It took Tieron seven or eight seconds to react, looking at Oudia with a hint of fear.
Oudia was not considering the assassination of the leaders of the Adeptus Administratum, Ministry of Justice, and Navy from a political standpoint.
He was purely driven by a religious desire to punish the enemies of Saint Doraemon.
Causing an accident for the High Admiral's flagship to crash on Terra, assassinating three High Lords at once, and destroying the Ministry of Justice's headquarters, the Grand Judgment Hall, would only lead to disaster politically, and no one would believe it was an accident.
"What? Why are you spacing out?" Oudia tilted his head slightly and continued, "Isn't this good? Isn't this what Sanguinius did to the Pope of the Saint Church?"
Tieron felt sweat starting to break out on his back.
Many people could guess that Baldo Strait's sudden death was Sanguinius' doing, but before this, no one dared to voice this suspicion except for Saint Doraemon.
Moreover, Oudia's plan and what Lord Sanguinius did to Pope Baldo Strait of the Adeptus Ministorum were two completely different matters.
The High Lords, rather than being independent individuals, were representatives of the colossal institutions behind them, embodiments of various interest groups, and a collection of countless bureaucrats.
Assassinating three High Lords in such an obvious, brutal, and terrifying manner would only further provoke the Adeptus Administratum, Ministry of Justice, and Navy, potentially pushing a large number of wavering moderates towards the Conservative Party.
Furthermore, the High Lords' minds contained much crucial, irreplaceable information—such as the complete departmental structure of the Adeptus Administratum—and their deaths would only lead to the loss of this information, affecting the transition of power to new High Lord departments.
Sanguinius' direct killing of the Pope of the Saint Church was feasible because the Conservative Party behind Baldo Strait could not possibly question Sanguinius' assassination of the Pope.
Questioning the Archangel's assassination of the Pope of the Saint Church, not to mention whether billions of believers would believe it, was in itself tantamount to questioning Sanguinius, the second most revered figure in the Adeptus Ministorum, and also questioning Baldo Strait's lack of fervent faith to die suddenly on the spot.
More importantly, the power base of the Adeptus Ministorum was the faith of its believers. Would believers worship the Pope more or Sanguinius more? A moment's thought would reveal the answer.
Another point was that even the Conservative Party of the Adeptus Ministorum still held devout faith; they were not resistant to Sanguinius. The Pope dying due to his fervent faith in Sanguinius was an acceptable and dignified reason for them.
Of course, these were not the biggest problems with Oudia's plan.
His biggest problem was that, as a Mars Fabricator-General, he was attempting to bomb Terra. Was he trying to start a war between Mars and Terra?!
Clearly, in Oudia's mind, faith superseded all else.
"This is completely unnecessary. We can remove them from their positions through the High Lord Council."
"This would allow for a smooth transition of power, letting our people take control of the Adeptus Administratum, Ministry of Justice, and Navy."
Tieron explained urgently.
"What if Irthu and the others don't cooperate?" Oudia's two gnome heads asked with a frown.
He knew this was impossible; he only asked because he preferred ending their natural lives to ending their political careers as Minister of Adeptus Administratum.
But Tieron still began to explain.
"They won't," Tieron shook his head slightly. "Their goal, and that of the Conservative Party behind them, is to uphold the old imperial law."
"Removing them from their positions through the High Lord Council fully complies with imperial law. If they don't cooperate, it would be a violation of imperial law and their own faction's principles."
"A High Lord is ultimately just a spokesperson for a faction."
Both of Oudia's heads nodded simultaneously: "Will the High Lord Council dismiss all three of them at once this time?"
"No, we will use the salami-slicing tactic."
Tieron shook his head and said,
"Slice by slice, taking only a small piece each time."
"If we try to swallow them whole, they will, of course, fight to the death, but if we take small bites, slice by slice, they won't have such a strong reaction."
"This time, we will first remove Irthu from his position as Minister of Adeptus Administratum, but keep the weaker Minister of Justice and the High Admiral in the High Lord Council."
"This will also create a rift between their factions."
"Actually, I also have an excellent assassination squad..." Oudia said, seemingly a bit unwillingly.
"Lord Guilliman prefers to carry out reforms in a gentle, gradual manner, minimizing internal strife within the Imperium."
Tieron reminded him:
"This is something Lord Saint Doraemon agreed to. He hopes we don't waste resources and energy on such matters."
"'That's My money!' Lord Saint Doraemon said through his avatar, Nobita."
"Ah, a holy word! It has been stored in the database, and I feel the operational efficiency of the Thinker arrays has improved." Oudia nodded repeatedly.
Then, Oudia continued to inquire, "What about Fadix? Our Grand Master of the Assassinorum."
He was indeed crucial. Fadix held control over the entire Officio Assassinorum.
