Warhammer: Don't Call Me the God of All Machines

Chapter 795 The Living Saint Wanted by the State Religion
Originally, the first step of the war was to capture Skullcrusher, a stepping stone to the interior of the Ghoul Cluster.

After that, Loshi, Guilliman, and Vulcan will begin their advance from the Nostramo defense line into the heart of the Orcish Empire, entering a phase of shifting between offense and defense.

During this period of strategic stalemate, humanity mainly aimed to understand the current general situation of the Ork Empire.

Their war objectives, war potential, internal organizational structure, technological level, and even the smallest details are of paramount importance.

This also reflects Lothie's steady war style; he would never allow the Imperial Expeditionary Force to penetrate deep into the Ghoul Stars before he had a clear understanding of the situation.

With the frontline fighting temporarily over, Guilliman and Roche turned their attention back to the rear, where they were once again baffled by the inner workings of the Religious Rebellion.

Both Guilliman and Roche abhorred infighting among humans, and just thinking about this problem required a significant expenditure of their precious brain cells.

Based on Roche's experience, if you discover some inexplicable strange situations around you, such as conspiracies, tricks, or low-probability events, then you can't go wrong by directly attributing them to Tzeentch.

Tzeentch, the most perverse of the Chaos Gods, has always been extremely keen on pushing things toward more "changes," whether those changes are for better or worse.

In any case, if the change succeeds, it's Tzeentch's plan; if the change fails, it's Tzeentch's bigger plan.

But now, Rosie and Guilliman suddenly realize that this matter doesn't seem to have much to do with Tzeentch, which means things are in big trouble.

The unknown is the most terrifying, and at this moment, Holy Terra seems to have been caught in this unknown storm.

“If the chaos in Terra is not caused by external interference, but rather originates from within, then it is very likely related to the Emperor,” Losi said seriously.

“I think so too,” Guilliman said with a wry smile. “But we’re tied up on the battlefield of the Ghoul Stars right now, and I was just kicked out by those Terrans. What else can we do?”

"The only thing we can do is to wipe out this newly formed orc empire as soon as possible, and then turn our attention to dealing with the chaos that has occurred in Terra."

As Guilliman said these words, a murderous intent was clearly evident in his expression.

When he left Terra, he thought the chaos was just a phenomenon caused by mortals fighting for power and profit, and not worth wasting too much of his time and energy on.

But now the situation has escalated, and the emperor may be involved, so we have no choice but to take drastic measures.

Those high lords have always considered themselves "ambitious," so if they really are ambitious, what should the high lords do?

Perhaps at that time, he would have to join forces with his other brothers to carry out a campaign to purge those corrupt officials and completely eradicate them.

"Don't get distracted. No matter how things develop, most of the Imperial Fist's forces are stationed in the Solar System. With the Imperial Fist and the Imperial Guard guarding it, our rear cannot be turned upside down."

"Even if the High Lords are crazy and stupid, they wouldn't dare to attack the Seventh Legion, which protects the peace of the solar system, would they?"

They can be hostile and contemptuous of the Highlords of Terra, cursing them for their ruthless pursuit of power and profit.

However, it is undeniable that each of them is a thoroughly shrewd individual, a standout among countless human politicians.

They couldn't possibly make such a basic mistake.

"Damn Macado, I trusted and respected him so much before, but this old guy has screwed me over so badly."

“I will never bear this pain and torment again for the sake of responsibility. They are just taking advantage of my strong sense of responsibility and they just won’t do what they want.”

"I just don't believe that if Lord Gao really wants to get himself killed, these guys can just hide somewhere and watch the show."

"Even if the sky falls, I'm quitting. There are plenty of people better than me, so why should I make things difficult for myself? I'm making this clear today: I'm not going back to Terra!"

Loshi looked at Guilliman with a mixture of amusement and exasperation; the guy was clearly furious with those Terrans.

"Alright, alright, we won't go back then."

"Then let's discuss with Vulcan and Macalion how to continue our campaign against the Ghoul Stars."

