As long as you die, you are invincible, but in 40K

Hearing this name that was prominent enough without any publicity, Zhang Ge's curiosity finally died.

Chapter 199: Criticism, Banquet, and Nobles

When it came to the Imperial Fists, the representative simply introduced some basic information in a simple and respectful tone, and then handed the floor to an Imperial Fists officer.

Although he wasn't wearing a helmet, the power armor he wore was obviously larger than the armor worn by ordinary Space Marines. It should be a set of Terminator armor. Of course, considering that the Imperial Fist excels at defense and positional warfare, it is not surprising that its officers prefer heavier equipment.

Unlike the relative simplicity of ordinary combat, due to the formality of the occasion, the officer's armor was not only covered with various medals and seals, which swayed and shimmered like armor plates, but also had a cloak buckled on his shoulders, with the high-grade fabric extending to the back, covering the area near the ankles.

However, in contrast to this elegant appearance, although the Imperial Fist officer's voice was calm and resolute, what he uttered were merely formulaic, templated, and rigid sentences, like the beginning of a standard drill manual, or the first few paragraphs written on parchment by an administrative clerk.

To put it nicely, it is following dogma, and to put it bluntly, it has no practical content - of course, this is only the case for people like Yu Zhangge who have no filters for them.

For the civilians nearby, let alone hearing the holy teachings of the Emperor's Angels with their own ears, even if they could only see the golden paint on a corner of their armor from afar, or even just hear the rumor of their arrival here, it would be a supreme honor that they could brag about over and over again.

In fact, many positions that are slightly closer to the inner circle can only be obtained by bribing officials.

Pilgrims, people suffering from terminal illnesses, the disabled, and the like do not mind paying a huge sum of money compared to their daily expenses in exchange for a glimmer of hope, hoping that in this way the emperor's afterglow can be slightly tilted to save them from suffering.

This is even when there are special orders from the person in charge in this regard. There is a hard requirement that enough civilians from the lower nest must participate, otherwise the positions would have been filled by middle-level people from the upper nest who have some status but not enough to squeeze into the inner circle.

Of course, even those who managed to squeeze into the inner circle did not dare to neglect the words of the Imperial Fists officers, whether they wanted to grasp some information from the fragments of words, whether they were sincere believers or just hypocritical disguises.

If someone is caught slacking off, the Imperial Fists themselves certainly won't care, but the local opposing forces will definitely not mind taking advantage of it... and this kind of "small mistake" can usually cause a high-ranking official who commands millions of people to fall into the abyss.

It was at this moment that Zhang Ge had the courage to daydream because he was bored, and his expression looked a little dull.

Due to the presence of various implants, he has been caught like this before, but... no one intends to put this slightly unrealistic idea of ​​criticizing him into practice.

Even without considering the divine machine beneath him, judging from the close relationship he displayed with the Imperial Fists when he entered the city, it would be better for him to just find an opportunity to shoot one of the Imperial Fists' angels instead of seeking death by politically discrediting him.

At least the latter does not have to waste so many political resources in vain.

Time passed by minute by minute, until Zhang Ge's mind had flashed through the 101st way to deal with the universe after death. The speech finally ended, and the ceremony ended with a burst of cheers and countless colorful strips scattered by the servo skulls.

Zhang Ge came back to his senses, picked up a piece of colored strip at random, squeezed it, and found that it should be some kind of extremely thin metal.

It seems that the overall battle situation is more brutal than expected, so much so that the Dead Forest Festival, which was originally the economic core, is not as good as the Akaolan Hive in this regard. Both are temporary preparations. At least the latter can still produce some petals.

Looking down, the crowds around had begun to disperse under the command of law enforcement officers, and the dignitaries also boarded the luxury vehicles prepared in advance.

The Dead Forest District is governed by the Agamemnon family. This family has no obvious military tradition, and its martial ethics are obviously not strong enough compared to frontier hives like Acoran. This trend naturally also affects other small and medium-sized nobles in the district.

So much so that the high-end sedans prepared looked a bit too luxurious and flashy.

However, everyone remained calm on the surface. After asking Olivia to lower the gun barrel, Zhang Ge quickly moved from the volcano cannon to the ground and got on one of the vehicles.

Only the Space Marines explicitly refused to ride in these vehicles, opting instead for the Rhino transports tagged further back.

Soon, the convoy moved to an area that did not appear to be affected by the war via the nearest elevator.

Although for the civilians in the sector, almost the entire sector was burning in the war, and repelling the Iron Warriors had only liberated a part of the area, for the nobles, most of the heavily fortified places where nobles gathered were still very safe from the beginning to now.

At least temporarily and on the surface.

So, passing through the still bustling streets, the convoy soon stopped inside a banquet hall.

Yes, it is the interior, because the space here is so vast that just one room is as big as the entire palace. If you just walk, it will take quite a while to reach your destination.

