162: Chapter 162 Regional Marshal

Deep in deep space, a pilgrim ship of the Ecclesiarchy, over a kilometer long and covered in Gothic flying buttresses and statues of the God-Emperor, slowly entered the low orbit of Outpost Planet 586.

As one of the two largest idealistic interest groups in the Imperium of Man, the church not only possessed the privilege of tax collection but also owned its own well-equipped armed forces and interstellar fleet.

Although this pilgrim ship could not compare to the Governor's regular army in numbers, its combat capability per ship was far above that of the ordinary Defense Force of a planet.

Because the Warp was blocked, this pilgrim ship had flown from Mobius Prime using conventional engines for a long time before arriving here.

Above the Shelter, an armed shuttle with the double-headed eagle livery of the Ecclesiarchy detached from the pilgrim ship and descended toward the surface.

Inside the cabin, Archbishop Anthony sat upright on a velvet seat, surrounded by an entire squad of fully armed Seraphim Battle Sisters carrying jetpacks.

As the Bishop of the sector capital, the pomp and armed force he traveled with were countless times stronger than the local bishop on this backward, trash planet.

"Boom—"

The shuttle landed steadily on the newly built landing pad on the outskirts of the Shelter.

The hatch opened.

Two Seraphim Sisters holding Bolters were the first to walk down the gangway, vigilantly scanning the surroundings.

After confirming there was no direct threat, Anthony, dressed in gorgeous gold-threaded crimson bishop robes, slowly walked off the ship.

As soon as he landed, Anthony narrowed his eyes.

The formation outside was grand and very lively.

Obviously, the warlord leader of this junkyard had organized a grand welcoming ceremony specifically for him.

At the outermost layer of the road, the soldiers responsible for the formation alert immediately caught Anthony's attention.

They were rows of heavy infantry, averaging an astonishing two meters in height, wearing a type of gray standard Power Armor and holding plasma rifles!

"What model of Power Armor is this?" Anthony calculated inwardly, "I've never seen such a rugged style."

But this was not a strange thing.

There was too much lost technology in the universe; as long as this warlord was lucky enough to dig up some kind of individual STC forging template left over from the Golden Age from the depths of the junkyard, it would not be difficult to build this.

What really made Anthony curious and slightly vigilant was the physical fitness of these soldiers!

"How could ordinary mortals possess such a tall and strong physique?" Anthony looked at these genetically enhanced Defense Force soldiers, his heart trembling slightly.

The sisters of the Seraphim squad also noticed the pressure brought by these giants.

They immediately stepped forward, shielding Anthony firmly in the center of the formation, their fingers on the triggers.

"No need to be nervous, relax. This is the host's etiquette."

Anthony waved his hand, signaling the sisters to step back.

He maintained the dignity of a bishop and walked forward slowly under the cold gaze of those gray giants.

Walking a bit further, the honor guard on both sides of the road changed to a different group.

This time, it was two rows of soldiers wearing deep red Power Armor!

The Power Armor model of this batch of soldiers was obviously more advanced than the gray ones in front.

But strangely, their heights were uneven, and the weapons in their hands were varied.

Some held meltaguns, some carried plasma axes, and some even held a rusty power sword!

These people, who had no discipline to speak of, were naturally the The Fourth Calamity who came to show support.

Although they stood crookedly, in Anthony's keen senses, he could clearly feel that every one of these people in red armor exuded a hair-raising bloodthirsty aura! This killing intent was far more terrifying than the strong soldiers in front!

"It can't be wrong. According to the intelligence, the cruel vacuum boarding battle a few days ago was most likely the work of this group of madmen." Anthony felt confident.

However, when Anthony continued to walk forward and saw the scene at the end of the road, this experienced Archbishop's eyelids twitched violently, and his heart pounded uncontrollably!

Even his breathing stopped for a moment!

I saw that at the end of the welcome avenue, more than a dozen terrifying giants between two and a half and three meters tall stood neatly!

They wore armor full of retro violent aesthetics, and their huge bodies were like an insurmountable city wall!

That substantial sense of oppression made the surrounding air heavy!

Anthony's legs went soft.

