The equator, the main planet of Nifol, is located on top of the towering spire of the Grace district, and the prophetess Alexei sits in the council chamber, facing a variety of inquiries from many quarters.

"Dimitri has told me everything, Honorable Prophet. I have no intention of questioning the verdict of the Empire, but a warband that has fought for the Empire for a thousand years, fought the enemy to the point of near total annihilation, will be condemned as a traitor for the absence of a single war, erased from all past glory and exploits, and removed from the Empire. Such a decision would be too rash. ”

The one who spoke was an Astarte veteran wearing bronze power armor and three deep scars on his face.

The current leader of the Dark Angels "Death Stalker": Irwin.

Alexei nodded slightly tiredly.

Urwin, clenching his sword, said in a long, poetic voice, "I met Milak when we were recruits, before the Death Stalkers were formed...... We've charged into battle in a greenskin-ravaged shattered world, and we've launched a desperate jump against Chaos warships in an isolated subspace storm......"

"Even in the most desperate situations, in the face of the sweetest temptations, our wills are always strong, and the fire of repentance has never wavered in the slightest loyalty to the emperor."

Oirving recounts the battles he had fought with Milac while serving in the Flame of Confession, like singing a long, tragic heroic epic. But his impassioned emotions did not send a ripple across the prophetess's face.

Maybe it's because she didn't open her eyes at all?

"The Flame of Repentance will never make such a rebellious act as a betrayal of the God Emperor, and I demand that the L-Star Gate to Falla be granted permission immediately to investigate the truth of the matter."

Seeing that Alexei was unmoved, Irvin once again emphasized:

"We will not allow the soldiers loyal to the Emperor to be wronged."

The majestic voice of the Death Stalker Warband Leader echoed like a bell in the wide council chamber, and Alexei sat upright, not saying a word.

It wasn't until the echo of Irwin's words had completely died down, confirming that he had stated everything he wanted to say, that the prophetess spoke slowly, "Are you asking me for access to the L-Star Gate?" ”

Alexei's tone was calm, and there was no emotion in his soft and delicate words, but both of Irwin's hearts stopped beating at the same time.

"Yes, honorable prophet." Oirvin replied with a stiff helmet.

Alexey then asked: "Do you really need to apply to me for this right?" ”

“…… According to the information I know, the L-Star Gate is an ancient relic excavated from the human colony of 'Falla' in the Dark Ages of Technology, and although the Mechanical Order has the STC standard building template for the construction of its sub-gates, the only one who has the key to the main gate is the mysterious eternal known as the Bullet Starman. And you, prophetess of the Emperor. ”

Irvin suppressed the emotions in his heart with the strong willpower of Brother Astarte, and said calmly and solemnly: "The star bulleter dragon sees the head and the end, and most of the time, the right to activate the main gate is in your hands, respected prophet. Who else can I apply for? ”

Alexei did not respond positively to his words, but instead said something else: "Your Excellency Irwin, may I ask how many troops you brought to Nirvana this time?" ”

Hearing this, Olving's heart became more and more difficult to calm down, but he still responded clearly in a loud voice: "500 people, including me. Half of the forces of the Death Seekers have come with me to Nirvana, and the survival of the Brothers' Warbands is at stake, and many of them are a little emotional. I managed to convince another 500 warband brothers to guard the home planet in the flagship, just in case. ”

"It's amazing." Alexey smiled.

The fact that a fully staffed Astarte warband did not hesitate to send half of its forces for a reason that did not involve war mobilization was enough to wary any department of the empire of the overly intimate relationship between the two brothers, the Death Stalkers and the Flame of Repentance.

Olwin's generous remarks about the fact that he might have fallen into a dilemma of suspicion, as if to prove that he had no guilt in the slightest.

"The Soul Chaser, the flagship of the Death Stalkers, is indeed anchored in the Trodom system at this moment, and the 500 Astartes on board are constantly on the lookout for the threat of the Greenskins."

