Shipping goods from the game to the World of Warhammer

The wreckage of the skull cannon was dragged away by eight ecclesiastical soldiers using specialized isolation chains. Throughout the process, all the mechanical priests present chanted exorcism prayers in binary language until the pile of completely inactive scrap metal was sent into the plasma furnace on the surface of Mordax, where it was melted into a pool of harmless liquid metal at a temperature of tens of thousands of degrees. Only then did the chanting stop.

Dane's matter also needs to be dealt with, but that's no longer within Rhodes's scope of concern. The Mechanicus has its own procedures for purging technological heretics. Besides, Dane himself has already been turned into a cannonball by the Skull Cannon and fired, leaving not even a complete corpse. The subsequent investigation and accountability are only to ensure that there are no other heretical remnants left behind.

What really gave Rhodes a headache was the pile of crooked and messy patches on Casal's body.

Less than an hour after the battle ended, Casal was sent to the repair workshop in the forge city of Mordax.

Three high-ranking mechanical priests conducted a comprehensive scan of him, examining everything from his logic circuits and the operating parameters of his servo motors to the interface signals of every implant. The scan results showed that Casal's logic circuits did not exhibit any "innovative" tendencies, heretical thought patterns, or signs of emotional deviation; his core cognitive framework remained faithful to the teachings of the Omnipotent God.

But this result did not quell the controversy.

"The problem isn't whether Father Casal himself was contaminated," Graion said, standing in the center of the repair workshop, his mechanical arm pointing to the scrap patch on Casal's chest that had been removed and placed on the workbench. His voice was filled with barely suppressed anger. "The problem is that an engineering device of unknown origin, without any consecration ceremony, used untested waste materials to arbitrarily modify the body of a mechanical priest. This is blasphemy against the creation of the God of Machines!"

"There's no time for a consecration ceremony on the battlefield." Another older cyborg priest spoke slowly. His code name was Tarian, and he was far more senior than Graeme. His tone was also much calmer. "If that engineering vehicle hadn't been repaired urgently, Father Casal's core system would have completely shut down within four minutes. At that point, what we would have lost wouldn't have been doctrinal dignity, but an experienced member of the technical class."

"He should at least be shut down with honor, not stuffed into a pile of junk!"

"A glorious shutdown?" Tarian turned to look at Graion, the red dot in his mechanical eyes flashing. "You mean, sending him to meet the God of Machines with a perfectly preserved corpse is more important than letting him live to continue serving the Forging World?"

Graeme opened his mouth, but no words came out.

The debate lasted for most of the day, until finally, the casting director, Herlek, personally intervened.

Herlek is the highest-ranking mechanical priest in the Mordax Forge world. His body has undergone more than 90% mechanization, and apart from a small piece of original brain tissue preserved deep in his skull, almost no trace of organic life can be found. He rarely expresses his opinion directly on disputes among his subordinates, but this time, concerning the issue of an external device's control over the mechanical priest's body, he has no choice but to step in.

Herlek proposed a solution that no one could refute: since the crux of the dispute lay in whether the repairs to the STC engineering vehicle were doctrinal, then they should provide consecrated standard repair materials and allow it to perform a complete overhaul for Father Casal. This time, the casting director and the mechanical priests present would observe the entire process together before making a judgment.

Of course, this requires Casal's approval.

When the news reached Casal, he was lying on the repair table. The scrap patch on his chest had been removed, revealing the internal frame that had been scorched by the high temperature. The replacement parts that had been temporarily welded on by the SCV had also been removed one by one and neatly arranged in the tray next to him, like some kind of evidence.

Several visiting colleagues responded with silence instead of greetings. Their gazes lingered on the scrap parts for a long time. One of them, a young priest who was on good terms with Casal, lowered his voice and said something in binary language, roughly: "You've had this stuff stuffed into you, and you can still endure it?"

Casal's logic unit processed the data for a while and then returned a series of signals: "What I can't tolerate even more is a shutdown."

When Herlek's proposal was formally presented to him, Casal agreed almost without hesitation.

This decision surprised Grion and the others somewhat, since some priests believed that allowing the same machine that had "desecrated" their bodies to be used again was a second trampling on their dignity. But Casal's reasoning was simple—if the maintenance logic of that engineering vehicle truly conformed to the doctrines of the Pantheon, then proving this was valuable for the entire Mordax; if not, it should be determined through proper testing, not based on a few scrap pipes.

The next day, the standard repair materials were delivered to the main repair workshop of the Foundry Church.

The consecrated alloy frame, standard-model servo motor components, quality-inspected transmission lines, and sufficient holy oil and sealant were all prepared according to Casal's physical parameters and neatly stacked on the supply table in the center of the workshop.

Herek Forge Director stood in the center of the observation platform, behind him were twelve mechanical priests of different ranks, their visual array all focused on the repair area in the center of the workshop. Casal was already lying on the repair table, the wound in his chest gaping open, the damaged structure inside completely exposed.

The gray-blue SCV was guided into the workshop. The huge industrial drill bit and welding arm reflected a cold light under the lights. The operator in the cockpit looked around and was obviously uncomfortable with so many mechanical eyes staring at him.

Rhodes stood to the side of the observation platform, his arms crossed over his chest. He appeared calm on the surface, but his clenched fists betrayed his inner tension.

When repairing the Thinker, the mechanical priests focused on the SCV's repair efficiency and technical level. But this time it was different. The casting director and these priests would examine every step of the SCV's operation from a doctrinal perspective. They would mainly look at whether the order in which the SCV disassembled parts was in accordance with regulations, whether the way it installed components reflected "respect" for the machine, and whether its attitude towards damaged parts conformed to the core doctrine that "everything has a mechanical soul."

These things are probably not written in the SCV's maintenance procedures.

Rhodes took a deep breath and prayed silently, hoping that the engineers of the Terran Federation, the casting director of the Mechanicus, and the Mechanicus priests would have at least a little common ground when it came to how to repair things.