I, Yuhaka, am hungry!

Upon hearing Hephaestus's words, Eohaka gave a knowing look, but then asked curiously, "Why do these things exist?"

Regarding Yhaka's question, Hephaestus explained to Yhaka: "The reason is very simple. Originally, Khar was a world with lush vegetation and a mild climate, but under the baptism of nuclear bombs used by the former Terran Federation, the entire planet was turned into a planet of radiation and desert."

“Oh oh oh OoO~” Hearing Hephaestus’s words, Yuhaka nodded as if she understood. Hephaestus then continued, “That’s why someone needs to deal with the nuclear contamination. Augustegrad was built in this environment. However, after Augustegrad was built, the surrounding environment was not purified. After all, the cost of purifying the entire planet is not a small amount. Therefore, the large-scale nuclear contamination purification plan was canceled, and what followed was a small-scale nuclear contamination purification plan.”

Hearing this, Yuhaka was also a little confused. The large-scale plan to clean up nuclear contamination had been canceled, so why use a small-scale plan instead? Yuhaka was very familiar with human thought processes.

Hephaestus explained the two different situations to Yhwach, who was puzzled. Large-scale nuclear contamination cleanup not only requires numerous massive facilities but also a large number of technicians to operate them. This necessitates substantial funding, technical expertise, and manpower. The Empire currently lacks the funds to invest in such matters. Due to the Zerg invasion, the Empire has allocated most of its funds to the military, and the funds allocated for environmental remediation in Korhal have been cancelled. It wasn't until after the Queen of Blades was defeated by Raynor and his forces that Mengsk began to allocate some funds to environmental remediation.

Even so, the funds used for environmental remediation will be prioritized for use in mining facilities and new urban development areas outside Augustegrad, thereby establishing a new city.

And the genetically engineered agents under Yuhaka's command were lurking in such a place.

..............................................

..............................................

The location of a mining facility and the foundation for a new city on the planet Kharmuth, which is part of the Terran Empire.

Ehaka and Hephaestus also arrived here. Thanks to Ehaka's powerful stealth ability, there was practically nothing on Korhal that could detect their presence.

Therefore, neither Euhaka nor Hephaestus alerted any guards. Looking at the foundation of the city being built beneath the huge basin-like terrain, Hephaestus explained to Euhaka, "This is the foundation of a new city. The workers will first trim the foundation, the drainage pipes, and the subway lines here, and then build the new city on these foundations."

Hearing Hephaestus's words, Yuhaka nodded to show he understood. He then looked at the workers on the construction site. However, Yuhaka felt that these people were more like refugees than workers. After all, workers at least wore work clothes and were much stronger. But these people were not only very thin, but their work clothes were also very simple and worn out. Even the tools in their hands were like that. They looked like refugees who had come from who-knows-where.

Regarding Yuhaka's doubts, Hephaestus, who was fiddling with a tablet computer nearby, seemed to have found something and said to Yuhaka, "Ah, I found it. These workers are all refugees from other planets. No wonder there are so few people who fit the characteristics of workers."

"Refugees?" Upon hearing Hephaestus's words, Yhwach looked puzzled, clearly not understanding why these refugees had been sent here. Hephaestus explained, "Perhaps it's because the Empire never intended to provide these refugees with any shelter?"

Yuhaka was also puzzled by Hephaestus's words. Why didn't the Empire provide these refugees with places to live?

As for why, it's obviously to save money. After all, there's no place to live for these refugees who fled from other planets to Korhal. Although a small number of refugees have integrated into Augustegrad, these refugees are mostly highly skilled professionals, so it's normal for them to be recruited by various large corporations in Augustegrad. But most refugees aren't so lucky. These refugees are either lacking in skills or are just ordinary civilians. In an imperial capital, there's no shortage of such people, even agricultural technicians. After all, there's practically no land available for farming on Korhal.

The reason is that a large amount of land has been polluted, and there are not many crops that can be grown. In Augustogler, the areas where crops are grown are basically automated and do not require many people, although they cannot achieve self-sufficiency.

