Chapter 132: Warhammer: What Do You Mean You Conquered the Zerg

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Protagonist:

Lin En

Lena

"I don't eat beef."

Old Went's smile froze.

Eddie closed his eyes; he didn't have the courage to watch what happened next.

Gus drew his Explosive Bullet Pistol from his waist and pressed the Gun Mouth against Old Went's forehead.

"Y-you, who are you?!" Old Went's voice carried panic.

"Me?" Gus smiled even more happily.

"I'm the subordinate of that 'Dog Governor' you just cursed, the Deputy Officer of that 'beast among beasts' in your mouth."

Old Went's eyes widened, full of terror.

"No, impossible, Eddie! Eddie!!!"

Eddie slumped onto the sofa, silent.

Bang.

The explosive bullet shot out, and Old Went's head blasted open.

Fresh blood and brain matter splattered onto that bowl of beef noodles still steaming with heat.

The Green Skin Corpse fell straight backward, crashing onto the Floor.

Gus put away his gun and looked at Eddie.

"Now, let's talk about your family assets."

More than ten minutes later, Gus walked out the Door while wiping his hands.

"Not one left." He said coldly.

Gunshots and a woman's screams rang out at the same time, not stopping for a whole night.

When Gus's Vehicle stopped at the Doorway of Holstein Manor, the sky had already darkened.

This manor was much larger than Went's home, with towering walls and tightly closed iron gates.

Two men in Holstein Family Private Army Uniforms stood at the Doorway; seeing the Carriage approach, they immediately gripped their guns warily.

"Who goes?!"

Gus poked his head out of the carriage window, shaking a Document in his hand.

"Special Envoy of the Governor's Mansion, ordered to receive Holstein Family assets."

The private soldiers exchanged glances, and one took the Document to look at it.

It bore the dual seals of the Governor's Mansion and the State Religion.

The Door opened.

The Vehicle drove into the manor and stopped in front of the main building.

Gus got out and adjusted his collar.

There were still bloodstains on his formal attire, but he didn't change, walking into the Hall dressed like that.

The Hall was empty, with only one person.

A woman.

She sat on a Chair below the main seat, wearing black mourning clothes, head bowed.

Hearing footsteps, she raised her head, revealing a face too beautiful.

Her features were deep, bearing heroic spirit, unlike those pampered Noble Ladies, but rather like a soldier who had been on the Battlefield.

But at this moment her eyes were red and swollen, tears still flowing down.

Stella Farrell.

Arumi Holstein's wife, daughter of a military family, former PDF Combat Hero, now a new widow.

Her husband had just been taken away by people from the Governor's Mansion; regarding this new Governor, she had heard of him.

Now, the whole family believed her husband was already dead.

Gus walked to In Front of her, looking down at her.

"Lady Stella?"

She didn't answer, just turned her head away and continued crying.

Gus sat down opposite her, crossed his legs, and stared at her.

Voluptuous, beautiful, heroic, and that stubborn streak of not admitting defeat.

He found he couldn't move his eyes away.

"I'm here to inventory assets; please cooperate."

Stella still ignored him.

Gus waited a while, then stood up and began pacing in the Hall.

Portraits of past Family Heads hung on the wall, one of which was a young Arumi Holstein, wearing a PDF General Uniform.

Beside it was a portrait of a woman, wearing Power Armor, holding a Chain Sword, full of spirit.

That was Stella when she was young.

He stopped in front of that portrait and looked for a long time.

"Have you ever fought in a war?"

Stella finally spoke, her voice choked with tears: "None of your business."

Gus looked back at her and smiled.

"Indeed none of my business. I'm just curious—how does someone who's fought in a war end up sitting here crying in a place like this?"

Stella suddenly lifted her head and glared at him.

Gus had already turned and walked away.

After returning to the Governor's Mansion, the first thing Gus did was pull up the Holstein Family's files.

Arumi Holstein, current Family Head of the Holstein Family.

PDF Lieutenant General, who performed outstandingly in campaigns against the Chaos Great Enemy, with brilliant military achievements.

Retired at fifty, granted Noble of Upper City status.

Spouse: Stella Farrell, eldest daughter of the family.

The Farrell Family has served in the military for generations; her elder brother died in the Xenos War.

She enlisted at sixteen, was promoted to company commander at twenty, and at twenty-three participated in the "Fang of the Ice Plains" operation.