"Ang... Angels?!"

Anthony shouted madly in his heart!

Seeing these dozen or so Thunder Warriors who had undergone genetic repair and restored their peak strength, Anthony, as a high-ranking member of the Ecclesiarchy, naturally mistook them for the Imperium's most sacred armed force—Space Marines!

After all, most people could not tell the difference between Thunder Warriors and Space Marines.

Seeing the appearance of the angels, the trace of doubt that had remained in Anthony's heart instantly vanished!

He was now more certain than anyone that the rumor about the God-Emperor performing a miracle was absolutely true!

If it were not for the holy will of the God-Emperor, how could it be possible to assemble more than a dozen living angels in a remote junkyard?!

The few Seraphim Sisters standing beside Anthony were also completely frightened by this formation.

Their faces were pale, and they immediately closed their eyes, bowing their heads and silently reciting the Emperor's prayers, trying to calm their spirits, which were violently shaken by looking directly at them.

At the end of the Thunder Warriors array stood two people.

One was a tall young man wearing red leader Power Armor; the one standing beside him was a blonde sister.

Anthony took a deep breath and scanned the surroundings, trying to calm himself.

On the periphery of the welcome queue, many civilians were watching the excitement, pointing and discussing this luxurious Ecclesiarchy delegation.

However, in Anthony's inadvertent glance, he actually saw a figure in the corner of the crowd, wearing iconic deep red robes, with most of his body replaced by mechanical prosthetics, walking slowly past the street corner!

"Tech-Priest?!"

Anthony was completely stunned, his brain falling into a serious crash state.

"What the hell is this so-called Spark Alliance?!" Anthony gasped in his heart.

"Having an elite army with mass-produced Power Armor is one thing! Now even Space Marines and the eccentric Adeptus Mechanicus of Mars are on this side?!"

At this time, the young leader man and the blonde sister had already walked up with smiles.

"Praise the Emperor, welcome Your Excellency Archbishop Anthony to our barren Outpost Planet."

Lin Li bowed slightly, performing a flawless Imperial aristocratic etiquette.

Looking at the Archbishop in front of him who obviously hadn't recovered from the shock, Lin Li was already overjoyed in his heart.

This grand welcoming formation was, of course, a face-saving project arranged by Lin Li!

The purpose was very simple.

On one hand, it was to show muscle to the high-ranking Ecclesiarchy of Mobius Prime and perform military deterrence; on the other hand, it was to use the skin of these Space Marines to endorse the legitimate rule of the Spark Alliance.

In the final analysis, Lin Li did not want to completely break with the huge Ecclesiarchy force yet.

After all, he still owed a high-interest loan to that old man on the Golden Throne!

As the saying goes, the one who owes money is the boss!

I am the boss of your Emperor now, what reason does your Ecclesiarchy bishop have to go against me, the creditor?

However, if Anthony knew that these were Thunder Warriors and Adeptus Mechanicus heretics, he would probably be so angry that he would vomit blood.

Anthony finally came back to his senses.

He put away all his arrogance, returned the salute with a humble posture, and then followed Lin Li into a reception room on the surface of the Shelter.

After sitting down as guest and host, Anthony cleared his throat, put on airs, and began a long-winded bureaucratic speech:

"Lord, I heard that you recently had an unfortunate battle with Sector Governor Cromwell. Under the holy guidance of the God-Emperor, I represent the Mobius Church..."

Lin Li leaned on his chair, listening to Anthony reciting the vacuous cliche, feeling a bit bored.

But there was no way, this bureaucratic tai chi in the political field still had to be finished while holding his nose.

Anthony talked a lot of nonsense.

The content was nothing more than condemning how the House Rofis had been perverse and exploited civilians over the years.

But after going around in circles for a long time, this old fox just refused to speak first and promised what substantive political support or military help he was willing to provide for the Spark Alliance.

"This old thing is slippery. He still wants to extract some trump cards from my mouth to make a difference." Lin Li sneered in his heart.

But Lin Li was also happy to pretend not to understand and smiled along with him to play tai chi.

In fact, Lin Li knew very well.

