Seeing the sudden move of his entourage, Arni immediately raised his head and immediately saw above them, a bloodless corpse like a frozen fish hanging from the ceiling.
It was a strong middle-aged man, naked and with a shaved head. His eyes were open and staring. His throat had been cut, like an animal that had been bled before being slaughtered. A clean cut line extended from the neck to the ears.
At the same time, his hands and feet were tied and hooked by a sharp metal hook, and his ankles were partially pierced.
Suhrab had seen a lot of the world and did not show any surprise. He coughed lightly and said:
"Gyogi, don't make a fuss. This is the temple of Omnisiah. Be pious."
The leading priest then recited a prayer.
"The journey back to life is in the arms of Omnisiah."
Suhrab then walked up to Arni.
"Master, let's go."
The pale Arni nodded and took steps forward. In fact, what shocked him was not the corpse. He had seen all kinds of corpses in the past few days in the army, and there was no corpse that could surprise him.
What really shocked him was the act of manipulating people like animals, right above their heads, with row after row of human bodies hanging on the suspended conveyor belt. Everyone had their heads lowered, frozen stiff by the low temperature. There was something in this. Old and young, male and female, pale skin and dark skin, their bony flesh exposed.
The claims of human superiority by the priests are as ridiculous here as the broken Aquila emblem trampled into the mud.
The standardization of the Mechanicum is expressed in cold brutality here, with each man wearing a hook strung across his body, tags on his ears and toes, and an identical cut on his throat.
Arni hoped in his heart that these people were just mobs, but he saw that some people still had tattoos on their bodies, which was a common type among the Astra Militarum.
Probably, to the sages of the Mechanicus, the honor and dignity of the deceased are not worth mentioning.
The next room was larger and colder.
The floors and walls are all clean gray-white, dyed by lights of different colors. Rows of neat assembly lines are busy operating, bulky robotic arms rise and fall, conveyor belts roll forward, and tools gleam in the frost. Glowing, various screens flashed on the humming array of cogitators, lifeless slave workers were constantly being carried back and forth, and at the source of each conveyor belt stood a member of the Mechanicus, their red cloaks stained with Some frost, and the metal on their bodies should be as cold as their hearts.
Arni didn't want to look at the things on the conveyor belt, but his attention was completely beyond his control. The arms and legs of some corpses had been broken or were being removed, but their torsos and heads were still intact. There is also a huge steel device with binary language written on the wall. The cage in the corner holds rows of specimen jars. Their glass has been covered with frost, and inside are floating brains——
For those corpses that have been cut up, more senior personnel will cut open the brains and start the actual transformation. For those whose brains can no longer be used, new brain wetware will be transplanted according to the actual condition of the body. For those whose bodies are determined to be of little value, their brains will be removed. Where will those corpses be sent afterwards?
Arni remembered the previous food processing factory——
"This is Sage Fei Patrick."
They came to a huge array of meditators. Suhrab walked up to a priest wearing a dark red robe with silver trim. The other person's legs had been replaced by multiple-structured metal arthropod walking devices, and his body was covered with a lot of modifications. The metal organ has a high bulge on its back, and some metal cans of chemical reagents can be seen, and its face, well, it’s hard to call it a face, it’s just a metal mask composed of many observation units and detectors.
Arni was quite familiar with these people. On the one hand, there were mechanical priests serving in the family, and on the other hand, his father often invited some senior Mechanicus members who worked in the hive to visit his home.
He did not perform the Sky Eagle Salute, but took out a gear badge and held it in his hand, then bowed slightly.
"May the Omnisiah bless these great and sacred machines, hello Sage Fipatrick."
"Hello, Captain Arni."
A monotonous mechanical voice came from under the mask. Although some emotional unit simulation components were added, it was still difficult to speak like a living person.
Moreover, while the other party was talking to Arni, the mechanical arm behind him was constantly tapping on the meditator array, showing his superb ability to multi-task.
"Sage, I heard that you have three termite boring machines here?"
"This is what I told Mr. Suhrab."
"Well, that's right. We plan to launch a quick strike against those traitors and try to end the battle in the shortest possible time, so we hope to borrow those three termite boring machines."
The mechanical sage's visual observer flashed slightly, and then replied:
"Can."
Arni was a little surprised by the other party's straightforwardness. He even thought that he would at least put forward some conditions.
Then he immediately realized that Suhrab had probably negotiated terms or reached some kind of deal with the other party, but the specific content was probably related to the mining of the planet. After all, Arni's father was still the main leader of the expeditionary force. The person in charge of logistics can still exchange a lot of benefits, which means that it doesn't matter whether he comes this time or not.
Suhrab's intention in asking him to come here is obviously not only to get to know this sage who may be closely related to his family business in the future, but also more likely to make him realize the real "cruel" side of war and weaken his unnecessary of compassion.
Arni wasn't sure if his point of view had loosened, but looking at the corpses, he suddenly realized that there was indeed some kind of unbridgeable gap between himself and the soldiers.
"Commander Arni, why did you reject my request to use your regiment's fallen soldiers? We are in urgent need of a large amount of biomass now. Burying them in the soil or burning them is an unnecessary waste."
Hearing the sudden question raised by the other party, Arnis thought for a moment and then replied:
"Because they are my soldiers."
"Soldiers are just consumables. They have 99.1% overlap in positioning and function with servitors."
Arni pursed his lips. He didn't like this way of speaking, and he found that his point of view had not wavered.
"This is a promise and an obligation. I have the power to let them die, but I also have the responsibility to let them leave with dignity."
The sage looked at him, said nothing, turned around and continued his work.
Arni also got what he wanted and borrowed the termite boring machine he needed. Then he went to Oranios and told him his decision. The other party didn't say anything, but just asked for a lot of weapons and equipment. Arni was not stingy about what he wanted. Give whatever you want, give as much as you want.
(End of chapter)
