Chapter 115: A Single Thought of Defection—Heaven and Earth Instantly Broaden!

Gray’s approach was undoubtedly correct.

Lock down the news of the Upper Nest’s breach—otherwise, if the Defense Force, Riot Control Teams, or the Fawu Force found out that the Upper Nest had already been infiltrated by the cult, and that the passages were sealed entirely to prevent further contamination, morale would collapse completely!

Rather than let everyone sink into fear and panic, it’s better to direct all blame squarely at the Upper Nest nobles—after all… Gray knew well that, at this moment, people would instinctively assume nobles were cowards who sealed the Nest to save their own skins.

The facts proved Gray’s speculation accurate.

Even Alvin, having been reborn here, would at first glance think nobles were vermin, cowardly trash who sealed the Nest to let outsiders die.

But what was the truth?

It was the heads of the great families who, upon realizing the cult and the Chaos Octagram had appeared within the Upper Nest, instantly issued a final order to the planetary Defense Force stationed outside: hold at all costs—and then, to prevent Chaos from spreading, they decisively sealed the Upper Nest.

Like a giant “can,” they locked away every noble, every Chaos entity, every cultist inside!

Alvin didn’t know how many nobles volunteered, but… the noble who gave that order undoubtedly possessed immense resolve!

To this day, the Empire, battered by war and chaos, has lumbered forward like a broken carriage for ten thousand years—it seems ready to fall apart at any moment, yet… countless humans, endlessly numerous, willingly sacrifice their lives as foundation stones, just to keep this broken carriage moving!

Undeniably, the Empire teems with vermin.

But equally undeniable: countless humans still cling to the beliefs of the Human Empire, willing to die for it, inheriting the Emperor’s will!

“I’m sorry… I…”

Alvin suddenly choked up, unsure what to say.

He seemed to grasp, just a little, why humanity had endured for tens of thousands of years in this galactic cesspool.

“When you get out of here, forget everything I just said. Understood?”

After unburdening his heart, Gray seemed much lighter; his furrowed brows relaxed as he smiled faintly: “Don’t look so grim. We’ll all die—maybe tomorrow, maybe the day after—but not now!”

“You… are truly powerful, Commissar.”

Alvin looked at Gray, genuinely admiring him.

Even in such despair, he still rallied himself, commanded the troops, and lifted everyone’s spirits!

“No, the powerful one has never been me—it’s humanity!” Gray laughed proudly: “Humanity is the greatest race! We forged the stars, we fought Chaos—ten thousand years ago, and ten thousand years from now… it’s still the same!”

“Commissar, do you really believe… we can win?”

Alvin had no idea where this Commissar drew his confidence—he seemed to snap back from any depth of despair, instantly passing hope to those around him.

“I swear to you—we, no, humanity, the Empire—will defeat the heretics!” Gray gazed at the stars, pointing toward a distant point in the endless galaxy: “Look—that direction is my homeworld… Cadia.”

Alvin followed his finger. He saw nothing.

Of course—heaven forbid you could see anything across the Great Rift.

“There, we fought the heretics! The Chaos!”

His voice rose sharply, his eyes burning like fire: “One day, I swear—I believe we’ll return, we’ll fight our way back. Not now, but in the future!”

“You asked me why I have faith?”

He turned to Alvin, each word deliberate: “Because I’ve seen worse days—when my homeworld was torn apart by Chaos, when vast fleets descended. I was desperate… but despair meant nothing!”

“Kid, I don’t know if you truly survived by the Emperor’s miracle…” Gray clenched his fist and slammed it against his chest: “But I choose to believe it was the Emperor’s miracle. Don’t let me down… kid!”

When Alvin stepped out of the room, he instinctively gripped the rose emblem—the sharp edges dug painfully into his palm.

His face twisted in bitterness as he stared at the pure skull on the emblem, whispering to himself: “Now, even if I wanted to be a coward, I’ve lost the right—how could I be worse than those nobles I’ve always despised?”

…

Upper Nest, the Cathedral of the Imperial Creed.

Demons, summoned by the Chaos Octagram and pouring endlessly through the rifts it tore between the Warp and the material universe, were furiously assaulting this last sacred sanctuary!

“Hold! You must hold at all costs!”

An elderly man, wearing a dueling sword, screamed hoarsely: “We cannot let these damned Chaos fiends invade this last sanctuary! We will not surrender control of the Upper Nest to Chaos!”

“We can’t hold! We can’t!”

A richly dressed noble, his body bloated like a ball, sprinted to the old man and fell to his knees, clutching his leg: “Father, please… let me go! We still have a chance!”

“GET OUT!!!”

The old man’s eyes bulged; he drew his bolter and pointed it at the noble’s head: “Whoever speaks another word, I’ll blow his brains out! No retreat! We are the Empire’s nobles! Against Chaos, we fight to the death—to shed the last drop of blood for the Emperor!”

If this place fell, control of the entire Upper Nest would pass to Chaos.

Then, demons flooding out of the Upper Nest, attacking from both sides, would seize the entire Hive City and perform a horrific Chaos ritual!

He absolutely would not let this happen!

The situation in the Upper Nest was far more dire than in the Middle Nest!

Countless demons poured through the Warp rifts torn open by the Chaos Octagram—had the great noble families not hoarded powerful weapons, they would have been wiped out in one wave!

Even so, the Upper Nest was no Imperial Guard force, no Forge World—its military strength was limited, and under the demons’ relentless assault, only this Cathedral of the Imperial Creed remained.

“By the name of Meyer, I… Carneon Meyer, shall not betray the Divine Emperor!”

Carneon kicked the fat noble aside, glared at the other nobles cowering inside the cathedral, and shouted: “For the Empire! For the Divine Emperor! We will fight Chaos to the death, until our last drop of blood!”

The kicked noble slunk away from the cathedral—but few noticed the hatred flickering in his eyes.

Why?

He was Meyer’s heir, the noble Mathis Meyer—why should he die for the trash of the Lower and Middle Nests?!

Hiding in the shadows behind the cathedral, he stared with dark, furious, resentful eyes at his father directing auxiliary legions against Chaos—and a terrible thought slowly surfaced.

It felt as if a voice whispered softly in his ear:

“You are noble Mathis Meyer—you should not die for those Diceng trash.”

“If so…”

“Why not kill the one who stops you?”

“Join the great Chaos—you need never fear the Emperor’s servants again, and you… will gain eternal life, becoming greater than Carneon Meyer!”

Mathis’s breathing grew rapid; his bloodshot eyes locked onto his father—Carneon Meyer—across the hall.

He understood.

Whom he served didn’t matter.

Old man, I’m joining Chaos!

Thank you to “Chong Luan” and “Reader20181117103609316” for your generous donations~ No words needed—just a bow. I’m off to stockpile drafts. It’s mentally exhausting—I feel I delete seven or eight thousand words of trash every day.