Warhammer: Hail to the Void Lords!.

Chapter 902, page 08.901: 'Joint Supervision Agreement for Merchants and Ronin'

The "Prince's Court" was completely silent.

Horatio's words were like a boulder thrown into a stagnant pool, and the ripples they created were silent, chilling fear.

No one dared to speak, and no one dared to stir up any controversy.

Those merchants and wanderers who usually felt that the emperor was far away and therefore disregarded imperial laws were now deeply anxious and thoughtful. Some buried themselves in their seats, while others tried to remain calm, but their unconsciously held breathing betrayed their restless and anxious state of mind.

No one spoke for a long time, and Horatio had no intention of breaking the silence.

Until a long and piercing scream, like a sharp blade, shattered the deathly silence.

"Report——!"

A governor's guard staggered into the hall through a side door, his heavy armor clanking against him.

He didn't even have time for etiquette, rushing to the governor's throne, kneeling on both knees, and reporting in a tone mixed with fear and urgency: "The Imperial Navy... the Imperial Navy destroyed the Cartel Dynasty's flagship, the 'Golden Opportunity'! They also seized the Trust Dynasty's flagship and trading license, and arrested all those involved, including several traveling merchants! The Calicus Fleet is preparing to join forces with the Imperial Ministry of Justice to file a supreme lawsuit against the Trust Dynasty's heir for public murder and unfair competition!"

These words were like lighting a match in a powder keg.

This caused a huge uproar among the merchants and wanderers in the entire hall.

"How could this be... No, my brother... They're going to sentence my brother to death? No!" A wandering merchant's face turned deathly pale. He jumped off his seat like a madman, not even bothering with the steps, and stumbled out of the hall from the side, uttering incoherent wails.

As the merchants and wanderers were stunned, Horatio slowly rose, straightened his cloak, and acted as if the thunderous announcement he had just made had nothing to do with him.

That's all I wanted to say.

His voice wasn't loud, but it reached everyone's ears clearly: "As you all know, we are about to head to the Xuanwei front."

We will investigate on the battlefields of the Duchy of Severus who funded this shameful rebellion.

And behind these ambitious individuals, what greedy schemes lie?

He paused, his cold gaze sweeping over faces that were either deathly pale, expressionless, or filled with anger and hatred.

"If anyone wants me to say it again, next time I'll have Hongpao speak for me."

The goal of making an example of someone has been achieved.

Horatio had neither the time nor the interest to go through those tedious investigative procedures.

He knew perfectly well that within the intricate network of interests among these wandering merchants, any high-profile investigation would be futile, like a judge openly investigating heresy while adorned with rose ribbons.

His goal was simple: to use this thunderous strike to immediately and decisively cut off any support for the Principality of Severus from the support of some of the timid participants.

As for those audacious core supporters, they will certainly have ships and assets appearing on the battlefield of the Strike Front.

By then, with the perpetrators caught red-handed and the evidence irrefutable, it won't be too late to clean up the mess in the Colonus expansion area.

"I believe you have all heard this. These are extraordinary times."

Mrs. Theodora's voice rang out at just the right moment; she clapped her hands gently, drawing people's attention back from the distraction and unease.

"As an extension of the Emperor's will into the vast universe, Colonel Cochrane has clearly conveyed the message from the Imperial Navy."

I suggest adding a wartime monitoring initiative to the subsequent agenda.

We, the wandering merchants, will elect our own overseers to supervise the assets of any wandering merchants departing from our port of call, ensuring that the Emperor's assets are not misused by aliens or traitors.

This woman, with extraordinary courage and strong ambition, was not intimidated by the Imperial Navy's warning. Instead, she cleverly used this pressure to devise a "third-party solution" that could satisfy both sides—a solution in which the discourse would be dominated by her von Valancius dynasty.

Although the intimidation has stirred up a storm, Horatio is well aware of how much of his threats can actually be carried out.

Anyone familiar with the traveling merchants understands that their anxiety is not necessarily due to their direct involvement in the rebellion in the Duchy of Severus.

Rather, it was because their dynasty's reach was so vast that even they themselves dared not guarantee where every investment and every shipment of goods ultimately ended up, nor could they completely sever ties with it.

