How can a retired savior be considered retired if he drops to 40,000?

Lanmarok listened to this discussion carefully. He understood every sentence in it, but when they were put together, they showed a logic that he could not understand: if he might have made a mistake in the past without knowing it, he should immediately start to find a way to make up for it, instead of just scaring himself until he decided to scare himself to death.

After a short moment of reflection, he decided not to comment on this matter that he did not understand, but instead turned to ask another possible breakthrough: "So, what did he do to cause him to begin to question his beliefs and loyalty?"

Joscelius's gaze shifted to Trolipo's charred body again: "I'll have to ask our Archbishop about this."

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 328 Some people are working, some are behind the scenes

Although he had seen the corresponding scene in the viewing window of the orbital elevator and was mentally prepared, when he actually set foot on the ground of Arax Angel Fortress, Debbie still sighed from an angle that no one expected:

"There are so many obsidian." He said this as he looked at the black Baal rock that was almost everywhere around him.

"I think their physical and chemical properties should be different from the obsidian we are familiar with. But it may also be that the Empire's stone processing technology has far exceeded our cognition." Fujimaru Ritsuka gently kicked the ground to attract Debit's attention to the black mirror-like walkway under his feet. "The locals use it as building materials or carving materials. After polishing it, they call it 'Bal marble'."

The infrastructure in many places in the empire was poorly built, but no one could question the empire's technical level in infrastructure.

Debito took a few cautious steps and turned around, looking down at his blurry reflection on the calm black water, and sighed again: "Tezcatlipoca must like it here."

"It's hard to say. I think he's been acting mysterious lately. I don't know what he's doing." Fujimaru Ritsuka adjusted the strap of her shoulder bag under her cloak so that the weight of the bag could be evenly distributed on her left shoulder. "Sometimes I even think he'll sneak off the ship and go somewhere, and then sneak back on board."

Not long ago, when he was on the rail elevator, Fujimaru Ritsuka received a shocking email from Lan Malok on his tablet, but now, the email and the tablet are just lying quietly in her bag. After finishing the serious business and removing the communication shield, while sitting in the comfortable vehicle lent by the Blood Angels, Fujimaru Ritsuka once asked Lan Malok by email if he needed help. The latter replied that he didn't need it for the time being and was investigating, so the former felt at ease and continued to fish with pay.

This is why she is still inside the Blood Angels Chapter Monastery, walking on the smooth Baal marble at a slow, lazy pace, guiding Debbie and the spiritual form of Hill towards the nearby Storm's Edge.

To Hill, it was a somewhat bizarre sight: he had indeed seen these two men mingling in the crowd on the battlefield, albeit at different time periods - he was more accustomed to the efficiency displayed by these two men in their mortal bodies, who could easily keep up with the Astartes' forced marching pace, and the sense of urgency that inevitably accompanied it, rather than their current leisurely pace of staggering in a safe zone, grinning foolishly and moving forward at a pace comparable to that of a turtle.

Although it was somewhat worrying, Hill didn't dislike such a scene from time to time, and even felt a little relieved. From his point of view, this was more in line with their age: although Debit was indeed an adult, in the eyes of most imperial people, people in their early twenties were indeed an age that could only be called "children" - and Fujimaru Ritsuka, at least from the outside, looked like a child. He was born into an aristocracy, was raised with delicate skin and flesh, and had only received very little basic martial arts training.

It took only five minutes for the car to enter the dome of the Arax Angel Fortress, slow down according to regulations, and stop 200 meters from the Storm Edge. It also took five minutes for Fujimaru Ritsuka and Debbie to travel the last few hundred meters. The two magicians talked about random topics, from the Almighty God of Central and South America to the similarities and differences between ancient sacrificial rituals and similar rituals today, and then jumped from the state religion's attitude towards living sacrifices to the topic of driving live stakes.

