Chapter 275: Rejecting Manus's Suggestion

After returning to Vostonia, Ninglu had Gabriel represent him to accompany Ferrus Manus on a tour of the factories.

It should have been the Primarch Attendant Arsena Dunn representing him, but since the target was Manus, the Master of Ordnance was more suitable.

Immediately after, Ninglu returned to the palace and summoned the "Assassin" Maria Kurnikova.

"My Lord," Maria smiled bitterly, "even if I screen with the strictest standards in Voskonia, there is no one in this world who can be labeled as your opponent."

"The last target we assassinated was eleven months ago."

Maria felt that it might not be long before her assassin organization lost its meaning to Ninglu.

"No need to worry," Ninglu looked down at Maria, "I have many enemies who need assassins to deal with for me."

Maria's face lit up with joy, and just as she was about to ask, a massive amount of information suddenly flooded into her mind.

【Ritual... Black Emperor?】

As she was thinking this, a voice echoed in her mind.

"Perform the ritual, and you shall receive revelation."

"As you command..." Maria's long golden braids fell, "My Lord."

Maria then returned to Teziwoke Hive City.

Yelena had already moved the Kurnikova Family's headquarters to the political center of Vostonia—Exemplar City—but Maria still kept her base in Teziwoke.

This was the place where Lord Ninglu started his rise.

Compared to the past, this Hive City had changed tremendously.

On one hand, in addition to the hive dwellers who had lived in Shangchao for generations, there were now some residents from the Lower Hive.

On the other hand, the barriers between various factories, and even between various Hive Cities, had been broken.

The Mag-trans physically connected the factories, and with the support of the Monarch, Yelena broke down the barriers of ideology, allowing various industries to be organically integrated.

The "Assassin" slipped into the shadows, avoiding the gazes of the hive dwellers, and returned to the Assassin Temple.

The Assassin Temple was built three hundred and fifty meters underground, constructed using marble as the material.

The surface was disguised as a warehouse for the Kurnikova Family, and purchased food and other daily supplies were all stored in the warehouse.

When Tsvetana and Dementieva saw Maria return, they approached with anticipation.

Maria glanced at the assassin apprentices training around them; they had not yet received the power bestowed by the Black Emperor, as only the three of them had received it.

"We will talk later."

The three walked into a secret room, and after closing the door, Tsvetana activated the Shielding Field, and Dementieva asked impatiently.

"Lord Ninglu, what are your instructions?"

Tsvetana also looked at Maria with concern; since Lord Ninglu returned to the Imperium and took control of the Astartes Legion, he had not assigned them any tasks.

Every day they could only strictly train apprentices, listen for the remnants of the kings of various Hive Cities and the various families that had lost their interests, and find targets to take the initiative to strike.

But in the last three years, they had rarely been able to find targets, and Tsvetana even worried that the Assassin Temple, having lost its reason for existence, would soon perish.

"My Lord..." Tsvetana frowned slightly, feeling that Maria's tone seemed somewhat different from usual, "ordered us to hold a ritual."

"A ritual, what ritual?" Dementieva asked in confusion.

"My Lord..." Maria looked at the two, her tone deep and profound: "It is the Black Emperor; we must offer pious prayers to receive His revelation."

"..."

After Maria explained to the two, Tsvetana and Dementieva felt invigorated; they finally saw hope and the opportunity to continue serving Lord Ninglu—no, the Black Emperor.

The three immediately organized the assassin apprentices and began to build the Altar.

After fifteen work cycles, the Altar was completed.

Maria used the Ritual Dagger to create a closed Spirituality exchange and knelt in the center, while Tsvetana and Dementieva knelt on her sides respectively.

They chanted in unison using the Dunn Language they had just partially learned:

"Black Emperor of the Order Shadow,

I pray for Your gaze.

I pray for You to bestow upon me revelation, let me understand how to serve You.

'Iron Law of the Monarch', the foundation of the Disordered Kingdom, please transmit the power to my incantation."

Invisible power surged within the Altar, causing the candlelight to flicker.

Not until they chanted for the fifth time did black mist emerge, enveloping their bodies.

When the three regained their senses, they discovered they had arrived in a mysterious space.

While they were in Shock, Ninglu, who was positioned high above, spoke.

"Drink the Potion; this is the power I bestow upon you to advance further."

Ninglu did not immediately drag them into the "Kingdom of Disorder"; it was he who ordered the space monkeys to concoct the Potion for the Assassin's subsequent Sequence 8, "Instigator".

Upon hearing this, Maria and the others bowed excitedly and said: "Thank you, My Lord, for the bestowal!"

They had long since become true "Assassins", but they had waited for years without receiving new tasks or new powers.

The long wait finally ended today, and they did not hesitate to pick up the purple Potion floating on the black mist before them and drank it in one gulp.

