Traveling through time, I'm making pancakes in Warhammer

Chapter 458 Arcadio

"Another life-threatening situation." Constance acted surprisingly relaxed after hearing Howard's words. She whistled, then leaned back against the railing instead of resting her hands on it. "Go ahead and tell me."

"To put it simply, there are still some enemies lurking among you," Howard said.

"Enemy?" Constance raised an eyebrow. "You mean those who pretended to be you, those who wanted to kill you, and some who are among us."

Howard nodded, acknowledging Constance's sharpness.

Then Constance added: "But why should such a small number of enemies put all our lives in danger?"

"If you can't tell these people apart, you'll all be wiped out when the next ship brings in people like you."

"Clean them up! They really don't treat us as human beings." Constance complained, but she didn't seem too surprised. "So, according to you, we have to catch the traitors, right?"

Howard nodded again.

"I'll help you," Constance said. "Come on, keep sharing what you know."

Howard: "That's all."

Constance almost spit out the unmelted candy in her mouth: "Gone?!"

Howard nodded.

"You don't know anything about the number of traitors, the possible masterminds behind the traitors, and their purpose?" Constance looked at Howard in disbelief.

Christina, who was watching, didn't understand why Constance reacted so strongly, so Constance explained to her:

"Little sister... um, I mean, Miss Christina, right now we only know there are traitors in the team, but we don't know how many there are, which means we might not be able to catch them all. We also have no idea what their motives are, which means it's difficult to trick them into revealing their flaws using methods they might find appealing. Furthermore, we have no idea who's behind this, and that's the most fatal thing."

Christina was still confused, so Constance continued, "Because there isn't necessarily just one mastermind behind this. This isn't a spy game, Miss Christina. When the number and sources of spies increase, the likelihood of catching them all decreases infinitely. Many common methods of identifying traitors, like releasing false information or using smokescreens, become ineffective. This makes things very difficult, understand?"

Christina nodded, not quite understanding.

So Constance looked at Howard again and said, "You are not what..." When she said this, she looked around and made sure that no one was around before lowering her voice and saying,

"Aren't you an immortal? You must have some magical abilities, right? Can you read minds, peek into thoughts, or something like that?"

Howard: "I can't control psychic energy."

After receiving this answer, Constance smiled. She patted Howard on the shoulder and said, "It seems that you don't understand the situation."

She took out another candy and put it in her mouth. "Now these people are deliberately trying to get rid of us, and you got involved in this matter. If you were forced into it instead of participating voluntarily, then it means that those people want to use this incident to intimidate and warn you."

If Howard hadn't communicated with Lia Weide on the airship, he might have thought so too. But now that he knew more information, he said:

"The truth is the opposite of what you think," Howard said. "Someone doesn't want to get rid of you, so she asked me to get involved. This way, she has a reason to let you go."

Constance: "Don't speak in riddles, speak human language."

Howard: "We don't need to catch all the traitors, we just need to catch the traitors who can report to the task."

Constance: "Will these traitors who are handed in be tried?"

Howard thought about the imposters who had been executed and replied, "Probably not. They would be executed directly."

"That's easy," Constance said. "We find a few guys we don't like, beat them up, make them admit they're traitors, and take them away. Then you beat them up again in front of someone who can make the decision, make them admit they're traitors there too, and then you shoot them. That's it."

Howard: "You can't do that."

Howard is unwilling to kill anyone, let alone innocent people, unless it is to protect himself in a life-threatening situation. This is his bottom line.

Howard didn't think of himself as a noble person, but he knew very well that the bottom line, especially the bottom line of killing, must never be crossed. Once crossed, it would be a bottomless abyss.

When are people most likely to kill? It's when a single gesture, even a glance, can decide life or death. Perhaps you've never even seen the victim, and the deceased leaves no trace in your mind. Killing someone carries less psychological weight than crushing an ant, yet you kill anyway. You might not feel anything at the time, but the line has been crossed. If faced with a similarly stark choice in the future, you might not hold fast to it, leading to your downfall.

There was such a plot in the book he copied to the Lord of Pleasure. A child in the protagonist's family became the captain of the town's army. He held enormous power and, in his ignorance, just nodded and allowed his men to kill a person who opposed him. At first, he didn't even take this matter to heart, but this incident became the flapping of a butterfly's wings. The wind it fanned out engulfed him, causing him to embark on a path of no return and ultimately bring destruction.

Howard had just memorized this book not long ago, so he was naturally impressed by the plot.

That's why, when Lia Weide first suggested clearing out all the "seeds," he chose to stop her. If he had remained silent, he would have become another Arcadio. Having crossed the line, today he could sit back and watch Lia Weide execute hundreds of innocent people, even if he had the power to stop her. Tomorrow, a hundred thousand deaths would be a number, a million would be a number. The day after tomorrow, he would rather betray the world than let it betray him.

Then he would really become an insect that can be found everywhere in this universe.

Of course, this may be an exaggeration, but if the original probability of Howard turning into this kind of insect was zero, and after this beginning, the probability of turning into an insect may have reached one percent. Although it is still insignificant, it is a huge difference compared to the past. The next time a similar thing happens, the probability may continue to increase until it is irreversible.

Howard didn't necessarily have to maintain his so-called purity. When Esrick had counseled the nun, Howard thought he had said something very well: "Lord Archangel, please understand why I do this. For the good of the Empire, you will not be reluctant to sacrifice your honor, will you?"

For the greater good, the nun was willing to give up her honor. Similarly, if there was something more valuable in front of him, Howard would not be unable to cross his bottom line a little. It was a pity that there was nothing worth crossing his bottom line for at present. Licking Freya's feet or kissing the Nurgle beast were actually still within his bottom line.

For example, this time, if he just sat back and watched, the most he could do was to be lazy and do less work. He sold himself just to be lazy. Howard felt that he should not be so cheap.

After Howard rejected her proposal, Constance suddenly stopped talking. She moved closer to Howard and almost blew into his face:

"My Lord Immortal, do you care so much about the lives of mortals? You've revealed your flaws."

Christina looked confused: "What are you pretending to be? What's the flaw?"

"Don't ask too many questions, kid." Constance made a silencing gesture to Christina, then winked at Howard.

"Then let's try to catch the traitor," Constance said. "If that doesn't work out, just hand me over."

Christina: "Huh? Why?"

"Because this is the only way to solve it." Constance said, "According to Lord Howard, if we don't catch them, we'll all die. He doesn't agree to use a scapegoat, so it should be fine for me to volunteer. Then I can cooperate with you and won't be easily exposed. Don't think I'm too noble. If both sides are dead, I still want to choose my own death. Just don't torture me too much and give me some wine and a quick death. I think you can do that, right?"

"We'll find a way," Howard said.

If he really gets nothing in the end, he can still call Freya over. He doesn't know how to search souls, but Freya does.

The great demon had promised that this time he would completely follow his wishes, as proved when he intercepted the spaceship on the Deep Blue Universe.

But Howard would never seek the devil's help unless it was absolutely necessary.