"Furthermore, we should also contact the White Scars and the Holy Blood Angels and concentrate all our forces to launch an attack."

Guilliman nodded in agreement; he and Rose were thinking the same thing.

"With two Primarchs now in command and a space fleet of this size, we are fully capable of using Skullcrusher as a breakthrough point to launch a brilliant annihilation campaign."

"We also need to pay attention to the waaagh gate. Although we can't use this trump card right now, it will definitely come in handy when we need it."

"From the perspective of the Ork, the Waaagh Gate was probably destroyed by us after the fall of Skullcrusher, which gave us a chance to take them by surprise."

Guilliman waved his fist, radiating a vibrant aura of confidence.

He was a born war commander.

He is able to understand and solve problems from the most macro perspective, using a way of thinking that can be described as God's perspective.

……

Just as Guilliman and Losi were planning how to continue their attack.

In the distant solar system, a decree of the state religion was spreading rapidly throughout the various imperial worlds.

"In the name of the Divine Emperor, I hereby issue the following order to all believers and the State Religion Court:"
The goal is to find Pope Euphrates Cisalpine and bring him back to Holy Terra for questioning at all costs.

This order, on the surface, sounds as if the state religion is trying to find its supreme leader.

However, anyone with a basic understanding of the current situation in Terra will realize that this is actually the state church "wanted" and "hunted down" their living saint and pope.

Thanks to the space bridge system that has begun construction, the political upheavals taking place in Holy Terra are spreading rapidly throughout the galaxy at an unprecedented pace.

Many empires are already aware of the "Terra Spring" that took place on Terra, initiated by Acting Pope Elfreda.

Those planetary governors, cardinals, Astartes Legion, and forging masters are not fools; they wouldn't be so stupid as to actually believe that nothing really happened on Terra.

They all understood that the state religion was no longer satisfied with its original interests amidst the fierce political struggle.

The state religion blatantly violated the political rules left by the former emperors and rulers, and they are seizing and plundering more power in the name of a high lord.

The Ministry of the Interior was the one whose interests and rights were most violated. The state religion, in the name of the Divine Emperor, openly interfered with their government through religious authority.

However, Elfreda, that madwoman, acted swiftly; she has now replaced most of the key positions in the state church on Terra with her own confidants.

Furthermore, she dispatched a group of personnel known as "review pastors" to the Ministry of the Interior to review and verify the orders issued by the Ministry of the Interior, and to offer their own suggestions when they were dissatisfied.

The Ministry of the Interior naturally opposed it vehemently, but now that the state religion had gained the upper hand, they could only swallow their anger for the time being.

Faced with this situation, other state religions outside of Terra are also observing the situation.

The state religion is divided into many factions, some of whom are extremely dissatisfied with the atrocities that have occurred on Terra, while others believe that the acting pope is indeed working to advance the interests of the state religion.

After more than a century of promotion, the state religion has taken root in millions of worlds of the empire and established its own religious system. Now, this ideological division is shaking the stability of this system.

Theoretically speaking, the person who most needs to stand up and make a statement during such a chaotic time is the Pope and Living Saint Euphrates Chillo, the head of the state religion.

But reality always differs from theory. Qi Le disappeared without a trace immediately after her trip to the religious world ended.

No one knew where she had gone, not even her personal servants.

And the Acting Pope Elfreda, who issued this order, was undoubtedly the person in the entire galaxy who most wanted to find Qile.

She was well aware that compared to the first living saint of the state religion, her voice and prestige were far inferior.

Without Qile's support, it would be impossible for the cardinals of countless worlds within the Empire to fully submit to her.

This was an outcome she could not accept no matter what.

Elfreda has made up her mind to continue to strengthen the absolute faith in the God-Emperor—all people of the Empire must unconditionally believe in the God-Emperor and worship Him in the most fanatical way.

She wants to build more magnificent religious worlds, conscript more holy crusaders, conquer more heretics and enemies, let the God-Emperor see their piety, and truly unite all mankind under a unified faith.

Everyone in the empire was fooled by Guilliman's version of the Emperor's Word.