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While waiting for the Stormbound to open the hatch and lower the gangway, Hill, who had become worried because he was listening to this conversation that was becoming more and more realistic from an academic discussion, couldn't help but ask: "Let me confirm first, you don't really want to drive a few live stakes before starting the construction of the Chaldea Lighthouse, right?"

"Of course I didn't. But I've been holding this question in for a long time, and I'm really curious if it's useful." Fujimaru Ritsuka replied, "I can't tell this to other people in Chaldea, otherwise they will really think I want to do this and take it upon themselves to do it. In this regard, Debbit is a very safe person to discuss with."

"Indeed." Hill couldn't help but nodded, even though no one could see his current movements as a spirit.

"I think what you think is 'really' is not the same as what I think is 'really'." Fujimaru Ritsuka showed a little doubt, but his eyes did not successfully focus on Hill's current position. "But forget it, you have to remember not to talk about this matter outside - this matter itself is not important, the main thing is, don't say that I mentioned this."

"I understand. If the superior likes something, the subordinates will like it even more." Hill said with a smile, "I think you are not very comfortable in such a high position."

Fujimaru Ritsuka did not refute, but said as he stepped onto the gangway steps: "There is nothing I can do. It is convenient to do things this way, and I have to be cautious in my words and deeds for the sake of this power... Although this and that are two different things, I have recently come to understand more and more why the emperor pretended to be a giant several meters tall and covered in gold. We still cannot underestimate the wisdom of our predecessors. There must be corresponding reasons for the seemingly outrageous decisions they made..."

"What?" Hill's voice sounded a little horrified: "What?? Isn't he?"

"Not originally." Fujimaru Ritsuka used a subtle tense in this conclusion, "He wasn't much taller than me. I mean, it definitely couldn't be more than 30 centimeters. Theoretically, his anatomical structure should be no different from that of a mortal. Unlike the original, his body shape is entirely the result of psionic inflation."

As she spoke, she laughed out loud: "When I think about how the Emperor must have been more embarrassed than I am now, I feel that I can still do this job."

The subtext of this sentence might have been even more surprising, but unfortunately, Hill's brain capacity was completely occupied by the explosive information that "the Emperor's true size is actually just that of a mortal", and he didn't have the spare time to read the meaning behind these new sentences.

In contrast to Hill's reaction, Debbie, who was not an Imperial and had no special feelings for the Emperor, was obviously immune to this round of mental shock. After the former calmed down, the latter tried to turn the topic back to another unrelated issue that could be connected to the previous discussion:

"I had a question before: You don't have to discuss these magic problems with me, right?" he said. It's not that he was unwilling to take on the task of educating a third-rate magician with a serious imbalance in knowledge reserves, but it was just a simple question about efficiency. "Among the spirit portraits recorded by Chaldea, there must be many talented people who can help in various situations. Wouldn't it be much faster for you to try to summon the Heroic Spirit directly than waiting for me to rush over from Medusa?"

This was a question that would naturally arise for someone in the know, and it was no big deal, but Fujimaru Ritsuka was still stuck for a moment.

The group had already entered the Storm's Edge, and the gangway and hatch slowly retracted behind them. In the last moment when the reddish simulated sunlight under the Arax Angel dome and the white lights inside the ship intersected with each other, the owner of the spirit-based portrait took a deep breath.

"...You've seen Enkidu's situation." She seemed to have made up her mind and answered, "In this universe, Servants are roughly regarded as a kind of subspace creature, and there is a possibility of being contaminated by the four Chaos Gods."

Although Debit was somewhat puzzled by the sudden change of topic, he nodded. "In theory, that's right. As long as a magician has a basic understanding of demonology and a general understanding of the composition of Heroic Servants, it should be easy to make such inferences. But it's just an inference after all, and you shouldn't be afraid to act rashly—"

He hadn't finished the second half of his argument, but Fujimaru Ritsuka suddenly sighed sadly. The emotion contained in it was really wrong, and Debbie, who didn't know much about the atmosphere, couldn't help but stop talking.

