41: Chapter 41 The Nest City, Never Changed

After the Gene Tyrant's envoy left, the various lords of the crusade coalition erupted, arguing endlessly with one another.

"Alliance Leader, the Gene Tyrant's power is too great; we should reconsider our plans." Although this leader didn't dare say the words "retreat," his desire to slip away was obvious.

"We have marched our troops far from home, yet we have achieved nothing. Are we just sitting here to amuse ourselves?" another leader said.

"If you're so tough, why don't you send your troops to attack?!"

"You old geezer, stop spewing your mother's onion-cream dog-fart nonsense! Let's you and I spar first!"

"Spar? Let's spar! If I can't deal with the Gene Tyrant, can't I deal with you?!"

"Marek, why are you occupying my three supply ships and refusing to return them?!"

"Kaelus, you promised my forces five thousand units of corpse starch, why hasn't it been delivered yet!"

"Forget it, forget it, it's not easy for anyone."

"Alliance Leader, say something!"

"Enough!" Alliance Leader Hermann slammed the table, and the remaining sixteen lords fell silent. He looked at his confidant Kaelus, signaling him to say something to break the deadlock.

"Heh heh," Kaelus understood and said, "My lords, I have a few words, please listen quietly:"

"Why are we here? Isn't it because the Gene Tyrant disregarded the rules, swallowed up the neighboring star system, and left us feeling vulnerable? In the end, we didn't come here to avenge the idiots on that star system."

"True, the Hive City nobles in that place were annoying to begin with, and they were dishonest in business. I've long wanted to blast them with a macro-cannon!" one leader chimed in.

"Looking at it this way, although the Gene Tyrant is a bit arrogant, we don't really have any irreconcilable conflicts with him..."

Seeing that the atmosphere was just right, Deputy Alliance Leader Marek suddenly erupted. In the blink of an eye, the deputy leader threw a dinner knife in Kaelus's direction!

Kaelus was no pushover. As a relatively successful Rogue Trader, his entire muscular and nervous system had undergone incredibly expensive modifications by the Adeptus Mechanicus.

Not to mention a dinner knife, he could even catch a bolter round... though his fingers would be blown to pieces.

However, this dinner knife was coated in a neurotoxin that could be absorbed through the skin. Even though it only grazed his skin, it caused Kaelus to collapse instantly, foaming at the mouth.

"Alliance Leader, how can we accomplish our great crusade when we are with this bunch of insects? We will all be killed by the Gene Tyrant sooner or later!"

Marek stepped closer, attempting to seize the Alliance Leader, but two of the Alliance Leader's personal guards pointed their lasguns at his forehead.

Before Alliance Leader Hermann could say anything, he heard a lot of chaotic footsteps, the pneumatic venting sounds of xenos power armor, and the sound of laser weapons charging.

"Hahaha, humans are truly a bunch of stupid monkeys who are experts at civil war but incompetent at external warfare."

The Aeldari, Faelan Liandiel, who hadn't spoken much, clapped and laughed. It was his assassination squad that had surrounded them from the outside.

Deputy Alliance Leader Marek had long been dissatisfied with merely being a planetary governor. He was bold enough, ruthless enough, and shameless enough; why couldn't he be a sector governor?

Tell me, why? Just because Hermann had a better background, higher reputation, and stronger management abilities?

That's not fair!

Today, Marek was willing to collude with xenos just to get this fairness!

"Those who are not of my race must have different hearts; it was my mistake to agree to let the xenos join the coalition!"

Alliance Leader Hermann sighed regretfully. He said to his personal guards, "Put down your weapons. Lord Marek has always been kind and benevolent; surely he will not make things difficult for you."

"Kill them all!"

The Aeldari, Faelan, ordered. The coalition command tent instantly turned into chaos.

The lords present were all seasoned veterans of battle. Except for the cowardly and incompetent Hermann, none of them were willing to surrender without a fight.

The sounds of slaughter, wailing, and explosions rose one after another.

Open plots, secret schemes, and brilliant strategies; each one was more sinister than the last.

"Cheng Yu" Planet Ministry of Interior Approval Hall.

Aria's former Chief Guard Cheng Yu was going through transfer procedures.

Because his original position was quite important, there was an extra interview process compared to a standard transfer.

"The reason for your transfer written here is... 'my boss is an idiot.' Please modify this; such insults cannot be kept on file," said the transfer auditor Cheng Yu.

"Oh, oh," Chief Guard Cheng Yu felt a bit embarrassed; he had been emotional when he wrote it. He changed the transfer reason to, "Incompatible work philosophy with the superior."

"Good, thank you for your cooperation. Considering your qualifications and experience, there are two jobs available for you to choose from. One is that the Empire is forming a trade fleet and needs to recruit a guard captain for the ships. The benefit is that the income is relatively high, but the downside is that you will have to live on the starship from now on."

Auditor Cheng Yu lowered his head slightly and observed former Chief Guard Cheng Yu's expression from over his thick-rimmed glasses. One look told him he wasn't happy about it; the Cheng Yus Clones were just that in sync with one another.

"The other option is that the Empire has seen a surge in foreign immigrants recently, and many merchant fleets and factions want to visit. Therefore, the Empire wants to set up customs on the battle satellites. Based on your qualifications, a director-level customs registrar position would be no problem."

"Then I'll take that one. Thank you very much."

"Very well." Auditor Cheng Yu stamped former Chief Guard Cheng Yu's file. From now on, he was Customs Registrar Cheng Yu.

Although the income was average, it was stable and allowed him to take care of his family.

"I wish you success in your new job, and by the way, early congratulations on your new marriage."

"I also wish you a steady rise in your career."

This is how the officially employed Cheng Yus Clones are; they handle matters calmly and speak very politely.

However, the Cheng Yus Clones who weren't doing so well were different.

After leaving the approval hall, Customs Registrar Cheng Yu found a Hive City that looked decent, and then began asking around about house prices and school district qualifications.

There were currently only literacy schools for captives on the Imperial Capital, but there would definitely be normal schools in the future. So, these things had to be considered in advance. Thinking two steps ahead for every step taken—that's what it means to live a proper life.

"Friend, do you want some exciting picture books?"

A Cheng Yus Clone who looked very sneaky suddenly approached him.

"What?" Customs Registrar Cheng Yu was stunned for a moment. "No! Go away, or I'll call the Hive City police!"

"Tch, the well-fed don't know the hunger of the starving!" A sneaky Cheng Yus Clone left while cursing, but more sneaky Cheng Yus Clones approached.

They were selling all sorts of things: some sold smuggled canned meat products, some sold low-quality homemade tobacco, and others sold betel nuts soaked in lime water.

The lower-class Cheng Yus Clones lived very hard lives; they had no good food to eat and no women to hold. They could only rely on these unhealthy things to get by, so they wouldn't become depressed enough to sacrifice themselves to Slaanesh.