After getting out of bed, Eden imdiately summoned Bayev to report on the details of last night's cleansing operation.
Upon hearing the report, Eden was deeply concerned.
The release of just one vial of Chaos bio-weaponry had cost him three Imperial Guards.
Even his strongest warrior, Carter, had suffered minor injuries.
If he hadn't discovered those Chaos bio-weapons ahead of ti, the consequences would have been unimaginable! Fortunately, it was all over now.
"Governor, all of the targets you marked have been eliminated. Now, we can proceed with the preparations for the Emperor's Ascension Day..."
Bayev looked at Eden with growing reverence.
The damned traitorous Hoffman family had launched such a vile attack on the King's Court.
If not for the Governor's divine-like powers of reconnaissance, the King's Court would have suffered great losses.
"By the way, make sure to properly compensate the families of the Guards who sacrificed their lives in the battle. Have their nas inscribed on the monunt at the foot of the Emperor's statue."
Eden instructed Bayev:
"From now on, all warriors who fall in battle should be properly compensated. You'll be in charge of planning it."
In the past, there was no such thing as compensation in the King's Court. Warriors were expected to fight bravely and sacrifice themselves if necessary—it was a symbol of loyalty.
It wasn't just the King's Court; even the Astra Militarum rarely had such compensation.
When the Astra Militarum left their howorlds to fight across the galaxy, they ventured farther and farther away.
So far, in fact, that with a mortal's brief lifespan, it would be impossible to return ho, even if they spent their entire life traveling aboard a ship.
Unless a soldier demonstrated extraordinary ability and earned exceptional honors, thus rising to the rank of officer, there was only a slim chance of ever returning ho.
Even for officers, it was rare. For regular guardsn, it was unthinkable.
Once they left their ho planet, they were essentially saying goodbye to their families forever.
Their fate would either be death on the battlefield or, if they were lucky, dying of old age in a foreign land.
And after their deaths, it would be nearly impossible to track their identity or ho planet.
Given the vast distances, delivering compensation to their families was practically impossible.
Even if compensation were to be sent, by the ti it arrived, it would likely have been several generations since the soldier had passed.
Whether their family even rembered them was uncertain.
For these reasons, compensation had never really been a consideration.
Eden briefly explained his understanding of the compensation process to Bayev before handing the task over to him.
He believed Bayev would be able to formulate a suitable compensation plan, given the current resources of the King's Court.
Bayev nodded in agreent:
"Governor, I will devise an appropriate compensation plan. On behalf of the warriors, I thank you for your generosity!"
Afterward, Eden and Bayev discussed the process for the upcoming ceremony.
Once satisfied with the answers, Eden urged Bayev to check on the progress of the Emperor's statue construction.
Eden was grateful to have soone like Bayev as his steward—his energy seed boundless, and he could handle multiple tasks simultaneously.
Without him, Eden feared he might collapse from exhaustion.
Everything had been set in motion, and the Emperor's Ascension Day was just three days away.
All Eden had to do was appear at the ceremony, make a promise to his people, and that would be enough.
Then, he would gather enough Hope Power to open the portal and send himself to the Green Wave farm on the space hulk.
There, he would obtain the advanced farming techniques and food resources, along with an automated robot.
Currently, the administrative thods in the King's Court were too outdated. There was no internet, and in so ways, it was worse than the world he had co from.
He had to get the internet up and running as soon as possible so that he could implent modern communication and managent systems.
As for digital daemons or rogue codes, he wasn't worried.
He'd simply use the small sun to bless the servers for protection. He could create a few sacred relics with the blessing of the small sun, then gather so priests.
They could perform rituals and sprinkle holy water on the servers daily to ensure their protection.
Right now, the servers were only operating within the territory, so protecting them wasn't too difficult.
It wasn't like the Golden Throne, where the Emperor sat, maintaining the Astronomican—a massive beacon network that spanned the galaxy.
The strain of managing such servers across entire star systems, sectors, and even regions was unimaginable. No wonder they had to burn through so many psykers.
In any case, once he had the farming technology, and the servers for the internet set up, it would drastically reduce administrative costs and increase productivity.
The only tricky part was that robot.
The Imperium strictly forbade the use of AI robots.
If Eden really brought back an AI robot, symbolizing "hatred of intelligence," it would surely incite fear or opposition from the people.
If the Imperium found out, it would cause serious trouble.
But then again, Urth was now in the Imperium's dark zone. The Imperium had no control over him anymore!
Eden had made up his mind—he had to bring that AI robot back.
At worst, he'd disguise it. Put it in a robe, weld the Imperial Aquila on it, and pass it off as a servitor!
As long as Eden didn't admit it was an AI, who could challenge him?
Everything was moving in the direction Eden had hoped for.
He allowed himself to relax a bit, leaning back in his throne to rest.
But for so reason, the feeling of unease only grew stronger.
Suddenly, a sharp sense of foreboding struck Eden! Darkness, pure and overwhelming darkness!
He looked toward the Hoffman family's territory, his psychic senses faintly picking up on sothing terrible brewing there!
It was a terrifying Chaos monstrosity, a creation of the dark gods.
If it were allowed to fully mature, his territory would be powerless to stop its attack.
However, Eden couldn't risk starting a war with the Hoffman family directly.
Based on the strength they displayed yesterday, even if he won, it would be a pyrrhic victory.
The only ones to benefit would be the Grey Wolf gang.
Fortunately, there was still so ti before that monstrosity was fully birthed.
Eden's only option now was to race against ti, betting that he could gather enough Hope Power to restore his strength before the Hoffman family unleashed that creature.
Actually, Eden had another concern.
After last night's battle, the Hoffman family might have already uncovered the vulnerabilities of the King's Court.
If they chose to launch more attacks during the Emperor's Ascension Day, things could get very complicated.
As Eden brooded, in the secret laboratory of the Hoffman family's territory...
Squeak, squeak, squeak!
In a glass chamber, a mutated grey rat gnawed happily on a severed hand, looking quite content.
Its eyes were unusually bright, hinting at a level of intelligence.
Yusef had noticed this and ordered the rat to be kept alive, growing rather fond of it.
At that mont, Yusef gently stroked the grey rat, as if petting a small pet.
He was waiting for news.
Not long ago, he had received reports of gunfire within the King's Court's territory.
It seed they had opted for a large-scale purge.
The heretics he had sent there would have imdiately released the Chaos essence, unleashing those terrible mutated creatures.
Suffering would soon spread throughout the King's Court!
Cackle, cackle!
Yusef was pleased, imagining that the residential areas around the Sacred Square had already been turned into a wasteland, with countless casualties.
(End of Chapter)
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