Warhammer: Start with a dog.

Chapter 370 Navy Meeting Room

The huge, ancient main power room core of Wandering Port slowly rotated once again as it orbited the star of the Rubicon II system in the vast, wild, and remote Drusus sub-sector of the Calixis sector.

The faint red light of Rubicon II's star shone into the senior officers' meeting room on the upper level of the central fortress as the main axis of this void hive city rotated.

This room, which was rarely fully used except during wartime, now gathered almost all the senior officers of the Imperial Navy stationed here and some of their allies - apparently, some people did not recognize the authority of the Imperial Navy here. Although Wandering Port was initially and later nominally under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Navy, more often than not, serving here was not a good place for an ambitious Imperial Navy officer.

The expressions on people's faces varied, ranging from solemn to panic-stricken, confused to greedy, and so on.

"Gentlemen." Larius Sanse, the nominal commander-in-chief of Wandering Port, cleared his throat. Although the rear admiral tried his best to dress elegantly and rigorously, he could not stop himself from being frustrated that not all the guests on the invitation showed up. He tried his best to make himself look more majestic and convincing.

Although in the eyes of most civilians here, Larius is undoubtedly a glorious and great officer and a successful person, only the real upper class people know that in Wandering Port, the one who has the most say is not the Imperial Navy, the Ministry of Justice, the Mechanicus, the State Religion or the Inquisition.

after all.

From here on, once you start crossing the Mouth, laws, rules, order, and even the Emperor's Astronomical Torch may not be as important as wealth.

"It should be said that this was the case for centuries before the series of strange events that occurred here."

Some of the people sitting around the long table nodded, while others continued to listen.

"but!"

The commander of the Imperial Navy's Port Wanderer space station slammed his gloved hands onto the table.

He shouted, "But now! Gentlemen! The situation is different! I believe that each of you, everyone sitting here, should have heard about the incredible facts that have happened here in recent times, in our small port, our last space port before going to the Chronos Expansion Zone - the temporary warp resistance, the body repair reported by the Astronomical Choir, the navigator family members and the Chamber of Commerce members who are pouring in here like crazy, and - those -"

He paused, as if he was embarrassed or reluctant to speak, "-- those who are highly suspected to be experienced Astartes in disguise...service personnel. Your Majesty, just saying this sentence is beginning to feel absurd to me. I hope that the Bishop can pray for purification for me later."

Some murmured their agreement.

"…So we are gathered here today, and we need to discuss first what is happening here. As far as I know, in the past three weeks, the number of people pouring into Wandering Port has increased by at least five times compared to the same period before, and more people are heading here to see the so-called Holy Communion, angels, and miracles. So the question we want to discuss today is, first of all, my dear friends and advisers, do you have anything more to tell us about these recent events?"

At this time, a naval officer sitting at the table stood up and spoke first. The commander recognized that this was one of his confidants, Samor, and nodded to him. Indeed, well, he knew that he would not let him be embarrassed and silent in such a meeting.

"According to intelligence," the naval officer said, "the earliest changes began with the opening of those two strange specialty stores. Yes, everyone, it is the 'Silver Mask' Royal Specialty Store. I believe that even if you have not bought its products, you must have heard of its name. To be honest, the technology used in the products of this specialty store is not even fully cracked by the respected master builder and his devout colleagues in our mechanical shrine..."

At this point, someone suddenly asked a question. "Excuse me, Major Samor, I have no intention of opposing you, but I want to know, if it is such a technology, then why can this store open under our jurisdiction?" The speaker looked over and found that the person who interrupted was Grand Law Enforcement Officer Dorin of the Ministry of Justice. This strict local highest official of the Ministry of Justice has always been famous for his strict admonitions to the citizens of the empire and his resolute suppression of heresy and evil.

"That's right, Lord Dolin. Although we cannot crack it for the time being, it is clear that their products and technologies are backed by an Imperial Forge World."

"A Forge World? Which one? I am quite familiar with the Forge Worlds of this sub-sector and even the entire Calixis Sector. I have not heard of any Forge World whose masters have recently discovered new STCs, or have mastered such extreme anti-gravity arts." Another person also asked his question. He was wearing some kind of work uniform of his own, obviously a representative of the shipyard.

