Chapter 120: Chicken Meatballs, Angel Sauce, Please Descend to All Caves, Primarchs

Mephiston stood on the bridge of the Vengeance Blade.

Psykers, navigators, and astropaths stood beside him, their potent psychic powers stirring waves in the Empyrean, igniting a flicker of light in the endless, profound darkness.

At this point, one would expect daemons from the Warp to have already fixated on the Vengeance Blade, attempting to tear through its Gellar Field and surge into the ship’s hull with Warp-tides.

But nothing came—only the deepest, most absolute darkness surrounded the Vengeance Blade.

This darkness did not mean the Warp’s malice had diminished; rather, it radiated hunger, greed, and insatiable craving that chilled the soul.

It was a ravenous hunger devoid of joy, devoid of purpose—pure, unrelenting consumption.

Even the blasphemous entities of the Warp seemed to fear this darkness and recoiled from it.

Mephiston channeled all his psychic energy, shaping his will into a blade to carve a path through the darkness for the Vengeance Blade.

This also meant his will was exposed to that profound darkness.

He could not escape the sensation of hungry, malevolent, restless gazes upon him.

Yet strangely, most of those gazes were not fixed on him.

They were fixed elsewhere. Could it be that something within the Stygian System drew the Hive Mind’s attention more than this ship full of Blood Angels?

Mephiston was puzzled.

But while the Hive Mind’s focus was elsewhere, he seized the chance to extend his will deeper into the Stygian System.

The Hive Mind writhed its tendrils, slowly lapping at the planet named Asi.

Yet its attention diverted slightly from feeding, turning toward the battlefield.

It hatched a Hive Tyrant to confront its rival.

The Hive Tyrant’s sword swings were too fast for the Cadians to perceive.

In the blink of an eye, several Ogryns were cleaved in two by the Tyrant’s colossal biological bone-sword.

The already crimson blade now dripped with glistening blood.

The Cadian warriors raised their lasguns and unleashed torrents of laser fire at the Hive Tyrant.

But the Tyrant moved faster than their trigger fingers could pull.

Its other hand whipped a bio-electric tendril-lash that slammed into the nearest Cadian, reducing him to a pulped mass.

More deadly than visible weapons were the invisible ones.

A crimson cloud of spores hovered over the battlefield—each spore a Tyranid organism smaller than a mite.

They corroded the Astra Militarum’s armor, devoured the Cadians’ flesh, and raised horrifying blisters on their skin from toxin and acid.

Merely by sight, one could feel the Cadians’ agony.

Yet they did not retreat—the line was shattered, but still held.

But the Tyrant showed no interest in wasting energy on them; its guards surged forward.

The Cadians screamed as they clashed with the Tyrant’s guards.

It was said these armored beasts were forged by the Tyranid Hive Mind using Astartes gene-sequence data.

Zhou Yun had written this in his book, “Tyranid Biology for Ogryns,” and every Cadian here knew it.

Their opponent was a terrifying xenos designed to match the Astartes—a foe on par with the Death Angels.

Yet unmodified Cadians had somehow halted the charging Tyrant’s guards.

Toxic spores had nearly corroded their eyes blind.

Suddenly, a wind—no, a powerful psychic force—swept through, scattering the toxic spore clouds.

Zhou Yun stood before the Tyranid Hive Tyrant, wearing a psionic cap, psionic gloves, a reflective cape wrapped around his arms, and a pale red bowtie around his neck.

“Roar!” A beast’s low growl echoed.

The Tyranid Hive Tyrant reared on its curled hind legs, locking its gaze on Zhou Yun.

Those eyes held no bestial ferocity—only a cruel, ancient, formidable intelligence.

Each Hive Tyrant is immortal; its consciousness is uploaded repeatedly to the Hive Mind, reloaded into new flesh, and cast back onto the battlefield.

Each Hive Tyrant is an unrivaled master of combat, the most seasoned commander and warlord.

Zhou Yun exhaled slowly.

The Hive Tyrant lowered its body, its chitinous muscle fibers tightening into taut filaments.

Ssssshhhh!

The bone-sword, wrapped in an eerie energy field, sliced through the air.

Even with his Acceleration Gear-enhanced reflexes, Zhou Yun could barely make out a blur hurtling toward him.

His figure vanished instantly from his spot.

Years of using the psionic cap had made his teleportation nearly instinctive.

In a blink, he reappeared behind the Hive Tyrant, his psionic-gloved fist swinging down.

The Hive Tyrant remained calm—its back erupted with thick clouds of spores.

This was its prepared countermeasure.

The swarm constantly observed and learned.

They had long identified Zhou Yun’s greatest weakness: his fragile flesh.

No matter how many bizarre technologies he wielded, how much his reflexes were enhanced, how miraculous his marksmanship,

Zhou Yun’s body remained humanly frail—his physical strength might not surpass even some Cadian warriors.

These nearly unstoppable bio-spore clouds were his perfect enemy.

Even that strange red cape could only reflect the frontmost layer of spores.

Ssssshhhh!

