Chapter 358: Warhammer: What Do You Mean You Conquered the Bug Race

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Protagonist:

Lin En

Lena

What awaited them was being crammed into overcrowded transport ships, crossing countless light-years through the Warp, and being dropped onto the most dangerous battlefields across the Galaxy.

Possibly Death Worlds ravaged by Green Skins, possibly Fortress Worlds occupied by Chaos, or possibly Invasion Fronts of Tyranids.

The vast majority wouldn't even see the enemy clearly before becoming a pool of rotten flesh on the battlefield.

Giant transport aircraft kept landing in the sky, the roaring of their engines shaking people's eardrums until they ached.

After the conscription order for the first billion soldier sources was issued, the screening work in Bottom City never stopped for a moment.

Under the pretext of "screening for disease," the Purge Plague Sect selected healthy people of suitable age from each district, then the guards escorted them uniformly to Upper City, with not the slightest room for maneuver throughout.

"Hurry up, don't dawdle!"

The guards' shouts rose and fell, the blue crackle of electro-shock batons flashing through the crowd.

A youth stumbled, fell onto the alloy floor, and was immediately grabbed by the collar by a soldier beside him, shoved forward as he walked.

The youth did not resist, nor cry out, but numbly patted the dust off his body, following the team step by step toward the open hatch of the transport ship.

Inside the hatch was a dim, narrow large bunk, five-tiered bunk beds densely packed together, leaving hardly any room to turn around.

Each transport ship had to carry over five million people, eating, drinking, urinating, and defecating all inside the cabin until reaching their destination.

The cold electronic eyes of the servitors swept across the doorway, recording the biological information of every person boarding, and declaring that they had completely lost their freedom from then on.

The line slowly moved forward, no one spoke, only heavy footsteps and low coughs.

The prosperity of Upper City in the distance grew farther and farther away, the cold metal inner walls of the transport ship drew nearer and nearer, like a closing giant coffin, burying their freedom.

Before the observation window of the James Tong's bridge, Dominic stared blankly at the crowds endlessly pouring into the transport ships below.

"Report, Adult, the first billion conscripts have finished assembling and are boarding in succession." The deputy officer stepped forward and reported respectfully.

"Governor Kerry's side sent word that subsequent soldier sources will be delivered in batches within half a month."

"So fast?" Dominic raised an eyebrow, his tone carrying a hint of surprise.

The Bottom City Plague raged so fiercely, in utter chaos, he thought Lin En would need at least several months to gather the first wave of soldier sources, or even directly abandon Bottom City.

Unexpectedly, in just over ten days, a billion people were already prepared, boarding the starport in succession.

He had to admit, this young governor's methods of handling internal affairs were indeed much stronger than he had expected.

But surprise was surprise, caution had not lessened by half.

Dominic pondered for a moment, then ordered in a deep voice: "Pass the order down, first accept five million conscripts, transfer them to dedicated isolation transport ships."

"Monitored by servitors twenty-four hours a day, no one allowed close contact, observe the incubation period for three days first, then talk after confirming no problems."

"Yes, Adult." The deputy officer responded and went to arrange it.

Dominic's gaze fell back onto the crowd below, his brow slightly furrowed.

It wasn't that he didn't trust Lin En, but the Bottom City Plague was no ordinary plague, it could even corrupt inorganic matter, leaving him no choice but to be careful.

If a few incubating infected slipped in and broke out inside the sealed transport ship, a ship of several million people could all be ruined.

This wait lasted three days.

Three days later, when the deputy officer came again with the test report, his face showed obvious relief:

"Report, Adult, everything is normal inside the isolation transport ship, not a single case of infection symptoms appeared."

"The servitors' life sign monitoring also shows that all conscripts' physical conditions are stable."

"Oh?" Dominic took the report and glanced at it, a hint of approval in his eyes.

"This Keli Feng really has some skill, that mess in Bottom City would have turned into porridge long ago with anyone else, yet he actually managed to screen out so many healthy people."

Even so, he did not immediately relax the acceptance.

Dominic stroked his chin, thought for a moment, then said: "Still follow the original plan, accept these billion people in twenty batches."

"Each batch isolated and observed for forty-eight hours, confirmed abnormal-free before merging into the main force, better safe than sorry, there cannot be the slightest oversight."

"Understood, Adult."

What Dominic didn't know was that his caution happened to fall within Lin En's expectations.

In the Governor's Mansion office, Lin En looked at the acceptance progress sent from the starport, a faint, barely perceptible smile curling at the corner of his mouth.

"Dominic indeed accepted in batches." Lena stood beside him, a trace of doubt flashing in her purple eyes.

"We can clearly provide completely healthy conscripts, why must we deliberately mix a few infected in?"

"Isn't that increasing losses?"

"Too perfect is the biggest trouble." Lin En lightly shook his head, his fingertip sweeping across the holographic screen.

"What place is Bottom City? Dirty, chaotic, and a heavy plague disaster area."

"If among the billion people sent over, not a single one was infected, with zero losses, do you think Dominic wouldn't get suspicious?"

He specifically had the Butcher mix a few people in the early stage of infection, at a rate of a few per ten thousand, into each batch of soldier sources.

These people were generally just infected, with a relatively long incubation period, and wouldn't break out in a short time.

They would only start falling ill successively after the transport ship left Brevis and sailed through the Warp, with the final overall loss controlled within one percent.

This proportion matched the losses a conscript team from a plague area should have, even on the low side.

It wouldn't affect the overall quality of conscripts, nor seem too abrupt.

In the Empire's conscription records, conscripts recruited from the Nest Capital's lower levels dying at a rate of one or two percent on the way was perfectly normal.

"No matter how suspicious Dominic is, he won't investigate a few sporadic deaths on the way." Lin En said lightly.

"On the contrary, it's precisely the clean, zero-infection soldier source that would make him feel something fishy is going on inside."

Lena nodded in sudden realization, her gaze toward Lin En holding a few more degrees of admiration.

The twists and turns of these human hearts, she could never think as thoroughly as Lin En.

Just as the handover work advanced in an orderly fashion, within the chaotic boarding queue, several dozen figures wrapped in tattered black robes were quietly slipping away from the team under cover of the crowd.

They had long since infiltrated the Purge Plague Sect's screening team, and were sent up to the Upper City along with the healthy population.

Taking advantage of the guards' attention being focused on maintaining order, they wound their way through the Starport's cargo passages.

Before long they had burrowed into the abandoned warehouse area piled high with goods, disappearing among the crisscrossing pipes and containers.

"Hah..." A black-robed person removed their hood, revealing a fair face, panting heavily.

"We finally got out, go straight to that Noble Major General? Tell him about the Purge Plague Sect and those monsters, have the Imperial Army directly uproot Keli Feng's lair."

"No." The leader shook his head, voice hoarse.

"Adult Luna instructed us, we cannot directly step forward to report."

"Why?" The person beside them looked completely puzzled.

"We have evidence in hand, telling the Imperial Navy directly, isn't that better than sneaking around here?"

The leader fell silent for a moment, recalling in his mind the last words Luna spoke before departure.

At that time she stood in the shadows of the secret chamber, voice icy cold and carrying a few hints of mockery:

"The truth is often most real when discovered by oneself."