Chapter 75: Genestealer (seeking first subscription)

The twisted and blasphemous illusion did not last long.

As if there was a cold sun, driving away all those terrible illusions and harsh screams.

Alvin, who woke up suddenly, was like being strangled by the throat. Although his lungs were expanding with all his might, no air poured in. The feeling of suffocation was as if he was gripped by an invisible big hand.

Breathe!

Breathe!

Finally, Alvin broke free from that restraint.

"Huff... huff..."

He gasped for air.

Although he had escaped the influence of the illusion, the fear remaining in his body did not dissipate in the slightest, but became even more intense.

"What was that?!"

Struggling to calm his fear, Alvin recalled the scene he had just witnessed and still felt a lingering dread: "Twisted flesh constructs, shadows of the Warp, and... that cold sun!"

From that twisted, blasphemous construct, one could feel the surging malice flowing out with just a single glance, as if echoing with a will originating from the Empyrean.

If... it hadn't been for that cold sun, he might have been completely drowned by the malice of the Warp!

"Could it really be the Emperor manifesting?!"

Alvin shrank his neck, inexplicably feeling a bit afraid.

It is said that the Emperor's projection in the Warp is a cold sun, but... how could he be sure that the thing was really the 'Emperor' and not something else?

Even if there was a ninety-nine percent chance that it was truly the Emperor protecting him, who would dare to bet on that one percent chance that the thing... wasn't the Master of Deceit?

"No, I should try not to use psychic powers in the Warhammer universe from now on... it's too dangerous!"

This sudden surge of the Warp made Alvin realize that psychic power is by no means an omnipotent force; on the contrary, every time he draws from the Warp, it is accompanied by huge risks!

The essence of a psyker is to draw power from the Warp.

But when using it, it is accompanied by many uncontrollable risks and intense side effects.

Among them, the most typical examples are: Perils of the Warp, stench of the ether, memory worms, breath extraction, daemon masks, etc., and severe backlash can lead to death!

Therefore, Alvin speculated that the suffocation he just experienced should belong to 'breath extraction' among them.

As for the scene he saw... he could not be sure whether it was a hallucination caused by side effects.

His gaze turned back to the Ironstone Town mine.

There were no twisted flesh constructs, nor were there any signs of corruption; it was still spewing rolling black smoke, as if everything he had just seen was merely a product of hallucination.

"Was that really... a hallucination?"

Alvin couldn't help but feel suspicious; the scene he saw was simply too real.

So much so that... it was hard to treat it as a hallucination.

Twisted and corrupted flesh constructs, the surging malice originating from the Warp, and that cold sun—all these signs seemed to be warning him that the factory was extremely dangerous!

Once he stepped inside, he might lose his life there.

However, leaving now would certainly save his life, but can one hide from the inevitable forever?

Alvin knew very well that running away would not solve the problem.

Once the cult developed to a certain scale and the entire hive city fell, where could he hide then?

"I'll risk it! It's just one life, isn't it?!"

His experiences in the underhive ignited Alvin's ferocity. He glared viciously at the factory and cursed, "I don't believe it; could there really be a Daemon Prince hiding inside?"

With the Navigator system, if he couldn't win, couldn't he at least run away?

"Switch to optical camouflage stealth mode!"

Alvin adjusted the settings, and the Mark 5 outer armor refracted light, as if he had suddenly vanished.

Having made full preparations, he no longer hesitated and flew directly toward the Ironstone Town factory, deliberately hiding his energy vents as he approached.

Looking at the approaching mine, Alvin slowly descended and observed the abyss in front of the Ironstone Town bridge: "The gate is already closed; it seems I'll have to find another way in."

The main gate leading to the interior of the mine was completely sealed.

Flying over from above would be too dangerous; even with the armor's stealth mode, he might still be discovered.

"Can you scan for a route inside?"

He pinned his hopes on the system built into the armor.

Although the AI had been removed, the armor's functions were still not to be underestimated; it immediately began scanning the mine to build a 3D model.

Soon, a miniature projection of the mine appeared on his visor's display, and Alvin indeed found an extremely hidden path.

"It's right under the abyss!"

Since he had found the entrance, Alvin did not hesitate.

He maneuvered the armor to fly straight into the abyss under the bridge. During the descent, he discovered that there were traces of mining left everywhere; clearly, more than fifty years ago, this was the vein mined by Ironstone Town.

Upon reaching the deepest part of the valley floor, Alvin confirmed his suspicions.

The exposed mineral crystals in the surrounding rock layers and the large mining equipment that had been abandoned for a long time and rusted under the erosion of wind and sand all confirmed his guess.

"According to the model... this path is here?"

Alvin glanced at the 3D model and found the route; it was the pipe specifically used by the mine to dump waste and slag before it was abandoned.

Following this pipe, he could go directly to the core area inside the mine.

Alvin took the deflection field pendant gifted by the Aluman god-servant out of his personal space and embedded it into the armor's core.

"Deflection field generator detected!"

"Automatic charging mode enabled!"

"Defense system officially taken over!"

"Detection mode activated!"

"Armor entering full power mode!"

Looking at the pop-up prompts, Alvin sighed again; as expected of a Stark product, it was simply too thoughtful!

Who knew what demons and ghosts were inside?

Alvin thought it over and pulled out his plasma gun, which made him feel a little more at ease. He sneered, "I want to see how many plasma shots a psyker can take!"

Loyal plasma never overheats!

And he, Alvin Valerius, the Emperor's most loyal subject, would certainly not overheat!

Having made all preparations, Alvin carefully explored deeper along the pipe. In night-vision mode, although it was dark inside, he could still see everything clearly!

The abandoned pipe was filled with miscellaneous ore slag, but that didn't stop Alvin; with the help of the armor, he could easily climb over it.

"Almost there..."

According to the 3D model, he was not far from the exit.

Alvin raised his vigilance to the highest level, disengaged the safety on his plasma gun in advance, slowed his pace, and groped deeper bit by bit.

But, right at the corner ahead!

On the armor's display interface, a highly twisted and weird statue suddenly appeared. It was several meters tall, had four jointed arms, and a ferocious face that didn't look human, yet it was in a compassionate pose, as if praying!

"The Emperor on the Throne, what the hell is this blasphemous thing?"

Alvin stared at the weird statue, stunned, and it took him a full half-minute to recover.

"Large amount of suspected biological remains detected!"

At this moment, the armor gave a prompt. Alvin looked in the direction indicated in astonishment, only to see that in a huge cavern mechanically excavated next to the weird statue, it was packed with... corpses!

But, what was terrifying was.

Those corpses abandoned in the cavern had all been burned by flames, and their bones showed signs of charring.

"Scan their cause of death and time of death." Alvin ordered the armor system.

"Suspected death by high-intensity flame; time of death... fifty years ago!"

The system's voice caused a huge shock in Alvin's heart:

"Could these be the residents of Ironstone Town who were massacred by the Planetary Defense Force fifty years ago?!"

Suddenly.

The armor system pieced together the dead humans into a graphic model and presented it to Alvin: "Preliminary inference: this organism does not match human genes; it is suspected to be some kind of arthropod life form!"

Looking at the simulated humanoid creature in the image, which actually had multiple arms and a face and skull that were completely twisted, Alvin exclaimed in shock!

"Genestealer?!"