As Horatio pondered deeply, Inquisitor Ravenor reminded him:
"But in this matter, you still have a certain degree of initiative. The ceremony will be held in multiple churches, and you can choose which locations to pass through and which church to arrive at.
At the same time, you must also consider that even though the Ministry of Internal Affairs has done its utmost to cover up the incident, paper cannot cover fire. This fleet accident will still cause a huge stir in Abyss Port."
The Inquisitor looked into Horatio's eyes and said:
"The Imperial Navy needs support from all sides, including the public. The ceremony is a good opportunity to boost and comfort public morale, and to demonstrate to all the important figures that it can still fulfill its duties."
"That's right, those bugs in the darkness thought they had won, thought they could run wild in our anchorage."
Horatio caressed the saber at his waist and said chillingly:
"But this time, they've hit a steel plate. Doing so will only bring about a fiercer strike and retaliation from our Gothic Fleet."
The Inquisitor looked at Horatio's azure eyes, burning with rage, and was satisfied to see strong fighting spirit in them.
"I will do my best to help you, Mr. Cochrane." The Inquisitor said solemnly:
"The Gothic Fleet possesses the most elite special forces on the entire planet, and its subordinate departments have abundant intelligence resources.
Coupled with the achievements left by Lieutenant General Hood, these will be far more helpful to the investigation than my almost infinite, purely legal, power as an Inquisitor.
Therefore, I have chosen you, who can fully utilize the above advantages, to be the lead in this investigation."
The man sat up, placed his hand on the table, and leaned closer to Horatio: "Show your strength, prove to everyone that as a descendant of a legend, you still have the ability to continue the glory of the legend, and make those insects in the darkness tremble in fear at the sound of your name, hiding in dark, foul-smelling corners, unable to sleep at night."
"I will. This time, I will uproot them and make them pay a terrible and unbearable price."
He remembered every word he had said to Farida.
He would achieve revenge for her and help her emerge from the shadows once more.
"You need the help of some experts. One of my students, whom I recently promoted to Throne Agent, has rich experience in investigation and research. As your assistant, she will certainly be of great benefit to your investigation."
The Inquisitor's system was shrouded in mystery for ordinary people in the Empire; almost no one could understand the structure of this mysterious 'God Emperor's Agent' organization.
But Horatio, as a transmigrator, knew what the Inquisitor was talking about.
Among the Inquisitor's many trusted retainers, apprentices who showed extraordinary wisdom and unique abilities were often promoted to Throne Agent after an assessment. They were all trusted and experienced assistants of the Inquisitor.
Typically, they were also the Inquisitor's most favored students, who would have the opportunity to be recommended as true Inquisitors.
"Is it the one from outside earlier?" Horatio asked.
"No, but I think you've met." The Inquisitor snapped his fingers, and the door to the side hall slowly opened automatically.
Emerging through the automatic door was a graceful figure still retaining a hint of youthful innocence.
The well-tailored custom dress displayed both a fluffy, youthful cuteness and outlined the slender, not-yet-fully-developed figure of a girl like a branch.
The light blue, high-quality fabric snugly wrapped around a pair of abundant fruits on that slender branch. A glimpse revealed the future graceful charm of this budding beauty.
Horatio looked at the newcomer, slightly surprised.
"Good afternoon, Mr. 'Cochrane'." A graceful and proper bow, tinged with a hint of cunning, was accompanied by a clear, melodious voice like a lark.
The newcomer was none other than Commodore Peru's daughter—Miss Thei Perlu.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know you would be… the Inquisitor's Throne Agent?"
Horatio was still immersed in this stark contrast of identities.
He suddenly understood Thei's peculiar hobby of making specimens of alien creatures.
She was practically a natural saint for the Ordo Xenos.
"I am majoring in 'Galactic Ecology' at Gotha University, and my mentor is Inquisitor Clarence Ravenor. He has provided me with numerous research samples. Good afternoon, Mentor." Thei greeted the Inquisitor with grace and propriety.
Horatio now heard the term 'Galactic Ecology', and combined with her identity as a Throne Agent of the Ordo Xenos, it felt somewhat like a dark joke.
"Although you are also excellent, you are already a Lieutenant in the Imperial Navy after all.
Miss Thei Perlu has a strong research interest in xenos of the galaxy, and once she successfully becomes an Inquisitor.
She will be one of the candidates I previously mentioned who might secretly protect you as a representative of the Inquisition.
You can prepare yourself mentally; in the future, Miss Thei might be responsible for thwarting those conspiracies and protecting your safety by your side."
"Junior, please guide me." The girl smiled sweetly.
