Warhammer: Empire Reboot

No trial, no nonsense.

As long as your name is in Krauser's memory bank, no matter if you're hiding in an underground bunker hundreds of meters deep or under the protection of dozens of mercenaries, the only outcome is your head being separated from your body.

This kind of physical erasure, where names are called out, is filled with an indescribable sense of oppression.

Slaughter all the high-ranking followers of one hive city. Lawson moves on to the next.

The first main star, the fifth nest city.

This is the most heavily polluted area on the entire planet, shrouded in a thick, green smog year-round.

This is also the headquarters of the Dark Mechanicus's "Burning Iron Forging Guild".

A massive mechanical fortress, composed of countless steel gears, enormous blast furnaces, and crisscrossing plasma exhaust pipes, sits at the heart of the hive city.

The name of the Mechanicus was not on Lawson's list.

The Cult of Mechanics is a special, independent interest group.

Their relationship with the governor's office in Krause was merely one of employment and cooperation.

Krausers provided supplies, and the others provided technical support. They didn't care who ruled the planet; they only cared about knowledge and resources.

The core server room at the deepest part of the mechanical fortress.

The Great Sage of the Dark Mechanicus is suspended in a huge glass tank filled with a pale green preservative nutrient solution.

The great sage has long since abandoned the frail human body.

His physical remains were less than one percent; only a shrunken brain and half a spinal cord remained.

Thousands of thick nerve cables were inserted into his spinal cord, perfectly connecting his consciousness to the entire hive's "Thinker Main Array".

He is the brains of this factory.

At this moment, the Great Sage is monitoring the horrific massacre in Lawson through servo skulls and optical probes scattered throughout the hive.

The data stream flickered wildly outside the Great Sage's glass tank.

"Target physical damage efficiency assessment: lethal. Speed ​​assessment: supersonic. Attack method: micro-remote control of unknown metal."

The Great Sage's mechanical, synthesized voice echoed in the computer room.

"Probability calculation in progress. The probability of the target forcibly taking over the planet's government is 99%."

The Great Sage watched Lawson's brutal killing style on the screen and calculated his own chips.

"No data interface was implanted. No advanced cybernetic modifications were performed. The target was merely a barbarian with powerful psionic abilities and brute strength."

The logic of the great sage is as clear as water.

Conquering the world can be done by killing, but ruling a heavily industrialized planet cannot be done solely by force. The atmospheric circulation system needs maintenance. Geothermal power plants need scheduling. The production line for the macro cannon shells needs programming.

Chapter 127 Violent Takeover, Planet 1 Changes Hands

This barbarian slaughtered all the nobles and administrators.

If the machines stop, billions of people will suffocate in the oxygen-deprived city within three days.

“He has to work with us. No one but us can keep this planet’s machines running.”

The great sage came to a conclusion. He felt safe.

Holding the beating industrial heart of this planet is a bargaining chip that no ruler can refuse.

Just then.

The image on the main screen in the server room suddenly flickered.

Lawson appeared outside the gates of the Mechanicus headquarters.

He hovered in mid-air, his Tiger King armor radiating a chilling killing intent amidst the industrial fumes.

They were several hundred meters apart.

Lawson's gaze was fixed precisely on the giant main surveillance camera, five meters in diameter, above the headquarters gate.

His gaze pierced through the optical fibers, through the array of thinkers, and locked onto the Great Sage in the glass tank.

It was the look in your eyes when you were looking at a tool that needed repair.

There was not a trace of reverence for technology.

The deathly stare lasted for three seconds.

Lawson turned his head, his metal wings vibrated, and a sonic boom rang out.

He flew away to deal with the next batch of targets.

They didn't even leave a single threatening word.

Inside the computer room.

Suddenly, a burst of violent bubbles rose to the surface of the nutrient solution in the glass tank.

Hundreds of cables connecting to the Great Sage's brain began to vibrate at high frequencies. Various fault red lights flashed wildly on the array board.

The great sage's remaining one percent of his physical body produced an illusion that defied common sense.

He felt like he was about to break out in a cold sweat.

Although he removed all his sweat glands and hair follicles as early as 10,000 years ago.

He suddenly realized that the barbarian hadn't been assessing the possibility of cooperation at all, but rather the difficulty of dismantling this pile of scrap metal.

The Great Sage's mechanical voice-generating device emitted a dry, frictional sound.

"They've come with ill intentions!"

Lawson's cleanup operation proceeded with an efficiency beyond human comprehension within these steel jungles.

Thirty-six living metal shadow wheels transformed into thirty-six bolts of death lightning that ignored physical barriers.

Ventilation ducts, underground bunkers, the high-voltage power grid of aristocratic estates—any defensive measures are rendered useless before a molecular-level blade. Once a name is etched into Governor Krause's memory bank, only one outcome remains: decapitation.

