Chapter 153: Warhammer: What Do You Mean You Conquered the Bug Race

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Protagonist:

Lin En

Lena

"By the way," Lena suddenly said, "Lei Ou is still alive."

"What?"

"News from the Cold Soldiers." Lena's voice carried a subtle emotion.

"He escaped into the Ice Plains with his Bodyguards, pursued by Aiden."

"I sent the Savage Cavalry and Cold Soldiers to rescue him, and had Quinn help as well."

She paused: "In the end, Quinn and Aiden perished together."

This was somewhat unexpected to Lin En.

"As for the Forbidden Wall side," Lena continued.

"The generals of the Noble Council suddenly rebelled, claiming you and your subordinates defected to Chaos."

"Most of the Vanguard Army didn't believe it, but some Noble Private Soldiers did, or rather they had been prepared for civil war from the start, and the two sides began fighting."

"The lower-ranking officers under my control quickly organized troops, some staying to fight the Rebel Army, some charging out of the Forbidden Wall to find Lei Ou."

"Now fighting continues on the Forbidden Wall side, but the Rebel Army isn't large and shouldn't hold out much longer."

Listening to Lena's account, complex emotions surged in Lin En's heart.

He was trapped in Saint Saint Galus City Castle, controlled by Calum, and out of contact with Lena; all told, it had been only a few hours.

But in those few hours, how much had Lena done?

Upon discovering she couldn't contact him, she immediately realized something was wrong.

She did not impulsively lead the Bug Swarm to storm the Main Hive, which would expose everything and waste time.

She chose the smartest way, finding Carter, finding Goodwin, having the State Religion step in.

Activating the Chicken Thief Network, gathering intelligence nonstop, directing lower-ranking officers to fight the Rebel Army and stabilize the Forbidden Wall.

At the same time dispatching Wildmen and Cold Soldiers to cross dozens of kilometers of Ice Plains to rescue Lei Ou.

Controlling Quinn to arrive at the critical moment, trading his life for Lei Ou's.

And all of this was done alone by her after she lost contact with him.

Lin En's eye sockets felt a little hot.

To have such a worthy wife, what more could a husband ask for.

He lowered his head, looking at the Miniature Shredder Worm on his shoulder.

The little fellow shrank into his collar, exposing only two tiny compound eyes, watching him.

"Lena," he silently recited in his heart.

"Hmm?" that clear and cold female voice responded.

A thousand words, finally reduced to one sentence:

"Fortunately I have you, thank you."

The Shredder Worm's compound eyes narrowed, and several pink bubbles invisible to the naked eye, perceptible only to Lin En, rose above its head.

Isud beside him also wore a faint smile on his face.

That smile was fleeting, but Lin En caught it.

He smiled too.

After the memorial service ended, Lin En found Goodwin.

The Archbishop stood at the edge of the Square, watching the Pastors and Sisters wrapping up.

His face showed fatigue, but more so relief.

"Archbishop," Lin En walked over, "I'd like to ask you some things."

Goodwin glanced at him and nodded.

The two walked to a relatively quiet corner.

Isud stood not far away, appearing to keep watch, actually using psychic perception to check if anyone was eavesdropping nearby.

"Regarding the Saint Saint Galus City Family," Lin En got straight to the point, "especially Lei Ou's matter."

Goodwin sighed.

"What do you want to ask?"

"Lei Ou was clearly fighting at the Forbidden Wall, how could he be charged with 'defecting to Chaos'?"

"Do his military achievements, his prestige, the soldiers who followed him through life and death, count for nothing?"

Goodwin remained silent for a while before speaking.

His voice was somewhat tired, carrying the helplessness of seeing through worldly affairs.

"Xiao Ke Li, you don't understand Saint Saint Galus City."

"Or rather, you don't see Brevis clearly enough."

Lin En said nothing, waiting for him to continue.

"Since I took the position of Archbishop, the Machine Cult has been suspicious."

Goodwin's gaze looked toward the distance, the direction of Saint Saint Galus City Castle, and also the direction of the Machine Cult Temple.

"But they answer to neither the State Religion nor the Empire."

