Warhammer, but Emperor's Chosen

"Two hundred and thirty-three."

"That's enough. Let's get the fleet back to Mandeville."

-----------------

Port of residence.

A year later, Noah returned here again.

In fact, he didn't need to come here, because his warp route to Macragge did not require passing through the Maw, but directly went from the Lycarde system to the Maelstrom, and then directly from the Maelstrom to Macragge.

But he had to come because someone was waiting for him.

On the bridge of the Stars, Noah met Ajieta whom he had not seen for a long time.

The silver-haired nun looked frighteningly calm, her whole body wrapped in unwavering determination, as if the mere thought of retreating would inspire her contempt. But there was a fire burning in her eyes, which complemented the majestic power armor she wore.

Ordinary people might be afraid, but Noah understood.

This is because her faith has become stronger during this period of time.

The moment her eyes met Noah's, Ajetta's gaze softened and she nodded slightly:

"I'm back from my pilgrimage, Noah."

Noah smiled and hugged her. He felt the hard and cold power armor on her chest and felt a little strange:

"Welcome back, Ajetta. Have you changed into a new set of power armor?"

Ajetta had a pious and proud smile on her face:

“This is a holy relic left by Sister St. Ajeta, and I am honored to be its custodian.”

Saint Agios, as the word "Saint" suggests, is a saint of the state religion.

Ajetta is named after this Saint Ajetta.

In the Warhammer universe, the holy relics left behind by saints can really have special bonuses!

Nono smiled and welcomed this companion:

"Anyway, now that you're back, we can finally get going."

Ajetta apologized:

"Please wait a little longer. My sisters are still cleaning up."

"tidy?"

Cassia was a little confused, "Do battle sisters usually have a lot of luggage?"

She remembered that Sister Ajetta was a very simple person, her battle sisters shouldn't be so extravagant, right?

Ajetta said firmly:

"No, we don't need material things. They will only weaken our will."

Cassia became more and more confused:

"Then why clean up?"

Ajetta was silent for a moment, then replied:

“There are a lot of people.”

"How many?"

"Twenty thousand people."

Even Noah took a breath of cold air. Did you just say Duo Shao?

Chapter 102 The Emperor's Daughter's Dowry

Twenty thousand battle sisters.

It sounds scary, and it is actually really scary.

Ajetta also understood that others had some misunderstandings, and explained:

"Not all of them are battle sisters. Only a small number of them, less than one tenth, are battle sisters. The rest of the sisters have not received real military training."

“One tenth is also terrifying!”

Cassia's tone was full of doubt, "Have you brought the entire Pronatus Order here?"

"It's not kidnapping."

Ajetta corrected her sternly, "The sisters all followed me voluntarily, and it's not the entire Pronatus Order."

As she spoke, Ajetta looked apologetic:

"The Pronatus Convent has many holy relics to protect, and many sisters have sacred missions and cannot leave their posts. Therefore, only a small number of them follow me. In addition,"

After a brief pause, Ajetta continued:

"Noah, if you allow, the Pronatus Order hopes to move its headquarters to the capital planet of the Von Valancius Dynasty."

"Of course you can."

Noah immediately replied, "There are still many vacant spires in Dagonus that can be used to house the nuns."

In the previous purge, it was not only the Drefstadt family that was brought down, but also those noble allies who were attached to the Drefstadt family.

Noah's house is quite big, more than enough to accommodate the nuns.

However, there were already Soul Drinkers settled here, and now there are also Battle Sisters.

In this case, there may be no planet in the Colonus Expanse safer than Dagonus!

"Thank you for your understanding, Noah."

Ajetta looked at him tenderly, and Cassia felt a little jealous, but she didn't say anything.

It's normal to have some extramarital affairs when meeting again after a long separation.

Sister Ajetta said:

"One more thing, Hieronymus wishes to meet with you."

Noah nodded:

"I'm going to see him now."

-----------------

The shuttle landed at the dock of the landing port.

Hieronymus was already waiting there, nodding to Noah as he stepped off the spaceship.

"Reverend Hieronymus."