However, it's unclear which guy came up with the bad idea of ​​sending those refugees to explore new territories, so these refugees were sent here to carry out environmental cleanup work, mining, and the construction of new cities.

Upon hearing this, Yuhaka couldn't help but show an "O△O......" expression. Clearly, Yuhaka was at a loss for words regarding the Terran Empire's bizarre actions, and felt that it was best to just get rid of this mess.

Hephaestus sighed at the state of the Empire. The Sons of Korhal had fought against the corruption of the Terran Federation, but who could have imagined that the dragon slayer would ultimately become the dragon himself?

Soon, with the help of Hephaestus and Eohaka, they arrived at the location of a dilapidated church. Although the humans of this world had entered the interstellar age, they had not neglected their faith. Church facilities also existed in Augustegler. Mengsk himself did not impose any restrictions on faith, as long as it was not some anti-human cult.

After the two entered the dilapidated church, they saw that the nave was empty, but it wasn't completely empty; there were quite a few creatures that looked like humans.

As the doors of the dilapidated church closed, a large number of figures emerged from the shadows within the nave. These figures wore hooded cloaks with eye patterns resembling Oo oO. On the wall of the nave was an image of a twin-tailed comet streaking across the sky, like the planet Zerus, surrounded by many bubbles of starlight and the six elements. Most importantly, in the center was a four-armed girl with enormous wings and huge horns. The girl's eyes were closed, and her wings, which resembled claws, spread out behind her like folded hands. Her large, long tail coiled beneath her like a throne.

The girl held four different items in her hands: a massive two-handed sword with the inscription "Terminus Est" on its blade; a magnificent and imposing key (similar to Abigail's key); a huge and deformed bone hunting bow; arrows resembling short spears; and... a large fish?

Hephaestus was dumbfounded when he saw this! After all, Hephaestus never expected that such an unbelievable thing would appear on such a magnificent mural. It was as if a toilet had been added to the bottom of the Thinker statue, making people stop thinking altogether.

Meanwhile, Yuhaka, who was standing nearby, saw the mural and pointed at it with a sparkling expression, saying, "It's Yuyu OwO!"

"Huh???" Hephaestus stared wide-eyed at Yuhaka upon hearing her words, clearly shocked. The girl in the mural was his commander???

Upon seeing this, Hephaestus reached out and grabbed Yhwach under his armpits to compare them. He compared Yhwach's "OwO" expression with the one on the mural and found that there was indeed a slight similarity. However, the "OwO" expression on Yhwach's face did give Hephaestus a sense of incongruity.

"Hey~hey~OwO~" Seeing Hephaestus in a daze, Eohaka curled up its big tail and poked Hephaestus's face. Hephaestus, who was poked by Eohaka's big tail, realized what was happening and quickly apologized and put Eohaka down.

Then, a person wearing a white hooded cloak, different from the others who wore black hooded cloaks, stepped forward and said to Yhwach, "Welcome, Star Child of Great Zerus, Great Devourer of the Primal Zerg, Holder of the Silver Key, Ruler of the Elementals, Slayer of the Star Eaters—"

Before the other person could finish speaking, Yuhaka, who was standing to the side, gestured to the believer in front of him as if to say, "It's too long, Yuhaka won't listen."

Upon hearing Yhaka's words, the follower in front of Yhaka was stunned, his mouth slightly agape. He was clearly taken aback by Yhaka's words. However, he quickly composed himself, coughed slightly, glared at the snickering followers behind him, and continued to say to Yhaka, "Yes, as you command. What business do you and the Spirit of All Machines have with us here today?"

Upon hearing the question, aside from the puzzled Hephaestus, Yuhaka replied to the believer before him, "Hmm, show Yuyu around the underground city OwO~"

After hearing Euhakkar's words, the believer nodded to indicate that he understood, and said to Euhakkar and Hephaestus, "Then, please follow me."

