Warhammer: Start with a dog.

Chapter 815 The Joy of Harvest
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“You didn’t tell us that there were still remnants of gene stealers on your ship, who could even jump right in front of us.”

Honsau said coldly, pulling his pistol away from Warren's face and kicking the remaining half of the three-armed monster, the intense heat turning the wound to ashes.

But Warren clearly didn't think it was a big problem; he even glanced approvingly at the unfamiliar but powerful pistol model because of the pharmacist's decisive shooting.

“Well done, Pharmacist. Actually, I was just waiting for it here. It’s a cunning guy who killed several of our brothers with dissolving acid bullets.”

Hong Suo looked at him expressionlessly.

"Some of their genetic material may have been corroded or dissolved, making it impossible to extract."

The pharmacist remained expressionless, but his aura became even more oppressive.

"But in reality, we'll eventually be able to clear them out, not many at all. I estimate there are only two left—oh, and after this one, there might only be one. The mortals are all under control, and they know each other. My brothers are watching over them."

He grinned with a dazed smile, and Hong Su noticed the shadow in his eyes again. "Besides, we know there's a problem, so we've already locked down the hangar and the access to the port, haven't we? Once we solve the problem, we can open it normally."

So, the bastards' docking was entirely a deception. If they hadn't left the cunning creatures they brought with them at the port, Hongsuo thought he would have simply killed all the Flesh-Tearers on the ship and reported that they had all unfortunately died from Gene Stealers. It would have been simple, clear, and saved him some trouble.

So he had just finally obeyed the secret order from the office and was right to persuade his lord to stay there and wait for him with a soft and insincere tone.

Hong Su thought to himself that the father sitting in the office had clearly begun to incorporate some element of bad luck into all the actions to come.

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Clearly, the gene stealers are only the surface problem; the flesh-tears, though seemingly barbaric, actually have far more serious hidden problems than the weeping ones.

This was the final conclusion reached by the Iron Warrior Chief Apothecary, who was posing as the Silver Skull, within fifty minutes of boarding the Flesh Ripper's cruiser.

Although those who are less sensitive or perceptive may draw the opposite conclusion.

But Honsor is an sworn, knowledgeable (very knowledgeable), and blessed apothecary, as well as a war blacksmith, which means he can perceive many details that others would not easily notice.

Although he really disliked the curse that plagued Malakin and his warriors, at least the presence of the Ironblood and the Primarch made it all seem like a close call.

The problem is different for those who tear apart flesh.

Their problems need a more practical and direct solution.

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He pretended to examine Warren's horrific wounds and moved himself to the other side of the equipment Warren was leaning against.

The ground was splattered with the acidic, contaminated blood of the gene stealers, but Hong Suo could tell that the blood hadn't been sprayed from living creatures during a battle.

A medical tentacle seemed to dangle unintentionally from the bottom of his backpack, its tip probing across the ground as he moved.

Hmm. Just as he suspected. Warren and the others here were clearly using blood to cover up more blood.

"What's wrong, pharmacist?"

A hand grabbed the pharmacist's wrist.

Despite its owner's severe injuries, the hand remained fierce and powerful, like a carnivorous dinosaur gripping the forelimb of its prize.

Hong Suo raised his eyes to look at the owner of the hand.

Company Commander Warren's still-intact eye looked very deep, gleaming against his dark skin. Honso found himself unsure whether the red light at the bottom of the eye was a reflection or something else.

An atmosphere of tension spread between the pharmacist and the company commander.

"It's nothing." The apothecary master weighed the matter in his mind for a moment, and finally decided to take what he had seen and heard back to his lord for final judgment.

No matter what Peturabo becomes, the Lord of Steel will always prefer things to be completely under his control before allowing them to continue changing, and Honso is certain of that.

So he lowered his eyes, expressing a cautious defensive stance towards the flesh-tearer whose white teeth were beginning to show below his upper lip, but who did not want to engage in conflict.

“I’ve already treated your wounds temporarily, Company Commander,” he said. “But you should understand that your injuries require further treatment, which will require you to go to the pharmacy, either here or there.”

