Within a large sitting area that resembled a mix of an office and a sitting room, a lean bag of bones could be seen sitting, dressed in a military uniform as he reviewed a set of documents.
Standing beside him was his attendant, whom he had discovered was named Elara. She lost her last name as soon as she was captured in the underhive.
"I hear I am a planetary governor, and yet they only give me two pieces of paper to review… how does this summarize everything that happened on the planet?" Bastion said in anger but carefully dropped the paper in his hand back on the table.
"My lord, his lordship, Lord Valerius, said not to trouble yourself with the matters of the state for now and to focus on your recovery," Elara said with a bow.
"Let me guess, this Lord Valerius is the current regent, is he not?" Bastion asked.
"Yes, my lord."
"As expected, that's the most corrupt statement I have ever heard," he said before taking a sip of the weird drink sitting on the table.
It was black in color, and despite being covered thoroughly, its stink still reached him.
However, no matter how much he hated it, he still needed it. It had been over a week since he came into this world, and he could say that he had slowly gotten used to everything.
First, his body was acting out for reasons he had yet to identify, and even the imperial doctors who saw him couldn't figure out anything, saying that it was the Emperor's trials.
No one had cared to explain what that meant to him, but he had come to understand that his cells seemed to be undergoing some immense change… such that despite downing over 15,000 kcal each day, all it took was just thirty minutes, and he was back to looking like a bag of bones.
To solve this unexplained metabolic problem, he had ordered a stronger nutrient pack, and this was brought for him, each one containing over 20,000 kcal.
However, there were also some changes that he had clearly noticed. One such was the impossible strength that seemed to double each day he woke up.
It also explained why a light tap would break apart his dressing table just like that. Apart from the increased strength, it made sense, considering that his body was constantly building and rebuilding his muscles, so they would naturally be stronger now.
So far, he had yet to receive any memories from this body, so he had to build them up again from scratch.
He had figured out a few things so far: his name was Luthor Kael Bastion in this world, and he was the governor of this planet.
A position that supposedly came with a lot of privileges and, obviously, none of the responsibilities.
Bastion didn't need anyone to tell him that this planet was in ruins, but what could he do, at least for now?
He had barely figured out who was who even in his own home, let alone the bureaucracy of this planet.
"I'll be going back to my room and gathering the remaining books today," Bastion ordered as he stood up.
Quickly opening the cover of the drink, he downed the entire thing in one gulp, and almost immediately, he felt a massive difference.
He felt his mind awaken; a weird surge of strength flowed through his body. It was as though he was supercharged, but he wasn't worried. His metabolism would soon sweep through this by the time he got to his room.
The life of the Imperial Governor was really simple and only involved ensuring that the tithes to the larger Imperium were in order.
To be more specific, the Planetary Governor was a glorified tax collector. Bastion knew this, but then, who didn't want to fulfill their fantasy of ruling a kingdom one day?
However, for him, it wasn't a fantasy. He was actually ruling the planet, and so far, he had come to understand that this world truly wasn't for the weak.
Apart from the noble families, which he strangely expected, there were the imperial factions like the Ecclesiarchy, the Mechanicus, the Adeptus Astra Telepathica, the Adeptus Arbites, etc.
These were the factions that had made him come to fear this world so much. The Mechanicus were the grotesque and inhuman machine-beings he had seen last time.
The Ecclesiarchy was a church that would burn people just because they arrived at church late, and above all, they kept on killing anything that was even the least bit different.