Chapter 197: 「Gravedigger」

In the third layer of the "Kingdom of Disorder," outside the silver spiral tower, the black wolf had completely abandoned the thought of escape after experiencing countless nightmare cycles.

It had been waiting for the black-armored giant to appear, but it had never arrived.

The black wolf did not know how much time had passed; it could perceive that time was flowing here, but it was different from the outside world, with no boundary between light and darkness.

The place where it was located was also influenced by some kind of rule, shaped into a constantly repeating scene.

This place was like the dreamscape it created, an independent space where it was difficult to define what constituted a day.

The black wolf was in a daze, not knowing how much time had passed, when footsteps sounded in its ears.

It suspected it was still in a nightmare, and only when the black-armored giant walked to its side did it weakly turn its neck to look.

The black wolf's pupils constricted; he saw a scene completely different from before.

The black-armored giant appeared before him, holding something like amber in his hands.

The black wolf sprang up immediately; it was both expectant and afraid, hoping the nightmare would end, yet worried it was a new nightmare vision.

It stammered, "I really... I truly want to be your pet."

"Good."

Ninglu spoke; he did not feel the black wolf's sincerity, but rather felt invisible threads connecting it to himself.

He and the black wolf had established a preliminary connection.

Ninglu curled his lips and said to the black wolf,

"You must be starving; I have brought you food."

"Compared to the humans in the Dome, his dreams are richer and more multi-dimensional; they are more delicious food."

Upon hearing this, the black wolf felt a churning in its heart.

It almost drooled like those wolf-shaped beasts, but it controlled its instincts.

It was an eight-legged black wolf once worshipped by millions; it was not a wolf, it was a mythological creature.

The black wolf tried its best to maintain its image, not letting itself appear like a starving wolf.

"I am willing to serve my master."

Upon hearing this, Ninglu injected Spirituality into his Power Fist, undoing the "Imprisonment" binding Slau Da.

The Autarch slowly woke up; before he could figure out where he was, Ninglu and the black wolf disappeared from before his eyes.

Slau Da found himself in a colorful vortex, and an evil claw reached out to grab him.

That was the evil claw of Sai-Lansileishi.

After the black wolf dragged the Autarch into the dreamscape, it discovered that creating a dreamscape to make the food feel Fear was not easy.

It consumed a great deal of energy just to create the claw, and it was completely impossible to shape the food's complete image.

If not for the food's mind being shaken, the dreamscape it created might have already been seen through.

【The food is too delicious!

Its Fear is more diverse than humans'; I discovered for the first time that Fear actually has so many varieties: the prey's Fear of the Hunter, the mortal's Fear of the gods...】

The black wolf "sucked" on the food in large gulps, gnawing on the tender "steak" and fresh "vegetables," and the feeling of hunger vanished rapidly.

Ninglu noticed that the black wolf's body, which had been trembling slightly at first, gradually calmed down; clearly, it had already pulled Slau Da into the dream.

The Primarch began to act, his consciousness spreading toward the Autarch.

Slau Da, trapped in the nightmare, had mental defenses that were as good as non-existent, and Ninglu's consciousness easily seeped into his mind.

While the Primarch began to excavate the Autarch's mental treasures, Adams on Necromunda also received news from Leandro Hemar that a large burial complex had been discovered in the Fourth Hive City.

Considering that the burial complex was the tomb of the Steel Lords and might involve mechanical creations, and that the spoils should also belong to the domain of the Techmarine, he sent a message to Rosicky Cech.

They came to the Fourth Hive City together and found Leandro Hemar in the filthy Underhive.

The powerfully rising Hemar Family was increasingly seen by the people of Necromunda as the ruling family.

Governor Leandro had become the most powerful person on Necromunda, and it was inconceivable for someone in such a high position to come to the filthy Underhive in person.

But Governor Hemar took the initiative to run to the Underhive; he knew that the "Order Shadow" was the true master of Necromunda.

Leandro came before Adams and said respectfully.

"Lord, I intended to send my subordinates to bring out the things in the tomb and offer them to you."

"But after they entered the tomb, they were attacked by living corpses and suffered heavy casualties."

Thinking that the Death Lord might not be familiar with the local culture of Necromunda, Leandro explained to him.

"My Lord, Necromunda has always had a culture of the dead; once food does not arrive in time, the starving workers will even feed on corpses."

"They formed a Shaman religion called the 'Corpse Grinder Cult,' worshipping an existence called the Lord of Flesh."

He sighed, operated the Data Slate, and showed the images to Adams.

"The culture of the dead was brought by the earliest colonists over five thousand years ago; after the nobles of that era died, their servants and slaves would be buried with them."

"This burial culture has already disappeared; this tomb should be at least four thousand years old."

Adams saw in the images rotting corpses with tattered clothes and pale skin walking staggeringly.

"These funerary attendants transformed into living corpses for some reason; they are fearless of death, and even when bullets and Laser fire hit them, they continue to move forward dragging their broken bodies; the people I sent down to explore suffered heavy losses."

"I dare not use weapons like the Flamethrower, as that would destroy the things in the tomb, and I think that is not what you would want to see."

The "Gravedigger" flickered his gaze upon hearing this; it was his first time encountering living corpses, and he immediately became interested.

"You have done well."

Adams looked at the tomb ahead; the gate at the entrance was circular, with eight metal spider legs spread out, revealing the deep tomb.

In Adams's mind, the original shape of the gate was outlined.

Inside the metal disc gate, eight spider legs were retracted, just like the emblem of the Spider Alliance.

Relying on Leman's Ear, the Order Shadow could distinguish the footsteps of the living corpses staggering inside and the rustling sound of spiders crawling.

He said to Rosicky, who was inspecting the surrounding architectural structure: "The ability bestowed upon me by the Gene-Father will make those living corpses treat me as one of their own; I will go in and investigate the situation alone first."

The Master of the Forge withdrew his gaze, and he nodded.

"Based on the armor teleportation technology currently being researched on Mars, combined with the Portal technology of the Spider Alliance, I have developed a short-range Teleport device."

"I have already conducted fifty-two experiments, all of which have been successful."

"After activating the Teleport device, it can complete a directional Teleport within a range of ten kilometers."

Five hours later, Luoxiji directed the Techmarine and servitors to complete the placement of three adamantine pillars in front of the cemetery gate and set up the Teleport device.

Adams took off his power armor and put on the Experimental Teleportation Armor adjusted to his body.

Without the suppression of a life-support system, the eeriness of the "Gravedigger" was fully released, staining the thin layer of metal armor wrapping his body abnormally cold.

The "Gravedigger" strode into the main cemetery, and the stench of rot and Death rushed toward him.

The "Gravedigger" felt not the slightest discomfort; in his eyes, the dark cemetery was exceptionally clear.

He saw a group of living corpses wandering ahead in the passage he was walking through.

The living corpses' gazes lacked focus; they stumbled and staggered through the passage, occasionally bumping into walls or colliding with each other.

The "Gravedigger" walked into the crowd of corpses, weaving through them, occasionally bumping into living corpses, but not one of them launched an attack on him.

When the Order Shadow was still a "corpse collector," his body temperature was lower, but it had not yet reached the level of a corpse.

When he ascended to "Gravedigger," his body became ice-cold, and walking among the crowd of corpses, he was no different from a walking corpse.

The "Gravedigger" continued forward, the passage gradually widened, and a circular burial plaza appeared before him.

From one corpse pit after another, walking corpses crawled out, while others stepped into the air and fell.

(End of this chapter)