25: The Silent Funeral Procession

[Public Star Zone: Alpha Centauri-Proxima III]

[Environmental Parameters: Low Gravity (0.8G), High Background Radiation, Iron Oxide Surface, Oxygen-rich Atmosphere]

The wind was howling.

The planet's surface was covered in thick iron oxide dust; the gale whipped up red grit, staining the entire world a murky, unsettling color of blood-rust.

Massive weathered rocks pierced the dim yellow sky like the fangs of a monster, casting distorted shadows under the pale light of the star.

Occasionally, an enticing metallic luster flickered within the crevices of those rocks.

That was high-purity Hematite Concentrate, the lifeblood of industrial civilization, and the reason countless interstellar raiders went mad for it.

Hum—

A low, rhythmic hum of energy vibrated through the air.

A streamlined floating airship, composed entirely of translucent blue crystal, slowly cut through the red dust and mist, gliding over the canyon.

This airship had no rivets or seams; visible arcane runes flowed across its surface. Its thrusters didn't emit fire, but a stream of blue magical particles.

This was a patrol ship of the Crystal Energy Federation.

A typical T1.5 Magic-Tech civilization, they had abandoned clunky machinery in favor of the resonance between crystals and energy.

"Life signs detected. Coordinates confirmed."

Inside the airship's command tower, the crystal dome filtered out the external radiation.

A Commander dressed in ornate silk robes, his skin a faint shade of blue, looked down arrogantly at the red wasteland below.

He swirled a glass of glowing Ether Mead in his hand, his posture as elegant as if he were strolling through his own backyard.

"What are those heat signals below? Scavengers? Or local radiation beasts?" he asked nonchalantly, without even turning his head.

"Reporting to the Archon." The operator's fingers slid across a hovering crystal panel.

"The heat source reaction... is extremely weak. It looks like some kind of primitive carbon-based biological colony.

No energy shield reaction, no mana fluctuations, and we haven't even detected any decent vehicle engine signals."

"Heh, is it those incompletely evolved monkeys again?"

The Commander gave a cold laugh, a trace of disgust flashing in his eyes.

During the audition phase of the Epoch, these dirt-poor civilizations that couldn't even fly out of a gravity well and were still brawling with gunpowder and steel were everywhere.

"Clear them out," he handed down the sentence, as if swatting a fly.

"Deploy two 'Obsidian' Golems. Don't waste the main cannon's charge; that's a courtesy reserved for opponents of the same level."

"As you command."

Click.

The crystal hatch on the airship's belly slid open silently.

Two four-meter-tall black stone giants crashed onto the ground.

Thump! Thump!

Heavy footsteps crushed the red rocks, stirring up a large cloud of dust.

Their bodies were carved from hard obsidian magic-conducting ore, with blue mana circuits flowing across the surface.

Their single eyes flickered with a dangerous red light, and their arms weren't hands, but two crystal laser cannons currently charging.

[Obsidian Golem].

They possessed physical immunity shields, could fire high-energy lasers, were tireless, and knew no fear.

In the novice zone, this was almost synonymous with invincibility.

The golems began scanning the canyon, red laser beams sweeping across the rocks.

Order confirmed: Eliminate all carbon-based life... in the shadows of the canyon.

Li Cang stood before a holographic sand table, hands crossed under his chin.

His gaze wasn't on those two flaunting magical creations; instead, he was staring fixedly at the resource counter in the top right corner.

[Current GP: 300]

[bolt shell stock: Base x 1 (30 rounds per person)]

"Conserve your fire."

Li Cang spoke softly into the microphone, his voice tinged with a calculating stinginess, "Every bolt shell is money. Every bullet must be exchanged for ten times its value."

If Arik were here, that rampaging King of Thunder would have jumped out laughing, using his Chainsword to smash those two stone men into powder, even if it meant burning out his power armor.

Thunder Warriors didn't understand the concept of "cost control"; their dictionary only contained "destruction."

But those here today were not Thunder Warriors.

It was the First Legion.

Within the sandstorm, several red rocks moved.

No.

Those weren't rocks.

They were five figures clad in grey-black power armor.

Their armor had no decorations, no golden double-headed eagles, no tassels of glory, not even paint.

It was just the bare, rough Ceramite color, covered in a thick layer of anti-radiation lead, looking completely out of place in this red world.

The fully enclosed helmets of the Mk II "Crusader" power armor were tightly sealed, and the breathing valves made no sound.

They crouched in the shadows of the rocks like a group of gravediggers waiting for a funeral to begin, or like a set of silent precision instruments.

Even with the vibration of the golems landing right next to them, even with the red sand almost burying their helmets, they remained motionless.

[Trait: Dead Silence] activated.

In a non-firing state, the mk ii power armor's suppression system forced the output power of the backpack's miniature nuclear reactor to a minimum, suppressing heat signals and heartbeats to levels consistent with environmental background radiation.

