Warhammer 40k: Melee Warriors

In a daze, with his soul adrift, in this wonderful perception as if suspended in the air, Faya saw golden light shining from afar, and a majestic, cold, and sacred throne standing amidst clouds woven from the Bible.

The Golden Throne??? The Great and Benevolent Emperor!!!

Faya dared not look upon the sacred grandeur of the Golden Throne, and immediately lowered his humble head. A wisp of golden thread drifted from afar and wrapped around Faya's hand.

The next second, these images shattered, leaving only Komi's somewhat confused shouts in his ears.

Chapter 42: In the end, death was inevitable.

"Uh... what's wrong? What happened?" Faya had drool at the corner of her mouth and dried nosebleeds on her face, looking like she was still half asleep.

Komi's hand was still on Faya's ear, and he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Faya wake up from her coma.

If Faya had truly shown signs of psychic disorder, he would have chopped the prophet's head off with an axe.

Faya blushed even more. She reluctantly pushed away Komi's hands and said that her spiritual power had recovered a lot.

Komi felt a little uneasy because Faya's gaze towards him was really strange.

Her gaze seemed to be a 1:1 mixture of fervent adoration and devout respect. Koji had no doubt that if he were to ask Faya to take off all her clothes, or to commit suicide on the spot, this woman would do so without hesitation.

A psionic spell was cast, and the animal skin on Komi's body peeled off little by little, emitting a sour and bitter smell of sweat.

Finally, Komi said to Faya, "Let us part ways here. I hope you and your tribe can continue to live and worship the Emperor."

"May you find your way safely to the heavens and become heroes who defeat the orcs' hive." Faya returned the same blessing to Koga.

The group parted ways, with Lankao being taken away by Koji, who believed the man's knowledge would come in handy on the journey ahead.

Saying goodbye to the homeland they had worked so hard to build, Faya felt a great deal of reluctance. Finding a new settlement would be very difficult, and the number of tribespeople would decrease significantly before the next homeland was established.

Walking through the bottom of the nest, Faya lay on a chair recovering her strength. She raised her arm and stared intently, trying to find the strand of gold bestowed by the throne.

The procession suddenly stopped. Faya shifted her gaze to the front and saw a stern-looking middle-aged man in a magnificent power armor adorned with gold, silver, and red accents blocking their way.

The head of a noble family?

Falla's gaze swept over the man inch by inch, and when she saw the large "I" shaped amulet on his power armor chest, all that remained in her heart was despair.

An Imperial Inquisitor...

Faya clenched his fists, wanting to explain to the judge that his tribesmen were not some heinous mutants, but simply poor, kind-hearted people who believed in the emperor.

The judge showed no interest in Falla's explanation and said coldly, "You must die so that more people can live."

Faya was stunned. The next second, the entire tribe was attacked by a hail of bullets. The force that ambushed them was the Inquisitor's elite guard. Every shot completely shattered the tribesmen's legs, leaving them unable to escape.

Stormtroopers, armed to the teeth with reinforced plastic steel and ceramic armor plates, emerged from the darkness, their helmets equipped with advanced observation equipment that could see through the shadows.

They efficiently and ruthlessly subdued the tribesmen one by one, then collected their severed limbs. As Cade said, every piece of material from these tribesmen meant more medicine could be produced.

In her anger, Falla wanted to unleash the psychic energy she had just suppressed, but the Inquisitor was no weakling; he was a powerful warrior and a psychic who had undergone rigorous training by the Empire.

In an instant, the counterattack was completed. The spiritual energy that Faya had just gathered was dispelled. She suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood mixed with ice shards and rolled off the chair, struggling.

The judge's heavy, solemn figure approached step by step, the dust and mud kicked up by his power boots landing on Faya's face, which was filled with pain and hatred.

The judge crouched down, grabbed Faya's long hair, and pulled her face up. His cold eyes, devoid of emotion and driven only by the interests of the empire, almost froze Faya's heart.

“You are very talented and qualified to serve the Emperor in these dark times.”

"Please... I'll do anything... Please spare my people."

The judge ignored Falla's pleas and ordered two stormtroopers to put bomb shackles on her, then repeated his earlier words, "Your sacrifice will allow more people to live. Take her away."

The stormtroopers used gas to knock out Faya and then disappeared into the darkness with her.

The judge stared in the direction Faya had come from, a terrifying smile creeping across his face.

"We really can't see through him... The Emperor's chosen one? Or... a well-disguised demon..."

The Dragonscale Tribe was destroyed at this moment, officially becoming domesticated medicinal herbs.

With the help of information provided by Faya, Komi crossed several deserted hills and finally saw the central passage in the distance.

