Chapter 402: Sent

Terra has been infiltrated?

Zhou Yun wasn't surprised by this—after all, the Khorne worshippers flooding the streets couldn't have appeared out of nowhere, could they? They weren't Greenskins.

But Guilliman clearly meant that Terra's ruling system had been infiltrated, invaded.

That made Zhou Yun feel abstracted.

Most of Terra's bureaucrats were inside the Imperial Palace, and Terra hosted massive Inquisition garrisons.

Could even this be infiltrated? What the hell were the Imperial Guard and the Inquisition doing?

For a moment, Zhou Yun even felt guilt—guilt that his whip hadn't been swung fast enough.

"Faylai, send me all the incompetent Inquisitors too," Zhou Yun said sincerely to Guilliman.

Zhou Yun realized that labor was the most effective way to transform people—knowledge could only educate them; true transformation required labor.

Many of the Imperial Guard working in the underground farms began to realize that the heaviest burden on the entire Human Empire fell upon the commoners.

The work they were doing now, commoners on agricultural worlds performed their entire lives under far harsher, dirtier, more grueling conditions—and commoners didn't possess the enhanced physiques of the Imperial Guard.

Zhou Yun also gave them several ideological education sessions, using his performance ability granted by the hot script board and robot director, plus his supreme logical reasoning from the Reasoning Hat, to dismantle their erroneous beliefs until they were speechless.

Especially their ridiculous notion that they didn't belong to the Human Empire, that they weren't part of it.

Didn't their bodily augmentations consume wealth produced by the Human Empire? Wasn't that wealth created by commoners?

The Imperial Guard consumed this wealth, existed only because commoners bled and sweated—how could they claim no responsibility toward the Human Empire?

Now, although discrimination against Astartes still existed among the Imperial Guard, discrimination against commoners had greatly diminished.

Sending in those incompetent Inquisitors for a few days of training would be excellent.

A flicker of light passed through Guilliman's eyes: "I think I need—"

"You don't," Zhou Yun interrupted.

Guilliman was different from the Imperial Guard; his labor load far exceeded that of the Imperial Guard now working the fields.

At least in Zhou Yun's memory, it had been a long time since he'd seen Guilliman step away from his piles of documents.

Guilliman let out a faint sigh.

"I haven't found concrete evidence that the Imperial bureaucracy has been infiltrated."

"But I've reviewed every decision and decree issued by the Empire over the past millennium, and I've found clear irrationalities."

"For example, when Cadia fell, the Empire delayed excessively, repeatedly postponing the deployment of Imperial Guard to support Cadia."

"For example, during the Battle of the Lion's Gate, the Empire concentrated nearly all its forces in orbital defense, never anticipating demons appearing directly on Terra."

"For example, those eight critical warp node star systems were handed over to the Black Legion almost without resistance."

"Their decisions often seemed reasonable individually, but collectively they harmed the Empire and benefited the Black Legion."

Guilliman's words made both Sanguinius and Zhou Yun frown slightly.

"So if the High Lords know something, Abaddon knows it too? Does the Soul of Vengeance receive news faster than the Imperial Palace?" Zhou Yun couldn't help asking.

This made Guilliman's expression twitch slightly, but he still had to nod: "The worst possibility is that it's true."

"If not, then the High Lords must all be vermin," Guilliman said with weary resignation.

"Could there be traitors among the High Lords?" Sanguinius asked in a clear voice. "But to sway the High Lord Council's decisions, at least half of them would have to betray the Empire. Could Abaddon truly achieve this?"

"I don't trust the High Lords—not because I believe in Abaddon, but because I don't trust Abaddon's mind."

"I believe each High Lord is psychologically loyal, but politically, a High Lord isn't an individual—they represent an institution and a collective."

Guilliman shook his head slightly.

"I believe some traitors have infiltrated the High Lords' inner circles, embedded themselves in the decision-making layers of various institutions, and manipulated the High Lords into making decisions favorable to the Black Legion and Chaos."

"But that doesn't mean these traitors are directly Abaddon's agents—they could be from other rebellious legions allied with Abaddon."

"Alpha?" Sanguinius murmured. "Or followers of Tzeentch?"

"Did you use the Truth-Error Diviner to confirm?" Zhou Yun asked, stroking his chin.

"I did. I asked the Truth-Error Diviner: Has a traitor infiltrated Terra's administrative system, influencing Imperial policy to serve Chaos or the Black Legion's interests?"

Guilliman spoke with evident frustration.

"But the Truth-Error Diviner gave no answer—meaning this question has no right or wrong."

This wasn't uncommon; many things simply had no clear right or wrong.

"Perhaps the Alphas haven't actually betrayed?" Zhou Yun mused.

"That's even scarier," Sanguinius said calmly. "Better they've betrayed."

"Let Zhou Yun send the Clowns to investigate these matters. Since we've acknowledged they're subhumans, let them do some human work."

As he spoke, Guilliman rearranged the documents in his hands and gestured for Zhou Yun and Sanguinius to turn to the next few pages.

"I need you to visit several High Lords and Sub-Lords, assess whether they're trustworthy, and determine if they should remain in their positions."