The actions of Grand Master Vangorich during the Beast Arises, who killed all the High Lords in a single day and took their place, were still fresh in memory.
Fadix mostly followed the traditions of the Officio Assassinorum, maintaining neutrality in the High Lord Council, neither approving nor opposing.
But what did he truly think? Was he a reformist or a conservative? What were his plans and desires? What kind of person was he?
All of these were mysteries; Tieron didn't even know which temple within the Officio Assassinorum he belonged to.
Tieron had, of course, tried to uncover Fadix's secrets and gather intelligence on him.
He believed other High Lords had done similar things; it was normal, as High Lords all had a host of spies under them.
But every spy Tieron sent into the Officio Assassinorum would turn into a bloody coffin placed at the door of his private quarters the next morning.
"The Harlequins attempted to infiltrate the Officio Assassinorum."
Tieron said, carefully choosing his words:
"But while they returned unscathed, they found no valuable information."
"I don't know Fadix's political leanings, but the three Lords don't seem overly concerned about it."
"Then Lord Saint Doraemon must have already made arrangements," Oudia said with conviction.
Tieron nodded gently, sharing Oudia's belief.
"Alright, now let my poor old Tieron start rebuilding this council hall."
Tieron looked gloomily at the great council hall, which had been torn apart to fit Oudia in, and said.
Terra, Imperial Palace, within the High Lords' Grand Council Hall,
Alexander rested his chin on his hand, observing everything before him with keen interest.
The theoretical supreme rulers of the Imperium, the High Lords, sat around a heavy, solid wood, hollow circular table.
Directly placed around the table were thirteen seats.
Nine of these seats were carved with the emblems of the departments they represented: Minister of Adeptus Administratum, Minister of Justice, Pope of the Saint Church, Master of the Astra Telepathica, Inquisitorial Representative, Mars Fabricator-General, Grand Master of the Assassinorum, Master of the Astronomicon Court, and Navigator Ambassador.
These were the nine permanent seats.
The seats for the Master of the Astronomicon Court and the Navigator Ambassador were vacant.
The Master of the Astronomicon Court had accidentally wiped out the entire Astronomicon Court while attempting to relight the Astronomicon.
The Navigator Ambassador was indeed a reformist, but his ideas were too radical, leading Guilliman to deem them too extreme, and he had been dismissed.
However, due to their status as permanent seats, their positions were symbolically retained.
The remaining three seats belonged to Great Canoness Morven Vahl of the Battle Sisters, Custodes Captain-General Trajan Valoris, and High Admiral Melida Perez. These were three non-permanent seats, not always belonging to a specific department, but having the same voting rights as other High Lords.
Generally, the High Lords occupied these twelve seats.
But in today's meeting, a thirteenth seat was added, belonging to the Regent of the Imperium and Lord Commander of the Imperium, Roboute Guilliman.
The Regent represented the will of the Emperor, acting as the Emperor's proxy, and was therefore entitled to sit in the High Lords' council and exercise voting rights.
Alexander and Sanguinius' seats were behind Guilliman, considered eligible to attend but sharing a single vote with Guilliman.
Additionally, one other person was present but without voting rights: Imperial Chancellor Tieron, who stood in the center of the hollow circular table, presiding over the High Lord Council.
Hmm... a council of thirteen, with the thirteenth seat representing the will of a god, acted by a proxy... familiar, so familiar.
Alexander couldn't help but inwardly complain.
How was this like the Skaven Council of Thirteen from Warhammer Fantasy? The Skaven's thirteenth seat also belonged to their god, the Great Horned Rat.
No wonder Alexander always felt that the Emperor was his bane; turns out, he was a rat!
That's just too mean; he must be hit with an Earth Destruction Bomb.
Guilliman too, by approximation, was also a rat, no wonder he always made Alexander work overtime.
Lost in thought, Alexander looked at Guilliman beside him, but his peripheral vision was drawn to Minister of Adeptus Administratum Irthu.
As the former chief of the High Lord Council, Irthu's seat was right next to Guilliman, close enough for Alexander to slap him with an outstretched arm.
Sylandri Shadowseer had reported Irthu's situation to Alexander, who knew that this unfortunate Minister of Adeptus Administratum had been fed a considerable amount of neurotoxin by his clearly suspicious assistant, Nessus.
Although the reason for Nessus' actions was unknown, the effects of the toxin were evident.
Half of Irthu's body twitched uncontrollably, as did his head...
"Minister of Adeptus Administratum, why is your head pointy?" Alexander couldn't help but ask Minister of Adeptus Administratum Irthu, whose head had a small point.
"Although my pointiness affects my work as a High Lord somewhat, it does not affect my ability to fulfill my duties as a High Lord."
"While I am not in a rush, let us not delay any further. I am eager to begin the first agenda item."