164: Chapter 163 Departure

Xia Xingchen came to Saint Sabbat's side.

"My dear Saint Sabbat, the Emperor must be able to hear such devout faith of yours."

Upon hearing this, Saint Sabbat smiled, slowly opened her eyes, looked at Xia Xingchen, and said:

"My Archon, when did you also learn to say such things?"

Xia Xingchen walked to her side step by step, then sat down.

"Did the Emperor give you any instructions?"

When Saint Sabbat heard this, the look in her eyes instantly dimmed. She looked at Xia Xingchen and said softly:

"I am sorry."

A trace of reluctance appeared in her eyes, and upon seeing this, Xia Xingchen understood everything in his heart.

Saint Sabbat was leaving.

"There is an extremely important world that needs my help. I have no choice but to heed the Emperor's divine decree."

Xia Xingchen did not blame her.

Xia Xingchen knew very well that an existence like Saint Sabbat, who could channel the Emperor's divine power, could not stay by his side forever.

"It is alright. I believe that I have the ability to handle this crisis on my own."

Xia Xingchen was not disheartened by Saint Sabbat's departure; instead, he generously encouraged her to leave with peace of mind.

Saint Sabbat stood up, walked in front of Xia Xingchen, leaned down, and gently hugged him, whispering in his ear with concern:

"What will you do? I can sense that this crisis will very likely cause you to meet with misfortune."

Xia Xingchen patted her shoulder and said in as light a tone as possible:

"It has been twenty years. How many dangers have I faced, and haven't I survived them all? What are you worrying about? I am the chosen one, after all."

Xia Xingchen held Saint Sabbat for a full ten minutes before she let go.

Clearly, her departure could not be delayed any longer.

Xia Xingchen prepared a 1.2-kilometer-long Cobra-class escort ship for Saint Sabbat.

After Saint Sabbat boarded the warship, it sailed away from Lanshan Planet.

She stood at the hatch of the escort ship and looked back.

Xia Xingchen simply met her gaze, and seeing her turn back, he raised his hand and waved to bid her farewell.

Saint Sabbat nodded at Xia Xingchen, then turned and walked into the cabin.

Watching Saint Sabbat's warship streak across the sky, sail out of the entire Daxia Star System, and head toward Mandenville Point to perform a Warp jump, Xia Xingchen did not take his eyes off it for a long time.

Xia Xingchen watched Saint Sabbat's warship disappear into the distance, feeling a lingering sense of emptiness in his heart. After all, apart from Nuwa, she was the one he had spent the most time with.

He wondered if there would ever be a chance to meet again after this parting.

One must know that in the Warhammer 40K universe, a parting is usually a farewell forever.

Now was not the time to lament the sorrow of parting; there were still many things waiting for Xia Xingchen to do.

Xia Xingchen stood in the Spaceport, watching the Space Elevator he had spent twenty years building continue to operate ceaselessly, with countless resources slowly being transported to the surface along it.

In the port, merchant ships from all over the universe were temporarily docked.

But some news could not be hidden forever.

As the merchants spread the word, everyone realized that there was an unimaginably massive alien fleet in the universe, approaching Lanshan Planet.

Having no other choice, many merchants began to evacuate one after another.

Many merchants treated this trip as their last business deal.

It should be noted that the vast amount of resources mined on Lanshan Planet were piled up in the port, and many free traders and Rogue Traders wanted to make a killing in these final moments.

The prices of supplies were inflated several times over. They were certain that Xia Xingchen was in urgent need of supplies and would have no choice but to swallow this bitter pill and endure such unfair transactions.

Soon, news of the rising prices of all supplies on Lanshan Planet reached Xia Xingchen's ears, and this situation forced him to pay close attention.

Looking at the list handed over by Ma Pingliang, grain that originally only cost a few throne gelt could now be bought for ten times the price.

Xia Xingchen immediately summoned all the merchants who were hoarding supplies.

Xia Xingchen sat in the main seat of the reception hall, looking at the merchants below, who were dressed in gorgeous attire, wearing gold and silver accessories, and whose hands were adorned with jewelry.

These merchants whispered to each other, exchanging information and testing the bottom line of this young Governor.

What price to offer, how to maneuver.

Xia Xingchen sat in the main seat, watching their whispering, and spoke:

"If you have anything to say, why not bring it out into the open? Whispering underneath only makes people suspicious."

After Xia Xingchen finished speaking, everyone immediately shut their mouths, sitting in their seats without saying a word.

Seeing this, Xia Xingchen naturally knew what they were planning.

It was nothing more than trying to use silence to resist authority, thinking that as long as they hadn't done anything wrong, Xia Xingchen couldn't directly convict them.

After all, the rise in prices was a natural market fluctuation, and they dared to swear that they hadn't manipulated anything behind the scenes.

Xia Xingchen also understood that the root cause of the comprehensive price increase on Lanshan Planet was the news that the alien fleet was approaching, and it had no direct relationship with the merchants themselves.

However, Xia Xingchen had another suspicion: could it be that these people were the ones who spread the news? They were never executioners, but they were the best at spreading rumors and fueling the flames.

"What, are you all mute?"

Seeing that they still wouldn't speak, Xia Xingchen asked again.

Now, everyone could no longer remain silent and had to speak up one by one, each complaining about their difficulties.

Xia Xingchen listened, and their words were nothing more than how difficult it was to transport supplies to Lanshan Planet and how much their costs had risen.

After they finished speaking, Xia Xingchen looked at everyone and said calmly:

"I am not an unreasonable person. Given the current situation, the price increase for all supplies must not exceed ten percent."

Upon hearing this, everyone's first thought was to refuse.

One must know that the price increase for supplies outside had already reached nearly thirty percent; Xia Xingchen was effectively suppressing it by twenty percent.

But in front of Xia Xingchen, few dared to refute him to his face.

They were not stupid; the man sitting in front of them controlled an army of nearly one million, and the few men they had could not possibly contend with Xia Xingchen.

Therefore, this meeting was essentially Xia Xingchen's one-man show.

Whatever he said, they had to listen.

Xia Xingchen spoke for a long time, seeing that these people were silent and said no more.

In fact, they could all feel that this was not a negotiation at all; it was clearly Xia Xingchen directly issuing orders.

There was no other way, so the merchants had to nod superficially and agree to Xia Xingchen's conditions.

But were they truly agreeing to it?