Chapter 47: War Hammer: What Do You Mean You Conquered the Bug Race

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Protagonist:

Lin En

Lena

Time returned to two weeks ago, shortly after the Abyss Incubation Pool incident had passed.

Lin En at that time was still considering how to leave Necromunda.

And Lena's alarm had already been transmitted through the system into Lin En's mind.

【Tyranid Signal Resonance intensity across the entire district has broken the threshold, Warp Turbulence is showing irregular agitation.

It is estimated that a large Tyranid Hive Cluster is breaking free of Jump State, expected to be less than fifteen Standard Days from Necromunda's orbit.】

Lin En's nerves, which had just relaxed a little, immediately tensed up again.

He had originally been certain that Cassius Squad cleaning up multiple Insect Nest Outposts would buy him at least one to two months of buffer time.

Enough for him to contact smugglers, prepare escape supplies and a ship.

But Lena's sudden warning disrupted his plans.

The Hive Fleet skipped the regular Penetration stage and was directly launching a Total Attack on Necromunda.

"Is it that the Genestealers' infiltration had a major breakthrough, or did the Hive Mind lock onto this Planet ahead of time, unable to wait to start eating?"

Lin En muttered softly; whatever the answer, the current situation was not optimistic.

But the one thing he could be certain of was that he had to run away immediately.

Once the Hive Fleet descended, the entire Planet's gravity field would be distorted, and Warp passages would be blocked by the Bug Swarm's Warp Shadow.

By then, even with wings it would be hard to fly away.

Now, the only one he could rely on was Lena.

After the Abyss Incubation Pool battle, Lena devoured the remains of ten Space Marines including Cassius, as well as a large quantity of Tyranid Biomass.

Whether Space Marine or high-level Bug Race flesh and blood, they all counted as the most "delicious" tier of Biomass.

This also caused that Affection Level number on the System Panel, which had recently been progressing slowly, to grow rapidly.

This number kept changing until it stopped at 50.

At the moment Affection Level broke through 50, Lin En could clearly feel Lena's change.

After the previous Individual Line Evolution, Lena was no longer that cold, killing-only Insect Race Warrior.

She had gained a trace of "Spirituality".

And this change was continuously amplifying that trace of Spirituality.

She began to use her compound eyes to curiously stare at Lin En's actions, and when Lin En was busy handling affairs with his Forehead covered in fine sweat,

she would use her sharp Rending Claw to carefully brush aside the hair on his forehead, helping him dissipate heat.

When Lin En rested, she would use her huge Hideous Head to gently rub against him.

Carrying the unique coolness of the Bug Race, yet strangely able to soothe Lin En's fatigue.

And Lin En always couldn't help but pet Lena's head at such times.

"How you've become like a little dog now." A smile rose at Lin En's Mouth Corner.

Lena didn't know why she had become like this, but she just felt that being petted by the human before her was very comfortable.

Of course, the biggest surprise brought by Affection Level breaking through 50 was still the new Skill Points unlocked by the Cultivation System.

Two new Skill Points; after considering, Lin En put them all on 【Development Line】.

When the third Skill Point fell on 【Development Line】, the System Panel popped up a prompt.

Special Skill Unlock: 【Brood Mother (1)】.

Roughly it meant Lena had now unlocked basic reproductive ability, able to consume Biomass to cultivate some units of the Bug Race.

Almost at the same time the Skill was unlocked, Lena, located in Zone 7 Depths, let out a Roar.

She began to constantly gather the Knife Worms "snatched" from the Hive Mind,

her mouthparts opened, and she began to constantly devour these "Spare Biomass".

One, two, three...

Twenty Knife Worms were all devoured within just ten Minutes.

Lena's body began to swell violently, muscles under the Carapace writhing madly, bones emitting teeth-gritting "creak" sounds.

After a period of time, her body stopped swelling, and her Abdomen slowly split open a huge gap.

A Pale Purple Radiance overflowed from the gap; immediately after, a bloated Creature slowly crawled out from her Abdomen.

After that Creature came out, it was like a pool of rotten mud, almost impossible to tell what it was.

It immediately began devouring the surrounding Knife Worms right after coming out, and its Appetite was astonishingly large.

After devouring over a hundred Knife Worms, it stopped eating, and at the same time its entire Carapace began to harden.

Lin En recognized its name: Tyrant Mother Worm.

It stood about fifteen Meters tall, far larger than Lena.

Its entire body was covered with thick, mountain-like undulating Chitinous Carapace, in a half-crouching posture.

Its Abdomen was extremely swollen; through the thin Carapace, one could clearly see the writhing, dense white embryos inside.

It did not have Lena's sharp Bone Blade, nor hideous mouthparts, only huge organs used for constant reproduction.

Lin En could feel that it was not a "pawn" controlled by Lena, but her "avatar", a part of her body.

"I'll call you Lena No. 2."

Lin En felt this special mother worm and said with a smile.

He couldn't help but imagine, if 【Tactical Line】 was also raised to level three.

Could it split off another Hive Tyrant?

After all, Lena's main body now counts as a Super Individual, and Lena No. 2 is a mother worm.

Then adding another Hive Tyrant to the Tactical Line would also be reasonable.

After a period of experimentation, Lin En discovered that Lena No. 2, by consuming biomass to cultivate low-level Tyranid units.

Probably cannon fodder like Knife Worms, Gun Worms, and Tearing Worms.

But!

Lena could also cultivate corresponding units by parsing the Tyranid Gene Code she devoured.

Although she could not generate high-level units like Hive Saints and Executioners, she gained many more options.

The most crucial of these was that Lena No. 2 could produce Genestealers!

Upon receiving this news, Lin En almost jumped for joy.

Genestealers, that is Gene Thieves, are the most sinister infiltration units of the Tyranids.

They can disguise themselves as humans, lurk among all levels, silently spread genes, and pave the way for the arrival of the Hive Fleet.

And now, Lena No. 2 could produce Genestealers belonging to him, Genestealers that completely obeyed his and Lena's commands.

This was truly sending charcoal in snowy weather; Lin En was just worried about finding no way to get a starship.

He used his influence in the Lower Hive and quickly organized an Infiltration Squad composed of Genestealers.

These Genestealers disguised themselves as merchants, sailors, and even officials of the Legal Affairs Department, silently penetrating the Ice Cold Port Spaceport of Necromunda.

Many starships were docked at the spaceport: Imperial transport ships, merchants' cargo ships.

There were also some dilapidated, abandoned Wanderer-class Merchant Ships.

Lin En's target was a Wanderer-class Merchant Ship named Eight-Armed.

This ship was dilapidated, its engine aged, its armor rusted, looking like it might fall apart at any moment, but it had one advantage.

It was large enough to hold tens of thousands of people, and its hull structure was solid enough to support Lin En's next plan.

Lin En, through Genestealer infiltration and by bribing spaceport managers, "legally" got his hands on this ship.

Next came modifying the starship.