"We wish to speak with you, Grand Inquisitor."
Tavitz took a step forward and spoke.
"If you want to seek spiritual comfort, you'd better go to those magicians. I'm not good at this."
"You're joking."
Hearing Duanmuhuai's answer, Taweiz showed a wry smile.
"Actually, I just want to ask...what are the beliefs of the Inquisition?"
"The beliefs of the Inquisition?"
"That's right."
Tarvitz nodded.
"Any organization or force has its own beliefs. So, the Astartes fight for the Empire and the Emperor, so why does the Inquisition fight?"
"If you are asking this, then my answer is very clear."
Duanmuhuai changed his position, sat on the chair and stared at Tavitz.
"The Tribunal fights for mankind. As I told you before, the goal of the Tribunal is to eliminate all aliens, heretics and demons that harm mankind. It protects the survival of mankind in this universe and ensures that they will not perish. , is the duty of the Tribunal.”
"...Is it that simple?"
"Yes, it's that simple."
Duanmuhuai looked at the three Astartes, with the corners of his mouth slightly raised, revealing a smile.
"The Inquisition is concerned with humanity as a whole. We will not be loyal to a certain person, let alone a certain force. What about the Emperor? What about the Empire? Humanity existed before he was born, and after his fall , humanity will still exist. The Emperor himself is just a page in the book of human history - it may be brilliant, it may be inlaid with gold, but it is just a page after all."
Hearing this, the three Astartes looked at each other. They finally understood what the Inquisition meant. In the Astartes' view, the Emperor's unification of mankind and the launch of the Great Crusade was already a rare hegemony. For them, It is said that the Emperor is the leader and guiding light of mankind. No one can imagine that the Emperor will leave mankind.
However, the Inquisition obviously does not see it this way, and their view is even colder.
"With or without the Emperor, humanity will move forward. It does not mean that without the Emperor's guidance, humanity will immediately perish."
Duanmu Huai snorted coldly, joking, after that little golden man sat on the golden toilet, didn't the empire still survive for more than 10,000 years? From the beginning of the Emperor's efforts to the failure of the Great Crusade, it only totaled five thousand years. From this, it can be seen that without the Emperor, mankind will still continue to exist. It may fall and make mistakes, but it will still continue to move forward.
"So to me, the battle between Horus and the Emperor is just a common human civil war in history. It has nothing to do with the civil wars recorded in history. If the Chaos Evil God hadn't taken advantage of it, The Inquisition doesn't even care about this shit."
"Protect...humanity..."
"Yes, perhaps for you Astartes, the only thing you care about is the Emperor, and only the other Astartes brothers. Mortals are regarded by you as fragile, stupid, and short-sighted. Their lifespan is not as long as You are so old, they are not as powerful as you, and they are weak and powerless in front of you. But in fact, it is these mortals who laid the foundation of human civilization. Perhaps you Astartes have forgotten , before accepting the transformation, you are just mortals. Your mission may be to protect the Empire and the Emperor, but to the Inquisition, it does not matter if the Empire and the Emperor are destroyed, as long as humanity can continue to exist and move forward, the rest None of it matters."
Having said this, Duanmu Huai spread his hands.
"Even if the Empire collapses and the Emperor falls, humanity will find its own way out - I think you have never considered this issue. You have always regarded yourself as the sharp blade of the Empire and the Emperor as a guiding light, as if His destruction and death will bring unimaginable terrible disasters to mankind..."
"Is not it?"
Loken couldn't help but interjected.
"Of course not. The current situation is caused by the emperor whom you trust."
Duanmu Huai waved his hand.
"To be honest, I can understand why he did this, but if I were to comment, I would only say... There are a thousand ways to fight Chaos, and the Emperor chose the stupidest one among them. Warp Space Evil is everywhere, and it’s just like crime. Don’t you know that this is a crime, so it’s not a crime? Does it mean that as long as I legalize killing, it means that this world will be a paradise without any crime?”
After saying this, Duanmuhuai snorted coldly.