As he spoke, the other party made a gesture of invitation. Seeing this, Yhaka didn't bother to be polite to his own people, while Hephaestus simply gestured to the other party that he was sorry to bother them and followed Yhaka.

P.S.: Uh... okay, it seems 4000 words aren't enough. I'll add a chapter about the Genestealer Church in the next chapter, and the chapter after that will be about Stukov's side of the story.

Volume 2 [StarCraft II: Back to Home]: Chapter 1831 [The Genestealer Church - Development and the Pope]

Led by the believers, Euhaka and Hephaestus arrived at the underground location of the church, where there was a very spacious underground space. Here, Euhaka and Hephaestus saw a large number of genetically engineered individuals working.

Watching the gene-infiltrators using the machines to make something, Hephaestus looked at the gene-infiltrator followers leading the way with some curiosity and asked in a low voice, "So, what are these workers making?"

“These fellow citizens are making tools for mining.” The Gene Latent follower answered Hephaestus’s question truthfully. At the same time, the Gene Latent follower reminded Hephaestus, “Also, Lord Spirit of Machines, these are all our fellow citizens. You don’t need to be so careful.”

Hearing the words of the Gene Latent Followers, Hephaestus scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly and said, "Ahahaha... Is that so?" Then, as if remembering something, Hephaestus looked at the other party and asked, "By the way, why do you make tools for mining?"

Regarding this question, the followers of the Gene Latent also offered an explanation: "The answer is that we need to mine minerals, which also serves to conceal our armed forces."

"Armed forces?" Hephaestus looked somewhat puzzled upon hearing the answer. Clearly, she didn't understand how powerful the industrial tools used in mining could be as armed forces. Seeing Hephaestus's puzzled expression, the Gene Infiltrator followers explained the mining tools they had made to Hephaestus, saying, "Lord Spirit of Machines, while these things are indeed tools used for mining, that doesn't mean they can't be used as weapons."

As he spoke, the Gene Infiltrator follower picked up a huge two-handed hammer. This kind of hammer was originally intended for workers wearing power suits to use as a power-driven rock-crushing hammer. Now, in the hands of the Gene Infiltrator follower, it felt like it was made of plastic, as if it had no weight at all. In reality, even Marines wearing power suits would find it difficult to lift and swing this hammer, let alone ordinary people.

The Gene Infiltrator follower showed the powered rock-crushing hammer in his hand and introduced it to Hephaestus and Yuhaka: "This is a powered rock-crushing hammer from the Kemorian Consortium. Because you need to wear an industrial power suit to use this kind of mining tool, the sales of this type of tool are not very good. In addition, the drilling rig accessories held by SCV can play a better role in crushing rocks, so this type of tool was discontinued a long time ago. But to be honest, I am quite surprised to see this tool here."

Hearing the words of the Gene Latent Followers, Hephaestus was also somewhat surprised and said, "Production stopped a long time ago, so where did these tools come from?"

Regarding Hephaestus's question, the Gene Infiltrator followers told Hephaestus about the situation: "It's very simple. The person in charge of this mining operation bought them because these tools are cheap and perfect for filling the quota. The extra money was embezzled by the other party, and we stole these tools."

After hearing the words of the Gene Latent Followers, Hephaestus couldn't help but feel somewhat disappointed with the various levels of the Terran Empire. If the upper levels were like this, Hephaestus didn't dare to imagine what the lower levels would be like.

Hephaestus then wondered what the Gene Lurkers were planning to do with those hammers. While these hammers were great for smashing rocks, they were rather insignificant for blacksmithing. They might be able to kill a Marine, but they would be practically useless against heavily armored opponents like Marauders and Hellbats.

Hephaestus was curious about what kind of power-driven stone-crushing hammer they used to turn it into a weapon. In response to Hephaestus's question, the Gene Infiltrators showed him their "weapon module," which, by simply replacing some parts of the power-driven stone-crushing hammer, could be transformed into a powerful melee weapon—the Gravity Hammer (with an appearance similar to the Gravity Hammer in Halo 5).

