Chapter 17: How come I've never heard of this regiment?

The command center was dead silent.

This shock, which came from nowhere, voiced what everyone was thinking.

Facing the Green Skins, the humans caught off guard almost instantly lost the vast lands outside Nest City, and also abandoned millions of soldiers.

Before the Astartes arrived to reinforce them, they had almost accepted the fact that the Green Skins could not be wiped out in field combat.

But just when everyone had resigned themselves, not only did a human regiment remain active in the wilderness, it also cut through a sand sea teeming with Green Skins!

How could this news not make the Star Realm Army, who witnessed all this, gasp in horror?

The crowd said nothing, merely fixing their gaze on the advancing regiment.

Only when hurried footsteps sounded from outside the command center did the crowd snap back to attention.

The gate swung open, and the old general strode into the command center.

All around were Star Realm Army soldiers who hadn't made it back to their posts, but facing their panicked faces, the old general ignored these deserters and instead fixed his eyes on the display.

Seeing that a unit had actually cut through the sand sea, the old general could no longer stay calm; he drew a deep breath and stood frozen in place.

An officer came over holding a freshly compiled report on that unit, but before he could salute, the old general was already staring at the screen and reading out the number:

"101."

The officer froze, while the old general looked at the military flag still protected in the ranks, his face only showing silence.

Because the old general knew, this unit not only cut through the Green Skin sand sea, but also broke through the rebel lines under friendly fire, alone clearing an entire Nest City of rebels.

Each of these feats alone would be enough to make even the Star Realm Army collapse, yet they didn't break the enemy—instead they made it stronger.

This time, the old general's eyes were no longer coldly indifferent to money; he gazed at this legendary unit and at Xisi at the front, finally bringing a hint of respect.

But right after that respect, the old general suddenly glanced to the side, where a military order bearing the highest authority of the Star Region Military Affairs Department lay placed at the top.

Seeing the old general look at that order, everyone in the command center stiffened.

"How are the preparations for the support unit the Astartes monk needs?"

Everyone in the command center lowered their heads slightly, only the officer responsible for this order forced himself to speak:

"Still being drafted, estimated......"

The old general raised his hand:

"Stop the drafting; we can't break through the alien encirclement."

The officer stopped, and then his eyes cautiously looked toward the old general.

Then, following the old general's gaze, they looked at the screen!

"Let the 101 Regiment go to support...... the Astartes."

Although it had been expected, when the old general's order was issued, the crowd still let out a quiet sigh in their hearts.

After all, fighting alongside the Astartes is not only an honor, but also a journey almost certain to end in death.

The officers dared not show sympathy for Xisi's 101 Regiment; they immediately got busy and began drafting, according to procedure, the military order to be sent to Xisi.

Soon, the drafted order was delivered to the old general's hand.

The old general picked up a pen to sign, but catching sight of the name of the Astartes Order on the order from the corner of his eye, he frowned.

He lowered his head to sign, and as he wrote he wondered:

"Deathwatch?"

"This regiment, how have I never heard of it?"

At the edge of the sand sea.

Tens of thousands of footsteps kicked up yellow sand, leaving long traces behind.

A few vehicles sped far away, serving as the regiment's eyes and ears.

With another update on the Green Skins' distance arriving, Xisi slightly halted his steps, glanced around, and quickly climbed a dune.

Raising his binoculars to look around, the sandstorm deep in the sand sea was no longer a faint flicker but stretched sky‑to‑sky in the distance, blanketing the whole world.

Even through the binoculars, Xisi could see the frenzied Green Skins riding their reckless vehicles beneath the sandstorm.

Lowering the binoculars, Xisi looked toward Nest City; although he didn't hold much hope, seeing the empty expanse he couldn't help but frown slightly.

Bunoke followed at his side, watching Xisi's reaction; his face was just as grim.

He didn't complain, merely gazing at a large abandoned position nearby and its ruined fortifications, seeking Xisi's opinion:

"Scouts found many Planetary Defense Force troops still hiding in the position; should we conscript them?"

After all, they're not the Star Realm Army; we can't expect them to give everything for the Empire.

The once‑vast position that could hold millions of garrison troops now harbored many Planetary Defense Force units unwilling to keep dying.

Xisi glanced at it, but couldn't even be bothered to lift his binoculars toward the position.

"Rather than waste energy hunting them down, let the soldiers rest a few more minutes."

The defeated troops were scattered, and having grown cowardly, they preferred to hide rather than retreat to Nest City where fighting might occur.

Just thinking about organizing this lot made Xisi's head ache.

Hearing that, Bunoke withdrew his suggestion, while Xisi stowed his binoculars and turned to walk down the dune.

"Halt the march; let the soldiers rest a final thirty minutes."

Bunoke stared, watching the calm Xisi descend the dune, then after a moment looked toward the other side where the Luchao sandstorm drew ever nearer.

The soldiers finally got their long‑overdue rest, sitting on the ground and stuffing the last piece of compressed starch into their mouths.

The little bit of water was all poured in, feeling the starch and water gradually turn into strength flowing into the limbs.

And not far from the soldiers, in the position's ruined works, a pair of eyes stared back silently.

One worksite, a fairly spacious area where dozens of soldiers sat, squatted, or lay.

Their uniforms differed slightly; at a glance they were from various Nest Cities, forcibly conscripted defense units.

At this moment everyone turned their eyes as much as possible toward the outside through the half‑buried ruins.

Not only was the Command Center shocked that humans had walked out of the Green Skin desert, but even those defeated soldiers who, under the Military Affairs Department's propaganda, had been full of confidence facing the Green Skin, also felt terrified.

Recalling how that scene had turned them from confidence to doubt and then to terror, they felt only sympathy for that outside regiment.

Then they watched the Xisi regiment begin to set up a defensive line and seize some abandoned positions, looking ready for battle, and the defeated soldiers grudgingly withdrew again.

Although no one spoke, seeing the calm enemy preparing for battle and seeing themselves huddled in the fortifications, while not exactly ashamed, they still felt uneasy inside.

The defeated soldiers had mixed feelings; in the distance, Xisi unexpectedly sent some supplies from the Command Center, and before they could be happy, the military order that arrived with the supplies instantly froze the smile that had just appeared on his face.

Deep in the distant desert, the Green Skin's war cries shook the heavens and earth.

Around, soldiers busily prepared for battle, but Xisi only looked at the military order and the Asitate Zhanduan name on it, his expression grim.

"Death Watch......"

"We didn't wait for Kaerjia; instead, we ended up waiting for this unit."

With a resigned sigh, Xisi finished speaking and lifted his gaze forward.

Green Skins swarmed over the dunes in dense numbers.

But compared to the Green Skins, Xisi saw something even worse.

Because when a planet attracts Death Watch, the Green Skins might actually be the easiest Alien Form to deal with!

And besides the Alien Form, what frustrates people, especially ordinary humans, is that within Death Watch there still exist many loyal Asitate Zhanduan from the traitorous regiments!

Because as the tightly sealed news of the Empire's 'Great Rebellion', when an ordinary person learns that the Empire's Asitate Zhanduan are not nine but eighteen, congratulations.

You should return your soul to the Emperor!