Chapter 164: Warhammer: What Do You Mean You Conquered the Zerg

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Protagonist:

Lin En

Lena

Luna's expression turned extremely ugly.

Regent King, meaning Lei Ou could exercise most of the Family Head's authority in the absence of the Supreme King.

Completely conflicting with her position of "Regent King."

Lei Ou would surely fight her to the death in the struggle for family power.

The family resources she could mobilize would shrink by at least one third, and some neutral retainers would choose to wait and see.

But she still had the Machine Cult and......

Those cold machines and creations that obeyed only logic and data would not change sides just because Lei Ou was the legitimate heir.

She still had a chance.

As long as she first took Kal II and became Expedition Marshal.

She could accumulate enough prestige and strength during the expedition.

By then, this Brevis would sooner or later be hers.

The great task of reviving the family still lay in her own hands.

She no longer quarreled with Lin En or Lei Ou, choosing compromise.

When leaving, she gave Lin En one last look.

That gaze carried reluctance and provocation, as if saying.

"We'll see."

The meeting ended unhappily.

The Nobles left in twos and threes, with varied expressions.

Some who had just been on Luna's side now kept their heads down and left quickly.

They were no longer sure whether following Luna's decision was right or wrong.

Lin En also brought Isud and left the meeting room.

Behind him, Lei Ou was speaking in low voices with Knight Galil and the others.

The Holy Knights who had defected to him formed a circle and began discussing the next arrangements.

Gus stood at the doorway and nodded to Lin En.

Lin En returned a smile, affirming Gus's actions this time.

Afterwards they left Saint Saint Galus City Castle together.

When they returned to the Governor's Mansion, the sky had already darkened.

Lin En sat in the office, took off that heavy Power Armor, and changed into casual clothes.

A Tearing Worm crawled out of his sleeve and lay on Lin En's hand.

The little fellow's compound eyes sparkled as it looked at him.

"What do we do next?" Lena's clear and cold voice rang in his mind, with a trace of urgency.

"You don't even have a proper fleet yet."

"That Gothic-class Cruiser meant to be your flagship is still under repair and will take at least half a month to complete."

Lin En rubbed the Tearing Worm's head, watching it shake its head and wag its brain from being rubbed by him, and he laughed happily.

Lena continued:

"My spies at the Spaceport discovered the situation."

"Of the five Cruisers on the Machine Cult's side, three are 'Tyrant-class' of the same tier as the Gothic-class."

Her voice carried worry.

"And their fleet will be able to depart soon."

Lin En listened, looking still not at all anxious.

Seeing Lin En not anxious, Lena became a bit anxious:

"Aren't you anxious? Luna's fleet is so much faster than ours; she'll be able to take Kal II soon!"

Lin En looked at Lena, who was becoming more and more human, and felt somewhat pleased.

He lightly scratched the Tearing Worm's Carapace, and the little fellow comfortably narrowed its compound eyes.

"Lena," he said, "why do you think I'm confident of winning?"

The Tearing Worm scratched its head with its forelegs and shook its head.

Lin En began to explain.

"First," he raised one finger, "Luna will now be held back by Lei Ou."

"Those Holy Knights and retainers who defected to Lei Ou are not mere decorations."

"They will surely create all sorts of trouble for Luna within the family, so that the more legitimate Lei Ou can take the position."

"Mobilizing troops requires review, deploying ships requires reporting; every single thing can delay her by several days."

"Efficiency will be much slower."

The Tearing Worm nodded thoughtfully.

"Second," Lin En raised a second finger, "the Machine Cult is not completely under her control either."

Lin En leaned back against his chair, his gaze growing deep; he knew these oil men too well.

"What do they most want to do right now? Definitely still research STC."

"That thing is inside Saint Saint Galus City Castle, right in their hands, and now Karadong isn't there to restrict them."

"What's the difference between that and a dog seeing warm shit?"

"And think about it—if you were a Sage of the Machine Cult, would you rather put all your energy into helping Luna fight, or stay in the castle researching that STC that could change everything?"

Lena thought for a moment: "Research STC."

"Right." Lin En smiled.

"So the Machine Cult can't possibly give her their all; at most they'll send some troops and some ships, just going through the motions."

"Those Sages and Priests who could truly change the battle situation would definitely choose to stay in the castle."

There was one point Lin En didn't say: even if all of Brevis's Machine Cult were corrupted by Yi Su.

They still couldn't possibly take orders from just one Luna, a little Heretic Champion.

"Third."

He raised his third finger.

"No matter how fast and fierce Luna's fleet is, it can't take Kal II in a short time."

The Tearing Worm tilted its head, curiously waiting for what came next.

Lin En stood up, walked to the wall, and pulled up Kal II's hologram.

That space station now floated at the center of the star map.

Its shape was a giant ring band, its surface neatly covered with all kinds of structures.

Docking hatches, turret arrays, solar sails, and so on.

"This is the previous structure diagram of Kal II."

Then Lin En waved his hand, and that giant ring band turned into an object of roughly elliptical shape.

The structures on its surface became a mess, with many inexplicable additions.

"Look." Lin En pointed at those additions.

"After the Green Skins occupied Kal II, they kept expanding it with scrap; its current volume is about double the original."

Lena looked closely.

"Its current volume is basically equivalent to an asteroid."

"Inside are countless cabins and passages; finding a warboss in such a huge space station is like looking for a needle in the sea."

The Tearing Worm nodded.

"And even if found, he's not easy to kill."

Lin En looked at Lena.

"Luna might know to use a decapitation operation against the Green Skins; after all, that's no secret, and I've already set her an example."

"Shan Pang Guga and Mechanical Public Enemy·Elko were both slain by me."

"But knowing it and being able to do it are two different things."

He continued.

"The Machine Cult has many war machines, as well as fine weapons and ships."

"But they lack elite decapitation units like Space Marines."

"The only strong single-unit units, the Holy Knights, are now tied down by Lei Ou, so Luna has few she can use."

"So even if she luckily finds the warboss, who will kill him? Those Servitors and the Inquisition Army?"

The Tearing Worm shook its head; it was also impossible to rely on those ordinary infantry to kill a warboss four or five meters tall.

"For them, the best method is to directly use a Star Destroyer Weapon—that is, issue an Extermination Order and blow up the whole Kal II."

The Tearing Worm's eyes widened.

"But that not only violates the competition target, and besides, almost no one on this planet can issue an Extermination Order."

Lin En pondered for a moment, then said:

"Inquisitor Sorin counts as one, but she's now barely one of us and can't possibly help Luna."

"There's also a Great Sage of the Machine Cult left here hundreds of years ago, but whether he's dead or alive is unknown."

Lin En spread his hands.

"So you see, no matter how fast Luna's fleet sets out, what good does it do?"