Chapter 13: Plan to Save the Elephant - Confrontation between the Palms
The hymn on the Obsidian Fortress continues, but the solemnity belonging to mortals has been replaced by the solemnity of the Gray Knights.
Calvin continued to move forward with a smile, but a look from the depths of the throne room still made him wonder whether he would be arrested tomorrow for making the mistake of stepping into the palace area with one foot.
But no matter what, this hymn has been sung in the empire for thousands of years anyway, and the man has not heard it too few times in the faith channel.
You can't get special treatment just because you're singing too close to him this time, right? At worst, I'll stay away...
Calvin hummed, already looking for suitable itineraries for him to go out in the near future.
At the entrance of the main hall in the distance, the slightly pale face of the chief of Xingyuting could be seen in the distance. The welcome ceremony had gone through many twists and turns and reached its present state, which obviously exceeded his expectations.
"The blessing of the God-Emperor, the eyes of the respected Empire."
"Blessed by the God-Emperor, the mouthpiece of the empire in the endless starry sky."
Under the dark pillars, Calvin looked at the old man in front of him in surprise.
Under the mature etiquette model of the empire, it should not be an accidental coincidence as a visitor to be greeted by the host first.
There were obviously people in the team behind the chief of Xingyuting who were aware of the problem in this link, but in this rare occasion, they could only focus on the core of everyone with sulky eyes.
"It's not a coincidence..." Calvin's guess was confirmed.
And the moment he raised his head, he also noticed the apology in the eyes of the old man in front of him.
"That's a concession." Calvin nodded slightly, and then walked inward under the other's extended gesture.
The latter felt lightened after noticing Calvin's body language, and finally no longer worried about the previous offense to the original body, but the subsequent revenge...
"Take it." The two leaders gave orders to their subordinates at the same time and in different ways.
The singing over the City of Vision gradually stopped, and the farce finally came to an end in a tacit understanding.
The rest of the process was much simpler. The leaders of the two teams exchanged slight greetings in the corridor of the palace and led the crowd towards the depths of the palace.
During the march, the two Terra lords maintained a delicate silence.
The staff of the Astral Court introduced to Calvin the allusions to the sculptures along the way, and Calvin, who came in the name of the Inquisition, nodded frequently, seemingly immersed in it under the attention of everyone.
The door to the first reception room appeared in front of everyone in this atmosphere, and the sparsely placed ceremonial items at the door showed that this was where the chief planned to receive the reception.
The huge welcoming team had now returned to their respective places, and under the watchful eyes of the two Gray Knights and the Sisters of Silence, the door to the first palace of the Star Language Court finally slowly closed in front of everyone.
"It's funny."
After the crowd dispersed, in the quiet reception room, the old man, who was taking off his crown with the help of his attendants, winked slightly at Calvin while he was busy.
Calvin did not have such troubles. At this time, he was surrounded by two Imperial Guards and a Gray Knight, sitting safely on the extra-large chair specially prepared for him. (As the Emperor's envoy, the Imperial Guards are obliged to accompany them.
Appear at any public occasion in which Calvin participated.)
He was not the one who suffered the loss in the ceremony before, but the little actions of the old man in front of him made him even more unexpectedly interested in him.
What a wonderful man... Calvin commented in his heart, but said:
"It doesn't matter, it's an interesting experience."
The old man who took off his cloak and handed it to the attendant paused slightly after hearing this, obviously prepared for the original body's answer but helpless.
Is it just an experience? This is the stability brought by having a sharp knife in your mind...
As he turned around, the old man wiped away the bitterness on his face. He rearranged his expression, as if the conversation just now did not make him worried.
He knew very well what it meant to be a Primarch, and in his understanding of these demigods, not everyone was in the mood and willing to accompany him to play these mortal political games.
"So what's your purpose of coming?" the old man asked.
"A merciless request." Calvin sat up straight, while Nicholas stepped forward and handed the document to the old man's attendant.
"Sister Silence, right?" The old man did not take the document from the attendant's hand, but instead gestured to the latter.
So a piece of parchment with the emblem of the Star Language Court was returned to the hands of the Imperial Army the next moment.
"You know?" Calvin was slightly surprised, but still waved to Nicholas.
The latter took a step back silently and handed the document to the original body. The content was reflected in his body language within a few seconds, but the old man who was observing on the side shook his head inwardly again.
"5,000 people?" Calvin held the document in his hand and glanced at the words in it.
The allocation of the Sisters of Silence by Star Yuting was already a product of surprise to him, and the hand-signed number at the end of the document in the space between the number of people to be executed was even more surprising to him.
"Yes, 5,000 people, is that enough? Not enough!" The old man's expression was indifferent, as if what he was talking about at this time was not the direct armed forces of Xingyuting.
And what he said in the second half of his sentence gave Calvin the terrible feeling that he had missed the mark.
"The price." Calvin's hand holding the parchment turned slightly white, and his eyes were fixed on the old man.
He seemed to be aware of it, and he seemed to have expected it, but in order to get the answer from the other party, he still asked word for word:
"So, what is the price I have to pay?"
"Will you agree?" the old man asked with a smile, but the answer seemed to have been determined.
"You say it first." Calvin didn't take a step back, but a feeling that he had been watched for a long time lingered on him.
"Whale song." The old man pointed in the direction above his head, and that was the direction where the will of the legion commanded by Calvin had just been manifested.
He was somewhat intoxicated as he recalled the sound he had just heard, and the future behind that sound was something that he and the people he represented must firmly grasp.
"We hear the future in those voices, and I don't know what exactly you're finding.
I don’t even know what the people behind those voices have experienced, but in this future, there must be astropaths!”
boom!
Calvin sat back hard, and the metal armchair instantly let out an overwhelmed scream.
The two people's eyes collided fiercely in the air, but at this critical moment, neither party wanted to retreat.
"Change the conditions!" Calvin whispered, but after the original body's voice was not suppressed, even the angry whisper was like a giant roaring in front of him.
The War Council is his core team, and in his plan for this team, there really are no products of compromise from the old era of the empire such as astropaths and navigators.
"Then there's no need to talk, let's break up!" The old man looked at the original body with red eyes, while his attendant had already collapsed on the ground.
At a distance of less than five meters, Calvin could clearly feel the tension of the opponent's muscles and the eruption of sweat glands, but the old man seemed to resist the shackles of his body, and stood in a stalemate in front of the original body with unimaginable perseverance.
"Do you think this means you've defeated me?" Calvin's eyes became colder, and his strength was also eager to test.
When a Primarch's murderous intent is so unabashedly locked onto a mortal, it is undoubtedly every mortal's nightmare.
"No..." The old man's regular clothes were soaked through, and the muscles and bones on his body were screaming and groaning, but he still insisted on standing and said to Calvin in the most stubborn yet humble tone:
"No... of course I would not have such an idea, but the Astropath needs a future. He should and must be a part of humanity!"