After many wars and persecutions, Pangia has lost its legions, hopes, victories, and also order and imperial grace, in this fate planned by the gods, it is not easy for humanity to hold on, the scattered order of the places needs actual command to unite the forces, the Lord of Skadi is the leader who becomes half-pushed, because he will draw his sword against that almost irreversible fate.

The Destruction Eagle's strike cruiser took to the skies again after a long period of repairs, and its agile maneuverability was complemented by the superhuman combat of the Space Marines, sweeping away the chaotic starry sky after the Pangia War, and urging the rotten flesh of the Empire's sub-sector to heal again.

This is a day when no one is hungry, this is a day that will be rewarded if you are willing to step out of the cradle, but the gods are destined not to stop, and fate is like a raging beast.

The treacherous laughter of the gods echoed in the void, but in the post-war prosperity, most people, even the heroes who led this place out of hell, did not feel that they were no longer sensitive, and the deliberate cover of the free port and the losses caused by the war made it even more difficult for people to witness the desire of the Red Pirates when they were dizzying.

The Gillian Spaceport, once a fortress of the Empire's maelstrom, is now a vast metal port across the void that has been overrun by greedy troders, who are zombies succumbing to oppression or profit, untrustworthy.

The massive Void Metal Fortress was wrapped in a large number of laser defense battleloads and thick pieces of adamantite gold, and only a few of the most valuable places had Void Shields, and secondly, the price of both food and medical care in this mixed place was quite exaggerated, and many locals could take risks for a dry and terrible piece of black bread.

The treacherous harbor is filled with outlaws of all kinds, from criminals wanted by the Empire to crazed heretics, and even blatantly wandering the streets by Elven pirates or Bloodaxe orcs, so much so that the culture here is close to a hodgepodge, the worst of which is the tavern, one of the few pastimes and a favorite madness of the outlaws.

Downhill from Starport, next to the prime location, in the darkest metal lanes, where only acquaintances or introductions were received, were filled with guests on a daytime standard in Terra time, drowsy smoke, rotting wood, in the dim lights and the quiet but terrible outlaws, in the oppressive metal walls and the cold void of wrappings.

A beautiful blonde woman in a thick coat, lit a cigarette, and had the cigarette in her mouth, and was alone at the table tasting the clumsy snake wine.

And in this place, the most important thing is to protect your wallet, those throne coins are so lovely and charming, and priceless, when Miss Nova grabs the thin and pathetic orphan waitress who has been instigated by the merchant, because her fingers are hooking the inquisitor's wallet.

She exhaled the smoke, took out 10 glittering gold and valuable throne coins from her purse in front of the panicked child, pushed them in front of the girl like a tip, and wrapped them in small denominations, so as not to be eye-catching, and whispered.

"It's enough for you to live for a while, and my only request for you is not to do this, to have the opportunity to go to the main world of Skady or something to join the army or become a businessman, don't be afraid of your boss, just say that Miss Nova asked for it." After Nova finished speaking, she shoved the money into her hand, which was nothing more than a drop in the bucket for this high-ranking judge, but for such a lower class, it was a huge sum of money that could guarantee a worry-free life for several years.

The child took it in a hurry, and she looked around as if she was wondering if there was some trap, whether every group had taken a fancy to her and wanted to turn her into a slave, or sell her to the most basic servant of the casting world, or even some material for human experiments.

She was like a frightened poor rabbit that sprouted out of this mischievous place, or a weed creeping out of a crack in a rock.

It wasn't until the child left that Nova began to smoke again without a sip and drink a synthetic drink with a heavy flavor to satisfy her almost non-existent physical desires.

"Miss Nova, you are still so kind, but even if the imperial treasury is emptied, this world is probably still full of orphans, give them those kindnesses, why don't you invite me to have a spicy mouth."

The inquisitor's thoughts were interrupted by a man's greeting, and although she was a beauty, it was not necessary that anyone would have a relaxed conversation under her temperament, and she pronounced the man's code name without raising her head. "Wild snake, long time no see."