Noah reverently performed the Eagle Salute.

"Mr. Noah."

Reverend Hieronymus smiled. He exchanged few pleasantries and went straight to the point. "How many warships do you have?"

Noah didn't know why he asked that, but he replied:

"A Moon-class cruiser and four frigates."

"So you're short of warships?"

"lack!"

Noah’s answer was brutally honest.

Weapons and ammunition can be produced in the industrial world ruled by the dynasty, and Zaku can also be produced using looted production lines, but battleships cannot.

Because if you want to build warships, you must have a shipyard in space.

On the one hand, the cost of building warships on the ground is too high to send them into space.

On the other hand, the Empire's warships were not designed for atmospheric combat. Once they enter the planet's atmosphere, they will most likely disintegrate directly and cannot be built on the ground.

The only ones with shipyards in the entire empire were the Mechanicus and the Imperial Navy. Noah could place orders with the Mechanicus, but orders for warships usually took decades to line up even if the money was enough, and Noah couldn't wait that long.

Hieronymus nodded in satisfaction, as if to confirm Noah's honesty, and asked with a smile:

"The Calixis and Coronus fleets have recently retired several warships. Are you interested in purchasing them?"

"What model?"

"One Gothic-class cruiser, one Tyrant-class cruiser, three Dreadnought-class light cruisers, and 20 frigates."

"What about the price?"

"free."

"free?"

Hieronymus smiled and nodded:

"Yes, it's completely free, and all expenses are borne by the state church."

In the face of huge temptations of profit, Noah remained calm:

"So, what's the price?"

Everyone knows there is no such thing as a free lunch, but Noah really wanted the ships because he had no other way to buy them.

Take cruisers as an example. Among the various types of cruisers in the Empire, only the Ambition-class cruiser is open to private purchase. Obviously, most of the people who buy this cruiser are Rogue Traders and Planetary Governors, and the price of buying a battleship is at least ten times the cost of building it.

That’s right, the Mechanicus is just taking advantage of the situation.

But there are many people in the Empire who want to be taken advantage of but have no way to do so. Even if some planetary governors or wandering merchants use their connections to get orders for Ambition-class cruisers, they still have to wait in line for decades for actual delivery.

Basically, you won’t have the chance to use it yourself and can only leave it to your sons or even grandsons.

Therefore, most of the ships used by wandering traders are armed merchant ships converted from cargo ships.

Those who can use proper warships are more or less those who have some connections in the navy and the Mechanicus.

However, these warships were not ordered directly from the shipyard, but were "retired" for a variety of reasons.

In fact, in the Imperial Navy, there are many warships that have been in service for thousands or even tens of thousands of years.

Space is not like the ocean. There is no seawater corrosion, and there is no worry about outdated models.

If the internal equipment of the spacecraft is outdated, it will be replaced with a new one or upgraded directly. Even if the warship is destroyed, the keel must be towed back to the shipyard for refurbishment, and there is no room for decommissioning.

But there are always exceptions, otherwise where do the warships in the hands of traveling merchants come from?

It just depends on whether you have the channels.

Noah had enough money to buy a boat, but he had no channels in this regard.

Although Nono is a great sage, she does not have her own forge world or shipyard.

She has the skills and the ability, but she lacks the foundation.

The reason was simple, because she was too young. The status of a great sage only meant that she had enough STCs and was deeply involved in the field she was studying, but not every great sage could have a Forge World.

Although the Mechanicus does not advocate seniority, it is true that older sages have more resources at their disposal.

So Noah originally planned to go to Macragge to find Calga. After all, the Ultramarines are a big family with a lot of power, so it wouldn't be difficult for them to help him with such small matters.

But now, Noah wanted to see what Hieronymus would ask.

"cost?"

Hieronymus smiled and said, "There is no price. You can think of this as a gift, or an investment."

"Invest in me? Why?"

Noah chose the second option.

"Mr. Noah,"

Hieronymus asked seriously, "Have you ever thought about what it will be like after you die?"

"No."

Noah shook his head decisively. He never considered such a thing.