Thanks to the gravitational reaction generated by the gravity crystallization of earth element in the hammer, the user can easily lift the Gravity Destruction Hammer in their hand. When the user swings the hammer to smash someone, the gravity crystallization inside the Gravity Destruction Hammer will generate a gravitational field that will apply greater gravity to the hammer, causing it to cause even greater destructive force.

However, there is a drawback to this method: it is best not to use the gravity field when swinging horizontally, otherwise the sudden increase in gravity may cause the center of gravity of the Gravity Hammer to shift and cause it to hit the wrong spot. The best way is to raise the hammer with both hands and smash it down. This is the best way to use the Gravity Hammer. Its powerful force can easily blast heavy infantry like Marauders and their power armor into a pancake. Of course, this is also the result of their testing.

In addition, they also installed an "energy storage device" on the hammer. This device can store a portion of the kinetic energy generated by the user's attack. Once enough kinetic energy is stored, it can be used in conjunction with a gravity field. The resulting destructive force can smash the turret of a siege tank into the vehicle's hull.

However, producing such powerful equipment requires time and equipment. Therefore, they had to first make a small portion of the gravity destruction hammer, while the rest were only power destruction hammers equipped with energy storage devices.

After listening to what the other party said, Hephaestus couldn't help but marvel at how these people could create such powerful weapons in such a rudimentary environment. However, this also raised some questions for Hephaestus. After all, these weapons were melee weapons, and someone would definitely need to charge into battle with them. But if the person carrying these weapons were to face the baptism of various artillery fire, without sufficient protection, they would basically not be able to reach the enemy.

In response to Hephaestus's question, the Gene Infiltrator followers replied, "Of course, we have people in charge of choosing users for these weapons. Look, they're right over there."

Hearing what the other person said, Hephaestus looked in the direction the other person was pointing, and then Hephaestus saw a round "ball".

Well... well, rather than calling it a sphere, it's more like a "powered armor" that looks somewhat like a sphere. Its design is somewhat similar to the Marauder Power Armor, but Hephaestus saw that various parts of this power armor had eyes that looked like those of living beings, which made Hephaestus feel a little creeped out.

A Gene Infiltrator follower nearby explained, "That's a bio-armor created by the Spiral Essence Cult. It functions like heavy powered armor, such as that of the Marauders and Firebats, but it's much sturdier and more powerful."

Upon hearing the words of the Gene Infiltrator cultist, Hephaestus, standing to the side, couldn't help but look at him with curiosity and asked, "The Spiral Essence Cult? Bio-armor?"

Seeing the confusion on Hephaestus's face, the Gene Infiltrator follower explained, "Yes, it's the Spiral Essence Cult. They are responsible for the cult's biotechnology research and development, and that bio-armor is the result of their cultivation."

As they spoke, the Gene Infiltrator follower brought Hephaestus and Eohaka over. Upon seeing Eohaka and the others, the Spiral Essence Cult members bowed to them. After hearing the Gene Infiltrator follower's words, the Spiral Essence Cult members introduced Hephaestus and Eohaka to their cultivated bio-armor—the [Grem Armor].

This armor has powerful defensive capabilities, with a multi-layered protective shell similar to that of a cockroach. When attacked, it can effectively resist various attacks. In addition, with the ability of the adaptive shell, it will adapt to the same type of attack after being attacked repeatedly, thus better resisting that attack. However, it can only adapt to one type of attack at a time, which is its drawback.

Moreover, this shell can restore damaged or missing parts by absorbing nutrients from the soil. Rare earth elements and metals are particularly targets for this bio-armor. Since this armor can quickly repair damage by absorbing nutrients from the soil, it can also naturally dig holes to hide itself underground, a skill it learned from the insect swarm.

Furthermore, this bio-armor has four strong arms, which means that it can be equipped with multiple weapons. Even without weapons, its powerful strength and tearing claws made of high-density adamantine chitin are enough to threaten most of the infantry units of the Terran Empire. Some lightly armored vehicles will not be able to withstand such attacks, and lighter vehicles may even be lifted up and used as projectiles.

