Chapter 16 Smart Monitoring
The Wayne Group controls six percent of Nostramo's land, a figure that is steadily increasing as it invisibly conquers the city.
No one dares to resist the Wayne Group, because though it appears to be a conglomerate on the surface, it is in fact a world-class empire.
Wayne soldiers are trained to the standards of ancient military worlds, armed with mysterious technology, and each family is allocated housing and additional funds.
Furthermore, their meals are prepared to meet the daily training needs of adults, ensuring adequate coverage of their daily intake without leaving soldiers hungry or causing food-related issues.
An army trained in this manner possesses far superior willpower, combat prowess, and weapon and equipment strength compared to gangsters or aristocratic private armies.
The problem is that the Wayne Group controls too little territory; if they were to launch a war against all of Nostramo, they would need more preparation.
Under the suppression of the Wayne Group, many gangsters struggle even to make a living; some even have to work at Wayne Group construction sites just to earn a meal.
Some nobles, having offended Wayne, were forced to surrender to avoid the Wayne Group's retaliation.
But Wayne showed no favor to these nobles or gangsters, even tacitly allowing the Wayne Group to reject any outsiders from joining.
They are all guilty and set in their ways.
Believing that nobles will abandon their rights and change their exploitative nature is like believing in Eldar prophecies; at least the latter sometimes come true.
Allowing them to join would merely be letting them escape judgment.
And ultimately, they would be corrupted. Wayne's only goal is to shatter Nostramo's old order and reshape this world.
He aims to unleash Nostramo's productivity, enabling the entire star system to supply an Astartes Legion.
Otherwise, either the nobles and gangsters would secretly corrupt the Night Lords, as in the original plot, or the tragedy of Perturabo's and Lion's homeworlds would repeat.
Wayne's preparations for war are well known throughout the world; his intentions are an open secret, but no one dares to challenge or stop him.
Because no noble trusts another noble, and challenging Wayne now would mean an early demise, whereas challenging him later might offer a glimmer of hope.
The man stood before his secret base, a sixty-kilometer-long square structure, twelve stories high, each ten meters tall, with every floor covered in data lines, servers, and electronic devices.
This is the location of the artificial intelligence, the Watcher. Wayne himself designed this artificial intelligence and deployed it across Nostramo.
This intelligence hacks into every camera, every electronic device connected to the network. It monitors all of Nostramo; no secret escapes Wayne's eyes.
The previous assassination attempt was organized by the least favored child of a family, who believed that by killing Wayne, he could gain his parents' attention and even the family's inheritance.
But he underestimated Wayne, who merely arranged for personnel to halt the family's cargo shipments.
Now, all of their family's minerals have been confiscated by the Wayne Group.
Publicly, it was announced as an inspection to ensure compliance with the Wayne Group's export standards. However, these "export standards" were merely a pretext Wayne used to control other families' trade.
How could adamantium minerals have a standard?
Its very existence is its value; it is a necessity for warships, Titans, tanks, and speeders, a strategic material for the Adeptus Mechanicus, the skeletal framework of Human Hive City buildings, and a pillar of Human civilization.
As long as adamantium can be sold, it generates unimaginable income, provided it can actually be sold.
They had considered using orbital elevators from other Hive Cities to transport their goods. Still, the problem was the thousands of kilometers separating each Hive City, with mutant tribes and xenos activity in between.
Without the protection of a Hive City, transport convoys would struggle to survive, unless escorted.
For this, they could only hire escort teams at great expense, but no matter which team they hired, it would mysteriously disappear.
Because Wayne simply would not allow them any income, their family would quickly lose its wealth for various reasons.
Eventually, they would fall into destitution as commoners, and only at the very end would they realize whom they had offended and what the price was.
They would also be placed under the jurisdiction of the artificial intelligence. Soon, these nobles would commit crimes due to living issues, defying Wayne's will, at which point they would be arrested and judged.
Efficiently eliminating future troubles.
Wayne has already dealt with many minor nobles through this method, annexed their lands and populations, and subsequently initiated welfare projects in those areas.
He is solving the problems of this world on his own, and Wayne still needs to think.
"Master?" Adelaine looked at Wayne, who was standing in front of the display screen. She brought out the tea she had prepared. "How are things progressing?"
"Everything is proceeding according to the plan. City construction, monitoring, and management are all underway, and acquisitions in various regions are progressing in an orderly fashion."
Wayne looked at the data template. Construction work in the asteroid belt near Nostramo was also progressing. After all, to form a space fleet, one can either use orbital elevators or assemble it directly in space.
Wayne chose to develop resources in the asteroid belt, secretly assembling his fleet there and using it to suppress the forces of various Hive Cities, thereby minimizing casualties.
