Chapter 106: The Swarm Descends from Heaven

When General Drost attempted to establish contact with the Fortress-Belt, the Tyranid Hive Fleet had already annihilated the entire Imperial Navy.

They were tearing open the fleet’s steel hulls and consuming the biomass within.

That proud and incompetent Admiral was likely already consumed by the hive beasts.

The Empire had lost all its naval forces within the Acheron System.

It was not a promising start.

But both General Drost and Zhou Yun could only stand helplessly.

General Drost was, in theory, the supreme commander of all Acheron System defenses against the hive swarm.

He had even been formally appointed by the High Lords.

But the bad news was, the Empire had some things more powerful than the High Lords’ orders.

Around the thirtieth millennium, shortly after the Horus Heresy ended,

a blue political genius had dismantled the Imperial Auxilia into the Imperial Navy and the Imperial Guard.

The Navy had almost no ground forces; the Guard had almost no space forces.

The political genius believed this division would prevent rebellion.

Since then, the Empire’s mortal military forces had been split into two factions, each unable to command the other.

That was why General Drost could only watch helplessly as the Navy made fools of itself.

As for why no one had ever fixed this problem,

it was simply because that blue political genius was Roboute Guilliman—the Thirteenth Son—who had used a roll of toilet paper to dismantle nearly every Loyalist Legion.

No wonder, even in the thirtieth and fortieth millennia, there were always those who suspected Guilliman was a traitor.

Zhou Yun couldn’t help muttering inwardly.

“When we were on Macragge, Leman once told me: Guilliman looks like a traitor. We should’ve killed him.”

The winged figure in Bai Guang’s corner spoke with a tone of regret:

“Ever since I remembered the Second Empire, the Codex Astartes, and the dismantling of the Auxilia, I’ve regretted not listening to Leman.”

As Zhou Yun and the winged figure in Bai Guang condemned the Thirteenth Son,

General Drost successfully established contact with the garrison on the Fortress-Belt.

“The Tyranid bio-fleet has crushed the Navy,”

the Cadian garrison on the Fortress-Belt told General Drost.

“We will follow the plan.”

General Drost gave a slight nod and said in a low voice: “Cadia stands.”

“Cadia stands!”

The garrison on the Fortress-Belt saluted General Drost with the Eagle Salute:

“Return to Cadia for us, General.”

With that, the comm link was severed amid static.

Zhou Yun watched silently.

He knew what General Drost’s plan was.

The Cadians would hide among the hollows of asteroids, let the first wave of Tyranid bio-ships pass through, then strike at their midsection.

This would temporarily sever the hive swarm’s reinforcements and reduce pressure on defenders across the system.

There was no doubt the Cadians stationed in the asteroid belt would die.

But they chose to obey orders.

Their deaths would buy more time for defenders fighting on the planetary surfaces of the Acheron System.

Zhou Yun pulled the golden acceleration spring from his fourth-dimensional pocket.

“I’m going to Sector Thirteen,” he told General Drost.

Zhou Yun was not skilled in strategic command.

He needed to be where the frontlines teemed with hives—places where he could make money.

General Drost gave a slight nod: “May the Emperor protect you.”

Zhou Yun nodded lightly, spun the acceleration spring behind him several times, then stepped forward.

He vanished in a blur.

A piercing scream echoed through the hazy yellow sky.

On top of the garbage heap, the Lethian marksman Hobien Bai Lu heard it.

His sharp eyes saw massive fireballs descending from the heavens, like meteors crashing to earth.

He knew—they were Tyranid spore capsules.

The Icarus anti-air cannons and Hydra anti-air tanks did not fire upon them.

Because under the hive swarm’s overwhelming assault, Cadian Assault troops were running dangerously low on ammunition—they couldn’t waste it on spore capsules.

Firepower must be reserved for protecting evacuation points at the top-nests and clearing Tyranid flyers.

Hobien Bai Lu licked his dry lips, feeling tense. He reached instinctively for his waist, wanting to taste the General’s hidden liquor—

But his hand met empty air. Hobien Bai Lu remembered—he’d lost the flask he stole from General Drost.

Lost it to that Asfordian, Zhou Yun. Amazing. That man. Our champion.

Hobien Bai Lu recalled the man’s godlike marksmanship and couldn’t help admiring him inwardly.

But soon, bestial roars shattered his thoughts.

In the distance, where the spore capsules had landed, a tide was surging forward.

A flood of white, flesh-toned, and purple forms—Hobien Bai Lu’s keen eyes quickly identified them:

A Tyranid swarm!

Gunners, Scythes, and Rippers surged together, streaming toward Vardia City, as if to devour the entire hive-metropolis whole.

The Cadian Assault troops’ current position was the garbage heap in Sector Thirteen—the closest point to the hive-suburbs.

At that moment, artillery fire erupted beside Hobien Bai Lu’s ears.

Swarms of winged Tyranids emerged from the clouds, wielding living weapons and aiming at the Cadian soldiers below.

They were Tyranid Gargoyles—low-tier Tyranid aerial units.

Hobien Bai Lu raised his sniper rifle variant, a laser carbine, and aimed at one of them.

A searing laser shot fired— one Gargoyle dropped. The other Tyranids turned their gaze toward Hobien Bai Lu atop the garbage heap.

Then, artillery roared.

The Icarus cannons and Hydra tanks opened fire, intercepting the descending Tyranid flyers.

Hobien Bai Lu lit a lho cigarette, placed it between his lips, slid down the garbage heap, and immediately moved position.

By the time he climbed to the top of another heap, the Cadians had already formed a line between the heaps and clashed with the Tyranid hive beasts.

Hobien Bai Lu could now clearly see the hive beasts’ forms.

They stood about half a human’s height, with long tails, bulbous heads, and mouths full of sharp teeth. Their backs were armored in hardened chitin.

Some wielded living, writhing guns; others bore scythe-like claws.

The gun-wielders were Gunners; the claw-wielders were Scythes—both low-tier Tyranid units.

Hobien Bai Lu recalled the contents of that notebook.

!. Read

They roared, bellowed, and charged at the Cadians.

Then, the pre-planted minefields activated. Blazing fire erupted, forming a wall of flame and smoke.

Shreds of flesh and chitin flew everywhere. The first wave of Tyranids attempting to breach the line were blown sky-high.

But there were too many. More swarms surged toward the Cadian positions.

The minefields were exhausted.

Cadian warriors pulled triggers. Lasers screamed through the air. Tyranids struck by them exploded into thick pulp.

The smaller Tyranids called Rippers rushed toward their fallen kin, devouring their flesh.

According to the notebook, Hobien Bai Lu knew—they were recycling biomass.

Cadian warriors now fought against the endless Tyranid swarm.

Hobien Bai Lu remained calm—he knew his task was not to deal with these vermin.

As an elite sniper, his target was:

The Lestrian found his target amid the sea of hives.

A Tyranid unit nearly three meters tall, standing on two legs, with four slender yet powerful arms.

Tyranid Warrior.

A critical node organism—it connected nearby lower-tier Tyranids to the Hive Mind.

Hobien Bai Lu’s expression grew slightly more serious.

Because that Tyranid Warrior was moving in a group.

Two Tyranid Warriors—one wielding a massive biological blade, the other two biological pistols—

guarded a larger, more robust Tyranid Warrior who carried a colossal living bio-gun, requiring both hands to wield.

The bio-gun in that Warrior’s hands writhed violently, spewing a searing acid projectile toward the Cadian Assault troops.

“Yaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!”

A horrific sizzling sound rose—several Cadian warriors, unable to dodge, were reduced to charred white bones.

Hobi'en Bai Lu's forehead dripped with sweat.

The three Tyranid Warriors stood surrounded by the swarm.

They were far from Hobi'en Bai Lu.

If he fired, he would inevitably expose himself—he had to be fast, precise, and fire three shots in rapid succession, killing all three Tyranid Warriors at once; only then could he sever part of the swarm’s link to the Hive Mind.

Hobi'en Bai Lu pulled the trigger.

A searing beam of laser shot out in an instant.

But the Tyranid Warrior wielding the sharp living great blade suddenly twisted its body, swinging its crimson biological great blade.

Ssschhh!

The blade burned a hole—but not a single Tyranid Warrior was harmed.

Missed! Hobi'en Bai Lu was struck as if by lightning.

Yet what happened next surpassed Hobi'en Bai Lu’s understanding.

The three Tyranid Warriors suddenly exploded, bursting into clumps of rotting flesh that sprayed outward.

As if crushed by a hundred-ton hammer, as if run over by a heavy tank, as if struck by a high-explosive shell.

With the death of the node creature, the surrounding Tyranid swarm plunged into chaos.

“Hobi'en,” a voice crackled in Hobi'en Bai Lu’s ear: “Did you do that? Is your sniper rifle that powerful?”

“No!” Hobi'en Bai Lu drew a deep breath, staring intently at the spot where the Tyranid Warriors had just exploded.

His sharp Laitrin eyes caught only a fleeting afterimage.

But even that afterimage was enough—Hobi'en Bai Lu saw the shadow moving through the swarm.

Each time it flashed past, a group of Tyranid creatures exploded as if hit by heavy artillery.

Then, the figure would pause briefly, kick away the approaching Ripper Worms with a swift kick, and shove the corpses of the dead Tyranids into some unknown location.

“It’s the Champion!”

Hobi'en Bai Lu finally recognized who it was.

Zhou Yun! That Asfordian with godlike marksmanship!

Hobi'en Bai Lu screamed into the comm:

“The Champion is with us!!!”

(End of Chapter)