Chapter 328: War Hammer: What Do You Mean You Captured the Xenos

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Protagonist:

Lin En

Lena

Deep in the nebula, more than a dozen green warships hovered silently.

The hull armor was covered with a rust layer several centimeters thick, and yellow-green viscous pus oozed from the cracks, with countless wriggling maggots crawling in the armor trenches.

There was no lighting on the bridge, only the eerie green glow of flickering control screens, illuminating a row of Death Guard warriors clad in rotting power armor.

Their power armor had long since merged with flesh and blood, the breathing valves of their helmets constantly exhaling white mist carrying plague spores, and the weapons in their hands all carried deadly viruses.

Rust Phelps stood at the center of the bridge, he was a Plague Engineer of the Pale Hand Warband, and one of Nurgle's most devout Champions.

His MKIII power armor's right shoulder plate bore the blurred Death Guard three-skull emblem, and his left shoulder plate bore Nurgle's Three-Spiral Arrow Symbol.

His helmet's target lens was covered by a layer of turbid biofilm, making his expression indiscernible, but from his clenched fist and the green poison mist surging around him, one could feel his suppressed rage.

His left hand gripped a rusted chainaxe, the axe blade congealed with black poison blood that never dried.

His right hand rested on the armrest of the console, the rusted metal at his fingertips contacting the alloy console, emitting a sizzling corrosion sound.

He was staring fixedly through the porthole at the distant green skin fleet and Plague Hulk locked in fierce battle.

Reflected in the turbid target lens were the firelight of explosions and splashing flesh and blood.

"A bunch of damn green skin beasts."

Phelps's voice was hoarse, as if squeezed out of a rusted iron pipe, carrying heavy mechanical noise.

His throat had long been transformed by the Father's grace, and every breath spread deadly plague spores.

For this mission, he had paid an unimaginable price.

Abaddon's Thirteenth Black Crusade was imminent, and that undefeated Warmaster had personally named him.

Requiring the Pale Hand to serve as the rear guard, to ambush Knight House Crast, to prevent them from dispatching Knight Mecha to support Cadia.

This was an excellent opportunity for the Pale Hand to prove themselves, and also a key step for Phelps to advance to Plague Lord.

But on the eve of departure, he received the Father's oracle.

On Brevis Planet in the Kalixis Star System lay a "Life Fragment," a fragment of the Father's lost authority, capable of turning the entire star system into an eternal rotting paradise.

Phelps unhesitatingly cast Abaddon's order behind him, taking his troops and thirty plague-laden hulks, and defected from the main force of the Chaos Legion.

For this, he was not only blacklisted by Abaddon, but also lost all supplies and support from the Chaos Legion.

Had it not been for Nurgle personally bestowing divine grace to protect his fleet as it crossed the Warp, he would long ago have been torn apart by the pursuers sent by the Warmaster.

Thirty hulks, each carrying the deadly plagues he had cultivated with a thousand years of painstaking effort.

Each had undergone countless live experiments, enough to render a medium-sized planet completely silent within seventy-two hours.

But while crossing the Warp, a sudden Warp Storm swallowed twenty-seven of the hulks.

Only these three plague-bearing hulks remained, arriving with difficulty at the edge of the Kalixis Star System.

According to the original plan, these three hulks would strike Brevis's Nest Capital at superluminal speed, releasing all plagues at once.

By then, tens of billions of humans would turn into rotting corpses within three days, and the entire planet would become the Father's garden.

And he would find the Life Fragment, becoming one of the Father's most favored Champions.

Who could have thought that just as the hulks emerged from the Warp, they ran into the green skin fleet retreating from Kal II.

These xenos with brains in their muscles gave not a single warning; upon seeing the hulk, their first reaction was to open fire, then they howled and launched a boarding battle.

"Sir, should we intervene?" a Death Guard warrior stepped forward.

A large hole had split open in his power armor's chest, inside which countless pale maggots writhed.

"These ridiculous green skins, we don't need to waste too much time to clean them up."

"Intervene?" Phelps turned his head, his turbid gaze fixed on that warrior.

"Fight green skins? Have you forgotten the Father's teachings? Do not waste the Father's grace in meaningless battles."

He raised his hand to point at the distant battlefield, his voice ice-cold: "Do you see those plague zombies—are they effective against green skins?"

The warrior followed his finger and saw that the plague zombies surging out of the hulk were no match at all before the green skins.

The genes bestowed upon the green skins by the Ancient Saints gave them natural resistance to Nurgle's flesh plagues.

Plague pus that could corrupt humans instantly, splashed on green skins, could at most cause mild ulceration.

Even some green skins, once infected, would have their immune systems activated, becoming even more frenzied, with combat power directly doubling.

"Green skins are fungal creatures; their physiology is completely different from carbon-based humans." Phelps said.

"Most of the Father's plagues can achieve less than one-tenth of their effect on them."

"And even if we could defeat these green skins, there would be no gain, only wasting more time."

"By then, forget about seizing the Life Fragment; we wouldn't even be able to enter Brevis's orbit."

This was the key: unlike easily provoked humans, corrupting green skins fundamentally lacked value for the Chaos Evil Gods.

The Evil Gods' power came from mortal souls and emotions, but green skin killing was pure instinct.

Moreover, green skin souls were too wild, and protected by the Waaagh Field, making them difficult to corrupt.

They were low cost-performance capture targets.

"So what do we do now?" another Death Guard warrior asked.

"The hulk is destroyed, and our advance plague plan has gone down the drain."

"Without cannon fodder, breaking through Brevis's orbital defense will cost us more."

"Adjust the plan." Phelps said without hesitation.

"Order the fleet to shut down all engines, maintain silence, bypass this battlefield, take the concealed route along the western side of the nebula, and infiltrate Brevis's orbit."

"But sir, without a Desolate Boat, how do we spread the plague?"

"Idiot." Phelps let out a cold snort, "There are many ways to spread the plague; the Desolate Boat is merely the most crude one."

"As long as we can reach the vicinity of Brevis, I have plenty of methods to make the entire planet fall into rot."

"We can disguise ourselves as Imperial ships, dock at the starport, dispatch Acolytes to infiltrate the city, and poison the water sources and food."

"We can even directly detonate a warship, letting the Merciful Father's gift cover the entire planet."

His tone carried a trace of cold gloom: "As for cannon fodder, Brevis has tens of billions of humans."

"Once the plague breaks out, they will all become the Merciful Father's most loyal servants."

"Those Green Skins, ignore them for now."

Following Phelps's command, over a dozen warships turned direction and shut down all active detection devices.

They were like venomous insects lurking in the darkness, silently slipping into the shadows on the western side of the nebula, heading toward Brevis Planet.

No one discovered that this deadly fleet was already slowly approaching Brevis.