"Operation: Purge Lester Family.
Mission Secrecy Level: Scarlet (4), strict adherence to secrecy protocols required.
Timestamp: Classified.
Mission Objective: Destroy the family's stronghold, apprehend high-ranking family members for trial."
The execution of the conservative High Lord marked the end of the Terra rebellion.
Next, it was time to deal with the high-ranking individuals and major families who participated in the rebellion.
Rebellion against authority could not go unpunished,
especially at this crucial juncture of reform.
The families involved in the conservative rebellion were the core opponents of reform.
Previously, they had obstructed various reform policies and secretly engaged in sabotage.
For this, the reformist members would show no mercy.
Mercy was for the common people; dealing with political enemies only required ruthless eradication.
When the conservatives crossed the line and launched a rebellion, they had already sealed their own fate.
The rules of the power game were simple:
If you bet and lost, and withdrew gracefully, you usually got a way out.
But if you were stubborn and broke the bottom line, you would naturally face equally bloody retaliation.
The Players, following the intelligence provided by the Inquisition,
were busy going to the strongholds of various families for liquidation.
Old Thirteen of the Hogwarts Warband, along with many psychic Players,
decisively took action after receiving the mission to purge the Lester Family.
They boarded transport shuttles and landed in front of the Lester Family's mansion.
Accompanying them were four fully loaded armored personnel carriers.
In addition to these, a naval warship in orbit provided them with support.
After the Naval High Admiral was arrested, the fleet was taken over by the reformists to provide assistance to loyalist forces on the surface.
The warship arrived at the designated orbital position as ordered.
Its lance arrays locked onto surface targets, ready to fire at any moment.
As the order for action was given,
the naval warship initiated the strike.
Several lances descended, bombarding the Lester Family's fortress's defensive cannons and hangar.
Accompanied by explosions, the Players and Astra Militarum forces launched their assault.
The transport shuttles fired smoke grenades and fragmentation grenades towards the fortress, covering the advance of the ground forces.
The Lester Family's armed forces were very strong.
They had over four hundred armed retainers, and a large number of well-trained mercenaries.
In addition to these, there were over nine hundred mansion laborers, most of whom were armed.
They were fully equipped, wearing dark green bulletproof vests, silver helmets, and armed with laser rifles, heavy logging guns, and grenades.
Captains and elite veterans even wore armor with shields or protective force fields.
Such organization and equipment were comparable to a regular army.
Excellent commanders could use them to capture cities and territories, or even conquer multiple weaker planets.
However, with the cooperation of the Players and the Astra Militarum, the fortress quickly fell.
Fighting erupted throughout the corridors and halls, with continuous intensive gunfire and explosions.
"Search every room, don't let a single Lester Family member escape!"
Old Thirteen shouted while raising his staff.
Violent psychic energy gathered at the tip of the staff, transforming into dazzling lightning that illuminated the dim corridor.
Accompanied by rumbling thunder, three mercenaries at the end of the corridor were instantly sent flying, falling far away as charred corpses.
"Quick, quick, don't miss anyone!"
"Show no mercy to anyone who dares to pick up a weapon and resist!"
"......"
Other Players also shouted, acting as the main force, assaulting the Lester Family's fortress defenses.
With their close coordination, the fortress's main defending forces were swiftly defeated.
Scattered small units held out in various small areas, making a last stand.
The mercenaries, who were paid to do a job, surrendered as soon as they saw the situation turn against them.
The loyal retainers and servants, however, resisted fiercely, buying time for the Lester Family members to escape.
Several family elders, escorted by lower-ranking retainers, fled through a secret passage at the rear of the fortress.
The secret passage led to a certain under-hive area of the Hive City; they intended to blend into the crowd and then escape the battlefield and leave Terra.
But the already prepared Inquisition agents swiftly took action,
killing the resisting retainers,
and capturing the family elders.
"The Lester Family has rendered service to the Human Empire! The Lester Family has shed blood for the Emperor! Our loyalty is witnessed by Luna and the sun! You cannot do this!"
When the Lester Family patriarch was dragged out of his hiding chamber by soldiers,
he screamed hoarsely, his face filled with grief and indignation.
