In the strategic command room of the Lionmane, a "simple" discussion is underway about the next route:

“…… To sum up, my suggestion is to go to Ulan Huda for the most basic supplies. ”

Fujimaru Rika said with a very disapproving gaze from Ranmaro: "I know that you have heard the name of this casting world, and I know that you must be very prejudiced against it, and I admit that all your prejudices are more than eighty percent right, but in this case, this is one of the few choices we have." ”

"I don't think—there must be others—"

"—Yes, but the more reliable casting worlds will take at least three months of subspace travel to reach, and Ulan Huda will only take seven to ten days."

"Even if Conrad Coetzes is here, it's been 10,000 years since the Midnight Treaty. There's no guarantee that they'll keep the ...... 'supply agreements' they used to have, if that's what you call them. ”

"I have a lot of chips. No casting world can reject a technology that was once lost, especially if it is this ...... The research direction is more 'radical' casting world. What's more, we only ask for the most basic ammunition supply. ”

Ranmaro cast a distrustful look at Rika Fujimaru. However, this act of adding weight to "strongly disagree" did not succeed in making the latter change his mind, and the ginger-haired girl still insisted on her opinion:

"If the Lion's Mane were fully armed, I would never have made such a suggestion. But the problem now is that her reserves really can't withstand a Void battle of medium intensity or more, and this galaxy is never at peace. ”

"This galaxy is also very big." Ranmarok angrily insisted, "It's just a three-month subspace voyage." It is very likely that we will not even be able to see a normal merchant ship. ”

"Let me remind you that this is an extremely probabilistic assumption." Rika Fujimaru frowned, "Probability is becoming more and more unreliable in today's universe. Considering what has just happened on board Jaystar, I dare say that the course of this voyage will definitely not be peaceful. ”

“…… It's also a probability-based assumption, why are you so sure? ”

Because Tzeentch was watching, he would never pass up any opportunity to have fun. Subspace has always been the home of these chaotic powers, and he will definitely be happy to stir up fate and make everything change in a way that we can't predict. ”

Fujimaru Rika sighed in annoyance:

"He can't get too close to his peering gaze because of the remnants of the Emperor's psionic power on the Storm Border, but he's certainly prepared all sorts of coincidences for the rest of our journey that will lead us step by step into the trap he's already prepared - I've already suffered once."

Ranmaroch still looked skeptical.

After acknowledging that Rika Fujimaru had the most basic command over the Lionmane, he had a rough idea of what "happened" on Jaystar through intelligence sharing, but he did not know "what exactly happened" on that planet. At the time of compilation, he and the entire crew of the Lionmane were outside of the anomalies of the Chaos Ritual, and as such had little memory of the worldline before it was changed.

Things like "Chaos" and "Demons" were superstitions or legends to the Dark Angel veterans of the Great Crusade, and it was hard to believe that the book descriptions would sneak into the real world and wreak havoc in the present day and age—even if there was something similar on the planet from which Ranmarok was born.

Astarte is mostly stubborn, and Astarte, who can become the Great Mentor of Firewing, is often the best at stubbornness, and the discussion about the next destination has reached an impasse. So, as had happened so many times in many other places before, in order to make things move not in place, but at least moving, Rika Fujimaru took a step back.

"Okay." She stretched out her hand and traced the holographic star map in front of her, sighing as she said, "Then I propose that we don't go to the Forge World—we go all the way west from here, to Baal." ”

Ranmarok looked suspiciously along her fingers, scrutinizing the seemingly almost unobstructed route.

"Barr." He vigilantly double-checked the coordinates marked on the star map and compared them with what he remembered, so as to determine whether Fujimaru Rika's proposal was what he had in mind.

"Yes, Baal, the home planet of the Blood Angels, if it goes well, the voyage will take about two and a half months."

