"Vigilus, what kind of place is that?"
"It's a great place where talented elites from all sides gather, full of capable people, with simple folk customs, and everyone is open-hearted."
But Emrys felt it was better not to join in the fun.
"Oh Emperor, it's not that I'm disloyal!" He silently made the Aquila sign in his heart, looking towards Holy Terra: "You know, I'm just a Rogue Trader. This isn't something I can get involved in. Please, let me off the hook, I beg you!"
Heaven knows if the Emperor on the Golden Throne heard his prayer.
In any case, Emrys felt that he must have heard it.
"Esteemed Lord Rosales, I have one more impertinent request." Emrys' eyes darted around, clearly cooking up another scheme.
For some reason, Rosales suddenly felt uneasy, with a sense of a 'thief' having entered his home. He eyed him warily: "What are you plotting now?"
It wasn't a misunderstanding; ever since he partnered with Emrys, he realized this kid… was truly worthy of being old man Houlun's bloodline!
In every aspect, he was simply a born 'Rogue Trader'!
"Ahem, when I first came in, didn't I see a Valkyrie gunship parked in your forge factory?" Emrys rubbed his hands, his eyes full of anticipation.
That thing was sitting in the warehouse, practically gathering dust. It clearly looked like something 'unwanted'.
Why not just give it to him? It would be like recycling waste, wouldn't that be killing two birds with one stone?
"You want it?" Rosales completely shed the 'burden' of a Sage and transformed into a shrewd merchant, smiling coldly: "That thing is cheap. If you want it, I can modify it specifically to your needs, but it's just…"
He didn't finish his sentence, but Emrys already understood: "10 milligrams of black water."
"Too little, 500 milligrams." Rosales argued, and even offered terms: "I can specifically add a small energy shield for you. I also have 3 twin-linked lascannons and Hellfire missiles here. If you need them, I can modify it into an 'Avenger-class' Valkyrie gunship for you!"
God Damn, truly worthy of being a Archmagos of the Dark Mechanicum. Emrys gritted his teeth, feigning reluctance: "But I don't have much black water left either."
Rosales eyed Emrys suspiciously, always feeling this kid was lying to him, but his expression didn't seem fake.
After much hesitation, Rosales cleared his throat, deciding to up the ante: "How about this, 1000 milligrams of black water, and I'll throw in a Combat Servitor for you, how's that?"
"Deal!"
As soon as he heard the words "Combat Servitor," Emrys didn't hesitate, immediately agreeing, afraid that Rosales would back out.
Don't think that the Tech-Priests of the Mechanicum always charge forward themselves when it's time for war.
As one of the representatives of the Imperial Aquila, the Mechanicum possesses independent armed forces, a vast Skitarii army, and Combat Servitors are one of them.
They take heinous criminals, bio-engineer them, add various enhancements, and combine them with life support systems and interfaces. The result is a fusion of biology and machinery, devoid of any emotion, retaining absolute loyalty, but with a reinforced will for slaughter and ferocity—a true weapon of mass destruction!
On the front lines, this thing is absolutely no less than a 'tank'!
The value of a single Combat Servitor, in Emrys' opinion, was easily worth a thousand milligrams of black water.
Calculating it this way, it was like getting an Avenger-class Valkyrie gunship for free.
Even his old man would probably call him a 'cunning merchant'!
"…" Rosales was exceptionally shrewd and immediately guessed he had asked for too little.
But the words were already out; going back on them was naturally impossible. He was so angry that data streams flashed wildly, and he cursed a few binary phrases in a low voice, saying testily: "Alright, it's settled then. But the modifications will take ten days. Come back then."
Going back and forth, it wasn't a loss.
Emrys happily agreed, but Rosales felt a pang of regret.
It wasn't about giving away an Avenger-class Valkyrie gunship; that thing was basically worthless. What was truly valuable was his Combat Servitor!
That was a Heavy Cavalry Destroyer model. Although it was also considered a 'consumable,' among many consumables, it was at least ranked among the top.
Especially when modifying this Heavy Cavalry Destroyer Servitor, he had put a lot of effort into it, specifically incorporating a large amount of ceramite armor, and then there were heavy weapons like grav-cannons, plasma rapid-fire cannons, melta flamers, phosphor blight grenades, and so on!
This deal was a loss!
This was the thought that surged in Rosales' mind.
Seeing Emrys next to him seemingly about to speak again, Rosales was a little scared and quickly said: "I have very important matters to attend to. If there's nothing else, you should leave now."
It seemed he had truly been squeezed dry. Emrys, still wanting more, reluctantly bid him farewell.
Honest people like Rosales were rare. He truly hoped this guy could to live, but alas, he insisted on going to Vigilus; not even a god could save him!
With the thought that every meeting was one less, Emrys left in a happy mood after squeezing Rosales dry.
He finally left!
Rosales inexplicably breathed a sigh of relief. If he talked to that kid for a few more minutes, he was afraid his entire fortune would be emptied!
However, although it pained him, he also gained a lot.
