Chapter 239 04.0238: "Deadline Approaching"

"Please speak." Hearing Lina's hurried tone, Horatio knew something had happened. He couldn't help but frown, praying in his heart that he hadn't been poked into trouble by the enemies of Chaos again.

"First, a large-scale pilgrimage movement broke out in the lower nest of Abyss Harbor."

"A pilgrimage?"

Horatio knew that the Empire was a country of religious fanaticism, and faith and death were the only things that were treated equally by everyone, regardless of class.

However, given the empire's vast system, especially the huge size of the hive planet, the state religion often ignores the religious needs of the lower classes.

But when these people, who have a strong sense of obligation to their faith, come together under the same belief, a pilgrimage occurs.

Their demands are often simple, requiring the Empire to meet their religious needs, including hosting large-scale ceremonies, organizing them to make pilgrimages to the state religion world, or even launching a holy war expedition to send them to distant frontiers to spread the glory of the God-Emperor.

Of course, these people did not have much combat experience and skills, but their fanaticism often brought unexpected troubles to the enemies of the empire. In addition, the state religion was very satisfied with the spontaneous behavior of these fanatical believers, believing that this could serve as a good example. Therefore, the pilgrimage movement was a popular folk movement under the protection of the state religion of the empire.

Especially after the news spread from the planet that the official armed forces of the Empire successfully thwarted the conspiracy of the cultists in churches in many places during the St. Guinius Festival.

When news of victory over the enemies of the God-Emperor reaches the Lower Nest, the excitement of the masses can easily lead to the formation of pilgrimages.

But now is obviously not a good time to carry out such activities.

The traitors to the state religion they were investigating could easily take this opportunity to escape to an unreachable place on the mixed pilgrim ship, and might even corrupt the millions of people on the ship into followers of the evil god.

"But we are still investigating traitors within the Church of England, and we have found a way in."

“So the fleet’s top brass decided to expand the original small triumphal ceremony into a larger one, and to hold it in advance. Your saint canonization ceremony is also part of it.

The event will be hosted by the Holy Rose Congregation and assisted by the state church. This grand ceremony will temporarily divert the attention of the pilgrim fanatics and delay their plans to go on the pilgrimage.

Mr. Cochrane, this is the last way to buy time. To do this, you need to find time to contact the Holy Rose Congregation. "

[Is the knife floating behind me finally going to stab me...]
Horatio could sense that his opponent was being pushed into a corner, and a decisive battle seemed imminent:
"I see. The enemy has shown their fangs. It seems they can't wait to end things with us."

"Secondly, due to the large-scale gathering of pilgrims, the plague in the Lower Nest has begun to spread to the Middle Nest and even the Upper Nest. Under the chairmanship of the Minister of the Interior, the leaders of various departments will hold a meeting in the near future to discuss and decide whether to close the ascending channel and only open a dedicated line to the star port to allow the pilgrims to leave."

Horatio understood their intention, this was a way to control the plague, equivalent to driving people onto the Void Pilgrim Ship where they were isolated from the world. No matter how much the plague spread, it would be contained after all the people on the ship died, which was far better than the large-scale infection caused by them running around in the Abyss Port.

It seems that these emergencies have caught the planetary officials off guard, and after weighing the pros and cons, they can only choose the lesser of two evils.

And what the exact situation of the plague was...he couldn't say.

"Okay, okay, what about the third message?"

"A lieutenant at the Military Intelligence Command post was killed in his car today."

"What?" Because the news was too explosive, Horatio's scream attracted the attention of everyone around him.

"When did this happen?"

“About this morning.

When the External Relations Section of the Military Intelligence Command was conducting routine check-ups today, it was discovered that a lieutenant officer had not shown up as he was supposed to. When people realized that they could not contact him, the real estate association in his residential area sent a message that this gentleman had been killed in his car in the underground garage, and there was no clue of the murderer for the time being.

The cause of death was a slashed throat. His pockets and the interior of the car were turned upside down, and it looked like the murderer was looking for something premeditatedly. Fortunately, the officer did not have the habit of carrying documents with him, and he was not in the confidential inner circle, so we did not leak any plan information.

But this also gave us a warning. My father is investigating on the scene. He asked me to tell you right away that you should be careful. He will tell you immediately if he finds out anything. "

This last piece of news made Horatio feel cold at heart.