"The Lester Family is loyal?? Then why did you follow those traitors to overthrow the Human Empire and the Emperor?"
"Are you trying to fool a brilliantly intelligent Ogryn?"
Old Thirteen stroked his smooth head, revealing an expression full of wisdom, as if he saw through everything.
His words made the patriarch so frustrated he wanted to vomit blood.
He had never imagined that he would fall to the point of having his fate decided by an Ogryn.
"You can't do this to me!" the patriarch shouted.
"No, we can," Old Thirteen said. "You should have served the Human Empire well, but instead you used your power to enrich yourself and oppress the good."
"You arbitrarily shot Imperial citizens, used improper means to suppress business competitors, and wantonly modified children to satisfy your lust."
"To increase factory output, you disregarded worker safety, privately adding stimulants, leading to the deaths of many workers from heart failure."
"To avoid compensation, you intimidated victims' families, forcing them to sign statements voluntarily waiving compensation."
"You acted perversely, constantly exploiting, leading to countless citizens being overwhelmed and rising in revolt."
"And you remained silent about your own mistakes, slandering those people as Imperial traitors, inciting the Imperial army to violently suppress them, leading to the deaths of many innocent people."
Old Thirteen threw the list of crimes investigated by the Inquisition in front of the Lester Family patriarch.
One by one, they were truly too numerous to count, and utterly heinous.
Any single one of them, in a normal interstellar civilization, would be punishable by death.
It was only because the Human Empire faced such severe external threats that he had lived until now.
Faced with irrefutable evidence, the patriarch's face turned pale; he knelt before Old Thirteen, crying out,
"The Lester Family knows its mistakes!"
"We will definitely change, please give us another chance, we will never do that again."
Old Thirteen heard this and grinned.
He remembered a famous quote from the Reality network, which was very fitting for this situation.
"You don't know you've made a mistake; you just know you're going to die."
"Take them away, take them all away. Drag them to the roadside, and finish them all off."
Old Thirteen waved his hand, and the soldiers dragged away all the Lester Family members.
After the battle was resolved, the clean-up forces began to search the entire fortress.
They found a large number of jewels, artworks, holy relics, Warp artifacts, and even some books related to dark heresy and xenos artifacts.
All these items were sealed up,
and loaded into waiting cargo shuttles, box by box, to be transported away.
Old Thirteen and the others also plundered many good things,
such as rosaries that could activate force shields when activated,
holy relics or weapons inherited from the Great Crusade era, and so on.
After reporting them, they kept them for themselves using their Merits (merit points).
"This is a huge profit!" Old Thirteen grinned from ear to ear.
This expansion pack had brought in a huge fortune.
If only there could be a few more times, getting rich would not be a dream.
But it was just a thought.
Terra was the Human Empire's most important planet.
It was impossible to clean it up, then clean it again a few months later.
That would truly be the end.
Therefore, this "Spring of Terra" expansion pack was very likely a one-time event.
There would be no more internal tests in the future, unless there was a data wipe and open beta, then this expansion pack might be restarted.
"Come on, let's go to the next one."
Old Thirteen urged his companions.
They had to earn more during this expansion pack to buy warships, transport shuttles, hire NPC armies, and strengthen the Hogwarts Warband's power.
To grow bigger and stronger, and create glory.
......
Not only were the noble families purged, but many church organizations also did not escape the calamity.
Churches that belonged to the conservative faction, like the former Pope Slytherin,
and had participated in the rebellion, were all listed for purging by the reformists.
Little Alpaca and other Players from the Battle Rose Warband were ordered to attack the Grand Cathedral of the Holy Sacrifice.
This cathedral was suspected of harboring traitors and engaging in activities to subvert the Human Empire and the Emperor.
"Die, traitors, blasphemous bastards!"
Gray Baby held her cute pink boltgun and fired at the armed priests.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Gunshots rang out, and the enemies rushing towards them were shattered.
"For the Emperor!"
As she stepped over a fallen corpse,
a faint voice sounded.
Gray Baby squatted down and turned the person over, finding a dying wretch.
