Chapter 221: Wheel of Fire: Extermination Tank

The frigate *Rio Grande*.

Ninglu's thoughts stirred, and he pointed to the steel and other materials brought by the Chapter serfs.

【Use them to apply an Ape Field to this ship!

Do not alter the original structure of the hull.】

Ninglu remembered the Inquisition of the Calixis Sector in the future, which drove some Space Apes to build Ape Fields to resist Chaos.

He was using this frigate for a trial; if the Ape Field could overlap with the Geller Field, Warp travel would be safer.

The Space Ape acted immediately; he walked up to a handcart and quickly rummaged through it to find a pile of parts.

In an instant, he fashioned a steel mesh similar to a carrying basket and filled it with materials.

Ninglu said to the Yinjing Farseer, "Take him outside the hull."

Light flickered on the Tech-Priest's faceplate, and it was several seconds before he withdrew his gaze.

The signal tracker in his bionic eye could barely keep up with the movements of the orange-furred simian creature.

The Tech-Priest's synthesized electronic voice sounded: "I obey your command."

He, too, wanted to know what an "ape" that could not even speak was capable of.

The Yinjing Farseer sent the Space Ape into the elevator and operated a drone to follow him.

The Yinjing Farseer watched the Space Ape exit the elevator, climb onto the black hull, and then his slender fingers began to dance.

The Yinjing Farseer's mechadendrites swayed in anger, and his synthesized electronic voice carried a tremor.

"Blasphemy!"

He had once built ships for the Omnissiah at the Mars shipyards.

Before every construction, the Tech-Priests and serfs would ring bells, chant hymns, and build according to the sacred templates.

To him, the Space Ape's behavior was like an ape at play; it was too ridiculous and a desecration of the Omnissiah.

The Yinjing Farseer wanted to activate the cannons to kill the ape.

But he remembered that the ape had been brought by the Primarch, so he stopped his actions.

The Yinjing Farseer suddenly noticed data flashing on his faceplate; it was the readings transmitted by the drone.

【The ape is not playing/His modification is effective/Impossible//Unreasonable//Does not conform to logic.】

The Primarch's consciousness followed the Space Ape; after the ape began to act, his eyes flickered with light, and he looked up toward the outside of the hull.

His gaze penetrated the hull, seeing an invisible barrier covering the ship as the Space Ape's fingers danced.

【At the very least, building an Ape Field is feasible; whether it conflicts with the Geller Field and how effective it is will require testing to know.

If it does not conflict, having an extra layer of protection is not a bad thing.】

Thinking of this, Ninglu instructed the Chapter serfs.

"Provide him with materials, and notify me the moment he stops."

The Space Ape had already established a connection with him and would no longer be driven by the instinct to flee.

Before leaving, Ninglu gave the Space Ape another order.

【After finishing the Ape Field, return to the cabin; do not make any changes to this ship.】

Besides the instinct to escape, the Space Ape also had an instinct to build; if left to its own devices, Ninglu did not know if it would turn this ship into one of their kind's polyhedral open-style ships.

The next day, the Fourth Legion arrived at the Flame Wheel System.

After inquiring and observing the aura to confirm that Adams had digested the "Gravedigger" Potion, Ninglu had him promoted to a Sequence 7 "Psychic."

Ninglu dispatched both the Fourth Legion and the Eighth Legion to Planet No. 2 to attack the Orc fortress.

After Mikhailovsky and Geleigori, who were leading the war on Planet No. 2, consulted with each other, they decided to deploy five experimental hover tanks to the battlefield in the southeast.

The nine companies of the Eighth Legion launched attacks from the north, west, and east respectively to draw the attention of the Orks, and then the Third Company launched its offensive.

Upon discovering that the height of the Orc fortress walls was just over ten meters, Geleigori directly dispatched Vostoyan Rhinos to launch a charge.

One hundred Order Shadow jump packs activated, trailing blinding light as they ascended the walls.

Their objective was clear: they charged straight for the Ork cannons.

In the command vehicle, Geleigori watched the walls; seeing the assault squad destroy the Ork cannons according to plan, he issued an order.

"Experimental squad, move out!"

More than a hundred meters behind the command vehicle, in a black armored vehicle painted with gears, the Techmarine replied through his communication headset.

"Received!"

Beside him were screens filled with various flashing data.

The Techmarine issued the order: "Move out!"

The five experimental hover tanks flew to the walls, and the pilots pushed the control levers on their left.

The spheres in the bellies of the tanks rotated rapidly, silver-white solution churned, and beige parasites the length of a human finger rapidly split and multiplied.