"Belacarne. Belacarne Forge World. In fact, according to our naval procurement list, this is not an unknown new forge world or a small forge world. It once had a large number of important orders and has a very long history. I believe you have heard of it, Mr. Laeri."

The senior technician who got the answer frowned his thick and messy eyebrows, "Indeed, but Bella Karn? As far as I know, it has not communicated with the outside world for nearly five centuries. This may be new information. Moreover, my great-great-grandfather recorded it. Isn't it famous for its stasis field technology? It has never been known for the manufacture of anti-gravity engines in any record."

"But that's the fact. Although they didn't put the 'Bellacan' logo directly on the product, but used the trademark name 'Silver Mask', those abbreviations and the graphic code of the origin were printed on the import tariff documents. Yes, they even honestly submitted the customs declaration documents, freight bills of lading, invoices and other documents with all legal procedures. Well, the codes showing the origin and manufacturing world on those documents are Bellacan, and Bellacan is indeed a legitimate and loyal ancient imperial forge world, so we have no reason to intercept these products and prevent them from selling here."

"All documents? All legal documents? Are all the procedures compliant? All these products are actually legal and enter our ports normally? This is really surprising news, which surprises me more than if they are illegal or smuggled," said a chamber of commerce representative.

"It has changed my mind a little. I was originally very dissatisfied with the big scene they made in the Court of the Dead. You know, that place is now more crowded than the cathedral in the Central Fortress. The employees of the Ministry of Justice are already under the pressure of working overtime day and night, and are almost unable to cope with the surging crowds. And you parasites who only care about making money are unwilling to let us block the port to control the flow of people entering!"

Commander Dorin criticized angrily. Then he changed the subject, "If they are such law-abiding citizens of the Empire, perhaps I can consider asking the negotiation experts of the Ministry of Justice to talk to them at some time."

"The Imperial Navy has no objection." The station commander immediately replied, "If Law Enforcer Dorin is willing to negotiate for us, that would be the best. Before that, do you have any latest holy relics that you can summarize here? In addition to those we already know, such as the 'Holy Fire in the Eyes', the 'Exorcism Communion', those suspected Emperor Angels... restaurant operators, and the calm and gentle Black Templars and their champions who carry out the Emperor's will. - Your Majesty, it's ridiculous to think that all of this happened within a few kilometers of me! Everyone! It's ridiculous!"

"Oh, yes." said the priest who represented the state religion, "For example, there is now more than one respectable and noble Emperor Champion of the Black Templar."

"what?"

"Yes, in fact, all of our sects here currently acknowledge that they now have three worthy champions of the Emperor."

"...Very good. I can imagine what will happen after this new news gets out. Perhaps we should consider building more ports and accommodations in Wandering Port. And Lord Dolin, the Ministry of Justice may need to call for some reinforcements from the main star region?"

Captain Karsus Hall, the representative of the mercenaries, had been watching all this from the beginning. At this moment, he suddenly said, "But aren't you worried?" He said, "Have you not considered how bad the situation will be or has happened to require the sudden gathering of three Emperor Champions here? Although I have not seen their battles, I have heard of the Black Templar Expeditionary Fleet. Putting aside other things, I have carefully observed the waiters in that restaurant who claimed to be just cyborgs. Ordinary cyborgs?! I bet each of them can kill an entire hive by themselves. Aren't you worried? If they appear here, then what unimaginable horrors will appear here?"

"Actually," Grand Lawman Dorin turned to him, "I have considered it. As a result, I finally had to resort to drugs and some strong means to make myself sleep. There is no point in talking more. Let's do the things at hand first. If it is such a big battle, the involvement of the entire Wandering Port is a small matter. Perhaps the entire galaxy or even our entire sub-region will be involved. Maybe the entire star region will be shaken by it. In the face of an event of this magnitude, your and my personal will is really too small. Hal. Before the boots fall, the only thing we can do is to pray devoutly to the God-Emperor, do our job well, and wait and see what happens."

(End of this chapter)