A moment later, the three gathered their power and whispered: "'Instigator'."

Ninglu nodded, and he said majestically: "On Terra, there is a force that fabricates and slanders the 'Order Shadow'."

"Your mission is to assassinate them and use your new abilities to incite them to defect."

"As you command, My Lord," Maria replied joyfully.

"I will certainly punish those evil ones." Dementieva's eyes were full of killing intent; she could not wait to use her blade to inflict punishment upon them.

"Besides giving them the punishment of Death, you must also unearth the talents among their subordinates," Ninglu said.

The subsequent Sequence 7 "Witch" of the "Instigator" can manipulate black flames and frost, and master abilities such as invisibility; when the time comes, Ninglu will have them follow the Legion's operations.

"As you command, my Lord." Maria accepted the order, and Ninglu spoke his final words.

"In three days, the Frigate Vostonia's Glory will depart for Terra; you are to infiltrate the ship and head to Terra."

Having finished speaking, Ninglu severed the connection with the three, and they vanished into the black mist.

He then arrived at the third-level space and discovered that the Prophecy Dice had finished "recharging" and could be used for a new Divination.

Ninglu did not perform the Divination immediately; he first returned to the palace, summoned the Primarch Attendant Arsena Dunn, and issued him an order.

"Select a squad of Order Shadow with leadership potential and head to Terra to provide protection for the Visher Family."

The Primarch Attendant was stunned for a moment; the Black Emperor's order was not part of the previous agreement with the Navigator family.

"As you command." Seeing that the Black Emperor had no intention of explaining, he did not ask and instead replied.

"Lord Manus has finished his tour of Vostonia and is on his way back; he will arrive in one standard hour."

"Prepare for the reception." After Ninglu gave the order, the Primarch Attendant followed the Primarch's command to execute it.

One standard hour later, Gabriel accompanied Ferrus Manus as he walked into the palace.

Ninglu rose to welcome him, and after they were seated in the reception area.

Manus took a sip of black tea and praised: "Good tea. At first taste, it is slightly salty and fresh, and upon closer tasting, it is rich and mellow; the layers are distinct, yet it is a harmonious whole."

"Grosseto is the island with the greatest diurnal temperature variation in the Cradle of the Sea, and this is the top-grade black tea it produces."

"Arsena, prepare ten jin for Manus."

The Primarch Attendant immediately went to make the selection, and Manus looked at Ninglu, speaking in a voice like lead being poured.

"Thank you for your gift."

His silver-coin-like eyes flickered, "What amazes me more than the tea is the efficiency of Vostonia."

"I heard my father mention that Vostonia's factories bring a happy life and hope to the people, and can also possess efficiency comparable to Mechanicus factories, which makes me very curious."

"Then have you found the answer?" Ninglu asked.

"The laws you have established are the institutional guarantee, the execution by the Order Shadow and mortal politicians is the safeguard, and the abundant produce of the Cradle of the Sea is the material foundation."

"The Mechanicus is unwilling to implement the same system in their Forge Worlds, and providing produce is an act that consumes resources."

Manus did not mention other worlds of the Imperium; such resource supply was also a "waste" of resources for the Imperium, and the supplies needed to maintain the Great Crusade had already left Malcador exhausted.

"What surprises me most is, according to my observations and quantitative comparison with the factories on Terra."

"The final calculation result is that the resources consumed receive corresponding compensation."

"In other words, the enthusiasm of the workers is mobilized by the system you implemented, and the increase in efficiency is close to the resources consumed."

Manus's silver-coin eyes lit up with brilliance: "Besides those three determining factors, two other factors are indispensable."

"I heard that your Arbiter Lord formulated the detailed rules and implemented them first in the Hantemansi Dome."

"Your First Chapter and Eleventh Chapter, the traits possessed by the Order Shadow, ensure the realization of all systems."

After Manus praised him, he put forward his own hypothesis.

"Although the efficiency of Vostonia is amazing, I believe it can still be improved."

"Let the Vostonians compete fully, and let a small portion of people obtain the current benefits instead of letting everyone receive them; I think the efficiency will further increase."

"On Medusa, I adopt a similar strategy; only a few people can obtain the right to a comfortable life."

"No," Ninglu decisively refused, unwilling to deprive the majority of their benefits in pursuit of efficiency, and this strategy would also cause the Vostonians' desire for reproduction to decline.

The way Manus almost plundered populations from other worlds was even less appropriate, and he said: "That is not the Vostonia I want."

Black eyes met silver-coin eyes, and after a moment, Manus stood up.

"Your world, you decide."

"I am returning to Medusa."

After the Primarch Attendant and the Master of Ordnance represented Ninglu in seeing Ferrus off, he began to ponder what to use the Prophecy Dice to divine.

(End of chapter)