Belisarius Cawl poured all the enthusiasm of his avatar into the examination and research of the seven Weeping Angels.
To facilitate better research, he even secretly contacted his main body, transmitting all the data and information obtained here for analysis by his main body.
As for the seven Weeping Angels, Cawl would naturally not just leave such important research samples in the Forge at the Starport.
The Forge was production equipment. Even if Ovilia had set up a laboratory here, its conditions and standards, in Cawl's view, were very mediocre, to the point of being utterly pathetic.
There was no other way; Ovilia had always carried the charge of being a Tech-heretic, which prevented her from openly acquiring many things.
Luka buying a Forge for her was already skirting the rules, as the charge of Tech-heretic truly meant excommunication by the Adeptus Mechanicus.
This also meant that most of the equipment Ovilia could obtain were items publicly available for purchase.
She couldn't buy the Adeptus Mechanicus's truly good things, let alone specially build and customize them like Cawl.
Therefore, after the seven Weeping Angels completed their initial examination in the Forge's laboratory, confirming that they had indeed successfully undergone the Primaris procedure and that the operation was very successful, Cawl intended to take them to his Forge Ark for detailed research.
But just as he was about to take them away, he was stopped.
"Great Sage, is it appropriate for you to just take them away like this?" Luka blocked Cawl's path. Behind him was a squad of Battle Sisters, the Avenging Angels, equipped with heavy weapons, and a squad of Seraphim, equipped with jump packs.
(Seraphim are considered the Empire's strongest non-modified human warriors.)
Besides these two squads of Battle Sisters, Mephisto also stood beside Luka with a squad of Crimson Paladins.
Next to the two, 32, who had finally arrived, appeared before Cawl, leaning on his Forge Axe, accompanied by a Death-level Automaton.
(The large one is Death, the small one is Fortress Star.)
"Greetings, Great Sage Belisarius!" 32 said nothing else, merely greeted Cawl, then busied himself with the cat crawling all over him.
However, the cat that 32 had been holding in his arms wore an Inquisition rose knot around its neck, while another cat wore the insignia of the Prefecture Magisterium.
Undoubtedly, 32 was standing in support of Luka.
They weren't trying to force Cawl into anything; they were merely trying to secure some benefits for themselves, ensuring Cawl didn't go too far.
For instance, directly spiriting away the seven Weeping Angels, or dissecting them on the Forge Ark.
Don't doubt it, Cawl was capable of such things, and with his technology, he could even dissect them, complete his research, and then sew them back up without the subjects ever knowing.
To avoid such an undesirable outcome, and also to secure greater benefits, Luka naturally called upon 32, the most overt deterrent to the Tech-Priest, to hold the fort.
Unless Cawl was so insane as to risk exposing two Inquisitors and an entire planet, while also incidentally trying to kill members of the Deathwatch and Blood Angels Chapters, he would calm down and carefully consider what he should do.
As expected, Cawl quickly asked Luka, "What do you want to do?"
"Great Sage, that question should be ours to ask. What do you intend to do? It is true that these seven Weeping Angels used your Primaris technology, and it is only right that you inspect them, but taking them away is simply unacceptable." Luka stared at Cawl, gauging his emotions and carefully choosing his words: "Primaris technology is not yet suitable for public disclosure. When I persuaded these seven Astartes Monks to undergo the Primaris procedure, I promised to guarantee their safety and ensure they would not become test subjects for the Adeptus Mechanicus. I wish to honor my promise."
Hearing Luka's words, Cawl's eyes flickered, and he largely understood Luka's demands.
So he nodded and said, "I understand. I will not conduct any research that crosses the line. I just want to know the reason why they were able to successfully complete the Primaris procedure. This is very important for my research! And also very important for the Empire!"
"I understand. This concerns whether the existing one million Astartes in the Empire can successfully convert into Primaris Astartes, and also whether Primaris technology can be smoothly promoted throughout the Empire." Luka nodded affirmingly, but at the same time, he was refusing Cawl: "But promises are also very important to me. Since I promised to protect these seven Astartes, I must fulfill my promise unless there are special circumstances."
Luka's implication was simple: without special circumstances, I must fulfill my promise; with special circumstances, I don't have to.
To put it plainly, it means, "You need to pay more."
"Must you obstruct me?" Cawl's voice became somewhat stern.
He didn't want to pay more, or perhaps he hadn't understood Luka's underlying meaning.
After all, this was just an avatar, not Cawl's main body.
In terms of thought and logic, these avatars seemed no different from Cawl himself, but they were essentially puppets controlled by Cawl, not truly independent entities, and their minds didn't always process things as quickly.
Of course, the most important point was that Tech-Priests often had rather poor skills in political maneuvering.
When they truly had conflicts, they would bring out their troops and fight it out; whoever won was right, instead of trying to persuade the other party with words.
So, in terms of strategy, they were indeed inferior to other factions of the Empire.
After all, when the Adeptus Mechanicus split into two after the Great Rebellion, and the High Lords of Terra intended to completely devour the Adeptus Mechanicus, the representative of the Adeptus Mechanicus stationed on Holy Terra resolved the issue by driving an Emperor Titan outside the High Lords of Terra's council chamber.
Therefore, Luka was not at all surprised that Cawl didn't understand.
However, this stalemate was clearly not ideal. Luka subtly gestured with his eyes to Ovilia, who was standing behind Cawl, indicating that she should offer a way out.
Ovilia received Luka's gaze. At that moment, she understood what Luka wanted to do even before Cawl did.
So she sent an encrypted communication to her teacher, then spoke: "Governor, I assure you, these seven Astartes Monks will be fine, and this matter will also be a tremendous benefit to them.
The Weepers Chapter is currently missing. These seven Astartes Monks are the last hope of this Chapter. If you allow my teacher to thoroughly research their condition, he can recover their Gene-Seed from them and help rebuild the Weepers Chapter."
Hearing this, Luka turned his gaze to Cawl and asked him, "Great Sage, is this true?"
"…Yes." Cawl was silent for a moment but still agreed to the deal.
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