Warhammer 40: Doom

Chapter 267 Secret Action
Separated from its comrades, the KV-230 used its cloak to conceal its form and swiftly moved through the shadows of buildings.

It doesn't actually need a cloak.

The body, created using ancient technology, possesses a natural cloaking ability, but the mission requires it to shield itself from psionic detection, as the Lord of the Stars suspects the target of possessing psionic abilities.

230 hovered atop a building, overlooking the city, recording basic information, and awaiting intelligence transmission.

Finding a target in a sea of ​​people is extremely difficult, especially a child who has only met the Lord of the Stars once and refuses to enter the machine.

Its mechanical "head" rotates continuously, scanning the entire city and quickly collecting basic information.

It's called a head, but it's actually just a place to put a smart chip, install an electronic eye, and a sharp antenna tilted backward.

Why is it considered a skull? Because it is located precisely in the middle of the upper limbs, which aligns with the human perception of a "skull".

After collecting the basic information, 230 left the edge of the building and walked to the location of an equipment antenna.

It nimbly extended its arm, and the indestructible blade sliced ​​through, prying open the external protection of the data box.

The arm splits open, transforming into an access device, ready to be inserted into the data interface and browse the internal data exchange of the shaper.

After a moment's hesitation, the smart chip established hundreds of millions of firewalls in a single second to prevent data intrusion.

Not content with that, it backed up its own consciousness and placed it in a separate chip to deal with potential data corruption.

This is the assassin, an iron man specializing in stealth and assassination; caution and prudence are the underlying codes bestowed upon him by the golden humans.

Click!

Having done all this, KV-230 no longer hesitated and connected its data interface to Shapeshifter Communications.

The data simulation was immediately activated, and the Iron Man's consciousness entered the data deluge, becoming no different from ordinary data.

Without alerting the firewall, it sneaked into the core and began browsing the data it needed.

230. Don't be greedy; greed is the prerequisite for falling into a trap.

Consciousness bypassed layers of classified data and lingered in the "unclassified" tier, using imaging technology to begin searching for mission targets.

It reported via quantum communication: "Target data does not exist; the child could not be found."

However, no fragments of data such as "frustration" or "discouragement" appeared in 230's will. It retracted its arm, re-welded the data box to eliminate the traces, and waited for its brethren to transmit data back.

"I have arrived at the Shaping Hall and am beginning the footprint scan," another Iron Man communicated, connecting to the footprint tracker.

KV-230 immediately set off, repositioning itself at the edge of the building, and began searching for the tracker emanating from the Shrine of Shapes.

With only a nanometer-sized tracker, it flies swiftly through the streets, following the footprints scanned by its fellow citizens.

The tracker rampaged through the streets, showing no regard for pedestrians or vehicles.

Its size allows it to penetrate between cells or molecules without being noticed by humans, and it is not blocked by vehicles or buildings.

"The tracker has been updated." 230 jumped off the roof and followed the clearly visible point of light.

On the other end, KV-117 encountered obstacles while entering the Shaping Hall.

After launching its footprint tracker, it moved through the crowd without alerting anyone.

Equipped with a "sensory shield," assassins can evade the senses of most living beings, and even when walking past a shapeshifter, they will only feel as if a gentle breeze is passing by.

Following the staff, 117 arrived at the back of the hall.

It continuously collects data and discovers that what the staff are doing is just routine work.

They prepared the nutrient solution and then injected it into the shaping machine; nothing seemed amiss.

"The shaping machine is nearing fatigue and needs a rest. Let's finish today's work."

Just as 117 was preparing to look for other clues, a single sentence from a staff member led to a major discovery.

Shaping machine? Fatigue? Rest?
After combining these three terms and performing countless calculations, 117 immediately concluded that the shaping machine was no ordinary machine.

Their descriptions were so human-like, it was as if they weren't describing a machine.

hum~ hum~ hum~
117 walked up to the staff member, mimicking the sound of a mosquito with his vocal organs, and quickly touched the back of the person's bare hand with his arm.

"Damn mosquitoes!" With a curse, the man raised his arm, revealing a red dot on the back of his hand.

It then followed the same method, obtaining the DNA of different personnel in various jobs and storing it for later use.

After doing all this, 117 stood in the shadows, concealing himself to avoid the final check and scan by security personnel.

