Chapter 406

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Protagonist:

Lin En

Lena

The battle lasted a full half hour.

From the bow to the bridge, from the outer cabins to the core power section.

The defenders' resistance grew weaker and weaker, the Pastor's prayers grew lower and lower, the golden Holy Flame gradually dimmed, and even the Boltgun in his hand grew flesh and blood, beginning to backlash against its Master.

When the final bolter shot rang out, the green dot representing the Moon-class Cruiser on the main screen completely turned a turbid dark green.

It had been completely corrupted.

The hull surface began to sprout familiar pus moss and blood vessels, the cannon barrels twisted and deformed, oozing viscous dark green liquid.

The originally silver-grey Imperial Warship, in just half an hour, became a new member of the Nurgle Fleet.

An even more nauseating scene followed.

The surrounding Plague Warships did not leave immediately; instead, they all crowded closer.

They used the flesh tendril tissue on their hulls to entwine the newly corrupted cruiser, as if sharing food.

Streams of pure energy and souls were extracted by them; the flesh hulls originally blasted apart by cannon fire were actually repairing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Ruptured blood vessels pulsed anew, shattered cannon barrels slowly grew new tissue, even the riddled bow was gradually restoring its original form under the proliferating flesh.

This was a carrion-eaters' revelry.

Devouring companions' remains, drawing nutrients from prey, reborn amidst rot and death.

This is Nurgle's war logic, and also where they are most despair-inducing.

Every one of their warships you destroy may become nutrients for them to repair themselves.

The bridge fell silent.

Everyone watched that strange and disgusting picture on the screen, feeling as if a boulder weighed on their hearts.

Dominic was expressionless, but his slightly trembling fingers showed he was not as calm as he appeared on the surface.

Lianggenna's Shadow flashed through his mind.

The Big Pot that devoured cannon fire, the endless Green Skins, and that Green-skinned Warlord who could never be killed...

Those long-sealed memories became clear again at this moment.

But he did not immerse himself in recollection.

After experiencing the initial shock, he quickly calmed down.

His gaze passed over the Nurgle fleet group currently "feeding," settling on the far rear of the battlefield, that Heavy Cruiser which had remained motionless the whole time.

The Pale Rose.

From the start of the battle until now, it had always stayed behind the Nurgle fleet.

Neither advancing nor opening fire, like a calm bystander, quietly watching the slaughter ahead.

It was waiting.

Waiting for a chance to rush straight at the James Tong.

Dominic knew very well that those escort ships and cruisers were just cannon fodder.

The real killing move was that Plague Lord Ship.

He could feel the opponent's attention was entirely on him.

He took a deep breath, suppressed his surging emotions, voice steady as ever:

"Pass the order: Central Fleet Group contract formation."

"James Tong engines full power, main cannon charging."

"I want to see if these plague rats have the guts to chew down my Flagship."

The Macro Cannon's roar resounded through the Void once more; the larger-scale collision had only just begun.

That Moon-class Cruiser which had been fiercely resisting moments ago had now completely shed the Imperial Warship's silver-grey livery.

Thick pus moss climbed every inch of armor like mold spots after rain; thick blood-vessel-like tissue wound and grew along the cannon barrels and bridge gaps.

And with each pulse sprayed gray mist carrying the Plague Virus.

The originally sharp-angled bow became bloated and soft, edges sprouting jagged bone growths, like a giant rotting mouth writhing.

It did not sink, did not disintegrate; rather, as if injected with a new soul, it swung its cannon mouths around, aiming at its former comrades.

"Major General Adult, enemy ship count complete." The Observation Officer's voice carried a tremor he could not hide,

"Enemy originally had seventeen ships; after devouring our Fifth, total combat unit count did not decrease but increased, now eighteen ships."

"New unit is a corruption-type Moon-class Cruiser, and possesses relatively complete firepower output capability."

Dominic stood with hands behind his back before the porthole, his uniform hem swaying slightly with the hull's faint tremors.

He gazed at that constantly writhing dark green fleet group in the distance, brow tightly furrowed.

First the undying Green-skinned Warlord Lianggenna, then the Gene Thieves hiding in Bottom City's shadows.

Now a Nurgle Fleet pops up that can "infect" Imperial Warships alive into their own kind.

This Tithe Fleet of his, though not a frontline main battle sequence of the Imperial Navy.

Still, large and small warships combined total nearly fifty ships; pulled together they'd barely suffice for a Star Sector-level Rebellion Campaign.

Yet in this obscure Border Star System of Calixis, they keep running into all manner of monsters that only appear in Heretic Archives.

"This ghost place Brevis, just how much filth is it hiding."

He cursed softly, his tone carrying a hint of fatigue and a touch of battlefield-hardened coldness.

No one replied.

