Duanmu Huai looked up, stood up, and curiously examined the warriors in front of him.

Judging by their power armor, these soldiers were clearly Astartes, and Duanmu Huai could even recognize from their iconic decorations that they belonged to a warband of the Space Wolves. But that was not important; what mattered was what was behind them—Duanmu Huai glanced at the young wolves before him and then turned his gaze to the two men standing behind them, who wore armor almost identical to his.

A man and a woman.

Other than the patterns on their armor, perhaps not being as elaborate or exquisite as those on Duanmu Huai's, everything else was nearly the same.

Well, two judges, that's interesting.

"Hey, how are you all?"

Duanmu Huai raised his hand in greeting to everyone, while the latter group warily stared at him, tightening their grip on their weapons. The older-looking judge standing at the back spoke up and asked.

"Who are you?"

"I am the Grand Judge Duanmu Huai."

Duanmu Huai shrugged; he wasn't lying—this was his identity.

"I didn't know the tribunal sent others here to investigate this spaceship wreck."

"If only I were here to investigate."

Duanmu Huai helplessly pursed his lips.

"Unfortunately, I'm not. I'm stranded here. Before you arrived, I was just walking around, taking down anything daring enough to block my way, plain and simple."

"So, you're a prisoner?"

At this point, the young female judge spoke up to inquire.

"You could say that. I can't just jump off this wreck and swim to somewhere else, can I?"

Duanmu Huai spread his hands and looked at everyone.

"Alright, folks, why are you here? Although I can't exactly offer much hospitality, if you need help, I can lend a hand as long as you're willing to take me out of this hellhole."

"......…"

The two judges exchanged a glance, and the older one spoke again.

"We're here looking for something."

"Alright, I won't ask what you're looking for; I don't know more about this wreck than you do."

Duanmu Huai guessed that they might be competing with the Dark Elves for something, but he didn't care to meddle in such matters.

"But if you need me to get rid of those pesky bastards, I'd be more than happy to oblige."

He only hoped to get out of here while taking down a few punks along the way.

Maybe it was Duanmu Huai's precise and swift action against the Dark Spirit Clan that earned their trust, because after a brief discussion, the two judges allowed him to join them. Of course, they didn't reveal their mission, and Duanmu Huai didn't need to ask. Being a judge himself, he understood that unlike those scavenging for treasures, when a judge ventured to a spaceship wreck, it was generally to reclaim something, destroy something, or track something.

It's just that they brought a pack of young wolves along, indicating the mission had some significance.

Duanmu Huai walked beside them, curiously observing the Space Wolves; they were very young and clearly new recruits. But precisely because of this, Duanmu Huai was somewhat curious about their mission and duties since, in his experience, judges usually had their own guard and attendants, and seldom sought the assistance of Star Warriors unless the situation was severe.

Perhaps it involved the Death Watch warrior?

Duanmu Huai glanced again at the black figure among the wolves; it wasn't surprising since Star Warrior warbands would send their warriors for advanced training with the Death Watch. A Death Watch graduate Astarte teaming up with the tribunal wasn't unusual; if this Astarte was from the Space Wolves, pulling a batch of young wolves to help... well, that didn't seem odd either?

Aside from them, the judges naturally had their escort squad; Duanmu Huai only knew the names of two judges—Sten and Carla—and that the leader of the Star Warriors was named Lana. But this was sufficient because... the tribunal's tasks shouldn't be questioned, looked at, or pondered if they weren't supposed to be.

So Duanmu Huai silently activated his headphones.

Time to listen to some music.

Meanwhile, beside Duanmu Huai, the two judges were quietly communicating in their private communication channel.

"What's your take?"

Sten glanced at the nearby tall figure of Duanmu Huai and asked. His subordinate Carla remained silent for a moment before speaking.

"Honestly, for someone stranded on a spaceship wreck, he appears... too relaxed."

It's actually not surprising that there would be people on a spaceship wreck; in fact, some historically long-standing spaceship wrecks have even given rise to similarly "historically long-standing" clans, like Beastmen. Such things also appeared in Novice's Village; they appeared here for the same reason they appeared on the Novice Planet—the subspace distorted the bodies of those mortals and caused them to give birth to twisted, chaotic monstrosities.

And when these Beastmen grew up, they would, like their counterparts in Novice's Village, begin to instinctively worship the Evil God.

Incidentally, because spaceship wrecks mostly drift in subspace, their connection to the Chaos Evil God is closer than their distant relatives in Novice's Village.

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