"That's true, but Debbie," she asked with a subtle bitter smile, "Do you think I'm the kind of magician who has the knowledge to realize the relevant theories before something happens?"

Debbie paused. He realized that the answer to this question was obviously no.

"...What?" He had some guesses about this sentence, but he suspected that he was wrong. He was not very good at this. But Fujimaru Ritsuka's relaxed demeanor when talking about this matter told him that he was not wrong:

"Similar things have certainly happened before, and I am well aware of the consequences," she said. "I don't know if Tezcatlipoca mentioned this to you, but I came here through a structure in this world called the Well of Eternity, which is very similar to the Source. The Well of Eternity is located in the Realm of Tzeentch.

"Just think about it, it's unlikely that I ran away from there without paying any price, right?"

-

"Aha!" Joselius found two pieces of metal that had been twisted and deformed by the high temperature from the charred remains of the archbishop. "This should be it."

"You have to admit that sometimes scene reconstruction based on image modeling through science and logic is more useful than psychic powers." Lan Malok said in a gloomy tone, "But you're welcome, cousin."

"But if it wasn't our ritual, you wouldn't even know that what we were looking for was an ornament. You're welcome, cousin." Joscelius stabbed back as he stood up, "Now, let's see what's behind this..."

The think tank once again chanted an ambiguous and complex chant, some of the syllables were so audible that one could even doubt whether they were uttered by a human body. This was a relatively simple spell, at least before Lanmarok could fully marvel at the sight before him, Joscelius took action: he threw the two pieces of metal in his hand, causing them to spin and fall in an unnatural trajectory in the air, making a sizzling sound and a faint pink-purple flame, and finally turning into ash as they landed.

"Salis," Joachim concluded with an attitude of "as expected," "I am not surprised at all that these bloated upper-class people of the state religion would unknowingly throw themselves into the arms of the Lord of Pleasure."

Although he said so, the other two recorders he brought with him were obviously confused when faced with the result of this spell. Perhaps because of the authority of Joselius as a mentor, they did not dare to speak at this time, but Lanmalok did not have such scruples:

"So, this is what set Archbishop Trolipo on fire without any warning?" The Dark Angel looked at the last bit of ashes left after the ceremony with suspicion, feeling that he could not imagine such a scene.

"Of course not." Considering that the person asking the question was a layman from another regiment, Joscelius answered with patience, "First of all, 'spontaneous combustion' is definitely not the work of Sallys. For this great enemy who symbolizes extreme perfection and indulgence, whether it is blessing or punishment, it seems a bit too simple. Moreover, my spell shows that the pendant just now, which may be a necklace, can only contain a small amount of evil energy at most. Otherwise, it is impossible for it to appear next to an Archbishop of the State Church who is still unaware of his own depravity."

The confusion surrounding the two recorders disappeared, but soon after, this feeling entangled Joscelius himself. He had a deduction that he thought was foolproof, but the previous discussion made him realize that there was a fatal logical flaw in his deduction.

Lanmaroc picked up on this slight hesitation expertly: "Any questions?"

"Something is not right." Joscelius weighed the pros and cons briefly and decided to tell the truth. "My original guess was that Archbishop Trolipo took out some forbidden items that obviously contained Chaos power, and was noticed by 'some superior beings in the warp' and ignited as punishment. But the problem is that the spell shows that the power of this thing is quite weak, which makes it difficult to detect from the perspective of the 'superior being', making this inference untenable."

The "superior being" he mentioned here actually refers to the soul of Sanguinius in the Cathedral of the Holy Blood. At least within the scope of Baal Prime, the Primarch who is currently connected to the earth veins can indeed do something similar. But Lanmalok did not correctly understand this hint - for him, the only one who can be called a "superior being in the warp" so far, and who is obviously on the side of the Empire, is the Emperor.

"A guess." Lanmaroc said after a short silence, "Archbishop Trolipo happened to be very unlucky at that moment."

If Heselius turned his head and glared at Lanmarok, this conjecture was not logical at all, so that the think tank wanted to rebuke it, but for a moment it felt like a tiger swallowing the sky and had no idea where to start.

