In general, it is quite difficult to open a legal trade route.

It takes a lot of paperwork to do this between most planets, and after that, you have to pray. Pray that the ship carrying the documents and letters it sent out will not get lost in subspace.

The whole thing is very cumbersome, and it often takes two or three generations to go back and forth.

Of course, if you're a Rogue Trader, that's a different story. That's why they're usually popular.

The submission and assistance of their ancestors during the War of Unification and the Great Expedition allowed them to obtain a merchant license issued by the emperor himself, which was valid forever - if you ask why. Is this question a question that needs to be asked?

These merchants have a drop of the emperor's own blood on them.

However, genoplasms can actually be licensed by distributors, which is just as effective. However, it is not like the Emperor, who has no territorial restrictions and is able to trade freely within the empire.

Normally, this permission is only valid in the region conquered by the issuer. But there is a different time for everything, like the one that Conrad Cotz is signing at this moment.

It will give the wielder the power to act and trade between Nostramo and the Extreme Starfield.

Sighing, he was displeased and signed his name in bright red ink at the bottom of the document with a special quill used to sign such documents.

Conrad Coetze.

High Gothic, flowery characters, a series of circles and hooks and folds are elegantly stacked together, forming a line of words representing power.

"Do you have to go by yourself?" He picked up the file and handed it to another giant standing at his desk, asking at the same time.

"If you insist on asking—yes, Conrad." Carlil smiled slightly, took the piece of paper with incredible hardness, and nodded. "It's impossible for me not to go."

"But it's just a trade route."

"A trade route constructed between the home planets of two protozoes." Carlil corrected. "Don't tell me you don't see the meaning behind this, Conrad. You brought it up, and besides, didn't we all talk about it yesterday? ”

"But you didn't say you were going to go by yourself." Conrad Coetzes said, stalking his neck.

"I wouldn't have gone before."

Carlil sighed and said with a blank face. "If the position of Legion Instructor is really just for teaching hand-to-hand combat, I certainly won't go to Macurag on your behalf to talk to your brother Robert Killiman about it."

"Actually, if you could, it would be better for the two of you to meet in person. But now Nostramo needs you, and Nostramo needs a trade route to access the resources we desperately need."

"Besides, Conrad, have you forgotten something?"

The Lord of the Eighth Legion turned his head to the side and began to stare at his wall again.

"Nope." He said casually. "What's the matter?"

"In the ninth edition of the Legion Instructor Duties Update, you have added an expansion to your mandate that you don't know where to find it. If necessary, the Legion Instructor may take on the role of Legion Commander in an emergency, treating him as if he were the original person. ”

Carlil shook his head expressionlessly. "I don't even suspect you made this up."

"I didn't make it up!" Conrad Coetzes jerked his head. "Article 73 of page 1241 of the Code! You can check it out! ”

"Check, you don't have to."

Carlil couldn't help but laugh. "Like you, I've been flipping through the Imperial Code these days. In fact, if it weren't for those one-of-a-day duty update documents, I wouldn't have read this book that is thick enough to be used as a weapon. ”

"You've seen it all?"

"I've read every code of law you pointed out in your documents."

"But."

"But what?"

"Don't you believe me?" Conrad Coetzes asked.

Carlil didn't answer the question, he narrowed his eyes, all his mood swings were hidden, and only a deliberate calm remained.

After a moment, he shook his head.

In Conrad Coetze's disappointed eyes, he spoke slowly.

"I trust you, but I can't trust you too much in this matter. It's human nature to break the rules for something. And you've learned how to use it, and even learned it very well, so I have to be cautious. This kind of thing could become a time bomb. ”

"Time bomb again?" Coetzes pursed his lips in exasperation. "Do you want to mention that countdown again?"

"Nope."

"So, when is this bomb going to explode, Carlil?"

Carlil chuckled, but still didn't answer.

War, boy, war. He sighed and turned around. You were born to be a conqueror, the greatest cog in waging war, not a benevolent king on a planet.

Maybe when the dust settles, you can be who you want to be, but before that, you have to conquer.