As the last Shadow Wheel sliced ​​open a titanium alloy door deep within the underground water network of the Third Nest City, shredding the dozen or so trembling leaders of the Khorne secret assembly, along with their brass altars, to pieces, this global purge finally came to an end.

Lawson hovered atop the weathervane of the First Nest City, the thirty-six Shadow Wheels coalescing behind him into dark silver metallic wings.

On the system's balance sheet, the number of subspace energy numbers experienced a surge.

The net energy contribution from this group of Khorne's followers was roughly equivalent to the gains from the massacre of Nurgle followers on Planet Three. The quality of a follower's soul ultimately cannot compare to that of a true warp entity; on average, it takes the killing of thirty high-ranking followers to extract even a single drop of pure energy.

Even so, the massive amount of corruption accumulated by the primary star over two years still contributed a full 150,000 points of subspace energy to Lawson.

"The trash has been cleared out. Next, it's time to get this rusty machine running again."

Lawson looked down at the vast planet beneath his feet, a planet that had lost all its top management.

During the two-year reign of Khorne, Krauser used a bloody gladiatorial quota system to wipe out all respectable Imperial officials. Now, the five hive cities, having lost their corrupt nobles, are completely paralyzed administratively.

The Water Purification Guild is unmanned. The conveyor belts of the Corpse Starch Factory have stopped turning. The pressure valves of the giant geothermal reactor are unmonitored.

In just a few dozen hours, billions of people will die from lack of water and food, or even from reactor overload and explosion.

Lawson was prepared.

Without hesitation, he mobilized all the redundant production capacity of Planet Three.

Planet One already harbored 190,000 non-combatant assassins. Lawson immediately massacred them again!

Three hundred and ten thousand non-combatant assassins poured out like a flood, flowing through the spatial rifts that dotted every corner of the city.

Five hundred thousand non-combatant suicide soldiers.

These 500,000 people, through swarm intelligence with their right hemispheres connected, completed the task allocation within 0.1 seconds of arrival.

They broke into smaller groups and entered the headquarters of various guilds, government districts, and dispatch centers.

Pushing open the door of the Water Purification Guild, the assassin kicked aside the headless corpse of the guild leader on the ground, sat directly on the blood-stained leather chair, and took control of the entire city's water network valves.

Upon entering the logistics dispatch tower, ten assassins replaced the dispatcher who had just been shredded by Shadow Wheel, forcibly resetting the transport code of the rail elevator.

Five hundred thousand tireless, incorruptible, and synchronously powered absolute gears.

The massive industrial machine on Planet One, after stopping for less than half an hour, mysteriously began to roar again.

However, this time, the ones holding the steering wheel were no longer those fat-headed, blood-sacrificing nobles, but rather the absolute will of Lawson.

The administrative center was forcibly taken over. But the chaos at the grassroots level had only just begun.

The Khorne followers are all dead. But what this planet has no shortage of are gangs, thugs, and all sorts of violent criminals that multiply like rats.

They were not qualified to have any contact with Khorne's faith and could only serve as lackeys and errand boys for Krauser.

Now that the superstructure has been physically erased by Lawson's Shadow Wheel, the news has spread like a plague through the gutter of the Underworld.

The mob thought the governor was dead, and that the empire had no jurisdiction over the area, rendering the law completely meaningless.

The time for revelry has arrived.

The first hive, middle level. Block 61.

The infamous "Bonebreakers" gang comprised over three thousand thugs armed with automatic guns, homemade shotguns, and rusty machetes. Their faces were muscular, and their eyes gleamed with a greedy, murderous light.

They set their sights on a large military rations warehouse at the end of the block. It used to be guarded by the Bloodsteel Guard, but the guard had been sent to the top of the tower to their deaths, and the warehouse doors were wide open.

"Charge in! Take all the canned meat! This territory is ours from now on!" The gang leader roared madly, brandishing a chainsaw sword as he stood on a dilapidated tracked vehicle.

The thugs howled greedily as they pounced on the warehouse like a pack of hungry wolves.

Sudden.

Two hundred scarlet tactical goggles lit up in the shadows of the warehouse.

Three hundred riot squads have quietly established themselves in various riot-prone areas of the five hive cities via the warp points.

Each team consists of one hundred men, all platoon leader-level combat elites. Although they don't wear power armor, they are covered in heavy armored shells and carry heavy explosive guns and plasma incinerators capable of tearing apart light armored vehicles.

"Armed insurgents discovered. Determination: Eliminate them."

The cold, mechanical commands were synchronized in the minds of the assassins.

One hundred assassins stepped out of the shadows and formed three tight line-fire formations on the wide street.

There were no warning shots fired. There were no broadcasts urging surrender. There was no need for arrests or trials.