Guilliman added a great deal of Imperial Truth to it, and the thought of Imperial Truth made Elfreda feel uncomfortable all over, as if she had taken some kind of poison.

In her view, faith in the emperor should be fanatical and pure, rather than rational faith or objective judgment.

The God Emperor is absolutely correct, and any "rational" questioning of the God Emperor is a blasphemy that deserves to be burned at the stake.

Elfreda also worried that if Qile refused to accept her proposals, or even openly called on other imperial worlds to oppose her, it would undoubtedly have extremely negative consequences.

To avoid this situation, she had to ensure that Qile was under her control and that the state religion had only one voice to speak to the outside world.

Even if it involves some very unethical means, it is a necessary sacrifice.

The God-Emperor will see his own sacrifices and forgive his own actions.

……

In the vast subspace, a trading fleet of the Gol Elysian merchant family is sailing through the turbulent Aether currents.

They traveled from the Stormy Starfield to the Limit Starfield.

This trade fleet consisted of more than twenty merchant ships, with Luna-class cruisers patrolling the outer perimeter of the fleet like sheepdogs protecting the giant transport ships inside.

Inside the living deck of a Lunar-class cruiser named Elephant, a woman wearing a gray hood with a glimpse of golden hair was leaning back in her seat, gently swirling the wine glass in her hand.

The wine swirled and swayed in the glass, seemingly mirroring the turmoil in her heart.

"Miss, would you like to have a drink with me?" A sailor in a uniform with slicked-back hair approached the woman and began to fawn over her.

Although the woman's face was obscured by her veil, one could imagine that she must be quite beautiful just by looking at her slender fingers holding the wine glass.

At least six strong men in various parts of this cabin were very interested in the female passenger.

"You must be a traveler who bought a ticket and is planning to travel to the Extreme Starfield along the way, right? I've lived on this ship for thirty years and I've never seen a woman as beautiful as you."

"Come on, the journey is long. Even if the warp travel goes smoothly, it will still take us several years to reach our destination."

"We need to find something to do to pass the time and alleviate the loneliness, right?"

Hearing the man's flirtatious words, the woman hidden in her robe slowly lifted her hood.

What appeared before everyone was an ordinary-looking face, quite different from those hands that were as delicate as white jade.

"Want to ask me out? Then beat me at drinking first."

The man who tried to flirt with her was slightly disappointed, but on this Lunar-class cruiser, there were always more men than women.

Although he was just a sailor, he often succeeded in seducing women thanks to his good looks and smooth talk.

Although the girl in front of me wasn't as pretty as I'd imagined, she was still a woman. Once the lights were off, it didn't matter whether she was pretty or ugly.
"Okay!" the man shouted with a strong voice, "I'll drink it!"

"Bockson, bring me your most prized scarlet rose and put it on my tab!"

Upon hearing the man's shout, a chorus of mocking hisses immediately erupted from inside the cabin.

The price of scarlet roses was by no means cheap for ordinary sailors like them; they could easily be classified as "luxury goods."

This guy is willing to pay such a price to pick up girls; it's like the little guy is controlling the big guy, which is laughable.

Boatswain Bouxon chuckled and took out an amber-colored glass bottle from the ship's icebox, through which one could vaguely see the crimson liquid churning.

"If you get drunk and throw up all over me, I'll have to settle the score with you."

"Of course, after you've sobered up from your hangover."

Boxon joked that although he was the boatswain of the Elephant, he had a family-inherited brewing skill, so he opened a small tavern in the living deck area of ​​the ship.

These sailors and crew members, how many of them weren't avid drinkers? When they had nothing to do, they would get together to drink and boast, which was the best way for them to pass the time.

Scarlet Rose was his proudest creation; even those abnormally strong Oglin apes would be brought down by its intensity.

A bottle of chilled Scarlet Rose was placed on the bar. Bouxon skillfully swirled the bottle to let the wine breathe until it reached its sweetest state, then picked up the bottle and poured it into two glasses.

