Facing Horatio's persistent request, Farida now carefully examined the ring for a moment, clearly seeing the Imperial warship and the words 'Legend' engraved on it.
In her memory, her rarely seen Lieutenant Commander father seemed to have a Naval honor ring also engraved with 'Legend', but it wasn't as intricately carved as this one.
Could it be... this death row inmate's family background was even more prominent than her own?
Farida shook her head, quickly discarding this absurd idea.
The Hood Family she belonged to was currently Abyss Port's most renowned Naval family, and it had produced two battle-hardened Lieutenant Commanders, Samuel Hood and Alexander Hood, who were brothers.
An Imperial Navy Lieutenant Commander, also known as a Naval Lord Colonel, was a legendary figure in the Imperial Navy, possessing the supreme and glorious authority to act on behalf of the Imperial Navy.
And this ring, engraved with the words 'Legend', was another major symbol of a Lieutenant Commander's identity, besides their medals.
Only a handful of people in the entire Gothic Fleet had this honor, and no family had ever produced two at once.
If he truly came from a noble family, how could this young man have ended up in such a state?
Could the ring be a fake? Impossible. Where would a Lower Hive person get electrum material and electrum carving skills?
Electrum was a rare material so hard it was used to make warship keels and prow shields. Every batch of electrum mined was personally escorted by Imperial Navy troops to the shipbuilding bases.
Found it? Too preposterous. Her father treated his like a treasure, personally maintaining it and never letting her touch it. How could any careless Lieutenant Commander lose one in the Lower Hive?
Stolen? Incomprehensible. What kind of thief could bypass the entire Upper Hive's patrols and guards, sneak into a Lieutenant Commander's home just to steal a ring? And now, he was confidently asking her, a Adeptus Arbites specialist, to authenticate it??
Farida's mind was like a storm, rapidly considering every possibility.
Finally.
She froze.
Farida couldn't come up with any reasonable explanation, and in her recent thoughts, she recalled the rules associated with this ring.
The Empire had many meritorious symbols with immunity properties; when she first started her internship at the Adeptus Arbites, she once memorized them to the point of collapse and insomnia.
Lieutenant Commanders had the right to kill on behalf of the Imperial Navy for the Empire's interests. The Lieutenant Commander's Ring was the Imperial Sword bestowed upon Lieutenant Commanders in the name of the Divine Emperor.
Over the long years, many rings were passed down, and gradually, the Imperial government established the tradition of 'recognizing the ring, not the person,' to show respect for heroic families, while continuously raising the standards for becoming a Lieutenant Commander.
If this ring was truly a Lieutenant Commander's Ring, then this scoundrel, let alone murder, even if he killed everyone in the entire PW-P-15 Megaport Freight Zone, the Imperial Department of Legal Affairs could not convict him.
[If this guy really is the descendant of a higher-ranking Lieutenant Commander, helping him now could make his family owe the Hood Family, also in the Navy, a favor... Even if he's not, I can just take his ring later and hand him over to the Adeptus Arbites.]
"So, Miss Hood, have you decided?"
The black-haired youth's clear voice roused her from her calculations.
"I approve your request."
Horatio secretly breathed a sigh of relief, his hanging heart finally settling.
He looked down at the ring on his finger; its value was indeed as significant as he had guessed.
"Why didn't you bring 'Death Row Inmate 24601' this time?" Before the operation, Horatio tried to lighten the tense and oppressive atmosphere with a joke.
"Shut up, Death Row Inmate 24601."
——
"Go look to the right, keep your eyes peeled. Today is a blessed day, Chief Priest wants us to guard strictly!"
Evil Cultists, holding torches, passed by Horatio, who was 15 meters away from them.
Horatio was crouched in front of the Female Hunter-Duke, which was her request, so she could keep an eye on him and ensure he didn't secretly take a cheap shot.
Seeing the patrol leave, Horatio raised his hand, held up his index and middle fingers, and pointed forward twice.
Two shadows almost simultaneously stooped and stood up, moving quickly forward.
Horatio, with his rich military and police experience, continuously and swiftly pointed his gun in directions where enemies might be, his movements so skilled that the Female Hunter-Duke felt various doubts and confusion about the handsome, slender Lower Hive youth in front of her.
[This guy is as skilled as a Adeptus Arbites Special Agent...]
Since there were no building intelligence maps, the operation could only rely on the Female Hunter-Duke's tactical analysis device, the Ornithomancy, for real-time route planning and analysis.
The main gate was guarded by Evil Cultists, so Horatio decided to go around to the side.
He immediately gestured to signal the Female Hunter-Duke behind him.
The two stealthily moved quickly from behind the ruins, pressing against the chapel wall. The Female Hunter-Duke gently patted Horatio's shoulder, and Horatio immediately followed her gesture, looking in the direction she pointed.
With the help of thermal imaging, he saw an old ventilation shaft in the darkness, with hot air continuously emanating from it.
The Female Hunter-Duke quickly squatted down, her back against the wall, holding her gun in alert.
Horatio understood her meaning, stepped on her shoulder to grasp the grille, and used his tactical knife to pry open the bolt connectors.
Snap!
After four soft clicks, Horatio carefully removed the grille and hid it at the base of the ruins.
"I'll go first," the Female Hunter-Duke said in a low, unceremonious voice.
She didn't want to constantly stare at a man's backside in the ventilation shaft. While she didn't want to in reverse either, at least out of sight, out of mind.
The ventilation shaft was high, and the taller Horatio tactically agreed to let the Female Hunter-Duke go first. Unless she used her jetpack, she really might not be able to jump and pull herself up.
But once that jetpack started, they would probably be heard a hundred meters away.
He took a horse stance, hands clasped together with fingers intertwined.
The Female Hunter-Duke folded and retracted the jetpack's nozzles, took a quick step onto his hands, and Horatio, taking advantage of the momentum, pushed her up, helping her smoothly enter the ventilation shaft.
"Ugh, it stinks…" The foul odor from the ventilation duct hit her. The Female Hunter-Duke's air purification device had been damaged in a previous fight, forcing her to inhale the air mixed with various strange smells, just like the Lower Hive people.
As soon as her upper body entered, her hand touched a puddle of warm liquid that smelled of urine.
[Is this… urine?]
The Female Hunter-Duke's expression immediately became difficult and distorted, her pupils trembling.
That's right, this was the first time this high-born Female Hunter-Duke had ever entered a ventilation duct, and a Lower Hive one at that, completely unprepared.
Suddenly, the ball of fur that had been motionless in front of her abruptly turned around without warning.
"Ah!" The Female Hunter-Duke let out a small gasp, but almost immediately closed her mouth.
It was an oversized mutated bat, its terrifying red eyes filled with malicious glare, and its piercing shriek tormented her eardrums. The Female Hunter-Duke was caught off guard and frantically pulled out her pistol.
Thud! Thud! Two muffled sounds came from inside.
[+Hey, what's wrong? Keep it down!+]
Horatio heard the scream and immediately raised his gun in alert, simultaneously calling Farida on the noisy short-range communication channel.
He saw the Female Hunter-Duke's long legs constantly kicking outwards, and from the static-filled short-range communication channel, he could barely make out:
[+There's a monster… Phew, phew, thank the Divine Emperor, it's dead… Ugh, I'm stuck, push me, quickly.+]
Horatio looked up and saw that during the intense struggle, the Female Hunter-Duke's tactical belt had slipped further down, completely wedging her buttocks, which were already barely able to fit into the duct.
"What's that sound over there? Hey, you guys go check it out!"
Horatio's heart sank.