blood Angels.
To prevent the Lamenters from resenting his aid to the Mantis Warriors, he might as well send the Lamenters a set of basic supplies as well. In any case, this small amount of equipment was insignificant to the Chapter now.
Since he intended to be the leader, he had to keep things even. Astartes were stubborn by nature, and it would not be funny if saving a little money ruined something important.
This was experience he had gained over many years of playing gacha games.
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