Leading three hundred remnant soldiers, she successfully broke through the encirclement and received the Brevis Cross Medal.

Gus's finger stopped on that line of text.

The Brevis Cross Medal—an honor only those who truly set foot on the battlefield and earned military merit could receive.

He continued reading.

The file recorded that Stella married Arumi at twenty-five, and not long after the wedding she left military service, moving with her husband to Upper City to become a "Noble Lady."

After that, no further combat records.

Gus closed the file and leaned back against the chair.

What does it feel like for someone accustomed to the flash of blades and swords to suddenly be locked in an exquisite cage?

What does it feel like for someone who could kill enemies on the battlefield to suddenly only attend banquets, drink tea, and gossip with other noble ladies?

He thought of Stella's red, swollen eyes, and the suppressed flame deep in her gaze.

He smiled.

Three days later, Gus appeared at Holstein Manor again.

This time he didn't wear that blood-stained formal dress, but changed into a brand-new Noble Uniform.

His chest was covered with medals—some from before, and some earned fighting alongside Lin En at the Forbidden Wall.

His beard was cleanly shaved, revealing that originally handsome face.

Stella sat in the Hall, still wearing black mourning clothes, but this time she lifted her head and glanced at him.

Gus walked over and sat down opposite her.

"Again?" Stella's voice was cold.

Gus didn't reply, just sighed.

"This Governor is really no good—he doesn't care at all whether my conscience hurts for doing these things."

Stella was stunned for a moment, then her eyes filled with wariness.

"You're cursing him?"

"What's wrong with cursing him? He can't hear anyway."

Stella stared at him for a while, then spoke on her own initiative for the first time: "What's your name?"

"Gus, Gus Griffith."

"Griffith—the Deputy Officer on the Xian Ge Hao?"

"You know?"

Stella nodded.

"I heard Arumi say that that spineless governor who rose by his wife has a spineless deputy officer beside him who rose by flattery."

Gus smiled: "That's right, it's me."

"You're honest." Stella's gaze grew more complex.

"Honesty is my strength. Another strength is that I know I'm a good-for-nothing, so I follow capable people to learn."

He paused, his tone dropping somewhat:

"Unlike some people, born good-for-nothings, yet thinking they're naturally meant to be above others."

Stella said nothing, but the wariness in her eyes lessened a little.

Gus began to tell his own story.

He spoke of being born into a general's family, how his ancestors were glorious and his father's generation mediocre.

By his generation, only an empty title remained, all power divided cleanly among distant relatives.

"When I was twelve, I wanted to learn swordsmanship, but couldn't even afford a decent sword."

"Before my mother died, she wanted to eat a piece of synthetic protein. I begged for three days, and in the end got nothing."

Stella's eyes reddened.

"Then what?"

"Then? Then I learned to flatter, learned to curry favor with the powerful, learned to be a 'good-for-nothing deputy officer.'"

"Because only that way could I survive, could I climb up."

He looked at Stella.

"Do you hate me?"

Stella remained silent for a long time.

「I don't know. 」

Gus nodded, knowing there was a chance.

He poured two cups of wine and pushed one to her.

Stella held the wine cup, staring at the red liquid inside for a long time.

She then slowly sipped it, and after a few mouthfuls,

a glimmer appeared in her eyes as she began slowly recounting the past.

She spoke of her father, that old general who always wore a stern face, and of her brother, that young man who took a bullet for her on the Ice Plains.

She spoke of the fear and excitement when she first went to the battlefield at sixteen.

She spoke of the despair and perseverance at twenty, when she led three hundred remnant soldiers to break out and crawled through the snow for three days and three nights.

「When I received the Cross of Honor, I thought this was how my life would be.

Fight, earn merit, keep fighting, keep earning merit.

Until one day I died on the battlefield, just like my brother. 」

Gus listened quietly.

「Then I met Arumi, who had just come down from the battlefield, covered in blood, but his eyes shone like stars. 」

「He said he loved me, said he wouldn't let me die on the battlefield, said he had prepared a home for me. 」

She raised the wine cup and drank it down in one gulp.

「Then I was trapped in this home, and Arumi... grew tired of life on the battlefield. 」

「And Father feared I would follow in my brother's footsteps, so I gradually distanced myself from the battlefield. 」