76: Chapter 76 Trial

Seeing this, Xia Xingchen did not panic at all.

The Star Guard immediately assumed defensive formations, securing all vital passages. What followed was the sound of intense gunfire.

The rebels leading the charge were ambushed by the Star Guard the moment they entered, suffering heavy casualties instantly.

Just as the rebels fell into chaos, Xia Xingchen's voice rang out.

"Traitors, look who this is!"

Without hesitation, Xia Xingchen dragged Anla Thomas in front of him to use as a human shield. He knew the rebels wouldn't dare open fire; if Anla Thomas died, they would completely lose their leader, and any resistance would become utterly pointless.

Seeing this, the rebels indeed did not dare to fire again, and could only stand frozen in a tense standoff.

But the longer the standoff dragged on, the more advantageous it was for Xia Xingchen.

Right then, a deafening mechanical roar echoed from outside.

The rebels knew that the main force of the Fifth Division had arrived; they were completely powerless to turn the tide now.

Consequently, many of them panicked, threw down their weapons, and began to scatter and flee.

"Anla Thomas, it seems the dust has settled. Get ready to face trial along with your father."

After leaving those words, Xia Xingchen turned and walked out without looking back.

Outside the Abandoned Industrial Tower, the troops of the Fifth Division had already surrounded the area completely. The battle in the lower Hive City was basically over.

Now, only sporadic fighting remained throughout the Vanad System.

Those who remained were merely gangs from the underhive, attempting to expand their territory by taking advantage of the chaotic situation.

However, their actions were quickly met with a head-on blow from Xia Xingchen's army.

It was the first time these gangs had ever seen an army willing to fight for the common people of the underhive.

The army launched an indiscriminate purge against all thugs who attempted to harm innocent civilians.

The remaining skirmishes on Vanad Planet were expected to continue until the end of the year before being completely resolved.

More than three months had passed since the war began, and there were only three months left until the end of this year.

Xia Xingchen looked at his system account, where nearly one hundred million system points lay coldly inside.

Looking at these points, Xia Xingchen knew that there shouldn't be any major issues with this year's mission.

Just after Xia Xingchen finished handling these matters, Nuwa's voice suddenly came through the communication channel.

"What is it, Nuwa? What's the matter?"

Xia Xingchen immediately connected the call.

"Leovitos and the others have an important matter to report to you. Based on the star map, they have found a mysterious star system point that they mentioned to you before. Recently, they have successfully pinpointed its exact location and request that you send an expedition team there."

Xia Xingchen recalled that they had indeed mentioned this matter, but he hadn't paid much attention to it at the time.

"Wait a moment. We don't have many troops to spare right now. Let's talk about it after I return and finish things up here."

"As you command, Master."

Having just finished giving instructions, Xia Xingchen looked at the mountain of administrative affairs of the Vanad System piled up in front of him and couldn't help but sigh.

He took a brief glance; the vast majority were reconstruction matters, and the rest were basically reports on purging the underground gangs.

To completely stabilize the situation, he couldn't rely solely on the troops he brought; they also needed to rebuild the Planetary Defense Force.

The Department of Military Affairs had to be tasked with assembling the Astra Militarum and the local Planetary Defense Force.

At this moment, Xia Xingchen began to ponder again: what unified name should he give to his troops?

The Imperial forces all had their own prefixes, such as Krieg or Vindicare.

Should his own troops also have a prefix?

However, his home star system did not yet have a unified name and had always been labeled as "Unknown Space."

Xia Xingchen thought for a moment and wrote down a few names on a piece of scrap paper: "Lanshan," "Central," "Immortal," and "Great Xia."

In the end, Xia Xingchen's gaze fell upon the last two words.

In that case, he would name his home star system the Daxia Star System, and his troops would be called the Great Xia Astra Militarum.

Just as Xia Xingchen was handling these matters, the office door was pushed open.

"Archon, the trial is about to begin."

Saint Sabbat's voice came from outside.

Saint Sabbat was specifically summoned by Xia Xingchen to the Vanad System to preside over the trial.

