The Emperor’s Angel of Death

Facing Soshyan's refusal, Bertus Willibald was silent for a moment, then lightly tapped the ground with the forge axe in his hand.

“Even if Angstrom is destroyed, it will never fall into the hands of heretics and traitors! I have sent instructions to all forges and foundries, and they will self-destruct in one hour!”

“Why bother, High Sage? Angstrom's achievements today are the result of the blood and sweat of thousands of Tech-Priests and thousands of years of accumulated knowledge. I won't kill you.”

“Hmm?”

“Your fate will be decided by Mars. Before that, Angstrom will be managed by a joint council composed of seven sages until a new Forge Overseer is appointed by Mars.”

This was also a compromise that Soshyan had considered for a long time. Directly pushing the representative designated by Ryza to the stage was too obvious, and Mars might be completely angered. But after all, there was an agreement with Ryza, and they did provide a lot of help. So, he changed his approach, keeping the position of Forge Overseer vacant and arranging a councilor position for Ryza's hidden agents. This would fulfill the agreement without excessively angering Mars.

Moreover, after this incident, Soshyan had a deeper understanding of the duality of the Adeptus Mechanicus. Therefore, even Ryza, who was currently in a honeymoon period of cooperation, might turn against him in the future. The crusade was not yet over, and if Angstrom was completely controlled by them, he would have no bargaining chips in subsequent negotiations with Ryza. It would be better to maintain a weak balance, with himself as an intermediary, keeping Ryza in a state of needing him.

As for the rest, it would depend on how Ryza played the game with Angstrom's local forces. Anyway, he had already driven the wedge of power into them. If they couldn't control Angstrom with this, it couldn't be blamed on him.

Letting Mars decide on Angstrom's new Forge Overseer was also giving Mars face, reducing the hostility they might form because of this incident. At the same time, keeping Bertus alive could also reduce the hostility of Angstrom's local forces towards the expeditionary force. After all, if the Forge Overseer died at his hands, that bloodstain would be difficult to wash off his gauntlets for a long time.

As for the harsh words he said before the war, it could only be said that as someone responsible for hundreds of billions of lives, he needed to consider and make more choices, and could not simply act on a sense of honor. Although this sounded like the rhetoric of some cunning politicians, it was indeed the case.

This was also why Soshyan had Seth guard the door. He guessed that Ryza might arrange assassins to come in and completely eliminate Bertus Willibald, this “little tail.”

“You want to send me to Mars?”

Bertus Willibald seemed a little doubtful after hearing Soshyan's words.

“I cannot analyze the logic in it.”

Soshyan smiled, walked forward, bowed slightly, and said softly:

“My relationship with Ryza may not be as close as you think, Sage.”

Bertus Willibald's visual instruments flickered slightly, then he said in an even lower voice:

“Commander Soshyan, I can actually give you more...”

Soshyan shook his head.

“The ending has been decided and cannot be changed. I wish you a pleasant trip to Mars in the future.”

After a moment of silence, Bertus Willibald suddenly raised the mechanical axe in his hand. It displayed a shining halo showing the contained force field, and a gem the size of a human eyeball was embedded on it. It was not only a powerful power weapon, but also a scepter symbolizing rule. With this scepter alone, Bertus Willibald could declare his rights to the forge world of Angstrom.

The Terminators immediately became nervous at this action and activated the weapons in their hands, but Soshyan was not worried at all, just smiling at him.

“Chapter Master Soshyan Aleksey, as confirmed by binary succession and the edict of the Martian Forge General Seal, I am the legal Forge Overseer of Angstrom. Only he can legally revoke my power, and only he can take away this scepter.”

Soshyan raised his head slightly and noticed that the lights on the dome of the temple had gone out at some point, and some blurred figures were wriggling in the darkness.

As he expected, although Seth was guarding the door, Ryza's mechanical assassins still sneaked in.

If it weren't for his presence, they would have already struck.

He lowered his head, looked at Angstrom's desperate High Sage, and said softly:

“High Sage Bertus, power has never been given by a stick, but power gives this stick its unique meaning. Once the aura of power dissipates, it is just a metal stick. Now, the decision to define this power is in my hands. So, if you are reluctant to part with this stick, you can take it away.”

Bertus Willibald was stunned, and then his logic analyzer clearly parsed the meaning and connotations of each of Soshyan's words.

Then, he put down his arm, his back slightly hunched, looking very disappointed.

“I understand. Please allow me to take away my personal servants and some personal property.”

“You make a list, and I will immediately have someone deliver it to you without missing anything.”

The High Sage of Angstrom only took a few seconds to make a list and print it into a parchment scroll through a miniature printing device that he carried with him. Soshyan took it and handed it to Maximillian, asking him to collect the people and things according to the list.

After completing all this, Soshyan pointed to the door.

“Let me send you out.”

Perhaps because he had accepted too many surprises today, Bertus Willibald was even somewhat accustomed to this unusual behavior and nodded slightly.

“It's an honor.”

While walking in the corridor where a large number of cleaning servitors had begun to clean up the post-war wreckage, Soshyan suddenly said in a very low voice to Bertus beside him:

“High Sage, can you give me those evidences and records?”

“What?”

“We recently intercepted a fleet of the Hoyland family.”

Bertus's visual device flickered for a moment before he finally realized what “evidence” Soshyan was referring to.

However, he was a little hesitant, because once those things were exposed, not only would he be guilty of death, but many people in Angstrom would also lose their lives.

Seeming to guess the other party's concerns, Soshyan chuckled and said:

“High Sage, don't worry, I will only use it to deal with other people and will not be detrimental to you and Angstrom. Moreover, I believe that such confidential data records must be kept on you alone and will not be leaked.”

After thinking it over and over again, he chose to yield.

“I believe you, Supreme Commander Soshyan. Actually, we have no choice. Heretics control many key rare minerals, but we have never directly sold military resources to them.”

With that, he took out a small memory storage chip.

“The transaction records of the past hundred years are all in it.”

“Thank you.”

After Soshyan put away the memory storage chip, Bertus suddenly changed the subject.

“Also, what do you plan to do with the Blessing Bulwark, the star fort that is about to be completed?”

“Don't worry, it will always belong to Angstrom, and no one can take it away. Of course, the expeditionary force may borrow it for a period of time if the war situation is tense, but I guarantee that it will never be transferred to other people or organizations. After the war, I guarantee with my personality and soul that it will definitely stay in Angstrom.”

Bertus nodded. All the time he had been in power in Angstrom had been invested in the star fort, which was the only legacy he could leave to the forge world.

“Thank you, Chapter Master Soshyan.”