usatvline Chapter 155 Loyalty
Chapter 155 Loyalty
Francis sat on the ground in a daze, while Howard jumped onto the table where the Emperor's holy statue was placed. Then he snapped his fingers and the lights in Ivan's laboratory that had been turned off turned on again.
Then Howard cleared his throat, and the sound of his clearing was amplified by the laboratory's built-in loudspeaker system, ensuring that everyone in the laboratory could hear it.
Because of this unusual behavior, a lot of whispers broke out in the laboratory.
"Shh!" Howard quickly made a hushed gesture. "Everyone, be quiet and listen to me."
Then the laboratory became quiet again. The people standing in front of Howard looked up at Howard without blinking, and the people standing behind him stood on tiptoe and even lifted up their children, wanting to see and bear witness to every word and action of this "Messiah".
Howard felt very strange. When he participated in speech contests in school before, the audiences were only 10,000 or 20,000 people, and it only affected his credits and awards. He even memorized the speech in advance, but when he really went on stage, he was so nervous that his thighs were shaking and he almost forgot the words. Now he was facing hundreds of thousands of people, and the content of his speech was directly related to the life and death of these people, but he was surprisingly quite calm.
"Everyone, I have to tell you some bad news. We can't fight against the soldiers outside who are chasing us. If we continue to hide, the possibility of survival is zero," said Howard.
Howard finished speaking, and the audience let out a collective "Oh!", surprisingly, there wasn't much of a commotion. Perhaps the isolation and suffering of the past few days had numbed them. Aside from a few who couldn't help but cover their faces and sob, most people remained expressionless.
"But I have another way that can keep everyone alive," Howard said again.
The people below were still just listening quietly.
"I can let everyone become believers of the plague and live in another world, another world where they won't be killed by their own people." Howard said, "But that would be tantamount to betraying the empire. I have no right to make decisions for you."
Howard then raised his left hand. "I respect everyone's choice, so please choose your side. Those who wish to leave the Empire and embrace the Lord of Plague, please stand on my left hand. I will send you alive to another world."
Howard then lowered his left hand and raised his right, saying, "Those who do not wish to leave the Empire, please stand on my right. However, I must make it clear to you that those who remain will surely die, and your loyalty will be meaningless to the Empire. Similarly, even if you leave the Empire, the Empire will suffer no loss."
But the people below did not move at all, still staring at Howard blankly and numbly.
Howard swallowed and repeated his words and actions again.
The people below began to discuss in low voices, like a raindrop falling into the lake on the eve of a storm.
Then the noise quickly spread and gathered into a surging wave.
"Quiet! Quiet!" Howard had no choice but to warn again, "You guys can easily be discovered like this. Quiet! Hush!"
So the storm that was supposed to be filled with lightning and thunder was forcibly stopped, and then the dark clouds began to stratify.
Although Ivan's laboratory is very large, there are even more people crowded inside, and they are shoulder to shoulder, making it very difficult to move.
After nearly an hour of migration, the two groups finally separated. Those standing to Howard's right comprised nearly three-quarters of the total number of people, those determined to die for the Empire. Those standing to Howard's left comprised less than a quarter, those determined to leave the Empire to save their lives. A narrow, winding gap, less than a meter wide, separated the two groups.
Those who were determined to die for the empire all looked at the remaining quarter with hostility, while most of that quarter lowered their heads and dared not look at those who were determined to die.
If the harsh environment had not worn down these people's strength, it is not impossible that they would have fought on the spot. However, it was precisely because of this that Howard dared to make this vote in public.
"I'll say it again, standing on my left is equivalent to choosing to leave the empire, and standing on my right is equivalent to choosing to die. Don't get confused." Howard stated again.
After he said this, some people walked from his left side to his right side, but no one walked from his right side to his left side.
Howard reiterated that no one would switch sides this time.
Howard shook his head.
He actually prefers everyone to stand on his left side.
Because he knew that there was actually no essential difference whether standing on his right side or on his left side.
"Return to the Golden Throne" is a beautiful wish and also the slogan shouted by all those who died bravely for the empire.
But the reality is cruel. Not everyone's soul can rest under the Golden Throne after death.
In the real universe, the Corpse Emperor is the most influential evil god, but in the subspace that is highly bound to the soul, the Emperor is just a player who can barely get on the table. Although his power is constantly growing, it is currently only enough to defend a limited territory.
In other words, the Emperor cannot protect everyone.
There are more than trillions of citizens in the empire. Even if the emperor's eyes are always on his people, countless people will die for various reasons before they are noticed by the emperor.
Only a select few, the most powerful, the most pious, the most loyal, and those who have accomplished great deeds, can actively gain the Emperor's attention, and only a small number can truly rest under the Golden Throne.
Most ordinary people or soldiers who shouted "For the Emperor" and regarded returning their souls to the Golden Throne as their life goal, after their death, their souls will inevitably fall into the hands of the Chaos Gods and become their nourishment.
Including now.
Those who stood on Howard's right probably still held the idea of noble sacrifice, but when they were really cleared out by the Empire's soldiers, their souls would still be taken away by the Chaos God, because they had already heard the bell, and the Emperor would be even more incapable of protecting such polluted souls. Their end would be even more miserable and desperate than those who stood on the left.
If all the loyalists could return to the Golden Throne, Howard wouldn't let them make a choice at all.
But the truth is not so. No matter which side they choose, the end result is that their strength and souls will be used to feed the Chaos Gods, to enhance the power of the Chaos Gods, including those Astra Militarum who died at the hands of Om Messiah. It's just that one is passive, the other is active, one dies, the other lives.
One is extremely miserable, the other is extremely miserable.
Howard put down his hand, jumped off the table in front of everyone, and walked up to the distraught Francis.
"Mr. Francis, cheer up, these people still need you to take care of them!" Howard said.
"No... they don't need me anymore..." Francis murmured.
"No!" Howard clapped his hands on Francis' shoulders: "They need it!"
Then, facing the confused gaze of the cunning priest, Howard said, "I will find a way to convince the commander of the Astra Militarum to give up the cleansing of these survivors! I will lobby for the funds to support you! I will find a way to cleanse the pollution from these souls!"
Damn it!
Howard said in his heart.
These people are really a source of worry. Wouldn't it be better for them to just surrender to Nurgle honestly? Why do they have to be so stubborn?
But there was no way. Howard hated tragedy. Although the situation was tragic enough, he still couldn't allow himself to sit back and watch so many loyal lives die. Loyal people should not die at the hands of their own people.
"Then, before I go to negotiate with the commander, please help me heal Arabelle. I need her as my bodyguard and helper."