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

"Admiral Lansong, this is the eighth time we've received a request for assistance. Should we..."

In the Sun Fleet, the adjutant hesitantly asked Lan Song for instructions, but Lan Song was determined.

"No reply!"

So the only response the defenders of the star fort received was deathly silence.

Realizing that they had been completely abandoned by the Imperial Navy, the captain angrily tore off his navy epaulettes.

"Since the Empire intends to abandon us, why not come to Covenant Harbor in the first place? Let them escape. I will fight in the name of the Empire until the last moment!"

The Ork fleet was led by three Ork-class battleships, each of which had the power to destroy an entire naval squadron, but the Imperial defenders in the star fort showed no fear.

The ancient and sacred machine soul of the star fortress seemed to be infected by their emotions, and scarlet psionic energy surged in its weapons.

The defenders were surprised to find that the weapons that had been unable to effectively attack the orcs due to the weakening of my thinking power could now function normally.

This phenomenon was interpreted by the military chaplain as the Emperor's praise for every mortal who performed his duties conscientiously, and the anger of the defenders, who were red-eyed with killing intent, became even more intense.

They desperately continued to reload their ammunition, and the defensive array led by the Star Fortress quickly defeated the approaching Ork fleet. Even an Ork battleship was vaporized by the Star Fortress's fierce firepower, becoming a shattered scrap metal in the universe.

But as the Ork battle moon approaches, this ancient Ramirez-class star fortress is ultimately an unbeatable opponent.

The surviving Ork fleets retreated from the Battle Moon, leaving the battlefield to this armed satellite.

Before the defenders could understand why the orc fleet was running away, the orcs activated the gravity weapons on the battle moon.

Each of Ramirez Star Fort's four branches had independently powered massive void shield generators, but gravity was no match for the shields. Powerful gravitational waves ripped through the shields, tearing at the fort. The massive fort quickly lost its balance due to the gravitational pull of only one side.

Everything on Fort Ramirez, save for its adamantine frame, began to whine under the weight. Huge cracks stretched across the bulkheads, spreading like a spiderweb. The metal sheets began to twist and deform, gradually being pulled into strange arcs.

The life of this star fortress was coming to an end at an extremely fast speed in front of the orcs' bizarre weapons.

The star fortress was still fighting back with all its might, but the beam of light it emitted was blocked by a shield deployed on the planet. Apparently, these orcs had already made something similar after seizing the Empire's void shield generator.

This means that the star fortress can no longer pose any threat to the planet.

The orcs slowly increased the output of their gravity weapons. Equipped with bubble shields (the orc version of void shields), they could deal with star fortresses as easily as eating and drinking water.

Using only this kind of gravity weapon to carry out slow-cooked torture seemed like a mockery of the Star Fortress defenders' overestimation of their own capabilities. The colonel couldn't help but feel despair when he thought that their last desperate struggle would end in this way.

But just when the gravity weapon was exerting its maximum power, the colonel suddenly remembered what the Mechanicus sage had once told him.

When the gravity weapons are at their maximum power...that's their only chance!

The colonel no longer cared how the sage knew the orcs could use gravity weapons. He leaped to his feet desperately and connected to the fort's sound array system:

"Concentrate all your energy on the main gun. I repeat, abandon any defense system. I demand that all your energy be concentrated on the main gun!"

All the plasma reactors on the star fortress roared, pumping their last energy into the main gun, and the star fortress's plasma cannon began to gather a terrifying blue light.

A second before the gravity weapon completely tore the star fortress apart, this giant plasma beam penetrated the bubble shield, which was weakened because all the energy was allocated to the gravity weapon, and sank deep into the surface of the battle moon.

After a moment's silence, a terrifying explosion occurred on the Battle Moon.

The explosion even interrupted the ever-lasting green tide on the Battle Moon's surface. The orcs' young technicians were visibly panicked.

They rushed into the underground structure of the battle moon with gear wrenches in hand and began to repair it, but were quickly reduced to spores by a series of explosions.

This was the most serious damage Battle Moon had suffered since its invasion of Terra. Battle Moon did not collapse because of this attack, but its already slow speed slowed down even more.

Unfortunately, the defenders of the star fortress could not witness the fruition of their heroic deeds. The colonel and his soldiers were buried in the shattered star fortress, becoming a frozen monument.

Fortunately, the outcome of this battle was witnessed by the retreating Solar Fleet. Thanks to the sacrifices of others, Lan Song gathered crucial intelligence.

"The Orcs' void shields will be weakened when gravity weapons are activated..."

He realized that this might be a way to resolve the orc battle moon.

As long as the vital parts of the combat moon can be accurately located, a salvo from the main fleet should be able to destroy the armed satellite when the combat moon activates its gravity weapons.

But the intelligence that the star fortress defenders had exchanged their lives for was obviously not something they could use right away. Lan Song waved his hand indifferently and issued a new order: "Forward, we will go to Port Saint Covenant first."

Unexpectedly, the Orc fleet did not pursue the Imperial fleet. As if they had received some message, they all returned to the orbit of the damaged battle moon. It was unknown what they were planning.

