The Bizarre Adventures of the Oil Man, but Starting with Warhammer 32K

At first, he did want to choose a suitable person to take over the position of High Lord, but the more he selected, the more he felt that everyone had selfish motives.

From then on, he arbitrarily believed that he was the only one who was truly dedicated to the Empire, and thus continued his dictatorial rule. However, the result of putting all the responsibility on himself was that he was overwhelmed by the affairs of the entire Empire and became insane.

The Empire functioned efficiently for eighty years under his dictatorial rule, but in the final twenty years of Wangorich's descent into madness, the Empire suffered losses far exceeding those of the Beast War itself.

The loss was so great that Thorne, then Chapter Master of the Imperial Fists, hastily ended his expedition to annihilate the remaining greenskins and returned to Terra, personally ending Wangorich's madness at the cost of the rebuilt Imperial Fists almost being destroyed again.

If the current situation continues, there will be no winner in this beast war.

Perhaps because the Final Wall returned to Terra much faster than originally planned and had demonstrated sufficient resilience on Mars, the Grand Master of the Assassin's Court chose not to act himself, but instead placed some of his hopes on the Final Wall.

But Li Ang was not optimistic about his request and methods.

The empire itself is a loose aggregation of interests, and the high lords representing the interests of all parties can at least allow this corpse to continue jumping around a few more times.

As long as they are not facing any major crisis, the high lords' behavior of pulling each other apart will help maintain the delicate balance of the entire empire, rather than letting it quickly perish due to the madness of one person.

From this perspective, Leon supports Fratilena, or the idea of ​​the entire Inquisition - the existence of the High Lord is necessary.

However, this is not a peaceful era where the high lords can display their "talents".

Beasts are wreaking havoc across the galaxy and heading straight for the core of Terra. These High Lords, who are currently unable to unite, really need a proper "rectification."

Leon intends to impose certain restrictions on Wangorichi's behavior, at least to prevent the situation in Terra from turning into his own dictatorship.

"You can't kill all the High Lords, Master Wangorichi. After all, not all High Lords are against us."

Leon said as he looked at Hayes, who realized it belatedly and pointed at himself.

"I?"

"Yes, perhaps the position of Imperial Commander is suitable for you?"

"Uh… I thought I was just coming back for a court-martial."

"A person's destiny requires both personal struggle and the progress of the times. At least I think you are much more suitable than Wu Duo."

Leon turned around and looked at the Grand Master of the Assassin's Court, who was lost in thought. He frowned, realizing that the reorganized High Lords' Council would surely include more than just Hayes.

"Who else are you letting in?"

"Admiral Lanson, Inquisition representative Veritus, and Forge General Kubik."

Lanson, who "comes to his senses", Veritus, who shows goodwill towards the final high wall but is not completely inclined towards them, and Kubik, who is deeply stuck in the quagmire of Mars.

Although these representatives of important forces in the empire were not as completely devoted to them as Hayes was, they were able to effectively prevent the High Lords' Council from falling into Wangorich's dictatorship and ensure that he would not go as crazy as he did in history.

Wangolichi understood why Leon wanted to save Kubik, but he couldn't understand why the other party wanted to let his former opponent join the reorganized High Lords Council through him.

What is he worried about?

Wangerich couldn't figure out Leon's thoughts. He looked at Kurland, trying to find some clues from the Astartes, but found that he was also confused.

The trust forged since Maxim made Kurland fully support Leon. Even without prior communication, they were an unshakable community of destiny.

Wangoliqi realized that he had to get past Li Ang: "I need to think about this carefully..."

Li Ang made a gesture of invitation.

The meeting was temporarily adjourned, and Wangerich was led to the lounge. He intended to call his deputy to discuss the matter, but his deputy dropped a bombshell on him as soon as he entered.

"The High Lords have begun to act. They have requisitioned thousands of civilian ships!"

This move was in another sense puzzling to Wangoliqi. He could only confirm: "What do they want to do?"

"They're loading up transports with civilians and telling them to attack the Battle Moon!"

The Grand Master's jaw dropped to the ground.

PS: When the Imperial Fists returned to put an end to Wangorichi, the exchange ratio between Wangorichi's assassins and century-old veterans was 4 to 1.

Thorne led three companies in, and in the end he was the only one who came out alive.

Chapter 203 "Jihad Army"

Ultimately, High Wall's actions on Mars plunged the High Lords into a new round of endless mutual accusations.

