The Emperor’s Angel of Death

Soshjan's mix of praise and criticism left Rozim somewhat bewildered. After a moment of hesitation, he mumbled:

"This, well, Chapter Master, I've never managed a place this big before."

"Before I became Chapter Master for the first time, I was just a Guardsman. You, at least, manage a kitchen system for over a thousand people. It's not like you have to do everything yourself in the city. You have so many officials under you. Oh, I forgot to mention, the administrative system there might be a bit thin. There are only about two or three hundred public servants, but that shouldn't affect you."

"Two or three hundred public servants to manage hundreds of thousands of people? I feel like my words won't carry any weight once I step out the door. Didn't Croc City have a mayor before?"

"Yes, but he died a violent death a week ago, along with his entire family of thirty-some people, and two pets."

"Uh..."

Rozim's expression froze instantly. After a long while, he whispered:

"Chapter Master, I feel like you're throwing me into a fire pit."

"Ha, you're worried about a fire pit? You dared to go to Commorragh, and you're afraid of this place? Fine, fine, fine, if you don't want it, give me the writ, and I'll replace you with someone else."

"No, no, no—"

Rozim quickly clutched the writ in his hand, smiling ingratiatingly:

"Brother, you know me. I love the natural countryside more than anything. I hate urbanization the most. Croc City is good. I like Croc City. Rest assured, I'll govern it so well that people won't pick up lost items, and doors won't be locked at night. The crime rate will be reduced to zero, and there won't be any heretics, allowing everyone to return to the most simple and honest life, without even needing to be literate!"

As he spoke, he patted his chest.

"I will strictly abide by the Emperor's teachings and implement the Emperor's path. I am the Emperor's best student!"

Soshjan chuckled.

"You speak beautifully, but I know what you're like. I'm just giving you something to do to prevent you from running around again. Besides, it's not like you're doing it alone. Croc City has Departmento Munitorum staff, an Ecclesiarchy diocese, and a Department of Justice fortress. Moreover, since you're the mayor I personally appointed, those above won't dare to move you easily. The rest depends on whether your brain and vision are good enough."

"Well, that's fine, but, well, Chapter Master, you know that doing things below always requires money. If I'm a bit short on funds, is it possible that—"

Soshjan smiled and shook his head.

"Because it's mainly based on illegal industries, the tithes from Croc City are so little that even if you include the poll tax, it's not even as much as a small district in a hive city. Therefore, the management agencies are basically living on borrowed money. I heard that the Departmento Munitorum staff haven't been paid for six or seven months. The currency and banking reforms haven't even started yet, so don't expect me to have any solutions here. I'm leaving soon. Solve the money problem yourself. Those drug lords have plenty of money. If you can find a way to get it, you can keep as much as you can get, okay?"

Rozim slapped his thigh.

"Ah, that's great! I love hearing you say that, brother! When do I leave?"

"Leave immediately. Go back and tell your animal friends to pack their things, bring the people you want to bring, and just take the Chapter's shuttle. I'll say hello to the governor of Naysen Five."

"Okay, okay, okay."

Rozim stuffed the writ into his pocket and left the office excitedly, preparing to take office in that place called Croc City. (Old Rozim's official career will be released in the form of bonus chapters in the future, so stay tuned~)

But just as Rozim left, and Soshjan was preparing to leave the office to explain some things to Sol, Kayan found him again.

"Am I disturbing you?"

When Kayan, wearing power armor, walked into the office, he was still smiling. Soshjan shook his head.

"Rozim just left. What's up?"

"Some things."

Kayan pushed aside the chair Rozim had been sitting in, pulled over a larger one, and sat down.

"It might take a few minutes."

"It doesn't matter. It seems like we haven't had a private chat in a long time, not since you left during the Great Maelstrom Expedition."

Kayan's brown face squeezed out a calm smile.

"Sorry."

"No need to apologize. We all have times when we can't help ourselves. I'm very happy that you returned safely."

Kayan then flipped his right hand over, and a crimson gem appeared in his palm. Soshjan recognized it at a glance.

"A Hellfire Stone, but the color is a bit different."

In fact, since the battle of Parang, Kayan had repeatedly emphasized that this thing was very important, but only verbally. As for what it was for, Soshjan had been busy with other things and hadn't studied it.

More importantly, after learning that Kayan was from that side, he was still a bit worried. After all, who knew how many hands this thing had passed through? Could there be some conspiracy hidden inside? Who could say for sure?

"The self-protection energy on it has been almost completely dispelled."

Kayan seemed to be explaining why it had taken so long to bring this up.

"Maddail was hiding inside. At first, I didn't have a good way to deal with it, so I took it to that person. Although I used every means to dispel the protective energy in the end, I still couldn't break through the last layer—"

"Which person?"

Soshjan pondered for a moment, then smiled:

"Are there actually things he can't do? I thought he was omnipotent in this galaxy."

Kayan looked at Soshjan and suddenly nodded seriously.

"The current you does have the strength to say such things to him."

Soshjan waved his hand.

"I don't want to see him. Let's get back to the point. Are you saying that even he couldn't touch this thing?"

"Yes, so you don't have to worry. In fact, Maddail's matter is not complicated. He was originally a Necrontyr, a Necrontyr who hadn't yet transformed into the current Necrons. Their race has a very short lifespan, and I think you know this. In addition, this race doesn't have any psychic talents. Maddail was one of the earliest Necrontyr to discover the Star Gods, and he was also one of the highest-ranking nobles among the Necrontyr. In the initial contact, the Necrontyr were not without wariness towards these physical-space gods, but Maddail was an exception. He was too eager to obtain eternal life and was extremely obsessed with the Warp. So he chose to become a servant of one of the powerful Star Gods, obtained a healthy and almost immortal body. The price was that he sacrificed all his relatives, subordinates, and countless subjects, and began to secretly promote the plan for the Necrontyr to accept the Star Gods' olive branch. Roughly sometime before the Necrontyr began their race-wide biotransference, he used the power of another Star God to complete his ascension, becoming a Warp creature, but not completely Warp-ified."

"Hmm..."

Soshjan frowned slightly.

"Elevating a short-lived ghost with no psychic talents to a Warp creature? What Star God would have such power—"