Warhammer Survival Guide

Chapter 110 Márquez

The arbitrators brought the situation under control.

Then, a figure slowly walked down from the diving board.

Each of his steps was accompanied by the hum of a mechanical servo motor.

He wore a grey robe, the edges of which were inlaid with gold thread, symbolizing the high-ranking power of the Ministry of the Interior.

This person, Loewe had met before, was Gabriel García Márquez.

Tax officer and senior clerk in the Ministry of the Interior.

He helped Case falsify accounts to deceive his audit of the eastern grain warehouses.

Afterwards, Márquez praised him for his intelligence and gave him a basic access key to the Ministry of the Interior.

He also said that if Rowe survives until the next tithe, he would consider giving him an opportunity to work in the upper echelons of the hive.

Unfortunately, Case forcibly took that key, and no one knows where it is hidden. To this day, Lowe has never found it again.

Compared to their meeting at the Seventh Grain Depot more than three months ago, this cyborg has undergone some significant changes.

It no longer looks like a human being.

His entire head was replaced by a brass-colored metal plate.

The remaining right eye was missing, and a set of multispectral scanners, arranged in a triangular pattern, were installed, constantly rotating and focusing.

Its remaining left arm also disappeared, replaced by a more sophisticated and robust mechanical claw.

Dozens of data probes and interface plugs are connected to the end of the robotic gripper.

Behind him, six servo skulls floated.

These drones, made from human skulls, drag long parchment scrolls, their quills frantically writing on the paper, producing a continuous rustling sound.

They record air humidity, ground abrasion, crowd heart rates, and possibly the rate at which corpses cool down.

For the Ministry of the Interior, everything is data.

Luo Wei stepped forward, bowed slightly, and performed a standard Executive Yuan salute.

"Abundance II, Seventh Agricultural Zone, Agricultural Advisor Lowe, pays your respects, Your Excellency Tax Officer."

Marquez stopped in his tracks.

His multispectral scanner spun, its red beam sweeping across Rowe's body.

"Love Dane".

Marquez's voice is no longer the dry human voice of the past, but a completely electronic synthesized voice, devoid of any emotional fluctuations, only cold logic.

"According to the previous records, your rank was Level 4 Clerk. Now, your identity label has changed to Agricultural Advisor and concurrently Supervisor of the Eastern Grain Depot of the Seventh Agricultural Theater. The speed of promotion is in line with expectations."

He didn't exchange many pleasantries or reminisce.

The mechanical claw rose and pointed to the giant ship behind it.

"The level of this recruitment mission is: Top Secret/Urgent."

"Target for requisition: High-energy biofuels."

"Collection period: 48 Terra standard hours."

"Any delays, any errors, any discrepancies between the data and the actual product."

"This will all lead to a physical purge of the entire administrative management team."

Marks paused, and the red light in the scanner intensified.

This direct threat of death sent chills down the spines of everyone present.

Just then, Bill the Butcher, who had been holding back his anger, couldn't hold back any longer.

He pushed Luo Wei aside and strode forward.

The heavy exoskeleton standing on the ground made him look like a moving iron tower.

He tried to use his physical advantage to regain the momentum he had just lost.

Bill roared, "I'm Bill, the manager of the Northern Granary. Listen, Tin Man, I don't care what rules your Interior Ministry has, or what cleansing is all about."

"At Fengrao No. 2, this batch of goods was processed by me, Bill, and my brothers day and night."

Bill pointed at the corpses of his men on the ground, his eyes wide with rage.

"Your men killed my men the moment they landed. How do you intend to settle this? If you want to take the goods away, you'd better give me an explanation first!"

"This is my territory. Without my orders, you won't take even a single screw!"

This is typical wasteland warlord logic.

In Bill's view, as long as you have guns and goods, you can negotiate and ask for prices.

He thought this was just a slightly tougher business game.

However, he seemed too naive.

Marquez didn't even raise his head.

His mechanical eyes scanned the data in the distant warehouse, as if the roaring man in front of him didn't exist at all.

"noise."

Márquez uttered a single word coldly.

"Judgment: Obstruction of official duties."

"Assessment: Potential insurgent."

"Execution: Suppression."

Before he could finish speaking...

The two arbitrators, who had been standing quietly to the side, suddenly initiated the proceedings without warning.

Their speed was astonishing, completely defying the physics of wearing heavy armor.

The arbitrator on the left slid sideways, his power suppression shield flashing with blue arcs of electricity, and slammed into Bill's exoskeleton's left knee joint.

"Sizzle."

The high-voltage current instantly overloaded the exoskeleton's servo circuitry.

"Snap!"

Bill's hydraulic knee joint, capable of supporting several tons of weight, snapped like a withered branch under the impact of the power shield.

"what!"

Bill let out a scream as his massive body lost its balance and collapsed to the left.

Before he even landed, the arbitrator on the right had already lunged at him.

The stun baton in his hand precisely pierced the gap in Bill's neck through the exoskeleton.

That's where the armor is weakest.

It is also the area with the densest concentration of nerves in the human body.

"Sizzle sizzle sizzle!"

A terrifying electric current instantly coursed through Bill's entire body.

This arrogant warlord rolled his eyes, convulsed violently, foamed at the mouth, and couldn't move a single finger.

"Thump."

Bill fell heavily to his knees, his head hitting the concrete slab.

Then, a cold, explosive shotgun was pressed against the back of his head.

