I'm in Warhammer, I just want to grow mushrooms

Chapter 196: The Beginning of the Space Guard

Lorca asked:
"Is this all your investigation results? Also, who are the allies on Caliban you mentioned just now? I have no impression of them."

Erebus added:
"Mocha, you'd better answer His Highness' questions truthfully. We don't want any new variables to appear in the plan."

Facing the two's questioning, Moka replied in a leisurely tone:
"These are my findings for now. As for the allies on Caliban, they are a group of humans and aliens who are eager to destroy the human empire. Their country was destroyed by the human empire, so they bear a grudge. As survivors of the destruction of civilization, they are outstanding in prophecy and infiltration. My spores failed to infiltrate Caliban, but they did."

"Not bad allies. I'd like to find a chance to meet them."

Lorgar acknowledged what Mocha called his "allies", but Erebus didn't think so.

"Mocha, the 'allies' you mentioned are not the secret sects, are they?" Erebas said in a bad tone.

Mocha's silence confirmed Erebus's guess.

Luo Jia's expression changed slightly, the look of approval disappeared, replaced by anger:
"You shouldn't hide anything from me, Mocha. Our co-leader recognizes my status and authority. I have the qualifications and power to know everything about you."

Mocha replied calmly:
"But I also want to serve my Lord, don't I? Plans and changes are the best tributes. If you deny me to seek change, you are denying my Lord."

"You..." Lorgar wanted to rebuke him harshly, but was stopped by Erebus.

Erebus patted Lorgar's shoulder lightly, shook his head slightly, signaling the other party to be quiet, and took over the right to speak.

"Mocha, listen carefully. The gods allow ants to jump on the thread of fate because they enjoy the despair of the ants when they break the thread. When you are intoxicated with your own desires, think carefully about whether you are a prophet of the gods or an ant."

There was silence on the communicator.

Eribas continued:

"The dark thoughts in your mind may make you feel excited for a while, but I must remind you that without Aurelion's guidance, you will fall into the abyss."

"Yes, Dark Apostle of the Prophet, I listen to your teachings. I pray for the Prophet's forgiveness." Mocha's voice became slightly lower.

Lorgar cast an approving look at the chief priest.

I have to admit that when it comes to preaching, I am indeed not as good as this knowledgeable and eloquent adjutant.

"I accept your confession, Moka." Luo Jia thought for a moment and said:

"I just have something I need you to do."

"I beg for your guidance, Prophet." Mocha said respectfully.

Luo Jia took out a parchment scroll, unfolded it on the table, and quickly scanned the contents:

"Do you know Lino Wilsey, the acting governor of Epimet?"

"Yes, Prophet, I know him. In fact, one of my Gamma-class psykers once fell at his hands."

"Oh? Why do you say that? What happened between you and him?"

Moka did not dare to neglect and told the story of how the Gamma-class Psychic Bone Drinker infiltrated Epimet:

".I had hoped to use the destruction of Epimet to spread the reputation of the Bone Drinkers and force several important members of the Empire to cooperate with me. However, I never expected that the Gamma-class Psychic Bone Drinkers had died before the Sisters of Silence arrived at the Hive. I suspected that Epimet had hidden a force capable of suppressing the Gamma-class Psychics, perhaps a Librarian and his mortal followers, or perhaps a company of veterans. In short, since this incident, I have kept my distance from Epimet."

Erebas turned off the pickup unit of the communicator and discussed with Lorgar:

"Lino Wilsi has a personal astropath named Shatana Niasta. Wilsi claimed that the personal astropath was arranged by Malcador and that the other party was the sister of Malcador's personal astropath. But I checked and found that Malcador's personal astropath, Sibel Niasta, did not have a sister. At least, there has not been such a person in the past few hundred years."

Lorgar understood what Erebus meant and nodded in enlightenment:
"I see. You suspect that this personal astropath named Shatana Niasta may be a powerful psyker disguised as an astropath."

