Vice Admiral Samuel Hood angrily ended the communication.
He looked back at Horatio, only to realize that in his fit of pique, he had forgotten to invite the young Naval Officer to sit down.
"You did very well, young man.
Thanks to you, I was able to learn about this in time. I will continue to monitor Farida's situation, and I will report this to Navy Admiral Lord later. These Inquisition fellows are really abusing their power and bullying people too much!
People always say, 'The Gothic Fleet has long become a lion with blunted claws and missing teeth in the long years after the Gothic War ended.' What a load of bullshit!"
The Vice Admiral slammed the table again in indignation: "This is Abyss Port! The capital of the Gothic Sector! Even if an Inquisitor doesn't show respect to our Imperial Navy here, then our Navy will teach him what decency means!"
Having been in the Navy for so long, Horatio naturally understood the hidden meaning in Vice Admiral Samuel Hood's 'code words.'
That's right, Inquisitors are incredibly powerful.
But so what? This isn't Holy Terra.
This is Abyss Port, the home turf of the Gothic Fleet.
When the Navy rages, blood flows in torrents.
The Fleet wouldn't mind creating a small 'accident' for the Inquisition's Black Ship entering and exiting the Mandeville Point during an exercise.
Perhaps an 'inopportune' torpedo, or perhaps a stray Macro cannon shell from a broadside.
Horatio believed that with the Hood Family's prestige and connections in the Gothic Fleet, and the Inquisitor's infuriating and shameless poaching behavior,
Vice Admiral Samuel Hood could completely gain the support of participants and the tacit approval of other Fleet high-ranking officials to achieve these things.
If that Saint Hammer Inquisitor named William Carter remained uncooperative.
"Of course, Your Excellency! We are His Holy Navy, the Imperial Navy is sacred and inviolable!" Horatio said, standing at attention with his chest out.
"I hear you're now the second-in-command of a newly established important department, young man?"
"Thanks to the high regard of my superiors, I am currently the First Adjutant of the Naval Special Operations Command, Your Excellency."
"Good!" The Vice Admiral's eyes were as sharp as an eagle's, exactly like Vice Admiral Alexander Hood's.
That chilling gaze once filled him with fear, but now he felt an immense sense of familiarity and nostalgia.
"Root out the culprit, and bring down the most merciless punishment upon him! The Hood Family repays all favors, Lieutenant."
"I will not fail the will of God Emperor, General." Horatio nodded firmly in response.
—
Horatio walked out of Samuel Hood's residence.
Next, he went directly to the Sky Dome Cage, Inquisitor Ravenor's abode.
At this moment, Inquisitor Ravenor was also tirelessly working without rest. He was rapidly searching for possible clues and associated branches of various cult forces from the encrypted, top-secret thinker array, which was exclusively for Inquisitors and directly connected to the Inquisition's central network.
Dense Gothic text cascaded like a waterfall across the screen, and dark green characters flickered in his eyes.
Suddenly, he heard rapid footsteps from the corridor outside.
The footsteps were both strange and familiar.
"Sir, please wait a moment, the Inquisitor is currently…" The voluptuous woman in a tight combat suit hurried over, trying to dissuade Horatio.
Her strides were not as long as Horatio's, and the young man's aggressive demeanor, coupled with her inability to use force due to their current alliance, meant she couldn't stop him.
The Inquisitor frowned and quickly shut down the encrypted thinker array.
As a high-security Inquisition device, this Thinker had a hidden facial and genetic recognition system.
If an unregistered face was detected during operation, a specially designed high-yield melta bomb inside would immediately detonate, self-destructing the device and the unregistered person in front of it, along with the entire floor, turning them to ashes.
The footsteps were already close at hand.
"Mr. Cochrane, please wait!"
He heard Horatio's inclination to stride directly through the door and couldn't help but turn pale, urgently warning him, his pupils like pinpricks, looking in terror at the booby trap by the door.
Horatio had already reached the door and met his gaze.
Just as he thought this Naval Officer would recklessly step inside.
Horatio's iron hand's Precognition Shard instantly warned him of danger.