They used to be able to follow the situation on Mars through Lan Song's reports, but soon even Lan Song stopped contacting them.

All they could see on Terra was the Solar Fleet being incorporated into the Final Wall's battle formation. When the fighting on Mars stopped, those oil men actually joined the Phalanx.

The Adeptus Astartes is an integral part of the Imperium, and a victory by the Astartes over Mars would naturally be seen as a victory by the Imperium over Mars.

—assuming the Astartes are still under their control.

The Astartes' success caught the High Lords off guard, and the reinforcements arriving from Maximus made them even more terrified.

Faced with the millions of troops still in orbit around Mars, they worried that the situation in the throne world was out of their control.

Rather than the Battle Moon, which hadn't yet launched an attack, they were now more wary of the Final Wall, still in orbit around Mars. Thus, the spearhead of accusation was once again directed at the Imperial Commander, Udo.

"Udo, look at what you've done! You're inviting a wolf into the house by letting the Final Wall back in!"

Udo was annoyed by such accusations. He was also wary of Astartes, but he was unwilling to admit that this was a miscalculation on his part.

He wanted to make big promises to prove that the situation was still under his control, but the fact was that he no longer dared to let Kurland come back and questioned whether he was still loyal to the Empire and the High Lord.

They had personally sent an entire Imperial Fist army to its grave. If the situation was favorable to them, it would be fine, but if not, how could they dare to face an Astartes coalition that might hold a grudge against them?

Every day of the High Lords' Council is spent in endless and meaningless verbal abuse, and they can no longer come up with any meaningful decisions.

Their panic also gave some ambitious people opportunities.

When Udo, exhausted both physically and mentally, returned to his office, he found that representatives of the merchant fleet were waiting for him outside the door.

"Imperial Commander Udo."

Yuskina Tuer bowed slightly: "I have been waiting for you."

The merchant fleet is responsible for the management of all trade and transport ships within the empire except for wandering traders. It can be said that eighty percent of the ships in the entire empire are concentrated in their hands.

These ships have no combat capability, but they are the blood vessels and life source of the entire empire.

However, this empire ultimately relies on fists. The merchant fleet representatives, who have no armed forces except sailors, only have an audience seat and the right to discuss matters in the Senate, and do not have the voting rights like the twelve high lords.

"If you are here to blame my decision for preventing the merchant fleet from sailing normally, then you can go back now."

Udo's attitude towards Tours was unusually cold. He also remembered that the representative had recently become unusually close to Pope Meslin, who opposed his state religion.

Tuur paid no attention to Udo's attitude. Instead, she stepped forward and said mysteriously, "Quite the contrary. I'm here to invite you to participate in a plan that can save our great empire, and even yourself."

Udo's attention was indeed attracted, and Tour took the opportunity to raise a new question.

"What do you think of those Astartes?"

"...their success is shaking the very foundations of a country that is supposed to be ruled by mortal men."

He packaged his fear of the Astartes under the guise of the Emperor's will, dressing his words in terms of his own.

Udo did not think they would dare to attack the High Lords on Terra. As long as the High Lords were on Terra, they could rest easy.

But their very existence was diluting the influence of the High Lords Council. Now that even Mars had fallen to the Final Wall, Udo didn't dare to imagine what would happen next.

Will these Astartes turn around and put pressure on them? Or will the High Lords issue a decree not to leave Terra?

Touré gave a predictable expression. "You're worried they might gain political influence that doesn't belong to them."

"Isn't it? Even if they do nothing, as long as they stay on Terra, they can influence the entire Terra decision-making. Doesn't this go against the Emperor's previous request that they not participate in politics? They need a warning, but now Terra needs them to solve this crisis!"

"That is not a problem in my opinion. We just need to be more successful than they are. The influence that the High Lords have dispersed due to their reliance on the Astartes will return of its own accord."

The idea is correct, the question is how to achieve success.

Udo looked at Tur in confusion, and he explained, "The definition of success lies with us. We only need to show the people of the Empire that we didn't rely on the Astartes to win the battle."

Ultimately, a military victory was still necessary. Udo thought Tur was hysterical: "There are only five million Astra Militarum troops on Terra."

"Wrong, Commander, wrong."

Toole held up two fingers.

"It's two hundred billion."

This is the number of civilians on Terra.

