Chapter 258: No Star’s Special Indulgence

An oval metal ball with a silver base and hollowed out with gold threads rotates in the air, dividing the dark yellow light falling from top to bottom into swirling dazzling spots.

The dozen or so bright gold coins contained in the ball collided with each other until they fell into the palm of a hand wrapped in black cloth. The remnants of the crisp sound still echoed in the empty and dark hall.

Morse opened his eyes and put down the metal ball, letting the hollow part of the smooth sphere become a flat surface that could help it stand firmly on the ground.

"I have good news here, and bad news..." Halfway through his words, there was a burst of chaotic footsteps outside the hall.

A pair of hard-soled boots of small size stepped on the iron courtyard gate that had not been repaired since it was kicked down by Conrad Coates.

An annoying echo came from the center of the hollow rusty iron, mixed with the patter of water on the ground. The two main noises rushed into the abandoned building together.

Perturabo also opened his eyes and cut off the long-range electromagnetic wave contact with a group of airships parked in the orbit of Nostramo.

Confused footsteps stopped at the door.

In the dark night, the fair faces of five children appeared against the background of clouds and high-rise buildings. Their eyes and hair colors were different, but their lips were uniformly pale.

The fabric of their clothes doesn't look like coarse rags from the outside, but they fit exceptionally well; if you look closely, you can see that the lining inside the coat is soft and comfortable.

Such fabric, just one meter long, can buy a large family in the slums as slaves for the same price.

If we use the slave labor in the mine to calculate, it is impossible to calculate - this has to be discussed with the owner of the slave labor, and then we have to consider identity comparison, status crossover, and face-to-face transactions; but objectively speaking, the slave labor itself, In Nostramo there is no price other than labor value.

Perturabo sat on the cushion and turned half of his mechanical body. Electricity hissed through the cables, driving his arm to wave toward the door.

"Come in," said the Iron Lord. "What's the matter?"

"That ball is me..." the first child stumbled into the room and said against the wall.

The second child quickly covered the first child's mouth and looked at the mechanical giant with fear on his face: "We picked it up on the street! So...can you give it back to us?"

Morse put his palm down, and the silver ball automatically flew into his palm. He placed the sphere on the wooden table and gently pressed the corners of the paper documents spread all over the table.

"One of you," he said, "broke our window with this toy ball."

The children looked frantically toward the windows.

"Oh, don't look, I've already fixed it." Morse shrugged, "You can also step on the carpet, who cares about these little things?"

Several children trembled and stepped on the luxurious woven carpet with their shoes, obviously concerned about the dirty water on their shoes staining the carpet.

Perturabo observed these details without saying a word.

Based on his trust in Konrad Coze, his protection of Nostramo's independence, and his mentality of knowing that it would be useless to take care of it, Perturabo turned a blind eye to the undercurrent of Nostramo these days— —

Well, the field of view of the Nostramo orbital ship is enough to clearly see the explosions and fires happening everywhere.

He just took in all the luxury furniture that Conrad Coates sent back to this abandoned building every few days, and immersed himself in the list of items he took the initiative from Coates.

"Take away your toy ball." Perturabo said solemnly, "I don't care where you come from or what your background is. Now, go back to your own world."

Morse moved his fingers and threw the silver ball easily; the ball flew out from the cone-shaped light range and landed accurately on the chest of the child who originally opened the mouth. The child hurriedly caught his toy and turned to leave.

The third child suddenly stopped the turning child and raised his neck boldly: "If you haven't eaten yet today, can you give us two or three bites of the dishes?"

Morse looked at the shrewdness hidden in the child's micro-expression and casually snapped his fingers toward the door. A brown wooden door appeared out of thin air, blocking the children who had entered the room.

He stepped out of the light, bent down, put his hands wrapped in black cloth on his knees, and cast his shadow on several children.

A lock of black hair swayed forward from the back of his head and hung down on his face, deepening the shadows on his face.

"We have indeed not eaten yet..." Morse's voice lingered softly above the children's heads, "If you are willing to contribute a portion of blood food, of course we can share a few plates of fresh meat..."

Several children were so frightened that their whole bodies trembled.