He added some pine nuts, mint leaves, and other seasonings, then handed it to Bazel and the blonde woman.

Bazel slicked back his hair with a rather flamboyant gesture, then tilted his head back with a rather bold air and poured the glass of scarlet roses into his mouth.

The other sailors and crew members around them immediately started cheering and clapping; the intensity of the Scarlet Rose was not something that ordinary people could withstand.

However, the blonde woman quickly downed her glass of wine and looked at Bazel with a half-smile.

"What an amazing woman!" Bazel's face was already flushed. He praised her good drinking capacity in his heart and poured himself a second glass.

The blonde woman followed at a leisurely pace, her face devoid of any extra expression, remaining completely indifferent.

When the two were down to their fourth drink, Bazel finally couldn't hold on any longer, his eyes rolled back, and he collapsed on the bar.

The blonde woman remained seated, smiling at the sailors around her.

Immediately, the onlookers realized that this seemingly ordinary woman was definitely not simple. What a joke! Even that tough, burly bull, Bazel, was taken down, yet she was completely unharmed. Even a fool could see something was wrong.

None of these sailors, who made their living by following the merchants and wandering ronin, were stupid. They would rather be cautious than careless, and immediately put away their little schemes.

Everyone quickly looked away, pretending nothing had happened. Even the few crew members who, like Bazel, had been eyeing the woman, hurriedly slipped away.

The boatswain also stepped in to smooth things over.

"This bottle of scarlet roses is on my behalf, madam," Bouxon said with a smile as he had his men take the completely drunk Bazel away.

"Your wine is really good," Qi Le said with a smile.

The boatswain nodded and smiled, gently pushing the remaining half-bottle of scarlet roses aside with his right hand, then turned and left, leaving Qile alone to rest at the bar.

Seeing that the people around her were starting to disperse, Qi Le quietly removed the psionic illusion that had been cast on her.

She knew that if she walked around looking the same as before, she would definitely attract some unnecessary trouble.

But who knew that the crew on this merchant ship were so thirsty that even though she became ordinary, people still came up to chat her up.

"It's a bit ridiculous, really. I, the pope of the state religion, am actually wanted by the state religion."

"Elfreda probably really wants me to disappear completely, so that she can become the rightful Pope of the state religion, without the word 'representative' in her title."

The smile on Qi Le's face faded, and a look of sorrow gradually appeared.

If the sailor who had just struck up a conversation with her were to see her again, he would be instantly captivated by her saintly and pure aura, and would not dare to harbor the slightest thought of desecration.

Those who can develop desires for the Pope of the state religion are no longer ordinary Slaanesh believers and must be dealt with severely.

She swirled her wine glass and poured herself some more scarlet rose wine, but unfortunately, she couldn't get drunk at all.

The Qile of today and the Qile of the Great Expedition era are two completely different people.

At that time, she was still a mortal chronicler of the 63rd Expeditionary Fleet of the Great Expedition.

Although she can use her psychic powers to foresee the future, stop time, repair her body, and even banish demons with the Emperor's Word, she is still essentially a mortal.

If the mood suddenly struck her, she wouldn't even mind having a romantic night with some of the playboys in the 63rd Expeditionary Fleet.

But now, she has lost all interest in these matters between men and women.

"The reason I concealed my identity and used this merchant ship to travel to the Extreme Starfield was to avoid the eyes and ears of the State Religion."

“I must guide the state religion onto the right path. Alfreda’s extremism will destroy the order and balance we have worked so hard to establish.”

"But if I want to accomplish these things, I need more capable helpers."

Qi Le also understood that she was now completely in a passive position.

Once Elfreda and that so-called living saint Christine find themselves, the best outcome will be that they are imprisoned and placed under surveillance.

Of course, it's possible they might directly send assassins from the Assassin's Court to assassinate him.

Although he was a powerful psychic, he believed that if he used the right methods, assassinating someone would not be too difficult.

The Chulisas assassins of the Assassin's Court are all extremely professional psychic killers.

Their untouchable constitution, coupled with their extremely professional and efficient killing methods, makes it almost certain that any target they target will die.