"Yes, Your Highness, that is what I meant. I took her presence into consideration when I made my plans."

Erebus thought about it and revealed an important piece of information:

"My spies in the White Scars told me that Lino Wiltshire is very familiar with the history of Ancient Terra, especially the Xia Kingdom that disappeared during the Ancient Terra period. Even the White Scars are full of praise for Lino Wiltshire's Xia language. I guess he might be an immortal, which is why he is valued by Malcador. Having said that, as long as Mocha implements my plan strictly, there will be no problems."

Luo Jia looked down at the parchment scroll, and sure enough, in the lower half, he found the arrangements made by the chief priest for Shatana and Li Nuo.

Luo Jia turned on the pickup unit of the communicator and revealed their plan in full.

Mocha thought for a long time after listening to it:
"Prophet, I need an opportunity to execute the plan. This may take some time."

Eribas said:
"There will be an opportunity. You must be fully prepared this time and don't let anyone discover your tracks again."

"As you wish." Moka agreed first, then asked in confusion:

"Excuse me, gentlemen. Why should we be so concerned about the acting governor of a hive city? He just invented a new synthetic formula."

Lorca said:
"It's okay to tell you. Our informants have provided us with some clues. We have reasonable suspicion that Lino Wilsey may be an immortal."

"Oh, the Eternals… that makes sense."

Mocha asked the two about some details.

Eribas finally warned:

"Don't let the Randan fleet get lost outside the galaxy for too long. They should realize how great the power of the gods is."

"As you command, I will send someone to guide them into the Milky Way and spread the name of our common master."

This ends the communication.

"Do you think he can complete our mission?" Lorca asked.

Eribas smiled and said:
"Please allow me to borrow your previous point of view, Your Highness. This is just a small plan based on fragmentary prophecies. Success is naturally gratifying, and failure is also natural. Our main plan does not change."

Lorgar and Erebus smiled at each other.

The sunny scriptorium was filled with a cheerful atmosphere.

...

...

The Chaos Orcs in the sub-star region were like a sword hanging over his head, urging Li Nuo to seize every minute and every second.

After more than half a month of observation, he had a clearer understanding of the Word Bearers' layout.

That evening, in a private laboratory in the Epimet Royal Court.

The star map device hummed and projected a holographic light screen onto the open space in the laboratory, depicting a long strip of area.

This area extends from the northwest of the Taiping Star Region to the southeast corner of the Misty Star Region, dividing the Taiping Star Region and the Misty Star Region into two, and passing through the "Eye of Terror" in the middle.

This layout is somewhat similar to the light and dark empires formed after the expansion of the Eye of Terror in the 41k era.

There are a large number of rebellious Imperial worlds in the region, as well as many worlds controlled by the Word Bearers.

There are Bone Drinker strongholds around these worlds, as well as scattered orc tribes and clans, and there is unrest everywhere.

Among them, only one empire world is relatively stable.

Its name is "Rocadillo", a hive world belonging to the Word Bearers, located at the junction of the Pacific Sector and the Hazy Sector, and protected by a company of the Word Bearers.

Rocardillo regularly provides supplies to the Chaos Orcs, mainly consumables, chemicals, concentrated plasma fuel, etc. required for research experiments.

Normal orcs can also make these materials.

But perhaps because Chaos Corruption had contaminated the genetic knowledge base, the technicians were unable to come up with the corresponding mechanical witchcraft blueprints, and were unable to produce such consumables on their own.

"So, cherish your life and stay away from chaos and corruption. Anyone who comes into contact with chaos will have his mind messed up and become an idiot with a mind full of desires."

Li Nuo sighed inwardly and opened the system interface.

[Remaining simulation points: 310 million. ]

It takes 1000 million to redeem the blueprint for the webchannel access device, and there is currently a gap of nearly 700 million.

Li Nuo has already figured out where to make the 700 million.

His plan was this:

The stunning workshop is about to be completed.

If all goes well, the first big bomb will be freshly baked in five days.

