Warhammer: Start with a dog.

Chapter 746 I was...found...Sams...
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"Zhu Bo?"

Loken frowned as he watched the noisy mortal wander around, touching this and that, rummaging through the precious Terminator equipment. While telling himself to restrain himself, he tried to contact his comrades through the built-in communication bead.

"Zhu Bo? Can you hear me? I was interrupted just now. Could you repeat that?"

"Yes, Company Commander... I am... I mean..."

"What? Where are you? The channel has a lot of static."

"...I'm sorry, but, Company Commander, you have to come and see...I found...Sams..."

"Zhu Bo? Report your location."

“The locator is on, Company Commander. I… just spotted him… He was actually right behind me, yes, Samus, End and Death…”

"Who? Who's behind you? Where are the others?"

“I… am… the company commander… I’ve been found… Sams… has been found…”

The communication was then interrupted by a loud noise.

Loken frowned again.

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“We’re heading to the location to rendezvous with the Poison Rose Squad. Sergeant Zhu Bo sounds like he’s run into some trouble, and he’s also mentioned some names that might be enemies.”

Anyone could hear the harsh refusal in Loken's tone.

"Judging from the communications, there is signal interference there, and there may still be remaining resistance fighters. There is a high possibility of direct close-range firefights, which is not suitable for ordinary people to be present. I suggest you wait until we are sure that the entire fortress is safe before you come to interview my company members."

But Ramizan insisted on following him, completely unaffected by the gaze or imposing presence of the Shadowmoon Wolves. And Loken, being such a disciplined officer, ultimately succumbed to the Warmaster's warrant that the other side produced.

Of course, apart from Euphrates who still seemed somewhat energetic, the other three were rather listless. However, Hindman, who truly knew who was beneath the mortal exterior of the people in front of him, still struggled to offer his advice with the mature and prudent attitude of a staff member.

“Perhaps Company Commander Locken is right. This is the time for the Astartes to perform their duties. It would be more appropriate for us to wait here for Company Commander Locken to gather his squad before heading over with the others…”

“There are two squads here, but the Terminators are indeed too slow, and their size is not suitable for going down to the lower levels.” Ramizan squinted at the Terminator squad. Their captain, Sergeant Russell, snorted in a clearly audible voice and turned his body to the side alertly.

"Don't worry, I will never change your current colors... I mean, cough, this paint job suits you very well, quite different from Gastalin's black style."

Sergeant Rustek's visor seemed to be hinting at the thought, "Do they choose perverts when they choose their narrators?"

"Who said we were going to go to the lower classes? How did you know?"

Loken scrutinized the other person. "I was just speaking using the built-in communication rosary."

The other party remained completely calm. He tilted his head, took out a delicate little device from his pocket, and fiddled with it for a few moments.

“Look at these readings,” he explained. “Our relative altitude has actually been decreasing since we came in, but the tunnels here don’t make it feel like we’re going down. I guess that’s why it’s actually more comfortable to breathe inside this fortress than outside—a very clever design. And these natural crevices used to widen the caves also follow the natural downward direction.”

“Alright.” Loken looked at him suspiciously. “Then you must stay in the middle to the back of the group, and absolutely no running around! Is that alright?”

"Of course. Oh, but someone will probably have to carry Sindman; I don't think he can walk very fast."

“I really could have waited for you here,” said the weary lead preacher. “Me too,” said Carl Casey pitifully, his face paler than Euphrates, looking utterly regretful that he had vomited and then, driven by curiosity and worry, had come in and joined the group.

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Finally, under Loken's apologetic gaze, Sergeant Wootton, the captain of the Seventh Squad "Spurs," carried Sindeman on his back. Wootton was one of Loken's most trusted squad leaders, and he had a good relationship with both Loken and Vipas.

Vipas and Russell were left behind to oversee the follow-up and provide support, while Loken, the Seventh Squad, and the narrators continued deeper into the tunnels within the fortress.

Although no matter how Loken called, Zhu Bo never responded, and the communication was constantly filled with interference and noise, which worsened as they got closer to the location signal, for some reason, the location signal emitted by his power armor remained very clear.

The group cautiously traversed the cave tunnels, where artificial traces and lighting were becoming increasingly scarce, before stopping in a large, almost entirely natural cave hall.

“There’s no road here,” Euphrates said softly, shining her camera light around. “And it looks like it’s been abandoned for a long time.”

Loken and his companions, on the other hand, did not need any lighting. The physiological structure of the Astartes allowed them to see here with the help of the Euphrates' lights. As the photographer said, there were only a few traces of torch smoke left on the walls from long ago, and the ground was a layer of sediment left by natural weathering. It seemed that they had reached the bottom.

“UMMMM, not necessarily, look.” Ramizan pointed to a patch of gravel. “The Astartes passed through here.”

Euphrates turned the light in the direction he was pointing, and sure enough, there were tiny scratches from a harder metal on the naturally eroded gravel and fine sand. "Look."

Ramizan crouched down, and when he stood up, he held a sharp stone shard in his hand, with a few white paint chips on the tip, the same color as those on Loken's body.

"Search in this direction until you reach the rock wall," Loken commanded, while giving Ramizane a deep look: This mortal's eyes didn't seem to have undergone any mechanical modifications, yet he could detect traces in the dark that even Astartes hadn't noticed. Could it be that he, like Mesadi, had a device installed inside his skull?

Just then, the searching soldiers made a discovery.

There is a recess in the rock wall in this direction, but it is hidden in the shadows of the light. If you don't know which direction it is and walk up to see it, you will not be able to tell that there is an ancient door embedded inside.

They opened the door, and a gust of cold mountain wind rushed out from behind it.

"A ventilation shaft? That's kind of like an extra escape route. Maybe we can catch up with them."

Carl Casey breathed a sigh of relief. "That was really scary."

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Behind the door is not a ventilation opening, but an ancient path sandwiched between steep cliffs on both sides. The steps carved into the stone have been stained a dark color by the cold snowmelt flowing down the rock face, and the stone wall in front is covered with crystal-clear travertine.

The gale howled as it swept through the bottomless abyss below the path.

"...Can I just wait here for you? I can stay and look after Sindman," the poet said weakly and fearfully, pointing ahead. "He's already there anyway."

At the edge of the cliff at the end of this path stood a figure clearly in the outline of an Astartes power armor suit. The dim light from the cliff top illuminated his pearly white paint.

“That’s Zhu Bo,” Loken confirmed, that strange feeling returning. He gestured for the mortals to stay on the platform at the entrance, while he led the Seventh Squad slowly toward the figure who seemed to be staring blankly at the stalactite wall opposite.

"Zhafuye!"

The other party turned around and saw the familiar face of the first squad sergeant. Many people secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

“Ah,” he laughed, “you’ve come. Company Commander. Have you come to witness this wondrous primordial truth with me?”

(End of this chapter)