I summoned the Fourth Scourge in Warhammer

Chapter 159 Why is your head so pointy? (Praise)
Inside the human army's command post, Commander-in-Chief Wendell Gage immediately detected the anomaly in the ground forces through tactical projection. The red arrow representing the Legion of the Dead suddenly broke away from the overall advance rhythm of the line, thrusting forward like a red-hot blade.

He immediately asked in a deep voice, "What's going on? Why has the Third Legion of the Dead from Pedidias suddenly accelerated?"

An officer in charge of liaison immediately stepped forward, stood at attention, and reported: "Commander-in-Chief, their tactical report just submitted states that in order to reduce the harassment from the Tau guerrilla warfare, they will reach the outskirts of Gelbrin as soon as possible to launch a general offensive."

Wendell frowned: "Is the harassment from the Tau people serious?"

"That is exactly what I wanted to report to you, Commander-in-Chief," the officer's expression also turned serious, "The Tau people's guerrilla warfare, though cowardly, has indeed caused the Emperor's warriors considerable trouble."

"Because we chose landing points near mountains, the aliens could always find excellent locations to launch surprise attacks. After causing only minor casualties, they would quickly withdraw, using their familiarity with the terrain and advanced stealth technology to disappear without a trace."

"According to feedback from the front lines, small units of a hundred men pursuing the enemy are almost certain to fall into the carefully laid ambush by the Tau people and be wiped out; while large units of a thousand men pursuing the enemy would severely impact the overall marching speed, and fighting in complex and unfamiliar mountainous terrain would not necessarily yield any significant results. This passive and defensive situation has already begun to cause our morale to decline..."

"Alright, that's enough." Wendell raised his hand to interrupt him.

The officer immediately shut his mouth, took a step back, and respectfully returned to the crowd.

Wendell stared at the shimmering dots on the sand table, his fingers tapping lightly on the edge of the command platform. After a moment of contemplation, he finally gave the order: "In that case, notify the Tanatalis Titan Legion and the Space Marine Chapters to also increase their speed. And all other Astral Legions, increase their marching speed as well, and keep pace with the Legion of the Dead."

“In addition…” Wendell stopped abruptly halfway through his sentence.

"What else, Your Excellency Commander-in-Chief?" The chief of staff, who was rapidly recording orders, looked up in confusion.

"Fine, let's leave it at that." Wendell waved his hand, ultimately giving up.

He originally wanted to add, "I want to tell the Legion of the Dead that next time something like this happens, we must report it before we take any action," but then he thought that it would be a complete waste of breath to say that to those guys.

He was almost certain that after his orders were relayed, those desperados would at most give a perfunctory salute, then turn around and ignore it completely. Why should he bother and make a fool of himself?

Driven by the runaway engine of the Deathbringers, the entire human expeditionary force's ground troops began to accelerate. At the same time, a strange phenomenon quickly emerged: even though other units had received the acceleration order, they were gradually left far behind by the Deathbringers. This legion composed of "players" had become the vanguard of the entire army, closely following the Titan Legion's massive feet.

The reason is actually very simple.

The "full speed ahead" of a normal Astral Legion and the "full speed ahead" of those going to their deaths are completely different concepts.

For any normal army, the so-called "full speed ahead" must take into account the subsequent battles. Considering the high-intensity siege warfare and brutal urban combat that may immediately follow the march, even the most elite Astral Legion must conserve the soldiers' stamina, at most increasing the marching speed to a continuous jog.

But for those who are risking their lives, physical strength and fatigue are simply not concerns that ordinary people should have.

They would inject themselves with combat potions, sprint at top speed to the outskirts of Gelblin, die once, and then revive with their stamina and health fully restored—this was their most economical and efficient way of marching. At this moment, the atmosphere in the various companies of the suicide squads could only be described as "frenzied."

"All personnel, administer combat medication at maximum dose!"

At the company commander's command, all the players activated the auto-injectors inside their armor without hesitation, plunging them deep into their spines. The icy chemical cocktail instantly flooded their bloodstreams, their hearts pounding wildly as if struck by a warhammer, pumping searing energy to every limb and bone.

"Ula——!"

"For the Emperor!"

"Charge! Charge! Kill those Avatars!"

The next second, this company of several hundred men transformed into an unstoppable torrent of steel. Their legs unleashed power far exceeding human limits, sprinting across the rugged terrain at a terrifying speed approaching 50 kilometers per hour.

They swept past a trooping Astral Legion like a whirlwind in the blink of an eye. The regular soldiers only felt a gust of wind around them, and before they could see what it was, the black figures had vanished, leaving behind only trampled ground and billowing dust.

"What...what is that thing?" A panting soldier stared in disbelief.

Even the Storm Loyalists, the elite of the elite, who were rapidly flanking on the other side, were dumbfounded. One squad leader couldn't hold back any longer and exclaimed through his built-in communicator, "How can the suicide squad run so fast?! By the Emperor, that's almost the speed of the Astartes!!"

“I’ve heard that those who go to their deaths really like to take medicine,” one of his Storm Loyalists suggested. “Maybe they’ve all taken medicine already?”

But once these words were spoken, everyone couldn't hold back any longer.

"Are you kidding me? To run at that speed, the dosage needed would be so high that you'd probably die of a heart attack by the time you reached the outskirts of Gelblin."

"Could it be that the Peditians have a high tolerance to drugs?" Another Storm Loyalist suddenly remembered something and said in a tone as if he had discovered a shocking secret, "I fought alongside them in the Hydas Sector before, and I noticed a very strange phenomenon. When a person was being injected with the drug, his companions would often say to him, 'Why is your head so pointy?'"

He paused, feeling he had grasped the truth: "I was very curious at the time, so I asked them. They told me that this was a famous historical figure from their planet, known for his pointed head, frequent drug use, and extremely high drug resistance! It seems that the culture of Peditians highly values ​​people with high drug resistance, and you even have to reach a certain level of drug resistance to be qualified to join the Legion of the Dead!"

This astonishing "discovery" silenced the entire squad's communication channels for a moment.

Immediately afterward, another member of the Storm Loyal Army, drawing inferences from this, exclaimed with sudden realization, "So, in the future, when we meet someone who is about to die, if we want to start a conversation and show friendliness, we should praise their sharp mind?"

Upon hearing this, the other members of the Storm Loyal Army felt that this conjecture was reasonable, logically sound, and perfectly explained all the irrational behavior of the people who went to their deaths.

This is most likely the truth!
(End of this chapter)