I am in Warhammer's Heartsteel

"Okay, let's start from the beginning."

How did you, an ordinary soldier, manage to escape after being captured by the Dark Eldar?

"It's a long story."

"Then let's make it short."

How can a lie be made believable?

Mix some real stuff in.

Using real details, a false whole is pieced together.

Deyan organized his thoughts and slowly began to speak: "I was locked on the lower deck of the Dawn when a chaotic contamination suddenly broke out on the ship, damaging the energy array. My companions and I took the opportunity to escape, only to find that all the aliens on the Dawn were dead, and their deaths were very bizarre."

Elijah's interest was piqued.

"Let's delve into the eerie details."

"Could you please let go of me first?"

Deyan shrugged, indicating that the gravity locks on his body should be released.

Elijah nodded in agreement.

Two guards immediately stepped forward to help unlock it.

Click!

With the feeling of constraint gone, Deyang breathed a sigh of relief.

Whew, that felt great!

"It felt like they all died suddenly at the same time, but strangely, there were no wounds on their bodies." Dejan's description was vague, which was more in line with his character as an ordinary member of the Astral Army.

It would be strange to say the exact name of the evil one.

Elijah's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, as if he had remembered something, and he subconsciously exchanged glances with the Eldar bodyguard beside him.

Clearly, he had already guessed what had happened on the Dawn.

It can harvest the souls of all the Dark Eldar at the same time.

It's definitely that one.

Then comes the even stranger part.

Elijah stared intently at Dejan, a hint of inquiry in his eyes.

"How come you weren't affected?"

Deyang's heart tightened; the most crucial part was about to begin.

The human empire reacted extremely negatively to contact with Chaos.

Wandering merchants travel the world in search of treasure, often interacting with different races, so they should be more tolerant in this regard.

Out of caution, Dejan chose to shift the blame to the Emperor.

"It's the God Emperor!"

Just as I was about to collapse, I felt the holy radiance of the God-Emperor.

Under the clutches of the aliens, only those with unwavering loyalty can secure eternal protection!

Elijah remained expressionless, lightly tapping the armrest of the throne with his index finger.

The throne room fell into an intriguing silence.

A moment later, Elijah waved his hand dismissively, casually deciding Dejan's fate as if tossing away trash: "Take him away and inform the court."

Eh?

Courtroom?

Falling into the hands of the court is like an emperor telling a thunder warrior to gather at the Imperial Palace Square for pay.

It's not a good thing.

The court has always preferred to execute the innocent rather than let the guilty go free.

Innocent does not mean without guilt.

Just by listening to their slogans, you can tell they're a group of indiscriminately killing innocent people, like a group of mentally ill people.

In order to eliminate heretics, the Inquisition routinely issues extermination orders, resulting in the deaths of billions of humans. This is especially true for an Astronautical Army that has had contact with both Xenomorphs and Chaos.

Deyang lost his composure and struggled fiercely.

"Wait, I have crucial intelligence! Chaos Warmaster Abaddon is planning the thirteenth Black Crusade!"

"You don't need to tell me, everyone knows that." Elijah scoffed, then gestured to his men.

Two guards promptly stepped forward and took Deyan away.

Elijah had had his fill of fun and casually tossed the Star Dart Pistol to the Eldar bodyguard on the Ark.

The bodyguard took the gun and glanced at it subconsciously. When she saw the words "Yulia Night Kiss" engraved on the gun, she was stunned and almost fell off the floating platform.

How...how could this be?

She had heard about Yulia's deeds from an elder and knew the significance of Yulia Night Kiss.

A rising legend!

The Unrivaled Bride of Death!

A peerless powerhouse who achieved a 99-game winning streak in the Theater of Pain!

In the dark city of Gamor, Julia Nightkiss is an absolute lifesaver for children who cry at night.

Now, Yulia's sidearm has ended up in the hands of an unknown member of the Cardia Star Forces.

Dejan's image in Claire's eyes suddenly became unfathomable.

