"Oh, right," Rena suddenly said, " Leo is still alive."
"What?"
"A message from the Frost Soldier." Rena's voice carried a subtle emotion.
He fled into the icy plains with his personal guards, only to be hunted down by Aiden.
"I sent savage cavalry and Frost Soldier to rescue him, and I also sent Quinn to help."
She paused for a moment. "In the end, Quinn and Aiden perished together."
This was something Lynn hadn't expected.
"And there's the Forbidden Wall over there," Rena continued.
"The generals of the Noble Council have suddenly rebelled, claiming that you and your men have sided with Chaos."
"Most of the Vanguard didn't believe it, but some noble private soldiers did, or rather, they had prepared for civil war from the beginning, and the two sides started fighting."
"The junior officers under my control quickly organized their troops; some stayed behind to fight the rebels, while others broke through the Forbidden Wall to find Leo."
"The fighting is still going on at the Forbidden Wall, but the rebels are few in number and shouldn't be able to hold out for much longer."
Lynn listened to Rena's story, a complex mix of emotions welled up inside him.
He was trapped in Saint Garus Castle, controlled by Callum, and lost contact with Rena; all of this took only a few hours.
But how much did Rena do in those few hours?
Upon realizing they couldn't contact him, they immediately knew something was wrong.
She didn't impulsively lead the swarm to storm the main nest, as that would expose everything and waste time.
She chose the smartest approach: contacting Carter and Goodwin to get the Ecclesiarchy involved.
He launched a Genestealer network to relentlessly gather intelligence, directing junior officers to fight the rebels and stabilize the Forbidden Wall.
At the same time, they dispatched savages and Frost Soldier to cross dozens of kilometers of ice fields to rescue Leo.
He controlled Quinn, arriving at the crucial moment to save Leo's life at the cost of his own.
And all of this she accomplished alone after losing contact with him.
Lynn's eyes felt a little hot.
With such a virtuous wife, what more could a husband ask for?
He looked down at the miniature Ripper on his shoulder.
The little guy huddled in his collar, only his two tiny compound eyes peeking out, staring at him.
" Rena," he murmured to himself.
"Hmm?" the cool female voice responded.
All the words in the world can be summed up in one sentence:
"Thank goodness for you, thank you."
The Ripper narrowed its compound eyes, and several pink bubbles, invisible to the naked eye but perceptible only to Lynn, appeared on its head.
A faint smile appeared on the face of Isolde beside him.
That smile was fleeting, but Lynn caught it.
He laughed too.
After the mourning ceremony, Lynn found Goodwin.
The archbishop stood at the edge of the square, watching the priests and nuns who were finishing up.
His face showed fatigue, but even more so, a sense of relief.
"Archbishop," Lynn approached, "I'd like to ask you something."
Goodwin glanced at him and nodded.
The two walked to a relatively quiet corner.
Isolde stood not far away, seemingly on guard, but actually using his Psychic Power to sense whether anyone was eavesdropping.
"About the St. Garus Family," Lynn said bluntly, "Especially about Leo."
Goodwin sighed.
What do you want to ask?
" Leo has been fighting on the Forbidden Wall the whole time, how could he be accused of 'defecting'?"
His military achievements, his prestige, the soldiers who risked their lives for him—don't these count?"
Goodwin remained silent for a moment before speaking.
His voice sounded weary, carrying a sense of helplessness born of a disillusionment with the world.
"Little Kerry, you don't understand St. Garus."
"Or rather, you don't see Brevis clearly enough."
Lynn remained silent, waiting for him to continue.
"Something has been wrong with the Adeptus Mechanicus ever since I took over as archbishop."
Goodwin's gaze drifted into the distance, towards the direction of Saint Garus Castle and the Temple of the Adeptus Mechanicus.
"But they are not under the Ecclesiarchy, or even the Imperium."
He paused and asked, "Do you know what Brevis's predecessor was?"
" The Industrial World," Lynn replied.
"Yes, the Industrial World is the territory of the Adeptus Mechanicus."
