Warhammer 40k: Lust of Light.

Chapter 2 Offering Hope
  "I really hope our city No. 436 also has material providers!"

Li Ting's afternoon break is quite short, and is used to feed the workers.

Their food is always a big piece of whitish stuff. The name of this thing is not very nice. As for the taste...

The lower-class people in the hive city who were lucky enough to taste the candles said that the candles were really rare and delicious.

Material providers are people with special abilities who suddenly appeared on a large scale throughout the empire around twenty-six years ago.

These people can create something out of thin air, primarily food, and secondarily medicine, and individual material providers can even restore broken arms to the injured.

At first, material providers were not trusted out of wariness of heresy. It was not until the Emperor, the ruler of the Human Empire, personally inspected them that material providers officially became a special class of the empire.

"There are material providers in City No. 1 who can provide large amounts of pumpkins, crops that Holy Terra once owned, to the residents of City No. 1. They can be used as staple food. The nutritional content may not be as good as the starch blocks in our hands, but... the taste is really good. Very good."

A short worker shared the rumors he heard with his fellow workers.

Holy Terra is the hometown of mankind. Her other name is Earth. The empire's millennium calendar is actually the earth's AD calendar.

"Holy Terra..." These workers had heard few stories, but Holy Terra was the most desirable.

The painter who gave away his paintings to the lower class people in Li Ting for free, his paintings contain the beautiful scenery of Terra.

Bright flowers, delicate fruits, dark wooden tableware, and silver trays containing these things.

It was a painting of a picnic camp. The background of the food was a cliff meadow blown by the sea breeze. The picnickers were well-dressed and had happy smiles on their faces.

The painter said that it was the second millennium, when mankind had not yet launched its exploration of the stars.

"Speaking of material providers, I think of one thing. According to Miss Amelissa from above, Ankarin, the agricultural world closest to us, was destroyed ten years ago, and the material providers there escaped.

Because of the slow transmission of information from far away in the starry sky, it was not brought back by the Astra Militarum in City 867 until now. As a family member of the Astra Militarum, Miss Emily only found out when she asked her father when he would return..."

A worker wearing a tattered woolen hat mentioned something that was a big deal in their eyes.

The agricultural world is a planet with fertile soil carefully selected by the empire.

There are many types of agriculture in the world, some require people to cultivate, and some do not require many people.

Ankarin is the latter. The entire planet will be cultivated as a single piece of farmland, and then harvested by a super giant harvester that can crush the demon army.

These harvesters sometimes go into battle, at which time they are called by their true name, Titans.

The destruction of an agricultural world often means further shortages of the empire's food supply near agricultural worlds.

Unfortunately, Liting is located near Ankarin.

"I think the days of having two meals a day may be numbered." Some people looked at the starch cubes in their hands and started to worry.

"Forget it, everyone knows that the food in the agricultural world has never been supplied to us civilians, but to the upper floors and towers. What we eat are all by-products of ore processing, synthesized..."

After chatting for a while, one of the workers whose brain delay was too high reacted.

"Wait, you said Ankarin was destroyed ten years ago?!"

This worker had a sharp face. He didn't dare to say anything when others were talking, but his eyes were always staring at the starch cubes in other people's hands, even if he didn't finish his own.

The others shrank back warily, intent on protecting their food.

For a guy who has stolen food from children, being ostracized is the best punishment for him. Logically speaking, he should be thrown to the bottom.

Thanks to the Emperor, Liting is a hive world without a bottom, and his crime will not lead to death, so his life was spared after being lightly punished.

"Findo, what does the destruction of Ankarin have to do with you? Do you have any relatives there?"

Dissatisfied with the thief's yelling, the foreman asked.

"No, I don't, but there's one guy who does, a bastard who doesn't have to work to get food!"

Fendo's jealousy almost flowed out of the corners of his eyes.

They have no idea what the agricultural world is like.

In this era of the Great Expedition, the agricultural world of the empire was better than it would be 10,000 years later, but it was still unable to afford the cost of sending food to a child every month. The payment for the food was still small, and the bulk was shipping.

But their beautiful vision of the agricultural world made them ignore this point.

Even people who understand the structure of the agricultural world can find a reason. Perhaps the couple is aristocrats in the agricultural world or has some other special status.

Fendo's reminder made the surrounding workers look at each other.

