Chapter 511: Warhammer: What Do You Mean You Conquered the Zerg

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Protagonist:

Lin En

Lena

Dust from the abandoned mining district rose in the explosion, covering half the sky.

Ayla crouched behind the wreckage of a half-collapsed mine cart, her pulse rifle already hot.

That Chaos Demon Engine had just crushed the first trap, flipping three armor vehicles like paper. Immediately after, the second trap detonated.

Joints snapped, the massive Demon Engine tilted sharply to one side, its entire chassis sinking into a sand pit dug in advance.

"Now." Ayla pressed the communication device.

"Steel Knights, left wing encircle."

Gray figures surged out simultaneously from mine tunnels, abandoned conveyor belts, and shadows in the rock walls.

Armor-piercing grenades exploded in succession. The trapped Demon Engine roared madly, inhuman howls constantly issuing from within its armor.

But once it lost mobility, no matter how thick the steel, it could only become a target; its engine core was soon penetrated.

Soul flames surged out from the armor seams, but Ayla had already turned her gaze away.

At the rear of the column, a tall figure was walking toward her.

Chaos Astartes; the entire warband had only eight or nine true Chaos Astartes.

Yet each one was enough to become the core of a local battle.

The other side also spotted Ayla, and the chain sword roared.

Ayla charged out of cover, and the two figures collided amid the ruins.

The chain sword swept across with a roaring blast; Ayla sidestepped, her weapon thrusting toward the power armor's armpit, but was knocked aside by the other's shoulder armor.

The first probe yielded no result.

Before clashing again, Ayla carefully observed the opponent.

There were obvious repair marks on the left arm armor seam, the right knee plate was a lighter color—a newly replaced joint.

She immediately changed her fighting style.

No longer meeting force with force, but constantly moving, forcing the heavy power armor to turn repeatedly, pressing the strain onto its right leg again and again.

On the seventy-first time, the right knee's movement finally showed a momentary hesitation.

Ayla had been waiting for this instant; the blade slipped along the armor seam and pierced in.

The Chaos Astartes' body stiffened suddenly; the chain sword scraped Ayla's left shoulder armor, sending up a spray of sparks.

The next second, the blade pierced completely through, and the tall figure crashed to the ground.

Ayla withdrew her weapon and staggered a step.

In the distance, the Demon Engine was already burning completely.

The remaining landing troops began to retreat; the Steel Knights held Ayla's command and did not pursue deeply.

In this battle, they likewise lost an entire formation.

Maintenance personnel rushed at once toward the hidden passage, relocating the Warhound Titan that had briefly joined the battle.

The Chaos Fleet held orbital superiority. Once they confirmed the Titan's fixed position, one round of orbital and heavy anti-Titan strikes would be enough to destroy it.

So during these forty-seven days, the Warhound Titan never stayed in one place for long.

Fight one battle, and you had to change location.

A Steel Knight leaned against the rock wall, removed his helmet, and panted heavily.

"It's been forty-seven days."

Ayla did not answer; the war had already lasted a month and a half.

The Chaos Fleet possessed overwhelming orbital superiority, yet never carried out a destructive orbital bombardment; Ayla had figured out the reason midway through the war.

Beneath the Seventh Dock lay ancient maintenance nodes and armory facilities left behind by the Iron Hand Expeditionary Force.

The Gore Geng Yi Xun He Ice Cold Heart was merely one part that had already been discovered.

No one knew what else was buried below.

But those traitors seemed to know something, which was why they had never launched large-scale bombardment.

Blowing the entire Seventh Dock into magma was easy, but those ancient devices would be destroyed along with it.

Thus what was originally a raid gradually turned into continuous landing and seizure.

And precisely for this reason, Wade Tower had a chance to hold out until now.

After returning to headquarters, Ayla sat alone at the tactical table.

Food, ammunition, energy, power armor spare parts, medical supplies.

After recalculating all the figures, the result remained unchanged.

Nineteen days; at the current rate of consumption, at most nineteen days, and they would not be able to hold out.

Ayla stared at that number for a few seconds, then closed the window.

The next phase defense orders were issued as usual; apart from Ayla, no one knew that calculation result.

The battle situation on the screen continued to refresh constantly; battle reports came in from all places, with wins and losses.

But Ayla knew that winning more ground battles could not solve the fleet above their heads.

The Lin En Fleet continued sailing through the Warp. Its target was a lost-contact colonial world on the Imperial Dark Side.

But halfway through the journey, that abnormal resonance appeared once again.

Clearer than the previous few times. Lin En closed his eyes, vaguely sensing an extremely faint connection extending from some unfamiliar direction.

Lena likewise furrowed her brow: "That thing... is very close to us."

"But it's neither you nor me."

The first thing that flashed through Lin En's mind was the thirteen children.

He then thought it absurd—the galaxy was so vast, thirteen consciousnesses randomly flung in different directions, how could it be such a coincidence that they'd run into one on the first expedition?

But Lin En ultimately decided to take the gamble, ordering the fleet to slightly adjust its course.

Not long after the course adjustment, the Navigator suddenly issued a warning.

The Warp ahead began to churn violently, the Warp Torch's positioning deviated, and the originally stable route was rapidly deforming.

Alarms kept sounding on the Bridge, and a captain proposed the safest plan:

"Return to the previous stable segment."

No one objected; under normal circumstances this was the most reasonable choice.

Lin En did not immediately answer them, reacting.

Because that faint sense of shared origin still lay ahead.

In their eyes, returning was the safest choice; the long-range fleet they'd saved up for three years indeed shouldn't take this risk.

But Lin En stroked the Little Tearing Worm beside him, not at all worried about capsizing in the Warp.

After a few seconds of silence, Lin En picked up the Communication Device:

"Don't return; find the nearest safe exit."

No one objected, and the fleet immediately began turning.

Not continuing deeper into the turbulence, but along the edge of the turbulence, seeking a place to re-enter the Reality Universe.

Several hours later, the fleet completed emergency real-space reversion.

The navigators re-confirmed the coordinates, and the result left many stunned.

"Cage Star System?"

In Imperial records, this place had long been marked as a long-term lost-contact area.

The Expedition Fleet originally would never have passed through here.

Just as they were preparing to replot the route, a scout ship suddenly reported that a large quantity of ship energy reactions existed nearby.

Accurate detection revealed it was a Chaos Pirate Fleet, besieging a human world.