The original Adeptus Arbites, Ecclesiarchy Inquisition, and other institutions on this planet had all been completely slaughtered by the previous governor.

Xia Xingchen wanted to find someone of high status who could command the room to preside over the trial of the traitors—someone who could at least represent the authority of the Imperium.

But there were simply too few people under his command who could be presented; except for Saint Sabbat, almost everyone else was practically undocumented in the official system of the Imperium.

Left with no choice, he could only have Saint Sabbat preside over the trial of Governor Waka Thomas for now.

"My Lord, Vanad Square is ready, and the execution platform has been set up. We are just waiting for you."

Hearing this, Xia Xingchen stood up and adjusted his uniform.

"Let's go."

At this moment, countless citizens of Vanad Planet packed the entire execution ground so tightly that not a drop of water could trickle through.

Xia Xingchen had specifically arranged for the old nobility to be seated closest to the execution platform, where they could see everything most clearly.

Xia Xingchen needed to use death and terror to completely crush any forbidden thoughts deep within the hearts of these pampered nobles.

As the Star Guard marched into the venue in formation, all the nobles and commoners knew that their new governor had arrived.

Xia Xingchen and Saint Sabbat entered side by side.

Once Xia Xingchen took his seat at the head, Saint Sabbat officially commenced the trial.

Saint Sabbat walked to the front of the execution platform, her voice echoing loudly across the entire square:

"Those who betray the Emperor shall receive the harshest punishment!

The Thomas Family has betrayed the Emperor and betrayed humanity. This is an unforgivable, heinous crime!

I hereby sentence the entire Thomas clan to death by fire!"

As Saint Sabbat's words fell, the flamethrower units, who had been on standby, immediately pulled their triggers.

On the massive, elevated execution platform, all of the over one thousand members of the Thomas clan had been escorted and bound.

Merciless flames suddenly erupted, and hideous tongues of fire surged wildly, swallowing the entire high platform in an instant.

Shrill, agonizing wails pierced the sky as flesh and bone sizzled and burned to ash in the raging fire.

The once-prominent Thomas Family was reduced to ashes in the towering inferno within moments, leaving not a single trace behind.

Although all the commoners felt some fear in their hearts, most of them clapped and cheered.

After all, during Governor Waka Thomas's reign, he had exploited and oppressed them relentlessly.

Meanwhile, the old nobles turned pale, silent as cicadas in winter.

After the trial ended, the nobles formed a long queue to walk before Xia Xingchen, kneeling on one knee to perform the Aquila Salute and swear allegiance to the new governor.

Looking at these families involved in various fields such as politics, commerce, industry, and trade, Xia Xingchen knew in his heart that they were the key to maintaining the operation of the Vanad System's superstructure.

Without them, Vanad Planet would plunge into even greater chaos.

Therefore, Xia Xingchen chose to accept them.

As long as they behaved themselves and did their jobs, Xia Xingchen would let bygones be bygones.

Once the execution and recruitment ceremonies were complete, Xia Xingchen prepared to leave.

Xia Xingchen had too much to do.

In three years, he had already promised Inquisitor Kolo that he would attack Troy I to combat tens of millions of Chaos Cultists.

For this, Xia Xingchen had to organize at least millions of elite troops.

And the Vanad System would become his most important source of recruitment in the future.

Within two years, he needed to conscript at least three million soldiers from here.

All these tasks weighed heavily on Xia Xingchen's shoulders; equipment, training, logistics—not a single one of them was easy.

Only now did Xia Xingchen finally understand why so many governors of the Imperium ultimately worked themselves to death.

Just as Xia Xingchen turned to return to the Governor's Mansion under the tight protection of the Star Guard,

atop a distant abandoned tower, an augmented assassin wearing a skull mask and covered in cold cybernetics was quietly lurking in the shadows.

The crosshairs of the sniper rifle scope in his hand were already locked dead onto Xia Xingchen's head.

A cold finger slowly squeezed the trigger.