As the hall lights dimmed, the assassin began a graceful dance, twirling through the corridors to evade infrared detectors and electromagnetic scans. In a secluded corner, it removed a grille, tucked itself into the ventilation duct, and began a thorough inspection of the shaping machine.

Upon entering the ventilation duct, 117 paused briefly, halting its forward movement.

Under the meticulous scanning of a multispectral electronic eye, the ventilation duct is filled with dense mesh, layer upon layer covering the entire pipe.

It was about to continue moving forward, but immediately stopped.

As the electronic eyes extend, the seemingly chaotic ordinary wire mesh gradually becomes arranged in a regular pattern.

Clearly, wire mesh is part of a security system, used to defend against early warning devices in concealed locations.

117 slowly retreated, left the ventilation duct, and casually installed the grille. It felt a surge of excitement.

Even the interior of the ventilation ducts is equipped with tight security, so the secrets hidden here must be very valuable.

It began to wander around the hall, searching for weaknesses in the defenses.

In the city's sewers, the KV-237 travels through pitch-black darkness, listening to the hissing sounds of rodents chewing.

Rats, cockroaches, mosquitoes, and flies. These creatures were successful, following in the footsteps of humans, and ventured out of the Terran colony galaxy.

Tick ​​tock~tick tock~
The sound of dripping water echoed from the sewers in the deathly silence.

If a normal creature were here, its heart would have already collapsed in the darkness, crying and curling up in a ball.

237 remained unmoved, its crimson electronic eye scanning, not daring to miss any clue.

"Whoosh..." A faint gliding sound was captured by the sound collector, which quickly turned around to face the source of the sound.

The gliding sound grew fainter and fainter. Without hesitation, 237 took off running after it, chasing the sound relentlessly.

As the distance closed, the sounds it collected became clearer, and further analysis revealed the cries of a human infant, as well as the chewing sounds of teeth colliding with bones.

Then, the crying and the chewing sounds stopped.

237 stood still, without making a sound, its body pressed against the cold wall, feeling the slight vibrations it transmitted.

After pinpointing the location, 237 slowly retreated, raised its bladed arm horizontally against the wall, and a thin crack appeared in the smooth bladed arm, allowing a nanobot to enter the interior of the wall.

Thoughts immediately connect, and vision travels through the molecular world to a sea of ​​cells.

KV-237 was puzzled, thinking that the nanomachines had entered the bodies of mice or cockroaches and were controlling the nanorobots to continue moving forward.

However, the next scene it saw caused the smart chip to briefly malfunction.

Inside a huge square room, countless silk threads coiled together, resembling the nest of millions of spiders.

At the bottom of the room was a layer of viscous liquid composed of blood and bits of flesh, which was the liquid through which the nanobots penetrated.

Around the room were neatly arranged pipe exits, from which people kept slipping and falling.

There were elderly people, young adults, children, and even infants. They were all alive, but their conditions were completely different.

The elderly faced death with equanimity, the young and middle-aged looked calm, while the children and infants cried their hearts out, terrified of everything before them.

237 shifted its gaze and saw something in the center of the room... It didn't know how to describe what it saw.

It was completely transparent, its body stained with blood and filth. At first glance, it appeared to be a single entity, but upon closer inspection, it was composed of billions of transparent creatures.

They clung tightly together, forming a group, rolling and chewing in the blood and filth.

Alien!

In a very short time, 237 identified the monster as intelligent and some kind of terrifying alien.

The alien, composed of transparent creatures, resembles a caterpillar. It raises its front half and spits out numerous fine threads from its mouthparts to bind humans, dragging their flesh and blood into its lamprey-like mouth.

Click!Click!
Teeth collide with bones, and through its transparent body, one can see that the teeth, like spinning blades, peel away flesh and crush bones from living people.

Upon witnessing this scene, the children were terrified and cried out in fear.

Another layer of silk threads swept over, binding dozens of humans and dragging them into its mouth, where it embraced them tightly.

237 remained unmoved, maneuvering its nanobots into the pipe and flying in the opposite direction to locate the source.

The nanobots transmitted information that the reverse exit of the pipeline led to the bottom of residential buildings.

"Intelligence collected and transmitted." 237 transmitted everything it had gathered to the warship via quantum communication.

(End of this chapter)