Chapter 409: The Boss

The boss was a veteran of the Astra Militarum.

The Imperium of Man is a super-interstellar civilization spanning the galaxy, possessing millions, or even tens of millions, of planetary colonies. At the same time, the Imperium faces countless threats within the galaxy: from the Warp, from traitors, from xenos, and even from things like those metallic skeletons they cannot comprehend... In short, the Imperium of Man only faces two situations in the galaxy: somewhere is currently at war, or somewhere is about to be at war...

It is precisely this environment of constant, daily warfare that compels the Imperium of Man to maintain a very, very, very massive standing army, known as the Astra Militarum.

The boss was a glorious member of the Astra Militarum, and an extremely, extremely, extremely... rare retired veteran at that.

Because in the dictionary of the Astra Militarum, the concept of "retirement" simply does not exist. Basically, one either dies in battle during the training phase, or dies in battle during the recruit phase, or if one is extremely lucky, dies in battle during the active service phase. How should one describe it?

In the boss's memory, Astra Militarum veterans like him who could retire due to immense merit were generally referred to by Inquisitors in the Astra Militarum, and even in the Ecclesiarchy, as "The Emperor's Favored"—something akin to a miracle among miracles.

The boss did not feel he was a so-called miracle; he was merely a coward who had survived by standing on the bones of countless comrades. His life had actually stopped during that great battle against the Greenskins. If not for the widows and daughters of his comrades, he would not have had to endure the sight of his comrades standing behind him, snickering, as he continued to live on in a numb state...

Although he did not feel he was a miracle or divinely favored, he considered himself to have faced death countless times. His regiment had fought across four cruel battlefield worlds, and he had dealt with many personnel, including the Adeptus Mechanicus, the Ecclesiarchy, and Inquisitors, and had even fought side-by-side with the Emperor's Angels of Death. So, what hadn't he seen!?

But the scene before him—he swore to his father's grave and to the Golden Throne—he truly, damn it, had never seen!

What was this about catching a shell with one's bare body!? And it was a super-heavy shell from an Imperator-class Baneblade super-heavy tank at that!?

How to put it? This type of super-heavy tank is used as a battlefield fortress, and its main gun's target is not a "single individual," but rather fortresses, large or ultra-large enemy vehicles, or giant beast targets. The power of this thing is enough to destroy a target the size of a city block with a single shot!

Yet Su Xing stood in front of this main gun. That massive shell slammed into his chest, the warhead denting and compressing, and just as it was about to explode, in a time frame where no one could react, Su Xing brought his arms together and caught the entire massive shell directly in his embrace. Furthermore, his arms continued to tremble slightly to a degree invisible to the naked eye, and then this super-giant shell turned into light and heat in his arms, as if he were holding a small star in his embrace...

With a boom, the massive roar accompanied by a shockwave spread to the surroundings. The ground exploded entirely, and the rising dust, accompanied by strong winds, shrouded the entire city block. Everyone was forced to close their eyes, and the strong wind even caused some children and women to roll onto the ground.

But... this isn't right!

The boss opened his mouth wide to protect his hearing and eardrums during the massive sound. He realized something was wrong the very moment the explosion occurred. This was absolutely not the power the Baneblade's main gun should have. Even if he were at the end of the street, when this shell exploded, even if he weren't knocked unconscious, he would inevitably have been blown away by the shockwave released by the explosion. Yet none of this happened; he stood safely in place.

When the dust settled slightly, the boss shouted loudly: "Emma! Emma, where are you!?"

"Uncle Dafiqi, Uncle Dafiqi!"

The boss vaguely heard this voice, and he didn't care about anything ahead, just running into the dust. At this moment, the street was in chaos; hundreds of citizens were wailing, running, and trampling over each other. Many children and women had fallen to the ground, and it looked like mass deaths were about to occur. At the same time, in the distance, the Astra Militarum soldiers around the heavy tank raised their weapons, and the lasguns in their hands began to glow with charging light. Even if these citizens weren't killed by the shell, they would be shot to death by the firearms.

"Roar!"

Just at this moment, a massive roar erupted. In the dust, it was as if a peerless fierce tiger had raised its head and roared. The massive sound suppressed all noise and screaming, and at the same time, it completely suppressed the dust. In the dust, Su Xing stood unscathed beside the shell crater, glaring fiercely at the hundreds of Astra Militarum soldiers in front of him.

The tiger's roar stunned the panicked citizens, leaving them all frozen in place, not daring to move. At the same time, a terrifying, indescribable pressure directly stunned the Astra Militarum soldiers in front. They all fell to the ground, foaming at the mouth. Only an officer standing on the tank's hatch and a man wearing strange headgear felt their bodies go limp, leaning against the tank hatch, though they barely managed not to faint.

"What the hell are you trying to do!?"

Su Xing walked toward the Astra Militarum, and as he walked, he said coldly. This voice was transmitted with absolute clarity to the ears of everyone present.

Veins appeared on the officer's forehead. He looked at Su Xing, who was walking closer and closer, and then looked at the unconscious Astra Militarum soldiers, and immediately roared in a low voice: "Demon! Don't you dare try to blaspheme me!"

