Chapter 7: Warhammer: What Do You Mean You Conquered the Bug Race

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Protagonist:

Lin En

Lena

The Knife Worm's Bone Blade stopped just short of the Butcher's neck.

Lena turned her head, her compound eyes fixed on Lin En: "Hiss..."

Lin En's Adam's apple bobbed as he knew he had to give a reasonable explanation.

"We don't know where the Pure Water is stored; we need someone to lead the way.

And I need him to help me get more resources for you."

His voice remained calm.

Lena tilted her head at an angle no human could achieve, her compound eyes flashing as she analyzed his words.

In just a few seconds, Lin En's back was soaked in cold sweat, ready to activate Forced Dialogue at any moment.

Finally, Lena let the Butcher go and turned toward the depths of the workshop.

The Butcher collapsed to the ground, his worldview completely shattered.

This Tax Officer could actually command these terrifying Xenos?

Was he a Heretic? A Demon? Or something even more terrifying?

Only when Lin En kicked him did he snap out of his extreme fear, not even daring to look Lin En in the eye.

"Where is the Pure Water stored here?" Lin En's voice was ice cold.

The Butcher trembled, struggling for a while before pointing in a direction:

"A-Adult, this way, the Underground Warehouse."

It was a hidden Underground Warehouse built later.

Besides several large sealed barrels of Pure Water, there were several iron cages holding "Living Cargo."

Over a dozen ragged, emaciated men and women, with nothing but terror left in their eyes.

The situation was worse than expected.

Pure Water reserves were limited, and there was no functioning Purified Water equipment.

Even more troublesome, Lin En could faintly sense through Binding that Lena was currently surging with intense hunger for "Pure Biomass."

These fresh lives, uncontaminated by prosthetics and mental drugs, were more attractive to her than those water barrels.

He immediately activated 【Dialogue】 by force.

Corrosive saliva dripped constantly from Lena's mouthparts, eating through the Metal Floor.

Lin En was tormented inside.

He knew that once his Mental Power was exhausted, these "Living Cargo" would have no way out.

He glanced one last time at the desperate eyes in the cages; a trace of complex pity flickered in his eyes, but was quickly replaced by resolve.

"Go ahead, Lena, consider it an extra 'Gift' for this operation."

He voluntarily ended the 【Dialogue】 state.

This time, neither the Knife Worm nor the Gun Worm stepped forward.

Lena wanted to enjoy this "feast" alone.

Even the vicious Butcher, witnessing that efficient and terrifying feeding scene, couldn't help but feel his stomach churn, nearly vomiting.

Lin En watched the whole process with an expressionless face.

He knew clearly in his heart that letting them go would make it impossible to hide his secret with the Bug Race.

And the Butcher, a cowardly Wild Dog, he had plenty of ways to tame him into a useful Tool.

Lena absorbed all the "Pure Biomass" completely.

She raised her head and let out a sharp, unprecedented hiss filled with satisfaction and release!

The Crystalized Wound on her forelegs suddenly blasted open, turning into a patch of purple powder.

Bright red, writhing new biomass was revealed at the wound, no longer bearing traces of crystalized erosion.

A brand new Carapace grew, covered, and hardened at a speed visible to the naked eye.

【System Prompt】: Binding Target "Lena" used a large quantity of Pure Biomass to forcibly flush out Spirit Energy Pollution!

Crystalized Wound Purification Progress: 6/10! Status Recovery!

Affection Change: +15!

Current Affection: -28!

In the Underground Warehouse of the Water Purification Plant, the air was filled with a thick, inescapable Blood Taste.

Mixed with the pungent smell from the Bug Race's evaporating acid, it formed a nauseating sweet-bloody stench.

His gaze swept over the stain being devoured by the Fungal Carpet, where over a dozen fresh lives had once been.

Lin En's breath paused imperceptibly for an instant, but only a flicker of ripple flashed in the depths of his eyes.

"They saw Lena; letting any of them go, the news will spread.