"Your Majesty, please guide me, what should I do?"

Qi Le prayed to the imperial statue hanging on the deck of the ship.

"Why did the National Church suddenly become like this?"
The one who initially held the seal told me that he needed to use human faith to alter a certain trait of the emperor, allowing the toxic faith to reshape another side of the emperor.

"One day, the God-Emperor will emerge from the Emperor and detach himself, taking the Emperor's place to fight and struggle against the qualities that symbolize darkness."

"But when faced with the struggles and turmoil within the state church, I didn't know what to do. Perhaps I am not a competent pope at all."

Qile is not good at politics; otherwise, even if she left Terra to visit other religious worlds, she would not have been able to let her base be raided by a bishop.

After all, she was originally just a recorder of the fleet, but she was chosen by Macardo and the Emperor to become the first pope of the state religion.

Although Qi Le knew that the most important thing right now was to seize the time to gain the support of the cardinals in other parts of the empire who did not obey Elfreda's will.

The longer it drags on, the harder it will be to gain support.

Many of those bishops were promoted by him personally, and their ideas and inclinations were relatively moderate, making them a force that could be won over.

But now he has no choice but to disappear without a trace. As soon as his whereabouts are exposed, the pursuit from the State Religion will come immediately, and he can't even find a few people he can trust.

Knowing what to do and knowing exactly how to do it are two completely different things.

Suddenly, a few drops of molten wax dripped from the eye sockets of the imperial statue she was worshipping onto the back of her hand.

The sudden burning pain caused Qi Le's pupils to contract, but she did not flinch. Instead, she stared intently at the scalding hot wax flowing down her skin.

As if under the influence of some mysterious force, the wax condensed on the living saint's arm, forming a pattern of a skull and sword.

Qi Le immediately understood that this was the revelation the Emperor had given her.

But what exactly does this mean?
Sitting at the bar, Qi Le racked her brains for a long time but still couldn't come up with an answer.

Suddenly, the crimson lumens lights inside the cabin began to flash, and a piercing alarm sounded, causing panic to erupt among the people who had been resting and chatting.

"Instant emergency! Everyone return to your posts, immediately!"

"Gunners, prepare for calibration! Weapon array ready! Ready to fire at any moment!"

"Everyone prepare for an attack; damage control team, stand by!"

A series of sharp roars pierced the eardrums, and even Qi Le was startled by the scene.

A crew member rushed to Qile's side, but the living saint had already concealed his true appearance once again.

"All of you who bought tickets to board the ship, stay together and don't wander around, we might be in big trouble!"

After saying that, he didn't care whether Qi Le had heard him clearly or not, and then he ran wildly towards the next place.

Qi Le then belatedly realized that the Lunar-class cruiser she was aboard seemed to have encountered some trouble.

Is this related to imperial revelation?
Meanwhile, in the warp, the merchant ronin fleet, which had previously been loosely organized, had now huddled together tightly.

Ahead of the merchant ronin fleet, an unfamiliar, unknown fleet appeared out of nowhere.

Although their numbers were not as large as those of the Gerald Ellie family's warships, the results from the scanning array showed that the enemy's warships were far superior in quality.

Just one identified Apocalypse-class battleship is enough to give them a run for their money.

"Captain, our Imperial keel database does not contain the other party's keel identification code."

"This means either these warships come from the Empire's secret service, which we don't have access to, or it means..."

The senior technician didn't finish his sentence, but as the highest-ranking manager of the merchant fleet, Thomas Ally already understood what a terrible situation it was.

They are currently traveling in warp space, and theoretically, the probability of encountering an unfamiliar fleet in this vast and boundless void ocean is extremely small.

But now that they've run into each other, it means the other party came specifically for them.

Thomas simply couldn't believe that the other party had gone to such lengths to block them here; did they really come with good intentions?

The wandering merchant's mind raced through possible suspects: space pirates, chaos rebels, alien forces, and rival wandering merchant families.

