The reconnaissance team was very efficient; just six hours later, the preliminary findings were relayed back to the Gemstone.
"Reporting, Major General, a firefight has broken out in the Lower City." The intelligence officer stood in the command room and reported, pointing to the transmitted footage.
"The two sides engaged in the firefight were the Brevis Vanguard and armed personnel from the Plague Cleansing Cult. They fought fiercely for over three hours near the third floor of the West Wing, suffering significant casualties on both sides."
"Currently, the Vanguard has taken control of three sectarian strongholds in the western district, arrested tens of thousands of peripheral followers, and most of the core ' Plague-Cleansing Apostles ' have already evacuated; no survivors have been captured."
Dominic sat in his chair, rubbing his chin with his fingers. "What about the recruitment side?"
"The remaining 400 million eligible people awaiting conscription have all been concentrated in the temporary quarantine camps in the Midtown," the intelligence officer continued.
"The Governor's Office officially issued a notice stating that heretical forces had infiltrated the recruitment process."
"To ensure the purity of faith among the Tithe conscripts, clergy from the native Ecclesiarchy of Brevis were urgently dispatched to conduct a comprehensive faith verification and purification ceremony on all those awaiting conscription."
"The entire passageway from the Lower City to the Midtown is now under martial law. No one is allowed to pass without an order from the Governor's Office."
After the report, the command center fell silent.
The adjutant glanced at Dominic and whispered, "Sir, it seems Governor Kerry has discovered his men's collusion with heretics and is trying to minimize the damage."
"They've been cracking down on religious sects and ordering the Ecclesiarchy to re-examine its recruits; their actions are very decisive."
Dominic didn't speak, but his gaze fell on a name that kept appearing in the intelligence report— Paul Serra.
According to the Vanguard soldiers, the person who made contact with the Plague Cleansing Cult this time was probably this newly promoted lieutenant general.
It was he who strongly advocated using the power of heretics to speed up the screening, and it was also he who secretly maintained contact with religious sects behind the Governor's Office's back.
Now that the scandal has come to light, Paul General Paul has been suspended pending investigation, and all the blame has been conveniently shifted onto him.
A fallen nobleman, eager for quick success and instant benefits, colluded with heretics in order to gain promotion. When his scheme was exposed, he was discarded as a pawn.
The entire logic chain is flawless; there is not a single fault to be found.
But Dominic felt something was off.
It's perfect.
It was so perfect, as if it were all staged specifically for him.
The timing was perfect, the charges were pinned on them perfectly, and even the scapegoat was chosen just right.
A newly promoted lieutenant general with shallow roots and weak background, no one would speak up for him, so it was the perfect choice to push him out to take the blame.
If he hadn't infiltrated the Lower City, if he hadn't obtained the Genestealer's sample.
If he didn't know that the sect wasn't just an ordinary heresy, he might actually have believed their story.
But he knew.
He knew that the core of the Plague Cleansing Cult was Genestealer, and that those "apostles" were not human at all.
Such a large Xenos organization, growing to a scale of tens of millions in Lower City Brevis, could be managed by a mere lieutenant general?
It would be impossible without the tacit approval of someone at a higher level.
And at the highest level of Brevis was Kerry von.
Dominic leaned back in his chair and let out a long sigh.
Reason told him that Lynn was definitely involved in this matter.
Even this "clash" between the Vanguard and the sect could be a staged performance, designed to sacrifice pawns to save the king and absolve themselves of all responsibility.
But emotionally, he was somewhat unwilling to believe it.
He had seen Lynn on the battlefield, seen his decisiveness when facing the Orks, and seen the look in his eyes when he talked about replanting Dorito.
That doesn't seem like someone who would collude with Xenos and betray humanity.
Perhaps... he, like himself, knew those were Xenos, but also knew they were useful now, so he chose to use them temporarily?
When the thought popped into his head, Dominic himself was taken aback.
When did he start making excuses for someone suspected of colluding with Xenos?
"Sir, should we investigate further?" the adjutant asked cautiously when he saw that the man remained silent for a long time.
"Strive to obtain concrete evidence of collusion between the Governor's Office and religious sects."
"No need," Dominic raised his hand to interrupt him.
"Investigating too thoroughly will only make things worse."
He stood up, walked to the window, and turned his back to his adjutant.
"Let's wait and see." His voice was devoid of emotion. "Let's see what this Governor Kerry does next."
He wanted to see if Lynn intended to get away with it or if he would give him an explanation.
Dominic didn't have to wait long.
The next morning, a guard rushed in to report that Governor Kerry had personally come to visit and was waiting in the outer hall.
Dominic raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised, yet finding it quite reasonable.
"Let him in." He straightened his uniform, sat back down at his desk, and adopted a businesslike demeanor.
Soon, footsteps sounded, and Lynn walked in.
Dominic looked up and his heart skipped a beat.
The young man in front of me looked extremely tired.
The collar of his usually impeccably tailored military uniform was undone, and his black hair was slightly disheveled.
His eyes were slightly dark and bloodshot, clearly indicating that he had been up for several sleepless nights.
His lips, which usually held a faint smile, were now tightly pursed, and he exuded a sense of exhaustion and weariness.
It felt like I had gone through several days of inner struggle before finally deciding to take this trip.
"Lord Dominic," Lynn said with a crisp military salute, his voice slightly hoarse, "I apologize for disturbing you."
"Governor Kerry, you're too kind." Dominic stood up, gestured for him to sit down, and then had a servant pour him a cup of coffee.
You don't look well. Are you busy with things in Lower City?
Lynn took the coffee, but instead of sitting down immediately, she asked a question first:
"Sir, there haven't been any problems with the quarantine and observation of the first batch of 600 million soldiers, have there?"
"It went fairly smoothly." Dominic leaned against the edge of the table, arms crossed, and looked him over.
"Both the Ecclesiarchy and Adeptus Mechanicus have been inspected, and no abnormalities have been found so far. The overall attrition rate is even lower than expected."
"That's good." Lynn breathed a long sigh of relief, as if a heart that had been hanging in suspense for a long time had finally settled down, and even her tense shoulders relaxed a bit.
He picked up his coffee and took a sip. The warm liquid slid down his throat, but it did nothing to dispel the weariness in his eyes.
As he put down the cup, he looked up and met Dominic's intrigued gaze, as if he had finally made up his mind.
"Lord Dominic, I have come today to apologize to you."
He straightened up, gave another solemn military salute, his head slightly bowed, his posture very humble.
"It was my dereliction of duty to recruit soldiers for the Lower City." His voice was calm and steady, without any intention of making excuses.
"I was eager to meet my Tithe targets, and I was also overwhelmed by the pandemic. My lax oversight allowed my subordinates to take advantage of the situation and get involved with heretical sects."
"This has not only damaged the purity of the Imperium's faith but also delayed the Tithe collection process. All responsibility lies with me; please, Your Excellency, handle this matter accordingly."
His words were concise and to the point, without any unnecessary embellishment.
Dominic looked at him, a hint of surprise creeping into his heart.
He considered many possibilities.
Lynn might play dumb, might shift all the blame to Lieutenant General Paul, or might find various excuses to defend himself.
But what he didn't expect was that the other party would take all the blame upon themselves right away.
He didn't even mention the name " Paul Serra" once.