Rika Fujimaru leaned back a little tiredly, allowing herself to sit down in a nearby operator's hard armchair, reciting as if reciting the background information:

"After the 'Great Rift' unfolded, the subspace storm cut off the light of the Torch, and the Empire was effectively split in two. We are now losing sight of the side of the torch, customarily referred to as the 'dark side of the Empire'. During the Unyielding Expedition launched by Robert Killman, the current regent of the Empire, Dante, the current head of the Blood Angels, was appointed regent of the Dark Side, responsible for coordinating the defense of this semi-empire as much as possible...... All in all, Baal is now a hub world for all the reasons mentioned above, and all kinds of military supplies will be gathered on the home planet of the Holy Blood Angel. Let's discuss with each other, and it should be no problem to ask them to have a little regular reserve. ”

Ranmaroch was silent for a moment. He needed a little time to process the "10,000 years from now" message—too many things were too much for him to accept.

The tragic outcome of the Great Rebellion, the Astarte Codex, the Legion being split, the Caliban no longer existing, the original body lost, the Dark Angels structure changed, the State Church, the Inquisition, the 10,000-year uninterrupted descent of the Empire, the never-ending quagmire of war, Abaddon's thirteen expeditions, and then again - the Great Rift.

By the time he read this from the material shared aboard the Imperial Dream, Ranmarok had spent a lot of time trying to get himself to accept the status quo. But every time he was reminded of the relevant facts, he couldn't help but ask in his heart: how did the empire become what it is now?

Such lamentation was of no avail, and Ranmaroch forced his concentration to return his attention to the issue at hand: "Although I know the character of the angelic heirs, how can you be sure that they will help us?" ”

"I think the Blood Angels themselves are acting in a way that is enough to endorse them, but if you don't think it's trustworthy, I do have something more substantial." Rika Fujimaru slumped in her chair and said helplessly, "I have a charter signed by the Court of the Throne and the Court of the Torch to acquire land wherever I feel on the surface of the main planet of Baal. ”

Ranmaro looked at Rika Fujimaru in confusion - nothing, just because it sounded very wrong: even if this charter was jointly signed by two important organs of the Empire, the fact that the Astarte Warband itself was ordered by the Central Empire to requisition land on the home planet of the Warband (or even the Start-up Band) sounded a little too outrageous.

"Land on the main planet of Baal." The Dark Angel unconsciously repeated, "Are you sure we won't inexplicably disappear from the universe after mentioning this?" ”

"The Emperor's mission. Besides, Dante, the current commander of the warband, is a good man, as Mr. Saint-Giles said when he was in good shape, don't speculate on others with your own way of doing things. Rika Fujimaru, who was slumped in her chair, said something very weighty in a very relaxed tone, "I don't think he has any reason to disagree with it if I explain it to him in detail, and besides, the plot I need is not big, at least much smaller than the hollow mountain range." ”

I don't know if she meant to, but the information revealed by these words is really shocking enough. Ranmaroke's instincts told him to dig deeper under these clues, but his precarious sanity succeeded in putting the brakes on his mind, unequivocally stopping him before he could rise to the urge to continue exploring.

Lambaloke, a loyal dark angel, forced himself to stop thinking.

-----------------

The destination was determined, but how to navigate was a question - this was the Ghoul Stars, the dark side of the Empire where the Torch could not be seen. The subspace is unpredictable, the void environment is changing rapidly, and anything can happen without entering the subspace, and the navigators on the Lion's Mane have little experience in dealing with similar situations.

"Not to mention that we don't have any signposts to refer to now, and we can only barely make short-range subspace jumps - even during the Great Expedition of Calm in Subspace, it must have been more than two months to sail from here to Baal, my lord."

The Chief Navigator's "I've seen the layman" devastation, even though Ranmaroke was staring at him nearby, didn't stop him from pleading:

"In the old days, it would have taken at least six to eight months to get to Baal from the edge of the empire like the Ghoul Stars, and we can't even be sure where Baal is now."

Rika Fujimaru fell silent.

“…… Ah, is that so...... Sorry I didn't realize it at all......"

She was so comfortable shopping efficiently aboard the Storm Frontier that she had completely forgotten that the Imperial Navigator's human navigation efficiency couldn't keep up with the Plane Moon.

