Accompanied by dazzling light, the spaceship wreck was completely destroyed. The Tribunal's warship also withdrew, heading towards their predetermined target location.

Sten sat in the room silently, staring at the pendant in his hand, which was composed of three green gem fragments. If Duanmu Huai were here, he would definitely recognize that one of the fragments was the one he had previously taken from that disgusting brain.

Now, they have merged into one.

"Knock knock knock."

The sound of knocking came, and Sten lifted his head, put down the pendant in his hand, and stared at the door.

"Come in."

Soon, the door opened, and Kara the Judge walked in. She looked at the pendant in Sten's hand, which he then handed over.

"How is our guest? What are the examination results?"

Finally, Judge Sten kept his word and brought Duanmu Huai onto his warship. But this did not mean he would relax his vigilance against this mysterious judge. His place of appearance, that mysterious and unpredictable formidable strength, everything would trigger the judge's alertness.

So after arriving on the warship, Sten, under the pretext of providing medical service for Duanmu Huai, conducted an examination on him.

"The situation........"

However, to Sten's surprise, Kara's expression was rather strange.

"The situation is very peculiar."

"Peculiar? What do you mean by peculiar?"

"The medical team conducted a full-body examination on him, but the results were surprising. His body showed no signs of modification, his genes showed no traces of contamination, and he had no mechanical implants throughout his body. He......"

Here, Kara paused.

"........he is pure."

"...........are you sure???"

This answer really stunned Sten. He had thought a lot about Duanmu Huai's origins, maybe he was some senior figure of the Tribunal, or perhaps a high-ranking internal member. But no matter what, he should have undergone modifications.

Not to mention gene contamination...... Although the Tribunal generally rarely uses genes for judgment, that's also because there are too many planets conquered by humans, and the environmental changes on each planet are significant. As a result, the human genes within the Empire more or less have some degree of mutation and contamination. Truly "pure" human genes seem to have only appeared in textbooks.

"Then what's the deal with his power armor?"

Sten himself is also a judge and has power armor. Naturally, he knows that although a judge's power armor is somewhat different from Astarte's, they also require the installation of some mechanical implants and neural connection systems.

"A completely external mechanism; according to the Mechanical Sage's investigation report, his power armor uses a very unique technology. Although some traces of Mars technology can be seen, there are also some parts that cannot be understood."

At this point, Kara stared at Sten.

"What should we do?"

Sten certainly understood what Kara meant. Clearly, they had encountered a problem. The original task of the Tribunal this time was to investigate and resolve a plague occurring on the Nest Capital Planet. According to Kara's psychic prophetic talent, they found their way here. According to the prophecy, as long as these fragments were gathered, the sealed secret could be unlocked and the Nest Capital Planet saved.

For Sten, this was his most primary task as a judge.

But now, the appearance of Duanmu Huai made him feel troubled.

Whether it was the great combat power Duanmu Huai displayed on the spaceship wreck or the incomprehensible data obtained during the investigation, both indicated that this judge was certainly a rather important figure. Considering the uncertain timing of the spaceship wreck, this judge might very well be a remnant from the time of the Great Rebellion.

After all, as a judge, Sten was very familiar with the history of the Tribunal. The formation of the Tribunal was after the Great Rebellion, during which it went through a lengthy period. The Tribunal had the power to repel and eliminate demons, and these powers came from...... Thinking of this, Sten glanced at the emblem of skulls and war hammers he had hanging.

Because back before the Great Rebellion, Duanmu Huai had traveled through a wave, causing the appearance of the Tribunal in this world to be completely different from the original. After the Great Rebellion, the Empire fractured, and the shadow of demons loomed over the Empire's double-headed eagle. So, when people discovered that as long as they held the Holy Statue of skulls and war hammers and eliminated demons in the name of the Tribunal, they could genuinely and completely kill the other side, the belief in the Tribunal naturally sprang up like mushrooms after a rain throughout the Empire. It was also under the protection of the Tribunal that the Empire survived those most difficult years.

However, the good times did not last long.

Once the external threat was removed, people naturally tend towards internal strife. The influence of the Tribunal in the entire Empire was really too enormous, causing unease among many nobles and lords. Moreover, the Tribunal's operational style was too unpopular, so after the demon threat receded, many began considering how to counter and suppress the Tribunal's power.

Thus the National Religion emerged.

The National Religion revered The Emperor as a god to suppress the Tribunal. Originally, the National Religion hoped to absorb the Tribunal in this manner into their fold.

The result was that they found themselves in an awkward situation.

If they eliminated demons in the name of The Emperor, it merely banished the demons.

Only by eliminating demons in the name of the Tribunal could they completely kill them.

No one could explain why this was so, even those High Lords and Arbiters could not understand either. When they initially established the National Religion, they merely assumed that the Tribunal also believed in the Divine Emperor but just did not use it as a slogan.

And now it seemed...... Well, the reason they didn't use the Divine Emperor as a slogan was evidently not due to political or religious reasons.

Then, after this, a turmoil that spread throughout the Empire erupted.

The National Religion publicly accused the Tribunal of heretical doctrine, serving the filthy betrayers of the Divine Emperor, and declared a holy war intended to completely eliminate these disrespecters of the god.

