Chapter 22: Warhammer: What Do You Mean You Conquered the Bug Race

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Protagonist:

Lin En

Lena

Last night, in that cold apartment, after confirming Lena had been severely injured but escaped and was temporarily safe.

The exhaustion of surviving the ordeal did not last long.

What replaced it was an icy sense of crisis, cold enough to freeze the marrow.

Lin En slumped against the door, but his brain was racing at a nearly mad speed.

"Cassius knows."

"Medusa's Sons Squad, the most threatening force on this Hive World right now, has set its sights on him and Lena."

Escape? Where could he escape to?

The Hive World was locked down layer by layer; the Upper Level had Nobles and the Legal Affairs Department, the Lower Level was a paradise for Mutants and Heretics—leave the Hive World?

No starship, no travel permit; leaving the shield meant deadly radiation and vacuum.

Hide? Lena's Nest had already been discovered, and she, severely injured, needed time and resources to recover.

And Cassius's Squad possessed the most advanced detection equipment; in the relatively closed environment of the Hive World, finding them was only a matter of time.

Fight? With his and Lena's current strength, to oppose a Magra Clan Destruction Squad that was well-equipped, experienced, and born for killing?

That was no different from suicide.

Despair, as if thick alloy walls from all directions were silently closing in,

to crush him together with the "secret" in his mind.

Just as despair, like an icy tide, was about to submerge the last dam of his consciousness.

An absurd, mad thought, rising from the depths of his soul as a former galgame player from his past life.

Like lightning in the darkness, it split through his chaotic thoughts.

"Can the System's Target of Attack bind a second one?"

The moment this thought appeared, even he felt it was utterly ridiculous.

Other people's galgames were about building a harem with all sorts of beautiful girls.

As for him, his main wife was a Tyranid, and the side quest he wanted to open was a bald "Canned Food."

But.

"If the System can really bind a second one."

Lin En's heart leaped fiercely.

He struggled to his feet, staggered to the Data Slate, and his fingers trembled but firmly opened that pink System Interface, so out of place in the surrounding dark and cruel environment.

He ceaselessly manipulated the System with his will, opening various pages hidden in corners.

Until he saw a line of text.

【Side Quest: "Even the 41st Millennium Wants to Fall in Love!"】

Prompt: Given the host's current situation, forcibly binding a side quest character carries extremely high risk.

Lin En stared at the jumping text on the screen, his breathing suddenly becoming rapid.

"It really can!"

With Lena's Affection Level and strength growing, he had actually unlocked the System's "Side Quest" function!

Although there was currently only one slot, and the binding risk was extremely high, this meant.

It meant he might not have to choose between "being suppressed by Medusa's Sons" and "fleeing in a panic with Lena only to be taken down by other forces."

He could have a third path—a more mad, more dangerous, but potentially hugely rewarding heretical path!

"Cassius..." Lin En murmured the name, his eyes narrowing with ill intent as he stuck out his tongue to lick his upper lip.

Compared to sitting and waiting for death, he would rather gamble once.

"Let's do it, brothers!" Lin En's eyes held only the determination to break the cauldrons and sink the boats.

So, when the next morning he walked toward Medusa's Sons' Outpost with a pale face and bloodshot eyes,

there was no panic in his heart, only a near-cold calm, and a trace of excitement about to start a mad gamble.

At this moment, in the Warehouse.

Spirit Energy Chains were deeply embedded in Cassius's consciousness, and the System's binding agreement was running with a tyrannical posture, forcibly.

The violent backlash made Lin En bleed from all seven orifices, half-kneeling on the ground, darkness flashing before his eyes, feeling as if his soul were about to be drained dry.

But he endured.

Because he "saw" that, beside Cassius's struggling consciousness shadow wrapped in Spirit Energy Chains,

a brand new, pink System sub-interface was "generating" with difficulty, bit by bit.

【Side Quest Binding in Progress~~~】

【Target: Medusa's Sons Officer Cassius (Male)】

After a while, the System Prompt informed Lin En that the binding was successful!

"The first side quest." He panted, his voice hoarse but carrying an undeniable meaning, "Let's start with you, Cassius!"

Immediately after, the System Interface blazed with radiance!

A strange pale yellow warm light spread from somewhere, coating the Warehouse with a hazy, unreal filter.

Like the sunset after school lets out in high school.

The rusty pipes and metal walls blurred, as if invisible cherry blossom petals drifted through the air.

Under the system's power, Lin En and Cassius's images also...

Generated into two distinct "character portraits," floating on the dialogue interface of the consciousness layer.

Lin En's portrait was a youth with black hair, a pale complexion but determined eyes, blood at the corner of his mouth, wearing a damaged Tax Officer Uniform.

The background was the hazy neon of Nest Capital, with faint pink heart-shaped effects flickering beside him.

Cassius's portrait was his image after removing his helmet—a bald head.

His face was hard as stone carving, his deep blue eyes holding residual violent anger and confusion, clad in heavy emerald power armor.

The white mark of the Magra Clan on his shoulder armor was clearly visible, the background an abstract pattern of steel and flame, but its edges likewise penetrated by a pink halo.

The entire scene was filled with an extremely strange, absurd, even somewhat "ambiguous" yet inescapable atmosphere.

Lin En looked at this familiar galgame dialogue interface, feeling the "romance game" atmosphere forcibly created by the system.

Certain indescribable memory fragments from the Terra 3K Era of his past life suddenly surged uncontrollably into his heart.

The drama queen's soul instantly ignited in his mind.

Then Lin En, in a tone he himself found cringey enough to raise goosebumps yet strangely fitting the current "scene atmosphere," with a strange verbal tic, "spoke" the first line of dialogue:

【Lin En (portrait leaning slightly forward, eyes "sincerely" terrifying)】:

"Senior Cassius, A Dou (that one), Wa Da Si (me) has something to say to Senior!"

Cassius's portrait shook violently, as if struck by a tremendous mental impact.

His real body was still bound by Spirit Energy Chains, unable to move, but his consciousness let out a furious roar in the dialogue interface:

【Cassius】 (the flames in the portrait's background seemingly burning even brighter, torrential rage in his deep blue eyes):

"?"

A simple question mark, yet containing killing intent and confusion enough to tear a mortal soul apart.

However, the system's power forcibly "restricted" his actions.

【Lin En】 (bowing ninety degrees, tone earnest):

"Wa Da Si, siku (likes) Senior! From the first time I saw Senior, I was attracted by Senior's powerful, calm, efficient heroic bearing!"

"Please let Wa Da Si interfere in Senior's life! Please date me, Senior Cassius!!!"