The Sun Fleet, which was much faster than the Orc Fleet, took the opportunity to shake off the Orcs and quickly advanced towards Covenant Port.

But just as they passed over the now-defunct shipyard industrial satellite, an unexpected visitor arrived at his fleet.

"Inquisitor Pavonis?"

Lan Song frowned at the Martian oilman with the title of Inquisitor. After much deliberation, he decided to meet with him. "Allow him to join the fleet and tell him I'll be waiting for him on the flagship's bridge."

This didn't take much time. After getting permission to pass, Pavonis quickly came to the bridge. As soon as he arrived, he said something that didn't surprise Lanson.

"Rebels appeared in Covenant Harbor."

Pavonis said.

"There will always be those with weak wills who betray the Empire in times of crisis."

Lan Song replied, sizing up the Inquisitor across from him. "I'm just wondering what your identity is in bringing me this news? Are you an Inquisitor from the Empire? Or perhaps the other side of the double-headed eagle?"

This question is very important. After all, he marched towards Covenant Port only after being threatened by the representatives of the Inquisition.

Even though the Inquisition had in fact saved him from danger under the pressure of the Pope of the Ecclesiarchy, he was still unhappy about the Inquisition's request for him to symbolically send half of his fleet to Port Covenant.

Pavonis's voice was laced with binary code. "No need to be complicated. I'm merely acting as a mouthpiece, requesting assistance from Admiral Lanson on behalf of the Governor of Porto San Covenant."

"Would an Inquisitor actually speak for a Governor?"

"Of course, he offered a reasonable reward—to send a ship to bring me to the fleet."

The Oil Man didn't hide his true purpose. "I need to confirm one thing first. Will the Solar Fleet respond to Covenant Port's request for assistance?"

"As long as it's reasonable, the Imperial Fleet will certainly not allow the Imperial people to be caught in the crossfire of rebellion. But how do we define the scope of this reasonableness..."

"77% of the production lines at Port San Covenant have been shut down, and the warehouses have been emptied, making it unable to meet the maintenance needs of a fleet."

Pavonis interrupted Lanson and presented the collected information about Porto San Covenant to Lanson, marking the key points on a sheet of information provided by the Governor.

This photo was provided by the Governor when the Steward was trying to convince him, and it became one of the many pieces of evidence that convinced Pavonis, who already had other ideas: "The core point is that there are traces of the traitor Astartes' activities in the Port of Covenant."

Lan Song stared at the image. He could vaguely see a Night Lord slaughtering people wantonly in the shadows. As the Supreme Admiral of the Navy, he certainly recognized this most terrifying opponent for mortal armies.

The complex situation at Covenant Harbor made Lan Song gasp. He stopped thinking about what supplies he could plunder from Covenant Harbor and instead began to wonder if the current state of Covenant Harbor would negatively impact his fleet. "Is there a possibility that Covenant Harbor has fallen into... evil?"

"The Imperial Fists and their allies are currently stationed at Covenant Harbor. A 'colleague' from the Order of the Holy Hammer is also roaming freely there."

Lan Song breathed a sigh of relief, his brow relaxed. "It seems this rebellion doesn't require our intervention. The loyal subjects of the empire will naturally deal with the traitors."

Pavonis laughed softly. He was not surprised by Lanson's decision to abandon Port of Covenant.

The Imperial Navy has its own infantry, and the space troops who guard ships, prevent boarding and suppress uprisings are armed forces directly under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Navy.

If this group of people were organized to assist in the defense on the ground, the rebellion in Port Covenant would be quelled soon.

But how could the navy use its armed forces to assist a planetary governor when there was no profit to be made?

The presence of a garrison at Covenant Harbor already satisfied Lansong's requirements—as long as Covenant Harbor was not occupied by traitors and then turned against him before his fleet evacuated, he didn't care what Covenant Harbor would look like.

Want support? No way!

But it is also a problem that Port Covenant cannot provide any supplies.

Terra is the throne world. This title may be sacred, but the planet's inner core has long been rotten and exhausted. Its glory is built on the blood pumped by countless worlds.

When the Beast cut off the supply of resources from other star systems to the Throne World, Terra almost immediately fell into a resource crisis.

Half of the fleet on this expedition carried only the most basic supplies. Not only could they not withstand repeated fierce battles, but if the situation changed, they might not even have the chance to retreat to Terra.

Lan Song frowned and began to think about countermeasures. He wanted to call up the entire fleet's reserve supplies on the Thinker system for reference. However, the Inquisitor was still standing there, with no intention of leaving.

This kind of fleet confidential information must not be shared with anyone. Lanson signaled to his lieutenant with his eyes, who, understanding, stepped forward and politely invited the Inquisitor to the ship's luxurious resting room. But Pavonis refused the offer. He looked Lanson in the eye and said, "I know what you're worried about, Admiral Lanson."

Lan Song raised his head and looked at him: "Oh?"