This thing was emitting scorching steam from its entire body, reminding Komi of the central heating tower in the Ice Age, around which the entire city was built.

As they got closer to the central passage, the temperature became increasingly scorching, and the muddy ground gradually dried up, eventually turning into cracked earth.

As Gu Jian walked, he asked Lankao about the central passage. Lankao never kept this murderous god, who exuded a murderous aura, in suspense.

The entire hive city can be connected by a central passage, and theoretically, as long as you climb high enough, you can reach the top of the hive city.

However, moving upwards is not so simple. The central corridor plays a vital role in providing heat energy to the entire city. Otherwise, the area that is perpetually shrouded in sunlight and surrounded by countless steel and concrete buildings would be plunged into a terrifying cold.

Heat is generated in the middle and then spreads upwards and downwards, so the temperature at the junction of the central passage and the top is frighteningly high, and it is impossible to pass through that area with just flesh and blood.

Aside from temperature, distance is also a major issue.

They are currently in the bottom nest. Not to mention moving towards the top, even moving towards the bottom nest is an enormous distance. Without the help of vehicles, it would take them several years to crawl through the central passage.

The passageway was also filled with a complex network of pipes, making it as difficult to navigate as a maze. Lankao and the other hunters relied on maps passed down from their ancestors to get through this chaotic area; if they had tried to explore on their own, they would have certainly gotten lost.

"So you mean we need a vehicle, and also someone who knows the central passage well enough?"

“That’s right.” Lankao nodded. “I happen to know someone who specializes in smuggling. They have their own expertise in getting to the lower and upper lairs. As long as we can afford the price…”

"Price range?" Gu Jian frowned impatiently. "Do you think I'd waste my time working for a bunch of inhuman, ghost-like things?"

Lankao hurriedly shook his head and said, "No, no, boss, you don't need to rely on selling your strength and dignity to gain benefits like those incompetent guys." He then pointed at Komi's axe and said, "In this lawless underworld, force is the greatest wealth."

Chapter 43: The Ruined City of the Bottom Nest

Generally speaking, there is no order in the bottom nest.

However, it is clear that the bottom nest near the central passage is an exception.

The many unique and precious things that the bottom nest can produce have attracted the attention of the upper class. They may be green fungi used to make medicine, or they may be special minerals used by Falla to enhance psionic energy.

With profit as the driving force, it became possible to establish a black market trading zone with basic order in the dark and hopeless place of Dichao.

The various families cultivate their own agents in this place called the Wasteland. They rarely inquire about the situation in the Underhive, but simply send down their needs, using the scraps that slip through their fingers to drive the gangs and mutant tribes of the Underhive crazy.

Pure water and food traded from the agricultural world were undoubtedly the ultimate possessions that the bottom nesters were obsessed with, but most people had their eyes on the standard laser guns and rocket launchers that wouldn't explode when dropped from the upper nests.

From a distance, the ruined city looked like a garbage dump built by orcs, with buildings leaning precariously and sprawling out, their fragile structures supported by steel beams and pillars.

The abandoned city is a huge trading hub where many mutants and gangs move about, trading the resources they need.

The price to pay for having a stable territory in this region is quite exorbitant. First, one must possess a powerful force that inspires fear in others, and second, one must gain the approval of the nobles of Upper Nest.

If these nobles wanted, they could easily replace the current overlord of the ruined city with some unknown little gang.

As Komi and his group drew closer to the ruined city, they could see automated turrets lurking in the underground bunkers along the way. Red identification beams were projected from under their gun barrels, detecting the degree of mutation among the group.

For certain mutant tribes that have mutated to the point of losing their ability to communicate, killing them is the best way to protect the interests of the ruined city.

The automatic turret's machine spirit recognized that Kouki and his companions had normal mental and physical structures, and twisted its gun barrel to aim at other dark areas.

Lankao breathed a sigh of relief. He had never been scanned by the machine spirit of the automatic turret. These things could go crazy and malfunction. He often heard in his family that the machine spirit of the automatic turret in a certain area was unhappy and smashed the machine servants who came to maintain it to pieces.

Previously, he had always worn the Hunter's Armor, an ancient family heirloom that was ignored by the machine spirit of the automatic turret. Even if the Hunter's Armor contained a heretic demon who deserved to die tens of thousands of times, the machine spirit could turn a blind eye.

After the hum of the automatic turrets could no longer be heard, Lankao continued speaking to Koji, "Our family has a deal with the Super Radiation Gang in the Waste City. They manage a relatively unimportant facility in the Waste City, the Blood Arena. For some nameless and unknown people, the arena is like a life-or-death exam. The strong will be appreciated and invited by various gangs, and they will be spared years or even decades of hardship struggling at the bottom."

