Chapter 9: Warhammer: What Do You Mean You Conquered the Bug Swarm

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Protagonist:

Lin En

Lena

He personally led a team to conduct a surprise inspection of two seemingly legitimate shops under the Blood Blade Gang's control, in the name of a tax audit.

On the grounds of "suspected smuggling and unclear accounts," he seized a batch of goods on the spot and froze some accounts.

Before leaving, in front of the Blood Blade Gang chieftain whose face was dark as iron and his subordinates who dared to be angry but not speak out,

he threw a map fragment marking the Rust Nail Gang's destroyed area at the other's feet, his voice not loud but clear and ice-cold:

"Recently the winds are tight, the adults above have bright eyes."

"All of you, restrain yourselves, manage your own people, and guard your own stalls."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the other:

"How the Rust Nail Gang fell, think about it more with your own brain."

"Next time, those coming won't just be people from the Tax Bureau."

The Blood Blade Gang chieftain's pupils contracted, looking at the uniform Lin En wore that represented the Empire's grassroots power.

He glanced again at the ominous map fragment on the ground, and in the end swallowed all his harsh words back into his stomach, silently retreating.

Actually he didn't know what the so-called "wind" was, but he had to give Lin En, who wore a uniform, some face.

The laws of the Nest Capital: above violence, there is power.

And power often wears a uniform.

The Iron Anvil Society was like a silently expanding shadow, slowly and firmly swallowing the territory and channels left behind by the Rust Nail Gang.

Several key smuggling routes, two hidden supply transfer points.

A portion of the "protection fees" that couldn't see the light of day quietly changed owners.

Lin En did not let the Iron Anvil Society become ostentatious; instead, he ordered the Butcher to be even more low-key, dispersing the newly absorbed personnel, making their operational mode increasingly secretive.

The Blood Blade Gang's retreat was temporary.

After confirming that the "pressure from above" seemed to be false, greed and the humiliation of having their territory seized flared up again.

They began to gather manpower, preparing to give this "rule-ignorant" new face that had suddenly risen, the Iron Anvil Society, a "lesson."

This time, almost exactly the same as last time.

Lin En, through the Butcher, transmitted a false gathering time and location.

Then he guided Lena's Bug Swarm, halfway through when the Blood Blade Gang's main force went to the wrong location,

replicating an ambush targeting the Rust Nail Gang in another more remote, complex abandoned pipe network.

The ice-cold, efficient massacre was staged once more.

The Blood Blade Gang's thugs didn't even understand who the enemy was before turning into shattered chunks of flesh amidst bone blades and acid attacking from all directions.

The few who tried to resist found their laser guns and real ammunition weapons clumsy and powerless in the face of the narrow space and sudden attack.

Fresh blood splattered on the rusted pipe walls, soon absorbed by the stain-like fungal carpet.

The corpses were quickly dragged away, disappearing into the bottomless digestive system of the Nest Capital.

The Blood Blade Gang, once feared in the Slums, ultimately became growing numbers on the Iron Anvil Society's accounts.

And energy-rich biomass reserves in Lena's Nest.

After several similar operations, the Iron Anvil Society, like fungal hyphae growing underground, silently controlled the entire Seventh District's underground market.

It did not show off, yet firmly gripped the throat of resource flow.

Correspondingly, Lin En's achievements in the Tax Bureau's files became "impressive."

"Successfully struck multiple smuggling dens, effectively curbed weapon circulation in the Slums' black market, maintained tax order and regional stability."

Similar comments allowed him to smoothly be promoted to Vice Captain of the Seventh District Tax Inspection.

But with the passage of time and the Iron Anvil Society's constant growth.

Even if Lin En's methods were cautious, some traces would still be left behind.

That day, Lin En went out as usual to find suitable targets; he needed to find more resources for Lena.

Perhaps because of the binding with Lena, his nervous system also became more sensitive.

While in the bustling city, he suddenly felt the weight of a gaze.

Yes, a gaze also has weight.

Realizing something was wrong, he hurriedly ended that day's activities.

Returning to the Outpost, he immediately had the Butcher use his increasingly well-connected eyes to investigate.

The feedback news confirmed his unease.

That area had indeed recently seen several unfamiliar faces.

Low-profile movements, sharp observation, gaze and temperament.

"Not like those scraping by on the side, more like a cop, but more sinister than ordinary patrolmen." The Butcher evaluated thus.

He immediately realized that the Tribunal had set its sights on him.

Even if it might just be an outpost on the outermost edge, a routine patrol, its appearance itself was an extremely dangerous signal.

The Empire's hunting dogs, finally because of the continuously increasing "abnormal" aura in the Slums, had brought their noses close to this rotten soil.

It was only natural that this civil servant who dealt with the Iron Anvil Society all day would be watched.

But he feared that the Tribunal was not paying attention to him because of gang matters.

Lin En immediately made a change, deliberately keeping his distance from the Iron Anvil Society.

As if knowing of the Tribunal's probing, he responded in time.

Afterward, there was no excessive "watching," which allowed him to relax somewhat.

Fortunately, since the Water Purification Plant Incident, he had never had any face-to-face interaction with Lena.

It was all through the system's help, conducting remote communication.

It was precisely this caution that allowed him to preserve himself.

But Lin En knew that the Tribunal was no different from a wild dog smelling blood.

Once it fixed on something, it would surely not easily give up.

He had to stir up some trouble.

Thus, he proactively raised a concern at a meeting within the Tax Bureau regarding "maintaining stability in the Lower Level production areas to secure the tax base."

"Worriedly" he proposed: "Recent feedback from grassroots patrols indicates that signs of 'Mutant Rat Plague' activity and unknown pests have increased in certain abandoned areas and old pipe networks,

not only threatening public safety but also possibly contaminating stored goods, affecting normal production and tax revenue."

He suggested contacting the relevant departments of the Legal Affairs Department to organize several targeted joint cleanup and disinfection operations.

The proposal was passed, and he naturally became the Captain of this inspection operation.

What surprised him most was that the biggest supporter of this operation was actually a Noble Lord of Necromunda.

After the action group was formed, this Noble Lord also had a private conversation with him.

Roughly, the higher-ups also knew about the Tyranid Infiltration situation and wanted Lin En to use this inspection operation as a pretext.

To investigate the Tyranid Infiltration situation in the Lower Levels, giving those above enough time to respond.

Lin En almost thought of all the sad things in this life and his previous life before holding back a smile during that conversation.

Thus, Lin En, who had "kept" Hive Warrior Lena, began busily searching for traces of various Xenos all over the Lower Levels.

Relying on Lena's constant reporting of points, Lin En raided many Genestealer nests.

This was originally a major concern of Lin En's, and he went about it very actively.

But unexpectedly, this actually earned high praise from that Noble Lord.

Thus, the power in Lin En's hands inexplicably swelled to a terrifying extent.

He even had the authority to command a Planetary Defense Force of over a thousand people, as an armed force to fight Xenos Infiltration and protect his own safety.

To better feed Lena, he arranged many Iron Anvil Society members into his Guard Team, used for recovering and cleaning up the Battlefield.

These Iron Anvil Society members generally thought this behind-the-scenes Big Boss was dealing in Xenos organ smuggling.

Facing Lin En's request to recover Tyranid Biomass, they did not find anything strange about it.

This gave Lin En a great deal of operating space, and Lena's Affection Level consequently rose constantly.

And the Tribunal's monitoring continued, but because of his increased power and the "proper business" he conducted,

it seemed to rule out many possibilities of him being deemed a "Heretic."

Simply winning big.