Chapter 18: Death Watch

Alert Star orbit.

In the distance the galaxy sparkles, countless stars spread across the void, boundless as if a vast sea.

But the once magnificent universe now bears a fissure glowing with eerie light, abruptly cleaving the Star Sea in two.

The unsettling glow propagates, forcing passing vessels to seal all protective plates to keep the ominous light from bathing the ships.

At this moment, on the orbit behind the Alert Star, Zero‑scattered support troops descend here into the star port.

Unlike troops that land directly on the ground, a battle barge of the Astat Order is docked in space.

Inside the barge, a hall dedicated to the Astat Order's pre‑expedition preparations.

Three hulking men over two meters tall kneel on one knee, earnestly praying before the towering Emperor Deity Statue.

The two on the sides are bare‑chested, while the foremost giant wears a black monk's robe, shrouding his body and face in darkness.

They bow their heads in silence; the hall is filled with stillness, and in the darkness behind, groups of two machine servants lift trays bearing armor, helmets and weapons, waiting quietly.

Time passes minute by minute until the four‑hour prayer concludes.

The Astat rises, and the machine servants step forward reverently, presenting their trays.

Then the Astat lifts the incense burner, soothing the Machine Soul of his Power Armor and Explosive Gun amid rising white smoke.

At the same time, a message from the Military Affairs Department pops up on the nearby console, indicating the Astat has completed the ceremony.

"Brother, a mortal unit has already been prepared for us on the ground."

Glancing at the console, the Astat on the right spreads his hands, letting the machine servants carefully don various gear for him, while respectfully reporting to the white‑bearded giant ahead, whose head bears three golden studs.

The giant remains silent, merely accepting the servants' service.

The younger Astat on the left, with only one golden stud, dons a helmet and red visors, then a hoarse mechanical voice speaks:

"They are not the Star Realm Army, nor armored; they actually gave us an Infantry Regiment of the Planetary Defense Force!"

With a reproachful tone, the right‑hand Astat replies coldly:

"Mortals are weak; we only need them to draw the Green Skin's attention."

"Once they reach the target, they will no longer be of any value."

Death Watch operates as a classified unit; though not as strict as the Gray Knights—merely hearing its name warrants extermination—it generally strives for maximum efficiency in preventing leaks.

Its most common efficient method is extermination, or, if kinder, letting you perish on your own.

After all, anyone who works with Death Watch on a mission, if left alone, won't live long either.

The white‑bearded giant ignores the exchange behind him, simply puts on his helmet, views the transmitted data on the 101 Regiment and Regiment Commander Xisi, and silently logs this young commander into the upcoming mission.

Fully equipped, the machine servants step back respectfully, and the three fully armed Astats exit the hall.

The battle barge remains docked in orbit, but from beneath it a drop pod with a long trailing flame plummets toward Xisi's position!

"No need to conserve ammunition; unleash all firepower!"

"Fire! Fire! Focus the Explosive Gun on their tanks!"

"No retreat! Regiment Commander's order—everyone must hold until the final moment!"

Bunoke's booming voice reverberates across the position; on the abandoned works, human lasers and Green Skin rounds weave a dazzling band of light.

The Green Skin Frenzy seems to slam into a wall of light, the slain Green Skin crowding and tumbling to the ground.

Those corpses then become obstacles, either crushed by tanks or serving as launch pads for raging motorbikes.

A guttural roar of engines erupts as a Green Skin bike rides the slope formed by the fallen bodies, charging toward the human lines.

But the bike barely lifts into the air before an Explosive Gun blast hits, shattering it mid‑flight.

Even without Xisi personally piloting, any Explosive Gunner who survived this long has frighteningly precise aim.

This explains why, despite lasers being comparatively weak, they can still instantly kill Green Skin youths.

Because each laser strikes precisely at the unprotected eyes of the youths.

At this moment the soldiers form a tight formation around the position, like hedgehogs pouring fire outward.

They efficiently slaughter any Green Skin that dares approach, just as they did when cutting through an entire sea of sand.

What the soldiers consider routine, however, makes countless broken soldiers on the other side stare wide‑eyed in disbelief.

At this moment, countless damaged fortifications, no matter how distant, are drawn to the fierce firefight here.

Yet the memories they hold of being slammed by these terrifying alien forms, comrades sliced apart one after another, or ripped apart by brute force, do not surface.

Instead, they see Green Skin, under the barrage, rolling like Luchao, repeatedly collapsing to the ground.

In some fortifications, even broken soldiers watch the Green Skin surge forward, eyes bulging and mouths opening involuntarily.

"They... actually..."

The human lines that should have broken on contact instead, in the broken soldiers' view, see the troops leap from the trenches, grabbing engineer shovels, bayonets, swords and other weapons to melee the Green Skin.

Although these humans achieve a favorable exchange ratio even in close combat, they ultimately are overwhelmed by Luchao.

The imagined scenario of a human retreat or collapse never occurs; instead, behind the fallen, a human in a Regiment Commander's uniform leads more troops to push back.

There is no one‑sided slaughter; what unfolds before the broken soldiers is a blood‑red‑eyed clash on both sides, each position on the front line sees one fall and another take its place in a deadly melee.

No one knows how long the battle has raged; the broken soldiers care not for time, only watching corpses fall one after another on the positions, and at the very center front, a mound of bodies piled by countless Green Skin.

Atop it, the young Regiment Commander uses the endless Green Skin to continually build himself higher.

In the distance from Xisi, the dusk sun sets, the massive red orb slowly sinking into the sand sea.

At that moment, a drop pod trailing a long flame pierces the red sun from the sky.

The violent impact sends sand swirling, toppling a swath of already collapsing Green Skin nearby.

The surrounding Green Skin roar in anger, but as they open their mouths, the huge ugly heads are reduced to mush under the blast.

Raise your hand—fire.

Three towering Astats stride out of the hatch, deftly pulling triggers to shoot down the fleeing Green Skin one by one.

The mortal soldiers pursuing the chase glance at the 'Emperor Angel' materializing before them, hastily halt, cross their hands over their chests, and perform a reverent Eagle Salute.

In the surrounding abandoned works, the defeated soldiers who had always been watching the outside also, upon seeing the 'Angel' descend, had their eyes widen to the extreme in an instant.

Mortals gathered around Death Watch, emotionally excited; but mortals reacted intensely, walking out of the drop pod—the Death Watch who hadn't even finished a magazine—after a brief pause, likewise reacted intensely.

There was no battle as imagined where one needed to break out; beside were the same black‑clad mortal soldiers as oneself, while in the distance were countless terrified, fleeing Green Skins.

In the opposite direction of the Green Skins' retreat, Death Watch saw nothing but a desert littered with corpses, and at the end of the corpses, a towering mound of Green Skin corpses.

The red sun set just then; beneath its crimson light, the sand sea boiled, rising in twisting heat waves.

And before the red sun, upon the corpse mound, a young human stood, stepping on the fully steel‑clad Green Skin chief beneath his feet, and flung his gaze at them!