Alexei retracted the smile on the corner of his lips and said in a serious tone: "But as far as I know, Your Excellency's war group has always been underpaying the tax on genetic seeds under the pretext of war damage and genetic contamination. You're using these extra genetic seeds to quietly expand your organization, and the actual number of the Death Stalkers should be between 1300-1600. ”

Looking at the prophetess's beautiful but expressionless face, Irwin, the strong Astarte who had never been timid even in the face of orc Warbosses and Chaos demons, felt an emotion close to fear for the first time.

"500 warriors stayed on the home planet, and 500 warriors followed you to Nirvana, so what about the remaining hundred?" Alexei asked in a calm tone without the slightest anger: "Where did they go?" Can you tell me? Your Excellency, Commander? ”

"As the emperor's prophetess, all lies are hidden in front of you." Oirwin bowed his head deeply.

There was no point in quibbling, and Irving organized his language to confess the truth without distorting the facts or revealing deeper secrets, and to take all the blame on his own shoulders as much as possible, so that at least the name of the Death Stalker could be preserved and not erased by the Empire along with the fire of repentance.

"The war in the west of the Asker system is intensifying, and the orc tribes there have somehow become more ferocious, and the warriors of Espernes are in a bitter battle."

Abruptly, Alexei shifted the conversation to a completely unrelated point: "Although the Imperial Guard is armed with powerful weapons from the Order of Truth, the orcs have not been continuously suppressed, and the excitement of such a fierce battle has only strengthened the morale of this group of filthy and savage greenskins. ”

“…… It is indeed a very headache and trouble. Irving didn't understand what the prophetess was implying when she spoke of the war, so he frowned and went on.

There is more than enough courage and not enough emotional intelligence...... Alexei coughed lightly, and continued: "The battle in Aske is urgent, but the other directions of Espernes are also being attacked by different enemies, and there are no troops to send reinforcements. ”

At this point, even Olvin could understand what it meant.

"The Death Stalkers will go all out to reinforce Asker and quell the orc threat there." Oirvin said immediately.

"The light of the emperor shines on the path of the expedition, and you will be victorious." Alexei crossed his hands over his chest and made a more restrained Aquila salute.

"We will triumph." Irvin bowed in return and strode out of the council chamber with his broadsword in hand.

He will lead the Death Stalkers on an expedition, a, an expedition of atonement.

After sending Oirving away, Alexei gently patted his chest and relaxed slightly.

The prophetess, who didn't even know much about politics, had to deal with such a thing herself, which was a bit embarrassing for her.

At the same time, Alexei was also a little curious, the Death Stalker Warband actually secretly went to reach some kind of cooperation with Coaster, the great sage of the Casting World Musbel, without permission, and hid hundreds of Space Marines in the foundry ship of the Mechmagné Order, and rushed to the Flare galaxy where the Flame of Confession disappeared.

What kind of secrets are hidden between the children of the Dark Angels?

Unable to soak up his curiosity for too long, Alexei's thoughts were interrupted by another request for a meeting.

This time she will be speaking face to face with one of Muspel's high-ranking technical sages, who represents the will of the Grand Sage Coaster, namely:

The recent rapid growth of the urban planet Embra and the close relationship between the disobedient sage Span Grad and the Order of Truth have made it impossible for Muspel to endure any longer, and even though Embra's independence is a fact, Musbell still hopes to get something.

For example, the STC standard building template for creating the Ideal City, and the various ancient technologies exchanged between Spangler and the Order of Truth...... The oil guys on Musbell have endured to the limit. Their hearts were surging, they were hungry and thirsty, the circuits on their bodies were crackling, and they couldn't wait any longer.

In addition to the demands of the Mechanic Order, diplomatic envoys from other nearby sectors are waiting in line for the Prophetess to receive them.

The envoys carry the will of the governors of each sector, and even if they pay some price, these sectors that are still trapped in subspace navigation hope to be able to connect their sector capitals to the L-Gate network as soon as possible. The price is negotiable.