The other person showed an expression that seemed to be deep in thought, but Hong Suo doubted how much of his brain he still had left to think.

He just did far more than one thing.

For example, he had secretly administered a high concentration of sedatives to Warren while he was spraying disinfectant—from the perspective of a war blacksmith rather than a pharmacist, Honsau believed that it would be much easier to numb the wretch and drag him away, and then let him personally inspect and clean the ship than to engage in covert scuffles and a beastly brawl.

Anyway, he's not a real Apothecary of the Order of Astartes... He's already experienced life flexibly with the authors of the Codex, so when necessary, professional ethics and honor should be flexible, right?

But the Flesh-Tearer seemed to last longer than anyone he had ever recorded—even Malakin, after being anesthetized, did not exhibit such prolonged abnormality as the other Astartes.

He recorded this anomaly in his work log.

Finally, Warren spoke slowly, in a low growl like a wild beast, "Our apothecary department is currently unusable."

"Then come with me to my place."

"But... I can't leave here."

"The bridge isn't a good place to rip you open and then sew you back together, platoon leader. Usually, when I do that, I'm..."

Hong Su swallowed the last few words, "They hung on the bridge."

I almost said it too smoothly.

Why isn't the anesthetic working yet, damn it? Oh, damn it, could the curse of the weeping one be coming at this time...?

Fortunately, he then saw Warren blink, and blink again, until finally the light disappeared behind his drooping eyelids.

It was only then that Hunsso noticed the reading on the sweat collector inside his power armor—higher than when he was in Huron Palace.

This is unbelievable. If he can't find something useful on this ship to satisfy him, he swears he'll make sure all the remaining Flesh-Tearers have to do hard labor on the Ironblood to pay for their medical bills.

As for what you're saying about using Astartes to pay the bill? As the chief pharmacist of the Iron Warriors, the fact that he didn't intend to cram the entire Flesh Tearer into the tank for experimentation already deserves a merciful assessment. He snorted coldly and, before placing Company Commander Warren onto the hovering stretcher he brought, raised the gene gland extractor on his left arm.

Collect some first, and secure your profits.

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Even though he was a lawless guy who had almost caused his men to create a demon womb under the Kalan-Gol Fortress and dared to deceive the Primarch, Honso found himself frowning at what he was seeing.

...That's incredibly extravagant! Do they think untainted humans are some kind of abundant resource? These spendthrifts!

His boots trod over a thick layer of semi-solidified, sticky flesh and blood. Clearly, the aimless and indiscriminate slaughter had indeed "killed" many gene stealers, as Warren had said, but the number of mortal servants killed at the same time was probably no less.

But...

He stopped beside a corpse that was somewhat recognizable, a body that at first glance appeared to have died from a laceration running from the shoulder down to the pelvis. Some might have thought it was an unfortunate friendly fire incident, but the apothecary master thought otherwise.

He looked at the pale, curled wound that had dried out, and reached out to stroke the head of the mortal who had died with his eyes wide open.

The head of the deceased, dressed in the robes of a flesh-tearer slave, was tilted to the side, revealing an extremely pale neck. Then, Hong Suo saw two deep holes in the still intact skin, with a small amount of residual blood still attached.

"What the hell."

He stood still, began to change his weapons and bullets as needed, and felt a surge of frustration.

If Ruth's "just looking" actually uncovered something, and he didn't come back to tell them, it made him seem even more suspicious.

Hong Suo edited the images of the mortal corpses he saw into a compressed file. If he could return to the port soon, he would immediately send this confidential document to the office of his other, even more ruthless father.

Warren just mentioned there's one last genestealer, so this one is definitely not an ordinary species. However, Honso is highly suspicious that his first target might not be a genestealer...

A chilling sensation ran down his spine from his neck; the oppressive feeling of ancient and pure rage made Hongsuo activate his shield without turning around.

"Horus! Why?! Why did you betray the Empire?! Betray us?!"

...I really hate this kind of jinxed development that comes with wailing!
The opponent was stopped an arm's length away by his strange shield. Hong Suo saw wet, reflective eyeballs filled with black and red, four razor-sharp canine teeth protruding from the gums, and various excruciating, fatal wounds on the warrior's body.