Then, the third child reached out decisively and pushed the first child forward. The latter stumbled: "You can eat him! He usually moves a lot and is in better physical condition!"

Morse turned the laughter that escaped his lips into a cough.

Perturabo's pen hovered over the paper for a moment. Compared to Morse, he was indeed more concerned about the hidden meaning behind these children's words.

The children who came out of Nostramo's old aristocratic family did not have even a trace of doubt and directly believed that Morse's words were true conditions, not his unique meaningless threats.

Have you seen it or practiced it?

"No," after finishing his laugh, Morse stood up straight, turned back to the light range, and lazily lay down on the high-backed soft chair that Coates had shipped from the warehouse of an unknown family.

"Your bloodline is not clean enough. Besides, Conrad Coze is chasing you, right? The night ghost is behind you," he stretched out his middle finger and index finger, pressed them on the table and lifted them alternately, pretending to be a hunter's nimble legs, "three, two, one... Bang! Break in immediately! You, what kind of midnight evil spirits have you brought behind you?"

"You..." The third child gritted his teeth, his facial muscles slightly bulging, "From the furniture here, you also have coats of arms and surnames, right? The order outside has collapsed, but you live here... Dear friends, our families can be allies on the same front, we ask for your protection!"

Morse glanced at the eternal night outside.

Nostramo also has long nights, but compared to Gomor, this human-owned territory leaves them too much free time.

Therefore, the two still have a lot of time to kill.

"Well... relax, kids." A ray of spiritual energy joined his voice, modifying his cold voice to be particularly soft and elegant. "Just a few jokes. We have finished our main meal tonight, but we haven't tasted the midnight snack yet. If you don't mind, you can have it."

Morse brought five white porcelain plates with elegant geometric patterns on the edges from the blind spot behind the table, placed them on a low table that appeared without any warning, and waved to the children.

In each porcelain plate, there was a roasted pigeon with an alluring aroma.

The surface showed a uniform caramel color, and the crispy skin wrapped the tender meat. The light spices and the unique smoke and rosemary seasoning during the roasting process almost immediately attracted the saliva secreted from the children's mouths.

Their hungry stomachs curled up in their abdominal cavities, and they felt like they were in a dreamland, which was very wonderful.

Morse wiped away the doubt in their minds without leaving a trace. He couldn't remember the last time he was so enthusiastic: "We can't eat so much supper, kids."

"Excuse me, don't you have any utensils?" The fourth child asked politely but stubbornly.

"No, there are none," Perturabo answered him. The Iron Lord also took some time away from his own work to pay attention to this little night game.

The third child frowned, wiped his palms on the side of his pants, and reluctantly took his supper with his bare hands.

The steaming food quickly took away his complaints. He ate his roast pigeon with big mouthfuls, tearing off the thin and crispy skin, biting off the plump and juicy meat with rich taste, wishing he could stuff the whole meat with skin and bones into his empty and fragile stomach in one breath.

With his lead, the rest of the children immediately immersed themselves in the food. For a moment, the only sounds in the room were swallowing and chewing.

Perturabo looked away.

"How is it?" Morse said kindly, slowing down his voice, "Is it enough to fill your stomach?"

"Thank you, sir!" The third child hurriedly put down the food temporarily. He always knows how to distinguish the priorities and make choices. "You saved a few of us!"

"That's too much, little gentlemen. I just did a few things... that are in line with my own moral requirements."

"Talk about how you ended up on the streets, children of noble blood."

"You know, the monster who calls himself Conrad Curze," the third child just mentioned his name, and a flash of disgust flashed across his face, "He shouts something like 'in the name of the emperor' every day, killing people everywhere, without a single rule! Not only does he belittle our bloodline, but he also says that we are all born with sin and must repay our innate sin debt! It's ridiculous."

"Did he mention what you are going to use to atone for your sins?" Morse asked softly, with a little mischievous curiosity.

"Labor debt, war debt," the child said angrily, "and blood debt. He doesn't even take money! Work in the factory, participate in the conscription, and drink his blood potion, all these things we did for them, now all come to our heads!"

"Does a child like you count?"

"Yes!" he said angrily, "It doesn't follow our common rules at all! He also allocated actual bonds to each of our families one by one, saying that if we can't redeem our sins, we can only pay off our debts with death. We were allocated a branch of war redemption bonds. Of course, my father didn't want to pay this inexplicable debt..."