Through the car window, one can see the magnificent interior of the banquet hall. Unlike the war-torn surroundings of the previous triumphal ceremony, countless works of art, sculptures, and exotic treasures complement each other, and one can even hear the faint sound of music that fits the atmosphere.

A servant opened the car door from the outside. Zhang Ge easily rejected the bare-backed girl in gorgeous clothes who was about to lie down beside the car to serve as a step. At the same time, he stepped on the soft carpet on the ground and left the car.

However, he hadn't expected that upon seeing this situation, a butler dressed in a well-proportioned manner would appear... a manager? Zhang Ge couldn't really tell the difference between the insignia on their clothing, so he just assumed they were high-ranking attendants.

The senior attendant came over first, then made a humble gesture that made Zhang Ge feel uncomfortable, and then apologized:

"Your Excellency, we deeply apologize for your offense. This 'thing' and the clan behind it will be properly dealt with. We will immediately arrange a new entourage for you."

The other party did not use the pronouns "he" or "she" to describe people, so when Zhang Ge heard it, he had to find a similar meaning to understand it.

As soon as he finished speaking, two soldiers in armor appeared from nowhere. There was no smell of gunpowder on them, but instead a fragrance that matched the interior of the banquet hall. With extremely neat movements, they lifted up the girl from before and dragged her to the side.

Seeing this, Zhang Ge became interested and said:

"Wait a moment."

Chapter 200 Agamemnon

"At your disposal."

When Zhang Ge called for a halt, the other party responded immediately. Not only did the senior attendant on the opposite side maintain his previous humble posture, but even the two soldiers stopped moving.

"What will become of her? Oh, and that clan."

"It will be cleared, but if you have any other requests, please feel free to ask."

Cleaning up, this is a very intriguing word.

Seeing that most of the dignitaries around him had already started to walk inside, Zhang Ge was not in a hurry and continued to ask:

"How do people like her usually come about?"

"Each... maiden is provided by a clan specially trained by the Agamemnon family. They are experts in this field and are able to ensure that these girls are pure and flawless for every distinguished guest."

Zhang Ge noticed that when the other party agreed to use "name" to describe the girl, there was a subtle pause, as if he was not used to addressing her in this way. However, he did not intend to delve into it. Instead, he continued speaking with a hint of deliberate harshness in his tone:

"Oh? That's not quite right, is it? If I had stepped on her just now, would she still be pure and innocent to the next visitor?"

"Please rest assured, sir. They are all disposable. Although some may occasionally be favored and taken away by the guests of honor, no matter what, there will be no duplicates appearing at the next banquet."

In the silence after the other party's words fell, Zhang Ge looked away and glanced at the parked convoy.

There were no troop transports for Space Marines, Battle Sisters, or the like, so it seemed their meeting place was not set up here.

After reading it, Zhang Ge turned around.

"The only people accompanying us are you and her. Come on, take me in."

"Yes."

The senior attendant did not raise any questions...as if any request from Zhang Ge was taken for granted, and the same was true in the previous conversation. The other party did not use any question marks to answer any questions raised by Zhang Ge.

But think about it, for these nobles who rule over countless billions of people, the word "impossible" may be a rare word in their lives.

The three of them walked on the carpet and followed the end of the crowd.

Among those people in front, there are usually about a dozen entourages. Most of the nobles sit directly in sedan chairs and are carried by attendants. So there are four people responsible for carrying the sedan chairs. Moreover, all the attendants who carry the sedan chairs have undergone limb modifications without exception, and their movements are extremely steady.

Even if some Astra Militarum generals, military nobles, and the like chose to walk in order to demonstrate their toughness or for other purposes, they would usually be accompanied by seven or eight people.

From this perspective, compared to them, Zhang Ge can really be considered frugal.

Soon, Zhang Ge arrived at the banquet venue.

This place consists of several huge flat floors, arranged in a stepped manner from low to high. Each floor is as big as a small square, with a height difference of about ten meters between each other. They are connected to each other by wide circular spiral staircases. At the same time, even at the highest point, the ceiling is so high that you can't see the top, and there is no sense of narrowness in the space.

“It’s nice here.”

"Your appreciation is another honor that will be recorded in the history books for the builders of this place."

"Setting up heavy firepower from high up can easily blockade the area below."

"Your vision is truly unique and sharp."

Zhang Ge felt a little regretful. It seemed that the other party did not realize his joke.

As you walk in, the psychedelic lights replace the perfect white light from the outside world. The brightness is just enough to see the faces of people nearby but not enough to make out the details, which seems to create a faint atmosphere. The tables and chairs are arranged just right, and the tables are filled with rare foods from all over the empire.

