Chapter 98: Warhammer: What Do You Mean You Conquered the Zerg

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Protagonist:

Lin En

Lena

The counterattack lasted three hours.

When the last Ork Mecha was blasted into molten slag by the Cold Wind Tank's main cannon, and the last Green Skin fled back beyond the gap, the sun had already slanted westward.

The battlefield suddenly fell quiet, leaving only the sounds of flames burning and the wounded groaning.

Victory was finally theirs, though it had been a close thing.

Lei Ou slumped onto the ruins and removed his helmet.

Sweat soaked his hair, and his face was smeared with blood and smoke dust.

He looked toward the distance; Lin En was jumping down from the Cold Wind Tank and walking over here.

Their gazes met.

Lin En revealed a hearty smile, walked over, and extended his hand.

Lei Ou took it. "Leo Saint Galus."

"Keli Feng," Lin En responded.

"Well done. Without you holding out for over ten hours, I would have only been able to come collect your corpses."

"The same to you," Lei Ou said sincerely.

"I have seen nine Governors, and you are the first to personally go onto the battlefield."

"Perhaps it's because I'm more foolish than most," Lin En joked.

Both men laughed.

Suddenly Lin En shivered, feeling something biting his shoulder.

"What's wrong, Governor Sir?" Lei Ou asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Haha, nothing..." Lin En chuckled, beginning to soothe Lena in his heart.

At this moment Hammond also walked over, his right arm simply bandaged, blood seeping through the bandages.

He saluted Lin En. "Governor Sir, thank you for your support."

"Commissar Hammond," Lin En returned the salute.

"Brunt Longblade fought bravely; the Empire will remember your sacrifice."

After brief pleasantries, the generals gathered one after another.

Everyone bore injuries, but all were full of spirit.

Lin En swept his gaze over the crowd and said, "Clear the battlefield, tally the casualties, and send the wounded to the field hospital in the rear."

"Tonight we will hold a meeting."

The Temporary Command Post of the Forbidden Wall was originally a reinforced warehouse, now set with long tables and chairs.

On the table were simple foods: Synthetic Protein Blocks, starch paste, and several bottles of wine brought from the Main Hive.

The atmosphere was nevertheless lively.

The generals took turns toasting Lin En, speaking flattering words.

Lin En responded to each one, his attitude humble but carrying a dignified distance.

He knew that among these people, only two were truly key.

Lei Ou and Hammond.

After three rounds of wine, Lin En set down his cup.

The noise gradually subsided.

"Gentlemen," he spoke, his voice not loud, but everyone heard clearly.

"I came to the Forbidden Wall this time with two purposes."

Everyone looked at him.

"First, to understand the specific situation of the Green Skins and prepare for a protracted war.

Fighting Beastmen, time is never counted in days, but in months, in years.

We must prepare for long-term defense."

People nodded; this was common sense.

"Second," Lin En continued.

"I want to use a true victory to make Brevis rally once more."

"You all know the atmosphere in the Main Hive now: noble infighting, commoners starving, everyone feeling that the Forbidden Wall will eventually fall."

His gaze swept over every face.

"I want to change this mindset, and to do that, I need your cooperation."

"Governor, please speak," Lei Ou was the first to declare his position.

"As long as it is for Brevis, I will support with all my strength!"

Hammond also nodded: "Brunt Longblade awaits orders."

The other generals chimed in one after another.

Lin En smiled: "Good, then let me lay out the next plan."

He called up the tactical hologram and pointed to the gap in C8 Qu.

"Repairing the gap takes time, and the Green Skins won't give us time."

"So my idea is..." He enlarged the image.

"Not to fight them head-on at the gap. We're behind the C8 District Wall Section, here, to rebuild an inner wall."

Murmurs rose in the conference room.

"This, Governor Sir, leaving the Forbidden Wall unused and rebuilding a wall instead—isn't that a bit..."

"A waste of time?"

"Subordinate dares not."

Although no one continued the discussion, their gazes said everything.

Only Hammond caught the spirit of Lin En's plan at once.

He smiled at Lei Ou, and Lei Ou immediately understood what the other meant.

Since Hammond thought it feasible, he chose to trust Lin En.

