Warhammer: Empire Reboot

Then, the Bixie warriors took him away.

The sixth batch entered grassroots administration.

Family tags, work tickets, loyalty stamps, missing persons lists, labor records, and clues about the slave trade were all incorporated into the swarm intelligence framework.

The sins of a planet are not written on the face of just one governor.

It's hidden in every signed document.

In every transfer order.

Every grain ration line that was modified.

Half an hour after taking control of the situation, Duan Yu entered the Governor's Palace courtroom.

This place used to belong to the Ministry of Justice.

Three years ago, the eagle emblem and gavel of the Ministry of Justice were removed and replaced with the black and gold eagle claw of the Melchior family. The judge's bench became the place where the governor pronounced decrees of self-government. Old bullet marks, blackened by flames, can still be seen on the wall, like some kind of testimony that was not completely wiped clean.

Melchior was taken into custody in the hall.

His formal attire was fairly neat, except for some gray stains on the cuffs. Two Bi'an warriors stood behind him, their chains binding his wrists and neck. The chains had a nerve-suppressing function; if he attempted to access any private communications, they would release an electric current strong enough to cause his nerves to twitch.

The governor silently surveyed his surroundings, appearing calm and showing no sign of panic.

On both sides of the hall, kneeling were high-ranking officials of the Governor's Office, the head of the Grain Bureau, the president of the Water Purification Workers' Union, the director of the Corpse Workers' Union, the vice president of the Promethium Workers' Union, the Minister of Finance, the military advisor, and dozens of noble representatives.

Among these people, some looked ashen, some had shifty eyes, and some were still frantically thinking of how to shift the blame to their colleagues.

He was brought to trial.

The Bixie warriors projected pieces of evidence into the air.

Red Pirates' trading records.

The Ministry of Justice has authorized the shelling of the fortress.

Access control transfer for the orbital defense network.

Rationing reduction order.

Population screening program.

Ninth Distribution Square Loading Agreement.

The body union secretly cremated batches.

Documents regarding the sealing of grain reserves by the Grain Bureau.

One by one, the documents lit up.

The hall grew increasingly quiet.

Melchior looked up at the prison.

“I am the governor of the planet, and I have the right to request to speak to the seal holder himself.”

Duan Yu looked down at him.

"You are now facing the Bi'an battle group."

“I know,” Melchior continued, “That’s why I think you’ll understand the importance of procedure. Lord Lawson is rebuilding sector order, and order requires legitimacy. If the handling of Albitl-3 degenerates into a live retaliation, it will send the wrong signal to other swaying star systems.”

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, who was standing nearby, glanced at him.

It must be said that Melchior's statement was very clever.

He neither denied his crimes nor rushed to save his life.

He first shifted his position from "criminal" to "political example".

He was reminding Duan Yu that killing him was easy, but getting the governors of other planets to surrender was a much bigger problem.

Melchior continued, “I admit that Albitl made many extreme decisions. But the sector was out of contact for three years, Imperial aid was interrupted, the Hall of the Star Speakers was swallowed by a storm, food routes were cut off, and the Lower Nest was constantly in turmoil. If I had not concentrated food supplies and reorganized the defenses, Albitl would have collapsed long ago.”

"Your so-called reorganization of defenses includes shelling the Ministry of Justice's fortress?"

“The Department of Justice is trying to seize control of the orbital defense network,” Melchior said. “They insist on the old procedure, demanding that I hand over authority to a lost governor of a star system while we are surrounded by external enemies. I judge that this will lead to a civil war, and a civil war will cause the entire planet to fall into the hands of pirates.”

An older nobleman immediately chimed in: "The governor's decision at the time was supported by a majority of the noble council. If there is any guilt, we all share the responsibility."

This sounds like a shared responsibility, but in reality it's just spreading the burden thin.

As long as everyone is guilty, events can be packaged as a collective choice under the predicament of the times.

The head of the grain bureau hurriedly spoke up: "Sealing the grain warehouses is a strategic contingency plan. If we distribute the grain ahead of schedule, the local mobs will loot it all. In a famine, controlling rations is a necessary cruelty."