The subspace reading on Hungsuo's eyepiece suddenly spiked to a deadly high peak.

The chief apothecary frowned, reached out, and gripped the neck of the warrior in black armor with a red cross on his wrist like a pair of iron pincers. He then began injecting the strongest anesthetic he had on hand into the warrior's arteries until the roar, mixed with curses and ancient Baal language, gradually ceased.

"First."

He muttered to himself, deftly pulling out his gene seed extractor.

"But this shouldn't be the last. It looks like our lab is about to have a bumper harvest. Isn't that right, little Nira..."

Hong Su stopped talking and angrily turned his personal Geller Force Field to its highest level.

The dense, flood-like sounds and laughter that had accompanied the black-armored warriors vanished.

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With the confidence and meticulousness of someone with a strong sense of self-assurance, the apothecary master thoroughly inspected each deck, collecting all the gene seeds and biological samples he deemed valuable. Of course, the surviving Flesh Tearers were lucky enough to have the opportunity to taste the potent sedatives that Master Honso sought to achieve the effects of the Primarch.

The last gene stealer had disappeared, and finding another humanoid creature on a cruiser with only one person was like finding a needle in a haystack. Honso's equipment did include a large-scale life detection oracle, but unfortunately, the machine did not seem to include the gene stealer in the "those awaiting rescue" category, and therefore refused to show him its location.

This armor is great in every way, except that it's sometimes just too ineffective at offense. Hongsuo thought regretfully. Otherwise, this Greenskin war might already be over.

However, while it refused to reveal the location of the gene stealer, it did provide him with other information.

Finally, he found what appeared to be the last group of conscious and living mortal servants on the ship in a place that resembled a centralized medical center.

As he easily sliced ​​open the heavy blast door with his servo arm and stepped inside, some of the people dressed in Flesh Ripper robes and naval uniforms began to sob softly, while others, in despair, began to curse their former master. The stench of fear, the acidity of sweat, and the pungent mixture of human excrement made the apothecary master, accustomed to the pristine cleanliness of the Destiny Steel and its territory, raise an eyebrow once again.

Who's in charge here?

When he spoke, the calmness and rationality in his words made many people in the crowd opposite him look at him in disbelief.

"Who's in charge here? Or, who can come out and answer my question now? If you have nothing else, I'll be leaving."

"No! Wait! Sir!"

Because he looked like he was really going to run away, and because his power armor, with its distinct paint job, was different from the Flesh Ripper's, someone immediately rushed out from the crowd and pounced on him.

"Please don't go! Sir! Please take us away!"

Deep fear was etched on the face of the woman who lunged forward, but Honsoe secretly thought she was very brave.

Obvious signs of malnutrition, lack of sleep, fatigue, and excessive stress, along with the abuse of Reca coffee and hallucinogenic herbs, were clearly visible on her face.

"How to say?"

Even Hunsso was subjected to such a gaze for the first time: the terrified people looked at him as if he were the last hope and salvation of the world.

However, considering that he had just anesthetized those flesh-tearers who were either thirsty for blood or enraged, he could understand them quite well.

“The sacred fortress was attacked,” she said. “Company Commander Warren led us away at the end; we were going to find Lord Seth.”

"The words 'flesh-tearing' and 'escape' together?" Honsor narrowed his eyes. "Isn't Warren afraid of getting his head smashed by Seth after he finds them?"

“No…it wasn’t an escape, my lord,” she gasped. “It was out of necessity…it was demons and heretics who came! Lord Warren felt it was his duty not to let the last precious seed reserves be desecrated, but he didn’t want to destroy them either, so he used the fortress as bait and took us on the ship. We were going to Baal—he said these seeds were our last hope, though Lord Seth might not want them so much.”

How do you know so much about seeds in such detail?

“I…I am one of the apothecary’s medical assistants, and I was left at the monastery to assist Company Commander Warren.”

"Not so much?" Hong Su murmured, a smile that made the woman tremble in surprise appeared on the apothecary's face. "Then I think it is my duty to help us with the urgent need to transfer our cousin's genetic seed to a safer and more suitable storage environment."

(End of this chapter)