"Don't tell me that this kind of probability thing is completely unpredictable." Lan Malok obviously realized that the other party wanted to refute him, so he took the initiative and said, "Indeed, the illusory concept of 'luck' is really impossible to detect or quantify, but - I want to ask, have you ever cursed Fujimaru Ritsuka behind his back?"

Joachim frowned. He had never done this before, but he still felt offended in some way: "What do you want to say?"

"Fujimaru Ritsuka has a kind of protection that can bounce back curses. At least that's how she explains it." Lanmalok said, "Originally, it's a psychic countermeasure defense, but in practice, it seems that because 'swearing behind someone's back is also a curse', people who do this will have bad luck happen to them quickly and suddenly. For example, slipping down the stairs, or choking on water. Considering the recent policy conflict between Archbishop Trolipo and Fujimaru Ritsuka, it's normal for him to vent his emotions with words to his confidants in private. And because 'luck' is really something that can't be quantified, he can't feel that he is becoming unlucky... Why are you looking at me like that?"

Lanmarok met the subtle looks of the other three think tanks with a little anger: "I definitely didn't roll down the stairs myself!"

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 329: Interpersonal relationships are a balance formed by the mutual control of the participants

"I still think you're being too hasty in this matter," Debit pointed out again. "I admit that Storm's Edge's high level of automation allows Chaldea to operate normally with only about ten staff members, but your standard of 'summoning individual Heroic Spirits only when absolutely necessary' is still a bit too strict."

"Strictly speaking, this is also a 'reasonable' excuse for why I didn't perform a complete summoning. You can think that I am a little guilty in all aspects." Fujimaru Ritsuka said, "After all, I don't really want to be hit by someone who walks out of the summoning circle and say, 'You are too good at making trouble for yourself.'"

Debbie looked visibly confused: "This is clearly a good deed, how can it be considered 'causing trouble'?"

"Of course you would think so, but you have to know that even among the heroes engraved in human history, not everyone will naturally pursue kindness. There may be people who will have thoughts like: 'This is not our history, why are we fighting so hard?'" Fujimaru Ritsuka sighed.

"...That's right." Debit thought for a while and came to the conclusion: "After all, the standard for being recorded as a realm record does not include the superiority or inferiority of personality."

"It's not really that difficult for me." Fujimaru Chaldea Succubus Ritsuka made this statement based on experience, "But I really don't like being lectured to again and again..."

"So it's just an emotional hurdle," Debbie said harshly. "It's about time we got over it."

"Wait a minute." Hill, who had reappeared inside the Storm's Edge, interrupted the conversation openly. "What do you mean by 'this isn't really that difficult'? How can we make people on the same side unify their thoughts and ideas? This is going to be a problem anyway, right?"

"That's right. It's not that difficult. Basically, after scolding me, everyone will choose to help me in the end." Fujimaru Ritsuka felt that this was inexplicable. "Why don't you ask Odysseus?"

"I still think this is ridiculous. Even if she can't return to her own world, she doesn't need to go to this extent just to survive, or to go further and gain honor, status and money. Even for the sake of justice, as an 'outsider' in essence, she is more careful about her life, which is morally impeccable." Odysseus' voice sounded beside Hill, causing the latter to reflexively take a step to the side. "But the Master gave me a very convincing reason for the question of 'why did she work so hard', so I decided to help."

Unlike Sigurd, who lost his self-consciousness after lending power to Akuldona, and unlike Georgos (Saint George), who gave up the relevant control rights after agreeing to use the spirit base as the incarnation of the emperor in a sense, Odysseus's existence in Hill is more similar to Jeanne Alter to Sevata. Therefore, it is natural that in the interior of Storm Edge, which has been transformed into another world by various magic, he can leave Hill and appear alone, just like Jeanne Alter.

