Chapter 4: Capturing the Foundry

The gang members preparing to answer were blank-faced; only one man with a face covered in gray-black soot raised his bionic hands high.

"Boss, I know. In the Lower Hive, there is a foundry that was once managed personally by Tech-Priests who served Mars."

"Around the perimeter of the factory, there is a deadly kind of organic wire grass. It is incredibly tough; even if you use a knife, you cannot cut through it, and even if you drop a grenade next to it, it can regenerate after the explosion."

"The thorns it grows can pierce armor and cause wounds deep enough to reach the bone, and it can also secrete an acidic sap that can corrode a person trapped within it into a skeleton in just a few minutes."

He nervously gripped the spoon and basin in his hands, "Boss, that is everything I know."

"Your information is very useful; you can have two scoops of soup. You may begin serving yourself."

Hearing Ninglu say this, the gray-black-faced man hurried to the large pot. After scooping two ladles, he gripped the yellow-green aluminum basin tightly. Just as he was about to walk to the side to enjoy it, he heard the Boss's voice.

"You seem to know that factory quite well. Can you provide me with more information about it?"

"Boss, my name is Luoersiliefu. I used to work at that weapons foundry, numbered D-46, serving as a foreman for a furnace crew."

"Before the Priests abandoned the factory and relocated to the Upper Hive, life was difficult, but it was still manageable."

"Ever since 'Vulture' of the 'Scavenger Gang' took control of the factory, he has been just like his nickname, squeezing everyone to the limit..."

After questioning Luoersiliefu about the situation at D-46, Ninglu decided to capture this weapons foundry.

Lower Hive, D-46 Foundry, brightly lit.

"Vulture" leaned back in his chair, looking mockingly at the foreman who was constantly pleading before him.

"'Vulture' sir, those are children. If they keep working like this, they will die."

"I am willing to work three extra hours every day; I am much faster than them."

"Is that so? Then you can work four extra hours every day," "Vulture" said mockingly, "As for them, they must also continue to work."

"Vulture" did not notice that on the video screen behind him, a frame flashed by showing a figure charging forward at high speed.

A two-meter-diameter rubber tire slammed into the wire grass covered in countless thorns.

Ninglu squeezed through the center of the hollowed-out rubber tire, and at the same time, his right hand flicked, sending silver-gray shards precisely into the center point between two thorns.

"Someone's here!"

Two "Scavenger Gang" members holding laser guns were patrolling not far away. Hearing the sound, they ran over quickly.

Ninglu tucked the shards back into his waist and gripped both ends of the wire grass with his protective-gloved hands. The seeping acidic sap immediately corroded a hole in the gloves.

The Primarch sensed the small hole in his palm immediately. He slightly curled his hand, forming an angle with his palm, so that the empty space in the middle was exactly where the hole was.

He dashed forward swiftly and then swung the wire grass toward the two people running toward him.

The thorns precisely pierced the backs of the hands of the two people who were raising their guns to shoot. They let out a painful scream, and in an instant, their hands were corroded by the sap until only bones remained.

Ninglu picked up a dropped laser gun and scavenged twelve energy cells from the two corpses.

He fired a shot into the air; this was the signal for his subordinates, and then he charged toward the control room.

"Vulture" watched on the screens as his trash subordinates were slaughtered by the boy.

"Trash! You are all trash!"

"Vulture" stood up abruptly, picked up his chainsword, and amidst the roaring sound, the sound of "kill, kill, kill" echoed in his ears once again.

"Vulture" strode out of the control room, leaped down from the railing, and slashed toward the boy.

His pupils were blood-red. He felt as if he had returned to that day when, after killing the gang leader and seven guards, the same blood-red color rose in his eyes.

Afterward, he discovered he had grown taller and his strength had increased.

He did not know what had happened; he only knew that killing made him stronger.

Ninglu had just raised his hand to kill a gang member when he felt an enemy charging toward him from above.

As he rolled backward, he pulled the trigger, hitting "Vulture" squarely in the chest.

A fist-sized bloody hole was blown into "Vulture's" chest, but he felt nothing; the voice in his mind drove him to continue charging forward.

Ninglu's expression was calm as he pulled the trigger rapidly. "Vulture's" eyes, heart, hands, and ankles were almost pierced through by the beams, and flowers of blood bloomed one after another.

"Vulture's" corpse slammed heavily onto the metal walkway, blood staining the vibrating chainsword.

Ninglu slung the laser gun over his shoulder and picked up the chainsword; he sensed that this weapon was somewhat different.

Luoersiliefu, who had been appointed as a leader, rushed into the foundry just in time to witness the scene where the Boss fired several shots in a row to kill "Vulture," and he was greatly shocked.

The "Scavenger Gang" was not a big gang in the Lower Hive, but "Vulture" was famous for being tough and ruthless; to be killed without even getting close was incredible.

【The Boss is so powerful at such a young age; he will definitely be a big shot in the Hive City in the future. Following him has a future!】

Thinking of this, Luoersiliefu immediately shouted to his subordinates.

"What are you standing there for? Do you still want to drink the dregs at the bottom of the pot? Get moving, control the workers, capture the 'Scavenger Gang' prisoners, and kill anyone who dares to resist."

Two hours later, Ninglu sat in the control room. The foundry had resumed operation, and besides the workers, he had five hundred and thirteen subordinates.

Ninglu changed into a clean set of work clothes, slinging the laser gun and chainsword, which were taller than he was, across his back.

The factory cook prepared him a piece of rye bread as hard as a brick and some borscht made from a few vegetable leaves; this was already the best food in the foundry.

Ninglu ate ten pieces of rye bread in a row; his superhuman body made him feel no discomfort at all. He drank a large bowl of soup before he felt full.

He looked up toward the door and then heard a knock.

"Come in."

"Boss, the foundry has resumed normal production."

Luoersiliefu pushed the door open. He wore a worried expression as he reported the good news first.

"Boss, the Hantemanxi Dome, to which the D-46 Foundry belongs, is under the jurisdiction of the Arbiter Dimitrov. He wants you to go over there."

Ninglu knew that the Lower Hive was composed of domes; these structures were built by the original immigrants.

With the development of the Hive City, the domes were gradually abandoned.

In the eyes of the hive citizens, the residents of the Lower Hive were not much higher than the harmful animals like Giant Rats that lived there. They used the domes, which were made of clusters of buildings, as settlements, surviving in the beehive-like underground city formed by domes, tunnels, and ruins.

"Arbiter?"

Ninglu thought of the "Arbiter" of Sequence 9 in the adjacent pathway of the "Lawyer," but the Arbiter of Vostonia clearly would not mean the same thing.

After inquiring, Ninglu understood that the so-called Arbiters were similar to the law enforcers who supervised the Domes under the governors of future Hive City worlds.

The Arbiters of the Lower Hive usually governed the Domes independently, adjudicating various matters within their jurisdictions.

The person who fled the foundry reported to Dimitrov that Ninglu had crushed the "Scavenger Gang" and occupied the factory.

"Boss, 'Vulture' has a terrible reputation; I think Dimitrov must be curious about you, after all, you are too young."

"Hmm, following the Arbiter's style of conduct, he will also give you a warning; I heard he likes to let that big dog of his scare people."

"Chemical Dog?"

Upon hearing this, Ninglu immediately became interested.

"Yes, Boss, do you also know that vicious dog?"

(End of this chapter)