302: Chapter 303 Desserts

Just as Katz was sizing up the surrounding environment,

a sleek, silver-gray vehicle with no wheels and an eerie blue anti-gravity glow emanating from its base drifted over silently.

The door slid open automatically, and a voice came from inside the vehicle, gesturing for them to get in.

Katz stared at the vehicle, his pupils constricting abruptly as a storm surged in his heart.

An anti-gravity hover vehicle?!

Furthermore, judging by the thin armor plates and streamlined design without any weapon hardpoints, this was clearly a civilian model!

How precious was medium-to-large anti-gravity technology in the Empire?

That was Relic technology that only high-ranking officials and Terra Custodes could be equipped with!

Yet in this place, it was actually used as a transport vehicle to pick up and drop off guests?

Katz's hand gripping the hilt of his sword tightened slightly.

If this faction could popularize anti-gravity technology even in civilian vehicles, it meant that their military hover main battle tanks and anti-gravity gunships had definitely achieved mass production on a large scale.

Based on this point alone, Katz dared to conclude.

The raven-haired man who was receiving him was by no means some ordinary sector governor.

This fellow must be an ambitious warlord who had mastered complete technological relics.

Even this youthful appearance might be a disguise, and his actual age could be several hundred years old.

Carrying this apprehension, Katz bent down and got into the hover vehicle.

The space inside the hover vehicle's cabin was extremely spacious.

It was clearly designed specifically for bulky individuals.

Even while wearing heavy Terminators Power Armor, Katz did not feel crowded at all sitting inside.

The vehicle smoothly traversed the street and quickly arrived at its destination.

This was a building constructed primarily of gray stone, devoid of elaborate carvings and exuding a practical, cold, and hard aesthetic.

The hover vehicle came to a steady stop.

Katz looked outside through the car window.

On both sides of the road on the periphery of the building stood two rows of guards about two meters tall.

They uniformly wore heavy fully-enclosed Power Armor, their seamless armor plates reflecting a cold metallic luster.

But this wasn't even the most startling thing.

Katz's gaze locked tightly onto the weapons in the guards' hands.

The gun bodies were slender, and the muzzles emitted a dark red energy shimmer.

Volkite ray guns!

Katz drew in a sharp breath.

This terrifying energy weapon had astonishing destructive power; even a Space Marine wearing Power Armor would be sent straight to the afterlife if they took a hit.

In the current Empire, this was a ninety-nine-percent rarity, with stock only held by those most ancient orders or high-ranking Skitarii of the Adeptus Mechanicus.

How was it that upon arriving at this place, Volkite weapons had actually become standard issue for every common soldier?

Katz decided to adjust his positioning in his heart.

He was definitely no longer a space raider now, but a merchant.

A law-abiding, affable interstellar trader.

For a renegade chapter wandering outside, flexibility was the first rule of survival.

The car door opened, and Katz got out of the vehicle.

At the entrance of the building stood the raven-haired young man from the hologram, alongside the tall robot beside him.

Katz quickly took off his helmet, tucked it under his arm, and revealed a pale, scar-covered face.

He squeezed out a flattering smile that was uglier than crying, stepped forward in two or three strides, and proactively extended his right hand toward the young man.

"It is very presumptuous to disturb you, Lord."

Katz's tone was extremely polite,

"I am Katz, from the Ashen Claws. As you know, our reputation outside might not be so good. But this is all slander by the decadent Empire; we have always cared for mortals and strictly observed the rules of engagement."

While talking nonsense, Katz secretly observed the young man's expression.

The other party's expression remained as usual, without even frowning.

This was enough to prove that this fellow was definitely not a die-hard loyalist of the Empire.

The young man reached out and shook hands with Katz briefly.

"Welcome to the Yuanwang Star System, I am Liming."

Lin Li's voice was calm, with no discernable emotion,

"If you are an enemy, here lie the fiercest artillery fires. If you are a friend, here lies the most delicious spirits."

Katz smiled nonchalantly: "Haha! Of course, I have always loved good wine."

The two old schemers with differing motives probed each other briefly, and both had a clear idea in their hearts.

Afterwards, led by Lin Li, several people walked into the house.

The interior setup of the house was very simple.

In the center was a rectangular metal conference table, matched with metal high-backed chairs.

The load-bearing capacity was quite good; when Katz's massive body sat down, the chair did not emit any abnormal sounds.

On the tabletop, several plates of exquisite pastries were placed.

Katz was a merchant now.

As a merchant, one had to be worldly and know how to close the distance.

As soon as he sat down, he took off his heavy metal gauntlets, casually picked up a piece of pastry, prepared to take a bite, and then took the opportunity to shower it with exaggerated praise, using it to open the topic and lead into commerce.

The pastry was tossed into his mouth.

Katz chewed for a moment.

The next second, he froze.

Rich animal cream mixed with pure wheat aroma instantly exploded on his taste buds, filling his entire mouth.

Because he swallowed too quickly, he didn't even have time to savor it carefully.

Katz involuntarily picked up another piece and shoved it into his mouth.

This time the taste was completely different.

Besides the mellow milky fragrance, there was also a trace of slight bitterness, followed by a lingering sweetness.

