Warhammer: Black Emperor

Chapter 22 My crown, I wear it myself

Eleven standard seconds before the coronation ceremony, Nimrod walked into the ceremony hall.

Many nobles held their breath. The approaching giant was even more oppressive than he had looked in the surveillance video.

Kozubal and most of the others thought to themselves, "Could it be the gods from the myths of the old night that have descended?"
Some people think of the god of war Sventorvit, but giants do not have four heads and four faces.

Others think of Perun, the god of thunder and lightning, but giants do not have copper heads.

……

Some nobles, including Yelena, frowned and glanced at Sage Kaminsky out of the corner of their eyes.

Could it be that the Mechanicus's cyborgs, unwilling to accept the dual political structure, are simply turning the tables and unifying Tezwok?
Kaminsky's prosthetic eye was flooded with countless zeros and ones, so fast that it made a faint crackling sound.

The summary scan results were then displayed in binary code, and the built-in translator automatically translated the technical language into Vostroyan Low Gothic according to the preset program:

【Threat level: fatal threat.】

【Physiological structure: Unable to analyze.】

【…】

The sage realized that the giant before him was beyond his ability to scan and analyze.

But he did not stop, forcing the scanning module to continue working until a cloud of black smoke rose up, and he was forced to stop. The two mechanical tentacles behind him stretched forward.

After sparks flickered for a moment, Kaminski's scanning module returned to normal. He turned his head unwillingly.

Howard Finder, dressed in a red suit with gold trim, spoke loudly to everyone.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we gather today to witness the beginning of a new era."

"Gentlemen, the Boleslaw family has been immoral for a long time. They have been taking advantage of other families, both openly and secretly, and seizing their assets."

"King Bolesław is the giant rat of the hive lying in Trzewok, mean and greedy."

The blond earl's words aroused everyone's anger, and every family suffered losses to varying degrees.

"Thankfully, a noble man came to Trzeciwok and overthrew the tyrannical rule of King Bolesław."

“The servant of Om Messiah also sees the light of the Lord of All Things shining upon him.”

"Now, let us invite Sage Kaminsky to crown the new king."

Kaminski's two lower mechanical tentacles lifted the crown, and the upper pair of tentacles took it and held it high. Then he walked towards Nimrod.

Red and green lights flickered on the sage's filter screen, and rationality and the instinct to explore the mystery clashed fiercely.

The distance of 121 meters seemed like 10 kilometers to Kaminsky.

He came before Nimrod and was about to tell him to bow his head and deliver the ritual words, but Nimrod reached out and picked up the golden crown and put it on his head.

His throne was not granted by the Adeptus Mechanicus, but was the result of his own conquests.

Everyone was stunned. This was not in line with tradition.

Kaminsky's filter screen flashed red light wildly, and the sound array synthesizer began to vibrate.

"Nimrod... Crown... Procedure..."

The sage did not enter maintenance mode this time, but the overheated logic operation module was unable to complete the calculation for a while.

"Sage Kaminsky, you can't reach my head, so it's only right that I wear my crown myself."

The nobles were silent. In such an occasion, every action had special political significance. The new king's action was not just about the height difference as he said, but had special political significance.

They all looked at the two upright double-headed scepters on the crown, and the same thought came to their minds.

[It seems that King Nimrod does not think that the royal family and the Mechanicus are two-headed.

So, what does Kaminsky think?]
Many nobles held their breath, their palms sweating. Is another war about to break out?

Even Yelena, who had been very confident before, couldn't help but doubt her own judgment. Is the new king a madman who wants to go to war with the Mechanicus?

Everyone turned their gaze to the Sage, waiting for his reaction. Kaminski was silent for several seconds, and except for Nimrod, it felt like an unusually long time.

Finally, the synthesized sound of the sound array rang out.

"Om Messiah bless you, Nimrod!"

The Sage did not deliver the coronation words written by the Sage of Giviore as he had done in previous ceremonies, but he did acknowledge Nimrod as the new king.

Nimrod remained calm, and Kaminsky was just as he had imagined. Procedures were indeed important, but such political rituals were not as important as efficiency and industrial capacity.

The sage discovered that his own combat power was beyond his calculations, but he also hoped that his strong combat power would resolve the Vostronia crisis. The oil men would not choose war for the sake of political tradition.

In his operational logic, ensuring efficiency and industrial capacity is far more important than political tradition.

Accepting his own unconventional transgression was the inevitable outcome of his logical calculations.

Nimrod will cooperate with the Mechanicus, but he must be the one in charge. If he cannot be in charge, then there is no need to cooperate and they can just destroy the ruins and rebuild.

Today is just the beginning. As his strength grows, he will reshape the order of Vostronia according to his own ideas.

Howard breathed a sigh of relief. If a war broke out, no one would stand on Nimrod's side except him.

In order to avoid any further accidents, he shouted loudly.

"A new king has ascended the throne, and you have yet to pledge your loyalty."

After he finished speaking, he was the first to kneel on one knee and spoke loudly according to the tradition of the Muska people.

"I, Howard Finder, pledge my loyalty to my King Nimrod! Whatever my King commands, I will obey and carry it out!"

Yelena was overtaken and quickly knelt on one knee.

"I, Yelena Kournikova, pledge my loyalty to my King Nimrod! Whatever my King commands, I will obey and carry it out!"

Kozubal and others also reacted and quickly pledged their loyalty to the new king.

Nimrod glanced at the crowd, "I accept your allegiance!"

After the others stood up, he spoke to Howard, who had not yet stood up.

"Howard Finder, I hereby grant you the title of Earl in recognition of your loyalty and contributions."

Nimrod once again broke with the tradition of the Muska people that the investiture should take place in his nest tower, rather than in the nobles' mansion.

"For the rest of you, your titles remain unchanged; your industries and factories will resume operations immediately."

Upon hearing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief and accepted the order respectfully.

"Yes, my king."

"Howard, you stay here, and the others will execute immediately."

Kaminsky walked up to Nimrod.

"Next, Bainiban. Tech-Priest Rosicky will discuss weapon and armor designs with you."

"Please resume operations at all Shangchao factories within five work cycles in accordance with the agreement."

"I will keep my promise."

After everyone left, Howard asked Bukayo to go to the butler to get the prepared equipment, and then came to the palace.

"Rolslev will take over the Bolesław family's assets. As for the assets of other families, you must come up with a plan for distributing them within one stellar hour."

"Yes, my king."

Howard understood that although Nimrod had given him the other destroyed family businesses, he could not distribute them at will, nor could he seek personal gain from them by assigning the most profitable businesses to the Finder family.

If you want to win Nimrod's trust, you must distribute it according to industry relevance and the principle of maximizing efficiency.

(End of this chapter)