How can a retired savior be considered retired if his price drops to 40,000?

Chapter 45 Lan Malok’s Blood Pressure Problem

In the Lion's Mane's strategic command room, a "simple" discussion about the next route is taking place:
"...To sum up, my suggestion is to go to Ulan Huda for the most basic supplies."

Fujimaru Ritsuka looked at Lan Malok's very disapproving look and said: "I know you have heard the name of this forging world, and I also know that you must have very prejudices about it. I also admit that more than [-]% of all your prejudices are correct. But in this situation, this is one of the few options we have.”

"I don't think—there must be others—"

"——Indeed, but those more reliable forging worlds require at least three months of subspace navigation to reach, while Ulan Huda only takes seven to ten days."

"Even if Konrad Curze is here, 1 years have passed since the Midnight Treaty. There is no guarantee that they will still abide by the... 'supply agreement', if you can call it that."

"I have enough chips in my hand. No forging world can reject the once-lost technology, especially a forging world with this...research direction that is quite 'extreme'. Besides, we only ask for the most basic ammunition supply."

Ran Malok cast a look of extreme distrust on Fujimaru Ritsuka.However, this behavior of continuing to add more emphasis to "strongly disagree" did not succeed in making the latter change her mind. The ginger-haired girl still insisted on her own opinion:
"If the Lion's Mane was fully armed, I would never make such a suggestion. But the problem now is that her reserves cannot withstand a void battle of moderate intensity, and this galaxy has never been peaceful."

"This galaxy is also very big." Lan Malok insisted angrily, "It's just a three-month subspace voyage. It is very possible that we can't even see an ordinary merchant ship."

"Let me remind you, this is a hypothesis that relies heavily on probability." Fujimaru Ritsuka frowned, "Probability is becoming more and more unreliable in today's universe. Considering what just happened on Jestal After all, I dare say that this voyage will definitely not be peaceful."

"...This is also an assumption that relies heavily on probability. Why are you so sure?"

"Because Tzeentch is watching, he will never give up any opportunity to have fun. The warp has always been the home of these chaotic powers. He will definitely happily stir up the fate and make everything happen in various ways that we have no idea about. unexpected changes."

Fujimaru Ritsuka sighed in frustration:
"Because there are always remnants of the Emperor's psychic power on board the Stormbound, He cannot bring his prying eyes too close, but He must have prepared all kinds of things for our next journey. Coincidence will lead us step by step into the trap He has prepared - I have already suffered this sin once."

Lan Malok still looked doubtful.

After admitting that Fujimaru Ritsuka had the most basic command authority over the Lion's Mane, although he roughly knew "what happened" on Jestal through intelligence sharing, he did not know "what specifically happened on that planet." ".At the time when the event was compiled, he and the entire crew of the Lion's Mane were outside the singularity formed by the Chaos Ritual, so they retained almost no memory of before the world line was changed.

Things like "Chaos" and "Demons" are just superstitions or legends to the Dark Angel veterans during the Great Crusade. They were suddenly told that the descriptions in these books would sneak into the real world and cause terrible damage in today's era. It's really hard to believe - even if there was indeed something similar on the planet where Ranmarok was born.

Most Astartes are stubborn, and Astartes who can be the Firewing Grand Master are often the best in this aspect. This discussion about the next destination has reached a deadlock.So, just like it had happened many times before in many other places, in order to make the progress of things not stand still, but at least move, Fujimaru Ritsuka took a step back first.

"Okay." She stretched out her hand to trace the holographic star map in front of her, sighing and saying, "Then I propose that we don't go to the Forge World - we go all the way west from here to Baal."

Ranmarok followed her finger suspiciously, carefully examining the route that seemed almost clear.

"Baal." He vigilantly checked the coordinates marked on the star map over and over again, comparing them with the ones in his memory to determine whether Fujimaru Ritsuka's proposal was what he thought.

"Yes, Baal, the home planet of the Blood Angels. If everything goes well, the voyage will take about two and a half months."