The middle-aged man with a thick wide-brimmed hat has a free and easy appearance that does not fit his appearance, and only such an unrestrained guy can become the eyes and ears of the inquisitor...

Nova knocked the ash off the cigarette and muttered. "The movement of the sea of stars is very hot, there is also a lot of movement like Skadi, the lord has opened a new port, many outlaws have gone to work for the merchants, under the supervision of the space marines, it is hard to imagine that he can make the arrogant angels who no mortal can drive except the high lords."

"Yes, thanks to him Hongfu, the income from roaming in Hong Kong during this period has been greatly reduced, and many people see him as full of hostility." The serpent replied.

"Earnings? Those hires are not a lot of money, and such a big port will not survive on those things? Nova sensitively grasped the wrong thing and interrogated.

The wild snake didn't speak, just made a gesture of spreading his hands, Nova understood, and took out the "activity fund" and handed it to this "Imperial Spy", which was a throne coin carved by jewelry, to be precise, a crystal that can support most of the crystal generators and beam weapon cores of the empire, just a small one is equivalent to a fifth of a set of power armor, and this time the reward is handsome, so much so that the currency can fill a small bag, enough to arm the private mercenaries of a land lord from beginning to end.

"That's it?" The wild snake is slightly dissatisfied, but it is normal, the organization that can do intelligence collection for the imperial inquisitors is huge even if it is civilian, if the money is evenly distributed to the intelligence department with tens of thousands of people, a person will only have dozens of gold coins with a worse face value, not to mention the excellent intelligence officers and leaders like the wild snake There are extras.

He handed over the brown paper dissatisfied, but Nova just read it silently, and then suddenly drank the wine in front of the table in one gulp, and spit out a breath of mist to appear soothing.

Because of the content of the record that this port drove mercenaries to maliciously rob Skadi's main commercial road, the pirates in this area were originally empty because of the Imperial Guard expedition and the Red Pirate recruitment, which also forced the Skadi Lord to recruit space marines, but I didn't expect the initiator to be...

The serpent continued to speak. "During this time, those people were entertaining what VIPs, and there was a mass mobilization, I don't know what they were looking for or what they were doing, but I saw that a batch of Skadi's exclusive good goods were taken away."

"What's that?" Nova frowned, and the serpent replied with her head down. "A batch of deflagration guns, produced by Pan Lan, were brought by pirates!"

"If it weren't for the Space Marines patrolling during this time, there would have been many mercenaries who were dissatisfied with the chaotic commercial conditions here and left to Roam Port in Skady, and the goods would have been even more."

Nova grabbed her hair helplessly, she was both annoyed that there were such moths in the empire, and she also lamented that she couldn't do anything, because this port was dominated by the Ronin Traders and belonged to the Merchant Dynasty, and she couldn't attack as an inquisitor, even if she was powerful enough to command the local Astral Legion, and even the mysterious Silver Knights, and even issue an extermination order, but the privateering permission was signed in the era of the Emperor's Expedition, which was sacrosanct.

"Damn maggots." She secretly cursed that the sheer supremacy of the Judgment Rose knot had given her no more power than the priority of privateering permission in the Empire for ten thousand years, and that when the nobles promised never to step into Terra again and sign their names, they would no longer be people within the Empire.

Most of the Inquisitor's purity or radicals see them as aliens or heretics in human skin, but as long as they continue to expand the empire, transport goods, and manage pirates and grey industries, those people still have almost unlimited rights to wield power outside of Terra.

Even the state religion will turn a blind eye to those who practice business, so to speak, as long as they do not violate the permission of privateering, those people are the emperor of the soil in their own area!

Seeing Nova's displeasure, the Serpent had worked so hard to come here to investigate heresy for some time, and as an Inquisitor she was absolutely competent, and in view of this aspect, the Serpent spoke. "It seems that Miss Inquisitor is a little depressed, is it that the power of the empire is too easy to use to make you forget that things are actually not complicated?"

