46: Chapter 46 I've Found You

"Ahhh! They're hitting people! They're hitting people!" Seraphie dropped her gun to the ground in a state of feigned "panic" and ran away, screaming, "Help! Someone, please save us!"

The Cheng Yu City Guard clones didn't care about any of that; smuggling Slaanesh items meant a beating was due!

This clone was actually able to block the location tracking of other clones; it was clearly a high-ranking figure among the smugglers. Beat it! If it doesn't die, beat it to death!

"Screw your unit leader!" Overachiever Cheng Yu saw that Seraphie had already run far away and stopped pretending.

Within the shared consciousness, the aura around Overachiever Cheng Yu suddenly surged.

Soldier, sergeant, company commander, chapter master, theater commander...

Agents of Thirteen Offices, loyal only to the Emperor, taking orders only from the Middle Chamberlain.

They usually hide their identities, but if a situation becomes untenable and they must reveal themselves, they automatically outrank local officials by three levels.

Deploying troops, executing first and reporting later, imperial authorization—is that clear enough?

"Mercy, superior!"

"Don't you dare kneel!" Overachiever Cheng Yu scrambled to his feet, staggering. Those bastards hit hard; at least two of his ribs were definitely broken.

"Go find that woman from just now! If she suffers even the slightest harm, I'll send you all to the promethium refinery!"

"Yes, sir!!"

The objectives of the thousands of Cheng Yu City Guard clones changed from catching smugglers to finding a tall, white-haired woman.

But those smuggler Cheng Yus Clones didn't know that; they were busy calling for backup from all over the Underhive, bringing in weapons, and preparing to have a showdown with the Cheng Yu City Guard clones!

The incinerators were critical water and heat supply facilities for the Hive City, where a large number of slave-labor Cheng Yus Clones lived. The Hive City central control console would never dare to use infrasonic weapons in this area!

The mastermind behind the smuggling network in this Hive City and dozens of surrounding ones was the same Cheng Yu: "Old Blind" Cheng Yu.

He was also Clone No. 3 of the Cheng Yu Empire.

During the "Starship Reclamation Battle," Clone No. 3 had been hit squarely in the face by a Mekboy's optical weapon, and then trampled by the Cheng Yus Clones behind him.

From then on, he became a blind and paralyzed cripple, yet he stubbornly survived.

The shared will pitied him, so it had always been quite tolerant of his violations of the Imperial Truth.

It wasn't until the last Hive City riot, when the main body ordered a crackdown on Hive City security and the regulation of gang operations, that Old Blind Cheng Yu's days began to get worse by the day.

"Brother Three, the city guard clones have already attacked!"

The anti-smuggling operations in all Hive Cities were synchronized, so Old Blind Cheng Yu's residence was naturally surrounded as well.

"No rush, let the rain fall harder." Old Blind Cheng Yu sat slumped in his adamantium wheelchair. As he lowered his head slightly, a beautiful Aeldari girl lit a cigar for him.

In fact, with the resources he currently controlled, he could completely cure his disability and install mechanical prosthetic eyes and a living spine.

But Old Blind Cheng Yu chose to maintain his state as a cripple.

Strength could be relied upon, but frailty could also be exploited.

"Strange, the city guard clones suddenly withdrew again. It seems they're looking for a tall, white-haired woman?"

"Interesting, truly interesting." Old Blind Cheng Yu exhaled a sweet, cloying ring of smoke.

"Then... should we fight or not?"

"Fight? What fight? Smuggling is greed; attacking imperial officials is rebellion. If you want to fight, go ahead. Do you expect me to push this old coffin of a body to the front lines?"

"Oh, Third Master isn't old at all. You're even younger than the young ones."

The beautiful Aeldari girl caressed Old Blind Cheng Yu's gaunt, bony face.

Old Blind Cheng Yu's digestive system had long been destroyed by a bolter, and he had been relying on intravenous drips to sustain his life.

But clearly... the remaining parts were still functioning normally.

By the way, this beautiful Aeldari woman was the cousin that Countess Dukaria hated most. Aria had originally sent her to Old Blind Cheng Yu to disgust her.

But who would have thought... the cousin actually started enjoying it. As expected of the noble Dukaria clan.

"Understood, we'll go right now... to be good clones who strictly adhere to the Imperial Truth!"

Tens of thousands of gang members began to move, cooperating with the city guard units to start searching the lower levels of the entire "Yucai" Hive City. Their target was a tall, white-haired human female.

Meanwhile, Seraphie was frantically searching the bottom level of the Hive City. She knew very well that her apprentice had been sent by the False Emperor's intelligence agency to monitor her.

Are you kidding? She was an operative specially trained by the Inquisition since childhood. To fool her, one had to not only have impeccable behavior but also flawless demeanor and expressions.

In this regard, the False Emperor's lackeys were still adorably green!

However, having said that, her good apprentice kept a very close eye on her every day—greeting her in the morning, delivering meals at night, and even asking if she wanted dry or wet tissues at the door when she went to the toilet during work hours.

Having finally shaken him off, Seraphie naturally had to stir up some trouble.

"The Gene Tyrant's cloning equipment has such high power output; it's impossible for it to leave no trace at all!"

Seraphie felt that there was an eighty percent chance this xenos creation was inside the Imperial Palace, but Vera would naturally go to investigate that.

There was another twenty percent possibility... hiding in plain sight, right here in the Hive City.

Putting herself in his shoes, if Seraphie were the Gene Tyrant, she would definitely place this equipment in the most chaotic place possible—the whole point being counter-logic.

Seraphie scurried around the bottom level of the Hive City like a lunatic.

The slave-labor Cheng Yus Clones were all drenched in sweat from the heat, and even seeing such a beautiful woman running back and forth before them, they showed no reaction.

Some clones had wives and concubines in droves and were afraid to go home; some clones tossed and turned in the middle of the night, unable to sleep alone; and others struggled on the verge of death from overwork every day.

The joys and sorrows of the clones were not shared, even though these clones were essentially the same person.

"Master, my good Master, where are you?"

Overachiever Cheng Yu held a power sword and searched nearby. According to intelligence, the tall, white-haired one was probably running around in this vicinity.

"Master, your good apprentice has come to find you!"

Overachiever Cheng Yu slashed through a pile of scrap metal, revealing a large number of skeletons hidden inside.

These were the clones who had been worked or heated to death; left here without anyone to collect or manage them, they would eventually turn into dry dust.

Overachiever Cheng Yu sighed and ordered the clones behind him to clean this place up later.

These corpses should be processed into promethium to supply the expedition fleet; leaving them here to gather dust was simply a despicable waste!

In fact, Seraphie was hiding under another pile of bones not far away at that moment. If Overachiever Cheng Yu's slash had been just a little stronger, she might have been exposed.

"Master, the Underhive is very dangerous... Your apprentice is very worried about you!"

Overachiever Cheng Yu's voice and the footsteps of the others gradually faded away.

Only then did Seraphie slowly stretch her body out from under the bones. She had trained in a special form of physical technique, somewhere between yoga and bone-shrinking, which allowed her to hide her body in extremely cramped spaces.

"Found you, Master!"