Warhammer 40: Saviors Emerging from the Bottom

Inside the infected camp, Ivan, the traitorous commander of the 4th Regiment of the Hive City Garrison, has completely lost his human appearance and become a monster through and through.

Its strong limbs were covered with dark scales, and its knuckles arched into hook-shaped claws like those of a reptile.

On its curved, grayish-brown horns, a crude copper chain binds a bronze bell bearing the mark of Nurgle, which emits a dull, murky chime with every movement.

Upon closer inspection, one will find that those so-called scales are actually scabs formed by layers of blood, dark yellow turbid fluid from pustules, and other disgusting substances that have solidified on the skin's surface.

This appearance, which would make an ordinary person uncomfortable at just one glance, is dazzling in the eyes of the infected.

Every inch of necrotic flesh and every scab covered in turbid fluid on Ivan's body was a gift bestowed by the loving father, Nurgle; it was a manifestation of the plague and a glorious honor worthy of praise.

In order to be worthy of this honor, he personally promoted himself to the rank of general.

The chaotic situation outside did not disturb the elegant General Ivan, who was slowly savoring the "delicious soup" prepared by the chef. It was a strange liquid made from various animal bodies and moldy food.

Not far in front of his seat, a less infected psychic was writing and drawing on a freshly peeled human skin with his finger, seemingly calculating something.

"Summoning seven Plague Bearers simultaneously is difficult. The will of the High Heavens (the Warp) is hard to transmit to the corners of the real world. We must go through a rigorous ritual to hear the teachings of our Father."

Upon hearing this, Ivan's face instantly darkened. His terrible mood caused him to unconsciously clench his right hand holding the "delicious soup," causing the porcelain bowl to shatter instantly, with more than a dozen shards flying into various corners of the room.

"I don't care what method you use, you must complete the ritual as soon as possible, otherwise..."

Looking at the shattered porcelain bowl, the psionicist, who had long since lost the ability to feel pain, suddenly experienced phantom pain. He immediately stood up and said in a slightly trembling voice, "To do this, we need a large number of sacrifices. Plague walkers, which are already dead, won't work, so we can only use... our people."

"I've already made myself very clear to you. I don't care what method you use."

"I'll go prepare right away." The infected psychic put away the human skin covered in strange markings and hurriedly walked out of the room.

Watching his disheveled figure leave, Ivan revealed a mocking smile.

It was this feeling, this feeling of being able to control the life and death of others at will, that led him to actively seek refuge in his father's arms in order to escape the fate of being used as a tool and ordered around.

All that's left is to complete the ritual and summon the Father's servants to the real world, and you can easily defeat Lancelot's army, occupy the entire Bakda Nest City, and become the master of this planet.

It's a pity about that precious porcelain piece. It's a luxury item that could buy thousands of laser guns. I wonder if those guys at the top nest still have the same model.

Having lost his beloved porcelain, Ivan lost interest in continuing to drink the soup. Bored, he stared at the door of the room, pondering how to further weaken the human army.

Just then, Anthony, the commander in charge of monitoring the human army, rushed in in a fluster.

"General, something terrible has happened! The horde of corpses we placed on the outskirts has been attacked by mutants."

"Huh? Mutants, shouldn't those guys be locked up in the bottom nest? How did they get up there?"

"It seems like someone deliberately lured them here."

"Lancelot!" Apart from that old man, Ivan couldn't think of anyone else who would do such a thing.

"Immediately mobilize manpower and eliminate those monsters that are only fit to eat garbage underground in the shortest possible time."

"We've already started our operation, but the enemy is too strong to stop us."

"Useless! Useless! You're all fucking useless. Do I have to personally handle such a small matter?" Ivan shifted his buttocks and stood up from a huge chair that had been moved from somewhere. He stepped forward and slapped Anthony away.

"Take my weapons, I want to see for myself."

The force was so strong that Anthony was almost glued to the wall. As he tried to get himself down, he replied, "I'll get right on it."

In the human command post a few hundred meters from the infected camp, Brigadier General Lancelot, with his gray hair, was using a magnifying glass to scan the map, trying to find a way to break the deadlock.

As the war progressed, ammunition dwindled, and the promised supplies failed to reach the front lines. At this rate, it wouldn't be long before he had to lead his troops back to their previous defensive lines, relinquishing most of the residential areas of Xiachao.

The civilians who were ruthlessly abandoned there will become new infected and turn against his team. It won't be so easy for them to fight back then.

But he has yet to find the opportunity that could help him achieve victory.

Thump, thump, thump, the sound of metal clashing echoed outside the door, and Lancelot knew without a doubt who it was.

"Enter."

A modified arm lifted the curtain and entered, wearing a red robe with the emblem of the Mechanicus, just like Friedrich's.

"Dominic sends his greetings, Brigadier General Lancelot. According to the latest news received through the communications channel, the Sage Friedrich is not dead. He is currently following a human unit named Xiao Yi, attempting to launch an attack on the traitor's camp. I request your permission to provide artillery support."

Friedrich von Clausewitz—Lancelot vaguely remembered that name, after all, he was a sage from Mars who embraced the Mechanicus.

I heard that he volunteered to enter the bottom nest in order to collect STC, but was ambushed and killed by Ivan, who had voluntarily sided with the evil god.

It feels a bit strange that it has suddenly come back to life.

"Are you sure that was a communication sent by the wise Friedrich, and not by a traitor on the other side?"

"It's almost impossible for the trash on the other side who can't understand the power of the God of Machines to use the equipment that only Om Messiah's most loyal servants can use. Moreover, judging from the inexplicable commotion that appeared behind the enemy camp, the authenticity of the communication can be as high as 67%."

Lancelot rested his hands on the table in front of him and pondered for a while before finally nodding and agreeing to Dominic's request.

Whatever the reason for the chaos within the enemy ranks, it presents a good opportunity to weaken their strength.

Lancelot then summoned the messengers and ordered all units to remain on high alert, awaiting his commands at any time.

After the last large-scale infection incident, Lancelot's army suffered heavy losses. Four of the original sixteen regiments were withdrawn, leaving only ten capable of fighting after excluding the wounded.

This wasn't the most fatal thing. The most fatal thing was that, in order to prevent the spread of the plague, Lancelot issued an order for indiscriminate elimination, which made many officers question his character.

They fear that they, like their infected companions, will be ruthlessly abandoned or eliminated when they lose their sense of self-worth.

Under these circumstances, Lancelot became more cautious, and a little chaos was not enough to make him order a major raid.

However, if the chaos continues to escalate and eventually affects the entire enemy camp, the situation will be different.