If he could get the public support of the Mobius Church, his plan to conquer the entire sector capital would be ten times smoother!

As long as at the critical moment of the general attack, Archbishop Anthony stood on a high place and shouted, declaring that Governor Cromwell was a heretic who blasphemed the gods!

Then more than half of the Defense Force under the Governor would immediately turn their guns and shoot the Governor on the spot!

But it was precisely because of this terrifying incitement ability that Lin Li absolutely did not dare to cooperate deeply with this group of cultists at this stage.

The local church on Outpost Planet, because they had seen the miracle of Lin Li summoning golden divine flames to burn demons to death, had already firmly believed in their hearts that Lin Li was a fallen angel and the only spokesman for the God-Emperor in the physical universe!

No matter what outrageous policies Lin Li introduced in the future, the local church would support him unconditionally like a fanatic.

But this group of upper-level clergy from Mobius had never seen a miracle.

If the new bill promoted by the Spark Alliance touched their cake of gathering money in the lower levels of the Hive City, these profit-seeking bishops would definitely turn their faces and deny people, directly inciting civilians to erupt in religious conflicts internally!

Of course, as the largest profit-seeking class in Mobius, Lin Li would sooner or later take a dark hand on the assets of the Ecclesiarchy, but the method must not be as rough as dealing with nobles; he had to use the method of boiling a frog in warm water to slowly weaken them.

In short, after an hour-long meeting, the two sides did not reach any substantive cooperation terms except for bragging about each other's martial virtue.

After the meeting, Anthony went to visit the local bishop of this planet.

When Anthony learned in the secret room that the local bishop was actually willing to exhaust all the assets of the church to fully and unconditionally support Lin Li in launching a war of annexation, the Archbishop's face showed deep shock and confusion.

...

While Lin Li and the bishop were playing tai chi with each other, in the gloomy and towering black fortress of the Adeptus Arbites on Mobius Prime, a distinguished guest was welcomed.

The Sector Marshal sat behind a large desk, looking at Governor Cromwell who pushed the door and entered, with a trace of mockery in his eyes.

He had long known about the scandal of the Governor's expedition fleet's crushing defeat and the commander being captured.

In the Marshal's view, the Governor's army was just a bunch of incompetent fools.

Relying on equipment crushing, they couldn't even beat the country bumpkins who were digging for food in the junkyard!

Now Cromwell ran to the Adeptus Arbites with his old face, most likely because he knew he had provoked a hard stubble and intended to borrow the heavy Arbiter of the Adeptus Arbites to fight a defensive battle to clean up his mess.

In the written code of the Imperium of Man, the power of the Adeptus Arbites was boundless.

Not only was it responsible for the arbitration of all internal laws of the Empire, but it also had the law enforcement power to execute first and report later in guarding against aliens and Chaos corruption.

But in reality, when implemented in remote star systems, the real power of the Adeptus Arbites was pitifully low.

Noble families had their own private courts and private armies, and the church had its own heresy judgment system.

If they burned a so-called civilian heretic in the square, the investigators of the Adeptus Arbites wouldn't even dare to fart.

Therefore, seeing the Governor who had always been high and mighty running to beg himself to do things, the Marshal felt somewhat triumphant.

"Governor Cromwell, a rare guest."

The Marshal leaned on the back of his chair and said sarcastically, "I thought you were busy celebrating the great victory over the junkyard in the palace."

Cromwell suppressed the anger in his heart, his face livid.

"Your Excellency Marshal. You can mock the failure of my fleet in private. But that's not important."

Cromwell slammed the table and shouted, "I came today to inform you of a serious crisis! Among those enemies who defeated my fleet, large-scale alien mutants participated in the war!"

"Those so-called Alliance rebels colluded with alien monsters without a bottom line, slaughtering the compatriots of the Empire! And you, as the highest official of the Adeptus Arbites in this area, sit idly by and do nothing in the face of alien invasion?! This is a serious dereliction of duty to the God-Emperor's Code!"

Cromwell's preemptive accusation was huge.

His voice echoed in the empty office.

Many low-level investigators and special police in the corridor outside heard it clearly.

This made the Marshal's face somewhat unable to hold up.