Finally, they remembered the young man with black hair and dark eyes, who looked particularly fair and clean compared to the lower class people who were haggard due to work. Perhaps he was a young man. His age was always misjudged because of his appearance.

"Rastraite! Yes, that's him! He's a liar! Ancarin was destroyed ten years ago. Where did his aunt and uncle come from to send him clothes and food all year round?"

More than once, Fendo wanted to steal from the guy with the white earbuds. He wanted to taste the food, preferably full.

But every time he didn't get close to the other party, he was discovered by the Mechanicus. Most of the time, they just drove him away, but once, they broke one of his fingers.

This kind attitude is completely unlike what should be given to people at the bottom. If they really angered them, he Fendo would have been beaten to death.

So Fendo believed that the other party just suspected him of stealing and stopped him, rather than protecting the guy who was not very proficient in High Gothic.

Rasta, who is always maverick and has no worries about food and clothing, is the person that Fendo hates the most. Even the guard who almost killed Fendo, he has never hated him that much.

The surrounding workers began to quiet down, and they were still not sure what the abnormality found by Fendo was.

But Fendo quickly found an excuse: "You won't doubt that he is a material provider, right? He is a heretic! All his food comes from unclean places! He should be judged by the great empire truth! Then die!"

"You are indeed right..." Someone began to respond to Fendo's suspicion.

No other material provider can provide such a wide variety of food at one time.

They provide no more than two kinds of food, and they are all in unprocessed form, such as striped melons, pumpkins and eggs, or an entire oversized sunflower plate.

Sausages, potatoes, vegetables, rice and eggs, foods that the lower class had never seen or heard of, appeared on the dinner plate of a lower class person at the same time.

Then, apart from being a heretic who accepted gifts from the evil god, there is no possibility for him.

Fendo's smile was particularly bright at the thought of putting that guy to death.

But his smile was fleeting and he pointed to the other workers around him.

"I discovered this heresy and it is up to me to report it. You are not qualified to compete with me for this reward!"

The workers were relieved to hear Fendo's words.

To be honest, some of them have received favors from that indifferent person.

They have mixed emotions about this heresy, and if they don't report the heresy, the laws of the empire will implicate them. Fortunately, Fendo is now there to do this.

"We won't fight you."

While the workers were giving their replies, they were a little further away from Fendo, but Fendo didn't care. Instead, he asked for leave from the foreman and trotted to report and expose.

All this fell into Raste's eyes.

To be honest, it started when he decided not to lie to himself anymore.

The lie of "having aunts and uncles who live in the agricultural world" will gradually begin to be shattered and gradually affect the things or people around you.

He just longed for the kind treatment Natsume received, so he deceived himself so that he could get a package on the third of every month.

No one has ever mailed anything to him. It's just that the power of his evil god is creating things out of thin air and creating a package for him. Then this package also comes with a "letter from home".

The pain of breaking his dream seemed to make his lungs ache like in his previous life.

Rasta did not immerse in this pain for too long. He started to get up and slowly walked towards Fendo's destination.

On the road, someone took the artist's painting and kept it happily and preciously.

With a smile that could not be concealed, the painter came from a distance to share his joy with his benefactor. "Mr. Rasta! Someone thanked me with tears in his eyes! He was going to give two of my paintings as birthday gifts to his children! I, I'm really... I'm so happy that I don't know what to say."

There is still paint on the painter's fingers and face, and these substances, which are derived from minerals and starch blocks, do not seem so cold at this moment.

"congratulations!"

Rasta was sincerely happy for him.

"Mr. Rasta, where are you going?"

"Go to the city official stable, I have something to deal with."

"City official stables? You can't do anything casually there..."

After a brief conversation of two or three sentences, the painter froze on the spot.

The official stables are the permanent offices of the hive's most junior officials, who treat all lower-class people like sheepdogs tending sheep.

It's just that in terms of attitude, shepherd dogs are ten thousand times better to sheep than they are to lower-class people. If they don't bother the official stables, they are basically doing an insignificant subtraction from the population of the hive city.

"Don't worry, I just need to verify the identity of my substance provider."

Rasta stretched out his hand and wiped the paint off the painter's face.

The moment those fingers, which were slender and fairer than the painter's hand, touched the paint, the painter actually felt that this picture was too blasphemous and disrespectful.

"Mr. Rasta, are you the material provider?"

