Warhammer: Hail to the Void Lords!.

Chapter 529 06.0528: "His Triumphal Procession"

Inside the cathedral.

The commander of the expeditionary fleet, Vice Admiral Samuel Hood, and the commander of the rear fleet, Commodore Edward Peru, jointly represented the Imperial Navy and conveyed the commission from the Obscure Segment Command.

"In the name of the Divine Emperor, the Imperial Navy Command of the Hazy Star Region appoints His Excellency Horatio Cochrane to the rank of Lieutenant Commander and serves as the captain of the Bayonet-class epic long-range cruiser attack ship. The command authority will take effect immediately after His Excellency Lieutenant Commander Horatio Cochrane receives this letter of appointment."

Vice Admiral Samuel Hood, chaired by the Archbishop of the Anglican Church, read out the decision of the Admiralty from the Distant Star Region.

The Anglican Archbishop, who was dressed in a style somewhat similar to that of the local Taoist priests in Zhendan, held an olive branch in his hand, lightly touched the holy water in the bowl held by the deacon, and waved it over Horatio.

Horatio knelt on one knee before the majestic statue of the emperor with his eyes closed. The solemn singing and chanting around him brought him into an ethereal state, where he felt a power, a power that filled both his inside and outside and was difficult to describe in words.

It was not until the sword was drawn out and tapped on his left shoulder, as if the burden of responsibility was pressed on him, that he woke up from this ethereal sensory experience and opened his eyes.

"Your promotion means greater power, but it also means more responsibility." Lieutenant General Samuel Hood's tone revealed majesty.

"It symbolizes that the Lord of Mankind has granted you the authority to command His sacred and inviolable warships and to guard His precious legacy of the Great Crusade for Him," Major General Edward Perroux read out.

"Fight for the Lord of Mankind and His vast universe." The choir nearby sang in low tones, creating an atmosphere of divine pressure and command, and sang together.

"It will be my life's work to uphold His honor and duty and to defend the glory and sovereignty of mankind," Horatio read out in response.

"Remember this responsibility." Everyone said in unison.

The bishop's scepter was also pressing on his right shoulder at this time, and the pressure on both shoulders suddenly increased. He supported the weight with his waist, and his upper body shook a little, but he managed to hold on.

'If you want to wear the crown, you must first bear its weight.'

After a ceremony full of religious connotations, a brand new letter of commission that was five meters long was carefully carried in the hands of thirteen monks and presented to him.

The commission for the captain of a classified ship, which was established based on a promotion tradition that spans tens of thousands of years, was far superior to the previous commission for non-classified ships in terms of pomp, style, and solemnity, and was no less than the enthronement of a monarch.

In fact, this was indeed the case with commissioned captains of the Imperial Navy.

From this moment on, he will become the ruler of a 2.2-kilometer-long flying kingdom with a population of people. The Emperor of Man has given him the power to govern this "kingdom".
Whether he chooses to be a tyrant, a benevolent monarch, or even a tyrant, it is his freedom, but he must not be incompetent and fail to live up to the endless mission and responsibility of "holding the sword of the Divine Emperor and punishing the enemies of the Emperor."

"Mr. Lieutenant Colonel, everything is ready. Waiting for your order, we will start the triumphal ceremony."

A grand ceremony accompanies the triumph, and Horatio gets his own triumph.

Due to the requirements of the ceremony, his face was painted vermilion, making him look a bit like the legendary evil spirit.

Then, standing on a horse-drawn chariot with a bronze awning, this combination of Chinese and Roman styles made him want to complain.

Two rows of soldiers puffed out their cheeks and blew huge horns. The deafening sound echoed over the city.

The streets were empty that day, and everyone wanted to see the blood of the legendary Gothic war who defeated the enemy to a mess, leaving them throwing away their weapons and armor, and leaving the battlefield sinking.

As the most fruitful and inspiring victory in the entire war zone, the propaganda department of the Imperial Military Affairs Department printed his military exploits and his exaggerated image on various propaganda materials and distributed them in batches to increase the support of the people of the Empire for the war and boost the morale of the front-line troops. But to be honest, after reading these propaganda reports, Horatio was sweating coldly.

These reports almost described his every move in detail, which was very dangerous for a warship operating secretly behind enemy lines.

Fortunately, more than 50% of the content was fabricated by the Military Affairs Department for "propaganda purposes", and this amount of water is enough to cover up his true intentions.

However, he is bound to become the focus of the enemy's attention. The spies planted by the Tau Empire in the empire will try every means to collect all the information about him, which represents a potential threat to him and those around him.

The authorities of Aurora also took this into consideration and therefore arranged different residences for Horatio and the officers who remained on the planet.

When Horatio appeared in front of the crowd with an exceptionally young face, people were excited.

"Look, it's the heroic captain of the navy. He is so young!" A large group of Aurora girls shouted excitedly with stars in their eyes.

"I can't believe it. The newspapers keep putting a question mark over his face. I thought he was a senior captain who was hundreds of years old."

"His facial features are delicate and three-dimensional, with rounded edges and corners. Look at that shiny black hair. It's really nice. Black is the noblest color. Maybe this hero has the blood of us Aurora people flowing in his body." An old man looked at Horatio's face in the carriage, pinched his long white beard and nodded as he commented.

"We respect you, Captain!" Countless men, women, young and old in the crowd cheered.

Amid the overwhelming cheers, Horatio felt such direct and warm admiration for the first time, and he had become the focus of the entire audience.

The officers behind him were also given an exceptional welcome. Although not as enthusiastic as he was, it was still extremely warm.

People looked into Louise's purple eyes and asked her how the battle was going on in Cadia; they greeted Farida Hood, a member of the famous Hood family, and expressed their excitement and gratitude to her uncle Samuel Hood for leading the fleet to support the expedition.

The air force was also particularly welcomed, especially when they heard about the legendary combat experience of this air force, which was trained in the Karl Dunyash Fleet in the Ultramarine and followed the Gothic Fleet back to the Ultramarine.

"It must feel good to be treated as a hero." Farida stood beside him, holding his arm, enjoying the scene together, while also silently declaring a deeper relationship between the two.

"Well, once in a while it's nice. If you do it more often, I'm afraid I'll swell up."

Farida covered her mouth and laughed: "If you swell up, I will use my boots and whip to step on your swollen parts."

Horatio pursed his lips and chuckled, after all, he knew exactly what she was talking about.

"But so far, I've been the only one who's used this on you."

This reply made Farida's cheeks turn red like ripe apples.

"Hmph, I'll deal with you when we get back." She pinched the tight muscles on his waist viciously, but the force was like a chicken pecking at rice and it didn't hurt at all.

He quite liked his wife's harmless little hobby.

(End of this chapter)