'You will, as a Childer of Loyalty, become a member of the Commissar, a Military Supervisor of a Naval Fleet.' This sentence filled Farida's eyes with disbelief.
"How dare you assume my father has already fallen in battle?!" Farida suddenly became agitated.
"Please listen to me, Midshipman Hood. It's impossible for the Vice Admiral to have survived such a massive explosion, and you know that," the woman said in an even tone.
"As the daughter of a General, you must fulfill your duty."
"I need to conscript you as a Military Supervisor to assist us in our mission," the Inquisitor said.
"But I'm already a Naval Officer on the Imperial Navy's Unyielding!"
"So what?" the man suddenly interrupted.
"Firstly, you haven't received your commission from the Star Realm Navy Department yet.
Secondly, if I wanted to, I could immediately execute the current Lord Admiral of the Gothic Fleet and appoint a Captain to take over."
The Inquisitor said coldly and arrogantly, "The rest is just a matter of following procedures. As long as I act first, the Star Realm Navy Department will have no choice but to follow my lead. This is the corrupt and decaying bureaucracy of the Empire."
This privilege of acting first and forcing the Imperial bureaucratic departments to clean up the mess afterwards belonged to the High Inquisition.
This made Farida tremble slightly with anger, but it was useless.
"Why did you choose me?" she asked.
"Don't you want to avenge your parents?" the Inquisitor asked a rhetorical question that Farida couldn't refute.
When the words 'avenge your parents' came out of his mouth, Farida's eyes suddenly widened.
"I don't trust the nonsense of any bureaucratic institution in the Empire. Only the Department of Imperial Affairs and the Childer of Loyalty Storm Troopers are truly trustworthy."
The man said coldly, "When bureaucrats are holding their noses and still covering up the truth, racking their brains trying to figure out how to do public relations to keep their positions."
He raised his chin and said proudly, "Only the Department of Imperial Affairs and the loyal Storm Troopers are truly eliminating the conspiracies behind the Empire.
This is the experience I've proven with countless blood and practice during my hundred years as an Inquisitor. I've seen through the essence of these things."
At these words, Farida swallowed.
"Only a Military Supervisor is the only righteous path to fulfill your desire for revenge.
If you want to avenge your parents, you must take off this bureaucratic uniform filled with false decorum and discard it.
Then put on the battle attire that a true Emperor's warrior should wear.
You'd better hurry. Every second you waste might allow my opponents and enemies to get ahead."
"Midshipman Hood, you can make your choice." The Military Monitor sternly clasped her hands behind her back, but her attitude was surprisingly not as rigid, giving Farida a chance to choose.
Although, with words spoken to this extent, giving her a choice was merely symbolic.
"We don't have much time to waste. Make your choice, young one. Is it to act quickly with the Commissar and the Empire's loyal Storm Troopers, or wait for the bureaucratic agencies to investigate for hundreds of years and then give you a perfunctory notice? You choose."
The Inquisitor looked at the garden outside the window, snorting at the luxurious indulgence of the Vice Admiral's residence, openly expressing his deep disdain and disgust for the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
"I…" Farida struggled internally.
The Inquisitor was right. From the investigation into the deaths of her mother and the Planetary Governor.
And the multi-department joint investigation into the death of Horatio's father, Lieutenant Commander Thomas Kirkland.
Time and again, cases were closed hastily. Each time proved how inefficient and cumbersome the Empire's bureaucratic agencies were under multiple leaderships, like headless flies.
If things were truly dragged out for a hundred years, all traces of her father on the Retribution-class Battleship would be erased.
By then, she wouldn't even have the opportunity to investigate.
"I can go with you," she said resolutely.
Her tone was so firm that all the Military Supervisors present nodded in approval of her decisiveness.
"But you must guarantee that I get to take my revenge with my own hands." Her emerald eyes glared fiercely at the Inquisitor's cold eyes.