A thin card shot through the corrosive spore cloud, piercing the Hive Tyrant’s skull-shell with unyielding force.

It was a Yugao letter bearing a thief’s insignia and a line of text.

A tall, slender figure over two meters high leapt from the spore cloud and landed on rubble near the Hive Tyrant.

He wore a black top hat, a long black velvet cloak, a suit, a monocle, a refined mustache, and his entire body was sheathed in metallic chitin.

Strangely, despite emerging from spores capable of corroding ceramite power armor, his body bore not a single trace of decay.

“Notice: Hive Tyrant! Your endless resurrection ends now!”

“I, the Phantom Thief Dora DX, shall steal your life.”

A low mechanical voice issued from his throat.

Under the metallic chitin, Zhou Yun’s lips twitched awkwardly—if not for the item’s preset design, he’d never utter such cringeworthy lines. [Item Name: Phantom Thief DX Suit]

[Origin: 22nd Century Earth—Secret Gadget Museum]

[Manufactured: 271.m3]

[Function: Designed and crafted by Kurt and Pipra, grandsons of Hartmann, the father of the Door and Secret Gadgets. Made of Pipra Metal instead of standard full-metal. Appears as a small bowtie; when activated, transforms into a full-body Phantom Thief Suit, significantly enhancing the user’s physical attributes and granting high-level protection, capable of engaging massive war machines.]

[Value: 2,500,000 credits]

The 2.5-million-credit item’s effect was simple and clear:

It was equivalent to a power armor forged with 22nd-century technology and materials—its technical sophistication and performance far surpassed 40k-era power armor, enhancing Zhou Yun’s capabilities and defenses comprehensively.

Combined with the psionic gloves and Acceleration Gear’s boosts,

Zhou Yun’s form became a blur, moving nearly as fast as teleportation.

The Hive Tyrant raised its bone-sword in defense.

But this time, Zhou Yun saw it clearly.

He leapt lightly onto the bone-sword—the energy field around it sparked against the Phantom Thief DX Suit.

But the suit’s metallic components were forged entirely from Pipra Metal, a 22nd-century alloy of terrifying strength.

Zhou Yun’s fist became a blur as it swung toward the Hive Tyrant’s head.

The Tyrant twisted its body, blocking the blow with chitinous plating beside its skull.

Boom!!!!

The strength of Pipra Metal, amplified by the psionic gloves and Phantom Thief DX Suit, sent the Hive Tyrant flying backward in a blur.

Smoke billowed, but the Hive Tyrant surged forward as a massive shadow, its whip-lash crackling with electricity toward Zhou Yun.

Zhou Yun reached out and seized the tendril-whip in his hand.

Simultaneously, the Tyrant’s bone-sword swung down toward Zhou Yun’s skull.

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Zhou Yun twisted his wrist, blocking the blow with his heavy metal wristguards.

He noticed his previous punch had shattered half the Tyrant’s shoulder chitin, exposing the muscle beneath.

Zhou Yun shifted his legs lightly—the Phantom Thief DX Suit instantly made his movements light and powerful, and he leapt aside in a blink.

The Tyrant’s sword plunged into the ground, energy field erupting in crackling explosions.

Zhou Yun prepared to strike—but suddenly, a frantic cacophony erupted in his mind, as if millions of insects screeched inside his skull.

But the winged figure within Bai Guang appeared instantly, suppressing the deafening insect chorus.

Zhou Yun then noticed: the Brain-Spore had advanced close to the Cadian line.

All of Xiang Leina’s illegal psykers had fallen; only she remained, kneeling on one knee, gritting her teeth to resist the Brain-Spore’s psychic assault.

“It’s time, Zhou Yun!” The winged figure in Bai Guang spoke.

Zhou Yun sharply retreated from the Tyrant and shouted toward the Cadian warriors and Battle Sisters praying beneath the statue of Saint Guilliman:

“Pray!”

The Battle Sisters and Cadians, upon receiving Zhou Yun’s command, raised their heads and roared in unison.

"Power Fist! Holy Blood Clan! Because the traitors stirred chaos in the Central Plains!"

"Honor the Four-Armed! Summon Tyran! Reject the Imperial Faith, forget the Emperor!"

"Humans lack morality! Insects creep with deceit! Tyrants are all born of mother and child!"

"If you don’t believe it! Look closely! The swarm’s eyes all glow red!"

"Heaven rains no more! Earth dries and cracks! All because insect ships halt the sky!"

"Holy Blood rages! Angels rage! Together from Baer, purge the insects!"

"Raise yellow scrolls! Burn incense! Summon the Primarchs from every cave!"

"Primarchs appear! Angels manifest! Possess human bodies to spread the Dao!"

"No guns needed! Only prayer! To destroy the insect horde is no hardship!"

"Chicken meatballs! Angel sauce! Emergency damage: Rekindle the Vengeful Soul!"

"Great demons! Hearts tremble! The Emperor of the Second Empire appears!"

"The Devourer! Utterly eradicated! Saint Guilliman purifies the galaxy!"

"Huh???" A winged figure in white light sprouted a string of golden question marks above its head.

(End of Chapter)