"Young Master has been studying and exercising with those children recently."
"Hmm, that's good. After training ends next year, it will be time for Konrad to act. There is no lack of gangsters and nobles in this world suitable for his training."
"Young Master has also made some...friends."
"They are still Children, it's quite normal."
Adelaine took out an invitation to a noble gathering and placed it in front of Wayne. "Are you going this time?"
Wayne never liked attending noble gatherings. After all, Wayne felt it was a waste of time to be with a group of short-sighted individuals.
But now with Konrad, he can bring him to participate in noble gatherings. In the future, when the Imperium of Man arrives, and Konrad returns to the Imperium of Man, Konrad can also adapt to the various activities of the Imperium of Man's nobility in advance.
After all, befriending nobles is not entirely bad; among the Primarchs, there are good people like Guilliman, and benevolent old-timers like Vulkan.
"Haah~ Arrange it", Wayne picked up the invitation and glanced at it. "I hope they behave themselves this time."
Adelaine smiled knowingly and nodded.
The silence stretched between them, comfortable in a way that only came from years of shared space.
She moved behind him, her hand settling on his shoulder. Warm. He felt the weight of her head against his other shoulder, and something in his chest loosened, not completely, but enough.
Her fingers found his sleeve, tugging gently, and he reached up without thinking, his hand tracing along her arm.
She came around to face him, and when their eyes met, she saw it. That shadow he carried, the one that never quite left, no matter how much control he seized over this dying world.
Adelaine drew him close, guiding his head against her chest, and for a moment Wayne just let himself be held, listening to the steady rhythm of her heartbeat.
His arms circled her waist and pulled, and she settled onto his lap with the kind of easy familiarity that came from knowing exactly where you belonged.
Their foreheads touched.
Neither of them moved for a long breath.
Then their noses brushed, and his lips found her eyelids—barely there, just the ghost of pressure. He felt her eyelashes flutter against his mouth, felt her threading through his hair, the slight tug sending warmth down his spine.
She tilted her head, and their lips met, slow and unhurried, warmth spreading from that single point of contact. Her breath mixed with his, another kiss, lingering, pressure building before easing away.
"I love you," Adelaine whispered, the words vibrating against his lips.
"I know."
He kissed the tip of her nose, let his teeth catch her earlobe, and with gentle pressure, tasted the taste of her skin.
"Hmm~" Adelaine made a soft purring sound and buried her face against his neck, her breath warm against his skin.
"I love you...Hah~... perhaps more than myself," he said quietly into her hair.
"Me too~."
She shifted, taking the lead the way she always did when she sensed he needed it. Wayne leaned back, drawing her with him, their bodies fitting together.
Wayne was quiet for a moment, his thumb tracing absent circles on her hip. "Things have changed a lot in just a year." His voice was lower now, rougher.
"Something big is coming. If everything goes well..." He paused, and she felt the tension in his shoulders. "If we live to see the end of it. If we do..."
Adelaine pulled back just enough to look at him. "If we do...?"
She didn't wait for an answer. Her kiss was different this time, deeper, more insistent, pulling him into it.
Her arms wrapped tight around him, and he responded in kind, crushing her against him until there was no space left between them.
When she finally eased back, her forehead rested against his; her breathing had changed. Her eyes searched his face, bright with something he'd only seen glimpses of before, never sustained, never allowed to take root.
She didn't speak, just waited, tracing along his jaw with her lips, prompting him to finish what he'd started.
Wayne took a deep breath, feeling it catch in his chest. His hand came up to cover hers.
"If we do..." He hesitated. The words had lived in his mind for years, but giving them voice felt like stepping off a cliff. "Will you marr—"
Adelaine didn't let him finish.
She kissed him hard, swallowing the question, fisting his shirt as she pressed forward. The force of it pushed him back, and she followed, bearing him down onto the sofa.
She didn't break the kiss, didn't give him space to breathe or think or second-guess.
Her weight came down over him completely, pinning him. She took control with a fierceness that made his breath short, her touch everywhere, his face, his chest, and back into his hair.
Wayne gripped her waist, anchoring himself as she consumed him. When she finally pulled back just enough to breathe, her eyes were almost fierce.
"Yes," she whispered against his ear, before biting his neck. Wayne just hugged her tighter.
Then she kissed him again before he could respond, softer this time but no less intense.
His arms tightened around her, and when they came together again, it was slower, deeper, the kind of kiss that carried ten years of trust and another fifty of hope.
They stayed like that, bodies pressed together, drifting into each other's embrace until the world outside, the conquest, the planning, the violence, fell away completely.
[End of Chapter]