Chapter 96: 「Hunter」

Black lightning struck several Order Shadows, their black armor growing even deeper in hue, and the warriors' bodies stiffened.

The "Hunter" reacted before the Ogryn psyker could attack; he rapidly raised his left arm and fired a bolt at the prey.

Accompanied by a loud explosion, the Ogryn's large head burst, scattering like a watermelon.

The Lieutenant irritably took off his helmet, revealing short black hair, and walked quickly to the corpse, as if he had seen a ghost.

"Damn it, to think there would be a psyker among these stupid Ogryns."

The "Hunter" observed the environment as he walked, noticing the special growth patterns of {XI} and {XXXIII}, and also sensing the high magnetism of the black metal crystals, which held a faint attraction to his Chainsword.

The Seventh Captain said thoughtfully, "It must be this sprawling mountain range; the special environment has an effect on the Ogryns."

He opened the command channel and listened for a while to the chaotic, disturbing sounds of intermittent static, buzzing, and crackling.

"The communication channel still hasn't recovered, just noise..."

The "Hunter" said, his gaze sweeping over the Ogryn psyker; aside from wearing black armor and holding a black metal staff that looked like a scepter and was much thinner than a club, there seemed to be no difference.

His black pupils suddenly constricted—no, it was different from other Ogryns.

"His ears are several sizes larger than other Ogryns, and his feet are also fatter."

Upon hearing this, the Lieutenant leaned over to check.

"That is indeed the case," he said, frowning as he voiced his conjecture, "Perhaps it is because the gravity of this world is too high; the Ogryns underwent adaptive evolution to survive in this environment, causing their ears and feet to grow larger."

Sanchez shook his head slightly and pressed the Runic Rune on his sword hilt; the sword immediately roared to life.

The Seventh Captain slashed open the Ogryn's black metal armor, revealing a physique as robust as an Astartes.

After a glance, he confirmed his judgment.

"No, look, his body is only slightly more robust than the Ogryns we encountered before."

"But his ears and feet are abnormally large. I think it is because there is something special about this mountain range, and it is this special quality that allowed the foolish Ogryns to gain psychic powers."

The Lieutenant took another look and realized it was indeed so.

"His ears and feet are indeed a bit fatter," he said helplessly after squatting on the ground to examine them for a moment.

"It's a pity their big soles didn't leave footprints on this metal mountain."

"We can only eat his brain to obtain information and find their hiding place."

The Lieutenant said helplessly; although the Reapers were bloodthirsty, they did not like to eat people like the Ghouls of the Ninth Legion.

"No need, he left traces, very obvious ones."

Sanchez took off his helmet, a smile appearing on his face; the scanning system integrated into his visor had failed due to signal interference, but he was the "Hunter."

The "Hunter" focused his mind, his black eyes deep, and he could clearly hear the beating of his own heart.

His senses, inherited from his Gene-Father, were further enhanced, and the world in his perception changed immediately.

The nearly non-existent, shallow footprints on the ground were now captured by the "Hunter's" eyes.

He also minutely distinguished the body odor left by the Ogryn, which wound forward like a faint ribbon.

"Follow me."

The Seventh Captain stepped forward, the "Hunter" tracking the lair of the prey.

At this time, Ninglu had already returned to the Void Hunter; besides Arsena Dunn, he had also brought a Techmarine from the First Company.

Arriving before his private Armory, a squad of Vostonia Warriors who had not yet undergone Gaizao Shouhu stood at the entrance.

"My King."

The Captain bowed in salute. After Ninglu signaled for him to rise, he immediately raised the Silver Control Staff in his hand and aimed it at the red disc in the center of the black gate.

As the runes flashed, the ancient gate opened, revealing the Primarch's private Armory.

The entire chamber was as large as a deck, with more than half the area densely packed with tens of thousands of items, ranging from porous sea coral to the corpses of strange multi-limbed creatures...

Only a small portion of these were obtained by Ninglu himself; about one-third were Space Ape Products, and most came from the offerings of various Vostonia regiments and Eleventh Legion warriors.

Ninglu mixed some precious items used for concealment among the Potion Materials and transported them to the Kingdom of Disorder, leaving the rest in the private Armory.

He walked to a large area on the right, where a black strip label with gold lettering read "Space Ape Product."

Ninglu bent down to pick up a metal box and handed it to the Techmarine.

"You first dismantle the Spy Fly and master its structure."

Afterward, he spoke to the silver-haired psyker, who was wide-eyed and examining the many items in the private Armory.

"There are Ring Weapons and Protective Orbs made by the Space Apes here; you can choose some to take and use."

"When you encounter situations where you cannot use your psychic powers or your spirit is exhausted, you can rely on them."

"Thank you for your gift."

Arsena said respectfully, and he immediately followed Ninglu's gesture to a cast-iron rack.

On it, precious Ring Weapons were separated by cast-iron metal partitions.

The silver-haired psyker chose ten rings, filled his hands with them, and then came to another rack.

On it were Protective Orbs of different sizes, and he chose four more.

After Arsena finished choosing, Ninglu issued an order.

"You two, study the Spy Fly and disable the projection function."

While the Spy Fly conducted reconnaissance and surveillance, it would also project a holographic star-shaped image woven from light.

Ninglu guessed that the true purpose for which the Spy Fly was designed was to serve as a two-way communication device.

Subsequently, Ninglu ordered the servitors to transport two hundred sets of Spy Flies to the landing craft.

In addition to the allocation of one set each for the fifty-nine psykers across the ten companies, the remainder would be distributed to the companies for retention.

During the landing craft's descent, Sanchez had already followed the traces left by the Ogryn psyker, moving through the winding mountain roads until he arrived before a pitch-black cave.

The Lieutenant widened his eyes; if it weren't for the Company Captain leading the way, it would have taken a long time of carpet-searching to discover such a hidden cave.

【Captain, how did you do it? I didn't feel anything special about the places we walked through.】

The Hunter judged from the wounds on the rock face that looked as if they had been violently torn open, as well as the layers upon layers of chisel marks, that this was an artificial cave crudely excavated by Ogryns.

Sanchez surveyed the cave entrance ahead, which was wide enough for three people, and issued an order.

Three people side-by-side would hinder the movements of their teammates, "Reconnaissance Warrior squad, move in pairs."

Unlike after the Second Founding, where scouts of a Codex Chapter are composed of recruits, the Legion scouts of this era came from fully sworn and well-trained battle-brothers; they were all experienced Space Marine experts.

The two scouts stepped into the Darkness of the cave, habitually glanced at their eyepieces, and found that they were still filled with static; the Divination Array was still being interfered with.

They activated their stealth equipment, raised their Long-range Sniper Rifles, and advanced while providing cross-cover for each other.

As they advanced, the cave became increasingly wider, soon enough to allow four scouts to walk side-by-side.

Just then, a sudden immense force swept through the four of them, tossing them into the air and slamming them against the black metal cave wall above.

(End of chapter)