"That's not a problem. I've encountered cases more difficult and darker than this," the man said, looking down at Farida.
"Military Supervisor Camerline, I'm entrusting her to you. I want to see her shed her bureaucratic aura and become a second outstanding Emperor's warrior like you."
"Yes, Inquisitor."
—
Horatio drove the hovercar to the 'Sky Dome Cage' ten thousand meters in the sky.
The Navy Department's red-clad Guards guarded every inch of this sky-high edifice.
On the protruding platforms, hydra flak cannons and anti-aircraft missile launchers were mounted.
No enemy of the Empire could escape from here, and no evil could leave here alive.
Those brought in by him and the Hellspawns during previous missions had long since become raw material for corpse starch.
With their sinful bodies, they nourished the common people of the Empire, thereby atoning for their sins.
The Guards, seeing the Naval Officer's arrival, raised their guns and saluted.
Horatio nodded, signaling them to dismiss the salute.
He strode in, moving quickly.
Perhaps he had still been afraid of the Inquisitor yesterday, but when he swore to Farida that he would personally break this dark Mobius loop.
From his heart to his beliefs, everything changed.
No fear, only fury.
Soon, he saw a mature and graceful woman with golden-brown hair, dressed in a night-ops stealth suit, carrying a gun on her back.
Horatio recognized it; it was an Eldar shuriken pistol.
But the woman didn't have pointed ears; she was human. This indicated that the shuriken pistol was likely her trophy.
"Mr. Horatio Kirkland?" she asked.
"I am," Horatio replied seriously and matter-of-factly.
"The Inquisitor is waiting for you inside." She opened the door for the Naval Officer walking towards her.
"Thank you." Horatio tipped his hat in acknowledgment and strode inside.
After he entered, the door creaked shut, and the room became dim and cold again.
Horatio recognized this room; it was the most soundproof and highest-security conversation room in the entire 'Sky Dome Cage'.
As soon as he entered, he saw a man standing not far away, dressed in a coat and maintaining vigilance, with the symbol of the Inquisition fluttering on his chest.
He had a simple, neat buzz cut, a long and bony face, appearing to be around thirty years old.
He possessed the unique solemnity of an Inquisitor, but it wasn't overly suffocating.
Seeing Horatio arrive, he glanced keenly, then turned sideways to face him.
"Mr. Horatio Kirkland? You look a little tired," he asked with a smile.
"Yes, things were a bit much yesterday. I suppose you must be the Inquisitor."
Horatio re-energized himself to prevent others from easily discerning what exactly had happened to him yesterday.
Especially his gait and posture, which concealed the fact of his sore hips.
"You can omit the word 'adult'," the man stepped forward and pulled out a chair for him.
"Although it's 'Inquisition Acolyte,' in truth, you are in a cooperative relationship with us and are not subordinate to anyone. Especially an Imperial Navy Naval Officer like yourself."
"Then I'll change it to 'Excellency'," Horatio sat down, took off his bicorne hat, and placed it on the table.
"I am Clarence Ravenor, Inquisitor of the Ordo Xenos."
[From the Alien Court? And the surname Ravenor, it sounds familiar.]
Horatio's brows moved slightly, his eyes darted, and he fell into thought.
"My Ordo's primary duty is to investigate matters concerning xenos, but…"
"I know, the Inquisition is a unified organization. Although it's divided into many Ordos, your duties aren't really that clearly separated, are they, Excellency?"
The Inquisitor raised an eyebrow slightly in surprise, smiling meaningfully, "As expected of Thomas Kirkland's son, Spire's descendant. You are as intelligent as your father.
I regret what happened to your father. I will do my best with his case, but right now we have a more urgent matter, and it might even kill two birds with one stone."
He straightened up again, looking at the young but not simple man before him.
"You're thinking about the surname Ravenor, aren't you?"
The man looked into Horatio's eyes, as if he could peer into his mind, and blurted out the question Horatio was thinking.