Warhammer 40K in a box

Chapter 444 Extremism and Heresy

The forces of the state religion were mobilized like never before, and the entire belief system was running at full capacity like a sophisticated machine.

Every church and every mission post became a sentinel for screening, with heavy oak doors concealing a tight security. Even the suspended dust particles in the light filtering through the stained glass seemed to carry a sense of vigilance.

The chanting and incense burning never ceased, and long lines formed outside the confessionals. Believers nervously stroked their rosaries, unaware that heretics might lurk among the penitents beside them. The priests' ears were not only meant to hear sins, but also to pick up on any questionable words.

Pastors and fanatical missionaries, armed with modified relics capable of detecting faint psionic disturbances, scrutinized every believer with keen eyes, leaving no stone unturned.

They paid particular attention to those who were "overly pious"—the lessons of Murmansk taught them that this was the perfect disguise for the fourth generation of sly foxes.

Those believers who kneel for too long, donate too generously, or pray too fervently will be subject to stricter scrutiny.

In Helsinki, a bishop even ordered the burning of a batch of bibimbap ingredients donated by “model believers” that had been found to contain unknown biological enzymes, causing a small-scale panic.

Amidst the towering flames, the onlookers saw the strange, sticky liquid seeping from the flour sacks, realizing that the heresy had already permeated the Holy Communion.

The Inquisitors of the State Church also became active, and anyone who showed unusual interest in the image of the "Four-Armed Emperor" or had a non-standard icon in their home would be immediately taken away and interrogated.

The dungeon echoed with the wails of heretics, and holy flames purified every inch of suspicious skin, verifying even the slightest signs of heresy in the most extreme way.

The Ministry of Justice's response was the most direct and brutal.

Arbitrators, dressed in dark uniforms and wearing skull badges, swarmed like soldier bees, armed with heavy law enforcement shotguns and stun batons, and brutally blocked off streets, searched homes, and checked identities.

Their data boards are directly connected to a central database established by Olivia, and anyone with abnormal genetic profiles, unexplained infections in recent medical records, or who behaves "inappropriately" in a panic will be immediately detained.

Prisons and temporary detention centers are overcrowded.

In port cities and the space station, the Ministry of Justice even took over the inspection rights of all inbound ships, using such a tough approach that it triggered several small-scale conflicts.

Some Ministry of Justice officials also took the opportunity to crack down on dissidents or eliminate troublemakers in the local area, using "suspected gene thief" as the most effective charge.

But these actions pale in comparison to something as serious as a gene-stealing invasion.

Neither the court nor the district government has ignored these overstepping or abuse of power.

There is only one requirement: zero tolerance for gene thieves.

Chen Xi's instructions themselves are a manifestation of the court's will.

Inquisitors and their retinues belonging to the Alien Inquisition are urgently conscripted into elite squads to target high-risk targets—suspicious deep-space cargo ships, remote mining outposts, or hubs like Novaya Zemlya Spaceport that have had close contact with the "Ural Star."

Their methods are more professional and deadly, often accompanied by the roar of explosive guns and flashes of psionic energy.

At the same time, Chen Xi also used his connections in the Demon Tribunal and the Heretic Tribunal to be wary that the Gene Thief crisis might be exploited by the Chaos forces.

Intelligence sharing and the division of spheres of influence among different tribunal factions also brought about subtle frictions. But everyone remained restrained, knowing what was most important and what could be put aside for the time being.

In this purification campaign that swept across the entire subsector, the Silent Sisters became the Empire's sharpest spearhead.

Their silent figures moved through the smoke-filled streets, the dark and damp underground pipes, and the intricate cabins of the spaceport. Wherever they passed, even the air seemed to freeze.

Each Silent Sisters squad was like a deadly shadow, precisely deployed to the areas where screening resistance was greatest and where reports of psionic anomalies were most frequent.

Their greatswords were never drawn, but the suffocating void field had already made the alien contamination nowhere to hide.

These warriors from the Demon Hunter Order act with precision and lethality, often able to directly expose the hidden Chaos Contamination and traces of Genestealer infiltration in places where conventional screening methods have failed.

When they step into an area, the psionic illusions dissipate like morning mist, the hive mind connections of gene-stealers are suddenly severed, and even the most hidden warp rifts are temporarily closed.

A tech priest wrote in his data log: "Their arrival was like a water purifier added to muddy water, making all the impurities clearly visible."

However, this power also brings inevitable alienation.

The untouchable nature of these beings instills in ordinary soldiers and civilians a sense of instinctive awe and fear towards them.

During the purification operation in the Arkhangelsk colony, when Sidja's squad passed through the central square, the originally crowded people quickly dispersed like a receding tide, and some even vomited on the spot due to excessive panic.

The older nuns of Silence were used to this, but some of the newer novice nuns would still frown slightly behind their visors—they could sever psychic energy, but they couldn't sever this rejection stemming from their very life instincts.

From the moment they became nuns of silence, they were destined to endure these things.

At this moment, they are the sharpest blade in Chen Xi's hand to deal with the contamination from gene thieves.

And this sharp blade is gleaming coldly in every corner of the Rostov sub-sector, tearing apart the filth hidden beneath the surface of prosperity.
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Chen Xi stood on the bridge, gazing at the twinkling points of light on the star map—Novoland Spaceport, Arkhangelsk, Kherson…

Every point of light could be hiding another tragedy like the one in Murmansk.

This unprecedented, comprehensive investigation consumed enormous resources, created panic and injustice, and was like a painful but necessary procedure.

"Sir, at this intensity... the sub-sector's operations will be partially paralyzed," a senior staff officer cautiously warned.

Chen Xi's gaze did not waver in the slightest: "Paralysis is better than destruction! The Rostov sub-sector does not have the foundation of an ancient hive capital, the presence of a Space Marine monastery, or a large fleet cluster."

We're like newly built log cabins on frozen ground; a single insect infestation could uproot us.

His voice was deep but filled with unwavering determination: "I'd rather let this subsector tremble in fear for ten years than give those 'model citizens' hiding in the shadows ten years to hatch a swarm of destruction!"

(End of this chapter)