Although it was said easily, in reality, nearly four Terra hours had passed after the entire interrogation ended.
Throughout the process, the other two officers were fine, but the Dark Angels Commander really used all kinds of methods from direct pressure to psychological suggestion. Even with Zhang Ge's energy, his complexion became a little unsightly when he left the room.
Although he could understand part of it - this was already extremely tolerant in the Imperial review procedure, which used drugs or even instruments at every turn. The three reviewers didn't even use physical large memory recovery techniques from beginning to end - but as a quasi-mortal, that feeling of fatigue was real, and it inevitably made people feel a little worse.
However, without a moment of feeling relaxed because the review had ended, what came next was the traditional Imperial skill:
Internal conflict.
No sooner had Zhang Ge walked out of the door than he saw that the Ceramite wall of the room on the other side suddenly had an outward bulge accompanied by a loud noise. The bell-like muffled sound of metal echoed several times in the room, and, unsurprisingly, aroused Zhang Ge's curiosity.
Of course, he didn't go straight in. Instead, he waited outside the door for a moment.
Sure enough, before long, a group of people appeared in a hurry from the other end of the corridor, and even their identities matched Zhang Ge's guess - the Dark Angels.
Then, he saw the Dark Angels Commander, who had been interrogating him before, walk out with a slightly hurried pace. He joined the few people who had just come, and seemed to be whispering something. Soon after, they made the decision to enter the door together.
Before going in, he put his eyes on Zhang Ge, who was clearly going to watch the fun, for a short while, but probably considering that this matter did not involve secrets on the one hand, and was related to him on the other, so in the end he didn't say much, which was considered a default.
On the other side, seeing that the other party was not in a good mood, Zhang Ge's tired mood seemed to have improved a little. Following the last Dark Angel, he walked into this room with them.
Before completely entering the door, he heard a somewhat angry sentence:
"I want to challenge your company to a duel. Send your champion, and let us resolve the dispute in the traditional way."
The voice was not the commander's, but another person's.
And the person being challenged was...
An Oathbreaker?
Due to the lack of military ranks and vague characteristics, Zhang Ge could not recognize exactly who they were, who was what position, but that iconic appearance was definitely not wrong.
Taking a closer look, the two people were standing face to face by the wall. The one leaning against the wall seemed to be a veteran or champion of the Dark Angels? Their armor appearance was also a set of simplification and simplicity. Zhang Ge could only infer from what he said.
At the same time, from the inside, he also saw the cause of the bulge on the outside, which was caused by that Oathbreaker's punch. The punch mark was only a few millimeters away from the Dark Angel standing opposite him, almost brushing past his shoulder armor.
"I will not draw my sword against you."
However, just when everyone who entered thought that things were going to escalate further, what came out of the Oathbreaker's mouth was a sentence of refusal. His voice was a bit slow and hoarse, as if there was not a Space Marine in the Power Armor, but a twilight old man.
Just as the Dark Angel snorted coldly, wanting to directly take action and force the other party, his commander, while approaching, pressed down on the hand he had placed on the hilt at a faster speed, and asked with seriousness in his words:
"What happened?"
Although the Dark Angel who was pressed down was a bit dissatisfied, he still explained the process.
For him, the officer of this "unknown small group that didn't even have Primaris Enhancement," although he sat in the room to accept the review because of "cooperating with the investigation," said very few words. In most cases, he responded to his words with silence, and even often had no movements, just like a human-shaped stone.
No, reviewing a stone was better. At least he could punch the stone a few times to vent his anger.
If it was just like this, it would be fine. A Space Marine could quickly get over a little personal emotional fluctuation. The real conflict between the two was in the later arrangement of the Vigil Keep campaign.
The Dark Angels wanted to complete the task assigned by the commander, that is, to let the other party cooperate with them and recognize the Vigil Keep campaign as the Dark Angels' achievement. Of course, they would also compensate the Oathbreakers afterward.
The starting point of this matter was not to grab credit, and it was even really out of kindness, because this would protect them from higher-level investigations - the actions of some high-levels had been so radical that even the Dark Angels' lower and middle levels could not stand it. It was not impossible for the Oathbreakers to be wiped out by a trap if it was spread there.
It would be fine at ordinary times. Now that the Great Rift had unfolded and various places were in a state of emergency, it seemed too much to keep acting like this.
Speaking back to the matter itself, for this Dark Angel, they were the dignified Chapter, or the former First Legion. Not only did they talk nicely to the other party, but they also considered it for his good, and even gave compensation in the end? The amount of compensation could not be considered small, right?
The other party didn't appreciate it at all, and still maintained that uncooperative silent attitude.
Of course, setting aside these things hidden behind the scenes, said from the mouth of this person who was a bit bad at socializing, if Zhang Ge only listened to the content, he would really think it was a scene of buying honor with money, which was indeed a bit of an insult to the Space Marines.
But this Oathbreaker was not refusing out of being insulted like this. The problem was that in the order Zhang Ge gave, this matter was done by the Oathbreakers, so how could he allow this matter to change because of the Dark Angels' words?
So later, the two unexpectedly escalated to physical conflict. After the Dark Angel's attack was blocked, the Oathbreaker took advantage of the situation and punched the wall next to him as a deterrent... Later, it was the current situation.
As a force sent to purge the Fallen Angels, its members, if not all elites, were at least not novices. And this person should be a veteran or elite in this force, and was also Primaris. In a short exchange with an ordinary Space Marine - and even when he had the first move - he actually fell into a disadvantage in an instant.
This shame might become a laughing stock, or even a material for insulting the force they belonged to. So, he took advantage of the situation and proposed a duel requirement.
Even if he couldn't really beat him, he could at least prove that he didn't back down and didn't fail the blood of the Lion.
However, facing this situation, the commander was still at least rational. He first said to the Dark Angel:
"Is a Chapter matter something you can resolve by means of a duel?"
However, obviously with the Dark Angels' style, now that things had evolved to this point, they certainly could not admit defeat to outsiders. This sentence was just a way to retreat in order to advance.
The commander turned to the Oathbreaker and said lightly:
"Please allow me to replace him as the initiator of the duel."
Now that things have been done, they have to be done thoroughly. Otherwise, if they really lost the fight in front of the other two Chapter...
So, it was better for him to go on stage himself to solve this matter.
At the same time, after hearing this sentence from the Dark Angels Commander, Zhang Ge also nodded almost imperceptibly to the Oathbreaker. He was also a little curious about how deep the water was in the Chapter.
Seeing Zhang Ge's action, the Oathbreaker nodded slowly and replied to the other party:
"Okay, I agree. But, I need you to provide a sword as a dueling sword."