56: Chapter 56: A petty person is no gentleman; an arrogant person is prone to causing trouble.

"The Aeldari are arrogant, and those who are arrogant are fond of creating trouble. If I do not attack them, they will come to cause trouble for Me. Was there not a troublemaking Aeldari in the previous coalition named... what was it again?"

"Felan." Palace Attendant Cheng Yu poured Cheng Yu a full cup of yellow wine.

"Right, that's the one. Against an arrogant enemy, one must not show weakness; they must be swiftly extinguished with thunderous methods. As for a powerful and suspicious enemy, one must curb impatience and attack slowly."

In truth, these words were not thought up by Cheng Yu; his strategic attainments had not yet reached such heights.

These ideas all came from Vera. After all, she had received a complete aristocratic education; she might not be capable of commanding in actual warfare, but her theoretical knowledge was solid.

"His Majesty is wise!"

The old ministers of the court scrambled to flatter him.

"Alright, finish eating and go attend to your duties."

Thinking of Vera's slender waist, Main Body... suddenly didn't feel like eating hotpot anymore. Truly, satiety and warmth lead to carnal thoughts.

...

The Emperor's orders were swiftly issued, and the war machine of the entire Cheng Yu Empire began to churn.

Countless newborn clones encountered a good time. After a simple transfer of shared thinking and experience, they were distributed weapons and armor sufficient for risking their lives on the battlefield.

For the vast majority of clones, they could only obtain basic human rights after surviving their first war; otherwise, they didn't even have the qualifications to become slave laborers or vagrants in a Hive City.

Of course, occasionally there were some clones with exceptionally good luck who could perform meritorious military service or awaken psionic powers in a short period.

These people were the main force of the Mid-Hive, the clones who could possess nicknames.

"Stare-Kill" Cheng Yu was one such lucky clone.

While garrisoning the "Water Extraction Point" outpost, he was bitten by a venomous creature from Warp. After being rescued, he awakened psionic powers and even gained the appreciation of the clan leader, Iron Fist.

Others all thought that "Stare-Kill" Cheng Yu could kill opponents by making eye contact with them.

But in reality, "Stare-Kill" Cheng Yu did not need to make eye contact with the enemy. As long as the opponent harbored malice in their heart, he could amplify that malice a thousandfold and use this mental backlash to attack the enemy. The opponent would suffer, ranging from becoming mentally disabled to death.

However, this power was not without a price. After the enemy died, a portion of the malice would remain in "Stare-Kill" Cheng Yu's heart like a kickback.

The more malice accumulated, the sooner or later it would kill "Stare-Kill" Cheng Yu himself.

But he could no longer stop. Whenever the night was deep and quiet, monstrous killing intent would churn and surge within his heart.

If he didn't kill a few enemies a day, "Stare-Kill" Cheng Yu would feel uncomfortable all over, and even eating ant-beef would have no flavor.

"About to traverse Warp. Everyone, guard your minds strictly; do not let your thoughts wander."

"Yes!"

"Stare-Kill" Cheng Yu put on the cap of a Chapter Master, but he didn't actually lead troops, because he alone... was a Chapter!

Stable travel through Warp was extremely fast. In less than half an hour, the punitive fleet arrived in the vicinity of the Aeldari world, "Ship of Sorrow."

This was a massive colony ship comparable in size to a battle satellite. Looking at it from a distance, one couldn't tell if it was a spaceship or a magnificent comet cloud.

"Stare-Kill" Cheng Yu, as a negotiation envoy, went ahead to communicate with the Aeldari Craftworld.

Although up until now, he had never encountered a situation where the enemy surrendered smoothly without a fight, according to His Majesty's decree... he had to ask, just in case they might surrender.

The Craftworld sent three small interceptors to make contact with "Stare-Kill" Cheng Yu, and both sides met on a large meteoroid.

"Monkey, do you wish to provoke a war?"

The leading tall Aeldari was nearly three meters tall, which forced "Stare-Kill" Cheng Yu to look up to speak with him.

"Three conditions: First, hand over or execute Felan Leandil; he is a wanted criminal of our Empire. Second, disarm and surrender control of the Craftworld. Third, accept reorganization and pledge loyalty to my Emperor."

"You are dreaming, monkey."

The tall Aeldari had no intention of negotiating at all; he just wanted to see up close what the Gene Tyrant's clone looked like.

"Then you can go die."

"Stare-Kill" Cheng Yu merely glanced at the tall Aeldari, and the opponent's legs snapped in the middle like low-quality disposable chopsticks.

The tall Aeldari's companions immediately injected him with neuro-fiber bullets; this Aeldari medical technology could heal almost any external injury.

"Stare-Kill" Cheng Yu stared excitedly at these three Aeldari, fierce light appearing in his eyes.

"Ahhh!"

The three Aeldari were like... a pile of disposable chopsticks wrapped in cellophane... then crushed by a hydraulic press and splashed with red chili oil hotpot sauce.

"Ugh..." Lookout Cheng Yu, who was observing this direction with a telescope, vomited.

"Negotiation failed, prepare to attack."

"Kill!!!"

The wraithbone spires of the Craftworld flowed with a ghostly light under the starlight, like a silent and elegant city of crystal.

However, in just an instant, this tranquility was torn apart by endless brutality.

The legion fleet of the Cheng Yu Empire: countless crude and twisted ships, like a tide of death, crashed wave after wave against the crystalline energy shields of the Craftworld.

The Aeldari fleet's counterattack was precise and lethal. Nightwing interceptors turned into streaks of silver lightning, using pulse lasers to precisely detonate enemy ships one by one, while the Phoenix bombers' ghost bombs cut into the cores of enemy ships like scalpels, triggering brilliant, silent explosions.

However, the scales of victory never tilted.

Behind every destroyed clone ship, ten more surged from the shadows.

They had no tactics, no fear, only absolute numbers.

The clone ships used the most primitive artillery and laser arrays, continuously bombarding the Craftworld's shields.

Under the endless impact, the energy shields overloaded and flickered, finally dissipating and scattering like shattered glass.

Following closely were the impacts of landing craft, attaching themselves to the wraithbone hull of the Craftworld like bacteriophages.

Hatch doors exploded, and a tide of infantry surged into the corridors of the Craftworld.

Every artillery strike from the Wraithguard could turn an entire squad of clones into nothingness or banish them to Warp.

The Dire Avengers' shuriken catapults wove a lethal storm of metal, cutting the clones' bodies into dust.

But the clones did not retreat.

They advanced over the corpses of their companions, trading absolute casualties for every inch of retreat of the Aeldari defensive line.

Every defensive line and guardian... was like ice under the scorching sun; although hard, it was only a matter of time.

When the last Wraithlord had its lower limbs blown off by a clone's suicide attack, and when the psychic network was filled with painful whispers due to excessive casualties, the battle entered a cruel melee.

The clone army submerged every hall and corridor.

The Craftworld "Ship of Sorrow," this treasure that had carried hundreds of thousands of years of civilization, had fallen.

Its spires were broken... the sound of the invaders' uniform footsteps echoed through the wraithbone corridors.

(Thanks to "A Mi Nuo" for the Power for Love * 1; "Lu Huan Gong with a Headache" for the Power for Love * 2; "Spicy Rabbit Head who loves Spicy Hotpot" for the Power for Love * 2; "Li 23" for the Power for Love * 1; "Tongliao Construction Worker" for the Flowers * 2. Thank you all for your support, thank you.)