Chapter 1589: Whirlpool Undercurrent (Part 2)
There have always been voices suspecting that the thirty silver coins have an inexplicable connection with the Red Pirates, but everything is worth mentioning in the face of huge interests. , several investigations by the Ministry of Justice basically ended without success.
Even the boss of the Thirty Silver Coin Society is still a mystery. Everyone only knows that his name is Judas, but no one has ever seen its true appearance. It has always been operated by a few deputies outside.
"Have you three made an appointment? Come to me together?"
George Chatel shook his head with a smile and took the half-filled wine glass from the maid's hand.
"No, we just happened to meet on the road."
"Oh?"
At this time, Bartola Keita suddenly spoke, with a very gloomy tone.
“Earl, I came to you to tell you something. We are going to get rid of the Silent Fox. He has had several transactions with you before, and we adhere to the principle of not hurting our friendship. , we inform you of this in advance and hope you can keep it confidential.”
“The Silent Fox.”
Stern recalled for a while, and suddenly the smuggler who provided him with a batch of high-quality electronic products, but only needed some rare minerals, rang out.
“You are talking about Sorge? Isn’t he operating in Santiaro? How did he offend you?”
“His cheap electronic products of unknown origin He has squeezed out our market share in the Black Bird Star Cluster, and he has recently intervened in the drug trade in the Siniakes Galaxy. We have warned him three times, but he has turned a deaf ear, so there is only one solution left. War! "
Stern raised his eyebrows calmly, and then raised the cup slightly.
"Then I wish you all the best."
Obviously his attitude is neutral. He doesn't care who he cooperates with. He will pay tribute to whoever wins his glass of wine.
Bartola Keita obviously came to test Stern's tone. After getting the answer, this man did not stay any longer, nodded and got up and left.
After he left, George Shatel smiled and said:
"It's not peaceful. It's not peaceful. What's wrong with everyone recently? Isn't it good to do business in peace?"
Stern sneered and shook the glass.
"Stop pretending, you have been cooperating with these rats. I'm afraid you have a share in killing Sorge, right?"
George Shateler did not answer this question, but suddenly tilted his body and whispered Said:
“I just want to know some internal situations.”
“Huh?”
“The Black Hearted King seems to be extremely active recently. There are rumors that he seems to be related to fear. What agreement did the one in the Eye reach? Will there be a new war in the Maelstrom?"
Stern still shook his wine glass calmly.
"You ask me about this? I am a loyal servant of the empire. You must know more than me. After all, you are all mixed up with those ghosts and monsters, and I only think about how to protect the country and the people, and be loyal The God-Emperor is not so frivolous.”
“But——”
Admiral Busby Garrett, who had not spoken much, spoke, his voice seemed a little weak.
“I heard that Terra is organizing an army to launch an expedition against the Maelstrom.”
Stern stopped holding the wine glass in his hand and narrowed his eyes slightly.
If his information is correct, the Busby Garrett family is actually a branch of an ancient hereditary branch on Terra, and that lineage has produced several high lords in its history. He said What you say must be dealt with seriously. "Expedition."
Stern was also a little confused at this time. After the Badab War, the empire failed to completely eliminate the Hurons. When the Hurons became bigger, the empire only defended the Hurons. Huron has consumed a large amount of mobile troops. With the current size of Huron, the troops required to conquer him must be at least the scale of the famous Sabat expedition. Warmaster Sledo officially announced the start of the expedition in 755.M41. By that time, the Imperium had amassed nearly a billion Astra Militarum, six Space Marines of the Astartes Chapter, and a large number of Adeptus Mechanicus troops, including Titans.
And what Slydo has to face are basically corrupted Astra Militarum and mortals, with only a very small number of Chaos Space Marines. But Huron is not the mortal Chaos warlord entrenched in Sabat. There are tens of thousands of Space Marines, and their strength is many times stronger than the Chaos bandits on Sabat.
Stern felt that if we wanted to deal with him, we would need at least twenty Space Marine Chapters to have a chance, and they would have to be relatively strong Chapters, such as the Minotaur Chapter that participated in the Badab War. and the Shark Chapter.
However, at the end of this troubled 41st millennium, where will the empire mobilize such a large army?
Not to mention the huge number of Astra Militarum, so many Space Marines are just a dream. Although after the Badab War, some battle groups were indeed stationed to defend the Huron in the Maelstrom area. But years of war have not weakened the Red Corsairs, but have weakened these chapters. The most typical one is the Ranger Warriors, who were almost destroyed after their home planet was attacked.
Is it just a smoke bomb?
Stern was not sure at this time, but the recent Maelstrom did look like a storm was about to come, but he did not put his worries on his face.
"It's too early to say this now, but if war really breaks out again, all we can do is to be loyal to the God-Emperor."
"It is right to be loyal to the God-Emperor, but-"
George Chatel smiled and pressed his ring-covered hand on the gauntlet of the opponent's chair.
“Wouldn’t it be better if we could protect ourselves or even profit from the chaos?”
Stern glanced sideways at the other party, with a sneer appearing on the corner of his mouth.
"You can make money at any time, but your life cannot be guaranteed at any time. I suggest you close all your business. By the way, I would like to remind the big boss behind you that the recent situation is not peaceful. Please wait and see if anything happens."< br>
"That's natural. We are very clear about the logic of preserving capital first and then making profits. We just hope that we can unite and watch each other so that everyone can be safe, right?"
"Of course."< br>
Stan said this, but his thoughts drifted away. After years of war in the Maelstrom area, although the empire worked hard to maintain its fragile rule, in fact many galaxies and worlds have formed de facto Independence, or sitting on the fence, pays taxes when the red pirates come, and pays taxes when the empire comes. Anyway, they pay, just a little more. In order to maintain their existence, some worlds have even become pirate planets, and the entire society revolves around pirates. But once a war breaks out, this fragile balance no longer exists, and everyone must take sides.
But now, how many planets will still support the Empire?
If the empire launches an expedition, it will be easy to win. But if it fails, will the situation in the Maelstrom region completely collapse?
These are things to consider.
Maybe he has to contact his old friends to see if they have any news.
While Stern was thinking, he suddenly found that there was no sound around him. He saw that the dance had ended long ago, the crowd had dispersed, and even the two people had left.
With a sigh, he shook his head, picked up his cane and stood up. At this time, the waiter girl had quietly come to his side.
Stern stretched out his hand and rubbed her delicate buttocks roughly, which was not yet fully developed. The painful girl just frowned slightly and did not dare to express anything else.
As he is in his forties, only such a "youthful" girl can arouse his interest. Every time he comes to the theater, the owner of the theater will carefully prepare such a girl for him.
Stern picked up a black leather collar from the table nearby and hung it around the girl's neck. Then he tied a thin metal chain to the collar. The girl did not resist the whole process, but lowered her head slightly. head.
"What a troubled time."
Sighing, Stern turned around, holding the cane in one hand and holding the chain in the other.
"Let's go, baby, let's go home."
The girl silently followed Stern towards the open door. When she walked through the door, two tall bodyguards covered with black spiked carapace appeared in the shadows. , left here with Stern.
(End of this chapter)