Almost all traveling merchants and wandering warriors cannot withstand the thorough investigations conducted by the Imperial law enforcement. Their fragile bottom line, if even slightly crossed, will create an indefensible breach.

It is an undeniable fact that almost every one of them collaborates with all sorts of "friends".

However, itinerant merchants were not so fragile.

They were not a company on a particular planet, but rather a large political entity, much like the East India Company, that combined military, commercial, and colonial functions.

The empire will not destroy those "Leviathans"—vast merchant dynasties—that have become an integral part of its body.

The importance of those pivotal merchant dynasties had risen to an irreplaceable level, and any official investigation would inevitably come to an abrupt halt for various reasons—if anything were actually discovered, it would be bad for everyone, so it was best to stop there, and usually the investigation would end with the execution of some 'masterminds' who were made up of scapegoats and role models.

The role of the traveling merchants was irreplaceable, Horatio could not possibly hang all the suspects, and the Ministry of the Interior would not allow him to do so.

As Brigadier General Montgomery Hazard famously said.

"No one can really attack the port. The inhabitants there will simply flee their homes and rebuild. The community is so disorganized that the fleet can't even launch a proper attack. But to truly threaten it, something catastrophic, even enough to destroy the Fury system, would have to happen."

Horatio was also aware of the unspoken rules among the imperial bureaucracy: it's better not to do things that only address the symptoms than the root cause. Therefore, he needed to intimidate people sufficiently and make full use of the strategy of dividing and conquering factions to achieve his short-term goals.

Everything he said today was simply stating his demand—in the process of suppressing the rebellion in the Duchy of Severus, all of you must keep yourselves and your men in check.

If the suppression of the rebellion is successfully completed, the Imperial Navy will not dig deep into the ground and issue traitor titles—the Empire still needs traveling merchants and wanderers to do those dirty jobs that cannot be seen in the light of day.

“I support Mrs. Theodora’s view,” another traveling merchant immediately raised his hand in agreement.

"I agree. Let's put our defunct merchant guild to work again." More wandering merchants chimed in, their expressions varied, as if they were performing a tragicomedy.

"Then, Lord Carrigos Wintersco," Horatio's gaze, sharp as a steel nail, fixed on the burly man, and he inquired specifically, "As the head of the most powerful merchant ronin dynasty in the Colonus expansion region, what are your thoughts?"

"Humph."

The hot-tempered man let out a reluctant groan and sat down again.

He adjusted his posture, becoming as majestic as an emperor, looking down at the other merchants and ronin below his throne, and said in a deep voice, "Although I don't like the Imperial Navy's arbitrary approach, some things have indeed reached a point of lawlessness. We must reform the regulations for merchants."

He paused, then turned to Horatio.

"The argument just now was about the issue, not the person. Our dynasty has just suffered a great loss, and we also have a lot of annoying troubles recently. I lost my temper for a moment, and I ask Colonel Cochrane for forgiveness."

Horatio did not respond to the man's apology with any words, nor did he even change his expression.

This made the merchants and wanderers present feel that this young Supreme Lord Colonel was deep and unpredictable, and it was best not to have any conflict with him.

“However,” an old man with a long mustache said sarcastically, “the overseers cannot allow any one party to dominate. That would allow certain competitors to control the lifeline of our dynasty’s development.”

The allure of power is simply too great; I suspect some people might be tempted to use it as a weapon to suppress their competitors.

No sooner had he finished speaking than more traveling merchants and wanderers voiced similar opinions, their criticisms directed at Theodora.

Theodora's remarkable expansion was largely due to her frequent role as the vanguard of the Imperial government.

Rumors circulated that even the courts sought her help to accomplish certain plans.

With powerful connections and official backing, it was easy for her to suppress other competitors and seize profits.

If this argument continues, it will never end.

"As Madame Theodora von Valancius said, this matter was to be discussed and coordinated by the various dynasties themselves, and the Imperial Navy had only one requirement—to successfully quell the rebellion."

Horatio's voice wasn't loud, but it instantly silenced all the arguments. "The coordination results can be sent to the Imperial Navy's Calissis Fleet. The Imperial Navy has neither the interest nor the energy to participate in the coordination process."

We also don't want to allocate extra patrols from our already strained fleet during wartime to monitor 'potentially' suspicious convoys. This requires mutual surveillance among you merchant ronin."

(End of this chapter)