This big bomb will be used to annihilate the fleet of the Randan Alliance.

The Sky-shaking Boom can only be used on planets with an atmosphere.

Li Nuo will first lure the Randan Alliance to a planet and then destroy them in one fell swoop.

How to gain Ran Dan's trust and get them to gather at the location he designated became Li Nuo's top priority.

If that doesn't work, Li Nuo has prepared several alternative plans. For example, go to the Ulanno star field, select a suitable orc planet, and launch a shocking bomb.

What makes Li Nuo regretful is that the Tyranids were basically not seen in the 30k era.

If it were the 40k era, it would be so cool to just find a planet with an atmosphere and Terran Zerg and drop a big Boom.

"By the way, when the rebel space marines attacked Terra, why didn't they just drop cyclone torpedoes?"

Yunchui Xiao Li scratched his head, unable to figure out the reason.

The artificial sky outside the window was dyed golden by the setting sun. Li Nuo put his thoughts aside for a while and went to enjoy dinner.

At the dining table in the residence, Tido rested her chin on the table, staring blankly at the scenery outside. Her long light golden hair reflected the afterglow of the setting sun, the tip of her straight nose was crystal white, and her two slender eyebrows were slightly furrowed, making her look a little unhappy.

"Are you worried about the orcs?" Li Nuo washed his hands and touched Tido's head.

Tido tilted her head and leaned it against Li Nuo's palm, looking melancholy:
"Yes. Those orcs seem to be very capable in fighting, and they are using the wreckage of junked ships to build new spaceships. We have to get rid of them quickly. But the problem is, I have consulted the Imperial Military Affairs Department these days, and it will take until early next year before we can get support from the Imperial Army. Before that, we can only rely on ourselves. Do you think we can equip armed cargo ships with missile launchers to bomb the orcs?"

"Yes, we can, but bombing alone is not enough. If the orcs hide underground, we won't be able to bomb them. In comparison, I think it would be better to establish a space guard."

Li Nuo rubbed Tido's pink cheeks. He always felt that her worried look had a different kind of beauty, like a cat worried about dried fish.

Tido sighed softly, "It costs a lot of money to build a space guard..."

It doesn’t matter, we have plenty of money now.

Problems that can be solved with money are not problems.

The real problem is that the procedures for establishing a Space Guard are extremely cumbersome.

The bureaucracy of the Imperium of Man is large and bloated, as can be seen in the Space Guard's review process.

In simple terms, it is like this:
The first step is preliminary review of legality.

The Governor submitted a self-report on jurisdiction to the Wartime Parliament, proving the necessity of establishing a space guard in the hive city, and passed the loyalty review of the Star Affairs Office under the Imperial Ministry of the Interior.

The second step is military feasibility assessment.

This step is led by the Imperial Military Affairs Department, and its main content is to evaluate the industrialization level and population structure of the hive city, determine the troop quota of the Space Guard, and formulate a defensive deployment plan.

The third step is technical approval and authorization.

The Mechanicum sent specialists to review the weapons, equipment, and ships of the Space Guard, confirming that all technical blueprints came from the Mechanicum and had obtained legal authorized serial numbers.

The fourth step is for the wartime parliament to vote on the resolution.

Step 5: Formal preparation.

This step is the most expensive.

Li Nuo has asked Ms. Shatana, and learned that the cost for the Hive Governor to establish a space guard starts at about 5 million throne coins.

Is it really worthwhile to spend 5 million throne coins just to build a guard that continuously burns money?

Different governors have different views on this issue.

Hive cities are often disturbed by external factors, causing delays in production and operations and large economic losses. The cost of establishing a space guard will generally be lower than the economic losses.

In order to avoid greater economic losses, it is necessary for the Governor to establish a Space Guard.

The situation in Epimet is different.

The Solar Star Region itself is relatively safe, and the chance of foreign invaders appearing is very, very small.

It would definitely be a loss to spend a lot of money to establish a space guard just for a group of orcs hiding on a primitive planet.