Nova looked at the terrible man, but the serpent said. "No, there is no charge for this proposal, I just thought you could introduce me in front of the Lord of Skadi, to be precise, everyone can see that the prospects of the Pangia Star Zone are better, people go to higher places, and water flows downward."

"Flim, you're about 110 years old this year according to the standard Terra? Wasting all your efforts on life extension equipment and surgery, it is better to find a place to live in peace. Nova commented on the man's poor private life like an acquaintance, but instead of getting angry, he spoke.

"Say, do you need advice?"

"Please." Nova can't deal with this old fritter very well as a judge, but she also has to admit that this guy has helped her in her career, and she is also an eagle dog of the Inquisition, she may become the Grand Inquisitor, and he is probably a rabbit and a dead dog, which is why Nova persuaded this man.

The serpent did not appreciate it, people have their own days, and he would rather pour his energy and power on alcohol, enjoyment, women, and longevity or the preservation of his body, rather than find a way to get out of the bad court.

He'd keep stealing and stealing like he was now, here or Skady or elsewhere, until the Inquisition would no longer need useless eyes, and kill his poor, obscure life for the sake of secrecy.

The funny thing is that this vast empire is made up of this network of people who are used up and thrown away to maintain the precarious security and hope everywhere.

The serpent drank the drink he had ordered and spoke to the Inquisitor. "One mountain does not tolerate two tigers, not to mention that the owner of this port, Bandertar, and his family have already coveted the Pangiya sub-star region, you and I both know that it is impossible for anyone to have the ability to occupy the material space of the entire star region, but the right can."

"Whether it is the lord of the empire or the merchant dynasty, they all have qualifications and abilities, so their profits and interests are destined to contradict, but at present, the former Sun Lord obviously has more powerful power, so that this starport can only act secretly and maintain the stability of them and Skady looming."

"And my report is a bargaining chip to break the balance, whether you like it or not, but this time the empire can't interfere, and neither can we, this is a struggle for royal power, not the same heresy or alien issues as before."

The wild snake saw it clearly, and he said it slowly and coherently, and Nova had a trace of sweat on her forehead. "King's power...?"

"Yes, royal power." The serpent took another sip of wine and moistened his throat. "The king's right in this star region is also a very direct matter, now this star port has most of the gray and black industries in the entire star district, and it involves multiple routes, and there are also strange forces behind the merchant dynasty to help, they seem to be weak, but they are hidden in the shadows."

"On the Skadi side, the lord is tolerant and benevolent, the economy is excellent, the empire and all of humanity are behind him, and now there are space marines to help, but I still can't be sure who is right and wrong, and the victory is the one."

"The choice is in our hands at the moment, whether to pull the merchant dynasty in the shadows out of the water, or to deceive Skadi, empire or chaos, choose one or the other."

The words of the Wild Serpent pulled Nova's thoughts elsewhere, as if they were deciding the fate of the entire sector not in the tavern but on the high platform, and at this moment, a situation similar to that of the former Grand Inquisitor Walden appeared in front of Nova again, only this time on a larger scale and with a worse impact.

What can Nova get for the sake of the empire? Orphans are still orphans, poor people are still pitiful, but maybe chaos will bring miracles?

The whispers of the silk subspace suddenly appeared, and people almost forgot that those inquisitors, no matter how powerful and determined they were, they were also psychics and mortals, and there were so many depravities...

In the hurried short-term choice, the wild snake also looked forward to the judge's choice, no matter which one he could fly, he just needed to pull people on the boat together, lest only his own people go to Huangquan Road.

And after a very quick turn of thought, a touch of psionic purple flashed through Nova's eyes, and her white slender fingers pressed the kraft paper, the kraft paper that decided the fate of the star sector, and said.

"Now, I'm going to Skady to bring new hope to this sector."

The serpent let go of the vellum paper, let the Inquisitor take it, and sat alone in the tavern seat, sipping on the booze, and watching the chaotic dark universe like a bystander.

(End of chapter)