The half-lifted Naval Officer's boot abruptly stopped at the doorway, his azure eyes fixed coldly and grimly on the booby trap beside the door.
Inquisitor Ravenor breathed a sigh of relief. The hand he had prepared to use his psychic powers with instead drew out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"Alright, did something urgent suddenly happen? Oh, God Emperor, how could such a thing occur."
Without Horatio needing to speak, Inquisitor Ravenor already understood the situation from the information text displayed in the thought bubble above the young man's head.
His face darkened.
"I will handle this matter."
He walked back to the Inquisition thinker array, picked up the Inquisitor-exclusive communicator for internal use, tuned it to a specific channel, and called someone he found physically and mentally repugnant using a coded message.
William Carter, this Puritan Inquisitor of the Saint Hammer Order, never trusted any buildings on any planet, nor the people within them. He had no residence in Abyss Port.
Aside from executing missions with a large, fully armed retinue, he would only stay on his Black Ship.
Not only did he only trust places completely under his control, but also because the ship held many tools he might need, both living and dead.
Carter had just assigned investigation tasks to his Acolyte teams and was about to enter a room whose door was marked with some symbolic language when an implant in his head notified him that another Inquisitor was contacting him via an internal line.
With a grim face, he walked to another cabin, picked up the plain, unadorned brass receiver, looked at the name displayed by the caller, and let out a cold laugh.
"Clarence Ravenor, how rare. Have you come to surrender to me?"
"This time, seeing as we are all members of the God Emperor's Inquisition's holy orders, all serving God Emperor and the Imperium as Inquisitors, I will only warn you of one thing." Inquisitor Ravenor's tone was even colder than his.
"When you abuse your authority, make sure you can bear the backlash of power."
"Hmph, you've spent too much time with your inherently inferior Aeldari friends, and now your speech has become as mystical as their prophetic riddles, hasn't it?"
"Firstly, there are no Aeldari at all."
Inquisitor Ravenor denied the routine accusation without changing his expression, sneering:
"Secondly, are you… really alright yourself?"
Then Inquisitor Ravenor curled his lips, also sneering mockingly without reservation.
Upon hearing this, William Carter seemed greatly offended. His eyes widened in fury, and he relentlessly denounced:
"How dare you slander me?! I know what I have done, and I know what I am about to do. To uphold the purity of humanity, my conscience is clear.
But you, you heretic bastard, you will pay the price for your own foolishness.
Radical, you have only one outcome—Excommunication.
This time, I will personally find evidence of your sins, then make you kneel and repent to me, and finally smash you into pieces with a Saint Hammer!
'The wages of sin is death.' " He furiously recited the ending of the Inquisition's Purge Edict to Inquisitor Ravenor.
"Heh heh, oh dear, did I hit a nerve?" Inquisitor Ravenor scoffed:
"Useless accusations and curses cannot hide the truth. You'd better not let me catch anything, otherwise… I'll open a hole in your head big enough to stuff a Saint Hammer into.
I'll warn you one last time, your autocratic power, your privilege, and the arrogance that privilege grants you, might work on other fleets.
But here, this is the Gothic Sector, this is Abyss Port. This is the anchorage of the legendary Fleet that thwarted the Twelfth Black Crusade.
On someone else's home turf, you'd best behave yourself and follow the rules, otherwise you'll never imagine how terrible a price you'll pay for it.
By the way, she's here."
Silence fell on the other end of the line. The Saint Hammer Inquisitor's eyes suddenly widened, as if his heart had been seized by something unspeakable.
Beep—!
With a sound, the communication was cut off.
Inquisitor Ravenor straightened up, looking coldly at the CRT display, and sneered to himself in disdain.
"Who is she?"
"Adratia, a Witch Hunter Inquisitor of the Ordo Hereticus." Inquisitor Ravenor turned his head and smiled as he introduced her to Horatio.
This name was not unfamiliar to Horatio; in fact, it was very familiar.
This Female Inquisitor was the one who, in history, led the Imperial Guard under orders to investigate the corruption and erosion within the Blood Ravens Chapter.
