Chapter 146: Tech-Aristocrats

The *Shadow of Sovereignty* locked onto its target, the first high tower of Necromunda, and the high-speed drop pods whistled as they plummeted into the planet's atmosphere.

The thrusters mounted on the dozen or so drop pods accelerated further, and amidst the blinding light, their speed rapidly increased to as high as 12,000 kilometers per hour.

Within mere seconds, guided by the *Shadow of Sovereignty* in orbit, the machine spirits of the drop pods arrived at the target, slamming into the tower's protective shield.

Amidst a roar like thunder, a blinding light shot straight into the sky, and the defensive system collapsed in an instant.

The drop pods smashed heavily onto the tower; despite activating reverse thrusters at the final moment, large swaths of buildings were still razed to the ground by the shockwave.

The violent tremors continued to spread, causing the high tower—which was even taller than the Biwosituoniya Dianfan Cheng—to shake, and screams rang out from the large buildings on the edges before they tumbled and fell.

The high towers of Necromunda were not fundamentally different from the hives of an Industrial World or a Hive City.

In the future Imperium of Ninglu's memory, the largest hive worlds had even taller, larger towers, and housed even more people.

Due to the architectural structure, whenever a great war or a disaster like an earthquake broke out, those living in the upper edge areas were often affected.

Excavating the fallen debris had always been a key project for those small families, and it was also the best opportunity for ordinary people to ascend.

Just as those living on the bottom levels frantically ran out of the towers, risking their lives to pursue the chance to change their fate, and rushed toward the fallen building debris, the same scene was playing out at the other seven high towers.

The first wave of the Fourth Legion's strike had begun in full; the eight high towers scattered across Necromunda were like the eight most conspicuous spider legs, far taller than the surrounding guarded towers, and they were the key strategic targets locked onto by the "Order Shadow."

Ninglu and the members of the Honor Guard also stepped out of the drop pods; the Primarch scanned his surroundings and immediately locked onto the target, the tallest building atop the high tower.

"Transmit our positioning information to the flagship!"

"Move out!"

The members of the Honor Guard followed behind Ninglu; they had all passed the trials and become extraordinary beings of Sequence 9 on different paths.

Advancing nearly a kilometer, the tech-aristocrats led their squads to launch attacks on the Order Shadow from all directions.

Ninglu glanced over and noticed that every enemy had undergone more or less cybernetic modification.

Those wearing ornate battle armor, who should have belonged to the tech-aristocrat class, had almost no flesh and blood on their bodies.

Combat erupted immediately; the most common spider-leg mechanical modification among the spider soldiers saw them raise either four or six jointed limbs, attacking with the weapons in their hands in strange postures.

Flashing electric arcs struck the black armor; several Order Shadow who were hit saw the feedback runes on their helmet displays and immediately warned their battle-brothers on the communication channel.

"Their weapons can cause damage to power armor."

The Honor Guard immediately responded with targeted countermeasures, and the "Warrior" and "Hunter" launched a charge.

The "Warriors" crashed into the densest area of the enemy, the disruption fields of their power swords flickering and their chainswords roaring, killing dozens of spider soldiers in an instant.

The "Hunters" interspersed among them, launching precision strikes; they completed precise hunts, making the enemy's combat formation even more chaotic.

In the chaotic battle, the spider soldiers in the rear had their friend-or-foe identification systems in disarray, and the electric arcs they fired in haste shot toward the front regardless of friend or foe.

The Order Shadow in the chaos carried out the philosophy of their Gene-Father; they calmly raised the bolters in their hands, locking onto their opponents with superhuman senses and keen intuition, and launched precise fire.

On the battlefield, only the tech-aristocrats posed a significant threat to the Order Shadow.

A bolt blew off the alloy spider leg of a tech-aristocrat, but he immediately used his remaining three mechanical legs to spring up, attacking the power armor like a face-hugging spider, swinging his cybernetic limbs.

The blades roared, cleaving through the ceramite armor, and just as the Order Shadow was about to be shredded, a golden light bloomed.

The tech-aristocrat was smashed to pieces by a punch, and the broken mechanical cybernetics scattered and fell.

Ninglu did not stop his pace, appearing instantly before another tech-aristocrat; he swung his sword, and the blue disruption field shredded the half of the head covered in metal.

Every second, a tech-aristocrat died at the hands of the Primarch; Ninglu led the Honor Guard toward the target, but the increasingly large number of enemies pouring in also slowed their pace, and their speed of advance became slower and slower.

Even more strange circular aircraft filled the sky, arriving at a rapid speed.

Just at this moment, the Legion's fighter jets also tore through the sky and arrived in time, the streamlined aircraft engaging in a fierce space battle with the circular aircraft.

Four Order Shadow piloted gunships, diving down from the sky; their multi-barrel laser cannons rotated and roared, the beams falling into the enemy ranks, and swaths of spider soldiers fell.

The Order Shadow suddenly accelerated; in the rapid offense and defense, they were more adaptable, and they remained calm and efficient, striking the enemy with precision.

The spider soldiers were beaten back step by step by the combined air-ground offensive, and the Order Shadow were getting closer and closer to the target.

The ground rumbled and shook, and a metal monster as large as a Knight Mech came killing its way over, taking steps.

Its lower body consisted of eight metal spider legs, and its torso had not a shred of flesh, looking like a giant alloy metal pillar; a pair of folded metal spider-like arms extended from its arms, shoulders, chest, and back, each holding different weapons.

The two mechanical spider legs behind it lifted, a series of circular data crystals lit up one after another, and energy gathered rapidly at the ends of the legs.

Dazzling beams shot toward the battlefield; the spider warriors blocking the way were ruthlessly torn apart, and two Order Shadow could not dodge in time, their ceramite armor pierced by the beams.

Ninglu sensed the fall of two of his progeny, and he confirmed the opponent's identity in an instant—the Chief Iron Lord.

The Primarch strode toward the Chief Iron Lord; whether it was spider warriors or tech-aristocrats blocking the way, they were all smashed apart as if hit by a high-speed train.

While running, Ninglu raised his left arm and pulled the trigger of his bolter.

Boom, boom, boom!

The Primarch's black eyes narrowed; his gaze pierced through the smoke of the explosions, seeing the Chief Iron Lord raise the arms on its chest.

Its alloy arms lit up with light, and circular shields hung on the metal spider legs.

The metal arms swung rapidly; after the circular shields blocked the bolt fire, the metal arms were actually undamaged in the explosions.

【It is the effect of that energy field.】

As Ninglu pondered, he appeared before the Chief Iron Lord and thrust his sword straight at the enemy.

The arms on the Chief Iron Lord's shoulders suddenly popped out, like two spring-loaded knives shot out.

The disruption field collided with the strange energy field flickering with red light, emitting a harsh, grating sound.

The Chief Iron Lord's red cybernetic eyes blinked, and the two spider legs on its shoulders suddenly sprang up, stabbing toward the top of Ninglu's head like two long spears.

(End of chapter)