His young face was covered in blood.
He kept muttering and repeating,
"For the Emperor."
"For the Emperor."
"......"
Gray Baby watched for a while, then shook her head.
"I'm afraid the Emperor will not accept you. You betrayed Him, and used weapons against His messengers."
"Your soul is destined to be abandoned, because this is the price of betrayal."
"No…" The person's chest heaved violently, gasping for breath, tears streaming down.
"If there's a next life, don't be so stupid."
Gray Baby pulled out her dagger, plunged it into the person's neck, and granted them peace.
The person choked and died, their convulsing body becoming still.
Gray Baby raised her pink bolter and continued to advance, purging traitors in the Emperor's name.
Battles erupted throughout the church.
The fanatical conservative members were finally defeated.
The Archbishop, as the church's head, was dragged by soldiers into the ruins and forced to kneel in an open space.
"Traitor, do you have anything to say before you die?" Little Alpaca asked.
"It's all a lie, all a lie, you have deceived the God Emperor."
The Archbishop screamed hysterically.
He refused to believe that he was the one who had betrayed the God Emperor, stubbornly insisting that it was the Primarch and the Saint who had deceived the God Emperor.
"How pathetic." Little Alpaca shook his head, pulled the trigger of his bolter, and executed him.
After dealing with the enemy, Little Alpaca turned to look at his Warband companions.
"Now, search thoroughly. Don't miss a single treasure, even if you have to dig three feet deep."
Immediately, the Players cheered and began to loot the church.
The accompanying soldiers also took action.
Although most of it had to be handed over, no one would look too deeply into a little extra income.
What happened at the Lester Family fortress and the Holy Mark Church were just two ripples in the great purge operation.
As the purge continued, the entire Reality became a scene of rivers of blood.
Countless citizens watched in stunned silence as those once high-ranking dignitaries were dragged by soldiers from their luxurious mansions.
They were made to kneel in a row by the roadside, trembling in the cold wind and amidst curses.
Then, they were shot and executed, dying as sloppily as wild dogs.
Countless families were reduced to dust in history overnight.
The scale of the purge was so vast that it shocked the entire Sol System, and even every world that could maintain contact with Reality.
Many families were in a state of unease, fearing that the purge would spread.
In this time of widespread panic, Guilliman, who was commanding the First Indomitus Crusade fleet, publicly delivered a speech.
"Launching a political strike at such a critical juncture is an extremely foolish and selfish decision."
"Even my father's emissary should not create so much slaughter, laying hands on so many families loyal to the Human Empire, and causing such horrific massacres."
"In the name of the Regent of the Reality High Lord, these erroneous actions must cease immediately."
Subsequently, multiple letters and administrative orders signed in Guilliman's name were sent back to Reality, ordering the purge to stop.
Thus, this grand purge finally drew to a close.
The Primarch's statement allowed the strained nerves of many families to relax.
After all, the purge on Reality this time was too astonishing.
So many Reality families were uprooted.
Over a hundred million people were executed or exiled, and the entire Reality administrative system was affected.
If Guilliman had not secretly cultivated a batch of reserve personnel beforehand, Reality might have been paralyzed.
If the turmoil had escalated, the various families of the Human Empire would have had only two choices:
Either die or rebel.
Now that the Primarch had personally spoken, he clearly could not bear to see the 'Emperor's Saint's' insane actions any longer, giving many families a third option.
"The Primarch's intentions are good; it's just that this Saint is executing it too extremely."
"That Saint feels like a mad Vandire; we won't have another Age of Apostasy, will we?"
"It's a pity that the Human Empire is currently in a tumultuous period, and the Saint is a powerful ally against Chaos. Even if he commits such mistakes, he will not be punished."
"We must unite closely around the Primarch and not let that Saint continue to grow too powerful."
"......"
Many ancient families not on Reality were discussing the Reality purge incident.
The Reality Great Purge had completely terrified them.
They believed that they must find a way to support Guilliman and strengthen the Primarch's influence to balance that Saint.
......
On the Bridge of the Macragge's Honour.
Guilliman was constantly monitoring Reality and the Sol System through the Astronomican network.
