Warhammer: Hail to the Void Lords!.

Chapter 453 06.0452: "You seem to be a little out of tune"

As captain, Horatio had to patrol the bridge and check the log every day.

It was eight o'clock in the morning on Terra, on the command bridge of the Epic.

"Good morning, Captain." Horatio's first mate Archie Cuthbert Collingwood straightened his back, saluted, and then began to report on the handover work:
"Captain, the battleship is currently on duty at the port. The port breach is being repaired. The damage control team and the technical priests are investigating the hidden breach. Six torpedoes have been replenished. The canned food storage area is exchanging supplies with the Tianzhou. According to the patrolling Space Marine strike cruiser fleet and our carrier-based aircraft squadron, no enemy has been found in the surrounding area."

"Thank you for your hard work. Leave the rest to me."

The attack ships were now replenishing supplies in preparation for sailing.

According to the standard shift schedule for port duty, Horatio's shift was from 8 a.m. to 12 noon.

As for the Space Marines, the ships carrying these superhumans are responsible for round-the-clock patrol missions.

Although their ships are also manned by chapter servants and mortal officers, many of these people are Space Marine candidates who failed in transformation and have more or less undergone Space Marine genetic modification operations. The lowest intensity of them has undergone five operations for Imperial Navy officers, so high-intensity duty in the short term is not a difficult task for them.

After arranging the day's duties and checking the logs of the previous day that the clerk had sorted out, he sat on the command throne and announced that his shift for the day had officially begun. From this moment on, his duties required him to continuously monitor the surrounding airspace intelligence with a highly alert attitude, and at the same time use the neural plug to communicate and train the newly born ship's machine soul.

This is a great test and training of a person's ability to concentrate. Ordinary people will often become distracted after 45 minutes of continuous concentration, but this situation must never occur to the captain and the first mate.

Horatio also had to supervise the officers on the bridge and their concentration when they were on duty in the port. His own requirements for discipline were not strict in the Imperial Navy, and he emphasized a moderate degree of leniency. However, in the war zone, he would never allow anyone to relax, even in the least stressful state of port duty.

At 12 noon, he met with Harvey, Archie, Fideo, David Beatty and other officers in the captain's office to discuss the problems they found during the Epic's voyage. The Epic's first combat voyage inevitably exposed some problems that had never been discovered before, which required the captain to record them and take appropriate measures to correct them.

For example, the Epic's machine soul was too enthusiastic in battle. During the communication between the captain and the chief technical priest Lati, the technical priest pointed out that the new machine soul still needed to be trained. Only through constant and persistent training could she become a stable, reliable, and loyal machine soul like the Indefatigable. Like other warships of the Imperial Navy, the older it is, the better it is.

The captain must pay attention to the problems of the machine soul. The relationship between him and the machine soul is not a master-servant relationship, but an equal partnership. Only with the recognition of the machine soul will she obey and execute his will and achieve the state of "unity of man and ship".

According to some senior captains, this is a bond that goes beyond lovers and spouses. Once this state is reached, one will gain a good partner who is more intellectual and reliable than his wife.

But this also comes with risks. If the captain cannot properly train the machine soul with the help of the technical priest, then the unstable machine soul will quickly corrupt once it attracts the attention of the evil god.

This kind of corruption is mostly not directly perceived by the people on board. Its spread is very covert and is only accompanied by a gradual increase in supernatural events on the warship, which keeps everyone on edge.

Eventually, over time, she would use the spiritual connection to corrupt the captain, who was under great pressure. Through this induction, she would use another way to achieve the state of 'oneness of man and ship' with the captain forever.

But this time, I'm afraid it is 'becoming one' in every sense of the word.

Therefore, the betrayal of many Imperial Navy warships was not due to the will of the captain himself, but rather the corrupted machine souls that corrupted the captains through neural connections, ultimately luring the entire ship into the abyss of darkness and depravity, from which there was no return.