Many of the important galaxies in Espernes also have the same demand, and they are more eager than the diplomatic envoys sent by the surrounding star regions, because the prophets of the Spring River Plumbing Duck have already seen the powerful transportation brought by the stargate network, so they are even more eager to do so.

In addition, there is the increasingly powerful threat of orcs and the rampant black market trade...... Although these transactions are controlled by the followers of the Bullet Star.

The Inquisition is more active in systems such as Nirvana, and the state religion also has its own actions, and there is an undercurrent.

Russell, who was afraid of trouble, just threw out one influential factor after another and let it grow savagely, leaving it alone and playing mysterious, such irresponsible behavior gave Alexei a headache.

She is obviously not a political official, and she has only learned all kinds of psionic spells and imperial hymns since she was a child......

There is an illusion that she has changed from a working girl under the emperor to a working girl who plays stars.

After a flickering send-off of the Techno-Sage, Alexei slumped wearily in his soft chair, his chin propped up with one hand and unconsciously looking northeast—that was the opposite position of the Amnesia Nebula and the Uspernes sector.

The sudden appearance of this constellation also caused a lot of trouble for the Prophetess, as Russell asked her to send a large number of ships to completely seal off the Lost Dream Nebula and not allow anyone to enter.

With such a large area of resource-rich unowned star fields not to be developed, and hundreds of habitable planets not to colonize, it is conceivable that even a highly respected star like Alexei has been subjected to a lot of pressure and criticism.

It's a pity that the star player doesn't know her hard work at all, he only thinks that the labor of the working girls under the White Emperor is really cool.

With some resentment, Alexei gently removed the strip of cloth that covered his eyes, opened a pair of beautiful violet eyes, and looked in the direction of the Lost Dream Nebula with a little golden spiritual energy.

This was not the first time she had observed the Lost Dream Constellation, the vast asterism entangled in chaotic silk threads seemed extraordinarily calm in the choppy subspace, unusually calm, Alexei would glance over there when he had nothing to do, and the calm picture he saw was similar every time.

It's the same this time.

The huge vortex of countless celestial bodies was still slowly rotating, and the further you went to the center of the vortex, the denser the starlight became, and the projection in the subspace was a waveless and ambiguous surface of water, as usual...... Wait, something seems wrong.

Alexei frowned unconsciously as she looked at it, looking for what was wrong with her, and soon, she found it:

- The vortex was spinning in reverse.

Several of the cantilevers of the Lost Dream Constellation are rotating in reverse directions that completely contradict their form, and the endless starlight is converging and disappearing towards the center of the vortex at a speed visible to the naked eye, as if an invisible black hole is devouring the celestial bodies there, reducing everything to nothingness.

"What's going on?" The prophetess's mentality was greatly shocked.

She tried to use the abilities she had received from the Spirit Prophet to observe the threads of fate, only to find that the intricate and chaotic lines that had been wrapped around the Lost Dream Constellation had broken at some point.

It was as if the star field had been isolated and isolated from the entire universe, going about its own movements, quietly and rapidly disappearing.

Alexei suddenly remembered that not long ago, Russell hurriedly found him and demanded that all the guard fleets stationed on the periphery of the Dream Constellation to block the stowaway ships be removed.

She had thought that the Bullet Star had seen the white-hot battle between Espernes and many different forces, so she deliberately let these guard fleets also leave their posts and enter the battlefield to relieve the tense battle situation.

…… Now it seems that it is not.

"Did he foresee this?" Looking at the rapidly reversing, shrinking, and vanishing Dream Lost Star Cluster, Alexei muttered to himself in his heart:

"Or is he the one who caused it?"

The prophetess has always scoffed at the new branch of the state religion that the star player is the embodiment of the emperor's walk on earth. But after witnessing the reverse current of the galaxy with his own eyes......

She faltered a little.

(End of chapter)