The Bizarre Adventures of the Oil Man, but Starting with Warhammer 32K

He looked towards the Imperial Fists Honor Company stationed at the walls of the Tayla Palace. The captain stepped forward, pounding his chest and making a solemn promise:

"You are searching for the survivors of our Imperial Fists. We swear on our honor that we will ensure your safety."

At this point, it was difficult for others to object. Accompanied by Hayes's personal guards and the Imperial Fists, Admiral Hayes, having removed most of his medals of honor to make himself appear more ordinary, boarded a landing craft and headed for Maxim's spaceport.

They originally wanted to observe the situation at the spaceport before deciding whether to reach the ground through the spaceport or to reach the surface directly by the Astra Militarum's Avirus landing craft. However, to Hayes's surprise, there was someone waiting for them in the spaceport.

The man who approached looked like a sage, and a trace of boredom could be seen on his semi-mechanized face, clearly having been waiting here for a long time. Upon seeing the fully armed team led by Hayes, the boredom on the sage's face suddenly turned into eagerness.

He and his entourage raised their hands to prove they meant no harm. Then, they quickly approached Hayes, facing the alert guards. The sage puffed out his chest and proudly stated his identity.

"I am Sage Lifar, currently serving as Maxim's Director of Foundry."

He deliberately displayed his identification code so that all of you could see his identity clearly: "I have received news that a high lord is leading a fleet to visit. I am here to greet you and take you to meet your target."

"You, the casting director?"

Admiral Hayes glanced at Lifar, then back at his adjutant. The adjutant, who was in charge of the identification system, nodded, indicating that the sage's claim to be the Director of Foundry was genuine. This only made Hayes even more incredulous.

"You, a foundry director, actually came to the spaceport in person to welcome the expeditionary fleet?"

Although he was nominally on par with the Martian Forge General who governed all the Forge Worlds, Hayes did not think that his status as a floating High Lord could really be compared with that of the Forge General, a permanent High Lord.

Moreover, from the outside, they seemed to be just an advance team. With such a configuration, how could they be personally greeted by the Foundry Director?

Lifar rubbed his hands, his expression changing from pride to embarrassment: "It's a special situation. I was also entrusted with this task."

"Trusted by someone? Who in this forging world can trust you?"

Faced with Hayes's questioning, Sage Lifar was obviously a little annoyed.

However, upon seeing the black muzzle of the Imperial Fists' bolter, he immediately smiled and said:

"Of course, it's on behalf of the current Imperial Fists Chapter Master, Kurland, and his accomplice, the Eighth Sage of the Underworld, Leon. They're currently staying on Maxim. If you're here to find them, then as Maxim's Foundry Director, I certainly have the responsibility to guide you!"

Chapter 80: Important Contact.

This reason was obviously not enough to convince Hayes and the others, but the other party explicitly mentioned Kurland. This meant that the foundry director in front of them at least knew something, which was at least a clue.

Such an opportunity should naturally be seized, but no matter how you think about it, it is a bit outrageous that a foundry director is personally receiving customers here when the foundry world below has been reduced to half ruins.

Hayes thought for a moment and made a decision: "We can go with you, but we can't go through the spaceport. We have to use our own landing craft."

Maxim's orbital defense system is not perfect. Regardless of whether the orbital defense is truly shut down or fake, a speedboat is always safer than a spaceport where you don't know whether there is an ambush.

Lifar's smile froze on his face. He didn't want to go through so much trouble, but considering that this was a task assigned to him by Leon, he couldn't refuse. In the end, he nodded reluctantly.

"Alright, but I have a meeting with your High Lord and I have to go to the surface with him."

"I am the High Lord."

Lifar's eyes widened.

The sage's behavior was anything but that of a foundry director, and Hayes was wary. Since the foundry director's behavior seemed coerced, he secretly warned his guards to be on high alert.

Facing dozens of guns pointed at him, intentionally or unintentionally, Lifar, whose alarms never ceased ringing in his head, felt a little uneasy. He looked around for a moment and decided to make some friends with the Imperial Fists. "You don't really need to be so wary. Your Chapter Master and I have a life-or-death friendship."

The Imperial Fists warrior remained silent, staring coldly at Lifar. Hayes, however, was slightly surprised.

"You and the Chapter Master of the Imperial Fists have a life-or-death friendship?"

Seeing his attempts to get close to him weren't working, Lifar put on a bitter face. "Yeah, he was just like those Imperial Fists around you when he was on Diamond Star. He had a stern face, and together with that sage from Huangquan No. 8, he almost got me killed."

How can it not be considered a life-and-death friendship if he almost killed me?

This sentence contained a lot of information. Hayes didn't believe that a foundry director would go to Diamond Star to eat mushrooms for no reason. This only meant that this sage must have recently become the foundry director of this world.

It is even possible that it happened after the Mechanicus fleet just left!