The president of the Water Purification Guild continued, "The water purification pipelines are severely aged. Prioritizing the protection of the top tower and the military industrial zone is to maintain the planet's defense. If the noble district and command structure collapse, the entire planet will lose its governance."

The head of the Corpse Union thought about it and realized that his reasoning was far-fetched, so it would be better to shift the blame.

He bowed his head and said, “I am willing to submit the complete chain of signatures behind the secret incineration batches. Many orders were not issued by the Governor’s Office alone; the Ministry of Military Affairs, the Water Purification Workers’ Union, and the Food Bureau were all involved. I am willing to assist the Bi’an Warband in restoring the operation of the Corpse Workers’ Union.”

Immediately, everyone began to speak.

Some people emphasize that they are just technocrats.

Some people say they were unaware of the consequences when signing the document.

Some have pointed out that the Red Pirate deal was brokered by the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer immediately countered, saying that the military advisor was the one who actually approved the Red Pirates' entry into the port.

The military advisor calmly pointed out that without the governor's private key, no ship could enter the orbital blind spot.

The noble representatives then began to betray one another, revealing one by one which family had participated in the slave transport, which family had seized the properties of the missing, and which family had hoarded clean water quotas over the past three years.

They are bad.

She's also very smart.

So smart that he knows that at this moment, innocence is not the most important thing.

Instead, it's about making yourself useful.

Duan Yu let them talk for seven minutes.

Seven minutes later, he raised his hand.

The restraints on everyone in the hall tightened simultaneously.

The prison guards spoke.

Melchior.

"You say the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is trying to seize control of the orbital defense network."

Projection switching.

An image appeared in mid-air.

The Grand Inquisitor of the Ministry of Justice stood in the old fortress hall and issued a formal letter to the Governor's Office, requesting both parties to jointly suspend their defensive authority pending verification by the Star Governor or the Imperial Navy. The Ministry of Justice did not order an attack on the Governor's Office, nor did it invoke external forces.

The judge said, "This record comes from the Ministry of Justice's underground evidence repository. You didn't destroy it completely."

Melchior remained silent.

Duan Yu looked at the head of the grain bureau.

"You said that sealing off the grain warehouses is a strategic contingency plan."

Projection switching.

A ration line for the aristocratic district lights up.

Over the past eight months, rations of protein, alcohol, refined sugar, and clean water in the aristocratic districts have remained at 87 percent of pre-war levels. Rations for the middle class have fallen to 39 percent of pre-war levels. In some lower-class areas, rations have dropped below 15 percent.

"Is this a strategy, or a selection process?"

The head of the grain bureau moved his lips, but said nothing.

Duan Yu looked at the president of the Water Purification Association.

"You said that priority should be given to the military industrial zone."

The projection switched again.

Three high-pressure water purification pipelines lead to the noble baths, private greenhouses, and the Governor's Palace artificial lake.

Where is the military industrial zone?

The president of the water purification union turned completely pale.

The prisoner turned to the corpse union director.

"You are willing to assist in restoring operations."

The council member immediately bowed his head: "Yes, Your Honor, I am familiar with the entire planet's incineration tower system. Given the opportunity, I can..."

"You registered 17,422 Ministry of Justice personnel as plague corpses."

The director's voice trailed off.

"Of them, 319 people still had vital signs when they were cremated."

Someone in the hall took a soft breath.

The prison guard looked at Melchior one last time.

"You request to see the person who holds the seal in person, on the grounds that order requires legitimacy."

"This statement is valuable."

A glimmer of light finally appeared in Melchior's eyes.

Duan Yu continued, "So you will leave Albitel-3 alive."

"As evidence."

“You people will be loaded onto ships and taken to Agrippina. You will undergo a more thorough interrogation. Your testimonies, documents, chains of signatures, and transaction records will be compiled into a sector rebellion sample and sent to all the still-swaying star systems.”

Melchior's expression finally changed.

This is worse than being executed on the spot.

Execution would make him a martyr in the eyes of some nobles.

Being put on a ship for interrogation would turn him into a living testimonies.