Fujimaru Ritsuka leaned back a little tiredly, letting himself fall down on a nearby hard armchair used by operators, and explained the relevant background information as if reciting:

"After the 'Great Rift' unfolded, the subspace storm cut off the light of the Star Torch, and the Empire was actually divided into two. We are now on the side where the Star Torch cannot be seen, which is customarily called the 'dark side of the Empire' '. During the Indomitus Crusade launched by Robert Guilliman, the current Imperial Regent, Dante, the current Chapter Master of the Blood Angels, was appointed as the Dark Side Regent, responsible for coordinating the defense of this half of the Empire as much as possible... In short, Baal is now Because of the messy reasons mentioned above, it is already equivalent to a hub world, and all kinds of military supplies will gather towards the home planet of the Blood Angels. It should be no problem for everyone to discuss with each other and ask them to stock up on regular reserves."

Lan Malok was silent for a while.He needs some time to process this "1 years later" information - too many things are too difficult for him to accept.

The tragic results of the Great Rebellion, "Code of Astartes", the Legion was split up, Caliban ceased to exist, the Primarch was lost, the structure of the Dark Angels changed, the Ecclesiarchy, the Inquisition, the 1-year uninterrupted decline of the Empire , the never-ending quagmire of war, Abaddon's Thirteen Crusades, and then again - the Great Rift.

When he read this in the information shared from the Emperor's Dream, Lanmarok had already spent a lot of time trying to make himself accept the status quo.But every time he was reminded of relevant facts, he still couldn't help but ask in his heart: How did the empire become like this?

Sighing like this didn't help. Lan Malok forced himself to concentrate and return his attention to the problem at hand: "Although I know the character of the descendants of angels, how can you be sure that they will help us?"

"I think the way the Blood Angels behave is enough to endorse them, but if you think it's not trustworthy, I do have something more substantial." Fujimaru Ritsuka slumped in his chair and said helplessly, " I have a charter jointly signed by the Throne Court and the Star Torch Court to acquire land at any location on the surface of Baal Prime that I deem appropriate."

Ranmarok looked at Fujimaru Ritsuka in confusion - nothing, just because this matter sounded wrong: even if this charter has the joint signatures of two important organizations of the empire, it can transcend the Chapter Astartes itself. The fact that the Empire Central Committee ordered land expropriation on the home planet of the war group (or even the founding group) sounds a bit outrageous.

"Conquering land on Baal Prime." Dark Angel repeated unconsciously, "Are you sure we won't inexplicably disappear from the universe after mentioning this matter?"

"It's the Emperor's mission. Besides, the current Chapter Master Dante is a good man. Mr. Sanguinius said this when he was in good condition. Don't judge others based on your own behavior." Fujimaru Ritsuka slumped in a chair He said some very important words in a very light tone, "If I explain it to him in detail, I think he has no reason to disagree. Besides, the land I need is not big, at least it is much smaller than the Hollow Mountains."

I don't know if she meant it, but the information revealed by these words is really shocking.Lan Malok's instinct told him that he could continue to dig deeper under these clues, but his precarious sanity still successfully put on the brakes on his thinking, clearly stopping him before he had the desire to continue exploring.Loyalist Dark Angel Lan Malok forced himself to stop thinking.
-
Although the destination has been determined, how to sail is still a problem - this is the ghoul stars, the dark side of the empire where the star torch cannot be seen.The subspace is turbulent, and the void environment changes rapidly. Even if you don't enter the subspace, anything can happen. The navigator on the Lion's Mane has almost no experience in dealing with similar situations.

"Let's not talk about the fact that we have no road signs to refer to now and can only make short-distance subspace jumps - even during the Great Expedition when the subspace was calm, it would definitely take more than two months to sail from here to Baal. Time, my lord.”

The chief navigator looked as if he had met a layman. Even though Ranmallock was watching eagerly nearby, he could not stop his defense:

"In the past, it would have taken at least six to eight months to get to Baal from the outskirts of the empire like the Ghoul Stars. What's more, we can't even be sure where Baal is now."

Fujimaru Tatsuka fell silent.

"...Ah, is that so...I'm sorry, I didn't realize it at all..."

She was so comfortable shopping efficiently on the Storm Frontier that she completely forgot that the human navigation efficiency of the Imperial Navigator could not keep up with the Plane Moon.

