Warhammer: Black Emperor

Chapter 507 Company Commander, you cannot insult the esteemed navigator!
Nerat Kilin's captain of guards glanced at the passage with a puzzled look, but found nothing special about the passage his company commander had pointed to.

With a sense of doubt, he followed Nerat into the passage.

The "Secret Prayer Person" traveled forward, while simultaneously sensing the subtle changes in their surroundings.

The team moved forward, navigating the winding maze for a standard time, which far exceeded the results of scanning the section of the ship.

"Did we go in the wrong direction?"

“No!” Nerath denied without hesitation when he heard the captain of the guard’s question.

He could intuitively sense that those adult male warriors of Qiu Or were trying to lure them into a path and launch an ambush.

The Black Emperor told him that the aliens possessed considerable intelligence.

The path he has chosen will thwart the aliens' ambush plot.

"Attack at three o'clock!"

Flying from around the corner were adult male warriors of the Chu-Oor clan, shrouded in mist, who collided with the Astartes firing a barrage of projectiles.

The appearance of the aliens invigorated the soldiers of the Nineteenth Legion, allowing them to set aside their worries about being trapped in the labyrinth during the battle.

The diamond warhead tore through the alien's "cardboard" shell, and the explosive detonated inside the capsule.

Da da da!
The projectiles fired at the Astartes were no longer air bullets, but dense physical bullets.

The "Mystic" was visible more clearly than the other Astartes, whose outlines were only visible. Firearms were mounted on the bio-mechanical interface at the bottom of the alien's abdominal cavity.

The bullets struck the power armor, leaving it dented and scarred.

The Astartes launched their attacks using a zigzag route, taking advantage of the passageways on either side as cover.

The adult warrior Qiu Or did not turn his body; he only rotated his chest, which covered 180 degrees, and launched an attack like a rotating machine gun.

With a thud, a member of the guard fell to the ground.

Even if the cyst is shattered, an individual that has undergone biochemical modification is more threatening than an ordinary individual.

Realizing this, Nerat immediately activated his Lightning Claws and charged straight into the ranks of the Qiu-Oor people. His claws, enveloped in an energy field, swung and tore a grown male warrior to pieces.

He moved swiftly through the crowd of Chu-Ol, and one male warrior after another fell. His movements were so fast that the foul-smelling slime did not even stain his armor.

The Qiu-Oor people noticed the swift figure rushing between them. The male warriors, now split on either side, abandoned their guards and unleashed a barrage of bullets at Nerat.

The "Prayer Man" let his spiritual intuition guide him, sometimes turning to the side, sometimes rushing forward, his movements nimbly weaving through the hail of bullets.

Nerat cut through the ranks of the Chu-Oor people. He felt his guards following him, but he didn't stop. He could already see a cabin at the end of the passage ahead.

[What are the elite male warriors of Qiu-Ol guarding?]
He swung his lightning claws, tearing apart the aliens blocking his path, and arrived at a large gate.

The sound of exploding bombs rang out behind him, but the guards following closely behind meant he didn't need to worry about what was behind him.

Unlike in the past, Nerat did not directly breach the door or use molten metal bombs to blast open the entrance.

Now, he possesses the abilities bestowed upon him by the Black Emperor.

The "Mystic" stared at the strange runes on the panel.

Runic script is quite different from Gothic script, but it is clearly a type of hieroglyphic script.

Some have a circle at the top, a vertical line at the bottom, and diagonal lines on both sides, representing humanity...

Astartes' superhuman intelligence allowed Nerat to take in all the runic texts in an instant.

The "Mystic" had deep eyes as he analyzed and understood the runic script of the Qiu-Oor people.

When the hissing of the bombs behind him subsided, he tucked the bomb pistol back into his waistband and began rapidly typing on the rubber keyboard.

As the same cold mist, similar to the mist expelled from the sac, spread out, the door slowly opened.

“They are the Navigators, the Navigators of the Frank family.” The captain of the guard walked to his company commander’s side. He had no more doubts about Lord Nerath; they were on the right path.

The pale-skinned navigator looked at the crowd and said weakly:

"Help...help me!"

"What's wrong?" the guard captain asked. "I..." the navigator said stiffly, "Nothing."

"Nothing wrong? But you just asked for help," the guard captain asked, puzzled.

Nerat suddenly walked toward the Navigator, but the "Mystic" shoved him to the ground and then ripped off his clothes.

The captain of the guard was about to stop the company commander from insulting the noble navigator appointed by the empire, which would cause them considerable trouble. Lord Horus would reprimand them for their rudeness.

He stopped mid-air just as he was about to touch the gauntlet on the company commander's arm. He saw a worm attached to the base of the navigator's spine, close to the nervous system.

It was a fat worm, its two tentacles digging deep into the navigator's pale flesh.

Its mouthparts were tightly gripping the spine, and the pale flesh was surrounded by a bluish-purple color.

"The aliens use it to control the navigator," the guard captain suddenly realized.

“That’s right,” Nerat recalled the information the Black Emperor had given him, “It’s called the Heart-Controlling Maggot.”

"bottle!"

A pharmacist immediately took a metal can from his waist.

Following the company commander's orders, he prepared fifteen storage tanks in advance.

He pressed on the rune, and as a cold mist dissipated, a section of the metal can popped out.

Nerat raised his left hand and grabbed the fat maggot.

The heart-controlling maggot, having lost its host, let out a sharp screech in anger at Nerat.

Nerat placed the mind-controlling maggots into the bio-pod, and the apothecary pressed the rune again before the fat maggots could swarm out.

With a bang, the heart-controlling maggot slammed against the metal inner wall.

"Thank you...you all..." the Flac family navigator, who had survived the ordeal, said weakly.

He finally escaped the nightmare.

He no longer wanted to experience the nightmare of constantly fighting against intruders with his will and preventing his consciousness from sinking into oblivion.

"Take him back to the ship," Nerath ordered, then looked at a boulder taller than himself and three people wider.

The giant rock is covered with the runes of the Qiu-Oor people arranged in a honeycomb pattern.

Deep Space Giant Rock!

Nerat's eyes lit up; the Mind Control Maggot and the Deep Space Boulder were both items designated by the Black Emperor.

"Take it back."

Two guards immediately stepped forward and lifted the deep-space boulder.

Nerat then led his guards back into the labyrinth.

As he walked through a passageway, he suddenly stopped, pointed at the metal wall, and gave an order.

"Thermal bomb!"

A moment later, a loud explosion caused the guards who had been walking a short distance to turn around.

They saw countless aliens thrashing and struggling in the sea of ​​fire, and they raised their explosive guns and fired at the Chu-Oor people who were struggling to emerge from the flames.

The captain of the guard was not surprised, but still glanced at his company commander with astonishment.

He felt that his company commander was becoming stronger and wiser.

Nerat Kilin led his company in boarding one after another of the scattered, fleeing Chu-Oor chainships, rescuing captured navigators and bringing back the spoils.

He only stopped when all the chain ships in the void had been captured.

After receiving orders from the Shadow Lord to rest, the "Mystic" began to hold repeated prayers and sacrifices in his captain's quarters, offering the Mind Control Worm and the Deep Space Boulder to the Black Emperor.

During the sacrifice, as he harnessed the power bestowed by the Black Emperor, Alkahas Far gave the order to launch an orbital drop on Svek Prime.

(End of this chapter)