Hayes had already believed about 70% of the news about the Imperial Fists on this forge world, but at the same time, his heart was also filled with surging waves.

He simply lacked political acumen, not true brainlessness. The dramatic changes on the planet and the replacement of the Forge Director immediately made him, a general who had spent most of his expedition suppressing rebellions, realize what was happening on this Forge World.

Although he didn't know what role the Imperial Fists played in this, he didn't believe that an Astartes Chapter could stay out of such an incident!

Things suddenly became difficult, but Hayes knew that he could not show any weakness at this time.

The landing craft from the expedition fleet quickly arrived at the spaceport. He was the first to board the landing craft without fear and made a gesture of invitation to Lifar.

He is a member of the High Lords, Commander Hayes of the Astra Militarum. This little difficulty is nothing!

The landing craft had limited space, and for safety reasons, Hayes chose to carry as many Imperial Fists Astartes as possible in the limited space.

Regardless of the Imperial Fists' role in this rebellion, at least they wouldn't fall into Chaos. As long as they didn't betray the Empire, Hayes believed they could at least guarantee their own safety.

The landing craft carrying them deliberately bypassed the orbital defense system and approached the surface of the planet. From the landing craft, Hayes observed the city on the surface, and the more he looked, the more frightened he became.

With his vision, he could certainly make out what was happening here - there were about two hundred thousand armed forces exchanging fire on this planet.

While the number of people might not seem large, the fighting was intense. Dense wreckage littered certain factories and neighborhoods. Wherever you could barely make out what were street fortresses, there were traces of light spear bombardments. Near the spaceport, there were even several destroyed Titans.

More importantly, he heard the subtle conversations of the Imperial Fists around him.

"Does this fortification destroyed by the light spear look familiar to you?"

"Indeed, it may be the work of the Kurland brothers."

Hayes wiped his forehead calmly to avoid letting everyone see the cold sweat that was already oozing out of him.

He suddenly felt that this matter might be a bit tricky.

But once the arrow is shot, there's no turning back. Soon, the landing craft found a safe place to land. Sage Lifar, previously forbidden from making any communication on the landing craft, began calling for transportation. Soon, several wasteland-style pickup trucks drove up.

It was a resource transport vehicle that had been urgently modified. There were several pieces of iron sheets on the front of the vehicle body, and several weapons were roughly welded to the main frame of the vehicle body.

Hayes was no stranger to this style. Although the vehicle model was different, this rough style had some of the charm of the rebels he had suppressed before.

He did not complain about the simple vehicle, but only confirmed to Lifar uneasily:

"Where are we going in this?"

"Astropath's mid-term station."

"Why there?"

"Well...it would be better if you ask the real owner after you get there."

Looking at Lifar, who almost had "I don't know" written on his forehead, Hayes felt more and more uneasy.

Somehow, he felt that his political career was waving goodbye to him.

But it was his mission to find the survivors of the Imperial Fists. Hayes always considered himself a general and a soldier before he was a High Lord. No matter what, he would not choose to escape.

The modified pickup truck sped towards the Astropath's central station, delivering them to their destination amidst sporadic gunfire. Hayes and the Imperial Fists soldiers exited the vehicle, but they didn't see Kurland, the man they were hoping to see.

At the entrance of the Star Language Station, there was only another sage, practicing his skills by picking through a pile of corpses. Hayes didn't pay much attention to this person at first, but when he saw Lifar trotting over to him, he realized that this person might also be a key figure.

Lifar seemed to have communicated with the sage, but their communication was through binary code, so Hayes had no way of knowing. He only saw the sage stand up and face them.

He first put away the parts he had collected, and then made a welcoming gesture.

"Welcome, the Imperial Expeditionary Fleet that has come from afar."

The sage said: "Perhaps you have heard of me. I am the sage of Huangquan No. 8 who is beside Kurland. You can call me Leon."

Compared with other oil guys who transformed themselves into a half-human, half-ghost state, this sage who had not made any modifications to his brain made Hayes feel favorable at first sight.

"Sage Leon, I am Commander Hayes of the Astra Militarum."

He didn't mention his status as a High Lord. "Our mission is to find the missing Imperial Fists. Sage Leon, may I ask if the surviving Imperial Fists are here?"

"of course."

Leon pursed his lips, motioning Hayes to look at the Astropath's central station: "The person you're looking for is in there, but he's rather... busy right now."

Hayes looked toward the intermediate relay station when suddenly, a gunshot rang out from inside. The sound startled Hayes. He shifted his gaze to the bodies at Leon's feet and realized they had also died from the bomb attack.

This person doesn't look like someone who came to the Star Talker extension station to do business, but rather someone just barged in!

"With all due respect, Sage Leon, what exactly happened on this Forge World? Why are the surviving Imperial Fists fighting in the Intermediate Station?"