So, sooner or later, it will explode one day. Sooner or later, whether it's the right time or not, whether you're prepared or not, it's going to explode.

Just like some laws of nature.

He left peacefully without saying goodbye. In the room, Conrad Coetze took a full minute to recover his emotions before continuing to work.

Public and private, he will not be confused.

——

Through the armoured glass of the portholes, Van Cleef could see many rocks that were larger than the peaks. They float in a vacuum, dotted and scattered, like some kind of large, discrete monster.

Staring at them, the commander of a company of the Eighth Regiment couldn't help but sigh slightly.

The Conquest-class cruiser sailed in silence in a vacuum. The six frigates formed a convoy in front and behind, and from Van Cleve's point of view, he could actually get a faint glimpse of them.

He stopped staring and began to walk again.

MK2's heavy iron boots stomped on the deck floor, giving a dull echo. Through the hanging electrical cables from the ceiling in the hallway and the loud noise in the walls, Van Cleef knew that the conquest-class cruiser he was in had probably not been maintained in years.

These ships are in some ways synonymous with the Rogue Trader, and they are larger than the average cruiser, in order to carry more cargo.

But don't let that make you think it's incapable of fighting, in fact, it's called conquer for a reason.

Anyway, it's a big guy that's 5.1 kilometers long.

But the fact that there was such a ship in the logistics supply fleet was beyond his expectations.

Or, to put it another way, the ship was a bonus. It would take a long voyage to get from the Ghoul Zone to Maculag, and everyone on this ship knows that the Ghoul Zone is the edge of the Empire's borders.

- In other words, it is possible to sail in such a star zone and encounter anything.

Outside of civilization

Van Cleef shook his head and said nothing. His helmet shook on the belt around his waist, colliding with the power armor itself, making a sound of rubbing against each other. Twelve minutes later, he finally arrived at his destination.

A meeting room that is not very large, but definitely enough to use.

The door slid open, and he stepped inside, a giant who had been waiting for a long time.

Carlil Lohals stood calmly at the table, not distracted by the lack of a seat that would fit his size. Van Cleef knew that for him, there was no difference between sitting and standing.

After all, their instructors almost never rest.

"Ah, here you are, Van Cleef." Carlil looked up and smiled slightly. "How was the first day of the voyage like?"

I should ask you this question, right? This is the first time you've made such a voyage. ”

"I'm just asking." Carlil replied noncommittally. "Besides, I do want to know your emotions. Or rather, your emotions. ”

Van Cleef shook his head calmly: "As a member of the Eighth Legion, everyone in the First Dalian Company will obey the orders of the original body. ”

"So, how are you feeling?"

"It's not very good." Van Cleef decided to tell the truth. "It's a bit strange to have a bunch of Ultramarines doing rebuilding work on the Nostramo while we're heading to Macurag."

"Five hundred." Carlil said. "If they send five hundred, we'll send five hundred, right?"

Van Cleef did not answer.

Carlil smiled.

"The voyage will last two months." He said. "We're in charge of escorting—or rather, guarding—ninety tons of adamantite gold. What is this number? ”

"Amazing." Van Cleef replied.

Amazing indeed, what else can he say? Ninety tons of pure gold

"The wealth of the aristocracy is indeed staggering." Carlil shook his head.

"They have almost everything in their treasury, from strange weapons that have been handed down from antiquity, to the Terra translations brought by the original colonists, and huge quantities of quarried gold. However, there is some irony in this incident. They didn't even have time to trade this shipment with the surrounding planets before they died. ”

"They're damned." Van Cleef said calmly. "A bunch of brutes who call themselves people."

Carlil raised an eyebrow, and after a brief silence, he shook his head: "How many have you executed with your own hands, Van Cleef?" ”

"Four thousand eight hundred, whole."

"Then I can understand." Carlil sighed. "The more you see, the more you kill. The more you kill, the angrier you get. I guess you can't even understand what they think by now, right? ”

"Man cannot understand the thoughts of animals."

Carlil laughed again.

"yes." He echoed softly. "People really can't understand it."

There is one more chapter.

(End of chapter)