The Legal Affairs Department, the Tribunal, and even other Gene Thief Sects will come upon hearing the wind.

By then, not just them will die."

After excusing himself to himself a few words inside.

He closed his eyes and silently mourned for a second for those blurred faces in his mind.

But knowing the underlying logic of the Warhammer Universe's slums well, he did not sink into it for too long.

And now, the "price" trembling in the corner must be transformed into "profit."

He looked coldly at the Butcher.

The Butcher slumped against a rusty pipe, a puddle beneath him giving off a stench.

His face was pale as a corpse, his lips trembling incessantly.

His gaze was unfocused, muttering something over and over in his mouth without knowing what.

Lin En walked to the warehouse corner, where some discarded industrial equipment was piled.

He pried open the remains of a rusty fungal culture tank and scraped off a thick layer of dark green mold with strange fluorescent spots on the inner wall using a dagger.

The sticky mycelium gave off a mixed smell of rotten wood and chemical reagents.

He kneaded it, finally rolling it into three "spore sacs" the size of a fingernail, wet and sticky.

He walked in front of the Butcher and squatted down.

"Look at me." Lin En's voice was not loud, but carried an undeniable coldness.

He pressed the cold barrel of the Laser Pistol against the Butcher's chin, forcing that fear-filled face to lift.

The Butcher's pupils focused, meeting Lin En's eyes.

Unlike what the Butcher thought, there was no fanaticism, no cultist madness in those eyes.

Only a bottomless calm, like one assessing prey.

This calm made the Butcher feel chilled more than any madness.

"You saw the power of the 'Same Kin.'" Lin En spoke without any emotion.

The two words "Same Kin" were like an ice cone, viciously piercing the Butcher's now fragile nerves.

"Clean, efficient, absolute obedience—that is the direction of evolution."

The Butcher made a guttural sound in his throat, as if wanting to beg for mercy, but unable to utter a complete word.

"You should have become biomass, nourishing evolution." Lin En held up a "spore sac" before the Butcher's eyes.

That disgusting green seemed to pulse faintly with life under the pale light.

"But I give you a chance: swallow this 'Connection Spore' and become an 'extended limb' of the network."

"This is a grace, and also a contract."

The Butcher was on the verge of collapse, but not enough.

Just then, a Knife Worm slid silently to the Butcher's side.

It raised its sharp Bone Blade, the tip condensing a drop of crystal-clear acidic saliva that gave off a pungent smell.

Under the Butcher's terrified gaze, that drop of saliva made a "drip" sound and landed on his cheek.

"Hiss~!"

A slight corrosion sound rose, accompanied by the Butcher's heart-rending shriek.

His cheek instantly smoked, his skin corroded into a coin-sized burnt wound.

The pain was like a red-hot iron nail drilling into his brain.

"This is the 'Gene Mark.'" Lin En's voice followed like a shadow, covering the shriek.

"Let you remember who you belong to. Now, swallow it."

The double torment of pain and fear destroyed the Butcher's last trace of will.

He trembling took over the "spore sac," closed his eyes and stuffed it into his mouth, forcibly swallowing it mixed with blood and gastric reflux.

The sticky, disgusting sensation slid down his throat, as if something alive had burrowed in.

"Very good." Lin En put away the other two "spore sacs."

"Don't let me discover your betrayal. It only takes one day," he paused, his voice lowered further.

"You will completely become an empty shell, becoming a bed for hatching new 'Same Kin.'"

"Do you want that?"

"No, I don't want, Master spare my life."

The Butcher wept with tears and snot flowing, kowtowing like pounding garlic, his forehead striking the metal ground with a dull sound.

"Then remember your new identity." Lin En stood up, looking down at the man beneath his feet.

"You are the New Member of the Iron Anvil Society."

"Within three days, gather the usable remnants of the Shark Tooth Gang, recruit those destitute scum with tight lips, totaling no more than fifty people."

"You have only one target: to obey my orders."

"Understand?"

"Understand! Understand!" The Butcher nodded repeatedly.