Chapter 209: Questioning
Barov sat in his conference room, flipping through several field reports.
The conference room turned out to be a luxurious bedroom, but Barov never slept here. He only received his most trusted advisors and occasionally asked his young female assistant to serve him Relax and relax.
When things were so troublesome, he thought to himself, it would be a good idea to hide here.
No matter what, he has to keep his head clear. If he thinks too much about details, he will drown himself in them - he says his, she says hers, and he can't control it.
He took a sip of wine imported from other planets—the finest wine worthy of a crisis of this magnitude—and continued reading reports from various places.
Barov read that almost half of the No. 14 mining area has lost contact, and the workers there were inspired by some heresy to stage a riot and occupy the entire area.
He shook his head and smacked his tongue.
He originally thought that blocking all major passages would end the riots, but now it seems that is not enough.
He had to send a scout company of the 12th Light Infantry Regiment of the Local Defense Force deep into the mining area to prevent the further spread of madness.
Subsequently, the second report Barov picked up from the writing desk was a communiqué from the colonel of the 7th Infantry Regiment.
The colonel regretfully said that he could not contact his troops to coordinate their garrison at Mine No. 16.
Barov sighed. It seemed that he had to contact several priests in the church. He wanted to let the colonel know it well. Once a few outstanding priests spoke, they could make his chain of command How redundant it seems.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door of the room, and Barov raised his head angrily.
“Come in.”
His voice was quite sharp.
Subsequently, a waiter servitor pushed the door open with its chrome arm, and a deacon walked in. He was Barov's trusted servant and messenger, a young but ambitious man.
"My lord."
The deacon said cautiously:
"Someone outside the door said that he wanted to see something."
"Tell this person, my office has rules! My time is precious. If it is really that important, let him go to Mia first."
"This is where the trouble lies... Sir. ”
Speaking of this, the deacon’s round face suddenly turned red.
“They claim they have the right to meet with you directly.”
“When I said no…”
"You will have time, Bishop."
Suddenly, a rich voice came from behind the deacon.
An armored giant held down the deacon's shoulders and threw him into the corridor while he was screaming. Then he strode into the house with heavy steps. The wooden floor of the house creaked with his heavy steps, as if he was ready at any moment. It will generally collapse.
The person who came was tall, almost terrifyingly strong, with a stern and aristocratic face, and a pair of eyes that revealed wisdom.
He wears a silver-gray power armor covered with thunderclouds, with the emblem of two crossed swords printed on the shoulder armor. Behind him is a short cloak, and on the chest is the stern imperial eagle emblem.
"Please forgive my intrusion, Bishop."
The giant stood still, looked down at the pale Barov, and said with ridicule and grace:
"But our last It's better to deal with each other face to face. After all, I shoulder the responsibility of saving the world."
For a moment, Barov felt as if he was nailed to the chair by the other party's gaze. He wanted to stand up, his hands were sore. But his legs resisted him sitting like this. "I, I, I...you...
"I am the Chapter Master of the Astral Knights, Soshyan Alexey. I am here to represent the unlimited authority of the Emperor. I am here to contain the spreading alien threat. Our enemy is much more difficult to deal with than you imagine. , Bishop"
"Of course..."
Barov nodded hurriedly, then stood up unsteadily.
"Honored, noble angels, forgive me for my rudeness..."
"Now is not the time to discuss these etiquettes."
Soshyan smiled and waved his hand.
"I just have something to ask you."
"Yes——"
"As the person in charge of the local state religion, I think you should have heard of... ...Lord of Crows."
Barov's shoulders stiffened for a second, then he wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeves and whispered in an extremely humble manner:
"This...I have never heard of it."
"Oh?"
Sosh raised his eyebrows.
"This is a secret sect. The Lord of Crows is the god they worship. There is a group of miners who believe in it. Have you never heard of it?"
"Dereliction of duty and negligence. Is there such a heresy? I will send someone to investigate thoroughly immediately and I will definitely give you an answer.”
With that said, Barov wanted to press the electric bell on the table to summon his followers, but the bell was immediately shattered by a large armor-covered hand, which frightened the bishop and retracted his hand as if he was electrocuted.
"Don't worry, I still have some questions."
Although Soshyan was smiling at the moment, there was no smile at all in Barov's eyes, only the coldness that penetrated his bones.
"According to my investigation of your personal resume, you were born in an unbelievably humble way. Your father is a miner and your mother is simply a prostitute... Yes, don't be too busy denying it, that's who you are. Your biological mother, the restaurant waitress your father married is actually your
stepmother.”
With that said, Soshyan took out the data disk.
“Originally, this is nothing. The empire has never lacked inspiring stories. It is not unacceptable for the lowest person to climb to the highest position... But until you are 35 years old, you are just the most. Ordinary priests are assigned to the poorest and most violent neighborhoods and spend their days
except hiding in the small church and drinking. "
Hearing Soshyan put his own. Numerous treasures of his life were shaken out. Barov's fat face became whiter than the surrounding walls, and sweat dripped from his chin to his stomach like rain.
“As far as you are concerned, you have neither excellent speaking skills, nor fanatical beliefs, nor an excellent background. But even so, after your 35th birthday, your life seems to have caught up with you. With a free ride, you begin to rise rapidly, and all colleagues who have a competitive relationship with you,
Either an accidental death or a disappearance, and everything happened without any flaws, and there is nothing to blame you for, just like the last bishop died of cardiac arrest in his bedroom..."
Sosh Yang threw the data disk on the table, then put his hands on the table, looked closely at the bishop who was shaking like chaff, and said softly:
"This is not the most coincidental, what's even more coincidental is, Mine No. 13, where you were born, is the area where the Ministry of Justice encountered those heretics. So, Bishop, can you explain it? "
"I, I..."
"It doesn't matter if you don't want to say it. Although the equipment of the Legal Department is not as complete as that of the Tribunal, I think it can still be done to pry your mouth open. of. ”
"I, I...I'm not a traitor."
Barov's psychological defense collapsed in an instant, and he collapsed directly on the chair, covering his face and sobbing.
(End of this chapter)