In fact, in the dark side of the empire after the Great Rift unfolded, the navigation efficiency of most imperial ships was limited by safety and could only make short-distance subspace jumps, so it was greatly slowed down.Those fleets that dare to truly penetrate deep into the waves of the sky are either determined to survive in one fell swoop, or they have some unique methods to show off their magical powers - no matter what, similar voyages will cause great damage or deviation. The risk is that the probability of actually reaching the destination is not very impressive.

An act like the Stormbound, which "took less than three hours to launch itself from Holy Terra through the Great Rift to Tagussa, and then spent about half a year sightseeing in the Ghoul Stars," Even during the Great Crusade, they would be judged as "What are you talking about in your sleep?", or they would be forced to suffer from Imperial agencies and Space Marine Legions (especially those who hold weapons) because they were highly suspected of carrying some legacy of the Dark Age of Technology. Dark Angel of the Icarus Protocol) round after round of inspections.

According to the current situation, it is impossible for her to dismantle the Plane Moon to provide navigation for the Lion's Mane, or transfer the power system of the Lion's Mane to the Storm Boundary - after all, the manufacturing dates of the two ships are nearly 3 years apart. For thousands of years, the operating system is really incompatible.

Although judging from the Emperor's degree of partiality, there is no chance of successfully reaching the destination by crashing the entire ship into the subspace and floating freely, but the probability that anyone in this universe can reach out to influence it is really not worth it. trust.

"In any case, we have to plan a short-distance jump route, right? But in this way, the time required for the voyage and the stops will increase, and the corresponding risks will also...Lan Malok, we really can't go to Ulan Huda Is that so? At least it’s close there. Even if we walk slowly, it will take a month to jump two or three times and we’ll get there.”

Fujimaru Ritsuka looked back at the Fire Wing Master, and once again received a very disapproving look.

"I'm very serious. The issue of naval warfare must be considered. If we only rely on light spears to bombard us -"

"Don't I know I have to think about this? I'm the one--"

Ranmarok's angry roar echoed like thunder in the beautifully decorated corridor on the upper part of the ship, and even Fujimaru Ritsuka was frightened.But it can't be said that he had no restraint at all. At least the second half of the sentence, which was obviously more offensive, was stopped by himself and swallowed.Fujimaru Ritsuka had no doubt that there would be some more weighty sentences in Ranmarok's stomach later on, but it would be good for everyone if he didn't point out this matter.

Thankfully, the Firewing Master is someone who can maintain rational thinking in extreme situations.The current shortage of inventory also prompted him to make a safer choice while maintaining his prejudice:

"Let's go to Ulan Huda."

These words sounded like he was forcing them out through his teeth with great reluctance.
-
Although the Night Lords were all surprised that Fujimaru Ritsuka could successfully persuade the Dark Angels to go to a heretic forging planet that was complicit with the traitors, and thus had some inexplicable admiration for her, it is a pity that this world Many things in the Internet cannot be developed step by step after the parties concerned have made a decision.

Even if Fujimaru Ritsuka had already remade the face of the emperor's statuette according to the reference provided by the person concerned, and spent three or four days applying gold foil to the entire statue, it would still be the same.On the edge of the Empire far away from Holy Terra, even the Emperor cannot have his wishes come true here.

To put it simply, after they left Jestal and entered the subspace through the Mandeville Point, not long after they sailed, by coincidence, so coincidentally that they ran into... something else.

Judging from the identification code, it was another imperial ship. It seemed that most of its functions had been shut down, but no more information could be found in the subspace.I don’t know when it began to float in the waves of subspace, maybe a few days, maybe a few years, or maybe...

All in all, given how "interested" the area around here is, this is most likely a trap.

"The only good news is that it doesn't look like it can move." Lan Malok commented cautiously, "This means we can ignore it and go around it."

However, this time the roles were reversed, and it was Fujimaru Ritsuka who hesitated to choose the option with a lower safety factor:

"But the symbol on that ship is the Iron Hand." She pointed at the report passed down by the navigators and said, "Isn't this more reliable than Ulan Huda?"

Lan Malok began to feel that this envoy to the throne who thought about everything was really unreasonable.

　(Knowing that my writing is poor, I will make a mess)

　　
　
(End of this chapter)