He paused, then asked, "Do you know what Brevis used to be?"

"An industrial world," Lin En answered.

"Right, an industrial world, it's the Machine Cult's turf."

"To put it bluntly, we people of the Empire are just picking up their leftovers."

"If the Machine Cult hadn't delegated authority, we'd never have gotten our hands on Brevis."

Lin En listened quietly.

"Originally, the Machine Cult was about to pull out hundreds of years ago."

"After all, the mines were exhausted and the factories moved away; there was no point staying here, but..."

"The Saint Saint Galus City Family arrived," Lin En interjected.

"Right, and they discovered something."

Goodwin looked at Lin En, and in those eyes that could always see through everything, there was some pity.

"You know what it is, right?"

Lin En nodded: "STC."

Goodwin grunted, then continued.

"When STC appeared in the modern world, the Machine Cult came back like sharks smelling blood."

"They promised that as long as they could study the STC, they would provide technical support to Holy Bear Galus and no longer covet the Empire's sovereignty over Brevis."

"So the current situation is this: the Machine Cult is independent of the Imperial system, with its own armed forces, its own resources, and its own technology."

"They brought many benefits to Brevis, but at the same time..."

He didn't finish, but Lin En understood what he meant.

"When a group of people have their own armed forces, their own resources and technology, and are not under Imperial jurisdiction, no one can stop them from doing whatever they want."

"And," Goodwin continued.

"Every Saint Saint Galus City lord responsible for liaising with the Machine Cult eventually leans toward the Machine Cult."

"They will try every means to seize the great power of Saint Saint Galus City."

Lin En's pupils shook violently.

He remembered something.

Luna was the Technical Lord, responsible for liaising with the Machine Cult.

Calum was the Internal Affairs Lord, and had close ties with the Nobles.

Alistair was the War Lord, and died in battle two years ago.

"Archbishop," Lin En's voice was a little tight, "was there something wrong with Alistair's death?"

Goodwin glanced at him, but did not answer directly.

"Two years ago, Dolido erupted with Green Skins."

"Alistair led the army on campaign, and once almost defeated Big Stomach Liang Ge Na."

"At that time, everyone thought he would win."

"But, unfortunately," Goodwin shook his head.

"Unfortunately what?"

Goodwin sighed.

"In a key battle, Alistair went mad."

Lin En was a little confused.

"Mad?"

"Right, mad."

"In that battle, humanity was supposed to lose; there were too many Green Skins, too many to kill."

"But Alistair piloted a 'Foot Zhang Si' Knight Mecha and fought to the death without retreating."

"He alone charged into the Green Skin Army and slew who knows how many enemies, even once almost single-handedly slaying Lianggenna."

"But..."

Goodwin's voice grew low.

"Midway through the fight, people discovered that the Knight Mecha possessing infinite power had grown flesh and blood."

Lin En's brain went "buzz."

"Lord of Rage," he blurted out.

Goodwin nodded.

Lin En's mouth corner began to twitch.

He thought of Calum, a believer of Lord of Lust, pursuing ultimate pleasure.

And Luna, probably a sorcerer of Yi Su, cunning, scheming, playing intrigues in the palm of her hand.

Now another Alistair had appeared, blessed by Khorne, mad and bloodthirsty.

One family, three children, each pledging to three different Chaos Evil Gods.

"Damn, Khorne's eldest son, Yi Su's eldest daughter, Lord of Lust's youngest son; those who know think it's a Knight Family, those who don't think it's a Chaos nest."

Lin En complained in his heart.

He looked at Goodwin, his gaze somewhat complex.

Goodwin understood his thoughts and gave a bitter smile.

"So you understand now? Lei Ou was framed with this charge, and no one will find it surprising."

"If it weren't for Karadong's favoritism before, he should have been sentenced to this charge long ago."

Lin En was silent for a moment, then asked the final question:

"What about Karadong? Do you think he's still alive?"

Goodwin looked toward the direction of the castle and remained silent for a long time.

Finally, he softly sighed.

"I can feel it. That old coot won't die so easily."

"But I don't know where he is."

Lin En nodded thoughtfully.