Endless Horde: Through the Eyes of a Godking - Chapter 927 927: Idle Space Marines

—

These new mineral ores were mysterious and tricky to work with.

So far, Ilya’s team of researchers, as well as the Makers Guild, have only discovered the surface level of what they could actually do.

There were these metals that turned into gaseous form whenever they attempted to forge them into a tool and would only return to their previous form after 12 hours. There are also some ores that need a combination of starlight, heat, and blood before they turn malleable.

They’re weird and unheard-of resources. But no matter how out of this world they were, they were seen as new things to discover, and humans wanted to know everything they could do.

Some pondered about these changes, though, because as far as they were aware, these rare and unheard-of metals didn’t exist in these places before.

And they’re right. Neither the Demons, nor the previous citizens of the Black Pegasus Chaos Realm, nor The Horde ever discovered or used any of these materials.

If they had, then Ilya should’ve recognized them. He doesn’t believe that the people he sent to manage the branch of the bank in the Black Pegasus Chaos Realm would remain ignorant about them and fail to send him some samples.

The Human Sovereigns would also know if the Bug Empress had discovered them given how many times they clashed with her.

So, all of this could only mean one thing. These resources were here before. They were produced after ‘CS’ revitalized the chaos realms. They were created due to the mutations that have happened in the natural recovery and revitalization of both places.

And they’re not wrong. This was indeed the case. The natural birth, development, and following mutations of the natural reserves of chaos realms happened during their revitalization period.

Don’t get this wrong, this isn’t a bad thing! It’s actually a more than welcomed change. At least, the new and revived versions of both chaos realms will have an identity with these new resources.

The new types of resources weren’t just limited to mineral ores, either. They come in different forms and shapes; most are unknown for now, but they all equally made humans very excited to explore what they could do.

Ilya Silverspoon and the Guild Master Norman Rockwood were both working hard to unearth the potential and value of the new resources being sent to their tables. The former was working hard to discover their value so he could put a price tag on them pronto, while the other was just vibrating in excitement at the new discoveries and avenues he could explore with these new materials.

With their combined efforts, the discovery progress went decently fast. Soon, the new resources will have names, descriptions, identities, uses, and finally, real value.

Ironically, though, while Ilya and Norman were incredibly busy with their work, Admiral Hector Ashborn found himself and his men rather idle.

Usually, the Space Marines were the busiest people. At least, they used to be.

Back in the day, they were stationed at the dimensional gap, engaged in a seemingly perpetual combat against a never-ending wave of bugs that were constantly trying to breach humanity’s defenses and lay havoc on everything they knew and loved.

But recently, as in the past thousand years, the space Marines found their schedules becoming freer and lighter. It all began when, all of a sudden, Councillor Gibson went undercover and took the helm of command.

The Space Marines, the toughest and the most jaded combat experts and soldiers of humanity, the people who are constantly engaged in a life and death situation in every waking moment with their outdated gear and corrupted chain of command, enduring what looked to be a hopeless future, were suddenly revived.

Suddenly, the corruption in their chain of command was purged. Nobody knows what happened to the leeches. If they died, good! What a good death! If they were tortured first and then killed? Even better.

But yeah, those people weren’t seen anymore. Nobody really knew where they went or how they were dealt with. The Space Marines were just happy and incredibly relieved that they’re finally gone.

Because of that, the Space Marines finally felt like they could breathe again. They’re not being sent to missions that they might never return from anymore; their equipment has been updated and upgraded. Their combat power and efficiency skyrocketed, and they were able to advance their defense lines further into the dimensional gap.

Because of Gibson’s help, the Space Marines were able to rest and relax. They tore through missions with ruthless efficiency and always returned in victory. And with Gibson building all sorts of weaponry, ranging from very small to humongous, the life of the Space Marines became even better.

And things kept getting better and better for them from that point on. So much so that some of them were even finding their existence redundant.

Why were they still on active duty when the demons and the Horde were gone? Heavenly Star Chaos Realm’s dimensional gap won’t be raided anymore, and even if it was, so what? They’ve got lines of defenses and weaponry that could vaporize billions of lives and reduce galaxies into mere space dust in one shot! The best part is that nobody even has to operate those weapons; there’s an AI that could control them for them.

So, again, why were they still in active duty?

And just as they thought that they were finally being useful again, they found themselves somewhat idle once more.

Sure, they’ve been mobilized. Most of them have been called up and sent to the dimensional gap and the other chaos realms. And intially, they thought that they’d see some action again, but to their disappointment, there’s none.

They barely even had the chance to fire their weapons, actually. What they did, most of the time, was lounge around doing nothing. They could relax the strictness, talk, and joke with each other without the fear of being scolded or being caught off guard by a sudden attack; hell, they could even sleep at the job—a feat that would’ve never been allowed about a thousand years ago—and not be afraid to be woken up by an explosion.

There were no enemies here. It had been made clear to them that they’re here just in case. Both of the chaos realms that are being colonized right now are hidden and isolated, so they shouldn’t expect any enemies stumbling into their territory.

Space Marines have never had such an idle time at work. So much so that some of them aren’t even wearing their armor and gear while at work. There’s even one that’s grilling meat out in the open, feasting and drinking to his heart’s content.

They sure were idle and bored, too. Thank god they’re still connected to the virtual universe even here, or else they would’ve died from boredom.

And even though he could see his men being so lazy, bored, and undisciplined, Hector didn’t scold or seem to notice.

He’d be a hypocrite to call them out when he himself was taking it easy too. Nowadays, he usually could be found in the docking bay playing and tinkering with vehicles.

He wasn’t really worried or uneasy. Despite the apparent laziness and lousiness of his men, their instincts remained sharp and responsive, especially for the true veterans.

The instincts of a Space Marine have been drilled into their very souls; nothing could erode that, so it doesn’t matter. Their skills won’t get rusty even after all this idleness.

Besides, he personally thinks that they deserve some peace and quiet. Yeah, yeah, he knows that saying that out loud was blasphemy—a jinx that would magically summon invaders to make them busy, but that’s why he only thought about it.

They used to pray for times like this, never too long, though. Just enough so that they could get some good rest and recover properly.

Now, it seems that their prayers have been answered; the amount of free time they now find themselves with seems to be a culmination of all their wishes from all the past centuries.

In truth, Hector was enjoying his idle time. He couldn’t show it since his face had long been frozen in indifference like this due to how jaded he was at everything, but deep down, he was truly enjoying this relaxing time.

Playing and tinkering with vehicles was one of the very few hobbies he enjoyed. Sex was a very close second.

And since he’s out here enjoying his time, he really couldn’t scold his men either. He knew that they deserved this more than any people in the world, and he’d be a goddamn hypocrite if he called them out on it.

So, the situation turned as such. He turns a blind eye to their lousiness since he’s being lousy too; fair’s fair.

The best part about this is that their salaries remained the same. They’re being paid as if they’re still engaged in a constant life and death battle.

If the Human Council ever noticed this, they most certainly hadn’t made any changes. Nick and Pat also saw this and acted as if they hadn’t.

That message was loud and clear. There’s no need for further clarifications.