Chapter 159: The Essential Ritual for a Noble

The huge banquet hall was brilliant.

But Alvin's brain, until this moment, was completely dazed. He didn't expect Valerius to be a Rogue Trader!

Rogue Traders can be traced back to the 30th millennium, appointed by the Primarchs of the Human Empire, military leaders, and the Emperor of Mankind. Their main duty is to open up territory for the Human Empire and explore those unknown areas.

Because Rogue Traders often travel in unknown areas where information exchange is blocked and the Human Empire is difficult to govern, dealing with unknown alien civilizations, and even immigrant planets from the human expedition in the Golden Age, as well as various threats.

Therefore, Rogue Traders have very high freedom of authority.

As long as a Rogue Trader believes that their behavior is in the interest of the Empire, they can even communicate with alien civilizations that are usually prohibited by the Empire in the capacity of a diplomat, trading for appropriate benefits.

Of course... if necessary, Rogue Traders can order private armed forces to carry out reasonable looting, or directly exterminate those weak heretical civilizations!

To summarize, it is one sentence.

Emperor's special permission... act first, report later!

The power of a Rogue Trader is so great that it can be described as a 'feudal official', and even on planets in remote star sectors where Imperial power cannot be exercised, they are the local emperors!

And in the 40th millennium of humanity, Rogue Traders are also the last pioneering and enterprising heart of the Human Empire!

They are both explorers and looters!

To some extent, Rogue Traders are more like the privateer fleets granted permission under the former British Empire!

And not every Rogue Trader family possesses the privilege of 'hereditary succession'. Except for the trade warrants signed by the Emperor himself, Primarchs, and a very small number of High Lords, many Rogue Traders do not have the qualification for hereditary succession.

Rogue Traders who possess the qualification of 'hereditary succession' are often called—Rogue Trader Dynasties!

"Go, child."

While Alvin was dazed, Holn quietly pushed him, letting him stand in the spotlight.

In the banquet hall, the Imperial magnates from all sides focused their gazes on this, the only blood heir of the ancient Valerius Rogue Trader Dynasty!

It can be said that his appearance... saved Valerius!

The Red Cardinal of the Ecclesiarchy sprinkled holy water of blessing on Alvin, chanted the Emperor's prayers, offered blessings from the Ecclesiarchy, and recognized him as the heir to the Emperor's will!

According to ancient Imperial documents, the Valerius Rogue Trader Dynasty can be traced back to the 30th millennium, and its family trade warrant was signed by the Master of Mankind himself!

The name Alvin Valerius will be copied by officials of the Administratum onto blessed parchment and sent to the great Imperial Palace on Terra for preservation!

The priest of the Ecclesiarchy held the scripture parchment and read aloud that, according to the Emperor's will and the results of genetic sequence identification, it was confirmed that Alvin Valerius indeed possessed the direct bloodline of the 'Valerius' Rogue Trader Dynasty!

Holn even personally took out the 'Trade Warrant' issued by the Emperor to his family during the Great Crusade ten thousand years ago.

On the projection that looked like a wall, it was the 'Trade Warrant' that symbolized the family's honor, power, and status from ancient times!

Good guy...

The 'Trade Warrant' issued by the Emperor himself during the Great Crusade, which even left a blood seal of the Master of Mankind on it—the gold content of this thing, I think there is no need to say more, right?

Alvin looked at the holy seal in the projection, as if he could feel the power left by the Emperor!

He had fantasized that his family was very powerful.

But... he never expected that it would be powerful to this extent. No wonder it could pilot a 'Conqueror-class cruiser'; it turned out to be the oldest Rogue Trader Dynasty in the Empire!

Ancient trade warrants like this are estimated to be hard to find a few in the entire Empire at present, which shows how precious they are!

No wonder so many people came!

From the Red Cardinal of the Ecclesiarchy to the Astartes... and don't say, in this banquet hall, the two Astartes Captains probably had the lowest political status.

The Archmagos of the Adeptus Mechanicus sent blessings from the Omnissiah to Alvin and was willing to use the income of an entire industrial world as a modest gift.

Captain Lei Meng of the Watchers Astartes Chapter, representing the absent Chapter Master, was willing to form a deep friendship with him and promised Alvin that no matter where he was in the galaxy in the future, as long as Alvin needed it, they would be willing to work hard, cross the dangerous warp channel, and send all help!

Captain Albert of the Frost Wolf Tooth Chapter also promised a similar commitment, and he even specially found a master-crafted power sword from the Chapter's warehouse as a gift for him.

This master-crafted power sword had once killed a Greater Daemon of Khorne!

The bloodstains on the sword that couldn't be wiped away were the wails of the Greater Daemon of Khorne before it died. Alvin liked it very much and expressed that if there was a chance in the future, he would personally cut off the head of a Greater Daemon of Khorne!

In the extremely cumbersome process, Alvin was like a puppet, let the Red Cardinal of the Ecclesiarchy manipulate him.

