Chapter 201: The Emperor's Voice
Upon entering the city area, Damon saw many civilians and soldiers. Even in this relatively safe zone, the situation was not optimistic. Lorysia's food reserves were already insufficient. Most people were sallow and emaciated. From time to time, bodies could be seen lying on the ground. As soon as these bodies were discovered, patrolling soldiers would immediately incinerate them.
The bodies of those who had died from the Nurgle plague were covered in pustules. If left to develop, they would either become Poxwalkers or a Nurgle Hive. This forced the Planetary Defence Force and the Adeptus Arbites to devote a large amount of strength to maintaining internal stability.
While sitting in the troop transport, Damon suddenly saw the "Unbelievers" that had been mentioned before.
"Wake up, my brethren! Devote yourselves to the Emperor's Voice! The vermin of the Imperium are leading Lorysia to ruin! Listen to the Emperor's voice! It is the Ecclesiarchy that has twisted the Emperor's will, trapping Him on the Golden Throne to suffer for us!"
"What's going on? How did these people get through the blockade? Guards, arrest him! Quickly!"
Franz was clearly shocked by the appearance of these Unbelievers in the city!
The soldiers in the escort team immediately moved toward the man, attempting to stop him. But the next second, he detonated the explosives strapped to his body. A huge explosion destroyed everything around them and engulfed several guards.
As the explosion roared, a large number of rioters rushed out from the surrounding buildings. They were even carrying Imperial-pattern weapons. They did not harm the other civilians, only targeting the Imperial guards, and charged toward a nearby Ecclesiarchy cathedral, their mouths shouting accusations against the church.
The priests and faithful within the cathedral did not sit idly by. A fierce battle immediately broke out between the two sides. Both sides were extreme fanatics. They all called the other heretics who had twisted the Emperor's will, and during the battle, they all shouted the Emperor's name, making the situation seem exceptionally bizarre. Who were the real traitors?!
Damon had originally thought these rioters were also some kind of Chaos cult, but he could not sense any Chaos power from them.
"Sir! It's those heretics! Drive! Get out of here!" Franz shrieked in terror, urging the driver to hurry and find more reinforcements.
But the mob had already set their sights on the convoy where Damon and the others were. A dense spray of autogun fire slammed into the armored plates. Some even had explosives strapped to their bodies and were charging toward the convoy.
The accompanying Lorysian Planetary Defence Force was caught completely off guard by this sudden attack. Bodies were left on the ground, one after another. With their fanatical, death-defying fervor, they broke through the defensive line formed by the guards.
Although Damon was curious about these peculiar rioters, and as someone who did not believe in the Emperor, he was not particularly angry about the act of destroying a church, at this moment, he had no choice but to fight back.
One by one, the Raiders disembarked from the troop transport, and Damon and the two Night Sentinels beside him also joined the battle. The rioters, with only one weapon, no armor, and no training, had no chance against the well-trained Raiders and the superhuman Night Sentinels. The mob's attack was instantly suppressed.
Franz cautiously poked his head out. He had seen the Emperor's Angels before, but why did these mortals feel even fiercer than those Astartes?
The attack came quickly and ended just as quickly. Damon had already subdued the leader, and a portion of the rioters had begun to retreat in fear. After confirming it was safe, Franz also got out of the transport.
"Commander Damon! Why haven't you killed him yet!"
Damon ignored Franz and instead looked at the man he had captured. He then checked the bodies of the other rioters. Although these people also showed the emaciation of long-term lack of food and nutrition, there was a clear difference between them and the others. The refugees in the outer areas should have all been suffering from the plague to some extent, but on these people, he could not see any sign of infection.
"Why are you not infected with the disease?"
Hearing Damon's question, the man smiled.
"Why! Of course, it is because of our piety! The Emperor protects us! Only by constantly scourging ourselves can we be protected from the erosion of the plague! Only we can save the people of this planet from the plague's torment. We are saving this world!"
Damon tore off the man's ragged shirt. Countless shocking wounds covered his body, some not even healed and scabbed over. These were not inflicted by others, but by themselves. The "scourging" they spoke of was not just verbal, but physically inflicted upon their own bodies. And on these people, he found no mutation at all. There was not a trace of Chaos corruption, as if they had truly received the Emperor's protection.
"Where did you get your weapons? And how did you get past the blockade?"
Damon didn't believe these civilians could have access to so many standard-issue weapons. These were not things that could be made by hand.
Faced with Damon's questioning, the man was silent, having already calmly accepted his impending death.
However, before Damon could delve deeper, Franz immediately said, "Please let me execute these rioters at once! Lest they influence the other citizens!"
"This man is mine. I need to get more information from him!"
"But... this is against the law. The Ecclesiarchy will not allow you to do this!"
"Franz, I hope you understand that neither the Ecclesiarchy nor your governor has the right to order the Astra Militarum to do anything, especially since your governor is already dead. This is wartime. To quell the current chaos on Lorysia, all existing forces and resources must be integrated under our command!"
Franz was dumbfounded... Wait a minute! Weren't they here to assist us?
Franz wanted to object, but thinking about the warships in orbit and the combat power Damon and the others had shown earlier, he chose to keep his mouth shut. He wasn't the governor... there was no need to risk his own life to argue with these Astra Militarum. And besides, the army before him was the only force they could rely on.
From the moment he arrived, Damon had no intention of being constrained by the local forces of Lorysia. As per Lucan's request, saving the people on the planet and preventing the spread of Chaos was one thing, but "occupying the mountain to become king" was also part of the plan.
A total of 200,000 fully-armed Raiders and their attached logistical support troops began to land in the landing zone and take over the original defenses of the garrison. The accompanying tech-priests also began to take control of the still-operating factory districts, and the SCVs immediately began to repair various damaged facilities.
Most importantly, the large amount of supplies brought by Damon began to stabilize the situation on Lorysia. The food produced by the warships' ecological circulation systems, and the starch blocks processed from mushrooms, gave hope to the civilians who had been constantly on the verge of starvation.
However, the most serious problem was still the pervasive plague. Conventional treatment methods could not completely cure these viruses, which carried the evil of the warp. These viruses were constantly destroying people's bodies. The presence of the Medics could slow down the erosion, but it was not a fundamental cure. The true terror of the Nurgle plague was its ability to seep into everything.
The fleet began to conduct pinpoint bombing on the completely fallen areas, and the Raiders also began to attack the Nurgle Poxwalkers and the cultists they had spawned.
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