Warhammer: Hail to the Void Lords!.

Chapter 515 06.0514: "Empire Double Agent"

"Captain, as a member of the Imperial Charter Fleet on a fixed route, you had better have a reasonable explanation for taking an unexplained detour on your way to Tarentus."

"Well... this is because I was avoiding the blockade of the Tau Empire. According to the route warning issued by the Imperial Fleet, I had to temporarily change the course." The ship owner remained expressionless, still stroking his well-groomed, fluffy and straight beard, and gave a reason that seemed very real.

"The vicinity of Tarentus is where the main fleet of the Gothic Fleet is currently located. It is impossible for you to receive an early warning from the Imperial Fleet because there is no possibility of large-scale activities of the alien fleet in the surrounding area."

"Gothic Fleet? Haha, Captain, the Gothic Star Region is 108,000 miles away from here, how could there be ships of the Gothic Fleet here?"

Horatio stood still, looking at the ship owner expressionlessly.

"Then you must not have read my letter of commission carefully, sir." The blue eyes stared straight at the man, as if questioning and penetrating his mind: "I am the captain of the Gothic Fleet."

"Uh...you are from the Gothic Fleet?" The ship owner was stunned, then he rubbed his hands stutteringly, trying to ease the embarrassment: "I...I really didn't know the Gothic Fleet came here, but I assure you that I did receive a risk warning before."

"I'll check your comm logs on the bridge. You better have what I want to see."

Horatio didn't listen to the man's explanation and went straight to the bridge of the merchant ship.

This was an unremarkable Imperial Bell-class merchant ship, one of countless sisters of the same model.

There were not many crew members on the bridge. Like most charter fleets that pursued profit margins, the captain in front of him had obviously chosen to operate this huge void vessel while trying his best to cut costs.

The bridge is defended by some mercenaries.

Their backgrounds are mixed. Some of them were gangsters not long ago, while others, judging from their unruly thorny outfits and the sophisticated way they carry guns, may have been involved in pirate activities.

Seeing the Imperial Navy approaching, they leaned against the bulkhead in their usual nonchalant attitude, their eyes exuding just a little restrained vigilance and rejection.

Leidos walked past a row of merchant ship guards, one of whom stood up without warning and bumped into his shoulder seemingly accidentally.

Because of the captain's inspection mission, he just glared at the other person, secretly exerted force on his shoulders, and pushed the other person away.

"Huh, huh!"

"tui!"

Apparently, his counterattack upset the hired guards.

After he passed by, the guard spat at the deck, and the spit landed accurately beside his shoe, splashing on Leidos's trouser leg.

Leidos clenched and unclenched his fists, and finally he turned around in an instant, gritted his teeth, and swung his iron fist at the face of the ungrateful guy.

The two instantly struggled with each other.

Hearing the commotion behind them, Horatio and the merchant ship owner turned around.

Seeing their own officers involved in the fight, the boarding team members not far away immediately loaded their shotguns and sprinted over.

"what happened?"

"Captain, these scoundrels have the audacity to confront our Imperial Navy! They are so bold!"

"Are your people seriously ill?! Captain, how dare these gangsters cause trouble for the Imperial Navy!" Horatio frowned and pointed directly at the merchant ship owner and questioned.

"Calm down, sir! Please calm down. My guards are all rough men. They have been through a lot before they retired. Usually, our regional civilian ships have no experience of dealing with the navy. Please don't bother with these scumbags.

Come this way, let's go to the official hall to have a chat. I will let the servants entertain you well. I will give you enough compensation for the offense of my subordinates. Please don't bear grudges against me..."

[Even if they are a group of gangsters or former pirates, how dare they openly cause trouble for naval officers...hiss.] The more Horatio thought about it, the more he felt something was wrong.

His navy was sacred and inviolable. If this reason could not convince the other party, then the cannon and fully armed sailors would usually be enough. Even if the navy beat the mercenaries, it would not be the other party's turn to fight back, let alone actively looking for naval officers to cause trouble.

This behavior does not make sense unless they are trying to find some trivial things to distract themselves and hide the urgent matters they are dealing with.

"Ledos, take some people to watch over them. Everyone else, follow me!"

Horatio pushed the captain who was trying to distract him and strode straight to the bridge.

His military boots pounded on the deck, making a thumping sound all the way, and he soon rushed to the owner's command platform.

All I saw was the first mate and the second mate, who were dressed in luxurious clothes, busy with something on the command platform, with cold sweat on their foreheads.

"I order you to leave the console! Now!" Horatio pulled out his bolter pistol, pointed it at them and gave them a stern order.

"Your Excellency, we are only...keeping the ship in working order."

"Don't make me say it a second time!" Horatio walked closer quickly and happened to see the characters on the display console.

"Deleting..."

He quickly extended a dendrite from his iron hand, ready to intervene in the display console.

“Sir…” Upon seeing this, the first mate’s tense face fluctuated and he was ready to step forward to stop it.

The second mate, however, put his hands behind his back.

The moment the dendrites intervened in the display console, relying on the power of machine soul affinity, the machine soul of this machine promptly obeyed Horatio's order and terminated the clearing program.

Although some things were permanently deleted, there are still half of them left.

