Chapter 423 High Lord of Terra

971.M41-Holy Terra

Does anyone know how humanity was scattered across so many different worlds? Does anyone remember the wars that tore their home, Terra apart, and dragged humanity into wild wars? Does anyone still recognize Terra's ancient ruins, destroyed countries, and names of peoples that have long since turned to dust? There is no answer to these questions.

In the grim darkness of the distant future, humanity rules over more than a million worlds, but none is more important than Terra. This barren little world lacks minerals, food, and water resources, and everything needs to be supplied by external transport ships that never stop.

But this still does not affect Terra from becoming the heart of the Empire, the home of the Emperor, and humanity's last hope for survival in the cold and ruthless universe.

The huge cities covering the entire planet are stacked layer by layer according to complex structures. If an expert in earth research from the past came to the present, he would definitely find that the earth today has expanded several times in tens of thousands of years of barbaric expansion.

Pure air has become precious, and only the top nobles can have the honor of breathing the fresh smell. As for the others, they will have to survive in the coarse air that has been filtered and purified for tens of thousands of years.

The planet has also lost its stable weather. Thunderstorms and black storms once swept the entire planet. But now under the control of the glorious relics of the Mechanicus, this sacred place will only produce a divine rainfall at the most important moment.

The entire planet is dotted with large-scale imperial institutions.

Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Military Affairs, Mechanicus, Ministry of Justice, Inquisition, Astartes Monastery

These buildings overlook all living beings like mountains, and serve the Emperor forever in or behind the towering ceramic steel walls.

The poor Terran people are divided according to the layers of the hive city. Aside from the hive city spires that are already in the atmosphere, the middle-level hive city is thousands of meters wide in the middle.

The people struggle to survive in it, meet their daily needs under the glorious statues and the great gaze of the Emperor, and they handle the simplest and most basic work on Terra to keep this huge machine running.

More fortunate families can raise knowledgeable children, and then get the opportunity to work in the Imperial Department, get simple body transformation, and work until death in a position that will never change.

Joining the army, serving as a servant, a clerk, or being valued by some bigwigs are all stepping stones that the middle-class people regard as getting rid of their class and going further.

Further down is the suffocating and dark lower level of the hive, where management is out of control, and no one can safely count how many people there are in the lower level of the hive.

Even Terra's current population data is just an old record left over from M35. The inefficient operation of the complex and huge bureaucracy is like a rusty gear slowly twisting under the huge thrust of grinding out sparks.

Gangs, mutants, and more dangerous lurking creatures are rampant in the lower level.

So much so that there are dedicated people to carry out closed management at the junction of the middle-level hive and the lower-level hive.

Sometimes, the inhumane and cold-blooded killers of the Ministry of Justice and the Inquisition will go to the lower level. Whether it is to defend the Emperor's laws or to ensure the purity of mankind, they will not be stingy with their weapons. Every time they go there, it represents a reshuffle of the lower forces.

Below the lower level of the hive city are the ancient ruins. Various unspeakable ruins and sewer systems constitute that dark area. No one can tell what is sealed in the deep underground.

But the more suffocating the place is, the more it can become a contrast to the glorious holy land.

The darker and more oppressive it is here, the more the hive spire of Terra shines with the holy light of ignorance.

The edge of the Emperor's Palace, which is the size of a continental plate, is full of the most powerful and wealthy families. They have unimaginable political power and military force.

But above them, there is a senate composed of twelve high lords who are granted power by the Emperor. They fulfill their obligations on this great and sacred planet and manage the huge human empire on behalf of the Emperor.

The nine permanent seats and three non-permanent seats constitute the power center of the human empire. When you can interpret these, you will have a basic concept of which department is the most important in the human empire.

Minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Pope of the State Religion, General of Forging, Minister of the Ministry of Justice, Ambassador of the Navigator, Host of the Astronomical Academy, Grand Master of the Assassin Court, Host of the Star Tongue Court, and Representative of the Inquisition.

The nine seats are sacred and inviolable. These positions have rarely been vacant in the long history of the empire.

The remaining three seats are selected from the powerful leaders of various imperial factions.

The Sun Commander, the Commander-in-Chief of the Astra Military, the Imperial High Admiral, the Bishop of the State Religion of Terra, the Sister of Combat, the Commander of the Guards, the Minister of the Imperial Archives, and the Spokesperson of the Charter Captain.

Now another High Lords' Meeting is held. This High Lords' Meeting Room is so huge that a microclimate can appear in the high dome.

The body of the Martian Casting General was brought in by a heavy crane. His body occupied half of the conference room. In the huge mechanical structure, it was difficult to see where his head was.

The other people's chairs were as far away from his huge and complex cables as possible to avoid being killed on the spot by the strong magnetic current and deadly radiation rushing through them.

Although it was a meeting of twelve people, all of them knew that there would always be a thirteenth seat at the table of power in the empire. The most sacred and powerful thirteenth seat would always belong to the great emperor.

The Minister of the Interior held a piece of parchment in his hand, and he stood up tremblingly. His body was full of cables for prolonging life and the most advanced life extension organs in the empire.

"Huh. This is. Holy Terra 972. M41. The 86,729,811th meeting."

The Minister of the Interior was getting less and less breath, and then he suddenly fell to the ground, holding his chest.

His candidate was ready, and took over the Minister of the Interior's words at the moment when he was exhausted to death. However, the age of the new Minister of the Interior and the life extension transformation on his body are not much less than the previous one.

According to the frequency of death from overwork of the high lords, this Minister of the Interior should be able to hold on for about five years.

"At this meeting, the commander-in-chief of the Star Army will make the first stage of the speech."

The new Minister of the Interior sat down, and then the old and strong general in military uniform, with medals on his body that could be used to block explosives, stood up.

"Here is the most recent list of awards from Terra. I have written down their achievements."

An Emperor-class Titan contaminated by Khorne. This thing is a size larger than the normal Emperor-class Titan in terms of data.