40k: Midnight Blade.

Chapter 148 9. Overture to War ([-])

"Can you vouch for the truth of what you say, ma'am?"

"I can."

"Do you understand the particularity of this conversation?"

"I see."

"Do you know who you are giving evidence to?"

"I am providing evidence about the colony Harkosus to the Eighth Legion of the Human Empire." Senior trader Teresi said numbly to the darkness. "I swear by the Emperor that I will be completely honest."

"Very well, I hope you will be honest, Ms. Tracy. Next, I will ask you a few questions, would you like to answer?"

"I would," Teresi said.

"very good."

Voices came back from the darkness hissing, and the Nostramo language sounded like a poisonous snake in the darkness.

Tracy hugged herself, gasping in horror in the cold iron chair, waiting for questions—she was not hurt, nor was any of them.

Strictly speaking, the senior traders from Harkosus were just on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

"So, first question, Ms. Teresi. What kind of place is Harkosus?"

"It is a federation consisting of three planets. We call them by code names."

"What code name?"

"One, two, three."

"Why do you call it that?"

"Because...because that's what they're called, my lord." The senior trader gripped the edge of the iron table with numb fingers to keep himself from slipping.

She lifted her leg, not wanting her foot to touch the ground.The escaping mist was cold and alive, creeping in through the cracks in her leather boots, numbing every toe of hers.

"Then, we'll call them Harkosus I, Harkosus II, and Harkosus III. Do you have a better suggestion?"

"No, my lord."

"Very good. The second question, about the colony Harkosus Federation, can you provide us with more information?"

Teresi interlocked her fingers and answered the question quickly and clearly: "Yes, my lord, yes."

"Very well, then, how about the military strength of the Harkosus Federation?"

"I, I don't know, my lord, I'm just a senior trader."

"What do you know?" said the inquirer patiently. "Anything is fine, Senior Trader Ms. Tracy, you can make whatever additions you wish."

".The Federation has many weapons and many soldiers, but we can't reach them. We are only high-level traders, my lord. We only have guards on board."

Van Cleef turned his head and nodded to Khalil: "It seems that Enric Barbatos' information is correct, instructor. These senior traders are indeed just abandoned children. They don't know that there is another ship full of soldiers The boat followed them."

"They are abandoned children, but this does not mean that they themselves think that they are abandoned children for another person. Let Ms. Teresi stay alone for a while." Khalil said blankly.

Van Cleef complied with this order. He turned around, lowered his head, and pressed a button on the console in front of him, and the picture on the glass curtain wall was switched immediately.

Another man, also in a gray uniform, sat terrified against the wall in the dark room that was empty of anyone but him.After pressing a certain button for a long time, the dialogue unit was activated in the next moment, and his voice was transmitted to the ear of that person.

"Mr. Tartan, Senior Trader, please get ready."

"What, what are you preparing for? Who's talking?!" the man yelled. "You can't do this, I demand the most basic human rights treatment! You can't let us stay in a dark room all the time!"

"We have given you the most basic food security, Mr. Tartan, senior trader. You are now captives of the empire, so we can do anything to you according to the law, especially after Harkosus tried to destroy the empire. After the planet committed war crimes."

"In other words, you are now prisoners of war, Mr. Tartan. I will use the power given to me by the imperial law to ask you a few questions. Would you like to answer them?"

"I--"

"Would you like to answer the question, Mr. Tartan?"

"I am willing." Tartan lowered his head dejectedly.The long period of imprisonment and the gloomy environment on the bottom deck of the Nightfall made him lose the confidence to refuse.

"Very good, please describe in detail the specific information about the Burning Fire Chamber of Commerce, the ruler of the Harkosus Federation."

Tartan suddenly raised his head, and the previous depression was replaced by panic again. He stuttered like never before, his facial features were distorted, and he looked like a frightened animal: "No, no, no, I can't answer this question, I can't!"

"Why not?"

"I swear!"

"What oath?"

"I swear to our god!" Tartan stood up, his facial features alienated, but each exuded different fears. "I can't tell you about the chamber of commerce, or I will be punished by the gods!"