Horatio, who graduated from the Fleet Maritime Department, a command school, naturally understood this principle very well. Although he was only a new captain, his warship was a brand new attack boat whose machine soul had not been adjusted by previous generations.

But the basic method is still the same, no need to tinker blindly.

When she first came into the world, the budding Epic Machine Soul was like a light and nimble newborn girl. She was very indifferent, and only gave limited communication to visitors. But once she was asked to fulfill her duty of killing, her indifferent attitude would be transformed into irrepressible excitement.

Horatio, on the other hand, had long used Iron Hand's skill 'Machine Soul Affinity' to train and tame the cold Machine Soul over and over again, turning it into a skilled and enthusiastic one.

Specifically, he would let Latti use the source power circuit to simulate the situation, making the machine soul think that it was fighting with an enemy ship. When she became extremely excited, Horatio would use the machine soul affinity to forcibly pull her back from her excitement.

This repetitive training cycle made her accustomed to moving from violence to calmness, and from ignorance to proficiency.

After finishing his meal and asking the attendant clerk to record the officers' feedback, Horatio returned to the office reception room next to the bedroom, and sat at the elegant red lacquered wooden desk on two steps, with his back against the stained glass window depicting the Battle of Schindlegeist, a classic battle in the Gothic Wars. Holding a long white feather pen, he organized and recorded the day's situation on the ship in the captain's log.

Although many captains would leave the record keeping to the clerk, Horatio always kept the captain's log himself. This was separated from the bedroom by a wall, and as was the rule on almost all naval warships, only the ship's department heads and the accountant could enter directly from the front door.

But this can also cause a small problem.

"Hood Military Supervisor." A drop of sweat slid down Horatio's cheek, dripped onto the paper, and smudged the ink.

"I remember that the officer's bedroom I arranged for you was next to Lieutenant Louise's. But why do you always go to the captain's bedroom to sleep after your duty? Not only sleeping, but also..."

"Don't talk, just keep doing your job, Captain. Ah, chug~"

Yes, he was not the only one in the office at this moment. There was also a blonde beauty hiding under the large mahogany table.

A girl in a long boots uniform who is supposed to maintain the dignity of a military supervisor in any situation.

scoff-

Suddenly, the sound of a hatch door opening and closing was heard not far away.

"Captain, I'm here to report on the replenishment of armaments."

Read the error-free version at 69shuba! 6=9+shu_ba is the first to publish this novel.

Louise walked over with steady steps, a document tucked under her tight uniform.

"All of our ship's torpedoes have been replenished. I have already gone to the torpedo room to check. The ammunition for the macro cannon has also been replenished. Please have a look."

She stopped at the bottom of the steps and saluted meticulously.

"Okay, Louise, thank you for your hard work."

He wiped the sweat from his forehead and nodded.

"Captain, why is there so much sweat on your forehead? Do you have a fever?

Are you feeling unwell?

That’s right, you haven’t rested well these past two days. If your work is too busy, you can pick out some tasks that are not too difficult and share them with me.”

Louise noticed the strange look on Horatio's face and asked with concern as they walked up the steps.

Faced with the female officer approaching with a concerned look, Horatio's eyes widened unconsciously, and he held his forehead with a seemingly unintentional movement to hide his gaze under the desk, where there was also a pair of wet green eyes, staring straight at his face.

"Nothing, Louise, I just took a bath and I'm a little hot."

Horatio kept smiling, straightened his body, pulled his seat forward, and resumed his solemn posture of sitting upright.

"Ugh! Hiccup."

However, this action obviously did not take into account the depth of a certain lady's throat, and a female voice that sounded like she was choking suddenly came out with a bit of pain.

? !
"Captain, what was that noise just now? I seemed to hear something unusual..." Louise looked around vigilantly. Since the beginning of the expedition, she had been paying extra attention to Horatio's personal safety.

(End of this chapter)