He trembled all over his body, and the fear hidden in his heart almost overwhelmed his anger.

Morse replenished the psychic aura in time and spoke to comfort him: "Relax, child. Even if your father was really skinned and hung on the top of the tower, at least when the blood flag fluttered in the wind, it would look better than the most handsome moment when your father was alive, right?"

The expression of the third child changed uncertainly, sometimes trance, sometimes fear, and sometimes regret.

Finally, his face was fixed on a harsh contempt.

"His subordinates are nothing but hiding their heads and showing their tails. They all hide their faces with iron masks even if they are tall and tall. Even these people can't figure out our whereabouts. How can they have the power to demand debts from us?"

"Well, calm down, kid." Morse said, "Don't be angry for our blood lord. After all, your anger won't help, right?"

He looked around, "Let's not talk about Coze. I think you've almost finished eating. Let's talk about some light topics after dinner. You accidentally broke into here, right? Guess where this is, kids."

"Your temporary home...?" the fifth child said hesitantly.

"Yes and no," Morse said. "Our home is..."

He pointed towards the location of Olympia in the starry sky.

The children looked understanding: "My condolences to your family, my lord."

"My family does not need mourning." Perturabo interjected casually to show that he was listening. "You guys continue."

The first child thought of the copper door plate that had fallen to the ground and was half sunken into the soil when he first came here, and replied: "This is an abandoned mental hospital in the old city?"

"Oh, you don't have to go back that far. Come closer, kids. Are there any other answers?" Morse asked in a persuasive way.

The five children shook their heads in turn.

"This is my current residence." Cozz violently removed Morse's unlocked wooden door. The psychic door turned into ashes the moment the door frame was broken.

He took off his long black tarp cloak at the door and hung it on a metal stand. Behind him, six corpses squeezed into the hall from the door, using their iron masks and the faces hanging on their waists to stare at the five children silently.

"Good evening, Conrad," Perturabo said flatly.

Morse snapped his fingers a second time, and the psychic effect immediately faded. The children woke up from their dreams and fell to the ground in various postures in terror, holding the carpet with their bloody hands.

Beside them, the devoured rat skeletons were scattered in the center of the carpet.

Curze nodded slightly to the remains of the servants. Each of the five remains captured a child, and the remaining one removed the stained carpet and replaced it with a brand new dark blue clean rug.

The operation to capture the escaped noble children is over. Curze, like Perturabo, sat on the floor on a clean blanket.

"I hope you can understand why I want to distribute the debt equally to these heirs with dirty blood." Coz had a dark look in his eyes, "Or do you want to condemn me for my lack of kindness?"

"Society is a chaotic model that cannot be summarized simply by a single law." Perturabo said, "I would not do this in Olympia, but I have no intention of questioning your actions in Nostramo. I believe Your indulgence...has a rationale for its existence."

"I just have one question. If you kill all the people who can control the operation of high-rise buildings, who will manage Nostramo?"

"In this mud, there are always new shoots sprouting. Until then, I can complete it all by myself." Coze snorted, "I don't want to ignore the sins of anyone just because he can do it."

"You don't have enough experience."

"Will you help me?" Curze asked.

A slight smile appeared on Perturabo's lips. "You asked for help, so, of course."

Kurtz clasped his hands together, looking a little excited.

"Then let me first introduce the auxiliary army I am going to get from the prison. You can listen to what the problem is. I have built a new reward and punishment system for them. Oh, now they are called Nostramo Chemical Dogs..."

Morse smacked his lips next to him: "I didn't finish what I said before. I have good news and bad news. Seriously, does anyone want to hear it?"

"Tell me the good news first?" Perturabo looked at Morse.

"I contacted the Empire's signal."

Perturabo moved his mechanical bones and asked eagerly: "Where's the bad news?"

"I don't want to talk about it now." Morse smiled, "But it's not a big deal. Someone will report it separately later. Let's talk about the good news first... I contacted three Primarchs at the same time, Fu Grim, Ferrus Manus, and Rogal Dorn, whom Perturabo is familiar with. Anyone want to meet them?"