Ultimately, she triumphed in her struggle against the hidden forces of Chaos, successfully cleansing half of the corrupted brothers in the Blood Ravens Chapter, ultimately restoring them to loyalty and purity, and preventing them from being branded as a renegade Chapter.
In the Imperium, the Ordo Hereticus is equivalent to the Inquisition's military police. They work closely with the Nun Order, investigating a series of evil acts including mutants, heresy, blasphemy, and rebellion.
Now, the identities of the three Inquisitors who came to Abyss Port were clear, and each was more legendary than the last.
From the conversation between Inquisitor Ravenor and the Saint Hammer Inquisitor, it was clear that both of them were quite eager to avoid this Witch Hunter Inquisitor, feeling a subtle fear.
But Inquisitor Ravenor might feel a bit more at ease.
After all, Horatio knew that in the incident investigating the Blood Ravens Chapter, Adratia had clearly cooperated with the Aeldari.
Which means…
For Inquisitor Ravenor, as long as he hadn't touched anything more taboo, this legendary Witch Hunter Inquisitor was unlikely to trouble Mr. Ravenor over issues of consorting with Aeldari.
But what about William Carter? Is he truly spotless, without any issues at all?
Horatio shook his head.
He knew very well that the so-called 'Puritan' Inquisitors of the Saint Hammer Order, due to their fanatical nature, were actually the most prone to going astray.
'Debts must be repaid, grievances must be avenged' was Horatio's principle.
"It seems you know something. I mean, this 'extraordinary' Saint Hammer Inquisitor seems to have some unspeakable secrets."
Horatio dangerously narrowed his eyes, already having devised a plan to deal with this arrogant fellow.
As long as he and Inquisitor Ravenor could uncover this Saint Hammer Inquisitor's heretical actions.
He could then use this compromising information to persuade the Female Inquisitor, the Witch Hunter of the Ordo Hereticus, to come and open a bloody hole in the head of this abominable fellow.
Judging by the attitude of this Ordo Xenos Inquisitor, he would likely be very happy to cooperate with him.
"I just happen to have some 'unverified rumors.'
Originally, I had too many other more important matters to deal with, and might have turned a blind eye to such a minor issue, but since he's gone to such extremes, why should I show him any mercy?"
Inquisitor Ravenor looked at Horatio, a strange, cold, and terrifying smile appearing on his face as he spoke.
"If he truly did something taboo and I discover it, the only thing I can give him is 'being made decent.'
Compared to facing a formal 'Denunciation' at a high-level secret meeting convened by several Arch-Inquisitors, this is already the last bit of camaraderie I can extend to him."
This story actually serves to illustrate the styles and personalities of the three main orders of the Inquisition to the readers.
Saint Hammer Order (Ordo Malleus): A collection of fanatics under GW's pen, a typical negative example. The conservatives of this order think you're not radical enough. Pol Pot would be considered mild. They are the kind of fanatical order that could team up with the Grey Knights to brand the Space Wolves Chapter as traitors, causing 'The Month of Shame' where 'everyone was right, but everyone got hurt.'
To this day, the Wolf Cubs still harbor immense resentment towards the Ordo Malleus and the Grey Knights.
Representative: Ghesniel, who was cleaved in half by a Wolf Cub's axe.
Ordo Xenos (Alien Order): The most 'heretical' of the three major orders. A typical case of 'aliens raising aliens' within the Alien Order. Fewer fanatics, more good people, who will listen to what you (even if you're an alien) have to say first. But most of them don't have good endings, either dying or going mad; successfully retiring is considered good. It's a Greek tragedy-filled order, with a sense of Prometheus stealing fire in its meaning and allegory. (I just want to save the Imperium, why are you treating me like this!)
Representative: Eisenhorn, who won everything but lost everything.
Ordo Hereticus (heretic Order): The most mysterious of the three major orders, specialists in labeling. Characterized by wearing large witch hunter hats and favoring immolation, thus having much in common with the Battle Sisterss. Many female members. Many fanatics too, but still somewhat reasonable; usually, after a beating (not literally), you can sit down and talk with them.
Representative: Greyfax, who pursued the Living Saint Celestine as a heretic.