Chapter 8: Warhammer: What Do You Mean You Conquered the Zerg

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Protagonist:

Lin En

Lena

Lin En pulled a card from his pocket and tossed it in front of the Butcher; these were credit points he had just confiscated from the Shark Tooth Gang.

"One thousand points, startup funds."

"I'll get your scrapyard a compliance certificate, giving you a shell for the time being."

"But remember."

He bent down, the muzzle of his laser pistol lightly touching the wound on the Butcher's forehead, triggering another twitch.

"If you betray me, I'll completely convert you, turning you into a true Xenos."

"You're efficient, I'll let you live more comfortably than before; your life is now in my hands."

【System Prompt: Hidden Achievement 'Dominance Enlightenment' achieved.】

Binding target 'Lena' indicates slight approval of the host's behavioral logic of efficiently controlling potential threats and converting them into sustainable resource channels.

Affection Level +1.

Current Affection: -27.

Lin En glanced at the system prompt out of the corner of his eye, inwardly marveling that it could actually work this way.

He turned toward Lena, who remained silent as a sculpture, her compound eyes locked on him, as if waiting for something.

"Clean up the traces, then return to the Nest and stand by, Lena."

Lin En transmitted a concise thought through the system.

This was a function he had just discovered recently; within a certain distance, the system could act as a messaging function.

And as Affection Level increased, this range kept expanding.

Lena's tall body paused slightly, then let out a short, low hiss indicating acceptance.

She turned and walked with light steps, taking the remaining Knife Worms and Gun Worms with her.

Like ghosts merging into shadows, she disappeared into the pipe entrance deep in the Warehouse.

Only a few Knife Worms remained, quickly licking the last bloodstains and residual tissue off the Ground, even chewing up and swallowing those few scraps of cloth.

The Warehouse returned to Silence, leaving only Lin En, the limp Butcher, and the sweet-bloody scent still lingering in the air.

Lin En took one last look at this place where blood and lies began, then turned and walked toward the exit.

His footsteps were steady, his shadow stretched long under the pale light, merging into the Nest Capital's eternal night.

Lin En's positioning of the Iron Anvil Society was simple and direct: a tentacle hidden in the Shadow, dedicated to helping him seize resources and intelligence.

And Lin En's next goal was equally simple: harvest the other gangs.

He felt no fondness for these dregs who fed on scraps in the rotting soil of the Nest Capital's Slum and bullied the weaker.

Let them become Lena's nourishment; at least that would be the final value of these worm-like lives.

First harvest, target locked: the Rust Nail Gang.

A group controlling several narrow smuggling pipes and a small underground weapon modification den.

Tax records showed they had recently swallowed a batch of illicit Rare Metals and several crates of military-grade Laser Rifle energy packs.

These were exactly the resources Lin En needed now.

No carefully designed negotiation traps, only the most direct violence.

Lin En had the Butcher spread the word, under the pretext of "discussing territory division and cooperation."

He arranged for the Rust Nail Gang to meet at the junction of an abandoned maintenance pipe at the edge of the Seventh District.

The place was complex with huge echoes, a perfect slaughterhouse and an excellent spot for corpses to disappear.

On the night of the operation, Lin En stayed in a relatively safe place waiting for the action to begin.

And Lena was like a loaded dump truck, ambushed on the Rust Nail Gang's inevitable path.

Q: How to guarantee a hundred percent win in a fight?

A: Ambush a dump truck on their way there.

Her consciousness was like a precisely spread hunting net, over twenty Knife Worms and Gun Worms like extensions of her limbs.

Silently crouching behind the ventilation grilles above the target area and in the shadows of the rusted maintenance wells on both sides.

The Rust Nail Gang arrived, cursing and swearing.

This time over ten of their core enforcers were all out, determined to give this new Iron Anvil Society a lesson.

Boots squelched in the pooled oil puddles, flashlight beams haphazardly cutting through the dimness.

They carried weapons, their faces bearing the hideous expression unique to Slum gangs, mixed with greed and vigilance.

Just as the middle of the team fully entered the ambush circle.

The hunting net closed.

The ventilation grilles crashed down, shadows poured down like a waterfall.

Manhole covers on both sides were blasted open by immense force from within, more twisted figures surged out accompanied by inhuman hissing.

The narrow pipe instantly became a slaughterhouse.

The Knife Worms' Bone Blades traced pale arcs in the dim light, easily slicing through flesh and severing bones.

The acidic spore bullets sprayed by the Gun Worms splattered in the confined space, sizzling when they hit human bodies.

Landing on metal walls they ate pits, mixed with the victims' brief and shrill shrieks.

Two gang members who reacted slightly faster tried to flee backward, but as soon as they turned around, they were pounced on by Knife Worms lying in wait in the shadows at the corner.

Bone Blades precisely pierced the back of the neck or the spine, ending all sound.

The entire process, from the first strange noise to the last body stopping its twitching, took less than thirty seconds.

And Lena also remembered Lin En's request, leaving two relatively intact corpses to stage the scene.

The rest were all dragged away to become her "dinner."

The Butcher arrived "fashionably late" with over a dozen newly recruited subordinates who were still trembling with fear.

All they saw was a scene of messy battle traces.

Bloodstains splattered on the walls, already beginning to coagulate and blacken, and scattered broken weapons and fragmentary clothing on the ground.

And the two corpses Lin En had specifically requested be left behind.

The air was filled with a strong smell of blood, corrosion, and an indescribable sweet fishy odor.

According to Lin En's prior instructions, the Butcher directed his men to arrange the scene to look more like a fierce gang firefight.

These underlings had some misgivings, but their survival depended entirely on the Butcher's "charity."

No matter what happened, as long as they had food to eat, what did it matter if they defected to the Xenos?

They used the homemade explosives they brought to create explosion traces at key positions, scattering mismatched shell casings all around.

They even deliberately left behind some signature items belonging to other small gangs.

Then they quickly cleared away all valuable loot.

Over a dozen firearms in decent condition, that batch of rare metals and energy packs privately hoarded by the Rust Nail Gang.

And a data slate recording the locations of several other secret warehouses.

The harvest exceeded expectations.

Lin En took all the rare metals, energy packs, and half of the credit points.

These would be converted into Lena's "snacks, healing potions, and his own equipment upgrades."

The remaining guns and money were left to the Iron Anvil Society, and he ordered the Butcher to take over the two smuggling pipes left behind by the Rust Nail Gang.

The Rust Nail Gang, whose core fighters had all been killed, was easily annexed by the Butcher.

The adjacent, more powerful "Blood Blade Gang" soon smelled the blood and the power vacuum.

Tentatively trying to reach out their claws to get a share of the pie.

Lin En's response was direct and efficient.