He ate several more pieces in succession, and the taste of every single one was completely different.

Some carried a faint burning sensation of alcohol, while others had a dense and sticky texture, sweet just right.

Unwittingly, Katz had already eaten a large plateful, and his eye sockets had somehow become somewhat moist.

In the hundreds of years prior, for Katz, eating was merely a mechanical task to maintain bodily functions.

Those unswallowable synthetic starches and nutrient pastes were like chewing wax.

He subconsciously stared at the plate and asked: "What is this?"

Lin Li leaned back against the back of the chair and looked at him: "Cupcakes, the taste isn't bad, right?"

Katz nodded repeatedly, his tone incomparably sincere:

"Of course, extremely good. This is the most delicious thing I've ever eaten in my life, thank you for your generous hospitality!"

These words came entirely from the bottom of his heart.

After the pleasantries, Lin Li did not beat around the bush any longer and cut straight to the chase.

"My time is a bit tight, so I'll be blunt."

Lin Li crossed his hands and placed them on the desktop,

"The Ashen Claws are a renegade chapter; that is not important. What is important is that you are not the lackeys of Chaos. With this bottom line, we have a foundation for communication with each other."

Katz glanced at the Librarian beside him and nodded.

Just as he wanted to speak, he was interrupted by Lin Li raising his hand.

"I know you often engage in plundering deeds, and your methods are very vicious."

Lin Li stared into Katz's eyes,

"But you participated in the defensive battle defending against the Tyranids a while ago. Therefore, I believe there is an opportunity for further cooperation between us, on the premise that my cooperation partner must be a law-abiding person, rather than a raider who will bite at any moment."

Katz immediately understood Lin Li's meaning.

As long as one followed the rules, trade was permitted here.

For a renegade chapter, this was already a pie falling from the sky.

You must know that openly contacting a renegade chapter within the Empire's territory was a capital crime.

"What do you have here?" Katz asked.

"Everything you want is here."

Lin Li's tone was steady,

"Weapons, equipment, food, and even technical support. If you need it, I can also provide a legal sanctuary port."

Katz was greatly shocked: "Aren't you afraid of the Inquisition's accountability?"

Lin Li smiled faintly: "We'll talk when they arrive."

What huge guts.

This was Katz's ultimate evaluation of the mortal before him.

After thinking for a moment, Katz asked again: "Then what do you need?"

"We do not like war; we prefer commercial transactions, and commerce emphasizes environmental stability above all."

Lin Li's subtext was very obvious; he demanded that the Ashen Claws stop their plundering around the Yuanwang Star System.

Afterwards, Lin Li added: "In addition, we are also very interested in your gene-seed."

Gene-seed was indeed rare for the Ashen Claws, but not fatal; they had many channels to acquire it.

Katz thought to himself, an ambitious warlord wanting gene-seed probably wanted to use it to research and pry into the transformation secrets of the Astartes; this was completely understandable.

But stopping the plundering...

"I cannot make the decision on this matter." Katz did not agree immediately, "I will bring your goodwill and conditions back to the chapter."

"Very good." Lin Li nodded, "Looking forward to your next arrival."

After the two parties finished chatting, the meeting adjourned.

When Katz led his men away, Lin Li had the guards hand over a slender weapon case.

Lying inside was impressively a brand-new Volkite ray gun, as a gift for their first meeting.

Katz's positioning right now was a decent merchant.

Having received a heavy gift, he naturally had to return a gift.

He opened the sealed compartment of his Power Armor, took out a gene-seed contained in a canister, and solemnly handed it to Lin Li.

Afterwards, Katz led his people to quickly board the shuttle.

The shuttle successfully returned to the flagship on the periphery of the star system.

As soon as Katz stepped through the doors of the bridge, he immediately turned his head and roared at the navigator.

"Initiate the Warp engine!"

"Right now! Immediately! Get me out of this damn star system!"

...

The shuttle's exhaust flame turned into points of light in his vision and finally disappeared at the edge of the star system.

Lin Li watched the Ashen Claws leave.

He lowered his head and looked at the dark-red miniature biological tissue floating in the canister in his hand.

Astartes gene-seed.

Lin Li subsequently went directly with 73 to the gene laboratory on the Prison Planet.

The lights inside the laboratory were cold white.

Standing in front of the data center was a tall figure.

That was Stone Man Hong.

Hearing the footsteps, Hong turned around, his dark gray eyes devoid of any ripples.

"Creator."

He slightly nodded, his voice crisp yet without any emotional fluctuation.

Lin Li stepped forward and placed the cryogenic stasis canister in his hand on the metal experimental table.

"Take a look at this, a newly acquired Astartes gene-seed."

Hong's gaze fell upon that metal canister. A faint stream of data flashed across his pupils, conducting a rapid scan of the internal tissue.

After just a few seconds, he retracted his gaze expressionlessly.

"A very shoddy gene-splicing method."

Stone Man Hong's evaluation was merciless, even carrying a hint of disdain:

"Crude, redundant, and full of compromises after technological regression. In my biological database, this modification method is completely failing."

Lin Li smiled.

He had long been accustomed to the contempt of those era survivors 73, 999, and Hong toward the Empire's technology today.