"It's stupid to close your eyes and deny their existence. If you had some basic common sense about fighting against the evil gods of subspace, you wouldn't have suffered heavy losses before. Let alone a ignorant three-year-old. Children are also beguiled by them and eventually embark on this stupid path of rebellion."
"……………………"
Hearing this, Loken was speechless for a moment. He remembered that on a previous planet, the Space Marines he led encountered a similar thing. At that time, one of the Astartes companions was possessed by a warp demon, and mercilessly Killed his companions. What he witnessed at that time shocked Loken greatly, and it was precisely because of this that he began to re-examine everything around him.
Although what the Grand Inquisitor said was unpleasant, Loken had to admit that they were deceiving the truth. At that time, everyone saw how the Astartes was possessed by evil spirits and transformed into monsters to attack his compatriots. But in the end, when they reported all this, they only received an order to completely block the information, and those Astartes warriors were also recorded as being killed in an encirclement and suppression of the rebellion.
Thinking of this, Loken suddenly felt cold all over. He had seen many similar reports about the loss of Astartes soldiers during the encirclement and suppression of the rebellion.
Now that I think about it carefully, how many of them are true, and how many of them are distorted and hidden like me?
"This is the policy of the Inquisition."
Duanmuhuai finally concluded.
"To put it simply, if the evil gods of subspace are regarded as criminals who cause evil deeds, then the Inquisition is the police and peace officers, fighting crime, maintaining law and order, and guarding the peace of mortals. So, will there be a day when crime will completely disappear? Impossible, unless the whole world is completely destroyed, as long as there are people, there will be crime. But do we just throw up our hands and surrender? Leave it alone? Of course not, even if we cannot completely eliminate crime, we can still try our best to crack down on crime and curb them. So that most people can live in a peaceful and stable environment.”
“Your perspective is really refreshing for us.”
Taweiz lowered his head, and he had to say that Duanmuhuai's answer was beyond his expectation.
"This is not surprising. You are Astartes. You are warriors. The goal of a warrior is to completely destroy the enemy. However, we are Inquisitors. The duties of Inquisitors are closer to that of police. We will not try to do what we simply cannot do. Things, we will only do what we should do, maybe for you, this is a responsibility, but for us, this is a course of action."
Duanmuhuai made a gesture.
"Sorry, maybe I can't help you much."
"No, it's very useful. Thank you for your advice."
Tarvitz bowed again, then turned and left the hall together with Loken and Garro.
"What do you think?"
Standing in the corridor, Tarvitz looked at the other two people. They were each other's trusted companions, and now they only had each other.
"Police, Sheriff."
Loken nodded as he spoke.
"That doesn't seem bad."
"Yeah?"
"Yes, I have thought several times, once the Great Crusade is over, what can we Astartes do? We are warriors, we are only warriors, we can only fight. Now it seems that we may be able to devote ourselves In a never-ending battle."
"So, you want to join the Tribunal?"
Garro frowned.
"I don't think it's a good idea. Their origins are mysterious and no one is sure if this is a trap."
"But we always have to make a choice."
Loken did not argue with Garrow.
"Perhaps we should let others know about this."
"……………Maybe."
Garro nodded.
"Maybe this is the only way."
How the Astartes choose is their own business, and Duanmu Huai doesn't care. After that, he found Hitomi again and asked about the situation.
"The warp is still dark, Lord Inquisitor."
Facing Duanmuhuai's inquiry, Tong shook her head.
"I'm so sorry, I can't see the truth behind this darkness."
"Well, it's normal. If you have any other information, tell me as soon as possible."
Duanmu Huai was not surprised by Tong's report. The Chaos Evil God had nothing but subspace blockade. It was like this before, and it is still like this now. He can really eat it all over the world with just one move.
When can you do something other than seal off the subspace? It's the same trick every time, don't you get tired of it?
Although Duanmu Huai could directly enter the webway, he did not do so. Because Duanmu Huai is not yet sure whether this is a conspiracy, even if it is not, rashly exposing the fact that the Inquisition can enter and exit through the network channel will cause trouble. At least until this matter is over, Duanmu Huai will not enter the webway again.
