“Yes, I am quite certain.
The one in question is an ancient sage belonging to Alpharius—he even knows secrets that not even the Primarch is aware of.”
Looking at the Inquisitor before him, this Alpharius spoke with great conviction.
“Is he loyal?”
Upon hearing this news, Inquisitor Gers turned a grave face toward the Black Shield veteran before him.
This Alpharius was himself a veteran, having joined the Black Shields for several centuries now.
Every single time, he completed each arduous mission to perfection—a great many of which could only be described as utterly suicidal.
So even among these Inquisitors, this Space Marine was regarded as absolutely loyal.
“I’m not certain.
But what I am certain of is this: if I hadn’t intervened, then the plans of those World Eaters would not have succeeded, because he was about to make his move.
So at the very least, he is no heretic…”
In Warhammer 40K, betrayal is, ironically, a small matter—it’s turning to Chaos that is the real problem.
While many who betray the Imperium without turning to Chaos still tend to catch a combined beating from all sides, in truth the Imperium’s attitude toward these two cases is completely different.
Those who turn to Chaos are hunted down and beaten until they’re dead, but for mere betrayal there is, on the contrary, room for reconciliation.
This Alpharius coming to ask the Inquisitor for help now was a last resort.
Hive City Kuent was simply too vast.
This planet, moreover, had a population in the hundreds of billions—and with that sheer volume of humanity, even an Astartes like him had no way of finding his quarry.
As the Black Shield veteran spoke this far, there was a strange certainty in his tone.
He recalled the scene he had witnessed with his own eyes in the depths of that Necron tomb—the figure disguised as a World Eater who, at the critical moment, would surely have struck if he himself had not, as well as those ancient secrets about the Primarch that had come from the man’s mouth.
Such secrets were not something just any heretic could fabricate; not even within the secret vault archives of the Alpha Legion could so complete an account be found.
If the man had truly defected to Chaos, there would have been no need whatsoever to step in at that moment to disrupt the World Eaters’ operation, much less to go to such painstaking lengths to tell him so much about the true meaning of loyalty to the Primarch.
An Alpharius who had turned to Chaos would communicate with you using a boltgun and a chainsword—not with a truth that left you unable to sleep at night.
“I will keep watch.
What needs attention now are those heretics.”
Inquisitor Gers’s brow twitched.
Hive City Kuent was now in turmoil.
All manner of heretics and xenos lurked, gathering together to revel upon this human sector’s core world, and the Imperium’s forces were stretched dangerously thin.
He couldn’t even coordinate a single Astartes company to come over, so even though he was an Inquisitor responsible for xenos affairs, he had no choice but to face the threat of Chaos as well.
And the only Astartes he could call upon was the single Astartes squad that had come along aboard his Black Ship—if it weren’t for the heretics, the situation would not have been so urgent.
But it had to be watched all the same.
He understood all too well what a ten-thousand-year-old veteran—an old can—signified.
This was a man whose words carried weight even on Holy Terra; and although his origin lay among the Nine Traitor Legions, that was not really such a great matter.
“The heretics of the upper-hive have started fighting with the scum of the under-hive—their two factions were in conflict to begin with.
As things stand it’s actually rather convenient, but I still need to root out more heretics, and xenos as well.”
Gazing with satisfaction at the intelligence he had compiled in his hands, Inquisitor Gers trusted no one.
Especially not this planet’s local nobility, which was why he needed to make use of the Inquisition’s manpower as well as the enforcer.
He would also contact the local Sisters of Battle in passing—only this way could he wage a special kind of war.
“Send people first to track down that Astartes.
Although, if he really is an Alpharius, he won’t be so easy to find.
He could be anyone.”
Looking at the parchment in his hands, though he held little hope of finding that Alpharius, Gers nonetheless issued the order.
His forces were stretched thin as it was; as long as it wasn’t a Chaos Astartes, the priority could be set aside for the time being.
“There really aren’t enough men.
It seems I’ll have to requisition some from the Planetary Governor.”
…
Meanwhile, on the other side, Heydrich couldn’t help but feel his brow twitch.
“Huh, I’ve actually grown stronger once again…”
Feeling the boost to his body’s base attributes, Heydrich said with a hint of surprise.
“For now I’m only a very low-level Pathstrider.
To walk far enough, I’ll need to pull off something big.
But if I make it too big, I might just attract some filthy things.”
Right now Heydrich knew he was still a nobody, not yet noticed by anything in this world.
But if he stirred up too much commotion and drew the gaze of the Warp’s five great Dark Gods, then he’d have a real headache on his hands.
“If I want to walk farther along the Path, then what I need is to fabricate a piece of history or a figure, and make everyone remember it forever, flawlessly, without ever being discovered.
And not the small-time stuff like now, either—so I must have an opportunity.
There’s no telling when that opportunity will come.”
Staring at his interface, Heydrich fell into thought.
He didn’t have all that many resources on hand at the moment.
The Path of Enigmata was, among all the Paths, comparatively difficult to advance along—not as simple and brute-force as Paths like Preservation or the Hunt.
“No telling when my second Path will unlock, and even less of what the second Path will be.”
Glancing at the dim Path seed in his hands, Heydrich felt rather helpless—he had no idea how he was supposed to unlock the thing.
Was it like the protagonist of Honkai: Star Rail, whose actions at a certain moment met the standard of a Path and so set them upon a new one?
Of course, he could not obtain the glance of an Aeon—this was not the Honkai: Star Rail cosmos, and an Aeon in the Honkai: Star Rail sense simply did not exist here.
Knock knock knock…
Just as Heydrich was caught up in his dilemma, on the other side his door was knocked upon once again.
“Another mission already?
I really am a born laborer.
Should I ditch this cover identity?
No, that won’t do—this position is neither too high nor too low, and the original owner had just conveniently died.
Such a good position doesn’t come along often.”
Upon hearing the sound at his door, Heydrich felt somewhat irritated.
After all, the mission he had just carried out had been extremely dangerous, and the people above really weren’t being decent.
Sending an ordinary man like him to single-handedly search out a whole nest of cultists—if they hadn’t paid so much, he really would have bolted.
But although he grumbled and cursed like this, Heydrich still opened his door.
“Wells, you completed the previous mission excellently.
Now the great Sector Governor and our lord have a new mission.”
“Understood.”
Hearing this, Heydrich nodded helplessly, then followed this middle-aged man through an elegantly scenic garden to its central location.
The next moment, Heydrich’s pupils couldn’t help but contract, because before him now appeared two people.
One looked utterly bloated, yet his eyes flickered with a chilling light; the other looked to be in his thirties, tall and capable in build, yet wore a uniform modeled after the standard of the Rose Festival.
These two were none other than the Sector Governor of this sector and the local Inquisitor.
“Well, f…”
Upon seeing these two, Heydrich couldn’t help but curse inwardly.
“I’ve read your résumé.
You’ve completed every mission perfectly.
I now require manpower, so for this period of time you will work for the Inquisition.”
Seeing Heydrich approach, Inquisitor Gers spoke in a tone that brooked no refusal.
“Of course—the more useful you are, the harder they work you to death.
Truly worthy of being your Dyson!!!”
(PS: Dyson is a brand of hair dryers, vacuum cleaners, and other appliances known for being extremely durable.)
Looking at the Inquisitor before him, Heydrich grumbled and cursed inwardly.