After listening to the explanation from the followers of the Spiral Essence Cult, Hephaestus was somewhat shocked by what this cult had produced. How long had it been since they were sent here? How could they have developed such powerful individual combat weapons so quickly?!

After viewing the Spiral Essence Cult's exhibits, the Gene Infiltrator followers led Yuhaka and Hephaestus on a tour of the underground facilities. As the followers were introducing the surrounding facilities, Hephaestus thought of something and asked them, "By the way, is your church divided into several denominations?"

Upon hearing Hephaestus's question, the believer answered truthfully: "Yes, Lord Spirit of Machines, our order has many different sects, each responsible for different affairs, or rather, different sects are formed to create legions with different fighting styles."

Hephaestus's lips twitched upon hearing the believer's reply. He seemed somewhat incredulous to hear that there were different sects and apologists within the church of Yohaka. After all, the church of Yohaka had only been established for a short time, yet so many sects and apologists had already emerged. Weren't they afraid of a split?

Of course, this is not a big deal for Hephaestus, since most of these followers of Yhwach were created by Yhwach and Abathur. They have a swarm-like mental network with Yhwach, through which Yhwach can contact his followers and gene stealers.

Most importantly, the followers of the Church of Yhaka are connected by blood. Members who have fully become followers of the Church of Yhaka treat each other like family, so there is basically no need to worry about division. Moreover, the genetic lurkers here are essentially members of the swarm.

Soon, led by the believer, Euhakara and Hephaestus arrived at the central underground location. There, they saw a simple tent-like structure. A sign nearby read "Pope's Residence." Upon seeing this, Hephaestus's lips twitched, and he remarked, "Uh... anyway, isn't the residence of the highest leader of the Church rather rather rudimentary..."

Regarding Hephaestus's question, the believer standing nearby looked somewhat embarrassed and said, "We also feel a bit powerless about this. After all, to avoid being discovered by the soldiers of the Terran Empire, we need to be careful. If we can infect all the military bases in the vicinity, resources and expansion will not be a problem."

Hearing the believer's words, Hephaestus scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly. After all, the gene stealers had only been in Khar for a few days, and most of their time was spent on the expansion of the church and the development of weapons. They basically didn't have much time to do these unimportant things. Then, after the believer led Yuhaka and Hephaestus to the tent entrance and greeted them, a voice came from inside inviting them to come in.

After Euhakkar and Hephaestus went inside, they saw a little girl with animal bones on her head and wearing animal skin, and a little girl dressed in pure white nun's clothes who was trying to read a book made of thick animal skin. Although they looked like humans, the two pairs of sharp and twisted horns on their heads, their four arms, and their long tail with bone spurs were not things that humans should have.

The two little girls in front of me are Takaka, the high priest of the Alita tribe of Yuhaka, and the other is the first genetic latent to "ascend to heaven" among all genetic latents, or should be called the first person of the "gene ascendant" - "Yuris Peter Alexander".

P.S.: There are still quite a few things I haven't written about in the setting. 4000 words just doesn't seem enough. I'll see if I can manage to write 6000 words tomorrow. By the way, a new character from the game will be added to this interstellar storyline. You can try to guess who it is.

Volume 2 [StarCraft II: Back to Home]: Chapter 1832 [The Genestealer Church - Its Covert Spread]

The little girl named "Eurex Peter Alexander" standing before Eurythus and Hephaestus is the Pope of the Eurythus Church. Although she looks like a little girl, she possesses memories spanning decades, which come from the captain of a Gorgon battlecruiser.

Of course, this does not mean that Yulis is the captain of that Gorgon-class battlecruiser. The reason is that during the Gene Lurker era, in order to disguise herself, the Gene Lurker's personality would be very similar to that of the Primarch, so even if a Ghost agent came, it would not work.