"Report to the Inquisitor."
At this moment, Aikote, who was standing nearby and staring at the star map, suddenly spoke.
"We have intercepted the communication sent by the Eisenstein. The contact party is the Vengeful Spirit, which is reporting our position."
"How should I put it? It's expected and reasonable."
Duanmu Huai shrugged his shoulders.
"Get ready for battle. By the way, let's inform the three Astartes about this matter. Matters within the empire will be handled within the empire."
Maas held the sensor in his hand tightly, with a nervous expression on his face. As the Eisenstein's correspondent, Maas never thought that he would encounter such a thing. After serving for so many years, he finally reached his current status and joined the expedition fleet. After that, he can go one step further and become the captain of a battleship...
But now, these damn bastards have ruined everything!
They betrayed the Warmaster, even merged with a fleet that didn't know where they came from, and betrayed their own leader. This should not be done at all!
He raised his concerns with the captain, but what he got was a rebuke and a warning! Are you kidding me? They clearly betrayed the expeditionary fleet, and now they are accusing the fleet of betraying the Emperor? So what? In Maas's view, a good captain would not ask questions. Once the warmaster gives an order, they can just do it. Why argue about whether this is right or wrong?
Maas felt that everyone else in the battleship was crazy, and he seemed to be the only one who was sane. He felt that he should do something, at least not let others go crazy with them. It is necessary for him to save this battleship. Maybe the Warmaster will appreciate his loyalty. Maybe after all this is over, he will realize his ideal and become the captain of a cruiser...
"Bang!"
At this moment, suddenly, the closed door opened. Mas was so frightened that he almost jumped up. He turned his head and saw Garro walking in with a cold and livid face. Then he turned around without hesitation, Walk towards the VOX alcove. I saw Garro crossing the cab in two or two steps, grabbed Mas, and lifted him up.
"You betrayed us! You bastard!"
Jia Luo glared angrily at the communications officer in front of him. When he just received the notification from Duanmu Huai, he couldn't believe it. But now seeing the expression of the communications officer in front of him, he was furious. The latter suddenly stretched out his hands and hit the Astartes in front of him hard.
"You! You are the traitor, bastard!"
Mas yelled, hitting Garro's armor hard.
"This is all your conspiracy, you killed us!"
"asshole!"
At this moment, the captain also came over. She glared at Mas angrily and scolded him sharply.
"These are the Emperor's most loyal warriors, you are the traitor!"
"No, I am not a traitor! I swore an oath to the fleet to serve Warmaster Horus!"
Mas had given up struggling at this moment, but he did not give up resistance.
"Until death!!!"
"Then go to hell."
Garro twisted his wrist and broke the communications officer's neck, turning him into a corpse. Then he turned his head and looked at another junior employee who was shaking with fear.
"Please contact the Inquisition immediately."
Soon, after a moment, Duanmu Huai's face appeared on the screen.
"I'm very sorry, Grand Inquisitor, there is a traitor in our ranks."
Garro lowered his head and apologized solemnly.
"Oh, don't worry so much, it's no big deal."
"But soon, the expedition fleet will gather to attack us."
"I know that very well."
Duanmuhuai nodded.
"So we must leave the Istvan system as soon as possible."
"But what to do? The fleet has blocked the jump point and we cannot reach the predetermined orbit. Moreover, the navigator cannot see the brilliance of the star torch at all, and we don't even know where we should go."
"I will open a channel to other galaxies at the appropriate moment."
"Leading to where?"
"I don't know, but no matter where you are, it's better than staying here, what do you think?"
"………………"
Garro nodded silently. In fact, as Duanmuhuai said, no matter where they went, it would be better than staying in the Istvan Galaxy. Here, they would only die.
"Beep...beep..."
Just then, the alarm sounded.
"Fleet approach detected!"
"Be prepared to act and obey the orders of the Inquisition!"
Garro also clenched his fists and gave his orders.
For them, this is the only way to go now.
(End of chapter)