Facing Hayes's questioning, Leon remained calm: "As you can see, there has been some minor unrest on this planet. The Mechanicus fleet you saw in orbit earlier was Maxim's transfer fleet. This planet has already transferred most of its valuable assets to Mars. As for the remaining assets, the evacuated Forge Council has handed them over to Sage Lifar for handling."

"It sounds like you've made all the necessary arrangements, but there's clearly a battle going on here?"

"General, as you know, evacuation capacity is limited, and not everyone on Maximus could be evacuated. When the final evacuation list was released, the priests who were not fortunate enough to evacuate launched a riot, attempting to seize the evacuation ships. The new Forge Director, Sage Lifar, commissioned me and the Imperial Fists to assist them in suppressing the riot, and Maximus became what you see today."

"So the gunfire inside the station means your suppression hasn't finished yet?"

Hayes pressed.

"No, that's another story. After the suppression, Director Lifar consulted with us. He believed that instead of suppressing those who wanted to evacuate in panic, a better way would be to tell the people on this planet that the Forge World actually still had hope of holding on to the Greenskins' attack."

"So we began to consolidate our remaining resources and production lines, actively preparing for the impending green tide. However, during this process, some high-ranking priests in charge of key buildings or production lines felt they could bargain with us, or even take over the mountain as kings. So we had to resort to some... rather rough persuasion methods."

"But you know, there's nothing we can do about it. In order to win, some price is always necessary and unavoidable."

Sage Leon's arguments were clear and sincere, but as he watched Director Lifar nod and bow, repeatedly saying yes, Hayes realized that this matter wasn't as simple as Leon had suggested.

He could only glance around at the ruins and point out the obvious: "I don't think this Forge World can fight the Greenskins after integrating its resources."

The sage in front of him came from Diamond Star with Kurland. In this case, they could not be unaware of how fierce the greenskins are.

Hayes thought that pointing this out would break his lie of "sticking to Maxim", but he didn't expect the sage named Leon to nod calmly.

"That's why Kurland and I arranged for the Armidale brothers to go to Diamond Star to contact you."

"?"

Hayes was stunned, and then his expression changed drastically.

Wow, has this even taken into account the troops I brought with me?

"I came here on the orders of the High Lord to search for survivors of the Imperial Fists. I didn't bring many troops with me."

He quickly evaded the question: "The most urgent matter is for me to meet with Brother Kurland, who has taken over as Chapter Master of the Imperial Fists..."

"Isn't that just the beginning? The High Lords must have concluded that the Imperial Fists lost contact because they were caught in a bitter battle. While your mission certainly requires you to reconnect with the Imperial Fists, you must have brought reinforcements to strengthen the Imperial Fists. Like the Imperial Fists Honor Company with you... Let me guess, if the High Lords believe the opponent will be 80 billion chromium beasts, then the number of Astra Militarum troops you brought should be no less than one million?"

Three million, actually.

Looking at the aggressive Leon in front of him, Hayes suddenly felt that his unmodified face was not so friendly anymore:

"The coming Green Tide will number in the billions. Even if you include the Astra Militarum I brought with me, I don't think Maxim can withstand it."

"It will be blocked."

Li Ang seemed calm and composed, "Because the reinforcements are right behind me."

Hayes felt that this communication could no longer continue, so he made a warning gesture. The Imperial Fists, who also felt that this sage was a little abnormal, moved closer to Hayes with understanding.

But as the sound of magnetic boots stepped on the stairs, a figure in yellow power armor appeared at the door of the Astropath's station.

Kurland came out from the intermediate station.

Chapter 81: The organization has already decided, it’s you who will take the blame.

As soon as these words were spoken, the whole room fell silent.

For a moment, Hayes wished he was Ogryn, who couldn't count to nine, so he wouldn't have to understand what these people were saying.

But unfortunately, he is not.

Although he didn't know what the final wall meant, he heard clearly the words "assemble all the Imperial Fists' sub-groups".

Putting aside all the pretentious excuses, isn't this just rebuilding the Legion?!

Commander Hayes, unable to pretend he hadn't heard, widened his eyes. He looked at Kurland, whose face was filled with determination, and reaffirmed in a trembling voice:

"You want to rally all the Imperial Fists' successor chapters?"

Kurland nodded, and Leon pulled out the data chart he had compiled earlier and explained:

"Conservatively, we'll soon have access to around two thousand Astartes and a powerful Astartes rapid strike fleet. As long as we hold on to Maximus for a while, the situation will quickly turn in our favor."

Hayes finally understood where Leon's confidence in sticking with Maxim came from, but compared to his previous thought that Leon was hysterical, this real source of confidence made him feel more shocked.

"You're crazy!"

He couldn't help but roar, "What do you mean by reassembling the Imperial Fists' Successor Chapter? You are reshaping the Legion! The Imperium will never tolerate such behavior! Whatever the reason, the Astartes Chapter now formed according to the Codex Astartes must not repeat the mistakes of the Legion!"

"Is it the Empire that won't allow it, or the High Lord that won't allow it?"

Li Ang asked back.