"Of course, the truly critical ones are the Master of Assassins, the Inquisition Representative, the Supreme Sister of the Battle Sisters, and the Forge Lord."

"The Grand Admiral, the Solar Lord, and the Commander-in-Chief of the Astra Militarum also require attention, but their structures are looser—they may not command all fleets or armies, so their threat level is much lower."

These were the High Lords and Sub-Lords who held actual military power—the few figures who most directly influenced Guilliman, Sanguinius, and Zhou Yun's rule across Terra and the entire Sol system.

"Visit the other High Lords as well—advise those unsuitable to resign voluntarily, though unconventional methods may be used."

Guilliman continued pointing at the documents.

"The Master of the Astropathic Choir, Kellaprin, is ours. The Master of the Astronomican is dead—I'll appoint a replacement. The Fawu Force is under my control. The Imperial Guard Commander, Trajan, is too."

"The Ecclesiarchy, the Assassins, the Navigator Ambassador, the Navy, and the Astra Militarum—I'll handle them," Sanguinius sighed, clearly dissatisfied with this task.

"The Ecclesiarchy is a headache. Their Pope, Baldur Slesster, is a stubborn conservative," Guilliman warned.

"The Pope met the Archangel Sanguinius, became overjoyed, was summoned by the Emperor, suffered a myocardial infarction, and ascended to the Golden Throne," Sanguinius said flatly.

This was easy to accomplish—just a touch of psychic power. Even if the Pope had an Unmentionable guarding him, it wouldn't stop Sanguinius's psychic abilities.

Then Guilliman turned to Zhou Yun: "You must handle the Supreme Sister of the Battle Sisters and the Forge Lord."

Before Zhou Yun could speak, Guilliman continued: "Both have invited you."

"Supreme Sister Mo Wen Val invites you to visit their monastery, supposedly because of that so-called Holy Maiden."

"Holy Maiden?" Zhou Yun's expression turned slightly odd—he had a vague idea who this Holy Maiden might be.

Zhou Yun nodded slightly and accepted the invitation.

"The Forge Lord Ude Udiya Laski's situation is far more complicated."

"U… what? Ula?" Zhou Yun's expression twitched.

"Ude Udiya Laski," Guilliman repeated the mouthful of a name, still in High Gothic—so complex Zhou Yun couldn't possibly remember it.

"Fine. Forge Lord UUla," Zhou Yun decided to simplify it.

"Forge Lord UUla has lodged a protest against you," Guilliman said wisely, avoiding further argument on this detail. "He accuses you of allowing Belisarius Dola Kaul to spread heresy on Mars, questions whether you intend to interfere in Martian politics, and condemns you for violating the ancient Olympia Accord."

The Olympia Accord was an ancient treaty signed between the Emperor and the high ranks of the Mechanicum.

Its essence was that the Emperor, as sovereign of both the Mechanicum and the Empire, ruled this dual empire—Mechanicum and Empire were not one entity; the Mechanicum possessed nearly complete independence in administration, military, and religious authority, owing allegiance only to the Emperor, not to the Empire.

Just as the Imperial emblem bore a double-headed eagle—one head representing the Empire, the other the Mechanicum—both were equal.

After the Horus Heresy, the Mechanicum reorganized into the Adeptus Mechanicus, theoretically becoming a member of the High Lord Council, yet still retaining vast autonomy under the foundation of the Olympia Accord.

Clearly, Kaul's preaching on Mars had led Forge Lord UUla to believe Zhou Yun's faction was attempting to interfere in Martian affairs—wait, Kaul was preaching? Preaching what?

Zhou Yun's expression froze for an instant. Guilliman caught it.

"You didn't know?" Guilliman raised one eyebrow, his expression strange.

"Should I have known? He never told me!" Zhou Yun's face twisted.

Communication between Mars and Terra was not seamless; Zhou Yun assumed Kaul had gone to Mars to work on the Primaris Space Marines.

Preaching? What the hell was preaching? Why didn't he tell me?

Zhou Yun instantly felt the Arch-Philosopher had been negligent.

"Forget it. Even without Kaul, your own cult will inevitably clash with the Adeptus Mechanicus eventually."

Guilliman sighed.

"The problem now must be resolved by you personally."

"Alright. I'll handle the Battle Sisters and the Adeptus Mechanicus," Zhou Yun rubbed his temples. "What else? The Merchant Prince Representative and the Inquisition Representative?"

The Merchant Prince Representative was easy to handle—he wasn't among the most important High Lords.

The Inquisition Representative, Els, had expressed goodwill toward Zhou Yun and the two Primarchs—perfect, since Zhou Yun wanted to visit the Inquisition anyway, to see if he could extract some people.

A certain infamous Heretic of Khorne might be imprisoned there.

He was Guilliman's former Second Company Captain; now that he knew the Inquisition held him, he'd have to find a way to rescue him.

"After I finish my business here, I'll go to the Inquisition too."

Sanguinius spoke to Zhou Yun.

"There are some things inside the Inquisition I'm concerned about."

(End of Chapter)