Chapter 190: Defeated by the Primarch, Then Defeated by His Offspring (Part 3)

Per took a deep breath and looked toward the arbitration bench, where three Arbitrators sat, hailing respectively from the Honor Guard, the First Chapter, and the Eleventh Chapter.

Within the entire arbitration hall, there was not a single member from the Adeptus Arbites; Vostonia did not enforce Imperial law, nor was it influenced by the Adeptus Arbites.

Per walked into the defense stand; he was the first Candidate of the Eleventh Chapter to undergo the final assessment, and he had to defend the honor of the Chapter.

The Candidate from the First Chapter looked at his opponent, picked up the Gavel, and struck it once.

"Please, counsel for the prosecution, present your opening statement."

Golowen, who had once been defeated by Ninglu, had graying hair.

After the top Jinpai Lüshi of Teziwoke was defeated by Ninglu, a boy who appeared to be ten years old, he had fallen into a slump; considering himself a failure, he wandered through bars to drown his sorrows.

But just one year later, Ninglu unified Vostonia and was crowned King.

Feeling that he and the King who created miracles were no longer in the same world, Golowen regained his confidence, his career continued to rise, and he became the top lawyer in Vostonia.

Later, after learning that the King was no mere mortal but a Primarch, he was completely relieved.

Today, he did not ask for any defense fees, seeking only to defeat the King's offspring.

Golowen glanced at his giant opponent across the way, took a deep breath, suppressed the fear in his heart, and let his professionalism and desire for victory overcome his fear.

"Your Honor, the defendant Greenwood's laser gun production factory violates Chapter 11, 'Factory Management Regulations,' of the *Omnissiah's Guidance*, specifically Article 11, Rule 5 of the factory management rules."

"Without certification and approval, no process may be altered."

"Unauthorized changes to production processes can create production hazards, and even cause impacts to the Dome, or indeed the entire Hive City."

As Golowen spoke, he operated his Data Slate to pull up a holographic image.

"The A-005 ammunition factory in the lower Hive City once triggered an explosion due to unauthorized changes to production processes, resulting in the Death of four hundred and four workers."

"..."

The Arbitrator watched Golowen's impassioned plea; by the standards of an ordinary person, his performance was excellent.

After the eleven-minute statement, the audience of nobles and merchants applauded thunderously, paying tribute to the Jinpai Lüshi's outstanding presentation.

Golowen looked at his giant opponent with confidence, then said in a deep voice.

"Your Honor, my statement is concluded; I ask that you and the Arbitrators examine this carefully."

The Arbitrator looked at Per and spoke.

"Please, counsel for the defense, present your closing argument."

Per stood up calmly under the gaze of his opponent and the three Order Shadows.

"Arbitrator, three Arbitrators, it is true that Greenwood violated the provisions of the *Omnissiah's Guidance*."

"But when Lord Howard Fender implemented reforms in Vostonia, he added annotations to the *Omnissiah's Guidance*."

"The annotation in Chapter 11 stipulates that if a factory owner can prove that improvements are highly effective after two standard steps of analysis and experimentation, and if no accidents occur during thirty-three experimental runs, the improved process may be used while the report is being approved."

As Per spoke, he operated his Data Slate, displaying data and images one by one.

Golowen's face turned ashen; he realized that this time he might lose to the King's offspring again.

After his last failure, he had mastered two hundred million words of supplementary statutes, yet today he failed because he had not mastered the annotations.

【Five hundred million annotations—only a superman who has undergone Gaizao Shouhu can remember them.】

He looked at Per, and the black-robed giant slowly overlapped with the figure in his memory; he felt a moment of trance.

The Arbiter sighed; victory was important, but the spirit of a fair Arbitrator was more important.

Moreover, he also knew that maintaining impartiality was an important assessment indicator in the Arbitrators' evaluation of him.

He picked up the Gavel and struck it heavily.

"The defendant Greenwood is not guilty!"

Only then did Golowen come to his senses, and he left once again with the footsteps of failure.

Five days later, he would step into the arbitration court again, and the opposing defense lawyer would still be the King's quasi-offspring.

As far as he knew, that was the one thousand one hundred and thirty-third assessment of the Order Shadow's final assessment.

Five minutes later, the audience had all left the arbitration hall.

The member of the Honor Guard from the Fourth Legion revealed a trace of a smile on his stern face.

"Both of you have passed the final assessment; you will receive your own power armor and become true Order Shadows."

Facing the Arbitrator's puzzled gaze, the "Arbiter" from the First Chapter spoke.

"The most critical indicator in evaluating an Arbitrator is to remain unaffected by the eloquence of the prosecution and defense, to resist the temptation to become a Junluanzhanshi, and to always uphold an attitude of impartiality."

"This is the true Arbiter, and it is also the requirement of Lord Howard Fender."

Eleven days later, in the high orbit of Vostonia.

Per Koscielny, wearing black power armor, stood before the viewing window, watching his home world of Vostonia grow smaller and smaller, his heart surging with emotion.

Having just become an official Order Shadow, he could follow the Primarch to participate in the war against the Orcs in the Wheel of Fire System.

At the same moment Per set off for the Wheel of Fire, Weiershier of the Second Chapter had already joined the Shadow of Sovereignty.

As a Terra recruit, he underwent Gaizao Shouhu on the moon; as the second person of his cohort, after completing his initial training, he should have become a Candidate for the "Luna Wolves" like the other top fifteen students.

But before undergoing Gaizao Shouhu, Bradshaw of the "Order Shadow" Eleventh Chapter found him and extended an invitation, and Weiershier felt the instructor's special regard for him.

After Weiershier requested five days to consider, he began to learn everything he could find about the Primarch Ninglu and the Eleventh Legion.

He asked Hollis, another instructor of the "Order Shadow" First Chapter, about the philosophy of the Primarch and the Legion.

The former member of the Primarch's Honor Guard gave him a fairly detailed explanation.

The philosophy of using rules, precision strikes, and establishing order deeply attracted Weiershier.

Compared to the gang culture of the "Luna Wolves," the philosophy of the "Order Shadow" was more attractive to him and better suited him.

He also learned that the King had not only found the first Knight World but also provided supplies for the Great Crusade.

The Primarch leading six Chapters to launch a swift strike against the Spider Alliance simultaneously became a classic battle case discussed in the lunar training base and strategic analysis room.

The instructors' limited knowledge of the battle could not satisfy the curiosity of the Candidates, but it made Weiershier even more interested.

After careful consideration, he finally accepted the invitation from Bradshaw.

Thereafter, Weiershier worried that, based on his own results, he should have been assigned to the Luna Wolves.

Later, by some unknown method of Bradshaw's—Weiershier guessed it involved the exploitation of certain rules and an exchange of interests.

In the end, he and other specially invited boys joined a separate Candidate training camp for the Order Shadow.

As a key training subject for Bradshaw and Hollis, he underwent training far more rigorous than anyone else's.

Space training on derelict warships near Pluto, hunting training in the Underhive of Necromunda, armored vehicle driving training on the plains of an Agricultural World...

Among the final total of 1,133 Candidates, he ranked first in every training program.

Weiershier thus became the only recruit jointly recommended by the two former Honor Guard members, serving as an Honor Guard member to attend to the Primarch.

(End of this chapter)