This was a ghost unit.

"Target confirmed."

There was no voice communication in the comms channel, only an encrypted binary pulse signal flashing across the five men's tactical visors simultaneously.

[Distance: 150 meters.]

[Wind Speed: Category 12, correction complete.]

[Target Armor Analysis: Crystalline structure, primary component silicon dioxide, surface covered by low-level deflection force field.]

[Suggested Solution: Joint blast / Core sympathetic detonation.]

The leading warrior—codenamed Alpha-01—slowly raised the black firearm in his hands.

It was a blocky, ugly weapon, as square as a brick.

It had no scope, only iron sights.

Its barrel was terrifyingly thick, with a horrifying caliber of 0.75 inches.

Early-model Bolter.

A simple, crude, and even somewhat backward kinetic weapon in the eyes of some advanced civilizations.

It lacked the precision of lasers, the high temperature of plasma, or the eeriness of psychic weapons.

Its only advantages were: massive kinetic energy, plenty of propellant, and... pure physical destructive power.

Click-clack.

Alpha-01 pulled the charging handle, his movements as steady as a hydraulic press.

He gave no order.

There was no need.

The four warriors behind him raised their guns in the same millisecond, locking onto their respective targets.

[Trait: Array Combat].

Their minds seemed connected through a tactical data link; no shouting or roaring was needed, and everyone's shots were completed within the same microsecond.

Bang bang bang bang bang—!!!

The dull gunshots instantly tore through the wind and sand.

This wasn't the sharp "zzzt" of a laser weapon, but a roar like a heavy hammer striking an anvil.

It was a duet of the propellant's deflagration and the ignition of the miniature rocket engines.

Five self-propelled rocket shells, as thick as fingers, spun out of the barrels, trailing five grey-white plumes of smoke in the air like the five fingers of the Grim Reaper.

In the distance, the Commander on the airship had just raised his glass, preparing to celebrate another easy sweep.

"Should be finished cleaning—"

Before he could finish his sentence, the images below made his eyes widen, his pupils shrinking to pinpoints in an instant.

Those two overbearing Obsidian Golems didn't even have time to activate the high-power mode of their energy shields.

Pffft! Pffft! Pffft!

The first bolt shell accurately drilled into the knee joint gap of the left golem.

It didn't explode immediately.

Because the design logic of a bolt shell was: penetrate first, detonate later.

With its terrifying kinetic energy, the high-hardness diamond tip hammered into the golem's hard obsidian shell like a nail, embedding itself deep within the joint structure.

Three-thousandths of a second later.

BOOM!!!

A dull explosion rang out from inside the golem's joint.

The high-explosive charges released staggering energy within the confined space, and under the internal pressure, the hard obsidian shell instantly disintegrated into a cloud of fragments.

That four-meter-tall stone giant, like a tower with its blocks pulled out, crashed to its knees with a deafening roar.

But it wasn't over yet.

Then came the second shot, and the third.

Each bullet seemed to have eyes, drilling into the core cooling vents of the chest exposed after the golem lost its balance.

That was their only weakness.

BOOM—BOOM—!!!

Continuous internal sympathetic detonations directly shattered the golems' core mana crystals.

Blue arcane energy surged out of control, turning the pile of rocks into a brilliant and deadly firework.

From the start of firing to the end, a total of 1.2 seconds had elapsed.

Two T1.5 Obsidian Golems, expensive magical weapons, had turned into two piles of worthless stone rubble.

"Cease fire."

The binary signal flashed again.

Alpha-01 immediately released the trigger.

The barrel was still smoking, but he didn't even glance at the results in the distance; instead, he quickly holstered his gun, turned, and used the terrain for cover to switch to the next tactical position.

No cheering. No taunting. None of the "For the Emperor" roars of the Thunder Warriors.

Because according to tactical logic calculations, with their cores penetrated at that angle, the golems' survival rate was 0%.

Since it was 0%, there was no need to waste time confirming, nor any need to waste emotion celebrating.

This was the First Legion.

Silent, efficient, deadly.

"What... what the hell is that?!"

On the airship, the Crystal Energy Federation Commander's hand shook, his expensive crystal glass shattering into pieces, purple wine spilling everywhere.

He looked in horror at the five grey-black figures on the holographic screen.

They were like ghosts. After finishing the kill, they quickly vanished into the red dust, as if they had never existed.

"No mana fluctuations... pure kinetic weapons..."

The Commander's face turned pale; his logic circuits shorted out at this moment.

"How could such primitive gunpowder weapons penetrate obsidian reinforced with enchantments?! That's armor capable of resisting low-circle spells!"

He didn't understand.

He didn't understand the Imperial Truth. In the dark logic of Warhammer, nothing was indestructible.

If there was, it was because your caliber wasn't large enough, or your explosives weren't sufficient.

