Chapter 107: The Swarm Descends from the Heavens

When General Deroste attempted to establish contact with the Fortress Ring, the Tyranid hive fleet had already completed its encirclement and annihilation of the entire Imperial Navy,

they were tearing open the fleet's steel hulls, devouring the biomass within,

that proud and incompetent Admiral had probably already been buried within a bug's belly.

The Empire had lost all its naval forces within the Hades Sector,

this was not a particularly good start,

but General Deroste and Zhou Yun could only express helplessness regarding this,

General Deroste was theoretically the leader of all the Hades Sector's resistance against the swarm,

the kind personally appointed by the High Lords, no less.

But the bad news was that the Empire had things that worked even better than the High Lords' commands,

around the thirtieth millennium of mankind, just after the Horus Heresy had ended,

a blue-skinned political genius split the human auxiliary forces into the Imperial Navy and the Astra Militarum,

the Navy had almost no ground forces, and the Astra Militarum had almost no space forces,

this political genius felt this was beneficial for preventing rebellions from occurring

from then on, the Empire's human military forces were carved into two pieces this way, unable to command one another.

This was also why General Deroste could only watch helplessly as the Navy blundered.

As for why no one had ever changed this problem

it was simply because that blue-skinned political genius was none other than the Thirteenth Son, Robert Ji Li Man, who had used a roll of toilet paper to dismantle nearly all the loyalist Legions.

No wonder whether in the thirtieth millennium or the fortieth, there was always a group of people who suspected Ji Li Man of being a traitor.

Zhou Yun could not help but complain inwardly.

"When we were on Macragge, Lion once told me—Ji Li Man looks like a traitor, maybe we should kill him."

The winged figure within the Bai Guang at the corner of his eye said in a tone tinged with grievance:

"Ever since I recalled the Second Empire, the Codex Astartes, and the splitting of the human auxiliary forces, I've regretted not listening to Lion."

Just as Zhou Yun and the winged figure within the Bai Guang were denouncing the Thirteenth Son,

General Deroste had also successfully established contact with the garrison on the Fortress Ring.

"The Tyranid bio-fleet has already crushed the Navy."

The Cadian garrison stationed on the Fortress Ring reported to General Deroste:

"We will proceed according to plan."

General Deroste nodded slightly, his voice low: "Cadia stands."

"Cadia stands!"

The garrison on the Fortress Ring rendered an Aquila salute to General Deroste:

"Fall back to defend Cadia for us, General."

With that, the communication was severed amid static.

Zhou Yun silently watched this scene,

he knew what General Deroste's plan was,

the Cadians would hide within the hollows of the asteroids, let the first wave of Tyranid bio-fleets pass, and launch their attack in the middle of them,

this way, they could temporarily cut off the swarm's reinforcements, and the pressure on the sector's defenders would be lessened.

Without a doubt, these Cadians stationed in the asteroid belt were doomed,

but they chose to follow orders,

their deaths would buy more time for the defenders fighting on the surfaces of the various planets within the Hades Sector.

Zhou Yun took out that golden acceleration mainspring from his four-dimensional pocket,

"I'm heading to the Thirteenth District," he said to General Deroste.

Zhou Yun was not particularly skilled at strategic command,

a frontline swarming with bugs that he could sell for money was where he needed to be.

General Deroste nodded slightly: "May the Hua Di Huang protect you."

Zhou Yun nodded lightly, twirled the acceleration mainspring behind his back a few times, then set off,

he vanished from the spot in a blur.

From the hazy yellow sky came a piercing shriek, shrill enough to deafen,

immediately after, Hoban Bai Lu Di, a Ratling sniper perched atop the garbage mountain, listened to the sound,

his sharp eyes then saw massive fireballs falling from the sky, slamming into the earth like meteors,

he knew those were Tyranid bio-organism spore drop pods,

the interception fire net formed by the Icarus anti-air guns and Hydra anti-air tanks did not open fire on these spore drop pods,

this was because under the swarm's dense assault, the Cadian shock troops' ammunition was stretched thin and could not be wasted on these spore drop pods.

firepower had to be used to protect the Hive Top evacuation points and clear out Tyranid flying units.

Hoban Bai Lu Di licked his dry lips, feeling a bit nervous, and could not help but reach for his waist, wanting to taste what the General's treasured liquor was like————

but he grasped at empty air; Hoban Bai Lu Di then recalled that he had lost the flask he had stolen from General Deroste,

lost to that Ashford man called Zhou Yun. Amazing, that man. Our champion.

Hoban Bai Lu Di recalled the man's godlike marksmanship and could not help but sigh in admiration.

But soon, a beast-like roar interrupted his thoughts.

In the distance, where the drop pods had landed, a tide was surging forth,

it was a flood composed of white, flesh-colored, and purple; Hoban Bai Lu Di's keen eyes quickly discerned

That was a Tyranid swarm!

Gaunts, Warriors, and Rippers gathered together, surging mightily toward Fordia City, as if to devour the entire hive whole.

The position currently held by the Cadia Assault Force was the junk heap in the Thirteenth District, the location closest to the hive outskirts.