Van Cleef turned his head and frowned at some point: "His words are suspicious. We haven't found any traces of faith among the civilians. Those civilians have even accepted the propaganda of the truth of the empire smoothly. Instructor, this is not right .”

"The fact that the ruler of a Federation is a Chamber of Commerce is already very wrong, and the weapons and armor they use. These things will appear on a world without long-distance navigation."

Khalil smiled intriguingly: "Let him be quiet for a while. Mr. Tartan, a senior trader, has obviously seen their gods when they are angry, otherwise he wouldn't be afraid to be like this. Continue to ask That lady."

Van Cleef nodded, and the glass curtain wall changed again.Senior trader Tracy looked around uneasily in her chair, a woman who had been completely gripped by fear.Every movement of hers revealed a nervous twitch.

Press the button for a long time to speak again.

"Senior Trader, Ms. Tracy, we need you to describe in detail the ruler of Harkosus Federation, Burning Fire Chamber of Commerce. Please provide any information you think you can provide."

The trader turned his head sharply and looked at the wall, obviously startled.She was silent for a while before answering Van Cleef's question: "There are three leaders in the chamber of commerce, and they all come from the same family."

"Ms. Tracy, please continue."

"I" the senior trader stood up staggeringly, Khalil narrowed her eyes, her face had turned livid.

Van Cleef frowned, and immediately pressed another button on the console.

The door of the room was opened, and two soldiers of the Eighth Legion immediately approached and began to check her vital signs.But this was of no avail. Five seconds after saying the only message about the Burning Fire Chamber of Commerce, senior trader Teresi died.

"Instructor?" The company commander turned his head solemnly and looked at Kalil who had already walked beside him. "Should we continue?"

"Skip the question," Khalil said. "Send the body to the medical hall and let Jairzinho come over. It seems that my paperwork tonight will be delayed again."

He sighed.
-
Jairzinho Guzman looked at the corpse in front of him seriously, and put down the scalpel in his hand.

"There is no toxin residue, instructor." The medical officer said in the communication channel. "We did not detect any possible toxins, either in the air samples from the room at the time of her death, or in herself."

"Is there any other way?" Khalil asked. "For example, a machine placed inside the brain that will be triggered as soon as the relevant message is spoken, forcing her to die immediately?"

"...If it's that kind of thing, you should probably find a priest of the Mechanicum to test it out. Besides, I don't think there is really such a small and powerful thing that can not only exist in the human brain, but even It can also detect whether every sentence of the host touches the red line."

Jairzinho Guzman walked out of the isolation room with a sigh.After a series of complicated disinfection measures, he finally appeared in front of Khalil.

"To be honest, instructor, I don't think this time may be in the category of medicine." The medical officer said. "It seems that every matter that has something to do with you has nothing to do with medicine."

"Although this corpse was brought to the medical hall by someone I appointed, it had nothing to do with me during its lifetime."

Khalil looked at the medical officer amusedly, and heard the obvious resentment in his words—it was not incomprehensible.

After all, letting a doctor watch the dead change from nothing to a lively living person with his own eyes is indeed a great shock.The reason why Jairzinho Guzman has not started to doubt the world is probably only because of his trust in the Primarch and Khalil.

"But her death has nothing to do with medicine." The medical officer turned his head, glanced at the corpse on the iron platform through the laminated glass, and shook his head.

"The cause of death was suffocation, but, logically speaking, five seconds is far from enough for a person to die from suffocation. She is also in good health and has no similar, possibly weird symptoms. I have not found any possible The reason, instructor. I have to say, if this goes on, I'm afraid I'll have to find one of those theological books published by our cousins."

"Word Bearers?" Khalil frowned.

"Yes. I have actually read some of their books. The writing is indeed very good, but it requires a certain reading threshold." Guzman shook his head. "Anyway, that's the way it is, and I'm afraid you won't be able to find any truth about her death from me."

Khalil nodded thoughtfully, then spoke softly.

"It's okay." He said calmly. "Then let the dead rest in peace."

　two more chapters

　　
　
(End of this chapter)