The original design intent of the Bolter was to tear apart everything so-called "noble," "mysterious," and "magical"... Real world, livestream room.

Although it was the audition phase, because of Li Cang's previous stunning performance of "Thunder Warriors" tearing apart mechs by hand, thousands of hardcore viewers were still lurking in his livestream.

The scene just now caused a brief blank in the bullet comments.

"???"

"What just happened?"

"How did those two stone men suddenly explode?"

"Where are the Thunder Warriors? Where's the tough guy who would shout 'WAAAGH' (scratched out) 'For the Emperor' and then charge into melee?"

"Who are these black tin cans? How can they be so silent? This isn't scientific, and it's not Warhammer!"

The audience was used to Arik's wild, individualistic combat style.

That kind of scene with flesh and blood flying, constant roaring, and using a Chainsword to saw enemies in half was what they considered "satisfying."

But this unit before them... was too cold.

Cold like a killing machine without emotions.

[Judges' Panel]

The famous tactical commentator "Grey Fox," who had been following Li Cang, was currently frowning, repeatedly replaying the 1.2 seconds of combat footage.

"A very interesting transition."

Grey Fox pushed up his glasses, a hint of admiration flashing in his eyes—an acknowledgment of professionalism.

"Many people might think this new unit has become weaker.

Indeed, in terms of individual strength and speed, they are far inferior to the previous 'Thunder' leader. They also lack that sense of oppression."

"However, please pay attention to their coordination."

Grey Fox drew a few lines on the screen with his finger, connecting the firing trajectories of the five warriors.

"Five people, five fields of fire, no blind spots. Their heart rates barely fluctuated at the moment of firing. This kind of discipline... is simply a freakish occurrence in a T1 civilization."

"The previous 'Thunder Warrior' was a rampaging greatsword—immensely powerful but easy to break and uncontrollable."

"But this unit..."

Grey Fox paused, giving an extremely high evaluation:

"They are a set of tightly meshed gears, a precision scalpel. Given enough lubricant, they could grind up an entire galaxy without making a single unnecessary noise."

... Hematite Canyon, battlefield.

Li Cang couldn't hear the external evaluations, nor did he care.

He only cared about the ownership of that resource point; it was the capital for his survival.

[System Prompt: Enemy ground units eliminated.]

[Resource point being occupied...]

[Obtained: Hematite Concentrate x 500 units (Material Data).]

[Obtained: Trace Mana Crystals x 20 units (Rare Material).]

"500 units of hematite..." Li Cang quickly calculated in his head.

"Enough to build spare parts for 5 sets of mk ii power armor. Or to manufacture 2000 standard bolt shells."

This deal was a profit.

But it also meant he was completely exposed.

Above, the massive blue airship had already begun to turn.

The giant crystal main cannon began to charge, its brilliant blue light illuminating the entire canyon, staining the red dust a bizarre purple.

The Crystal Energy Commander was clearly enraged.

For a proud mage, being slapped in the face by a group of barbarians using gunpowder guns was an unacceptable humiliation.

He was going to use the main cannon to level this damn canyon.

"Warning: High-energy reaction detected. Enemy flagship main cannon charging."

"Energy Level: T2 Magic-Tech Cannon."

"Estimated strike time: 15 seconds."

The red light of the alarm illuminated Li Cang's face.

But he didn't panic at all; his eyebrows didn't even twitch.

Not only did he not order a retreat, but he also pressed the broadcast button for the entire unit's communication channel.

"First Company, hear my command."

Li Cang's voice rang in all the warriors' helmets, cold and calm, as if reading a script already written.

"No anti-air defense needed."

"Because dead men cannot pull triggers."

His gaze turned to the other side of the sand table.

There, in the shadow directly beneath the airship, on that cliff face that everyone had ignored.

Another ninety-five warriors in black power armor had already been clinging there silently like geckos for a long time.

This was another characteristic of the [First Legion Prototype]—[Night Raid].

While those five warriors acted as bait in the open to attract fire and reveal their positions, the true main force had already reached the enemy's throat.

It was no longer the "frontal confrontation" honorable duel of the Thunder Warriors.

This was tactics, deception, and hunting.

"Boarding action."

"For... the Emperor of Mankind."

A low response finally rang out in the communication channel, a muffled thunder formed by ninety-five voices.

The next second.

Ninety-five black figures simultaneously activated the Chemical Rocket Jump Packs on their backs.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The thrusters spat out brilliant fire.

Like a flock of black crows, or a group of gargoyles rising from hell, they soared from the cliff, pouncing on the belly of the defenseless airship.

The Crystal Energy Commander, who was charging the main cannon, looked up blankly at the black swarm that suddenly appeared outside the porthole.

He saw those cold, wrathful faceplates, and those Chainswords being activated.

Zzzzt—!!!

The roar of Chainswords finally rang out on this silent battlefield.