The solution flowed to the branches on both sides, traveling along brass conduits.

A moment later, the solution was injected into individual bullets.

The two gun barrels of the hover tanks spat out a stream of bullets, striking the Orcs.

The tall Orks did not care at all, and one of them shouted loudly.

"The humies are truly pathetic, using such tiny bullets as weapons."

"The humies' things are only good for scratching an itch!"

The Orcs did not notice that inside their green skin, a dozen rice-grain-sized parasites were opening their mouths to bite and devour the green flesh.

The bellies of the parasites expanded rapidly, emitting "pop, pop, pop" sounds.

At this moment, the Orcs finally noticed the abnormality in their bodies, and they frantically scratched at themselves with their hands.

After the parasites were full, larvae as thin as threads crawled out from their tails.

The larvae burrowed into the green flesh; they tore, devoured, grew rapidly, and spread.

In a few dozen seconds, the parasites had covered the Orc's body.

The dull-witted Orcs finally began to feel the abnormality within their bodies.

They felt as if they were being torn apart from the inside, and it was spreading incessantly.

"The shrimp's weapon..."

A tall Orc widened his eyes and screamed in terror.

He did not understand how such a small bullet could cause him such great damage.

His entire body was about to shatter.

The next instant, he lost the ability to speak, and his consciousness began to blur.

The sensors integrated into the bullet casings transmitted data to the Techmarine's experimental vehicle, recording it into a Data Crystal.

Geleigori widened his eyes, watching the Orcs on the city wall vanish rapidly, as if dissolving.

He switched to the command channel and said to his good friend Mikhailovsky in an astonished tone.

"The new-style tanks are truly powerful!"

"The Orcs are gone, their entire bodies are gone; it's even more effective than fire."

"Their Fungus spores have all been eaten by the parasites."

"Is that so?" Mikhailovsky replied with great interest, "Then I must see it with my own eyes."

After hanging up the communication, Geleigori issued the attack order.

"Attack!"

The Vostoyan Rhino sped toward the city wall, its ram vibrating at high speed.

Hundreds of black combat vehicles slammed into the city wall with a boom, and accompanied by a harsh grinding sound, cracks appeared across the wall.

Rumble!

The entire wall collapsed with a roar, and as the rubble slid down, the Vostoyan Rhinos filed in.

The hover tanks advanced in synchronization in the air, unleashing a dense barrage of fire at the Orcs below.

One hour later, the hover tanks gradually withdrew from the battlefield as the parasite solution was exhausted.

After compiling the experimental data, the Techmarines drafted a report and sent it to the Shadow of Sovereignty.

Thirteen hours after the hover tanks were deployed to the battlefield, Ninglu listened to the experimental briefing.

"My lord, the Techmarines and Third Legion Third Company Captain Geleigori have sent a report; the hover tanks performed excellently in combat."

"Data captured by the sensors shows that the Orcs' bodies were picked clean by the parasites, with no Fungus spores remaining."

Ninglu looked at the image displayed by Arsena, nodded with satisfaction, and asked.

"How is their sustained combat capability?"

"The parasites on the Eldar's Void Weaver, which parasitize the Wraithbone, can continuously propagate."

"Our hover tanks use an alternative method; the liquid prepared by the Chief Apothecary 'produces' parasites at a fixed rate every day."

"After considering many factors such as reproduction speed and safety, the Techmarines believe it can support the use of ninety-four hover tanks."

Ninglu nodded slightly, and after pondering for a few seconds, he spoke.

"For now, it can only be used as a tool to break the Balance."

"Your wisdom is profound, my lord; Geleigori reached the same conclusion after receiving the report from the Techmarines."

"He believes that deploying ten hover tanks in a local area can quickly gain an advantage within a three-kilometer radius."

After listening to the report, Ninglu nodded with satisfaction.

Although it did not reach his expected optimal effect and could not be used on a large scale, he was still satisfied.

"Name this type of hover tank the Beast-Extermination Hover Tank."

"Proceed with large-scale production and temporarily allocate them to the Third Legion for use."

"Order the Techmarines to continue their research."

Mikel did not take all the Apothecaries away; the Legion Flagship still had fourteen newly promoted Beastmasters and thirty-five Apothecaries.

As the Beast-Extermination tanks entered service one by one, the Third Legion gained a sharp blade to tear through the Orc defensive lines.

Mikhailovsky and Geleigori deployed them to the areas where the Orc defenses were most dense, capturing one defensive node after another.

The progress of capturing the two Fortresses increased significantly, and the Vix Trix Knight House arrived at the Flame Wheel System.

(End of chapter)