"I understand. Please convey my gratitude to Colonel Elphinstone. I will be careful."

"Good luck, Mr. Cochrane. Stay alive, destroy your enemies, and bring hope to those in the dark shadows." "I will."

The communication was interrupted. Horatio looked at the Inquisitor's extremely serious face and nodded.

He didn't need to repeat anything, because the Inquisitor, who had the ability to read minds, already knew the content of the conversation.

"We're running out of time, kid, the deadline is approaching.

As you can see and hear, our enemies hiding in the shadows may be invisible, but that doesn't mean they are doing nothing."

The Inquisitor looked at the strange woman and said, "Thank you for your help, ma'am. I hope you will not disappoint me."

Inquisitor Ravenno used his telepathy to get a rough idea of ​​the woman's mind.

Hatred, boundless hatred, and the desire to revive the family, these two pure spiritual elements occupied her entire inner world and were deeply rooted in the depths of her soul.

"Don't worry, I can get you to his room safely tonight and wait for him." The woman giggled, and it seemed that she had been planning this revenge plan for a long time.
-
It was an underground secret passage leading to the storage room on the first floor of the mansion.

The woman said that she once escaped through this secret passage and avoided being caught and turned into corpse starch.

Her enemy usurped her property, enjoyed a luxurious life of fine clothes and delicious food, and lived shamelessly in the room that originally belonged to her.

She spent nearly ten years figuring out the patrol routes and patterns of the bodyguards in this mansion, their shift schedules, and when they would appear in which room. She even claimed that she could dodge this security system and sneak in with her eyes closed.

Sneaking into the storage room, bypassing the patrol, sneaking into the bedroom, and assassinating the enemy in his sleep, this meticulous plan, which she had prepared for ten years and took into account all possibilities, was presented to the Inquisitor.

"So, you have been plotting for so long, and you don't feel disappointed just to hand over your hard work to us so easily?"

“No, I won’t.” The woman giggled strangely: “Because I know you can make him suffer even more.”

The Inquisitor raised an eyebrow and laughed, "Then you have indeed found the right man. I assure you, ma'am, he will experience the most painful torture in the world."
-
"Damn it! How dare they do this to me! How dare they do this to me!"

At one o'clock in the morning, a man reeking of alcohol and with blood spots on his collar, sleeves and vest lining ran into the mansion in a hurry.

"Quick! Pack my things! Is my private jet arranged?"

"It's being arranged, sir." The butler saluted.

"Hurry up, you wimps! Guards! Family guards! Call all the lazy pigs still lying on the bed! Everyone, guard the door! Quick!"

The man panted heavily and vented his anger to a group of guards wearing black and white uniforms, which were very typical of the Corpse Guild family.

"Sir, what happened? Do you need to change your clothes first?" The captain of the guard, who was unaware of the situation, saluted his employer, turned a deaf ear to the curses, and asked enthusiastically while staring at the blood-stained clothes.

They are used to the boss getting angry at them for no reason, and anyone who can become a team leader naturally understands the temper of his or her customers.

"Someone wants to kill me! Don't ask so many questions! Guard the door for me. Anyone who tries to break in will be shot to death, no matter who they are! Even if they are from the Ministry of Justice!"

"Ah, this?! You are the representative of the Guild Alliance Committee, who dares... Yes, sir! We will definitely protect you!"

The captain guessed that something bad was going on, but the Corpse Guild was one of the major old forces in the Guild Alliance regime. It was in charge of the disposal of the corpses of the dead on the entire planet and its affiliated satellites, and held a high position of power.

Any hostile act against the Corpse Guild, not to mention that it is difficult to succeed in itself, even if it succeeds, the result will be the paralysis of the entire Corpse Guild's functions, resulting in no one to collect and deal with the dead in the hive, the piled up corpses will stink and become infested with maggots, and eventually bring about a plague that sweeps across the entire planet.

This impact would make anyone think twice.

Relying on this, the leader of the Corpse Guild has lived a lawless and powerful life in Abyss Port for thousands of years. But today, the employer's face looked a little wrong, and there were blood spots on his body.

He is still preparing a special plane. Is he planning to run away?

(End of this chapter)