"To put it bluntly, we people of the Imperium are just eating other people's leftovers."
"If it weren't for the Adeptus Mechanicus relinquishing control, we would never have had the chance to take over Brevis."
Lynn listened quietly.
"The Adeptus Mechanicus should have mostly withdrawn hundreds of years ago."
"After all, the mine is finished and the factory has moved away, so there's no point in staying here, but..."
" The St. Garus Family has arrived," Lynn interjected.
"Yes, and they found something."
Goodwin looked at Lynn, a hint of pity in his usually all-seeing eyes.
You know what it is, right?
Lynn nodded. "STC."
Goodwin hummed in agreement and continued.
"With the reappearance of STC, the Adeptus Mechanicus has returned like sharks smelling blood."
"They promised that if they allowed them to research STC, they would provide technological support to Great Bear St. Garus and would no longer interfere with the Imperium's sovereignty over Brevis."
"So the current situation is that the Adeptus Mechanicus is independent of the Imperium system, has its own armed forces, its own resources, and its own technology."
They brought Brevis many benefits, but at the same time...
He didn't finish speaking, but Lynn understood what he meant.
When a group of people has their own armed forces, resources, and technology, and is not under the jurisdiction of the Imperium, no one can stop them from doing whatever they want.
"And," Goodwin continued.
"Every St. Garus lord responsible for liaising with the Adeptus Mechanicus will ultimately side with the Adeptus Mechanicus."
"They will do everything in their power to seize control of St. Garus."
Lynn's pupils dilated violently.
He remembered something.
Luna is the technology leader, responsible for liaising with the Adeptus Mechanicus.
Callum was the Lord of the Interior and had close ties with the nobles.
Alistair was a war lord who died in battle two years ago.
"Archbishop," Lynn's voice was tense, "Is there a problem with Alistair's death?"
Goodwin glanced at him but did not answer directly.
Two years ago, Dorito experienced Orks outbreak.
Alistair led his army into battle and at one point nearly defeated Ragnar the Big Stomach.
At that time, everyone thought he was going to win.
"But, unfortunately," Goodwin shook his head.
"What's a pity?"
Goodwin sighed.
" Alistair went mad during a crucial battle."
Lynn was somewhat puzzled.
"Crazy?"
"Yes, they're insane."
"At that time, humanity was going to lose that battle. There were just too many Orks; we couldn't kill them all."
But Alistair, piloting a ' Preceptor Pattern ' knight mech, Fight to the Death.
He charged into the Orks army alone, cutting down countless enemies, and at one point even attempted to kill Ragnar single-handedly.
"But..."
Goodwin's voice turned low.
"Halfway through the battle, people discovered that the knight mech with unlimited power had grown flesh and blood."
Lynn's mind went blank.
" Lord of Rage," he blurted out.
Goodwin nodded.
Lynn's lips began to twitch.
He thought of Callum, a follower of Slaanesh, who sought the ultimate pleasure.
Luna, on the other hand, is probably a Tzeentch sorceress, treacherous, calculating, and manipulating schemes at will.
Now another Alistair has appeared, blessed by Khorne, mad and bloodthirsty.
A family, with three children, each took refuge with one of the three different Chaos Gods.
"My Khorne, the eldest son of Khorne, the eldest daughter of Tzeentch, and the youngest son of Slaanesh —if you knew them, you'd think they were Knight House; if you didn't, you'd think they were the lair of Chaos."
Lynn internally complained.
He looked at Goodwin, his expression somewhat complicated.
Goodwin understood his thoughts and gave a wry smile.
"So you understand now? No one is surprised that Leo was accused of this crime."
"If it weren't for Caladogon's previous favoritism, he would have been convicted of this crime long ago."
Lynn was silent for a moment, then asked the last question:
"What about Caladogon? Do you think he's still alive?"
Goodwin looked in the direction of the castle and remained silent for a long time.
Finally, he sighed softly.
"I can sense it. That old guy isn't going to die so easily."
But I don't know where he is.
Lynn nodded thoughtfully.