Warhammer: Starting with Industrial Revolution

Seeing the sudden situation, Baron Harker was momentarily panicked, but he quickly regained his usual arrogance.

His eyes narrowed to slits as he stared intently at Governor Karl, who was trembling there.

"Karl, what do you think you're doing? I'm a baron personally appointed by the God-Emperor! You dare touch me? Tomorrow, the Inquisition will hang your entire family right here!"

"No need for you to trouble yourself with that," Ronin spoke before Governor Karl, his tone calm yet chilling. "We've already investigated you these past few days. We didn't expect Baron Harker to have such extensive connections."

Upon hearing Ronin's words, a flicker of panic crossed Baron Harker's bloated face. "What do you mean?"

Ronin looked at him and chuckled softly. "Baron Harker, do you know what I've been doing for the past two weeks? You're a real cancer. Do you know how much effort I put into screening out the commanders in the garrison who haven't been bribed by you?"

While admiring Baron Harker's increasingly contorted face, he did not continue speaking.

Indeed, Hark was very confident. He had a monopoly on the lifeline of the entire planet, and almost everyone from the high-ranking officers of the garrison to government officials had been bribed by him.

Fortunately, even with Baron Harker's extensive connections, some lower-ranking officers were not bribed.

Over the course of two weeks, Luo Ning used the pretext of recycling space debris to continuously streamline the fleet of ships he was traveling with, with the aim of selecting trustworthy personnel.

Although the number of warships he could mobilize dwindled until only a few troop transports remained, he simultaneously concentrated all available combat forces on the planet under his control, completely bypassing the officers bribed by Hark.

In fact, Ronin should thank Hark. It was because Hark made those senior commanders uncooperative with Ronin's space debris recovery plan that Ronin was able to more easily evade Hark's spies.

Before they set off today, under Luo Ning's leadership, the junior officers staged a mutiny and placed all the senior officers who had accepted bribes under house arrest, to be dealt with again when Luo Ning returned.

But Ronin didn't say any of this to the fat man in front of him, even though Baron Harker was clearly glaring at Ronin and telling him to continue. He simply slowly raised his pistol and aimed it at Baron Harker's head.

Before the other man could even open his mouth, Luo Ning had already pulled the trigger, his eyes wide with terror.

Bad people die from talking too much.

This is a sentence that Luo Ning had etched into his memory when he lived in the Celestial Empire in his previous life.

Never go on and on about your strategies and hardships to the enemy; it's completely irrelevant.

In doing anything, especially when it comes to executing someone of such high rank and power, even delaying for just a second can often lead to serious consequences.

Luo Ning's move was so sudden that many people didn't even have time to react.

As Baron Harker's hoarse-voiced henchmen charged toward Ronning with howls, Ronning had already pointed his gun at them, and the latter instantly became docile.

As for the mercenaries, they were only there for money and had little loyalty. After seeing the baron suddenly killed, they surrendered to the nearby army long ago.

As for Baron Harker's loyal followers, they stubbornly resisted with the heavy weapons in the fortress, but they did not expect that Ronin had already figured out the location of the fortress's firing positions and ammunition depots.

The warship's main guns fired a single salvo, blowing the ammunition depot into the air. The entire resistance lasted less than two minutes.

Meanwhile, the high-ranking officers in the hive who had been bribed by Hak were taken into custody by the young officers that Ronin had arranged in advance, as soon as Ronin set off with the fleet.

These people had long been fed up with the restrictions and suppression from high-ranking officers. Luo Ning had given them a chance to rise to the top in one step, so they would naturally do their best to complete the mission.

But there are still many more difficult things to do.

He and Governor Carl returned to their offices in the hive almost immediately to check on the other officials.

Most of the senior executives are no longer suitable for employment. Who knows if someone will retaliate against me after I cut off their source of income?

Fortunately, Governor Karl is the highest-ranking official in this hive city, and he can freely transfer anyone's position within the hive city with a single order.

At the same time, he replaced all the core commanders of the garrison with young officers who had followed him through thick and thin and were trustworthy.

Immediately afterwards, Ronin, in the name of Governor Karl, personally drafted an encrypted distress message in interstellar language and sent it directly to the Valtok Sector Garrison Command.

The letter described how a large-scale gathering of space pirates suddenly attacked the planet Vatos VII, resulting in heavy casualties for the military and putting the planet in imminent danger.

At the end, Governor Carl personally stamped the letter, attesting to its credibility.

They then deliberately ignored the sector garrison's communications, and it wasn't until two hours later that Ronin finally re-established contact.

"That's right, the attack by the space pirates caused us heavy losses. Seventeen high-ranking officers were killed in action, six government officials were sacrificed, and Baron Hack, who was in charge of operating the mine, was ruthlessly murdered. But our valiant garrison ultimately managed to repel the enemy. We need support, we need more weapons and ammunition."

Facing the sector commander on the screen, Ronin delivered his final report in one go.

What military court? What witnesses and physical evidence?

A monster like Baron Harker, who has infiltrated every department, is impossible to bring to justice through legal procedures! On the contrary, it is more likely that Harker will take both himself and the governor down with a single, decisive move.

In that case, it would be better not to give Baron Harker the opportunity for his so-called fair trial in the first place.

That very afternoon, the power of the once-powerful Baron Harker was swiftly and completely uprooted by Ronin.

To prevent retaliation from any remaining members, with the cooperation of the garrison, Ronin wiped out the remaining forces of the Hark family in the hive and the mines.

All the confiscated property was put into the governor's armory, completely extinguishing any possibility of it being rekindled.

When everything was finally settled, only Ronin and Governor Karl remained in the office.

They slumped in their chairs, looked at each other, and couldn't help but laugh.

"Ronin, you've changed so much. I remember you weren't like this before." Governor Karl said slowly while gulping down a mouthful of wine. He had done so many big things in one go, which was far beyond his mental capacity.

Looking at the ceiling, Ronin couldn't help but ask, "What does the Governor think of me from before?"

"Before? I used to think you and I were the same kind of people, lucky to be born into a good family, so we could live this kind of aristocratic life, enjoying every day as it came, just loafing around and waiting to die."

"But recently... ah... when did it start? Probably around the time you said you wanted to do some kind of assembly line with me, I've noticed that you're completely different from before."

"You're much bolder than me, and you've become quite daring and fierce. To be honest, I'm a little afraid of you."

Luo Ning scratched his head. He really hadn't expected the other party to say that, but he figured it was a case of someone speaking the truth while drunk.

"After all, we only have three months left. If we don't go all out now, we're doomed. Isn't the Governor in the same boat? If it were the old you, you would never have agreed to help me deal with Baron Harker."

Governor Karl thought about it and indeed agreed with Ronin's statement.

He took another big gulp of wine and then handed the bottle over.

"You really won't drink a drop? One bottle of this stuff is worth more than those good-for-nothings down there could earn in a lifetime."

Just then, the guard entered the governor's office once again, bowing respectfully and saying:

"My lords, Father Victor requests an audience."

Victor?

Ronin and Governor Karl stared at each other, this guy from the Mechanicus spent all his time hiding in the factory and hardly ever interacted with anyone.

Why did you suddenly come to see them today?

Just then, the door to the governor's office was pushed open, and Victor, wearing a deep red cloak, slowly walked into the room.

The prosthetic eye beneath the hood was now gleaming with an eerie light.