In fact, in the dark side of the Empire after the Great Rift unfolded, the navigation efficiency of most Imperial ships was limited by safety and could only make short-range subspace jumps, so it was greatly slowed down. Those fleets that dare to really go deep into the waves of the Supreme Heaven are either desperate to die and survive, or they have some different ways to show their magic - in any case, similar voyages have a great risk of damage or deviation, and the probability of actually reaching the destination is not very impressive.

Acts like the Storm Frontier, which "spent less than three hours launching itself from Holy Terra through the Great Rift to Tagusa, and then spent about half a year sightseeing the ghoul stars", would be judged as "what the hell are you talking about" even during the Great Expedition, or would be forced to be subjected to rounds of scrutiny by the Imperial Agency and the Space Marine Legion (specifically the Dark Angels who hold the Icarus Protocol) because of the high suspicion of being carrying some legacy from the Dark Tech Age.

As things stand, it's unlikely that she'll be able to detach the Plane Moon to navigate the Lionmane, or transfer the Lionmane's power system to the Storm Frontier - after all, the two ships have nearly 30,000 years of factory departure dates, and the operating systems are really incompatible.

Although judging from the degree of eccentricity of the emperor, it is not completely impossible to let the entire ship crash into subspace and then float freely, but the probability that anyone in this universe can reach out and influence it is really not trustworthy.

"Anyway, you have to plan a short jump route, right? However, the time required for the voyage and the number of stops required for the voyage will increase, and the corresponding risks will be ...... Ranmarok, can't we really go to Ulan Huda? At least it's close, even if you walk slowly, it will take a month to jump two or three times. ”

Fujimaru Rika looked back at the Great Mentor of the Fire Wing, and once again got a very disapproving look.

"I'm serious, the issue of naval warfare must be considered, if you only rely on the light spear to bombard—"

"Didn't I know that I had to think about it? I'm —"

Ranmaroke's angry roar echoed through the beautifully decorated corridors of the upper part of the ship, and even Rika Fujimaru was startled. But it can't be said that he was completely unrestrained, at least the second half of the sentence that was obviously more offensive was stopped by himself and eaten back. Fujimaru Rika had no doubt that there were some heavier sentences in Ranmaro's stomach after that, but it was better for everyone not to point it out.

Thankfully, this Firewing Grand Mentor is someone who can think rationally even in extreme situations. The current situation of overstretched inventory also prompted him to maintain his preconceptions while still making a safer choice:

"Let's go to Ulan Huda."

These words sounded like he was desperately squeezing them out between his teeth with great reluctance.

-----------------

While the Midnight Lords were amazed at Ritsuka Fujimaru's success in convincing the Dark Angel to a heretical forged planet that was in league with the mutineers, and felt a little inexplicable admiration for her, it was a shame that many things in the world didn't work out once the person in question had made a decision.

Even if Rika Fujimaru had already redone her face according to the reference provided by Koz to the imperial statuette according to the reference provided by the person concerned, and it took three or four days to apply gold leaf to the entire statue. On the borders of the Empire, far from Holy Terra, not even the Emperor can do what he wants here.

To put it simply, it was not long after they left Jestal and entered subspace through Mandeville Point, and they were very coincidental, so coincidental that they collided head-on...... Something else.

Judging by the code, it was another Imperial ship, and it seemed that most of its functions had been suspended, but no further information could be found in subspace. I don't know when it began to drift in the waves of subspace, maybe a few days, maybe a few years, maybe ......

All in all, this is likely to be a trap given how much the area around here is "of concern".

"The only good news is that it doesn't look like it's moving." Ranmarok cautiously commented, "This shows that we can ignore it and just go around it." ”

However, this time the roles were reversed, but Fujimaru Rika hesitated to choose the option with a lower safety factor:

"But the emblem of that ship is the Iron Hand." She pointed to the reports handed down by the navigators and said, "Isn't that much more reliable than Ulan Huda?" ”

Ranmarok began to feel that this Throne Envoy who wanted to be a Throne Envoy was really unreasonable.