I summoned the Fourth Scourge in Warhammer

Chapter 55 Cunning, Patient!
The players from Class 5 and Class 6 passed through a narrow, dimly lit tunnel, and the view suddenly opened up before them, causing them to gasp in surprise. They discovered that they had entered a huge residential area.

Before me lay a dense array of interconnected rooms, arranged at varying heights, resembling a honeycomb constructed of steel and concrete. Even more troubling was the fact that the open spaces between the rooms were covered with tangled barbed wire, beneath which the faintly visible protrusions silently testified to the presence of landmines.

As for the enemies, aside from a few snipers who thought they were well hidden, concealed in windows or on rooftops but were actually clearly marked by white borders in the player's field of vision, there were hardly any other figures to be seen. However, to say that these were the only enemies in the entire area? No one would believe it.

"Why are there residential areas in the Zhongchao Factory?" one player couldn't help but complain, his tone full of confusion. "What happened to the promised low human rights? I thought the workers would just sleep under the machine tools after finishing their work."

"Maybe it's where the foremen and factory managers live?" another player said with some speculation.

“There’s no point in guessing,” the squad leader of the fifth squad stopped their discussion in time, his gaze sweeping over the complicated area. “Let’s think about how to take this area. I just took a close look, and I’m afraid there’s no way to get around it.”

"Let's take out the sniper first," said a player holding a laser sniper rifle, as he cautiously leaned out and aimed at a "white border" behind a window in the distance.

As a blinding red laser beam ripped through the dim air and struck its target precisely, the once-quiet residential area erupted into chaos, as if receiving some kind of signal. A barrage of gunfire and the whooshing of energy weapons filled the air as both sides engaged in a fierce exchange of fire.

Genestealers possess organs unlike those of ordinary humans, exhibiting exceptional adaptability to extreme environments and heightened senses. In such dim light, they can easily pinpoint enemy locations with far greater accuracy than ordinary humans. In fact, this was part of Kyle's plan; he hoped that the darkness would weaken humanity's visual advantage, allowing genestealers to utilize their hunting instincts in the dark.

But this plan clearly backfired, even helping his enemies. The hostile creatures players perceived had distinct white outlines, making them even easier to spot in dim light than in bright light, as the white glow stood out starkly in the darkness. In this situation, players were actually more accurate than in the light. They only needed to aim at the clearly visible white outlines and pull the trigger.

The firepower of both sides was certainly not limited to automatic weapons and laser guns. There were also grenades, hand grenades, rockets, and even anti-tank guns. Overall, the cunning faction had a superior firepower, which made the previously cautious pureblood commander more confident. It felt that it was fully capable of annihilating this Astral Army.

But things quickly spiraled out of his control. He discovered that after a brief exchange of fire, the players' firepower not only didn't diminish, but actually became even more ferocious after they became familiar with the surroundings. Players killed by the gene stealers would respawn on the spot after a short while; they didn't even need to fully expose their bodies, just their heads were enough to continue firing. For the players, this was a zero-cost sniping duel, one they weren't afraid of no matter how long it lasted.

Their own casualties were mounting, and their expensive heavy ammunition was being rapidly depleted, while the enemy's firepower remained unchanged; it seemed no one had died. Even a fool would realize that the gene-stealing commander stationed in the residential area was in dire straits. This was a one-sided war of attrition. If this continued, even if they ran out of ammunition and lives, the enemy could still fire lasers and throw grenades. He quickly halted this foolish exchange. The gunfire abruptly subsided, eventually fading into silence.

Players were naturally unhappy after discovering this. They were having so much fun sniping each other, why did it suddenly stop?

So without the squad leader giving an order, they started firing provocatively and taking turns taunting each other: "Why did you stop firing? Are you such a coward?"

"Don't be a coward, grandson! Come out and face your grandpa!"

But clearly, the players' taunts missed their mark; the remaining gene stealers were as if they were dead, showing no reaction whatsoever.

“Talking is no use,” the squad leader said helplessly. “Hey guys, take off your gear and go over there and seduce them.”

Needless to say, several players immediately and cleanly removed their equipment, wearing nothing at all, not caring if they died, and then swaggered to the open area to begin their mocking performance.

"A bunch of hybrid dogs, I'll fuck your horses to death, you understand? I'll fuck your horses to death!" One player cut to the chase with the most concise and direct language. "We've been fighting you for so long, and your god hasn't reacted at all. Is the Lord of the Void a cripple?" Another player challenged with even more inflammatory language.

Finally, a few gene thieves couldn't hold back any longer. They angrily poked their heads out and fired at the players who were taunting them. One of the players unfortunately fell to the ground and went to sleep, but the other players seized this fleeting opportunity and focused their fire to send the gene thieves to their sleep as well.

The surviving players cursed even more fiercely: "What the hell, why are they getting so worked up?"

"The Lord of the Void hasn't unleashed divine punishment, which means it has no objections. Why are you all in such a hurry? Are you being disloyal?"

But this time, no matter how much the players cursed or provoked them, no more gene-stealers showed their faces. Clearly, the gene-stealer commander knew the principle on the battlefield that the more the enemy wants you to do something, the better you should not do it; it had made up its mind to endure.

After a while of cursing, the gene stealers remained completely unresponsive, like they were dead. Finding it pointless, the players all left.

"Squad leader, it seems like we're out of options, let's fight!" a player shouted to the squad leader.

The two squad leaders exchanged a glance, both feeling they couldn't afford to waste any more time. Since the enemy was determined not to show themselves, this provocative tactic was pointless. After a quick discussion, the fifth squad leader waved his hand and gave the order: "Our squad will go up and dismantle the barbed wire and landmines. The brothers from the fourth squad, provide cover fire!"

"We're brothers, why be so polite? Just go ahead and demolish it!" The squad leader of the fourth squad then directed his men to find advantageous positions, aiming their guns at every window and crevice in the residential area where enemies might appear.

Meanwhile, the gene-stealers in the residential area could only watch helplessly as these Ascendant soldiers swaggered out of their bunkers once more and openly began dismantling the carefully laid barbed wire. The clicking and clanking of their tools rang out sharply in the otherwise silent area.

"Sir, shall we... fight?" A fourth-generation gene stealer cautiously asked a pure-blooded gene stealer.

The pure-blooded gene stealers were caught in an unprecedented dilemma. Fight? That would inevitably expose some of their brethren, and who knew if this was yet another deliberate lure by the Astral Army, waiting for them to walk right into their trap?

Not attacking? The purpose of setting up barbed wire is to delay the enemy's advance, so as to inflict casualties on them in the process. Now that the enemy has started to dismantle it, they are just standing by like spectators. What's the point of setting up barbed wire? Wasn't it a waste of time?

The pureblood felt a sense of absurdity; how could it be confused about whether or not to fight the enemy? Was this still the war it knew?

Finally, the pureblood gene stealer took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the anger and resentment in his heart, and squeezed out a few words from his throat with a sense of frustration: "No fighting, I'll endure it!"

It consoled itself, thinking that once these damned zombie king followers entered the building, it would teach them a lesson! At that time, the narrow indoor space would be the domain of these gene thieves, and they would make them pay the price for their arrogance.

(End of this chapter)