Chapter 411: Warhammer: What Do You Mean You Conquered the Zerg? Chapter 411 Hidden Dangers

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Protagonist:

Lin En

Lena

Dominic hurried back to the bridge, his footsteps on the metal deck faintly hurried.

The silver-red glimmer in the shadows just now and that warning were like a needle, pricking his taut nerves, leaving no room for luck.

"Karen." As soon as he stepped into the command cabin, he spoke in a low voice, the aura that had relaxed slightly after sinking the enemy flagship turning cold and hard once more.

"Dispatch a squad of Marine Military Police to the lower deck for a full sweep of the living areas."

The deputy officer, who was organizing the battle damage report, suddenly looked up, his face still carrying the joy of victory, but his expression instantly tightened upon hearing this:

"Adult? The lower deck civilian residential area is rarely interfered with except for routine inspections on weekdays. Now that the space battle has just reached a critical juncture, suddenly dispatching military police..."

He did not finish his words, but the meaning was obvious.

The civilian area of the lower deck has always been a grey zone on Imperial warships—dirty, chaotic, and mixed with all kinds of people.

Investigating it is quite troublesome.

"Execute the order." Dominic did not explain, merely sitting in his seat, his tone leaving no room for negotiation.

"Retrieve all surveillance and communication links for every compartment. I need to know everything happening there right now."

"Yes!" Karen asked no more, immediately turning to relay the order.

The sacred duty of an Imperial citizen is engraved in his bones; even if full of confusion, the order must be carried out without fail.

Less than three minutes after the order was issued, the intelligence officer at the communications station suddenly changed color.

"Major General Adult!" He suddenly stood up, his voice carrying a trace of barely noticeable panic.

"All surveillance signals in H4 Living Area have been interrupted, the area communication terminals are unresponsive, and even the inspection team responsible for that area has lost contact!"

"How long?" Dominic walked to the intelligence station, his gaze falling on the surveillance screen full of snow, his brow tightly knotted.

"Based on the last data transmission, the signal was interrupted about seven minutes ago." The intelligence officer quickly tapped the keyboard.

This was exactly the time the enemy flagship exploded; the system initially judged it as a line fault caused by the explosion's shockwave.

But no one took it to heart...

Dominic's heart suddenly sank.

Seven minutes ago was exactly the moment the Pale Rose exploded in the Holy Flame.

Sorin was right.

Perhaps the other party never turned to ashes with the flagship, but instead used the cover of the explosion to infiltrate directly into the James Tong through some means.

The location they chose was extremely tricky—the lower deck H4 Living Area.

Dominic sighed.

This is a common problem for all large Imperial ships.

A large battlecruiser like the James Tong, which has served for over a thousand years, is never merely a simple combat unit.

Among the millions of personnel on board, there are regular soldiers, Mechanical Priests and technical personnel, and clergy of the State Religion.

Of course, there are also civilians who have drifted with the fleet for generation after generation.

Among these people, some are military dependents, raising children on the ship, and when the children grow up, they take over their parents' posts, serving the same warship generation after generation, serving as a supplementary force for the crew system.

More are orphans of martyrs, unemployed drifters, descendants of forgotten criminals, and scavengers who boarded in various declining star systems.

They crowd into the darkest, dampest lower decks, surviving by picking through debris and doing odd jobs, like moss clinging to the bones of a warship—impossible to shake off, impossible to clean thoroughly.

Out of humanitarian considerations and to stabilize the morale of the grassroots soldiers, the Ministry of War tacitly accepted the existence of these people, dispatching only a small number of inspection personnel to maintain basic order, never deeply controlling them.

And such an area with loose management, mixed personnel, and weak faith...

Is the best breeding ground for Chaos Cults and Gene Thief Sects, etc.

All it takes is one believer carrying a plague, one secret sacrificial ritual, and in less than half a day, the entire lower deck could become the Father's Paradise.

"Pass on my order." Dominic's voice was cold.

"Thirteenth Military Police Squadron, all members with live ammunition, immediately seal off all entrances and exits of H4 District; no one is allowed to enter or leave."

"Notify the Military Chaplain Corps to dispatch a Combat Chaplain Company with holy relics accompanying them."

"Mechanical Priest Group prepare purification equipment, stand by at any time."

"Tell the captain of the military police team leading the operation to find out the situation inside and report back immediately."

"If confirmed as Chaos Contamination, on-site disposal is permitted without needing to request instructions."

"Yes!"

Lower Deck Seventh District, the air carried a strange smell of mold mixed with inferior tobacco.

But after all, the James Tong belonged to the wealthy Veturia Family hundreds of years ago.

The environment is still much better compared to the Nest Capital.

When Captain Keller led three hundred military police to the main gate of H4 District, his first reaction was to frown.

Something is wrong.

The thick explosion-proof alloy gate should have gleamed with cold, hard silver-gray metal luster, but now it looked as if it had been soaked in rotten water for hundreds of years.

The surface was covered with a layer of dark brown loose rust, and gray-green mold spots grew on the rust layer, spreading outward along the seams of the gate.

Even the surrounding cabin walls were corroded into pits and hollows, as if soaked in strong acid.

An indescribable stench of decay seeped out from the cracks, mixed with the fishy smell of fresh blood; one whiff made one's stomach churn.

Even with the power armor's filtration system fully open, it could not block that nose-piercing evil smell.

"Captain, this..." The Vice Captain beside him covered his mouth and nose, his eyes full of shock.

"How... how did it rust like this?"

Keller did not answer; he pressed an instrument against the outer wall of the valve.

The process of metal rusting was actually continuously releasing heat, indicating the corruption reaction was still madly proceeding, at a speed that defied physical common sense.

Decades of military career, countless experiences cleaning up cult outposts told him, behind the door was absolutely not just a simple plague spread.

Someone inside was conducting a ritual.

Only an evil Chaos Ritual could corrode an entire blast-proof valve door into this ghostly appearance in such a short time.

"Report to the Bridge immediately." Keller stepped back, raising his hand to signal the team members to spread out in a tactical formation.

"H4 District confirms large-scale corruption contamination appeared, suspected Chaos Ritual in progress, requesting additional heavy firepower and purification unit support."

"Everyone, load bomb guns, power armor filtration systems full power on."

He gripped the chain sword in his hand tightly, the gaze beneath his mask turning resolute.

"Prepare to break the door."

"Yes!"

The gendarmes neatly pulled back their bolts, the bomb guns' metal firing pins emitting a crisp sound.

Gun muzzles aimed at the rusted valve door, only waiting for the Captain's single command to pour out judgment's firepower.

Vague chanting sounds faintly transmitted from behind the door.

Low, turbid, like countless people squeezing out prayer words from the depths of their throats, even through the thick metal cabin wall it could make one's scalp turn numb.

Keller knew, the time left for them was not much.

Once the ritual finished, heaven knows what would crawl out from inside.