The Emperor’s Angel of Death

Hearing Sorkjaryn mention the knight families, Ustad asked curiously.

"Chapter Master, how did the DuPont Derin family perform this time?"

"Well, they were just average, basically meeting my requirements. Matthias's son is quite good, with excellent combat skills and willpower, and strong self-control. Many young knights are messing around and dating local noble girls, but he hasn't done it once. He even refused when they threw themselves at him. Instead, he likes to interact with Space Marines. Falzad and Mark both admire him quite a bit."

"What about that person?"

Sorkjaryn thought for a while and knew who Ustad was referring to, answering:

"He's also alright, his performance is also very outstanding. I watched the combat footage, and he does have Olga's shadow from the past. His son is useless, but he has a good grandson. If he had lived longer, would it be—"

But Sorkjaryn stopped the topic, shook his head, and said nothing more.

"Ustad, there are several tasks that you need to focus on in the future."

"Chapter Master, please tell me."

"First of all, the food issue must be taken seriously. The food supply in the diocese is already at a very dangerous level. I believe you also know this. In this year alone, some agricultural worlds have conducted three rounds of surplus grain collection. Various small-scale riots have not stopped since the war began. Some are caused by Genestealers, and some are dissatisfied with the high grain taxes and surplus grain collection. However, we need to expand the army, build new colonies, and even develop local industries, all of which require a huge agricultural resource as a foundation. Although we have the support of the Ecclesiarchy, I don't know how long the Ecclesiarchy can support us. Moreover, a distant water source cannot quench an immediate thirst. People can't stand being hungry for even two days. The latest batch of merchant fleets from the Ecclesiarchy is estimated to arrive in a year, or even longer. Although Zhao-Akada will help solve some of the problem, they can't feed so many people. Besides, you also know that the Adeptus Mechanicus doesn't care much about the life and death of mortals. They won't waste a lot of production capacity on artificial synthetic food."

Hearing Sorkjaryn say this, Ustad also sighed softly and nodded.

"Yes, the supply of tens of millions of soldiers on the front line is a huge number. Moreover, not only soldiers have to eat, but logistics personnel and non-combatants also consume a lot of food. To be honest, not to mention the farmers can't stand it, even religious riots have broken out in some worlds. Some poor priests, under the slogan of 'Darkness, the Emperor saves the world', led the people to riot, wearing yellow belts on their heads, holding up the yellow Aquila flag, and attacking local administrative organizations with wooden sticks and farm tools. They once swept across three worlds. I had no choice but to send Robin and the others to suppress them, and hundreds of thousands of people died. Even if those leading priests were subjected to a death by a thousand cuts after being captured, they would not repent. They firmly believed that their actions were right, and that the corruption of the high-level officials led to the famine. Alas, most of them are devout and hardworking priests. There is indeed a lot of corruption in the grain collection process in various places. I originally planned to forgive some of the rioting priests, but Ms. Viletz said that this precedent cannot be set, otherwise the people can launch riots if they are slightly dissatisfied, and the diocese will never have peace."

"Viletz is right, because the war in the diocese will continue for a long time, and the situation at the lower level cannot be improved in a short period of time. We can only endure this painful period, develop new colonies, establish industries, and gradually increase the overall food production of the diocese, and finally reach a higher level. This is the only way to cure the problem."

"I understand."

"Several Rogue Trader families have expressed their willingness to transport food to the diocese, but their food needs to be exchanged for local minerals and other commodities. You have to prepare for this. The food they transport should alleviate some of the problem, but the core lies in how you schedule it."

"Yes."

"Then there is the issue of Genestealers. Although most of the Genestealer cults inside the diocese have been eliminated, there are still remnants, and the Tyranids have penetrated deep into the diocese, and will definitely send new infiltrators. According to the statistics of the Adeptus Mechanicus, more than 70% of the Genestealer infiltration ultimately originates from various passenger ships and transport ships. Therefore, the control and inspection of ships in the area must be in place. You can set up a special inspection department to strictly search and detect incoming and outgoing ships. In addition, the civil management capacity must also be strengthened. The system implemented in the war zone before was good, and you can spread it out. Although this will further expand the scale of the bureaucratic group, it is worth it."

"I have noted it down, Chapter Master."

"Finally, there is the fleet. Considering that the defense pressure here is still relatively high, I plan to leave you 12 capital ships and half of the small ships. However, the Triumph and Soul Seeker are being repaired at Zhao-Akada, so you may only have 10 capital ships available in the near future. But with the main force of the Silent Fleet, the problem should not be too big. Regarding the Silent Fleet, this fleet is the Ecclesiarchy's secret stash, which belongs to something that cannot be seen in the light. So I have already talked to that Deacon, they will all change to the Astral Knight's insignia and nominally accept your command."

A mysterious smile appeared on Sorkjaryn's face.

"This Silent Fleet is like a banshee, very powerful but simply unusable. Instead of letting it continue to gather dust in the hands of the Ecclesiarchy, it is better to let it truly play its role. However, you don't need to worry too much about this, and someone from the Ecclesiarchy will naturally be responsible."

Ustad nodded, but then asked curiously:

"Chapter Master, I heard some battle brothers say that the people of the Silent Knight Order were very strange in the previous battles. They wore special armor and entered the depths of the battlefield in squads. Every time they returned, they would bring the heads of hunted Tyranid beasts. Although few entire squads can return, their performance is already very incredible compared to mortals. There are even rumors that they are Astartes illegally transformed by the Ecclesiarchy?"

Sorkjaryn shook his head.

"The Ecclesiarchy doesn't have such guts. Although with their ability, they can indeed transform their own Astartes, these people—"

Regarding those "knights" of the Silent Knight Order, Sorkjaryn also sent people to investigate secretly. According to the other party's intelligence analysis, and the leakage of some internal personnel infiltrated by the Holy Flame Order, they are indeed modified people, but the direction of the modification is slightly different from that of the Astartes. The specific process is still a mystery, but they have not reached the intensity of the Astartes. However, during collective actions, they will erupt with a kind of "faith power" similar to psychic power, so they can effectively resist the mental oppression from the hive mind will.

"...You just need to know that those people are not as strong as the Astartes, and you don't need to care about the rest."