By the way, Odysseus himself explained his insistence on retaining consciousness by saying that as a military strategist hero known for his wisdom, he must be able to make suggestions at any time to achieve the best value for money. At present, Hill has decided to reserve his opinion on this.

The Ultramarines stared at Odysseus who suddenly appeared with a little surprise for a while, then turned to look at Fujimaru Ritsuka who was obviously feeling guilty. In the end, his curiosity prevailed in the aspect that he was more likely to understand: "What's the reason?"

"If this is a reason that can be easily said, I wouldn't just tell it to Odysseus." There was a hint of threat in Fujimaru Ritsuka's tone, "I told him because he would definitely understand and wouldn't laugh at me!"

"I can also promise not to laugh at you!"

"But I don't believe you can understand! You are only good at writing official documents!"

"To be fair, I think he could understand if he found the right way to explain it," Odysseus commented. "But I think it would be best if you two stepped back and didn't get entangled in this. This is a very personal matter."

"What? How private?" Hill sounded unconvinced.

Odysseus replied calmly: "It is the same kind of private relationship that Penelope and Telemachus have with me."

The next second, Hill immediately gave up asking questions and raised his hands in surrender. Obviously, he had been annoyed by Odysseus's topics about his wife and son.

After simply dismissing the inappropriate curiosity of the Ultramarines, Odysseus brought the topic back to the starting point: "But Master, I think Debit's point is also correct. Chaldea's advantage lies in the fact that the spirit portraits record talents with various specialties. If we continue to control the number of summons like this, although it will be easier to manage, it is obviously impossible to play this advantage."

"That's the truth..." Fujimaru Ritsuka was still hesitant, but the initiator of the topic suddenly decided to let it go for some reason:

"It's up to you. I want to borrow your equipment to do a formal physical examination." Debbie said this and strode away along the corridor. This startled Fujimaru Ritsuka, who reflexively asked, "Wait, do you know where the infirmary is?" and quickly followed him. Hill hesitated for a moment, but decided to stay where he was for the time being.

"Is everything alright?" He asked Odysseus with a worried look on his face. "You were interrupted halfway through your conversation. Aren't you going to stop it?"

"Too much talk to young people of this age will only make them rebellious," Odysseus replied. "Besides, Fujimaru Ritsuka is not a very stubborn person. Just remind her of the interests involved, and she will figure it out after a while."

"What do you mean by 'young person of this age'..." Hill whispered to Odysseus, "Do you realize that, taking into account the time spent in the simulation in the illusion, she is at least over a hundred years old?"

Before Hill finished speaking, Odysseus glared at him and said, "I advise you not to mention this again - just for the sake of the entire universe. You must be especially careful not to mention it in front of the person involved."

-

"What you said may be true." Joscelius reluctantly agreed with Lanmarok's statement, "But how do you think these things that sound illogical and unconvincing should be written into the report?"

"Write a report that is 'illogical and unconvincing'." Lan Malok spoke from his own experience, "Anything involving Fujimaru Ritsuka is likely to end up like this. I have written many similar battle reports."

Yes. Battle report. Lan Malok had already dealt with the inexplicable battlefield support such as "origin strikes from the sky" on paper three times. During the second time, he had learned to use his power armor to open the video recording at any time, using the video data as evidence. This caution allowed him to successfully deal with various inquiries about the authenticity of the report - these inquiries mainly came from his original body.

"I understand. Of course I can write this, because Lord Mephiston can verify the authenticity of this nonsense." Joscelius said irritably, "But what about the state religion?"

After confirming that Archbishop Trolipo essentially died under the Emperor's wrath, this matter essentially had nothing to do with the Blood Angels. According to normal procedures, they should have reported the entire process of the incident and the results of the investigation, and passed it to the State Church along with the notice, and finally handed over the personnel involved and the relevant remains, allowing them to solve any internal problems behind closed doors - but will things go smoothly like this?

Heselius thought not. He was the kind of space marine who was more concerned with how to kill the enemy and less concerned with the politics of the empire, so he couldn't say anything specific about this matter. But even so, Heselius still instinctively felt that this matter was unlikely to end so smoothly.