So in Tido's opinion, establishing a space guard is not the first choice, but a somewhat bad choice.

"How about we pay some wandering merchants to help us?" Tiduo said thoughtfully:

"I heard that there are many Rogue Traders who have organized combat fleets that can fight against alien civilizations at the dangerous borders of the Empire. Ms. Shatana should know such Rogue Traders. We can ask her to contact them."

Li Nuo considered Tido's proposal.

In the ancient Terra period, the empire, duchy, kingdom, earldom, and barony were arranged in descending order of status.

The relationship between Rogue Traders and the Human Empire is equivalent to the principality and empire in ancient Terra.

The principalities have a high degree of autonomy, and so do Rogue Traders.

As long as they can afford the expenses, Rogue Merchants can even build an army of one million people without the need for approval from the wartime parliament.

——Of course, this is only the situation in the 30k era. After the emergence of the state religion and the Inquisition, the autonomy of the Rogue Traders was restricted by these two.

How much would it cost to hire a Rogue Trader to eliminate the orcs?
The answer is less than 3 million Throne Coins.

Compared with the cost of establishing the Space Guard, it is really a good deal.

However, as a time traveler and Cloud Hammer, Li Nuo has his own considerations.

In order to deal with future major rebellions, the Space Guard must be established, but the timing may not be now.

If we can take advantage of the Ork invasion to force Epimet to have a Space Guard sooner rather than later, that would be great. If not, that's fine, there will be other opportunities in the future.

In addition, Li Nuo has a backup plan to solve the problem of Chaos Orcs in the sub-star zone.

First, use the Earthshaking Bomb to wipe out that planet and completely eliminate the potential danger of chaos.

Then, the key point comes.

The Great Boom will incinerate all carbon-based life on the surface.

Water, plants and microorganisms will also be destroyed in the huge explosion.

The fertile planet that could have been transformed into an agricultural world will become desolate and dead.

Isn't this like killing one thousand enemies and losing ten thousand of your own?

Yes, that's right.

But this is exactly the effect Li Nuo wanted.

After he destroys the Chaos Orcs with his Earthshaking Boom, he will manually plant "mushrooms" on the planet.

The mushrooms mentioned here are the reproductive spores of the orcs.

The orcs will take root on the planet and gradually evolve into a large-scale orc army.

The warlords, tribal and clan leaders are all Li Nuo's simulated characters.

On the surface, this planet is infested with greenskins and full of disasters.

But secretly, this planet is Li Nuo's "orc breeding base", specifically used for stockpiling troops.

When the orcs accumulate to a certain level, he can guide them to disperse into the space around the Epimet sub-region, gradually forming a "greenskin barrier" covering Epimet.

During this process, Li Nuo had a lot of room to maneuver.

He could have the orcs attack his fleet and transfer the materials produced in Epimet to the planet Palu.

He could get the War Council to agree to establish his own Space Guard.

He can command the Space Guard to fight against the Orks, and use the method of "fighting themselves" to cultivate commanders at all levels who have outstanding military achievements, rich combat experience and are loyal to him.

He can use the orc weapons captured in each battle, and through self-research and confidential experiments, legally and reasonably transform the orc technology into his own inventions.

To put it more deeply, if you see someone you don't like in the future, you can just order the orcs to kill him.

Take, for example, the Word Bearers.

Linor can order the orcs to attack the Word Bearers fleet and attract Lorgar, Erebus, and Kor Phaeron.

As long as one of these three people shows up, he will make a lot of money, and he will definitely make the other party taste the bitterness of the green-skinned uncle.

In summary:

When you have a lot of cards in your hand, a crisis is not only a danger but also an opportunity. It all depends on how you use it properly.

From Li Nuo's own perspective, establishing a space guard is the first choice, which can give him more room for operation.

As for the plan mentioned by Tido, it actually does not conflict with the establishment of the Space Guard. Let's give it a try first.

(End of this chapter)