Although Alex had strictly sealed off the news of the Blood Oath Society's heretical beliefs, the Star District still learned about it.
Of course, the news was not leaked from him, but rather the Star District itself had a problem.
After all, the Blood Oath Society's heretical activities occurred in the Star Sector Capital; otherwise, the Sister who reported the Blood Oath Society's heresy to the Black Templars would not have hidden on the Black Templars' ship.
This fact itself indicated the seriousness of the problem; the Blood Oath Society had existed since the establishment of the Star District, and its influence had permeated almost every aspect of the Mariupol Sector.
When Alex left the Star Sector Capital, he did not directly report this matter to the Star Sector Tribunal, as a large-scale investigation by the Star Sector Tribunal, if it knew about this, would inevitably alert the enemy.
He preferred to adopt a more cautious and deliberate approach.
He planned to wait until he had thoroughly investigated the matter before sending people to deal with it.
Moreover, at that time, he had already sent a small team from the Black Templars to stay and investigate. Theoretically, as long as this small team investigated the matter thoroughly and collected evidence before reporting it to the Star Sector Tribunal, the matter would naturally be handled properly.
Alex did not think that the Black Templars would fail given their capabilities.
They were in the capital of an Imperial Star District. Even if this cult truly had something, could it really cause chaos in the Star Sector Capital?
This confidence stemmed from his trust in the combat effectiveness of the Astartes Monks and a rational judgment of the situation.
After all, even if a rebellion truly occurred, with the defensive strength of the Star Sector Capital, it was not impossible to suppress it.
Especially since Alex still had thousands of Astartes and over a million Astra Militarum, suppressing one or two rebellions was as easy as playing a game.
But things ultimately exceeded Alex's expectations because the Blood Oath Society truly instigated a rebellion.
This rebellion came so suddenly and was so large in scale that it caught everyone off guard.
The Blood Oath Society incited the Lower Hive residents in the Star Sector Capital's Hive City, sparking a rebellion involving a large number of Ecclesiarchy believers.
Yes, it involved a large number of Ecclesiarchy believers, which nearly gave the Ecclesiarchy's Star District Bishop a brain hemorrhage from anger.
When the elderly Bishop received the news, his crozier fell to the ground. His aged face contorted with fury, and with a trembling voice, he ordered an immediate thorough investigation of the matter, while also sending a star-message to the Expeditionary Force, requesting the Holy War Army to return and clear all rebellions within the Star District.
Because the Blood Oath Society used its influence as a legitimate branch of the Ecclesiarchy to incite the rebellion, a large number of uninformed common people and Ecclesiarchy believers were deceived and coerced.
They held high the holy images of the Emperor, yet shouted heretical slogans; they wore the holy emblems of the Ecclesiarchy, yet performed blasphemous rituals.
For the Ecclesiarchy, this was an absolute disgrace, the most malicious blasphemy and the most serious betrayal of the sacred faith.
In the face of this matter, even the expedition could be temporarily put aside.
Facing the Ecclesiarchy's request, Alex had nothing to say. The Ecclesiarchy had provided him with so much support before, and at this time, he could not say anything to make the Holy War Army stay.
Moreover, although a considerable number of the Holy War Army had been deployed to the battlefield, a significant portion was still undergoing training and had not yet been fully deployed.
After all, the Holy War Army was quite mixed in quality and lacked training and organization. After arriving in the Rostov Sub-Sector, they needed to be organized into armies and trained. Only trained units could be sent to the front lines for combat.
Not only that, but some Holy War Army units that had participated in combat and suffered heavy casualties would also be rotated out for replenishment, which meant that there were always hundreds of thousands of Holy War Army on the Rostov II.
In addition, a considerable portion of the Holy War Army that had participated in the Donetsk operation had already withdrawn for rest and recuperation. As a result, there are now millions of Holy War Army on the Rostov II who only need a little rest to be put into battle, possessing an organization and discipline comparable to the Astra Militarum, and holding a fervent faith in the God-Emperor, available for use.
After discussing with the Expeditionary Force's high command, Alex decided to send 800,000 Holy War Army back to suppress the rebellion.
It wasn't that he was unwilling to send more people back, but the Necrons' counterattack had already begun, and Alex also needed troops for combat and did not have many forces available to defend the Star Sector Capital.
However, even so, he still managed to squeeze out a company of Astartes and sent them back with the Holy War Army.
Other units were partially deployed to defend the few human-controlled planets in the current Sub-Sector, while the remaining units still formed attack clusters, preparing for a counterattack.
To be honest, Alex felt uncertain at this moment.
Although he now had a million Astra Militarum and nearly four thousand Astartes, which was an astonishing force even in the Great Crusade Era, almost equivalent to half a legion in the early Great Crusade.
But facing a Necron Dynasty with this force, Alex was somewhat unsure.
After all, no one could guarantee that this Necron Dynasty would not pull out a major weapon like a star god shard.
So, after arranging his available forces, Alex summoned the four Commanders he had appointed and asked them about strategic deployment.
The reason for the question mark was mainly that Ahriman had been busy with Chaos rituals during this period and had not participated in combat command.
And this was Alex's most pressing concern, so he immediately asked Ahriman about the ritual.
"Commander, my ritual has successfully torn open a Warp rift, and a Chaos demon army led by a Daemon Prince is attacking the Necron Dynasty's crown world," Ahriman brought good news.
This made Alex look at him with slightly more admiration, after all, Ahriman hadn't failed this time.
However, it was not surprising when one thought about it. Ahriman, during his time as a powerful Astartes, was top-notch in both skill and ability. If he hadn't, like Magnus, fallen for Tzeentch's evil, he wouldn't have cast the Red Thirst twice, turning the entire legion into empty shells.
Moreover, it must be said that apart from the Red Thirst incident, Professor Ahriman had no obvious setbacks or failures; overall, he was trustworthy.
So Alex nodded with satisfaction and praised him, "It seems you've done well! I just don't know how long this demon army can hold them off…"
Speaking of this, Alex was also very curious which demon army this was.
If possible, Alex hoped it was from K's house; if not, N's house was tolerable, but S's house and T's house should stay as far away as possible.
The reason for these designations was that in the 40k universe, one could not easily speak the true names of the Four Chaos Gods, lest they attract attention.
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