After all, the Archbishop came with a mission. His mission was not successfully completed before his death, which means that the State Church will definitely send the next successor. Since the two sides must continue to contact, no one can guarantee whether this "accident" will leave any hidden dangers in the future exchanges and cooperation: Trolipo died because of his own mistakes, but it is also a fact that he died on Baal Prime, a world directly managed by the Blood Angels.

Even if Heselius did not think that this incident would eventually lead to the relationship between the Blood Angels and the Ecclesiarchy developing into the relationship between the Space Wolves and the Inquisition, he felt that it was unlikely that this incident would not bring any trouble.

Faced with this question, Lanmarok fell silent. Obviously, he had no good solution - even if the duties of the "Fire Wing Grand Master" required him to have a certain degree of political literacy (to be able to plan a coup when necessary), his long-term practical experience in the military department that exercised direct violence still prevented him from thinking like a real politician.

Specifically, on his schedule, the option "kill everyone" always appears at the top of the list of inappropriate options.

"Otherwise, you can go back and ask your Chapter Master first." Lanmalok tried to deduce the matter in a more optimistic direction. "No matter what, as long as the report is co-signed by the two founding chapters, the Blood Angels and the Dark Angels, the Ecclesiarchy should at least give it some face, right?"

He paused, then added reluctantly, "I will also report the incident to Fujimaru Ritsuka. The power granted to her by the Sky Eagle Scepter is a bit ambiguous in terms of religion, but... I hope that the reprimand issued through the title of 'Imperial Saint' can have some effect on the state religion."

"Our usual practice is to go directly to the archbishop's hometown. There is indeed Chaos evil in his body, and there must be a cult organization in the world where he sits." Joscelius said unhappily, "As long as we dig out those heretics, the state religion will have nothing to say. But you are right, even if it is a routine military deployment, I have to ask Lord Dante for instructions."

"If that's the case, I wish you all the best." Lan Malok's tone was filled with a hint of envy. "We have to be responsible for Fujimaru Ritsuka's security. At least I myself should not be able to leave."

In the next ten minutes, they briefly discussed how to arrange the follow-up matters - such as how to preserve the corpses in front of them before the arrival of the State Church, how to deal with the other attendants who came with the Archbishop, etc. After all, Baal Prime was still the territory of the Blood Angels, so in the past ten minutes, after the above-mentioned series of preservation, control and detention tasks were negotiated, it was confirmed that they would be gradually transferred from Chaldea (Dark Angels) to the local war group.

This brings us back to a question that Joselius had to ask: "What's going on with that so-called ascetic monk who suddenly appeared? Haven't you dealt with him yet?"

"Oh, that." Lanmarok's tone was a little happy that he could get rid of this hot potato soon. "He is just a dog of an inquisitor on the track. Someone will come to take him away in a while."

-

"I have sent for my agent. My messenger will bear the Page Rose Knot," said Maran to Hastings.

When it comes to verifying things related to Chaos, Captain Stern clearly believes in the spirit of "do it now rather than tomorrow". After almost confirming that Hastings was brought to the Fortitude and Power, he led some of his battle brothers to start certain rituals, trying to reproduce some of the "nonsense" he had heard before. These rituals obviously take a lot of time, so Marlan and Hastings, who passed the full set of inspections, can only do nothing under the supervision of other Grey Knights.

But there was nothing to be envied about this enforced "doing nothing". At least Hastings had no tea.

"I will inform the relevant personnel of this matter." Even though there was no tea to drink, Hastings still said this in a businesslike manner. "By the way, I would like to make a suggestion: If you are really curious about the matter you intend to investigate, you can ask Fujimaru Ritsuka directly during a future meeting. If there is no special situation, she will answer you the whole matter as it is."

The phrase "unless there are special circumstances" should be just a disclaimer that civil servants often habitually say - at least that's what Hastings thought when he said it.