Just then, the sound of artillery rang in Hoban Whitewood's ears,

groups of winged Tyranid creatures emerged from the clouds, wielding living weapons and aiming at the Cadia soldiers on the ground,

those were Tyranid Gargoyles, relatively low-tier Tyranid aerial units,

Hoban Whitewood raised the sniper rifle's laser-gun variant in his hands and aimed at one of them——————

A searing laser fired out, one Gargoyle dropped on cue, and the gaze of the remaining Tyranid creatures was also drawn to Hoban Whitewood atop the junk heap,

then the roar of artillery howled out,

the Icarus anti-aircraft guns and Hydra anti-aircraft tanks opened fire, and they began intercepting the Tyranid aerial units trying to descend from the sky.

Hoban Whitewood lit an lho-stick and tucked it in his mouth, slid down from the junk heap, and immediately began relocating.

By the time he had climbed to the top of another junk heap, the Cadia soldiers who had established a defensive line between the junk heaps had already collided with the Tyranid hive creatures,

Hoban Whitewood was able to see clearly the postures of those hive creatures.

Those creatures were roughly half a person's height, with long tails, bulbous heads, mouths full of sharp teeth, and hard carapaces covering their backs,

some gripped living, writhing firearms, while others bore scythe-like claws,

those with guns were Gaunts, those with blades were Warriors — both were relatively low-tier Tyranid units.

Hoban Whitewood recalled the contents of that notebook.

! 。Read

They hissed, roared, and charged at the Cadia soldiers.

Then, the pre-laid minefield did its work; searing firelight erupted on the spot, transforming into a wall of fire and smoke,

chunks of flesh and carapace flew everywhere, and the first wave of Tyranid swarms trying to breach the defensive line was blown skyward,

but there were simply too many of them, and more swarms surged toward the Cadia positions,

and the minefield had already been completely spent.

The Cadia warriors squeezed their triggers; lasers howled through the air, and the heads of the Tyranid creatures struck by the lasers burst on cue, dissolving into thick paste,

the smaller swarms called Rippers pounced on the corpses of their own kind, devouring their flesh and blood,

According to the contents of that notebook, Hoban Whitewood knew — they were reclaiming biomass.

The Cadia warriors began to engage the vast, smoke-like sea of Tyranid swarms,

Hoban Whitewood, however, seemed rather unhurried; he knew his mission was not to deal with these small fry.

As an excellent sniper, what he had to deal with was —

This Lestorian found his target amid the sea of bugs,

a Tyranid unit roughly nearly three meters tall, with four slender yet strong arms, standing on two legs amid the sea of bugs,

a Tyranid Warrior.

An important synapse creature, it was responsible for connecting nearby lower-tier Tyranid creatures to the Hive Mind.

Hoban Whitewood's expression grew slightly more serious,

because those Tyranid Warriors were actually operating in a pack.

Two Tyranid Warriors — one equipped with a sharp bio-blade, the other equipped with two bio-pistols,

they in turn guarded a larger, more powerfully built Tyranid Warrior, whose hands carried a massive living bio-gun that required both hands to hold.

The bio-great-gun in that Tyranid Warrior's hands writhed violently, and a ball of searing acid shot out from it, firing toward the Cadia Assault Force.

"Yaaaaaaaah!!!"

A sizzling burning sound rang out; several Cadia warriors failed to dodge in time and were burned down to bare white bones.

Some sweat trickled down Hoban Whitewood's forehead,

the three Tyranid Warriors stood amid the encirclement of the bug-sea,

quite far from Hoban Whitewood,

once he fired he would inevitably be exposed; he had to be fast, accurate, and fire three shots in succession, killing all three Tyranid Warriors in one go — only this way could a portion of the swarm's link to the Hive Mind be severed.

Hoban Whitewood squeezed the trigger.

A searing laser stream shot out in the blink of an eye,

yet the Tyranid Warrior wielding the sharp living bio-blade suddenly twisted its body and swung the crimson bio-blade in its hands,

Slicing!

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

Blown it! Hoban Whitewood was struck as if by lightning.

Yet what happened next exceeded Hoban Whitewood's understanding,

the three Tyranid Warriors suddenly exploded, splattering into clumps of rotting flesh,

as if suddenly smashed by a hundred-ton hammer, as if weighed down by a heavy tank, as if struck by a high-explosive shell.

With the death of the synapse creatures, the surrounding Tyranid swarms instantly fell into chaos,

"Hoban." The comms crackled in Hoban Whitewood's ear: "Did you do something? Does your sniper rifle really have that much firepower?"

"No!" Hoban Whitewood took a deep breath, staring fixedly at the spot where the Tyranid Warriors had just burst apart.

Even his sharp Lestrillian eyes only caught a single afterimage,

but an afterimage alone was enough; Hoban Whitewood saw that afterimage moving through the swarm,

each time it flashed past, a group of Tyranid creatures would burst apart as if bombed by heavy artillery,

then, that figure would briefly stop, swiftly kick aside the Rippers swarming in, and stuff the corpses of those dead Tyranid creatures into who-knows-where.

"It's the Champion!"

Hobian Bai Lu finally saw clearly who it was.

Zhou Yun! That Asfordian whose spear technique was like a god's!

Hobian Bai Lu screamed into the comms:

"The Champion is with us!!!"

(End of this chapter)