If the painter has any dreams, the first one is to let all the lower-class people in the hive city see the sky and the real earth, as well as the ocean, snow-capped mountains and forests.

The second is to become a material provider, bringing food and warmth to those who are hungry and cold.

His second wish didn't even take much consideration into the fact that he was also short of food and clothing.

"Yes, so the food I provide you is all created by myself, so you don't have to feel too guilty."

The indifferent young man had a slight smile on his face.

The painter did not have any jealousy, but was happy. He felt extremely lucky that a person like Mr. Rasta was a material provider.

If possible, he hoped that Mr. Rasta could live a carefree life without experiencing any suffering.

While the painter was meditating, Rasta said something to him.

"My child, your wish will come true."

Then, he put on white earplugs and walked slowly towards the official stable amidst the sounds of streams and flying streams.

"My wish?"

The painter looked down at his hands. For some reason, some strange pictures flashed through his mind.

It was clear that Fendo rushed to the official stable in a hurry, while Rasta was walking slowly and even chatted with the painter for a while on the way. However, the two of them arrived at the official stable one step in front and the other in the back.

The low-level official in charge of this residential area was now using a threatening tone towards the untouchables who had just reported the heresy to him.

"You? Report Rastraite?!"

The official sounded almost incredulous.

Fendo didn't know what was going on, so he just nodded bravely, and was ready to hold his head and get kicked at any time.

The low-level official called a colleague and asked him to inform their superior, and then he saw Rasta coming behind Fendo.

"Hello, Mr. Rasta! Welcome. The last time you came here was seven years ago!"

The low-level official groveled, showed a flattering smile, and came closer.

Fendo had no idea what was going on, but his poor brain gave him a reason.

Perhaps this is a special interrogation method used by officials to complete the torture of this heresy through a huge attitude change of first suppressing and then increasing.

Fendo remembered the time seven years ago, when he stole food from children and was taken to the official stable. He was supposed to be beheaded, but the official finally gave up on this decision and beat him. He let go.

"Ah."

Rasta's attitude was still cold. He didn't even look at Fendo. He had already given him too many chances.

"What are you here for?"

"Something."

The low-level official opened a chair for Rastra.

Almost immediately after sitting on the chair, a loud voice came from outside the official stable.

"I heard you caught a heretic here?"

Following the sound, another person from the official stable who competed for the credit arrived.

The hive world is very large, with thousands of cities, and low-level officials are needed to be responsible for order.

They are huge in number and there is vicious competition.

The dream of each of them is to no longer work hard for their own electricity bills and food. They want to find a small place at the top through the accumulation of merit.

The least capable officials will be kicked out of the ranks and become short-lived ghosts under the hooves of the roaring steel beast.

Stealing credit is something that many low-level officials love to do, and they never tire of it.

The low-level official who received Rasta suddenly turned cold, and he reminded the visitor of the unkind bald head.

"Chief Bury, this is the center of our jurisdiction, not the junction of jurisdictions."

The bald man squinted his eyes and didn't care about the other party's threat.

Generally speaking, the junction of jurisdictions is the place where you grab the credit. For the sake of the opponent's last face, there is no way to fight to the center.

But recently, there has been no stopping Baldhead from grabbing the credit for this jurisdiction.

The person in charge of the other party's jurisdiction didn't know what he was busy with, and his repeated connivance gave Baldhead the idea of ​​​​helping the other party take care of the jurisdiction.

The person behind Bald Buri pushed away the guy who wanted to block Rasta. Finally, the bald man saw the heretic.

"It's all thanks to my walking. You look quite surprising... Oh, now that I think about it, you're the guy with the white earplugs."

Most people have long memories of those who stood out.

Rasta ignored the other party and looked up at the clock in the official stable.

"It's afternoon."

Bury was very angry at the man in front of him for daring to ignore his majesty.

He was about to have an attack when he saw a dim light emitting from the table in front of the person in front of him.

The food slowly takes shape in the dim light.

The perfectly grilled red sausage is sandwiched between two buns, with plenty of sauce, a good mix of vegetables, and a cup of chilling tea on the side.

Rasta spoke her next words slowly.

"Time for some afternoon tea."

Berry's distorted expression instantly turned into a smile, and his change of expression was so fast that Fendo, who was next to him and was ready to watch the show, didn't expect it.

"Greetings, radiance of the Emperor, one who offers hope!"

(End of this chapter)