Warhammer: Starting with Industrial Revolution

When those dilapidated space pirate warships entered Vatos VII's orbital defense zone, the Dome Base's air defense system immediately sounded an alarm.

After three warnings went unheeded, the orbital defense cannons fired in unison, and several salvos reduced the riddled warships to fragments in space.

The destruction report was quickly synchronized to Luo Ning's terminal, marked "No survivors, no valuable supplies remaining".

Looking at this perfectly normal report, Luo Ning frowned, feeling that something was amiss.

But the mountain of work he had left him no time to delve into these wild thoughts.

In the past few months, the construction of Chaohu City has been progressing by leaps and bounds.

The surrounding purification facilities are constantly expanding the purification range. The once barren desert is now covered with fields of Golden Age crops.

A new military camp was built on the outer edge of the hive to accommodate the ever-expanding army.

The plan to expand the army by 200,000 troops, which was initially requested from Commander-in-Chief Mason, was only half approved in the end.

The remaining 100,000 men can only serve as reserve troops.

But Ronin never relaxed his training of them; war could break out at any time, and there were never too many soldiers.

He transferred a large number of experienced junior officers from the regular army and sent all the high-paid veterans of the Astronautical Army to the reserve camps to train them rigorously according to the standards of the regular army.

Meanwhile, the tank factory was also working overtime to meet demand.

Victor transferred most of the newly arrived mechanical priests to the factory, where they worked day and night with tens of thousands of workers to assemble the petrified lizard self-propelled artillery.

The factory chimneys blaze day and night, and the sounds of clashing steel and humming machinery become the most common background noises on the outskirts of the city.

No one knew that fifty kilometers southwest of the dome base, in the abandoned ruins of an old mine, green spores that had fallen a few months ago had quietly taken root and sprouted.

For the first few months, everything seemed calm and peaceful.

But gradually, some strange traces began to emerge.

The number of mutated beasts in the southwest dwindled, eventually leading to a large-scale migration, as if they were fleeing something terrifying.

The patrol soldiers would occasionally hear strange roars coming from afar, but each time they sent men to search, they found nothing.

Until recently, things finally started to get serious.

Within just half a month, three patrol teams went missing.

The servo skulls sent by the Mechanical Church were also shot down near the mine, without transmitting any useful footage.

This quickly alerted the command headquarters and Ronin.

When Luo Ning arrived at the Dome Base, all the outer patrol forces had been withdrawn. The soldiers stood on the high alloy walls, gripping their weapons tightly, watching the desert before them warily.

"What's the situation now?" Ronin and Garan walked into the operations command room, waved their hands to let the officers who had stood up to salute sit down, and asked directly.

"Reporting, sir, it is now certain that a large number of unidentified enemies are hiding in the old mine area to the southwest." A young commander hurriedly stood up and answered, his voice tinged with panic.

"Nonsense!" Before Ronin could speak, Garan slammed his fist on the table and roared, "I want a detailed report! Patrol logs from the last two months, the last known location of the missing persons, the crash site of the servo skull! Don't leave anything out!"

He was not only angry because of his subordinates' dereliction of duty, but also because of shame.

He had personally selected these officers to be in charge of the outer defense of the dome base, thinking it would be foolproof. He never expected that such a big mistake would happen so soon after he returned to the nest.

"Yes, sir!" The officer shuddered and quickly began operating the control panel.

The holographic projection lit up instantly, and a map marking all the abnormal locations appeared before everyone.

"According to the patrol team's report, the first abnormality appeared three months ago when the mutated beasts in the southwest began to migrate in large numbers. At the time, we thought it was a seasonal change and did not pay much attention to it."

"Two weeks ago, the first patrol team went missing near the mine; a week ago, the second; three days ago, the third. We sent twelve Servo Skulls to search, seven of which were shot down, and the rest found no trace of the enemy."

His voice grew softer and softer, and he lowered his head further and further, not daring to look into Ronin and Garan's eyes.

Luo Ning looked at him and asked patiently, "Have you organized any personnel to go and scout ahead?"

The other person paused for a moment before slowly replying, "Not yet."

"Useless!" Garland stood up, slamming his fist on the table and cursing angrily.

He was not only angry because of the commander's dereliction of duty, but also because their dereliction of duty made him lose face in front of Ronin. He had been full of confidence when he selected the talents and put them in charge of guarding this place, but he did not expect that such a big problem would occur so soon after he returned to the Nest City military camp.

"Never mind," Luo Ning waved his hand, gesturing for Garan to sit down. He understood all too well the embarrassment of a subordinate losing face in front of their superior; he had encountered this many times back in China.

He turned to the officer, his tone still calm, yet carrying an undeniable authority: "Immediately assemble a 100-man reconnaissance team and send them to the old mine for reconnaissance. I don't need to teach you about troop deployment, do I?"

"Yes! I understand!" The officer nodded hurriedly, but stood still, looking at Ronin and Garan with a blank expression.

"Hurry up and go!" Garland gritted his teeth, practically squeezing out the words.

The officer then realized what was happening and ran away in a flash.

Luo Ning and Garan walked out of the combat command room, leaned against the railing in the corridor, and watched the base gate slowly open in the distance.

One after another, troop carriers roared out, and the engine roar of the Valkyrie transport plane pierced the sky.

"I never knew you had this side to you." Luo Ning chuckled and patted Garland on the shoulder.

Garland scratched his head sheepishly, his domineering air completely gone, and he reverted to the boy following behind Ronin: "I'm sorry, sir, you must have seen this. I'm just so angry. These guys train so well all the time, but they always mess things up at the crucial moment."

"That's normal." Luo Ning smiled. "You should act differently in private and in front of your subordinates. Besides, you're the commander-in-chief of the entire army. How can you keep those soldiers in check if you don't have a temper?"

Both of them relaxed, but the tension in their hearts remained high.

All that's left to do is wait.

Back in the command room, everyone stared intently at the screen, keeping a close eye on the reconnaissance team's movements.

Time ticked by, and the command room was so quiet that only breathing and the ticking of the terminals could be heard.

About half an hour later, a piercing crackling sound suddenly came from the communicator, followed by the reconnaissance captain's heart-wrenching scream:

"It's greenskins! Lots of greenskins! The entire mine is filled with them!"

"We've been spotted! Rockets! Damn, where did they get so many rockets?!"

"Pull it up! Pull it up quickly! What is that thing?!"

"My God! They've strapped themselves to the rocket!"