Warhammer: Empire Reboot

The gun was floating in mid-air.

It slowly rose from the shelf, hovered in the air for about half a second, and then turned its muzzle toward No. 4, who was standing next to the weapon rack checking the ammunition.

Lawson reacts faster than he thinks.

His right hand was already outstretched before the gun was fully aimed, his five fingers gripping the gun tightly and pressing it down from the air.

The gun struggled in his hand—yes, struggled… as if an invisible hand was wrestling with him for control.

But the grip strength of the Catachans is not something that psionic tricks can counter.

Lawson pressed the gun firmly against the weapon rack, while simultaneously feeling a faint warmth on the surface of the gun that didn't belong to the metal itself. It was a characteristic of subspace energy remaining on the surface of matter, like an invisible layer of viscous fluid.

This gun has been contaminated by subspace energy.

Having been stored in a sealed weapons depot for hundreds of years, subspace radiation that seeped into the metal structure of the wrecked ship also corroded some of the weapons.

Most of them may only be faint remnants, but there are always a few that absorb enough chaotic energy to develop some degree of self-awareness, which is not uncommon in the Warhammer universe.

Lawson pressed the contaminated bomb gun firmly onto the shelf and looked back at Fizex, who was tucked under his arm.

Fizex's one eye was looking at him with an extremely innocent expression.

“You did it.” Lawson’s tone was as calm as if he were stating a fact.

“What?” Fizex let out a sharp, piercing denial. “I didn’t! I swore an oath of my true name! I can’t hurt… no, my oath doesn’t seem to say I can’t hurt, but I really didn’t control that gun!”

"Those weapons have warp contamination on them, and they are capable of spontaneously exhibiting anomalous behavior. You should know this if you have even the slightest knowledge of Imperial armaments!"

Its explanation sounds perfectly reasonable.

But Lawson didn't spend any time judging the veracity of this explanation.

Because it's not important.

Whether Fizex controlled the gun or the gun itself acted spontaneously due to warp contamination, the result was the same: the existence of this little devil was itself an unstable factor.

As long as it lives, as long as it's nearby, something similar could happen again at any time.

Moreover, given the Imp's cunning nature, even with the binding force of the True Name Oath, it will surely seek loopholes in every possible gray area.

Fizex clearly sensed the chillingly calm killing intent in Lawson's eyes.

The single eye widened, and the body began to tremble violently.

Lawson slowly tightened his grip on his fingers.

"Wait... wait, wait, wait..."

Chapter 16 You said you wouldn't kill me!

Fizex was nearly in tears: "You can't kill me! You shouldn't kill me! I'm useful to you! I swear allegiance to you with my real name! Complete and absolute loyalty! Not some broken oath of not lying, but a true oath of subservience! Binding the core of my soul to you!"

Every part of its body that could move was struggling frantically.

“Tie me to your side! I can guide you! I know every crevice of this wrecked ship! I can sense any approaching warp entity and psionic fluctuations! Do you know how many treasures are hidden in this wrecked ship? Centuries of accumulation! Imperial, Xenomorph, and even Dark Age artifacts!”

"I will be more loyal than any watchdog you humans keep!"

Lawson looked at it.

Then he smiled, starting from the corners of his mouth and slowly spreading to the corners of his eyes.

In the dimly lit armory, under the gaze of hundreds of silent weapons, and surrounded by five expressionless assassins, Lawson revealed the first genuine smile he had shown since arriving in this world.

"Okay."

Fizex's single eye lit up.

But it only lit up for 0.3 seconds.

Because three tenths of a second later, Lawson gripped its neck again with his left hand, his five fingers completely closed.

"Gah-"

Fizex Womueling's neck made a series of rapid cracking sounds between Lawson's fingers.

The single eye widened to its limit, the mouth gaped open, and the blackened half of the tongue stretched stiffly out into the air.

"You said yes..."

Lawson's voice was calm: "I said okay, but I don't believe you."

The fingers continued to tighten.

Fizex Womuellin's body began to crumble in Lawson's hands.

The single eye dimmed. The forked tail made one last weak curl, then drooped down.

The system notification sounded:

[A secondary warp entity (imp) has been physically destroyed.]

The soul energy has been intercepted and purified.

[Subspace Energy +1.]

Fizex Wormuel's body was completely disintegrated in Lawson's hands.

No residue was left behind.

Like its companions, it was completely erased from this universe.

Lawson wiped his palms on his trouser leg.

"Only dead demons are good demons."

He looked at number 1 beside him.

"No matter how nicely this thing sounds or how readily it agrees, the longer a warp demon, even the lowest-ranking lesser demon, stays around you, the stronger the scent you leave in the warp. Higher-ranking demonic entities will follow this scent, just like sharks smell blood."

The little devil's offer looked very tempting.

A loyal guide, a living map, and an early warning system capable of sensing subspace fluctuations.

These values ​​are real and tangible.

But what's the cost?

Those bloodthirsty freaks nesting on the deep decks, those demon princes worshipped by the Chaos Warriors, and even those unspeakable beings peering into the real world from the deeper abyss of the warp, will sooner or later notice this source of the signal.

By then, it won't be two little devils coming after him.

Make a quick buck and get rid of them, leaving no loose ends.

This is the only correct approach.

Now, he needs to deal with the contents of this arsenal.

Lawson turned his attention back to the weapons on the shelves.

After picking up the bomb gun contaminated by the subspace, he noticed that a previously grayed-out, locked tab on the system interface had changed.

The "Arsenal" tab lit up.

A holographic projection unfolded in his field of vision.

The projection shows a cube-shaped space of approximately one cubic meter in size.

The edges of the space were outlined by pale blue light, and the interior was empty, devoid of anything.

A descriptive text follows:

[Arsenal System (Unlocked)]

[Current available storage space: 1 cubic meter.]

[Storage Rules: Both the host and their subordinates can store/retrieve items from this space at any time, regardless of distance.]

[Special Function: Stored weapons and equipment will undergo a purification process based on underlying laws within the storage space, removing subspace contamination and physical damage (only damage within the repairable range is removed).]

[Spatial Upgrade: Current space can be increased to 2 cubic meters, consuming 100 Dimensional Anchor Fragments.]

[Dimensional Anchor Fragment: 0.]

Lawson stared at the last two lines of text for a few seconds.

Dimensional anchor fragments.

This is yet another new type of resource.

The system didn't give any hints on how to obtain it, but we'll talk about that later.

The most important thing now is the core function of this armory space: purification.

Lawson looked down at the bomb gun in his hand, which had been contaminated by the subspace.

The explosive gun in his hand turned into a pale blue dot of light and disappeared without a trace.

In the armory space on the system interface, a holographic projection of a floating explosive gun appeared in the one-cubic-meter cube.

The gun was covered with a visible dark red halo, which was a visual manifestation of subspace contamination.

[Subspace contamination weapon detected. Initiating the underlying law purification process...]

[Purification in progress... 20%... 50%... 80%...]

Purification complete.

The subspace contamination residue has been stripped and stored in the waste disposal area.

Lawson switched to the scrap area to take a look.

Sure enough, within that swirling, twisting gray mist, a new clump of dark red residue appeared.

This remnant was darker in color and thicker in texture than the Waaagh energy waste previously stripped from the green-skinned souls, and within it, one could vaguely see some twisted, rune-like dark patterns slowly flowing.

Return to the armory interface.

The dark red glow on that bomb gun had completely disappeared.

At the same time, the purification process also repaired some minor physical damage to the gun.

Lawson took out the purified bomb gun.

He raised the gun, pulled the bolt, and inspected the chamber and feed port.