One important point is that after gene latent individuals ascend to become Ascended, their personalities will manifest, and their past memories and experiences will become the experience of the Ascended. This ability allows gene latent individuals to acquire a powerful talent in the shortest amount of time, which is a very powerful ability in a sense.

When Yulis and Takaka noticed Yuhaka's arrival, they bowed to welcome him. After the believers left, Yuhaka, Hephaestus, and Takaka sat down at the table. On the table, Yuhaka saw many animal skin scrolls and stone tablets. Yuhaka knew that these were used by the Aritar people to record events and rules. Although the Aritar people had a mental network similar to that of the insect swarm, allowing their people to access the knowledge they had learned.

However, some things were still recorded in case something happened and something was forgotten. These scrolls are one of them. The contents of the scrolls are the records of the Yuhaka faith written by the Alita people. They are the mythological epics they have compiled.

These things were brought by Takaka to serve as a reference for Yuris. As the Pope of the Yuhaka Order, Yuris actually lacked knowledge of the church. It would be better to let her command warships in battle than to try to create a proper church scripture.

However, given the current situation, there is no other choice, as time is limited. Yulis can only assume the role of Pope. As for matters concerning the church, a group of genetically engineered individuals who understand faith and church structure, along with Takaka who carries the "Bible" of the Alita people, will teach Yulis to assume the responsibilities of Pope and to establish a qualified church.

Currently, Yhaka's church is developing well under the guidance of Yulis and with the help of Takaka.

"Ahem, welcome, Lady Yuu and Miss Hephaestus. I'm sorry, the church's conditions aren't very good right now, and we can't provide you with a better environment," Yulis said apologetically to Yuhaka and Hephaestus. Yuhaka, however, shook her head dismissively and said, "It's alright OwO~ Yuu doesn't mind~"

Hephaestus, who was standing nearby, also spoke up: "Well... the situation is good enough for you now, considering you need to operate covertly..."

To be honest, the progress of the church's development has exceeded Hephaestus's imagination. If it were to go all out, Hephaestus couldn't even imagine how powerful the Zerg Church under Yhwach's command would be.

Sitting next to Yulis, Takaka nudged her slightly with his elbow. Yulis seemed to only then react, coughing to regain her dignified expression. "Ahem, let me, Yulis, explain the current situation of the church."

Soon, Yulis brought out a notebook from the side and said to Yuhaka and the others, "The church now has 3 members. Apart from the gene-infiltrators, 25% of the more than 2 members have become general believers, 20% are ordinary believers, and the rest are just there to get a free meal."

"A free meal??" Hearing Eurythus's words, Hephaestus looked completely bewildered, clearly not knowing why anyone would come to freeload.

In response to Hephaestus's question, Eurythus replied, "Yes, when we preach here, we also conduct a church activity called 'Holy Communion' to attract the attention of laborers, refugees, and even soldiers."

Upon hearing the word "Holy Communion," Yuhaka's ears perked up, clearly indicating that he had heard something that interested him. Meanwhile, Hephaestus, standing to the side, looked at Yulis with a curious expression and asked, "Holy Communion? What's that? It sounds very sophisticated."

Upon hearing Hephaestus's question, Eurythus explained to Euhaka and the others what Holy Communion was. When they were first brought here, they found the food conditions to be extremely poor. The laborers and refugees here ate various synthetic foods and compressed rations, which were terrible in both taste and texture. So bad that Euhaka dared to pick up the synthetic foods and compressed rations and smash the chef's head with them.

In any case, such food would not be satisfying, especially considering that people are living a difficult life.

Of course, the soldiers' food was slightly better. After all, if the soldiers' food was too bad compared to that of the laborers and refugees, they might dare to take up arms and rebel against their superiors.

Even so, the soldiers' food here was much worse than in Augustegrad, because with corrupt superiors, a significant portion of their food allowance was deducted.

In response, Yulis thought of holding an event here to attract residents to become believers in the church. This event was called "Holy Communion". As the name suggests, it involved making some delicious food to attract people's attention, thereby promoting the doctrine and attracting believers.