At her words, Horatio suddenly remembered that this girl, barely 15 years old, was indeed his senior based on her enrollment age.
Although he was older, he had only officially become a Midshipman in the Imperial Navy Officer Preparatory School at Gotha University yesterday.
"No problem, I think with Miss Peru's help, many troubles can be solved, but where do you plan to start?" Horatio asked, looking into the man's eyes.
"I want to cut into the underworld."
The man said: "Whether it's the Ecclesiarchy, the Upper Hive nobility, or any other Imperial department, these people will always choose to band together for warmth when facing external investigations.
Regardless of whether the facts are right or wrong, driven by narrow bureaucratic self-interest, they always prioritize a united front against outsiders. The Ecclesiarchy is especially so."
Thinking of this, he frowned with displeasure:
"Of course, I can use the Inquisitor's power to forcefully break through this protection.
But this also means that if offended, and without conclusive evidence, the entire planet's Ecclesiarchy system, along with hundreds of billions of common believers, will stand against us in the coming days.
This will cause meaningless turmoil and bloodshed within the entire Gothic Sector, and even overturn Imperial rule here, just like Flacks, which would be counterproductive."
"Lieutenant General Hood has compiled a list with clues about suspects," Horatio said.
"This is a very good entry point. We will start by investigating those with lower status on the list.
Based on my experience, these conspirators will have various forms of connections with each other. We need to peel back these layers, extract their bones and sinews, and finally strike directly at their heart."
Horatio, who had been a maritime law enforcement officer in his previous life, knew what the Inquisitor meant.
Lieutenant General Hood's list was, after all, only a list of suspects, without definitive evidence for conviction.
Or rather, if Lieutenant General Hood had clear evidence for conviction, he wouldn't have handed these documents to Commodore Peru for verification, but would have directly brought military police to arrest them.
In this situation, starting the investigation with high-ranking upper-class individuals would not only be easy to alert the enemy.
If it was eventually confirmed that the person themselves was innocent, their backlash would only push the already troubled Gothic Fleet into a worse situation.
The upper echelons of the fleet were working hard to build relationships with other high-ranking officials to gain investigation time and resolve public opinion issues.
If the Imperial Navy intelligence department were to brazenly investigate these high-ranking officials from the start, it is likely that before anything could be found, this action would already be seen as openly undermining the fleet's generals, making all their public relations efforts go to waste.
Not only would it needlessly offend a group of people, but it would also cause widespread panic in the Upper Hive, further fueling the current dire situation and placing the fleet in a dangerous, completely isolated position.
At that point, when the Inquisitor came looking for trouble with the fleet, truly no one would step forward to ensure the fleet's safety.
"Based on the information on the list, it's indeed better to start with key points in the underworld," Horatio said.
"My intelligence indicates that these individuals use the chaotic Vegas Lower Hive and Mid-Hive areas as their main core areas for operations and proselytization.
That should be their main stronghold, after all, in the Upper Hive, the Adeptus Arbites's eyes are quite sharp, and no one dares to openly engage in those crooked practices."
"Speaking of the Adeptus Arbites." Horatio's eyes darted, remembering a key figure.
"There was an Arbiter who had a long-standing feud with the Cultist here eight years ago."
Horatio's words piqued Inquisitor Ravenor's interest.
"Eight years ago, he followed his mentor and teammates to the Lower Hive to investigate clues of a terrorist attack, but was betrayed by a guide and ambushed, with his team almost completely wiped out. Immediately after, there was a large-scale shuttle crash incident at Abyss Port Starport returning to the planet's surface."
The Inquisitor immediately grasped the key point: "So, what did that Arbiter and his mentor discover that would make the Cultist abandon their usual secrecy and risk ambushing a Adeptus Arbites team?"
"That's right, under normal circumstances, exposing a few unimportant strongholds and personnel should have been enough to lure the Adeptus Arbites team away. But that time, they suffered a team-annihilating ambush.
Clearly, the Cultist didn't want them to send back the investigation results they had found, so they took a desperate risk and chose to…"
The two exchanged knowing glances.
"Eliminate them," the Inquisitor said.
"And before I entered the Schola Progenium, I was subjected to a deliberate attack orchestrated by a renegade Security Inspector, indicating that the Abyss Port Adeptus Arbites is also not a peaceful place."
"Interesting. Where is that Arbiter?"
"Unfortunately, he was injured in the Battle of the Church of the Celestial Woman, breaking seven bones, and is still in intensive care."
"Let's go peel off a few layers of the heretic first, and then visit him when his condition improves.
Lest we alert the enemy, and certain hidden eyes in the darkness discover us, allowing them to strike first at the Arbiter while he is still asleep."
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