When he arrived inside, Zhang Ge discovered that perhaps in order to avoid interfering with the social interactions between the nobles as much as possible, the attendants who used to follow the nobles like shadows were basically nowhere to be seen.

He observed for a long time before he saw where those people went.

When a noble showed a gesture of need, the remaining one or two servants would try their best to satisfy him first. At the same time, a small opening would silently open in the ground, and then a small elevator rising from below would quickly send the other servants he needed to the ground. Presumably, hiding was also achieved through these secret passages.

However, this state of minimizing the number of people becomes different at the entrance of each spiral staircase. Each upward entrance is manned by several fully armed soldiers. When a dignitary wants to go to the next level via the ladder, he needs to show a small card to the soldier.

Arriving at the stairs, Zhang Ge pointed at the cards in those people's hands with a hint of doubt and asked:

"Why don't I have that?"

"Your Excellency's identity does not need to be recognized by the Agamemnon family. Your honorable name is the best pass."

"You tell everyone the same thing?"

"Only for the most distinguished guests."

Sure enough, when he approached the stairs, the soldiers had obviously been informed in advance and had no intention of stopping him or checking Zhang Ge's identity. Instead, they straightened themselves out and saluted in unison.

This continued until we reached the top floor.

The number of people at the top level is already very small. Looking around, apart from the great nobles and senior generals who are qualified to participate in the triumphal ceremony, the lowest status is the colonel commander of the Star Army.

Am I just qualified to come here?

Thinking somewhat self-deprecatingly, and looking at the people coming and going, Zhang Ge randomly found a secluded place to sit down - but even though his actions were considered low-key, the moment he sat down, the crowd began to move closer to him.

The dignitaries nearby were greeting and chatting with each other with standard smiles on their faces. One side continued the conversation as if nothing had happened, while the other side tacitly understood and slowly moved away without making a sound.

Zhang Ge watched this slow-paced race which seemed somewhat funny for some reason. After eating his second dessert, he finally waited for the first noble to end the conversation with "I understand. Let's talk next time." He then pretended to glance around casually, and was finally "suddenly" surprised to find Zhang Ge sitting there, and then stepped forward.

She came forward and greeted him first:

"I have long admired my name."

He looked to be around 27 or 28 years old. But since he was a noble, his appearance and age were just a guide.

After greeting, she lowered her posture on her own initiative. Even though she was wearing a low-cut dress that revealed most of her cleavage, she still bowed slightly and raised her glass to toast.

Judging from the extent of the shaking, she was probably only wearing a dress.

Looking back, Zhang Ge had no intention of drinking and responded:

"I don't drink. Sit down. What do you want from me?"

The other party was not embarrassed at all. He just took back the wine glass, took a sip from his lips, and then sat down next to Zhang Ge with a smile on his face and replied:

"I come here on behalf of the Agamemnon family in the Dead Forest Festival District."

Well, now we have run into the real culprit.

Chapter 201: Power and Unpleasant Talks

"Then you shouldn't be here to chat with me."

Zhang Ge put down the cutlery in his hand and looked into the other person's eyes without any fluctuation in his expression.

Seeing Zhang Ge's behavior, she didn't start with a bunch of complicated formalities and self-introductions like she did with other nobles. She got straight to the point and responded:

"Of course, my family and I have always wanted to express our gratitude to you, but due to the urgent war situation, we haven't been able to find a suitable time. Now we are finally able to meet."

gratitude?

Before Zhang Ge could refuse, she used two fingers to pick out a piece of paper with a faint fragrance from her chest.

Take a look at the title, fortunately, it’s not a list of supplies.

Zhang Ge finally felt relieved and gestured for the other party to continue.

"Thanks to your outstanding achievements in the Dead Forest, hundreds of millions of citizens of the Agamemnon family have been saved. Material gratitude alone cannot express our gratitude. Therefore, the family has decided to grant you certain exemptions, effective immediately within the Dead Forest."

While she was speaking, Zhang Ge was also looking at the specific contents on the note.

How should I put it? Maybe the word "exemption" may not be a comprehensive description. It would be closer to say that it is a privilege.

To summarize part of it... within the Dead Forest Festival area, even if Zhang Ge suddenly killed seven or eight people in the street in the downtown area, he would not bear any consequences the next day. And if he saw something he wanted somewhere, even if it was not for sale or even belonged to someone, he could just grab it away, and someone would help him clean up the mess later.

Overall, it was basically equivalent to giving Zhang Ge power equivalent to that of a noble, while the obligations were borne by the Agamemnon family.

"Very sincere."

It is very sincere.

Although Zhang Ge could do the above without their authorization, it was a different matter if it was written on paper and personally recognized by the Agamemnon family.

Because this represents a voluntary concession...and considering the power of this family, the impact of this voluntary concession is far more than just on paper.

The Agamemnon family is the governor family of this planet, and they are not just any ordinary planet governor.