The Emperor’s Angel of Death

"An'Ke, have you ever considered that your actions will make your colleagues look like cowards?"

After removing his hand from the hourglass, Szohyang spoke with a slightly teasing tone.

"Even if you really take responsibility for them, they may not appreciate you, and may even be hostile to you, because you represent an indelible shame on them, and may later put a hat of national betrayal on you, making you unable to turn over for eternity, and completely erase you from history, in order to eliminate their sense of shame."

An'Ke just replied indifferently:

"Phoenix King, your thinking is very similar to a K'ura."

"Oh? Can I take that as an insult?"

"I'm just stating a fact. We don't have so many dirty political considerations, nor so much infighting and intrigue. We only follow the Greater Good."

"Then I'm even more curious. What method do you Ethereals use to control the other castes, making them so obedient to you, almost like mind control? Is it psychic power? Or some kind of technology?"

"I don't know what psychic power is, let alone what technology is."

"Then how do you explain it?"

"Selflessness, dedication, everything is only for the Greater Good."

"Can you guarantee that every Ethereal is like this?"

"I can."

Szohyang shook his head.

"If it's true, then it's definitely not normal. Any group composed of thinking individuals should not have such a high degree and purity of ideological consistency, unless you are a Tyranid-like gestalt swarm, but it's obvious that you are not. However, your secrets are very well hidden. We dissected the bodies of those Ethereals who accompanied the army, and indeed did not find any psychic organs or pheromone organs."

But his words did not anger this Ethereal.

"We have never considered using control to rule the people. We are guides, we are assistants, but we are definitely not rulers. Only those despots of the K'ura like to use poison gas, explosive collars, and starvation to coerce their people, and use superstition and empty idols to hypnotize and numb the people, but we will not."

Szohyang clapped his hands.

"Very confident boasting. So, An'Ke, do you know what the consequences are if you take on this responsibility?"

"Of course I know. So many sacrifices and deaths, if they can be resolved with just an apology and kneeling, then it would be too easy."

What An'Ke said was the subtext hidden in the first article of the ceasefire treaty that most Ethereals did not understand—Szohyang only said to kneel down and apologize, but did not say that he could come back, which meant that K'San had to sacrifice a high-ranking Ethereal to appease the anger with his blood.

Szohyang chuckled a few times, lowered his eyes, and shook his head.

"Good, a daring hero."

"I am not a hero, nor a good man. I am An'Ke, an Ethereal, who has the obligation and responsibility to bear all this, for the Greater Good."

Szohyang pointed at him.

"I say you are a hero, and you are a hero. What I like most in my life are heroes."

Then he waved his hand, and a spindle drone, which An'Ke had previously thought was a statue, walked over holding a scroll.

"So, the first article, we can say we've reached an agreement."

An'Ke opened the scroll, noticing that it was made of a flexible material, with columns of clauses written in both Tau and Eldar languages.

But this was a bit different from the previous one. For example, the number of star systems to be handed over to the Arakken had increased from one to three, namely the three star systems marked by the Tau as Sha'Dragg, Hou'Saan, and Dale'Mala. Both Sha'Dragg and Hou'Saan used to have Tau colonies, but during the Tyranid invasion in M41, both colonial star systems suffered devastating blows, the original habitable worlds became dead worlds, and the colonies were completely abandoned. However, the Tau still had some resource extraction stations and monitoring stations there, and would regularly send fleets to patrol, which in a sense was indeed part of the K'San Sept.

And the previous treaty only asked for the Dale'Mala system, which had also been ravaged by the Tyranids, but there were no Tau colonies there, because it was relatively far from the Sept world and surrounded by a dense asteroid belt, making it unsuitable for development. However, establishing military strongholds and naval bases there would make it a good space fortress area. The K'San Sept already had similar plans after the Tyranid War, intending to fortify the Dale'Mala system as the eastern barrier of the Sept world. However, due to the excessive investment and the fact that the Sept world was just recovering from the Tyranid War, the plan could only be continuously postponed, and may not be officially implemented until M42. However, the Tau still established a series of monitoring stations and unmanned small spaceports there to pave the way for future large-scale projects.

Originally, the Eternal Court wanted to take away this place, and the Ethereal Council could only reluctantly agree, but now they want two more star systems. An'Ke's nostrils shrank tightly together.

He looked up at Szohyang and said seriously:

"Phoenix King, why are you changing your mind temporarily?"

"It's not me who is changing my mind temporarily, it's you. It was you who rejected my initial conditions. Now that you've come back, it's definitely not as good as it was at the beginning."

"What is the meaning of you wanting these places? The Arakken don't have that many people, and I believe your side wouldn't bother to occupy those barren lands."

"The development of the Arakken is not something your side needs to worry about."

The smile in Szohyang's words made An'Ke very helpless. He probably guessed that this mysterious and powerful race really wanted to support the Arakken, a puppet that extremely hated the Tau.

An'Ke guessed right. Szohyang wanted to support the Arakken near the K'San Sept. This was not specifically targeting the K'San Sept. In fact, they were not worth doing that. Szohyang did this on the one hand to establish a barrier for the Riransu Kingdom, because the star field nearby was indeed not peaceful, and Orks and Tyranids often appeared. However, the Court's military strength was limited and it was impossible to send a large number of troops to garrison, so a powerful vassal race could effectively alleviate the Court's defense pressure, so that the Court's army would not have to run around for every small matter.

As for the population problem of the Arakken, it is not a big problem in itself, because this race actually belongs to the type with high reproductive efficiency, but their breeding process is more cumbersome. Generally, a normal lifespan (80-120 years) female Arakken can have 3-4 breeding opportunities in her life. After interacting with the chosen male for a period of time, they will first have a gestation period of about one year, and then give birth to 6-20 fertilized eggs, which is much more efficient than viviparous reproduction.