At least from that kid's performance, the reserves of 'black water' were far from scarce.
Researching anything requires a large amount of 'materials,' especially in the field of biological genetic engineering, where a large amount of 'black water' is needed to achieve results.
Originally, Rosales was worried that if the reserves of 'black water' were too small, even reporting it to the Archmagos would make it difficult to gain attention.
But now there was no need to worry. With a large amount of 'black water' as a foundation, it could completely be considered a meritorious deed to report to the Archmagos. Otherwise, this exploration of the Roselle ruins, which ended up with him being tricked by Galarion, would probably be a blemish no matter what.
Having made up his mind, Rosales felt a little relieved and dialed the communication array.
A star-message from the servitor-skull's projection, sent via the Warp to the dark side of the Imperium, appeared after about half an hour of waiting, a very blurry projection.
"Rosales, has there been any progress in your investigation since you sent the communication?"
The blurry projection's voice was deep, containing a hint of authority and pressure.
"Archmagos Amos, I am Rosales."
Rosales was very respectful, lowering his proud head and bowing: "There is an important matter I need to report to you."
Warp star-messages were unstable, so 'Amos' in the projection didn't look very clear.
After a while, a deep voice came: "Any results from the Roselle investigation?"
"No, the investigation of the ruins on Roselle has not yet gone deep."
Rosales submitted the data on the 'Necrons', saying with a hint of apology: "I am very sorry to have disappointed your expectations, but that Necrontyr tomb is in hyper-space, making it very difficult to enter with external force. I suspect that unless large-scale weapons of mass destruction are used, it will be impossible to explore further."
"Besides these, do you have anything else to report to me?"
Amos was clearly very dissatisfied with the submitted data. As a high-ranking official, he had known some information about the Necrons for a long time.
And there was nothing surprising in Rosales' data.
"What I need to report to you is another matter, Archmagos Amos." Rosales held the container with 'black water' with his bionic arm, presenting it before the projection, and said cautiously: "I made a deal with the heir of the Emrys family on Roselle Prime."
Amos' crimson gaze fixed on him coldly, not saying a word, clearly waiting for the next part.
If Rosales couldn't provide a reasonable explanation, then he would have to consider whether to cut some supplies from the internal distribution of benefits within the Cult.
"Esteemed Archmagos, this thing is called 'black water'." Rosales said unhurriedly: "According to my preliminary tests, 'black water' contains extremely high value in biological genetic engineering, and can even create… entirely new life!"
"Create life?!"
Amos' tone suddenly rose sharply, then became somewhat stern: "Do you know what you are saying, Rosales?!"
Creating life, that was a domain belonging only to 'gods', completely incomparable to products like servitors!
It was precisely because of this that he questioned whether such a tiny bit of 'liquid' could create life?
Facing the stern Archmagos' questioning, Rosales mustered his courage and spoke again: "I swear by the Omnissiah, great Archmagos Amos, I did indeed discover astonishing biological genetic engineering value in the creation called 'black water', but whether it can truly recreate life, I am not certain."
In Amos' eerie silence, he quickly added: "With my shallow knowledge, it is difficult to discern the true value of 'black water', but I am certain you will need 'it'."
"What are their demands?"
Amos, across the Warp, looked at the product called 'black water' and couldn't help but feel a little tempted.
"Fifty gene-seeds, and the complete Space Marine modification surgery data." Rosales fully exercised his 'subjective initiative', casually lying: "Of course, the other party is willing to pay a full eight hundred grams of 'black water' as a condition for the transaction, great Archmagos Amos."
As soon as he spoke, he directly deducted 'two hundred grams' of black water.
As for the remaining 40 Space Marine gene-seeds, Rosales planned to use them to exchange for something better with Emrys.
He believed Emrys must have found a treasure of some alien civilization.
That day, he clearly saw the universe battleship falling from the sky, and a little thought told him it must be related to that kid!
The technology of alien civilizations was the real big prize!
"Tell him, I agree."
As expected, Archmagos Amos' reaction did not exceed Rosales' expectations.
After all, with various factions within the Cult vying for power, Archmagos Amos' life was not easy either, otherwise why would he get involved in the affairs of Vigilus?
The value of fifty gene-seeds was indeed greater than 'black water'.
But the problem was that gene-seeds could always be found, but besides Emrys' family, 'black water' couldn't be found anywhere in the entire universe!
The saying 'what is rare is precious' was precisely this.
"That person has one more request."
To maximize his own profit, Rosales directly used Emrys' influence.
"What request?"
Amos frowned slightly, his tone somewhat displeased, feeling that the person was too greedy.
"That person hopes the gene-seeds are not contaminated by 'Chaos'."
Rosales honestly relayed the request. This time, he didn't dare to exaggerate, for fear of being discovered by Amos.
"Good!"
This request was not difficult. Amos readily agreed.
Wasn't it just fifty gene-seeds?
Coincidentally, a renegade Space Marine chapter was currently 'visiting' within his jurisdiction.