Chapter 186 03.0185: "9 Minutes of Destiny"

"Horatio, do you believe in prophecies?"

"…I can’t say. But at least this time it should be a conspiracy." He pinched his nose and gave his answer.

As a time traveler, he knows clearly that whether the prophecy comes true or not depends on whether the higher-dimensional power behind it wants it to come true or not.

But as a native of this world, Farida was not allowed to know so much forbidden knowledge.

Even if Horatio, a descendant of Admiral Speyer, spoke nonsense himself, he would soon die.

If you let your imagination run wild, you will most likely be corrupted by Tzeentch.

Some things are safer to keep in your heart than to speak out.

"To be on the safe side, you must stay away from me first..."

Farida turned her face to the side, bit her lip, stared into his eyes with red and swollen eyes.

"If the prophecy is true and the curse on me kills you, then I..." She took a breath and continued:
"Then I am truly unforgivable. You are the only descendant of Admiral Speyer, and the Empire needs you. We... we can't afford to make the mistake.

I cannot put you in danger of injustice because of my personal opinion."

Hearing Farida say this, Horatio took a deep breath and thought about this in his mind:

Is this predicted disaster actually caused by the characteristics of the Untouchables?

Or should the two be separated and not interfere with each other?
Considering the tragedy of the Untouchable Bekun in the Inquisitor Eisenhorn series of novels he read before coming to this world.

Farida's concerns were entirely justified.

No one can guarantee whether the base effect of this prophecy is her untouchable trait or a hateful joke that the evil god has attached to her.

“I will get to the bottom of this, but until I can make clear the risks involved in the prophecy, please allow me to continue standing before you.

After all, this is the agreement between me and Lieutenant General Hood."

"Thank you." Seeing Horatio say this, Farida didn't say anything more.

In the void, five interception fleets were galloping.

Commodore Peru kept a close eye on each fleet and the situation on the battleship Sacred Will.

Fortunately, Vice Admiral Hood's communications were always online, and it seemed that the reinforcements sent had temporarily stabilized the defense line near the bridge.

"Your Excellency Brigadier General." The deputy captain of the Blood Angels guarding the adamantium safe called out.

"Please, my Lord."

"According to the company's transmission, our strike team has successfully shut down the power engine and subspace jump drive of the Retribution-class battleship. She can't escape."

"Great! Thank you very much!"

Brigadier General Peru finally put his mind at ease.

This is great news; at least the Imperial Navy won't lose this battleship.

The commodore quickly told the other fleets this great news.

Vice Admiral Hood updated the coordinates of the giant ship that had lost power and was floating in the void to each intercepting fleet once a minute.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief for a moment.

Another good news is that the shark boat sent by Captain Elphinstone will arrive soon.

Because it was a fully loaded voyage, the entire ship was filled with shark assault boats and armed forces with the "Military Police" logo to the highest specifications.

This cruiser interception fleet can launch an armed force of 5 people at a time.

Their numbers, combined with the number of men already present in the Indefatigable Fleet, and the number of loyal armed forces still on board, were an absolute crushing defeat for the mutineers.

Vice Admiral Hood used a ship-wide broadcast to order the mutineers to surrender immediately, as they had no chance of victory.

But the mutineers turned a deaf ear to the lieutenant general's harsh rebuke.

Like mindless robots, they launched an even more fierce attack on the armed forces guarding the bridge, with a desperate situation.

This made Lieutenant General Hood's scalp tingle and sweat profusely.

The mastermind behind all this is also in a state of panic.

He hoped to use the mutineers to destroy the top-secret documents that could lead to the collapse, so he killed and destroyed everything he saw that might contain top-secret documents.

But until now, he had not been able to find them, although through the eyes of these people, he saw the two escaped prey, Horatio and Farida.

But these two men were far less important than the destruction of those documents.

Moreover, when the two preys escaped, they did not have anything in their hands that looked like a briefcase.

If that's the case... then that means...

The top-secret document can only be in the hands of Lieutenant General Hood himself!

The whites of the mutineers' eyes became increasingly red, with more and more bloodshot. They all turned their guns around and launched a final general offensive towards the fleet's command throne.
-
Farida had never felt time pass so slowly.

Every minute and every second of the voyage was like a flame burning her heart.

Her mind was in a mess, as if her body was not her own.

Her round almond-shaped eyes were red and swollen, and she only blinked once in a long time.

But there was a firm look in her eyes, maintaining the dignity and nobility of a lieutenant general's daughter.

Horatio stood behind Farida, who stood straight with her hands behind her back, and squeezed her shoulders, which were stiffened to maintain her dignity.

He knew that she was holding on, and his heart was in a knot, wishing he could see the current situation on the bridge of the Sacred Will directly.

Iron Hand's corruption suppression is about to break through the critical point, and he can no longer use his abilities.

Horatio could only occasionally glance at Brigadier General Peru's expression to gauge the development of the situation.

But the brigadier general's brows were just furrowed, without any sign of relaxation.

"How long is the voyage to the Sacred Will?" Horatio asked as he walked up to the warrant officer who was serving as the chief aurora officer.

"There are about 9 minutes left. At the current speed, the error is no more than 1 minute. We will reach full visual range in about 3 minutes."

Horatio pulled out his pocket watch and set the time.

"Okay, continue your work."

The warrant officer saluted the young officer.

"Almost there, we'll be there in 9 minutes."

Horatio said to Farida: "At least for now, Lieutenant General Hood is not in danger."

Farida nodded, and her body began to move more and more due to nervousness and worry.

Her feet, wrapped in black leather boots, were restlessly on tiptoe, and her hands in white gloves were twisting like ropes.

Horatio could see her current state of mind: the joy of hope mixed with the worry that the danger was not over yet.

"When the Indefatigable reaches the docking distance, I will lead a group of people to the bridge to protect Vice Admiral Hood." Horatio patted her shoulder, his tone serious and steady, making the anxious Farida feel the longed-for peace of mind.

"I will go with you."

"Yes. We will fight together today."

Just as he finished speaking, a flash of light suddenly burst out from the void in the distance.

"God, what is that?"

"Did something explode just now?"

The officers who noticed the dazzling flash couldn't help but panic, and one after another looked towards the golden light in the distance ahead.

The bridge telescope at maximum focal length recognized and recorded this event.

The Lookout Department urgently transmitted it to the display consoles in front of the two command thrones.

"God-Emperor..." Brigadier General Peru exclaimed.

Farida and Horatio turned their heads in horror at the same time, looking towards the fleet command throne high up.

　Please recommend, please vote!

　　Dear readers, you know that I did not write about the poisonous knife and Lieutenant General Hood is not dead.

　　Thanks to readers, Mariko, and book friend 20230831150925982 for their gifts to Horatio Cochrane!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)