Everyone stared at the Main Screen, watching that Nurgle Fleet which had suffered not the slightest damage and had even grown a full circle larger.

Like a pack of ghouls crawling from a rotting corpse, they adjusted their heading in a slow, leisurely manner.

Their next target was the Left Wing Second Combat Group.

That combat group centered on a Tyrant-class Cruiser, with three Escort Ships and one Destroyer under its command, and was currently the node positioned farthest forward in the dispersed formation.

At this moment they were still pouring out firepower with all their might, the Macro Cannon Array raining down like a violent storm on the Plague Guard Frigates charging at the Most Front, blasting rotting flesh and pus to Fly Splash everywhere.

Yet those hulls blasted full of holes needed only a few dozen seconds to reseal their wounds with proliferating Flesh Tissue, Temporarily maintaining "integrity," without ever having slowed down.

They were like a band of madmen who knew they would never truly suffer a loss, hard-tanking the entire Tithe Fleet's crossfire, throwing themselves at the next prey without hesitation.

No matter the losses, as long as they could bite off a chunk of an Imperial Warship, they would earn it back with interest.

"These bastards, they simply treat our Warships as supplies." Deputy Officer Karen cursed angrily.

"If we keep fighting like this, for every ship we lose, they gain a fraction more combat strength; sooner or later we'll be attrited to death alive."

Dominic naturally understood this logic.

He had been observing since just now; ordinary Armor-Piercing Shells and High-explosive Shells had extremely poor effect against these Plague Warships.

Explosions could tear apart the surface Flesh Tissue, but could not blast through the deep Corrupted Core; instead they would cause the splashing pus to Spread even faster.

Only the Light Spear's high-temperature scorching could deal relatively effective damage to them, but the Light Spear charged slowly and was few in number; facing over a dozen Warships pressing Step-by-step Pressure, it simply could not cover them all.

Against Chaos Plague, Flame is forever the optimal solution.

Element Flame, Holy Flame, Heat Melt Weapon — high temperature can burn away the Virus, incinerate the Flesh Tissue proliferation, severing their self-healing ability at the root.

But the problem is, the Tithe Fleet's main weapons are the Macro Cannon Array; the shipboard ammunition magazines are mostly conventional Armor-Piercing Shells and High-explosive Shells, Burning Ammunition reserves are less than three-tenths.

Temporarily Change Clothes ammunition takes time, at least one hour to complete the Zhu Liang Ji's ammunition loading.

And right now, before the Second Combat Group is Close-range Combat by the Nurgle Fleet, there are at most forty Minutes left.

Are we to watch helplessly as yet another combat group is Corroded and Devoured, using soldiers' lives to buy time for ammunition Change Clothes?

Dominic's Eyebrow locked tight, his Gaze Sweep across the constantly Jump distance readings on the tactical panel, his heart rapidly weighing pros and cons.

Withdrawing to Contraction the formation would invite enemy pursuit on the tail; splitting forces to Escort would disrupt the overall Defense system; whichever choice, it seemed like a dead move.

Just then, the Observation Officer suddenly raised his voice, carrying a hint of Disbelief shock:

"Major General Adult, O'clock Direction!"

"Huo Si Zu high-speed Torpedo Signal, Count thirteen, Target is enemy Left Wing formation!"

Dominic Fiercely turned his head to look at the sub-screen.

Only to see, from the direction of Brevix Planet's Synchronize Orbit, twelve Torpedoes trailing pale blue Tail Trace tearing through the vacuum at astonishing speed.

Like twelve Fire-quenched Arrows, they pierced straight into the Nurgle Fleet's Left Wing formation.

There was no anticipated earth-shaking Explosion Roaring, no sky-full of Metal Fragment Fly Splash.

The moment the Torpedoes Boom blasted open among the Plague fleet, what rose was not an explosion shockwave, but a Torrential crimson sea of fire.

The instant Tiberium Fuel was detonated, flames of thousands of degrees suddenly spread out, completely enveloping the three Plague Guard Frigates on the Left Wing.

Sticky Pus Moss and Flesh Tissue ignited on contact with fire, emitting sizzling scorching sounds, foul-smelling thick black smoke instantly Surge upward.

The more astonishing part was still to come.

The first wave's fire had not yet reached its peak when a second volley followed close behind.

Dozens of thick Macro Cannon trajectories howled from the planet's direction, trailing Dark Red Tail Trace as they smashed into the center of the sea of fire.

These Bao Dan were not conventional Armor-Piercing or High-explosive warheads; the moment the shells burst open, the Tiberium Gel and fine powder loaded inside scattered through the sky.

Like splashing oil, they fiercely poured onto the Burning hulls.

"Boom!!"

The fire intensity instantly multiplied several times over; within the crimson flames, a layer of Pale Gold light even faintly emerged.