It was finally over, and he could finally breathe a sigh of relief. What awaited him next was to act like a 'noble' and have hypocritical conversations with people from all forces.

According to Holn, this is an essential occasion for a Rogue Trader.

They must learn how to unite allies; only in this way can the family continue!

Of course, Alvin also made a friend.

Kalon from the Knight World, it is said that after receiving the distress signal, he ran wildly on the road, but in the end, he didn't catch up.

By the time he arrived at Losel, the cults had been blown to tears by the macro-cannons and were all wiped out by the Astra Militarum. The whole person was just deeply regretful, scolding the heretical Chaos for why they didn't hold on for a few more days and wait for him to arrive before dying—it was just depressed.

"Next time you have any trouble, remember to find me first!" Kalon was about the same age as him, but his face was full of bitterness.

Alvin expressed deep sympathy; he knew some about the cumbersome etiquette of Knight families.

Every day when he wakes up, he kneels in the family's prayer hall and prays to the family history that fills the mountains and seas. This life... is harder than a bitter monk. No wonder every knight, after becoming an adult and owning a Knight suit, wishes the galaxy would fight every day and wishes never to go back.

Alvin agreed and comforted the noble of the Knight family.

Fortunately, he held back, otherwise he would have laughed out loud, and at the same time, he was a bit glad that he was not the heir of a Knight family.

"Hello, I am Charles Gransol."

At this time, an old man suddenly appeared, looking at Alvin kindly, and said slowly: "You might not know me, but you should know my disciple... Winnie Winslet. I am her mentor. Can I ask you a few things?"

Finally, it came... the ultimate obsessive person!

"Of course, respected Inquisitor Gransol."

Alvin swallowed his saliva. Facing the inquiry of an Inquisitor, let alone the heir of a Rogue Trader, even Holn himself would have to deal with it carefully.

"No need to be so nervous, I'm not here to ask for guilt."

Charles Gransol seemed very gentle, smiled and waved his hand, and asked: "I heard from Captain Albert of the Frost Wolf Tooth that you encountered my disciple... Winnie Winslet in the warp, is that right?"

After pondering for a moment, Alvin took a deep breath and nodded: "That's right, Lord Gransol, we did encounter your disciple in the warp."

"That's good... that's good..."

Hearing this, Gransol seemed to have aged a lot in an instant, a trace of relief appearing in his eyes: "As long as she is alive, as long as she is alive, then I can rest assured."

Alvin looked at Gransol's desolate expression, opened his mouth, and hesitated: "You... don't want to ask what happened?"

Gransol sighed deeply and shook his head bitterly: "If I ask, what is the meaning?"

No matter what... Winnie, after all, kept her life; this is already the greatest fortune in misfortune.

As for more... he, as an Inquisitor of the Empire, knows very well what things can be asked, and what things... are absolutely not to be asked.

"Excuse me, do you need wine?"

Just as the two were talking, the waiter beside them lowered his head, holding wine and approaching the two.

"Uh, no need, thank you." Alvin didn't care too much and waved his hand, indicating that he didn't need it.

But the Inquisitor Gransol beside him suddenly frowned, as if he had noticed something, suddenly raised his hand to push Alvin out, and roared loudly: "Be careful, there is an assassin!"

There is an assassin?!

At this moment, Alvin's brain was completely chaotic.

The lively banquet atmosphere was lowered to the freezing point by this sound. In everyone's astonished gaze, Gransol pulled out the bolter he carried with him and aimed at the waiter.

Without half a word of nonsense, this mature and experienced Inquisitor pulled the trigger directly!

He believed in his judgment incomparably, but the waiter holding the wine tray, after noticing that he was exposed, directly threw away the silver tray, lowered his body to dodge a few bullets, his legs exploded with strength, like a hunting cheetah, a fierce killing intent revealed in his eyes, and he instantly pounced on Alvin!

This scene happened too fast, so that everyone present didn't react.

That was an assassin who had undergone specialized training, and his movements were very agile. At such a close distance, even the Astartes couldn't rescue him in time.

Alvin's pupils shrank. Just as he was about to use psychic power to repel the assassin, he suddenly felt a violent nausea, as if his soul was being swallowed, and heavy illusions appeared before his eyes. A thought suddenly popped up in his mind: "Bad, encountered a soulless one!"

The other party seemed to know him extremely well, and even specially sent a soulless one, this assassin who restrains psychics.

In the horrified gazes of Holn, the Red Cardinal of the Ecclesiarchy, the Archmagos of the Adeptus Mechanicus, the Grand Inquisitor, the Astartes Captain, and others, the assassin used all his strength to stab a dagger covered with a kinetic field fiercely into Alvin's chest!

Two more chapters, still ten thousand words today~ I hope there will be fierce subscriptions, smash me with monthly tickets~ ===== CHAPTER 160 =====