Warhammer: Empire Reboot

But the inscription was already written: [Loyal ones! Guardians! The backbone of the Imperial order!]

Ilancia stood before the monument, motionless for a long time.

She suddenly understood why Lawson had taken her to these places.

Lawson was showing her a different order.

In the governor's banquet hall, the nobles claimed to represent stability.

And this is where their stability lies.

The last place is a lower courtyard.

A small patch of gray sky can be seen above the courtyard.

Many civilians sat on the edge of the courtyard, waiting for their work assignments for the next day.

A child asked his mother if there really are stars in the sky.

His mother thought for a long time and then told him that there were some in the upscale district.

The child then asked if they could visit in the future.

His mother patted his head and told him to go to sleep.

Lawson stood in the shadows, with Ilancia standing beside him.

The static force field unfolds again.

The next instant, the two figures disappeared from beside the lower courtyard, leaving the common people huddled in the wind, waiting for tomorrow's bell to ring.

When Lawson brought Ilancia back to the top of the tower, the long table in the banquet hall had already been removed.

Governor Valerian Hearst did not remain there.

After the conspiracy ended, he returned to his private study at the very top of the tower.

A study is quieter than a banquet hall and is more suitable for handling real power.

The walls here consist of three layers of armor plates and two layers of void insulation material, embedded with anti-eavesdropping runes, private shield generators, family data shrines, and an emergency call system connected to the orbital fortress.

Outside is a simulated starry sky.

Below is the entire planet.

Below that are the ordinary people who maintain their lives through working hours, debt, organs, and water quotas.

Lawson and Ilancia stood at the end of the observation deck at the top of the tower.

From here you can overlook half of the Governor's City.

The upper dome is pristine, with garden lights extending beneath the glass, and the tracked elevator casting silver beams of light. Further away, the lights of the middle nest are suppressed by smoke into a dim yellow, while the lower nest resembles a patch of coal ash sunk underground.

Ilancia gazed at the distinct layers of lights, remaining silent for a long time.

A breeze swept through the edge of the viewing gallery, ruffling Ilancia's long, silvery-white hair. She raised a hand to press down her hair, the scene she had just witnessed still lingering in her eyes.

Lawson looked at her: "How do you feel?"

Ilancia replied calmly, "It matches my impression of the human empire."

“Rough, massive, cruel, it writes suffering into the system and then tells everyone that this is called order.”

She paused for a moment: "The Eldar have the same problem."

It wasn't easy for her to say those words.

She was born into a high-ranking clan and received the most orthodox honor education in the Ark.

In her past understanding, the human empire was a collection of barbaric, short-lived species.

The Ark Eldar represent the last vestige of dignity for an ancient race.

After seeing those labor corps, she also thought about the lower tribes inside the Ark, the resource allocation between clans, and the sacrifices in the Prophet Council that were packaged as future needs.

Lawson did not interrupt her.

Yilancia said, "The difference is that the Eldar are more restrained. We are more polite in our actions, and our reasons are more elegant. For the future, for our race, for the Soul Stones, to avoid being devoured by Slaanesh, and for fewer casualties in the prophecy."

"But the essence is not much different. Those in power are always good at portraying their own safety as the fate of everyone."

Lawson smiled. "You're more honest than I thought."

Ilancia rolled her eyes at him.

Lawson turned and leaned against the metal railing of the observation deck, his gaze fixed on the depths of the Governor's Tower.

"If you were me, what would you do?"

Ilancia frowned.

This is a difficult problem.

If it were just about murder, she could come up with a hundred different solutions.

Kolosen asked how to deal with this galaxy.

That would be troublesome.

She thought about it seriously for a long time.

The banquets, rhetoric, and division of labor among the nobility were rearranged in her mind.

"It's difficult."

Lawson looked at her.

"Tell me about it."

“These nobles are cunning and shrewd. They know you are strong, and they also know that force cannot directly confront you. Therefore, they do not rebel or openly resist Dante’s orders.”

“They praise you, delay you, flatter you, and then pile documents, charters, tax rights, family debts, parish exemptions, troop rotations, and old Terra decrees in front of you.”

“As long as you acknowledge that you are still within the imperial system, you have to face these things.”

"If you review each case one by one, they could drag it out for ten years."

“If you force your way through, they will portray themselves as victims of imperial tradition.”

"At that time, the entire Dark Side, and even a portion of the nobles in the Holy Side, will be watching you. They don't need to like this governor; they only need to fear becoming the next one."

"You can kill people."

"But after you've killed them all, you'll take over all the ledgers, granaries, armies, parishes, starports, orbital docks, local justice systems, old debts, noble private armies, and countless complex contracts."

"If we are not prepared, chaos will consume the galaxy."

"Other star systems will band together in advance. From now on, every time you take over a place, you will first have to face an invisible war."

Ilancia looked at Lawson.

“If I were you, I would first make them think that delaying is effective. Then I would buy off some of them, attack some, divide some, and retain some. Over ten to twenty years, I would gradually take control of water rights, food rights, military power, and rail ports.”

Ilancia noticed that the expression on Lawson's face had changed.

It was more like some kind of dangerous interest had been ignited.

Ilancia immediately added.

“Losen, you are the Dark Side Master, not a pirate.”

“If you resort to violence to solve everything, you will find it very difficult to move forward in the empire. Once word gets out about what happened here, the nobles of the entire empire will regard you as an enemy.”

"You're a very good fighter."

"But you can't defeat all the nobles of the entire empire."

Lawson let out a long breath and suddenly smiled.

"Violence is certainly a low-level form of violence."

"But when a group of people turn the rules into a maze, stuff ordinary people into the cracks in the walls as bricks, and then stand on top of the maze and tell you that you must follow the door numbers."

He raised his hand and pointed downwards to the nest.

"The quickest way is to tear the whole maze apart."

Ilancia sneered: "You still want to resort to violence."

"It seems that without our Spirit Clan taking action, countless imperial nobles will kill you beforehand."

Lawson shook his head: "Who said I would do that?"

Ilancia was taken aback.

"What do you mean?"

Lawson snapped his fingers lightly.

A faint projection appeared in front of the viewing gallery; it was a three-dimensional structural diagram of the Governor's Tower area.

Each noble courtyard, private chapel, observation deck, sky garden, helipad, database, banquet hall, family secret room, and guard barracks was marked.

The red marker lit up quickly.

Thirty-four thousand seven hundred and twenty-six people.

Members of the governor's family.

The core bloodlines of the five major families.

And their heirs, asset agents, and key advisors hidden in the upper echelons of the empire who can perpetuate the old rule.

Ilancia's expression changed slightly.

"You've already made the list?"

"From the very first word they uttered," said Lawson.

A chill ran through Ilancia's heart.

Lawson looked at the projection and made the announcement slowly.

"Tonight, the Governor's Star Tower district was attacked by remnants of Abaddon."

"The remnants of the Black Legion have fled here, seeking revenge for the return of the Damocles system to the Imperial order."

"They massacred most of the nobles in the upper echelons."