Warhammer 40k: Starting as a Rogue Trader

Chapter 139: The High-Value Bounty

The architectural sprawl of Malfi's upper hive was unlike anything Damon and the others had ever seen. As the long-serving Bishop of the Ecclesiarchy on Agathos, Holter was intimately familiar with the old upper hive there. On Agathos, even within the stacked layers of buildings, there was a discernible logic, and the Mongorte Dynasty even possessed professional navigation equipment to ensure no one would get lost.

But the upper hive of Malfi seemed to have inherited the treacherous and scheming nature of its people. Nearly every vast complex belonging to a noble house was like a self-contained labyrinth. In the assassination-filled culture of Malfi, even the great nobles had to constantly guard against attacks from their enemies, and their maze-like mansions were the first obstacle any assassin would face.

After breaking through the defensive line of the Governess's private soldiers, who had not yet had time to react, the group began to scurry through the complex terrain of the upper hive like a headless fly.

"Who in their right mind would build an upper hive like this?! Can the people here even find their own way around?!" Ian couldn't help but curse through gritted teeth.

The situation forced Ian to use his divination to find a suitable path for the group. He never imagined his psychic abilities would one day be used for navigation. If not for the body enhanced by Lucan, the strain of repeated divinations would have already pushed his mind past its limits.

But it wasn't just Damon's team that was getting a headache. Governess Glydus was furiously berating her soldiers. Fifty people. That's all it was, and they had managed to break through a defensive line set by five thousand of her elite private soldiers. Each of those soldiers had been gene-enhanced and blessed by wicked warp sorcery, even wearing master-crafted gear, and they just let them get away?! What was the point of creating these soldiers at such a great cost?

Once that group scattered into the complex architecture of the upper hive, even she, the Governess, would find it difficult to root them out. Although she was the Planetary Governor, the great nobles here were like individual warlords, each with their own schemes. They certainly wouldn't notify her when they decided to expand their personal palaces.

"Useless! You're all fucking useless!"

A group of slaves prostrated themselves on the floor before their furious mistress, not daring to even lift their heads.

Gasping for breath from her extreme anger, Glydus collapsed back onto her throne. Her once-human body began to slowly reveal its mutant features again, and whispers from the warp echoed in her mind.

The terrifying entities in the Empyrean were telling her that if she failed to capture these people, she would face a pain beyond her imagination. Only by fully accepting the power of the Empyrean could she better complete her task.

"Get out! Get out of my head! I will capture them!"

Glydus clutched her head, trying to drive the voices out. From her posture, it was clear she did not revere or worship the dark gods like other cultists. Her eyes were filled with disgust and anger. Even if she captured Damon's team, her plan was never to sacrifice them to those gods. The power they possessed, a power that even the gods coveted... if she could claim it for herself...

"Issue a wanted notice to all of Malfi! I don't care who it is! Whoever captures them will be granted the title of Earl! Their Governess will provide them with unimaginable wealth, weapons, equipment, money, even warships! Anything can be a reward! I just want them captured!"

As the order was issued, all of Malfi erupted. The first to receive the bounty were the great nobles, but they took little action, only sending out a few token search parties. They didn't believe a word of what the Governess said about the targets being heretics. On Malfi, the first skill a child learned after they could speak was how to lie. If you couldn't lie, you couldn't call yourself a citizen of Malfi. "Trust no one" was practically the most common creed on the planet. No matter how sincere or earnest someone appeared, you could never trust them. If you did, it wouldn't take more than a few hours before everything you owned was plundered, and your corpse would turn up in a sewer.

The second group to receive the bounty was the Blood Guild. When the wanted notice was posted, countless Blood-Hunters went into a frenzy. The wealth was beyond imagination. Obtaining even a fraction of it would be enough to escape the gloomy underhive and become a wealthy noble, never having to live a life on the edge of a blade again.

Carried by these Blood-Hunters, the wanted notice swept through the entire Malfi hive city. Countless people spontaneously formed groups, all trying to become the lucky one.

While the common citizens might be blinded by greed, the Ecclesiarchy and the Inquisition should have realized that the official story made no sense. Even if they couldn't prove the team's innocence, the betrayal of a Bishop and the fall of a high-ranking Inquisitor would be an intolerable scandal for their organizations. Any pursuit or judgment would be handled internally, never entrusted to the common citizens of the Imperium.

But the situation had been expertly manipulated. Malfi's Cardinal Bishop had mysteriously died while "spreading the God-Emperor's gospel." Rear Admiral Larrius from Port Wander, before he even had a chance to report for duty, was found murdered along with his guards in the Navy's temporary residence.

At both scenes, the biological information of Damon's team was left behind. There were even priests and acolytes who had "witnessed" the faces of the accused. Apothecary analysis confirmed that all the victims had died shortly after meeting with Damon and the others.

Even if they didn't fully believe that Damon's team were heretics, the authorities had no choice but to join the search. Only by finding them could they learn the truth of the matter.

At this time, Norris and his Ghosts had entered the hive's underhive from the wilderness. Seeing the wanted posters plastered everywhere, he understood the dire situation Damon and his team were in. Norris had not expected Glydus to move against them so quickly.

"Lord Norris, what should we do? Should we go up and support Lord Damon?" another Ghost asked.

"That won't work," Norris replied. "Can a handful of us really fight an entire hive city of frenzied residents?"

"We'll stand by. First, we report the situation here to Lord Lucan."

Lucan was still on Port Wander. News of the fleet being attacked had already reached him via quantum communication. Even before Norris sent his message, Lucan had seen the ambush through Damon's perspective. Norris's report only confirmed the true extent of their plight on the ground.

So this is the vast ocean of a people's war...

Lucan agreed with Norris's decision. Sending the Ghosts to support Damon now would be a futile gesture; Ghosts were not suited for frontal assaults.

Lucan knew that with his current fleet strength, winning a direct war was unlikely, even with the Stellar Pioneer. He had a great advantage in void combat, but the countless ground-based defensive weapons were in Glydus's hands. If even a tenth of the planet's twenty billion people rose up against him, it would be more than he could handle.

Most importantly, the hand of Chaos was moving behind the scenes, and they were always the most difficult opponents.

He had to use another method. The strongest fortresses are always brought down from within.

It was time for the Zerg swarm, which had been breeding on an uninhabited planet, to be put to use.

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