Chapter 18: Warhammer: What Do You Mean You Conquered the Bug Race

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Protagonist:

Lin En

Lena

Lin En knew perfectly well he was being watched; it wasn't hard to notice.

The only thing he couldn't figure out was exactly where he had slipped up.

Still, he played the role of the capable, slightly weary Patrol Officer Lin En—with the caution and slight greed typical of a lower-level bureaucrat—to perfection.

He arrived and left on time, reviewed documents diligently, was sometimes stern and sometimes conciliatory with his subordinates, and maintained surface courtesy and distance with his colleagues.

When reporting to Cassius, his tone was always respectful and slightly tense, befitting a mortal's posture before an Astartes.

All his expenditure records had been carefully disguised, especially the huge sums used to "feed" Lena.

They were split up and hidden under various official reimbursements, equipment procurement, and "private investments."

Though the accounts looked somewhat messy, within the Hive World's bureaucratic system, they instead appeared extremely "normal."

Until the real bomb detonated.

That day, Lin En came to the Son of Medusa outpost to work as usual.

He seemed almost used to working at high intensity under people's watchful eyes.

But today, Lin En heard a bombshell as soon as he arrived.

The Medusa Squad had independently detected a suspected Tyranid Node Nest hidden in a certain area.

Seeing the location of that area, Lin En's blood seemed to freeze instantly.

"This was my oversight; this area was one of the earliest I patrolled."

"I didn't expect there to be xenos infiltration again, making the Angel adults laugh at us."

Indeed, the area Cassius reported was exactly where Lena was hiding.

Seeing Lin En react so quickly, Cassius also developed a bit of admiration for this "little patrol officer."

He can really act, this person.

But when Lin En saw the information on the screen, his pupils contracted for almost only ten milliseconds, yet it was captured by Cassius's helmet.

This guy, indeed has a problem.

Afterward, although Lin En forced himself to stay calm and keep working, after all he was searching the lair of his own "ambiguous object."

He still made some subtle changes even he found hard to notice.

For example, when his subordinates found traces of the Lena Swarm.

His right index finger and thumb unconsciously began rubbing the metal edge of the data slate at his waist.

This movement was an unconscious manifestation when he was highly tense.

While waiting for Cassius to issue new orders at the outpost, or during tedious data handovers with the Mechanical Priest.

Lin En's gaze would sometimes show a brief "Focus Loss Phenomenon."

His eyes still looked forward, but deep in his pupils it was as if nothing was reflected.

As if "listening" to some distant and faint sound, or reading a piece of Void Text only he could see.

This state usually lasted only half a second, then he would blink and his gaze would refocus.

In fact, he was indeed trying to find whether there were any Lena Swarm units nearby.

But he had personally told Lena that under no circumstances were her swarm units to appear near the Son of Medusa outpost.

Now reaping what he sowed, Lin En was very anxious about how to pass word to Lena.

Both states differed from his usual steady, by-the-book work rhythm.

Cassius's cold Logic Processor correlated these subtle anomalies with previous battlefield data analysis results.

His judgment was that Lin En Ke'er Wa Na was hiding something,.

and what he hid was highly related to Tyranid movements, possibly the key to solving the Tyranid infiltration problem of the Necromunda Hive World.

Based on the existing mortal cognition framework, Cassius was more inclined toward two possibilities:

A: Lin En had private collusion with a cunning, undiscovered Cult Leader of the Gene Thief Sect

B: Lin En himself was an undetected, higher-rank or more concealed Gene-stealer Hybrid.

As for Lin En directly cooperating with a self-aware Tyranid Node?

This idea was too heretical, too beyond conventional cognition.

To verify the conjecture, especially that "Extreme Hypothesis," Cassius decided not to passively wait anymore.

He could completely use more extreme methods to find out all this, but he was very curious about the relationship between Lin En and that abnormal Tyranid Node.

Therefore he would actively apply pressure, set a trap, and observe Lin En's most instinctive reaction.

When the work progress was about the same, Cassius rarely summoned Lin En:

"Recent cleanup efficiency is not bad, Inspector Lin En.

And this time the target's strength is very weak; we plan to rest for twenty-four hours before acting again.

So today's work ends here." He paused for a moment, his white helmet turning slightly.

"You go back and rest; just keep communications open."

Lin En's heart sank, but his face immediately showed just the right amount of weariness and gratitude:

"Thank you for the Angel adult's consideration, subordinate stands ready at all times."

He saluted respectfully, retreated, turned, and left the warehouse.

Every step was steady, but his heart hammered heavily in his chest.

Not acting immediately? That was too unusual.

Cassius's squad belonged to the Iron Hands Chapter, famed for sustained combat and efficient ruthlessness—how could they suddenly need such a long "rest period"?

This was more like a "bait," a deliberately left, seemingly safe window.

Lin En's nerves instantly tensed to the limit.

After he left, Cassius turned toward the shadows.

"Follow him," he said to the two warriors who were always on standby.

They were two mortal auxiliary troops equipped with the latest optical camouflage and full-body silencing systems.

Their figures twisted slightly in the warehouse's dim light, then almost completely blended into the surroundings.

At the same time Lin En left the Son of Medusa outpost.

Three Son of Medusa warriors had already brought Martian Auxiliary Army troops and a large number of servitors to the vicinity of Lena's nest.

The perpetually distracted Lin En simply failed to notice that three Space Marines were missing from the outpost.

An invisible and deadly net silently enveloped Lin En and Lena.

After leaving the outpost, Lin En did not hurry back to the Seventh District to contact Lena.

He forced himself to act according to the pattern of an "ordinary bureaucrat" who had worked a hard day and finished work.

He went to the District Six Market, lingered before several stalls, and bought some moderately priced synthetic protein blocks and condensed fruit.

He even chatted a few words with the old-book stall vendor about the plots of recently popular vulgar novels.

The smile on his face was natural, his tone relaxed, but the corner of his eye kept scanning the surroundings.

The clamor of the crowd, the roaring of machinery, distant sirens faintly heard...

Everything seemed normal.

It was just that he always felt a gaze falling on his back, cold and lasting.

Lin En seemed to realize something, and immediately returned to the Seventh District.

After arriving in the Seventh District, he began searching everywhere for Lena's bug swarm, trying to establish a connection with her.

Tell her the news that the Son of Medusa might have discovered Lena's nest.

Normally, in his jurisdiction, there would always be several Tyranid units linked to Lena's consciousness bodies.

As long as these Tyranid units appeared within a certain range near him, he could contact Lena through the system's function.

But today, he simply could not connect to Lena no matter what.

The feeling of unease grew increasingly severe.