I summoned the Fourth Scourge in Warhammer

Chapter 179 Those who go to their deaths come to die.
As Wick selectively closed his eyes, turning a blind eye to the increasingly outrageous sights around him, the military buildup at the island camp grew ever more terrifying.

Even after artificial expansion, every inch of this island is now utilized to the fullest extent. Robust alloy fortresses and bunkers interlock, forming an impenetrable three-dimensional fire network. The ground is covered with automated turrets and minefields, and above all this lies a menacing forest of steel pointing towards the sky.

Even without consciously paying attention, Wick could tell that these people had an almost obsessive focus on air defense. The sheer density of firepower from those densely packed anti-aircraft gun emplacements left Wick with no doubt that they could overload and vaporize a frigate's Void Shield in an instant.

By the time construction had reached this stage, Wick had exhausted his life's worth of exploration experience, unable to utter another word. A sense of dread began to grip the core of his logic—would these people kill him once he became useless? After all, he had seen so many things he shouldn't have seen…

In fact, the reason Wick was so willing to share his knowledge so readily, besides genuinely craving recognition from his peers, was largely to continuously create value for himself. Once he lost his value to them, who knew what these eccentric and unpredictable individuals might do?

So, after another day had come to an end, Wick hesitated for a moment and said to the three of them, "My experience ends here. I can't say anything new."

Upon hearing this, Pingjie was the first to stand up and extend his hand to shake Wick's: "Thank you for your help, Taren!"

Wick shook his hand hesitantly: "Is there... anything else I can do for you?"

“Don’t talk like that, Taren,” Pinjee said with a laugh, “It’s like we’re superiors and subordinates.”

“Yes,” Bonnie chimed in, “you’re our friend forever!”

"friend?"

Upon hearing this word, Wick was momentarily stunned. His data core had never recorded any real-world application examples of this term. He had never imagined that a reclusive mechanical priest like himself, who only knew rocks and data, could have any friends, nor had he ever considered what having friends truly meant.

Just then, a piercing scream, seemingly capable of tearing apart the soul, shattered the tranquility of the camp and interrupted everyone inside. Leonid reacted the fastest, rushing out first, followed closely by the others, who immediately collided with JK, Lang, and Gregory, who were hurrying over.

"They're here! They're here!" Gregor shouted at the top of his lungs, "Professor Leonid, they're here!"

"I know!" Leonid shoved the man who was blocking his way. "Get out of my way!"

The group rushed to the center of the island. The wild psionicists, who had maintained a dazed and delirious expression for the past ten days, were now writhing and howling in agony on the ground, their faces contorted as if their souls were being torn apart inch by inch by an invisible giant hand.

"Why a scream instead of a head exploding?" Boni frowned as he watched this and muttered to himself, "Theoretically, no matter how much pain the consciousness is in, it shouldn't affect the body until the pain reaches a critical point and then explodes... It seems my understanding of the soul and the subspace is still not deep enough."

The others ignored Bonnie's academic monologue, and Pingjie turned to JK: "Are all the radars not responding?"

"Yes, neither the bird-flying instrument nor our own radar array has detected anything," JK reported. "Should we send some comrades from the air force to check the situation?"

“No need,” Pingjie said calmly. “They didn’t react this strongly when we used the ashes of untouchables to capture them before. There’s no other possibility.”

“So it’s true…” Lang’s expression turned extremely serious. “We’re about to see [them]…” “Wait,” Wick, who arrived late, looked at everyone’s tense and solemn expressions and finally realized something was wrong. “You…you’re not confident you can defeat the aliens that are coming?”

Upon hearing this, everyone looked at Wick with strange expressions. Pingjie spoke first, saying, "You overestimate us, Taren."

Gregory added from the side, "At least that's an overestimation of one Emperor-level Titan."

"Then why did you come here willingly?!" Wick's electronic eyes flashed red with anxiety. "If you weren't confident, wasn't this just suicide?!"

“Of course we’re here to gather intelligence,” JK said frankly, as if stating something perfectly normal. “Through this battle, we can gain a real understanding of the characteristics of each of the enemy’s units and find the best way to counter them.”

"You three are the same?" Wick looked at the three distinguished "mechanical priests" in disbelief.

"Without us, how could these young men who know nothing but fighting find an effective way to fight them in the shortest time?" Pingjie shrugged dismissively.

“Besides, it’s not too late for us to send you away now,” Bonnie said. “Get ready, Wick, it seems it’s time for us to say goodbye.”

Surprisingly, Wick didn't show any joy at surviving the ordeal. He stood there hesitating for a long time, finally letting out a long sigh, a sigh that seemed to carry a venting of pressure. He made up his mind and said, "Forget it, I'm not leaving."

"Are you sure?" Bonnie asked in surprise.

“Yes, I’m sure.” Wick’s voice was unusually firm. “Since you’re not leaving, then I’m not leaving either. Besides, even without you, I would probably be attacked by those aliens without even realizing it… The outcome would be the same anyway, so I might as well die with you.”

The group exchanged glances, and Bonnie said to Pingjie on the private communication channel, "So what do we do? Do we really include him in our combat unit?"

"What a joke! When the time comes, we'll just use force. He'll have to leave whether he wants to or not." Pingjie's stubbornness kicked in. "These people only have one life after all. We should save them if we can."

“Except for the nobles of Upper Nest,” Leonid suddenly interrupted.

"You Russian are spouting nonsense again. Are the Upper Nest nobles human?" Bonnie sneered. "I've never heard of humans eating their own kind and thinking it's some kind of ultimate pleasure."

Pingjie ignored the bickering between the two and turned to Wick, saying, "In that case, let's fight side by side."

“Yes,” Wick nodded emphatically, “we will die side by side!”

(End of this chapter)