Warhammer 40: Starting as a Rogue Trader

Chapter 3 I am loyal!
The atmosphere between the two sides was extremely tense.

Chief Steward Weir stared at these machine gunners wearing unknown combat uniforms. He had never seen this type of armor before, but he was sure that these people were not Space Marines. The style of the combat uniforms was too different from that of the power armor.

Power armor is a precious, rare, and important combat material for most warbands, and is even regarded as a sacred object. Making such a large-scale change to the power armor is itself an act of blasphemy.

"Gao Yi! What's going on with these people around you? I'm sure they're not from the ship, and they definitely don't appear in the personnel report you sent them on board!"

Will looked at Gao Yi and others nervously, with the muzzle of his gun still pointed at the machine gunners.

"These are my warriors. If you want me to explain first, why not explain why these Chaos followers attacked me? They even had easy access to the most important place in the entire dynasty where the certificates of authority are stored.

Judging by their attire, they must be from the lower deck, right? How many checkpoints must we have to go through to get here from the lower deck? You know that, don't you? They even have laser guns. I'm here to apply for the Rogue Trader position, so can I understand that someone on this ship is deliberately trying to get me killed? If I hadn't brought my own guards, I'd definitely be dead! Maybe even my certificate would be destroyed!
As the steward, isn't this a dereliction of duty?"

Faced with Gao Yi's questioning, Wei Er was also very troubled.

Looking at the corpses strewn across the ground, he certainly understood the seriousness of the situation. The thugs' weapons had clearly been smuggled in. While they might be able to hand-build an automatic rifle, the laborers' crude equipment alone wouldn't be enough to handle a laser rifle.

The defense facilities outside the hall where the certificates were stored also failed for unknown reasons. Not only here, but the entire warship was almost in chaos. He rushed here as soon as possible because of the importance of the certificates.

Except for Gao Yi, all three dynasty candidates on board died, the sound array master was assassinated, the battleship's engine was damaged, the crew on the lower deck rioted and were fighting with the crew of the battleship, and what was most unacceptable to Will was that the current wandering merchant Ludwig was also missing, and no one knew whether he was dead or alive.

Looking at Gao Yi in front of him, he had to accept the fact that if the worst happened and Lord Ludwig was dead, then Gao Yi in front of him would be the only person on the entire ship who was qualified to inherit the position of the Rogue Merchant.

Looking at the silent Weir, Gao Yi asked first: "Tell me, what happened to this battleship? Has Chaos corruption occurred? All these thugs I killed have signs of Warp corrosion!"

"Something has indeed happened on the ship, Lord Gao Yi. Before I explain the situation to you, you and these warriors who came from nowhere must be examined. This is truly abnormal. As the steward, I must be responsible for everyone. I want to ensure that you are not affected by any subspace. Please lay down your weapons for the time being!"

After thinking for a moment, Weier said to Gao Yi.

"I'm sorry, Will, but laying down your weapons is impossible. I can't guarantee that some of you aren't in cahoots with them. If you want to check and verify, call them here and do it in front of the sacred trade certificate. The purity mark and anti-psychic device here can also ensure the safety of each of us."

"All right, Boatswain Dresden, go get the confessor and the navigator here!"

"I'll go right away, sir!"

Looking at Driss who took the elevator away again, Gao Yi whispered to Damon beside him.

"If anyone opens fire on us first, we will fight back immediately!" Gao Yi, who had just experienced an assassination attempt, looked at everyone with caution.

"Don't worry, my creator, you won't be harmed before we die."

"Just call me Commander from now on! It sounds weird otherwise."

Both sides remained wary of each other. About twenty minutes later, Driss arrived with a woman wearing a priest's robe and with her eyes closed.

Will walked up to the pastor.

"Father Kayla, please confirm whether Lord Gao Yi still maintains his faith in the Divine Emperor."

Pastor Kayla walked up to Gao Yi with a silver box in her hand.

"This is a reliquary containing the remains of martyrs. The remains of devout believers, combined with the long-standing prayers of the Emperor's devoted followers, have given it the ability to identify heretics."

"My loyalty to the God-Emperor can stand the test!"

"Many people have said so. I have served on this battleship for decades. Many who claim to be steadfast have unknowingly abandoned their faith in the God-Emperor. My job is to identify those whose faith is unsteady. I hope you can pass the test."

Keira murmured a prayer to the God-Emperor as he carefully opened the reliquary. When the ashes inside were revealed, Gao Yi clearly felt a magical power.

Kaila carefully took out some of the ashes and scattered them to Gao Yi and the machine gunners, but nothing unusual happened.

Everyone who saw this scene breathed a sigh of relief.

"Butler Weir, the martyr's ashes haven't reacted at all. This at least shows that Lord Gao Yi hasn't been corrupted by Chaos at this time."

Will nodded and turned to the navigator again.

Besides the Astropath, the Navigator is one of the few legal psykers on the warship.

"Eunice, please carefully check whether Lord Gao Yi and his warriors have been affected by the warp."

Hearing Will's words, Eunice opened her closed eyes.

"I thought you couldn't see..."

"Your Excellency Gao Yi may have never come into contact with a navigator like me. Closing your eyes will allow me to perceive more information. The light of the Divine Emperor guides us to see things in the warp that others cannot see. You have no need to be afraid."

"I am not afraid. I am certainly aware of the diversity of the Navigators. You play a vital role in the Empire, and I thank you for your service."

"Thank you for your compliment, let's get started!"

Yunis placed her hands on her chest and made the Sky Eagle Salute gesture, and then an obvious subspace reaction gathered on her forehead.

People without psychic talents could not see it, but Gao Yi saw a deep eye appear on her forehead.

That is the third eye of the navigator.

The eye carefully scanned Gao Yi's whole body and looked at Gao Yi, trying to find some clues from him.

But no matter how hard Yunus tried, he could not find even a trace of suspicion, not even a trace of subspace reaction. He even felt that Gao Yi was like a black hole, quietly devouring the surrounding subspace energy.

You have to know that humans are also a psychic race. Except for some special existences, such as the Sisters of Silence, everyone else will have some connection with the subspace to some extent. Eunice has never seen the legendary Sisters of Silence, but Gao Yi's performance at this time is very similar.

After keeping his third eye open for a long time, Eunice also felt tired.

"Huh... Praise the God-Emperor... I haven't detected any traces of the power of the Warp from Lord Gao Yi and his warriors. They are even purer than us... Perhaps he is a special existence."

After hearing what Eunice and Kayla said, Will's nervousness eased. No matter how these soldiers got on the ship, at least they were not Chaos's lackeys.

"Since Lord Gao Yi and your warriors have passed the test, please come with me to the bridge. The ship is in dire condition... We need someone of legitimate dynasty blood to take charge."

"Bad? How bad?"

"It's so bad that we might be trapped in the warp forever..."

"what?"

After hearing this, Gao Yi knew that the previous difficulties were just a small matter, and the real difficulties were waiting for him there.

What good fate could a warship trapped in the Warp have? Most would be devoured by the demons and beasts of the Warp.

Or maybe he was forcibly corrupted by Chaos. He is not the Imperial Five-Star Admiral Speyer.

"Okay... take me there!"

(End of this chapter)