Finally, the three core members reached an agreement, choosing to do as Lin En said, and the others wisely closed their mouths.

Lin En then looked at the two knight pilots sitting in the corner.

"However, my plan might need the knights' help."

Lei Ou immediately interjected: "Knight Aiden has no problem, right, Aiden?"

The knight in the corner, a middle-aged man with a scar on his face, sighed helplessly:

"Young Master has already said this much, what can I do?"

Because he knew that even if he disagreed, Lei Ou would force him to agree.

Everyone laughed, but the laughter soon stopped.

Because the other Holy Knight who came with the Vanguard Army, Quinn Sheng Jia Lu Si, did not laugh.

He just leaned against the wall, arms crossed, a faint sneer hanging at the corner of his mouth.

Everyone noticed.

Lin En saw it too, but he just smiled and raised his wine cup:

"Then it's settled. The specific battle plan will be discussed in detail tomorrow; tonight everyone should rest well first."

The banquet continued, but the atmosphere became somewhat subtle.

Late at night, Lin En returned to his temporary residence, a reinforced container.

He locked the door, drew the curtains, and then took out a data slate from his luggage.

The screen lit up, playing a blurry video.

According to Lena's reminder, that Inquisitor was temporarily not monitoring him.

So he chose to watch something interesting at this time.

The footage shook violently; the cameraman was obviously moving at high speed.

The background was a daytime battlefield, smoke everywhere, with running soldiers and Green Skins.

The camera locked onto a striking figure.

She was a woman wearing form-fitting silver armor, ripples flowing across the armor's surface, making her outline concealed in the air.

Suddenly, to dodge a "Killing Iron Can" crashing into her—a "Fearless Mecha" made for the gretchin—she blinked behind a Scavenger Kid.

That Green Skin was crouched on the ground rummaging through a companion's corpse, looking for valuable teeth.

The Scavenger Kid seemed to notice something amiss behind him and just raised his head.

A green blade flashed, so fast it left only a residual image.

The Scavenger Kid's body split in two, the corpse falling to the left and right, organs splashing all over the ground.

The surrounding Green Skins froze for a moment, looked around, and then were melted by a laser fired from a Leman Russ tank.

But the silver figure had already disappeared.

The scene switched; two United Army soldiers hid behind cover, one pointing at where the silver figure had just appeared, mouth open about to shout something.

Then both their heads exploded at the same time.

It looked like they were pierced by some high-speed flying object, but no bullet trajectory was seen.

After the corpses fell, black flames burst from them, rapidly charring flesh and blood, covering up the cause of death.

The video ended.

Lin En watched it seven or eight times over, especially the frame where the female figure appeared.

He zoomed in, zoomed in again, until the pixels began to blur.

The armor's style was very unfamiliar, not Imperial equipment.

But that optical camouflage effect, and the smooth lines...

"Eldar," Lin En muttered softly, "should be some kind of Stealth Light Armor of the Ark Eldar."

He looked again at the fleeting green blade.

"Eldar Death God Scythe, the weapon of Eldar Death God Warriors."

Finally, the way the two soldiers died—silent and precise, burning the corpses afterward to erase traces.

"Should be a Star Dart Sniper Rifle, plus psychic power capable of teleportation and manipulating black flames."

Lin En narrowed his eyes.

"Standard Radical Heretic Inquisitor style—will stop at nothing to achieve their goals, including using heretical weapons and psychic power."

After watching the video several more times, Lin En discovered something interesting.

Lin En froze the image at the chest armor position.

There was an emblem there, blurred by the invisibility field interference, but the general outline could still be made out.

A rose, red and silver in color.

"Red Silver Rose." Lin En quickly recalled some information about the interior of the Tribunal.

Within the Inquisition there are several major factions, and the oldest, most "Orthodox" faction wears a rose knot badge of this style.

They adhere to the ancient Tribunal Canon, insist on purifying heretics with "Orthodox" methods, and extremely reject the use of xenos technology and psychic power.

"An Orthodox Faction Inquisitor," Lin En stared at the blurry figure in the image.

"Yet wears Eldar armor, uses Eldar weapons, and employs psychic power."

He slowly leaned back against the chair, the corner of his mouth curling into a playful arc.

"Inquisitor, you hide quite a few secrets, hehe..."