Could it be…

Noticing Claire's lapse in composure, Elijah glanced at her and teased, "Really? Ms. Claire, it's just a Star Dart pistol."

"I just think that guy is a bit mysterious." Claire tried her best to remain calm as she bent down and tucked the Star Mark pistol into her belt.

The battle nun, who had been silent until now, spoke up. As the emperor's daughter, she had an even more extreme attitude towards the Chaos Contactors.

"Sir, I know a judge; would you like me to make contact with him?"

Elijah didn't take it seriously, but his eyes flashed with a warning as he glanced at the fighting nun.

"The Milky Way is vast and boundless; who doesn't have some secrets they don't want to tell others?"

"We can't trouble the judge with everything, so never mind."

The battle nun hesitated, but had to give up because of Elijah's warning.

"As you wish."

Elijah nodded in satisfaction, then turned to face the arched observation window, gazing in the direction of Gondor and muttering to himself, "The destined land, Gondor, please don't let me down."

……

The lower deck of the Vision.

The detention area.

Rows of cylindrical static force field cages are embedded in the alloy walls.

The force field emitted a low, continuous hum.

The walls, like frosted glass, distort the view outside and isolate the interior space.

Dejan slid to the ground, his back against the cold force field wall, his loneliness amplified to the extreme by the isolated environment.

Having just escaped one danger's clutches, they now enter another.

That's fucking ridiculous.

Strength does not ask where it comes from, and blessings do not ask where they come from.

Wandering merchants and vagrants are not particular.

Even the name of the emperor can't intimidate them.

That makes sense.

Who is the most lawless in Warhammer 40K?

High Lord?

Space Marines?

Planetary Governor?

No, it was the wandering merchants who were the most lawless.

Authorized by the Emperor, a licensed reseller of global scale.

Pirates and powerful merchants.

Ten thousand years ago, in order to promote the Great Crusade, the Emperor rewarded interstellar merchants who made outstanding contributions to the Great Crusade by issuing them trade licenses.

A trade license is essentially a combination of a get-out-of-jail-free card, unlimited credit cards, and a permanent membership to a cosmic GPS network.

With a trade license, a wandering merchant becomes a legal smuggler, an unofficial diplomatic ambassador, an imperial explorer, and a privateering fleet commander.

The dangerous and deadly galaxy is nothing more than a huge discount village for zero-dollar purchases in the eyes of wandering merchants.

With a trade license, any valuable, undeveloped world that a traveling merchant can freely claim as its own.

What if the native inhabitants of the planet disagree?

Merchants and ronin could conscript armed men and wage war in the name of the emperor.

The recruitment scope includes, but is not limited to, the Imperial Defense Force, the Imperial Navy, mercenary groups, Space Marines, and the Mechanicus...

Of course, not every traveling merchant can do this.

There are also differences in trade licensing.

The most valuable trade licenses are undoubtedly those issued by the Emperor himself or the Primarchs, followed by those signed by important generals during the Great Crusade, and the least valuable are those issued by the planetary governors.

Powerful merchant ronin families can even develop into merchant ronin dynasties, becoming an important force that the empire cannot ignore.

A weak, wandering merchant might only have a few shabby sampans, drifting through the Milky Way, and might just kick the bucket in some remote corner.

In general, being a wandering merchant is a profession with extremely high potential and a wide range of challenges.

How can we preserve precious resource planets in a chaotic galaxy?

How can we outwit and outfight alien forces in the dark regions where the starlight cannot reach, explore mysterious ancient ruins, and expand the territory for mankind?

These are all technical jobs.

He drinks and frolics with an alien princess, drives the coolest warship, and kills the most ferocious aliens.

Just thinking about it is exciting.

Despite being imprisoned, Dejan could not suppress his yearning to become a wandering merchant, and a magnificent epic of conquest seemed to flash before his eyes.

Trade is war, and war is trade.

In the name of profit, our journey is to the stars and the sea!