Chapter 33: Logic Wins Allegiance

Altar Three, Lukevo Hive City.

Magos Kivior-15 withdrew the data probe from his mechandendrite, disconnecting it from the datapad brought by Muravsky.

The identifier "Kivior" can be traced back to the Martian Explorator Fleet Magos, who first discovered Vostroya. It carried a prestigious legacy and was used by many local members.

The designation "-15" was a custom extension added by the Magos to highlight the unique personality matrix of this unit, much like another Tech-Priest bearing the "-23" suffix.

Thierry was the first to speak. "Magos, as you can see, Puhachi is dead. The new King, Nareth, from the Tizca Hive City, has taken control of the Hive Spire and Upper Hive."

Muravsky added, "Magos, Puhachi had long been insane. Without King Nareth's intervention, Lukevo would have collapsed soon."

"Foolish Puhachi. Fragile humans."

The voice that echoed from within the crimson robes made clear Kivior-15's judgment. Puhachi's pursuit of the perfect body wasn't wrong in concept, but he had overestimated the intelligence and endurance of fragile flesh.

Muravsky and Thierry exchanged glances. They understood perfectly well, the Mad King had ruled Lukevo for so long only with the Magos's tacit approval.

The white-haired marquis quickly spoke: "Magos, King Nareth has already taken note of Lukevo's recent drop in production. He has promised to restore productivity quickly."

Thierry added, "King Nareth has already achieved this in Tizca, and he has reached an agreement with Magos Kaminsky."

Kivior-15 remained silent. His golden mechanical eyes flickered in binary red and green as he connected via the Mechanicum's exclusive high-level communication channel to contact Magos Kaminsky.

A torrent of binary data surged for a moment before the Magos finally spoke:

"I will meet this new king. Lead the way."

Sixteen standard minutes later, Kivior-15 met the new king.

Compared to Kaminsky and even Puhachi, this Magos believed even more in the supremacy of the mechanical body. Only after five full minutes of sparring did he finally speak.

"Kaminsky tells me you restored Tizca's productivity and completed reforms under the lower hive domes."

"But you did not fulfill the agreement to eliminate the xenos raiders. Instead, you attacked Lukevo and killed Puhachi, who was blessed by the Omnissiah. This is a breach of contract."

Nareth shook his head. "On the contrary, I attacked Lukevo precisely to fulfill the contract."

"What you say lacks logic."

"To eliminate the xenos, I need voidships. All three ships from Tizca have already set off under Robert Boleslaw's command."

Nareth's eyes gleamed. "I didn't attack Mazov or Szczecin first. I targeted Lukevo for the Piontkowski family's frigate."

After capturing the Hive Spire and searching Puhachi's palace, he gained three significant rewards:

First, the foundation of the Piontkowski family's power: STC blueprints for the maglev trains and some incomplete mechanical modification technology.

Second, rare alchemical ingredients he alone could fully utilize, 25 types totaling 43 ingredients.

Along with another complete set for the "Sailor" potion, his greatest find was two full sets for the "Savant" potion.

He discovered the main ingredients in the study, two data boards from deceased tech-priests, and he found seven secondary ingredients in the lab, including an unused Class I Martian helical gear.

Had he found a suitable candidate, he'd have already sent Bukayo and Roslov to other hive cities to kill a few tech-priests and acquire more data boards.

Third, the frigate docked at the starport.

Unlike Tizca, where battleships were divided under the control of the Boleslaw, Fender, and Kurnikova families, Lukevo had only one ship: Piszczek.

Upon this discovery, Nareth immediately dispatched Bukayo and the Seventh Company to the starport with the access key to secure the frigate.

At the same time, he reorganized his arguments using "Beyonder Eloquence" to align with this new advantage.

After advancing to "Barbarian," many of his Beyonder "Lawyer" abilities had grown stronger. Although his power to exploit legal loopholes hadn't improved much, his data analysis and persuasive skills had seen considerable enhancement.

"Now that I have a frigate, I can take to the starsea and strike the xenos pirates."

He pulled out a datapad. Previously, he had spent fifteen minutes processing six full work cycles' worth of production data from Lukevo's Upper Hive, pinpointing key issues using his analytical skill, and generating visual graphs.

"This first chart shows a trapezoidal graph, production stats from six cycles ago at the B-14 Weapons Foundry during the White-Night shift, in ten-minute intervals."

"As you can see, once the shift exceeds five hours, output plummets by 8.52%."

He tapped the datapad to bring up another graph.

"This is from five cycles ago, same factory, same shift. Output during the first standard hour was already lower than that of the third hour the previous day. By the fourth hour, it dropped rapidly—by 10.83%."

Nareth showed each chart to Kivior-15, letting the data speak for itself.

Finally, he brought up an aggregate productivity chart, measured in Martian credits, tracking Lukevo Upper Hive's six-cycle output.

"This chart shows Lukevo Upper Hive's total productivity dropped from 2.508 billion per cycle to 1.635 billion Martian credits."

"Combined with earlier data, the conclusion is clear: Lukevo's productivity is rapidly declining."

"Data accurate. Rigorous logic. Conclusion valid."

Kivior-15 gave an immediate assessment, then turned to the giant before him:

"King Nareth, how shall this be resolved?"

"Simple. Address the root problem. And there's only one cause: food."

"Workers are not machines. Not servitors. They are not made of steel."

"The weakness of the flesh," Kivior-15 scoffed at organic beings, but had to admit reality. "Kaminsky and I request that you fulfill your promise as soon as possible."

"Of course. I always honor my word."

"I need twelve work cycles to prepare."

After capturing Lukevo, Nareth realized the severity of the food crisis.

Losses for the 1st Vostroyan Regiment were minimal during battle, so he decided to preemptively strike Mazov and Szczecin, then immediately launch into the stars to deal with the xenos raiders.

Seeing that Nareth had easily won over Kivior-15 and secured recognition as Lukevo's new ruler, both Thierry and Muravsky finally let go of their concerns.

This giant not only possessed divine power, but unlike Puhachi, he wasn't mad. In non-combat times, he was logical and astute, hitting the Magos's concerns and using logic to gain support, achieving his political goals.

Both men had the same thought: 'The balance of Vostroya will shift. Nareth will unify all thirty-three hives and become the one true king.'

With plans to soon leave Lukevo and head to the stars, Nareth decided that reforms would wait until his return.

"Muravsky, you'll temporarily handle Lukevo's administration."

"As you command, my king."

After Muravsky left, Nareth sent word to Roslov and Bukayo, summoning them to the palace for a military meeting. He was preparing for the next round of expansion.

Szczesny was also explicitly named to attend this meeting.