With just the slightest flick of the arbitrator's finger, Bill's head would explode like a rotten watermelon.

The two hundred private soldiers behind Bill were completely dumbfounded.

Their leader, the "Butcher" who wielded immense power in the northern granary and tore apart mutated beasts with his bare hands, couldn't even last a few seconds against these imperial law enforcers.

Several loyal private soldiers instinctively raised their guns.

"Click click click".

On the platform, all the arbitrators simultaneously turned their guns on each other.

The rhythmic clanging of gun bolts sent chills down one's spine.

The Valkyrie gunship lowered its altitude.

The multi-barrel rocket pod locked onto this group of private soldiers.

As long as one gunshot is fired.

This place will become hell.

Lowe had his hands in his uniform pockets.

His palms were covered in cold sweat.

However, his expression remained as calm as ever.

Bill is a complete idiot.

But he's a useful idiot.

The processing line at the northern grain depot needs him, the rioters need him to suppress them, and the loading and unloading work these past few days needs his coordination.

If Bill were to die now, the northern breadbasket would be plunged into a power vacuum, potentially triggering an uprising.

Riots mean a work stoppage.

A work stoppage means a delay.

The delay means — Luo himself will also be purged.

This is a dead chain.

It must be untied.

With that thought in mind, Luo Wei stepped out.

He ignored the dark gun barrels as much as possible, walked straight up to Márquez, took out an electronic data tablet from his pocket, and said in a calm tone, "Your Excellency Tax Officer, I have something to say."

Marquez's mechanical eye turned toward Loewy.

"You have only ten seconds. If your statement does not provide any value, you will be treated as an accomplice."

Rowe quickly said, "Executing this person is in accordance with Article 402 of the Imperial Penal Code: Disrespect for Imperial Officials."

"However, according to calculations, this person is the sole highest-level administrator of the northern granary."

"His biometric fingerprint is linked to the control center of all cranes, conveyor belts, and energy valves in the area."

Lowe held up a data panel that displayed a complex logistics network diagram.

"If you execute him now, we will need to re-crash the system, reset biometrics, and transfer permissions."

"According to Father Alpha's computing power assessment, this process will require at least 12 Terra standard hours."

"This will result in a 34% decrease in tithe loading efficiency."

"This will cause a 12-hour delay in the fleet's departure time."

Rowe looked at the massive barge overhead and continued, "This 'Terra's Negative' class barge, while hovering, consumes approximately eight hundred tons of superphosphate fuel per hour."

"A 12-hour delay means an additional loss of 9,600 tons of fuel."

"And the life value of this organic organism named Bill is less than half a ton of fuel in the Imperial asset valuation table."

Rowe looked directly into Marquez's cold, mechanical eyes and stated his analytical conclusion: "To execute a worthless criminal is to waste 9,600 tons of Imperial fuel and precious war zone transport time."

"This doesn't make sense."

"This violates the principle of prioritizing efficiency."

"My personal suggestion is to postpone execution and classify it as an asset to be depleted" or "a temporary server tool" until the loading task is completed."

"At that time, it will be scrapped."

After saying that, Luo Wei shut his mouth.

He did not plead for leniency.

He didn't talk about Bill's contributions, personal relationships, or the authority of the local bullies.

He only talked about one thing:

cost.

In the Ministry of the Interior's logic, the only truth is cost and benefit.

Marquez's mechanical eyes gleamed.

The servo skull flew to Luo Wei's data board, the probe was inserted, and the data model on it was read instantly.

one second.

two seconds.

three seconds.

Then, the red light in Márquez's eyes stopped flashing and turned into a stable dark red.

"Logically consistent".

Marquez emitted an electronic voice.

"The data model has been validated. The biological permissions of this organism are indeed a bottleneck in logistics."

He waved the mechanical claw.

"Execution suspended."

The arbitrator who was standing on Bill's back immediately withdrew his foot and put down his gun.

Their movements were perfectly synchronized, without the slightest hesitation.

In their view, killing or releasing someone is merely the execution of orders, and has nothing to do with personal preferences.

Bill lay on the ground, panting heavily.

Sweat mixed with dust made him look disheveled.

His eyes were filled with fear.

It is the fear of absolute power.

He looked up at Lo Wei.

Loewe didn't look at him, but remained in the posture of reporting to Márquez.

Bill seemed to have figured it out at that moment.

In the face of these behemoths, his so-called martial prowess, personal prestige, and江湖规则 (Jianghu rules) were nothing but a fart.

The only thing that could keep him alive was that he still had "use value".

It was Luo Wei's cold-blooded "asset assessment" that saved his life.

Marquez turned away, ignoring Bill on the ground.

He said to Lowe, "Lead the way. I want to see that special cargo, Gray Mule-1. I could smell its energy readings while I was in orbit."

Marquez's mechanical claws opened and closed slightly, producing a crisp metallic clang.

"I hope the actual product matches your report. - Advisor Lowe"

"If anything goes wrong, you'll be the one who falls to the ground next."

"I can assure you, your execution will not be as simple as his."

"I will dig out your brain and turn it into a servo skull, so that for the next hundred years you will be calculating your mistakes."

Faced with immense pressure to survive, Luo Wei tried to remain calm and nodded, saying, "Of course, Your Excellency. Please follow me."

Luo Wei turned around and gestured for him to proceed.

He straightened his collar.

Although the area was already soaked with cold sweat.

Then, calming myself down, I walked towards the warehouse area.

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