What do people do when faced with despair? Do they start a riot that even the Ministry of Justice can't control? Or do they dedicate everything they have to the so-called gods, seeking salvation that even they don't understand?

At least on Terra, where the state religion has taken deep roots, the latter are the majority.

The Ecclesiarchy took advantage of the Battle Moon hanging high over Terra, but was unable to launch an attack, to plunder wealth. Some of its fanatics even approached the merchant fleet, hoping to exchange this wealth for transport ships so that they could form a crusade against the Orks in the name of the Ecclesiarchy.

Tours keenly sensed this was an opportunity.

After reaching an agreement with the Pope of the State Religion, she approached Udo as quickly as possible, hoping to recruit the imperial commander.

"You have the authority to order the opening of the arsenals on Terra. Give them a gun, and they will be the Emperor's finest warriors."

She painted a beautiful vision for Udo - the Crusaders would heroically carve out a landing zone on the Battle Moon, and then they would use this as their best opportunity to ask the Astartes to join the battle.

After a victory, Pope Meslin will unleash his power, trying to portray the action as a victory won by the High Lords' decisive actions.

"Just think about it. By then, you'll be a hero throughout the empire. No one will dare to defy your will. Even the Astartes will bow before you!"

Under Tour's impassioned speech, Udo's mind became active.

It was an invitation that could not be refused.

Udo did not consider the Battle Moon, which had not launched any offensive for two months, to be a threat.

In his view, these crude and backward orcs were nothing more than a chance to take advantage of the time when the empire was busy with a new round of expeditions and its internal defenses were weak.

Their threat was short-lived, easily overcome with sufficient force, but the threat of the Astartes, who might infringe upon the High Lord's authority, was long-term and could shake his very foundations.

The High Lords' Council was established just a thousand years ago, and they must constantly strengthen the authority of the High Lords and root their rule in every vein of this newborn empire after the Great Rebellion.

From this perspective, these savage greenskins are far less threatening in Udo's eyes than the final high wall that achieved great success on Mars.

He needed to consider how to unite the forces that could defeat the orcs around him and bring victory to the empire in his name. Tur's proposal undoubtedly catered to his thoughts.

If the Astartes joined the battle, things would turn out just as she described.

If the Astartes did not join the battle, they could rebuke them for missing the opportunity and make them lose their influence.

Most importantly, he hadn't seen Wangerlich for a long time. Without the Grand Master of the Assassin's Court watching him closely, he felt he had room to act.

Yuskina Tull.

This woman saw this crisis as a stepping stone to the next level. She had bound herself to the Pope of the State Church. If this action succeeded, both she and the State Church would undoubtedly move up a notch in the High Lords' Council.

But how is this not a win-win situation?

"Our victory will be paved with the blood of the dispossessed."

"It's a victory for the Empire."

Udo corrected.

The two men laughed knowingly, and the order to assemble the Crusade Army was issued to the entire Terra through Meslin.

"The Emperor's light will protect every one who dies! Your sacrifice will ignite the dawn of Terra!"

"The cowardly shall perish in the void, but the souls of the martyrs shall ascend to the Golden Throne!"

Priests of the Ecclesiarchy stood in every square on Terra, their voices echoing through massive loudspeakers across the crowded slums and hive spires.

The burning incense and the chanting mixed into a suffocating wave of frenzy. The ragged civilians looked up at the priests, their eyes filled with only the madness ignited by faith.

At Udo's request, the armory in the hive was opened, and countless civilians rushed in to grab the weapons stored therein.

When their hands grasped the laser guns, their fear of the orcs turned into a strange confidence.

"For the Emperor!"

The recorders don't even need to write down the names of these people. Human lives are just a string of meaningless numbers here.

According to rough calculations, approximately 30 million people joined the Crusade. If the number of ships was not limited, there would be even more.

Udo drew some backbone members of the Astra Militarum to serve as commanders, and the order of the Crusade was maintained by the priests of the State Church and their own faith in the Emperor.

These people were packed like sardines into the spaceport, where merchant ships, which had been stranded above Terra due to the war, opened their cargo holds for the first time in a long time and swallowed up these civilians.

These ships, originally designed to carry food and ore, had been crudely converted into troop transports. No void shields, no gravity stabilizers, no blast-proof bulkheads. Thirty million people were crammed into depressurized cans, transported like cargo.

Their bodies pressed against each other, enduring the turbid, metallic air. Their only solace was the meaningless promise the priest made to everyone through the sound array system: