Chapter 108: Be Confident—We Are the Best

Zhou Yun saw the signal flare rise, his body shifting slightly as he vanished among the insect swarm like a lingering afterimage.

In the blink of an eye, he returned to the Cadiaan position.

This Cadiaan position was built against a garbage mountain, its narrow passages filled with all manner of obstacles; countless Cadiaans hid behind them, blasting thousands of tiny Tyranid organisms into shards with concentrated laser fire.

The Lethian snipers, meanwhile, took cover on high ground, attempting to pick off the node creatures buried deep within the insect sea.

Of course, most of the node creatures had already been hunted down by Zhou Yun.

Precisely because of this, the pressure on the Cadiaans had eased considerably.

Most of the time, they merely needed to hold out until Zhou Yun eliminated the node creatures, then mop up the chaotic swarms left behind by their deaths.

Only occasionally did they face the few node creatures that slipped through.

Even so, the Cadiaans still faced insect swarms several times their own number.

Zhou Yun could only protect one position at a time, barely ensuring the eastern flank of the Thirteenth District’s garbage mountain did not fall to the Tyranids.

Conditions in other districts were surely far worse.

“Champion!” A short Lethian ran over and stopped beside Zhou Yun.

Zhou Yun paused, recognizing the Lethian as the gunman who had previously lost to him.

Seeing Zhou Yun’s expression, the Lethian knew he had been recognized.

“Hobien Bai Lu, auxiliary forces of the Lethian Swift-Fingers, your former defeated opponent,” the Lethian introduced himself.

He pointed to the Cadiaans currently engaged in combat and said:

“Look, the Cadiaans are too busy to spare a moment.”

“Meanwhile, you’ve stolen all our Lethian jobs.”

Hobien Bai Lu grinned, waving for Zhou Yun to follow him:

“The General has arrived.”

Zhou Yun nodded slightly and followed Hobien Bai Lu into a small hut half-buried deep within the garbage mountain.

The hut’s location was extremely concealed; had one not known of its existence beforehand, it would have been nearly impossible to find.

The Cadiaan Shock Troops had discovered this hut and turned it into a command post because

it had once been the hideout of Jeanna during her days as the Fervent Thief—she had told Zhou Yun its location during her time in the Underhive.

Zhou Yun squeezed through a hole formed by piled garbage and slipped inside the hut.

General Drostr and Leina stood beside a table inside, upon which lay a map.

“Feeling better?” Zhou Yun asked Leina as he entered.

“Much better, Kemi,” Leina turned her head, her voice slightly garbled.

“Huh?” Zhou Yun blinked at her words.

“Minos, my language functions are still a bit disordered, Mampo,” Leina’s speech was laced with meaningless syllables.

Clearly, she had not yet fully shaken off the effects of the Warp shadow.

She involuntarily slipped in nonsensical sounds while speaking.

“Pfft!” Zhou Yun couldn’t help laughing.

“Bastard Aminos!” Leina, seeing Zhou Yun laugh, became even more incoherent.

Zhou Yun smiled and stopped teasing her, walking over to the table to study the map.

“How many districts do we still control?” he asked General Drostr.

“The Sixth, Seventh, and New Eighth Districts have fallen. The Fifteenth, Twenty-Sixth, and Thirty-Fifth Districts are on the verge of collapse.”

“The Twelfth, Fourteenth, and Thirty-Third Districts are locked in desperate combat and won’t hold much longer.”

“Eight other districts have been deliberately abandoned for tactical reasons.”

General Drostr pointed to the map, drawing a circle around the areas still held by the Cadiaan Shock Troops.

About forty percent of the Underhive had already fallen; the entire Cadiaan defensive line had shrunk rapidly.

The Thirteenth District, where Zhou Yun stood, had become a protruding spearhead.

“You are easily the finest warrior I’ve ever seen—even many Astartes fall far short of you.”

General Drostr couldn’t help praising him:

“You’ve held the Thirteenth District this long.”

The Thirteenth District was crucial in General Drostr and Zhou Yun’s plan.

Because the garbage mountain here directly abutted the Hive’s outskirts, countless Tyranid drop-pods were deployed into the Hive’s suburbs.

As long as the Thirteenth District held, the majority of the insect swarm could not enter the Hive’s interior, greatly reducing pressure on other sectors.

Likewise, the time available for Hive residents to evacuate would be extended, leaving less biomass for the Tyranids.

But

“But it’s time to fall back,” Zhou Yun said, studying the map.

The two neighboring districts—Twelfth and Fourteenth—were also in dire straits.

The Tyranids, of course, recognized the Thirteenth District’s strategic value; since they couldn’t take it, they concentrated their forces that had already breached the Hive to attack the adjacent districts.

If the Twelfth and Fourteenth Districts fell, the Thirteenth would be completely isolated.

It would face assault from both front and rear. Zhou Yun couldn’t split himself in two—he could only defend one front. The Thirteenth District had to be abandoned.

But after abandonment, the Tyranids would gain nothing.

The Thirteenth District consisted of two parts: the garbage mountain and the District of the Dead Mother.

When the retreat came, the Cadiaans would turn the garbage mountain into a minefield.

The Tyranids would pay a heavy price to cross the garbage mountain before reaching the District of the Dead Mother.

What was in the District of the Dead Mother? Answer: nothing.

Due to the Dead Mother’s doctrine, her entire district was among the least densely populated areas of the Hive.

Almost everyone was dead—even the flesh had been stripped clean, leaving only piles of bleached bones.

At Zhou Yun’s request, the Dead Mother’s followers had placed small explosives inside these bones.

When the Tyranids entered, the bones would explode in their faces, ensuring not a single fragment remained for the Tyranids.

The Tyranid swarm was like a pack of starving ghosts who hadn’t eaten in three days and nights.

They endured great effort, crossed the minefield, sacrificed countless units, and finally pried open the Thirteenth District—the prize they had craved so desperately.

Then, they would discover the prize was empty.

Not a scrap of biomass, not even a single bone left for them.

The biomass they had expended received no replenishment; the Tyranids suffered pure loss in the Thirteenth District.

Zhou Yun hoped this would make the Hive Mind begin to hate him.

Most Tyranid units lacked consciousness, emotion, and soul.

Precisely because of this, many overlooked one fact: the Hive Mind was not an absolutely rational entity.

In truth, it possessed emotion and desire.

It was ravenously hungry, greedily insatiable, driven by craving and impulse—it could even act on impulse.

It roared with victory, raged with defeat, seethed at wasted biomass, and grew tormented by wars without end.

The more biomass it invested, the smaller the return, the more frantic it became.

!.read

It would grow more hateful and desperate to eliminate the individual wasting its biomass.

Zhou Yun intended to gradually guide the Hive Mind to hate him, despise him, and perceive him as a grave threat.

And to make it deploy even more units against Zhou Yun.

After all, before he acquired the Gate of Anywhere, he wouldn’t die.

The more units the Hive Mind sent to deal with him, the greater his gains.

And it would also relieve pressure on others—why not?

“Makabaka! Begin the withdrawal.”

Leina’s speech was laced with meaningless syllables:

“I’ll use the Voice of Temptation to direct the evacuation. Aba aba!”

“Unnecessary,” General Drostr rejected Leina’s proposal.

“And if you release the Voice of Temptation now, I fear everyone will burst out laughing,” Zhou Yun patted Leina’s back.

Leina’s face twisted violently.

The three packed up the map and left the hut, heading to the outer positions to direct the Cadiaan Shock Troops’ withdrawal.

The Tyranids certainly wouldn’t miss this chance to attack—but what Zhou Yun truly cared about wasn’t this.

Zhou Yun glanced at the shadows beside him and gave a slight nod.

The Cadiaans knew how to take care of themselves.

Leina soon witnessed the meaning of those words.

In truth, Leina had only ever seen gang warfare, so the scene before her exceeded her understanding.

Among the garbage mountains, the Cadiaans withdrew in perfect order.

Whether gathering supplies, covering the rear, or providing artillery support, every Cadiaan moved with maximum speed.

Each motion seemed etched into their genes; every soldier appeared precisely where he needed to be.

The most dangerous task was covering the main force’s retreat—they had to hold their laser rifles until the final moment before withdrawing from the front line.

Yet these warriors hesitated not, charging toward the advancing insect swarm with cries of “Cadia stands eternal!”

“This is the Cadian Shock Troops, one of the Emperor’s finest human forces,” Zhou Yun said beside Leina.

“One of them?!” General Luo Site grinned, his tone tinged with irritation: “Be confident—we are the best.”

“Really? I support the Cadians, but the Storm Wardens, the Krieg Death Corps, and the Catachan Jungle Fighters each have their own backers.”

Zhou Yun smiled at General Luo Site as his gaze swept the surroundings.

“And the units led by those legendary Commissars—like Commissar Kane’s 597th Valhalla Ice Warriors, or Commissar Yarek’s Armageddon Steel Legion—are also famous.”

“They are indeed excellent, worthy of respect,” General Luo Site laughed heartily. “But none of them are Cadians.”

“What I mean is, if they were Cadians, they’d be even better.”

As he spoke, General Luo Site leaned close to Zhou Yun and whispered quietly: “Should be here soon, right?”

“Almost,” Zhou Yun nodded slightly.

His senses, enhanced by the Emperor’s blessing, faintly sensed an anomaly in the surrounding light and shadow.

The Hive Mind truly couldn’t let go of them three—of Asford’s three current leaders.

A claw tore through the air, lashing toward Zhou Yun’s neck—

Today I drew the 1000-moon-ticket writer reward and won a hundred yuan. I was happy at first, then realized it was just a consolation prize—the minimum was already a hundred yuan.

(End of Chapter)