But why would someone with the power to field such a fleet want to oppose their family?
"Captain, should we strike first?" the leader of the fleet escort asked, his Adam's apple bobbing as he tried to calm his uneasy heart.

"To strike first, we need to have the capability!"

"Do you believe that the moment we make a move, those unidentified warships will fire and kill us first?"

"Even if we are fully armed traveling merchants, they might be a regular army. How can we fight them?"

Thomas gave him a good scolding, which finally made him feel a little better.

"It's either talk or run away; there's no other way."

"Pass the word down to their warships, tell them to be ready to split up and escape at any time. We have more ships, they shouldn't be able to catch up."

"Besides, this is subspace. If they want to run with us, they are likely to encounter unknown dangers. We'll bet they won't dare to do that."

"As for us, we send a communication request to them, asking me to talk to them. If they want our goods or transport ships, then we'll give them to them."

Thomas also demonstrated the spirit of a high-ranking member of his merchant ronin family; when it was time for him to step forward, he would never cower or hide.

"Yes!" the head guard said sternly, and then passed on the order.

As the Elephant sent a communication request to the other party, Thomas felt as if the air around him had frozen.

Time seemed to drag on endlessly. He kept glancing at the timer on his wrist, his mind racing as if a thousand powerful cats were raging inside him.

The lives of everyone on this trade fleet depended on this negotiation.

Thomas prayed fervently that the Emperor would bless him, and he was willing to donate all his wealth to the cardinal of the diocese after returning to his family.

Perhaps his prayers were truly heard by the Emperor, for the Thinker computer on the bridge emitted a crisp "ding" sound indicating a successful connection.

A pale green fluorescence lit up, and countless hazy light particles were arranging and combining to present the holographic projection of the other party.

What appeared before Thomas was neither a ferocious Chaos rebel army nor some disguised alien race.

The person opposite them was also human, and judging from their attire, they seemed to be high-ranking officials of the Empire.

Two of the giants stood out so conspicuously that no one could ignore them.

"This is...Astartes?"

Thomas's heart skipped a beat; this made his guesses come true.

This unidentified fleet is a secret unit of a certain Astartes Legion.

Their authority is too low; they have no right to know of their existence.

Since the Emperor granted the Primarchs the power to establish their own kingdoms, research on the various Astartes Legions has become popular among the trading ronin.

After all, an independent, closed-off country cannot shut itself off from the outside world and completely cut off all communication. These traveling merchants were the most active group of communicators.

The exchange of goods and services represents huge commercial benefits, which is an irresistible temptation for them.

However, after carefully observing the other person's appearance, Thomas did not find any valuable identification information on the chest armor, shoulder armor, arm armor, or tactical helmet.

Typically, each Astartes will indicate their legion affiliation on their power armor, sometimes written directly in High Gothic, and sometimes represented by special symbols or totems.

Before Thomas stood two giants clad in silver-gray power armor, their shoulder armor adorned with symbols of purity, and inscribed with some kind of rune in a script they could not understand.

Their power armor was neither the Starr type commonly seen in the Empire today, nor the original Mark type, but a model that the traveling merchants had never seen before.

The round skull, symbolizing purity, is evenly distributed on the breastplate, shoulder armor, and sharp prismatic tactical helmet.

Even just viewing it through a holographic projection device gives one a sense of inviolable majesty.

"Honorable Imperial Angel, may we have offended you in any way that you have been waiting here for us?"

Thomas spoke with a respectful and unusually humble tone.

However, the Astartes did not answer the traveling merchant's question; instead, a woman who appeared to be a judge spoke up in response.

"Shut down your warship engines and keep only the Geller field generator running."

"Disarm all defenses and cooperate with the tribunal to board the ship for investigation."

The female judge spoke with utmost seriousness, and Thomas even felt that the way she looked at him was as if she were looking at some unforgivable evil heretic, cold and ruthless.

"Your Majesty, how the hell have we run into the Inquisition?"

"These plague gods are not easy to deal with."

The traveling merchant cursed inwardly, but he dared not delay and immediately ordered his men to act according to the judge's instructions.

(End of this chapter)