As he spoke, he actually forced himself to stand up through sheer willpower. At the same time, he held a military saber in one hand and a laspistol in the other. His arms trembled as he aimed the laspistol at Su Xing.

Beside him, the man wearing the strange headgear trembled all over and said intermittently: "Commissar, he is not... he did not use psychic powers. Just now, that was not psychic power..."

But he didn't expect this to make the officer spit blood directly. He actually turned his muzzle to aim at the man with the strange headgear and roared loudly: "For the Emperor!"

As he spoke, he was about to pull the trigger, but just at this moment, Su Xing stepped forward and rushed up, kicking the upper half of the Baneblade heavy tank. With a bang, the upper carrier of the tank exploded entirely. The massive steel plate layer was kicked off the lower half of the tank, and like a shell, it slammed into a building in the distance, then pierced through the building and flew into the distance.

The officer and the man with the strange headgear rolled onto the ground simultaneously. The man actually started crying loudly while rolling. On the contrary, the officer, even while rolling, plunged his military saber into the ground. As the web of his hand split, he forcibly stopped his rolling and again raised his pistol, intending to shoot the man.

The next second, the entire pistol was gripped by a hand, easily crushing it into fragments, and the officer was lifted up by the other hand. Su Xing, his face full of rage, asked in a low voice: "You have three sentences. Tell me, why attack civilians? Why attack your comrades? Are you rebels or terrorists!?" The officer glared at Su Xing, roaring with his eyes splitting: "Demon! For the Emperor!"

This officer was neither afraid nor begging for mercy, and showed not the slightest bit of cowardice or retreat. He raised the military saber in his other hand and slashed at Su Xing's neck.

With a crisp sound, the military saber snapped, and sparks erupted from Su Xing's neck.

"... You have two sentences left."

Su Xing narrowed his eyes, his heart surging with murderous intent.

But unexpectedly, another voice shouted loudly from a distance: "I think he was shooting at the attached psyker, worried that he had already lost his mind. As for why he wanted to kill us, I guess he felt we had already been corrupted, right? Isn't that so, Commissar Elian?"

The boss held his crudely assembled weapon in one hand and pulled his adopted daughter, Emma, with the other, while constantly running toward Su Xing and the Astra Militarum position.

Su Xing and the officer named Elian looked at the boss simultaneously. Neither side spoke for a few seconds, until Elian said in a hoarse voice: "You are not human... So, what are you?"

Su Xing immediately spat: "You're the one who's not human! What kind of thing are you!?"

Elian looked at Su Xing with a scrutinizing gaze. He stopped speaking. Even though Su Xing had kicked away half of the Baneblade heavy tank, he still showed no fear, only glaring fiercely at him.

This kind of courage, this kind of calm fearlessness, actually made Su Xing refrain from killing him immediately. When the boss ran up close, Elian immediately said: "Dafiqi... Dafiqi the Miracle, war hero, do you recognize this... thing?"

!

Dafiqi, dragging his adopted daughter with one hand, ran up close at this moment and immediately said urgently: "I don't know what he is, and I don't know what orders you received, Commissar, but obviously, no matter what it is, let the attached psyker wake everyone up first! That end of the street seems wrong!"

Elian was silent for a moment, then immediately shouted loudly at the crying man wearing the strange headgear: "I order you in the name of the Emperor, wake them up immediately!"

The man buried his head and cried, not even caring if he would be shot by a lasgun, just screaming while crying: "No, I can't do it. He, he didn't use psychic power. No, I can't sense any psychic power at all. I can't do it... Mother, save me, Mother..."

Elian didn't care that Su Xing was holding his collar, and immediately turned his head to shout at Dafiqi: "The Golden Throne is above, give him a bullet! Do you want to see a mass of flesh and blood explode in front of us!?"

The boss, Dafiqi, let go of his adopted daughter's hand. He actually really picked up the weapon in his hand and aimed it at the crying man, intending to shoot him without a second thought.

The next instant, the weapon in his hand exploded entirely. Su Xing swung his fist from afar, and before he could react, Su Xing suddenly leaped up, kicked off the nearby building, and then pulled with both hands. In the blink of an eye, he jumped down from the high building again, and at the same time, a bird's head fell beside Dafiqi and Elian.

Su Xing landed, holding a monster about two meters tall with a bird's head and a human body. This monster had two bird heads, but one of them had been torn off directly by Su Xing, and the remaining head was looking at Su Xing with a terrified expression.

Su Xing slammed it onto the ground. With a bang, the ground cracked, and half of the bird-man's body was shattered and softened, but it actually hadn't died yet. Dafiqi and Elian were stunned, standing in place, not daring to move.

"I've had enough!"

Su Xing kneaded his fists, making his knuckles crackle. He said in a low voice to the two men and the bird-man: "I'll give each of you three sentences. Explain the cause and effect to me clearly: why kill civilians? Are you rebels or terrorists? Why kill this crying man? What flesh and blood explosion? And also..."

"What kind of thing are you, bird-man?"

Commissar Elian, veteran Dafiqi, and the Great Demon of Change, who was lurking and preparing to scheme, all fell silent at once.

For the first time, humans and a Warp Great Demon had the same thought simultaneously.

It seems... something is wrong??

(End of chapter)