The Tribunal certainly did not rest easy; they understood the intentions of the National Religion, which sought to suppress the Tribunal by such means, eventually taking it under their control.

However, the Tribunal's position and power were entirely built on their ability to eliminate demons. The Great Judges naturally were not willing to give up their authority.

Thus a civil war broke out.

This civil war lasted for five millennia, engulfing all the Empire's territories. Both sides were so bloodthirsty, the rivers ran with blood.

Fortunately, when the demons attempted to take the opportunity to destroy the Empire completely, both parties had no choice but to set aside their differences and unite their efforts. Ultimately, they paid a grievous cost to drive the demonic invasion army out of the Empire's borders.

After that, the Tribunal and the National Religion had to shake hands and reconcile under the mediation of other forces (including but not limited to Astarte, Silent Sisters, Mechanic Religion). Furthermore, after this, they decided to revise the doctrine. Simply put, in the new doctrine, the Imperial double-headed eagle has a new meaning.

One head represents the National Religion, with the Divine Emperor guarding the souls of his people.

The other head represents the Tribunal, judging and eliminating the enemies threatening the Empire.

Hmm, both parties took a step back and reached a compromise, and it has lasted until now.

As a Judge, Sten understands very well the political implications of Duanmu Huai's appearance.

Not to mention, a pure human, unpolluted, unmodified, with great strength, and still a Great Judge!

The top ranks of the Tribunal must be laughing until they can't breathe, it's almost impossible to lose this time!

Now they have two choices, either abandon the mission and send Duanmu Huai to Terra immediately, or complete the mission first and then take Duanmu Huai to Terra.

After all, it involves a Hive City planet and billions of lives.

Finally, Sten made a decision.

"Have him come over to talk."

When Duanmu Huai walked into the room, he wasn't wearing Power Armor but a Judge's black formal attire. If there's anything in this timeline that makes Duanmu Huai satisfied, it's that the clothes here are relatively loose. He decided to grab a few pieces to carry with him when he has time, so he won't run out of clothes when he goes back.

After all, the attire of the Tribunal is quite respectable.

Sitting across from Sten, Duanmu Huai also listened to his analysis of the current situation, then he raised an eyebrow.

"If I didn't misunderstand, your current operation is for a Hive City where a mysterious plague broke out — how did you think of looking for that... thing?"

"It was a prophecy."

Kara spoke up.

"We sought the help of the prophecy to know how all this happened and how to solve it, and so the prophecy led us to these fragments."

"So you came all the way here for this, and then pieced together such a thing?"

Duanmu Huai fiddled with the pendant on the table and tossed it aside.

"Forget it, let's go to the Hive City first. I think you might have messed this up."

"What do you mean by that?"

Hearing Duanmu Huai's sarcasm, Judge Sten gestured to Kara not to speak and instead looked at Duanmu Huai.

"You don't believe in prophecy?"

"Honestly, I never believe in that stuff, I don't even want to hear it. The reason is simple, if the prophecy can't be changed, then listening to it is nothing but self-torment. If the prophecy can be changed, then listening to it is just as useless, it's like hearing a lecture without gaining anything."

Duanmu Huai smirked, letting out a soft snort.

"Ultimately, prophecy is a form of cheating; when you feel you're at a dead end, you want to cheat to get answers — but cheating inevitably comes with punishment, especially for those psychics who love making prophecies... besides, solving problems without showing your work but only the answer gets no points, and might even result in deductions."

As he spoke, Duanmu Huai glanced at Kara.

"I suggest you stop holding prophecy in such high regard; ignorance can sometimes be the best weapon against threats. Ultimately, no matter how much you know is useless, a big enough fist is the truth. If your fist isn't big enough, your little smarts will be nothing but courting death in front of the Devils of Subspace — there's an old saying, 'Speculation leads to heresy.'

"......."

Kara opened her mouth to say something, but in the end, she said nothing and just bowed her head silently.

For Kara's reaction, Duanmu Huai didn't care at all. Stupid psychics are like that, especially those idiots who love prophesying the future. Duanmu Huai knows some of the plots, but he doesn't care; his actions rarely aim at changing the plot, most of the time they are to make himself stronger.

Just as Duanmu Huai said, as long as you are strong enough, ignorance is not a problem.

On the contrary, if you are too weak, knowing too much can become a problem.

Those prophets are like that, when the Evil God wants to play with her, it plays. But if the Evil God doesn't want to play and flips the table, what can you do?

Can you beat it?

Of course, you can't.

So you can only obediently accept the other's interpretation of fate.

It's like "the final interpretation right belongs to this company," if you aren't capable of hanging the opponent on a lamp post, you can only obediently endure, whether the opponent points at a deer and calls it a horse or whatever, you have no other choice but to accept.

But if you have the means to hang the opponent on a lamp post — then the interpretation right is in your hands.

It's your turn to point at a deer and call it a horse.

If I say this is a horse, then it's a horse. Either accept it or die.

That's the power of authority.

And authority — comes from violence.

Duanmu Huai looked away, turning to Sten.

"Let's go to the Hive City, hopefully, there's still hope."

He then said.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.