Pavonis walked to the window. "Look at those factory planets belonging to the Imperial Navy. Those long-dormant planets still hold a lot of basic resources, but the halted production lines can't transform these resources into the supplies the fleet needs. Oh, Messiah! I can even hear the wailing of those production lines."

"You mean..."

Lan Song seemed to be lost in thought.

"I can get these assembly lines running again to meet your needs for supplies."

Pavonis turned to look at Lanson. The Inquisitorial Rose knot on his chest had been removed at some point. "This is the deal I propose in the name of the Adeptus Mechanicus."

Chapter 140: Everyone has his own aspirations.

Urquidex was awakened by the rude sound of the door opening.

As a mechanical priest embracing steel, any physiological needs, including sleep, would be considered a sign of weakness. But Urquidex was simply too tired. When the sound of the door opening startled him awake, he was hunched over a table covered with proofreading papers.

He stood up in panic and accidentally knocked over the table full of manuscripts.

The Thinker's system did not sound an alarm, which meant that the person had entered the factory through formal procedures and was most likely of higher status than him.

He looked towards the door of the data processing room. He was surprised to see the man in red. "Thanks to Om Messiah, I can actually see another Mechanical Priest here!"

"Don't be surprised, High Father Urquidex."

Pavonis recognized the other person's identity from the identification code: "You will not be alone anymore."

The Imperial Fleet is back!

A sudden sense of joy overwhelmed Urgidex. Since the Imperial Navy evacuated the shipyard, he had been sent from Mars to serve the shipyard and was ordered to maintain the basic operation of the factory alone.

This small shipyard on the fifth planet of the Covenant Port satellite was now just him and his servitors. He had thought he would be left alone on this planet until the orcs killed him, but he hadn't expected to see his fellow Martians.

He hurriedly invited Pavonis into the central control room and briefed the sage on the current situation of the shipyard.

Despite the panic in the Port Covenant system, Urquidex never neglected his duties. Pavonis was satisfied to find that there were indeed sufficient reserves and servitors ready for production.

The situation was much better than he expected, so he patted Urquidex's shoulder encouragingly.

"You have done well, High Priest. I believe that Om Messiah would also admire your faithful devotion to the God of All Things. Perhaps you can serve under my command afterward."

"It's my pleasure."

Unaware of the other party's dual identity, Urquidex happily agreed. However, he soon recalled the data he had painstakingly calculated.

He grabbed the scattered calculation paper and presented it to Pavonis.

"Sage, these are the results of my personal research over the past few days. I hope you will pay attention to these results."

Pavonis took the draft paper. Although the content on it was not in the field of space technology, which was his expertise, he still understood what the priest was calculating: "Are you calculating the void shield power of the Orc Battle Moon?"

"Yes, as long as we can get the results, we can provide theoretical support for the Imperial Fleet's counterattack..."

"Don't try to destroy a treasure, Urquidex."

Pavonis tore the verification papers into pieces and looked at Urquidex's astonished face through the falling pieces of paper.

"Action, Father, contribute your strength to this shipyard taken over by the Adeptus Mechanicus. Together we will win the most valuable asset of this war!"

-

The Solar Fleet did not go to Covenant Port. Instead, they stopped at an industrial satellite adjacent to Covenant Port. The entire fleet began a new round of preparations at the shipyard that had resumed operations, as if they didn't care about the life or death of Covenant Port.

This was exactly what Ayesh and Egrim had expected.

Whether it was Admiral Lanson, who saw something else but prioritized his own goals and therefore did not pursue Pavonis further as an Inquisitor, or Admiral Lanson, who prioritized preserving his own forces, their inaction provided fertile ground for the Chaos forces in Covenant Harbor.

They are making final confirmation on the situation.

"The Imperial fleet isn't coming back, so what about the Orcs' Battle Moon?"

"It was damaged in the previous battle. Even if the Imperial Fleet doesn't do anything to stop it, it will take more than half a month to reach the sky above Covenant Harbor."

"What's happening with the Imperial Fists?"

"They are still in the Underhive. I've already sent people to confirm it. They discovered the magic circle we set up in the Underhive while dealing with those corrupt believers and destroyed it."

"In the two days since the destruction of the magic circle, they have been busy clearing out the remaining resistance in the Underhive. But rest assured, the evidence they have should not be enough to point the finger at you."

"Those Chaos Space Marines previously discovered by the Planetary Defense Force?"

Ayesh was stunned for a moment before realizing that the Governor was referring to the Night Lord who had been discovered by the Planetary Defense Force.

To be honest, Ayesh had never known that there were Chaos Astartes lurking in Covenant Harbor. This news was said to have been passed back by the Planetary Defense Force under the Planetary Governor.

However, he firmly believed that the fact that he didn't know meant that the other party was not a variable in the plan. It was normal for him to ignore some factors that were irrelevant to the plan after he had put so much thought into it.

"Rest assured, my lord. Those lone Astartes are merely beasts who kill for pleasure. Their numbers are few and they will not affect our plans."

"If they clash with the Imperial Fists, it will actually facilitate our plans," Iash explained, seemingly to the Governor, but also to himself.