When the purge reached its climax and completed its predetermined mission of eradicating the Reality's cancerous elements,
He immediately stepped forward to bring the operation to a close.
"It's truly perfect." Guilliman grinned.
Before, those guys kept tripping him up, the Primarch.
Some of them even publicly declared that the Primarch was not qualified to rule the Human Empire.
Now, it's good. After being slaughtered by the Saint, they are all vociferously supporting him again, claiming that the Primarch is the Human Empire's most legitimate ruler.
These dignitaries are just spineless; give them an inch, and they'll take a mile.
When the knife is drawn, they become amicable and reasonable.
Captain Breh shook his head when he saw the Primarch grinning there.
"My Lord, the Saint now holds absolute power on Reality. Aren't you afraid something will happen?"
"Something happen? What could happen?" Guilliman looked at the Captain, asking in confusion.
"You know that all of Reality's military power is concentrated in his hands. If he decides to replace the God Emperor and become the new Emperor of the Human Empire, what should we do?" Breh said.
Guilliman's eyes widened, "There's such a good thing?"
Breh: "......"
This reaction isn't right. Hearing that the Saint might seize power, shouldn't he be anxious and then try to suppress the Saint and dismantle his military power?
Why do you look eager and full of anticipation?!
Could it be that you still want to support the Saint as the Emperor of the Human Empire?!
......
The reforms on Reality not only affected the powerful factions in various sectors but also attracted the attention of xenos.
A Human Empire transport ship was docked in the void, seemingly lifeless.
Inside the ship, all the Human Empire crew members, including the captain, were dead.
Their cold bodies lay sprawled on the ground.
The galaxy's greatest collector, Trazyn the Infinite, sat on the captain's throne, using Necron technology to eavesdrop on the Human Empire's messages.
"Saint, God Chosen, interesting. It seems my library will need new additions."
Trazyn has always liked to collect items that influence the galaxy.
Thunder Warriors, Astartes, Custodians, Sisters, etc., his collection has them all.
Now, perhaps the God Chosen should also be included in the collection.
That psychic Ogryn is quite good.
It looks like a rare item at first glance.
Then, spray it with red skin and add a single-eye decoration; wouldn't that be perfect?
Trazyn stroked his metallic chin, thinking about how to acquire that psychic Ogryn to enrich his museum.
......
Achoo!
Achoo!
Old Thirteen, who was happily counting his gains, sneezed continuously.
This made him look as if he was doubting life.
With an Ogryn's physique, could he actually catch a cold?
Could it be that someone was talking about him behind his back?
But he quickly dismissed the thought and continued to count his gains.
This time, the 'Spring of Terra' expansion pack event was simply incredibly profitable.
"Boss, have you been watching too many female Ogryn lately? Your body is weak, and you've caught a chill."
Another Player in the Warband, Blind Monk (ID: Domestic Concrete), came over.
He was called Blind Monk because of his bald head and his eyes, which had turned white due to psychic energy.
Old Thirteen: "......"
Watching female Ogryn videos?
Am I that desperate?
Why would I watch female Ogryn?!
If I were to watch, it would be those teachers.
Speaking of which, the plot of that neighbor's otaku girl that a group member shared last time was quite good.
"Boss, what dirty thoughts are you having?" Blind Monk spoke again, interrupting Old Thirteen's thoughts.
"Go away." Old Thirteen waved his hand, "How could a gentleman like me think anything dirty?!"
"I, Huang, swear that in this life, I am irreconcilable with gambling and drugs."
"......"
The Players were discussing their respective gains.
Meanwhile, Alex privately established communication with Guilliman to discuss the next plan.
The speech given earlier was merely a performance for those people, according to the original plan.
This was to prevent those families from jumping the gun and defecting to Chaos or instigating rebellion.
In the time to come, Alex and Guilliman would work together to continue promoting reforms,
Destroying the vested interest groups' fundamental base and reshaping the Human Empire's distribution mechanism.
A brand new era would begin.
Humanity would surely escape the Warp and Chaos, moving towards an incredibly bright and glorious future, becoming the masters of the galaxy, and even the universe.