"I order you to open these files that are to be deleted." Horatio glared at the other man's eyes and ordered with his gun pointed at the first mate's head.

"These are business secrets. I don't have the authority to do so. Please understand." The first mate stammered, sweating profusely.

"You don't have the authority, but I certainly have full authority to check." Horatio's free hand manipulated the display console, opening the files that had not been deleted layer by layer.

Just like peeling an onion, the deeper you peel, the more sweat appears on the foreheads of the first and second mates.

"Captain, this is just..." The first mate began to tremble as he spoke. The more he tried to explain, the more he stuttered - he could hardly continue his story.

Finally, Horatio opened one of the transmission copies, which contained a string of characters that were only simply encrypted. It didn't take him long to successfully decipher the content - 'We found an imperial pilgrimage ship, I think you will be interested. After the matter is completed, we only want the gold and wealth on it.'

A string of assembly coordinates was attached, and the location of the coordinates was almost exactly the same as the location of the 'Pure White Mayflower' before the attack.

Upon seeing this, the second mate suddenly pulled out a pistol from his back and pointed it at Horatio's forehead.

boom!
Beep!

A wisp of blue smoke was floating from the muzzle of Farida's military supervisor's grenade launcher.

When Horatio pulled out his gun just now, she had already vigilantly pulled out her bolt pistol and loaded it. While checking the documents, she had been watching the movements of several people. The moment the other party raised his hand, she did not hesitate to use the bolt grenade to turn the second mate's head into a ball of biomass that was very warning.

Lower cargo ship.

boom!
A dull gunshot came from upstairs.

Thei, who was walking alone in the cargo hold to check, looked towards the bridge with some curiosity, frowned slightly, and took out his defense pistol from his arms.

Although the goods here are fine, the gunshots were heard, which clearly meant something had gone wrong.

"what are you doing!"

boom!boom!
The sailors who maintained a guard distance fought with the mercenaries inside the merchant ship. Thanks to their high-quality armor and good diet, they were able to react quickly when faced with a surprise attack and shot dead the mercenaries who tried to draw their guns.

Thei turned around and saw two mercenaries rushing towards her with laser guns in their hands. She raised her hand and shot one of them in the chest armor. The hexagonal high-stopping-power bullet instantly penetrated the thin bulletproof chest armor and cut a big hole in the flesh behind it.

Without waiting for the other man to raise his gun, Thei took off running.

A laser beam arrived late and shot a small charred hole in the cargo container.

After all, he had just checked the area, and Thei remembered the routes nearby, so he escaped very efficiently.

As long as I can get to where the sailors are...

boom!
She bumped head-on into the mercenary who popped out from the corner.

Both men fell to the ground with their buttocks, and their defensive pistols fell to the ground and slid to the side.

The mercenary saw the girl, or to be more precise, he first saw the bright red rose knot on her chest, and his eyes widened involuntarily.

"You must die today, Inquisitor. Only one of us can survive, and that person must be me!" The mercenary rushed forward with a knife in his hand, his eyes full of malice.

Thei reacted extremely quickly and rolled to the side to avoid the blade.

"Still trying to run!"

The mercenary immediately turned and pounced on her.

The sharp knife stabbed her neck.

In the emergency, Thei curled up, raised his knee and used his protective knee to hold the opponent, reached out to grab the wrist of the knife-wielding hand, and with the other hand raised his fingers to stab the mercenary's throat.

"Cough!" The strong man vomited blood after being stabbed by the young woman, but the hand holding the knife did not stop.

Thei recovered his breath, pushed the opponent away with his knee, then wrapped himself around him like a snake, using his great flexibility to get out from under his armpits and go behind him.

"Ah! What?!"

He successfully got behind the man and, using the force of his joints that were unable to bend, the young inquisitor twisted his wrist.

"Ah!" With a scream, the sharp knife fell on the deck.

Thei's arm, like a small python, strangled the enemy's throat.

"go to hell."

The mercenary exerted force suddenly, trying to break free.

boom!
Thei pressed his head and slammed it to the ground.

"Wow!" Blood gushed out of the mercenary's nostrils, stars appeared in his eyes, and his face turned purple due to lack of oxygen.

Thei suddenly looked up and saw the mercenary who had been chasing him rushing towards him with bayonets in hand.

"Go to hell, you running dog of the Corpse King!" the other party shouted with spit flying.

Thei picked up the combat dagger from the ground, weighed it twice, and then threw it forward with the sharp blade in his hand.

puff!

The sharp knife pierced straight into the center of the eyebrows, reaching the handle.

After dealing with the threat in front of her, Thei glanced downward with her bright eyes, and her slender hands in riding leather gloves moved deftly.

Gada.

The mercenary who attacked her had his neck 'gently' dislocated in an instant.

She dusted her hands and wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand.

"Miss Thei, are you okay?" The sailors came to her side only after she had solved the danger alone.

"First, I am an inquisitor." Thei put away her defensive pistol and walked past the sailors. "Second, I am a woman."

She turned her head and said coldly, "What are you still standing there for? Go to the bridge. I already know what these people are doing."

"Yes... Your Excellency the Inquisitor!"

(End of this chapter)