Warhammer: In the Name of Ashes.

Chapter 46 Thinking and "Adult"

Unlike the political storm that was brewing on Terra, Calvin, who was done with everything, left this place of right and wrong with ease.

Shortly after the departure of the Imperial Fist emissary, a temporarily promoted Academy official paid a cordial visit to Calvin's residence.With his diligent help, Calvin and his party finally completed the task of this trip.

They met the 150 students in the original list on a playground that had been prepared by the college, and there were not many of them.

Yes, a lot.After much deliberation, Calvin made a special proposal to the official from the Academy, bringing the young Sutherland, who should have been implicated in his father and brother's stupid behavior and had a bleak future, out of the temporary prison of the Psychic Academy. .

Without stopping any longer, Calvin, who was unwilling to cause further trouble and was eager to return, sent a predetermined signal to the orbit, and the Gray Knight strike cruiser, which was already on standby on orbit, quickly responded.

Three Thunderhawk assault boats appeared from the sky in a character formation, and quickly landed on the large tarmac of the Psychic Academy.

Under Calvin's order, the paladins divided the trainees into two teams and each took two Thunderhawk assault boats.

And he himself led the rest of the paladins, and boarded the last ship of the Thunderhawks with the most special student in this conscription.

Same as when they came, after a short air traffic control application was passed, the Thunderhawks started at full power, and amidst the roar of their engines, they took their masters and flew towards their home in space.Only the college officials who were in a good mood because of the unexpected promotion were left behind, and the figure in the brand new red robe was getting smaller and smaller as they moved away from the horizon.

The Thunderhawk's engine was still roaring, and Calvin sat in his seat quietly thinking about the experience during this trip.

Although he couldn't see the leader of the imperial army and the new lord of the trial court, he also vaguely felt that the whole matter was handled too smoothly.

Calvin recalled the scene at that time. Almost immediately after the imperial nobleman showed up, the forces from the imperial army and the trial court had already dealt with him.

This kind of coincidence and kindness that someone will hand you a pillow just when you are sleepy is not a good thing in Calvin's eyes. If you want to take it first, you must give it first.

Calvin could not know and control what kind of price should be used to balance the unwarranted kindness.

In hindsight, Calvin, who was at the center of the struggle at the time, was no more than an executive officer.

At that moment, he was just a pawn in the whole chess game, except for some special functions, there was no difference in essence.

This huge gap of involuntary fate made him clearly realize that Terra at this time was not yet his stage.

It is still far from the time when he takes over the entire battle group and related forces, and truly competes with all forces on the chess table.

Calvin, who wanted to understand this, didn't worry about this experience anymore, he just wanted to savor and remember this feeling of losing control.

Only in this way can he remind himself at all times: If he doesn't want to hypocritically deceive himself as a fighter, but only wants to fulfill his mission and obligation from the side of pure force.

Then he must understand that the political game has its own rules.The method of violently ending the physical existence of the opponent can only be the most deterrent when no action is taken.

How to maximize the deterrence formed by violence to guide others or certain groups to make the changes and results they want is what really shows his toughness.

In such a struggle, killing is undoubtedly the simplest, most brutal, and at the same time the most incompetent method.

In addition to lowering one's evaluation of one's ability as a decision-maker and making allies less able to trust oneself, simple killings can only leave a mess and no one to clean up the situation.And such consequences are not what he wants to see.

At the heart of Terra, the human empire, every seemingly small functional department is like a blood vessel in the heart, involving all aspects of the entire empire.

For the people here, every simple and rude treatment is irresponsible to the entire empire; every job vacancy caused by the transfer of power that is not within the rules may eventually magnify into a certain direction for the empire to deal with under the chain reaction devastating loss.

A batch of supplies that are not delivered in time will affect the outcome of a battle, and then affect the ownership of a galaxy or even a star area;

A batch of undelivered food will affect the life and death of a hive world, and then affect the conscription process of a certain warband that was scheduled a hundred years ago;
An order that fails to arrive will affect the policy direction of a star sector for decades to come, and in turn affect hundreds of millions of civilians.

All of the above are Calvin's thoughts while sitting in Thunderhawk on the way home.

The soul in his body from the oriental nation in the previous life has an understanding of the feelings of family and country, which people in the Warhammer world who evolved from the law of the forest cannot understand.

He may not love a specific person, but he is willing to use everything he has to love the country represented by this race, which may be the biggest similarity between him and the man on the throne.

Some people deserve death in Calvin's eyes, but they cannot die, and Calvin can only indulge their existence before the time comes;
Some people don't deserve to die in his eyes, but he can only watch them go to death. When the fate of this country is tied to the outcome of a certain war, even if he wishes to replace it with his own body, Calvin can only Watch them go.

Such an essential difference in values ​​made him destined not to be understood by too many people in this empire.

And this also indicates that one day in the future, when he finally walks out from the protection of his predecessors and becomes a chess player holding the chess player, he will be destined to embark on a path that may not be understood by others.

Such thinking is beneficial, and it is also a normal state that accompanies his life.

This kind of thinking about the internal direction of the empire will make him no longer satisfied with being an excellent politician, or a ruler who is well versed in tactics and conspiracy.A person who can guide the direction of the entire empire, change the current inefficient and outdated management structure of the empire from top to bottom, and then become a founder and leader of governance is the mission in his mind.