"For a gang leader, isn't loyalty and reliability the most important thing?" Miyan asked, unable to understand. As a Kadia soldier, rules and order were ingrained in her blood.

Lankao merely sniffed, cupping his hands as if in a gesture of respect, and said, "The Bottom Nesters have countless ways to control a newcomer to the gang: implanting bombs in the heart, administering highly toxic antidotes regularly, or even highly addictive hallucinogens. There are just too many ways to control someone."

Komi, meanwhile, was passing the time by twirling the handle of his axe. He casually asked the smiling Lankao, "So you want me to go to the arena? I remember your family and this gang have a cooperative relationship, don't you? What? You can't do anything without that armor?"

Lankao's face turned quite ugly when he heard Gu Jian say this. First, he hated Gu Jian for stripping him of his right to wear armor, and then he was in awe of Gu Jian's extraordinary martial prowess.

These emotions swirled across his face, finally settling into a single expression a second later. Lankao let out a helpless sigh and said wearily, "The gang only recognizes armor, and a hunter without armor is worse off than dead in the bottom hive. My family will consider me a disgrace, and even my parents will be implicated because they raised a cowardly and useless son."

At this opportune moment, Miyan said, "Judging from the result, that is indeed the case. You cowardly begged your insignificant life from your enemy." Lankao's face turned even more ashamed.

Koji felt a bit troubled. He rubbed the bridge of his nose with his fingers and said, "This Super Radiation Gang had better be able to provide decent help, otherwise I'll have to hold a Blood Arena tournament in their own backyard."

The Blood Arena in the ruined city resembles a spherical cage, with barbed wire wrapped around crisscrossing steel bars, stained with scraps of flesh and blood left from the last match, attracting small creatures from the underworld to gnaw on it.

The platform for spectators was designed with only two considerations in mind: accommodating more spectators and ensuring sturdiness. At the very least, little effort was put into comfort.

In this ruined city, the higher one's status, the higher one sits. The leaders of various gangs, along with their entourage, occupy the highest corners of the stage, shouting towards the bloody battle in the arena.

Through Lankao's explanation, Komi understood the rules of the Blood Arena: only melee weapons were allowed, armor was prohibited, and each match required 16-128 participants.

There is no points system or team competition; it's just a chaotic, bloody battle where only one person survives. The sole survivor who crawls out of the pile of corpses will be the champion.

Komi signed up for the competition with his handy machete, and while waiting for everyone to gather, he glanced a few times in the direction of the Super Radiation Gang.

These gang members were bald and covered in fluorescent green paint. Considering their gang name, Komi figured that the green stuff must have come from grinding some radioactive minerals.

His skin was pale and covered in sores, his mouth and nose were completely covered by a respirator, and his eyes were extremely cloudy, with green light occasionally wandering across his irises.

The fact that these people didn't die and were even able to seize a piece of land in the ruined city to operate made Komi marvel at the amazing adaptability of the human body.

A sharp noise pierced Komi's ears, announcing that a match was about to begin. Komi strode into the arena and met the strangely shaped opponent he was about to face.

It has sharp claws on its hands, knuckles as big as hammers, and a harelip with a mouthful of sharp teeth.

Komi glanced around and felt that the competition was more like an exhibition of freaks.

Chapter 44: A Deal with the Gang

Half an hour later, at the hideout of the leader of the Super Radiation Gang.

"Cheers to our champion! I'm the leader of the Super Radiation Gang, you can call me Boss Radiation Blood. Endless radioactive power flows through our veins!" The leader of the Super Radiation Gang clapped his hands lightly. He hadn't seen such an exhilarating match in a long time.

The final moments of the Blood Arena are often not very interesting; they're just a few panting, exhausted guys using every means possible to kill their opponents.

This process can be seen involving biting teeth, scratching fingers, and excessive force leading to incontinence.

However, Koken clearly gave him a new perspective: that there are ruthless people in this world who can kill hundreds of people without batting an eye.

Almost everyone was killed by Komi's attack; either their heads flew high into the air, or their hearts were smashed by an axe.

The other contestants, in their despair, even huddled together in a rare display of caution as Komi approached, but the god of death merely glanced at them and gave a cold snort, enough to terrify several contestants to death.

Koji had no interest in the gang leader's good intentions. He simply lay casually on the refurbished sofa and said to the gang leader, "I just want to get some resources from you. Participating in the competition is just so I can sit in front of you and talk to you. I have no interest in joining your gang."

Fu Xue was somewhat bewildered, clearly not expecting that the guy he wanted to buy at a high price was actually there for a deal.