This is not a goal that can be achieved in a short period of time. Even under the prying eyes of external alien forces and subspaces, it is no less difficult to change the empire to such a degree in the never-ending war and conspiracy In a heart transplant operation without extracorporeal circulation guarantee.

And Calvin, who aspired to become a doctor of this ancient empire, also had to face such a terrible situation where there was no peaceful time for repair and peaceful transition of power.This will be a big test for him. (Don't imitate the protagonist, studying medicine can't save the empire. waaaaaah is enough!)

Calvin, who woke up from his contemplation, collected himself and looked at the surrounding paladins.

These lovely comrades-in-arms also seem to know the significance of Calvin's seemingly simple but complex experience in this trip.

They stood in their positions with bated breath, and there was not even a trace of a word in the lively psychic channel in the past.

No one wished to interrupt the young man's thoughts, for he was given too many heavy hopes.

And there wasn't much they could do, other than defending his safety with their lives, the only thing left was to keep quiet for him when he needed to think.

When he woke up from his thoughts, the atmosphere in the cabin slowly became active.

Calvin turned his head and looked at the opposite side. As the candidate with the best data and the most special status among the students this time, he was sitting on the opposite side of this group of giants with a little anxiety.

On the young man's handsome and delicate face, there were still traces of panic and anger.

But after this period of "forced" silence after boarding the Thunder Eagle, he wanted to understand something and began to observe everything around him with a strange indifferent attitude.

"Do you hate me?" This was Calvin's first question after staring quietly at the other party for several minutes.

And the giants around him, after hearing this sentence, looked at the opposite boy with cold but gossipy eyes.

The young man shrank instinctively under the watchful eyes of the angels, but his good upbringing allowed him to quickly get rid of this useless and ineffective behavior.

He straightened out his thoughts, and solemnly said to the tallest person among the angels in front of him:
"Hate? I don't hate either."

"Oh? Tell me." Calvin was a little curious about what the other party was thinking in his little head, and this also related to whether he could receive feedback for the "favor" he paid when the other party's family was dealt with.

"I think I should hate you, because you are the cause of my father's family being knocked down. But my father told me since I was a child that my mission is to be an angel, and serving the emperor is my greatest value. My life It also exists for this reason. And you saved my fate that was about to fail."

The boy looked at the unusual angel in front of him with some confusion.On the one hand, the destruction of the family made the young man unable to treat Calvin indifferently even though he knew it was not his fault; on the other hand, it was also this angel who saved him from living for 13 years as an Astartes candidate life.If after the destruction of his family, the meaning of his life is also destroyed, he dare not imagine what will happen to him.

"Then will you seek revenge from me? For example, on the battlefield, I was shot in the back?" Calvin continued to ask, his hands were still matching the words in his mouth, and he seemed to be gesticulating to shoot .

The other party's heart made him feel satisfied.And such an excellent seedling was destroyed just because of his father and brother's selfish desires, which he could not tolerate.Maybe he will eventually challenge him because of the family's hatred, but before that, let this child contribute to the empire and the emperor the loyalty that should be given back to the empire under the huge resources he has received since childhood, is what Calvin wanted. Hope to see things.

You may hate me, but you must still be loyal to the empire.Because he gave you a rich life and good material conditions.This, too, is Calvin's fundamental position in this matter.

"I will not do anything to harm the honor of my family! Even if it no longer exists! Even if I am alone, Sutherland's honor cannot be slandered! I will become a holy Astartes , to launch honorable revenge on you!...Even if I die, it is the result I deserve!"

The young man was successfully irritated by Calvin's words, and the second half of the other's sentence completely pierced through the disguise given to him by his aristocratic upbringing.

He blushed and vented the anger in his heart loudly to Calvin. Even though he had realized the hopelessness of revenge at the end, the honor from his family still allowed him to accept an honorable death with confidence.

Calvin smiled, and the real side of the other party was revealed under his psychic perception:

"A cub with a hatred but excellent nature will obviously grow faster and more motivated than others. This is what he wants. As for revenge? Let's talk about it someday."

He looked at the boy in front of him, smiled and said:

"Very well! I remember you. If, I mean, if you can become an Astartes, then I welcome your revenge anytime, anywhere. Now, tell me your name."

"Calvin! Calvin de Sutherland!" the boy said his name aloud.

But it was different from the scene of ridicule or recognition that he expected. After he said his name, what he got was a sudden silence in the entire cabin.

The paladins looked at each other, and finally turned their eyes to Calvin who was smiling at first, but now his face was a little stiff.And the latter barely maintained his expression after his brain froze for a few seconds.Facing the "little Calvin" in front of him, he said:
"Very well, I am waiting for your revenge. But before that, you are just our reserve."

He looked around, before reaching Titan, he temporarily didn't want to communicate with this little guy with the same name as him.He pointed to Gavins who was watching the excitement and said:

"Come on, it's you! You are responsible for bringing this little guy to Wulian!"

Hearing the instructions, Gavins stood up from the crowd helplessly, and said to the little guy in front of him, "From now on, you, follow me. Well, you can call me Brother Gavins .”

"Yes! What about him? Also called Brother Zhan?" After accepting the order from the other party, Little Sutherland pointed his finger at his enemy - Calvin who was touching his nose beside him.

"Him? Hmm...he's different, you should call your lord first." Gavins said, almost suppressing a smile.

(End of this chapter)