124: Chapter 124 Ambush

Western suburbs of Coastal City.

Lin Li and Ushtan followed several Defense Force soldiers who were leading the way, stepping on the muddy dirt road as they quickly advanced toward the interior of Coastal City on foot.

Due to the strain on the front lines, all vehicles in this area had been requisitioned. Left with no choice, the group had to travel by foot.

As Lin Li walked, he observed the surrounding terrain.

It had to be said that although the land area of this planet was pitifully small, the natural conditions near Coastal City were indeed much better compared to the desolate and lifeless Western Wastelands.

Sparse trees, similar to subarctic coniferous forests, could even be seen on both sides of the road.

Lin Li turned his head to glance at Ushtan beside him.

After his genetic defects were completely cured, this Thunder Commander's face, which was originally covered in necrotic callouses, had returned to its original appearance.

He had deep-set features and a high bridge to his nose, exuding a sense of classical fortitude, very much like those ancient Byzantine heavy infantrymen in Earth's oil paintings.

"To be honest, in my original plan, I didn't intend to bring you along."

Lin Li lowered his voice, speaking in the Common Tongue so that only the two of them could hear.

According to Lin Li's original, more cynical script...

He had wanted to let the Orks besiege the city, waiting until Coastal City's defensive lines were in dire straits and the walls were about to be breached.

Then, he would lead the infinitely respawning The Fourth Calamity to descend like divine soldiers, saving the day at the last moment to harvest a massive wave of shock and faith from the city's military and civilians.

Immediately following that, riding the momentum of the Savior's great victory, he would unite with the oppressed lower-level officers of the Defense Force to launch a mutiny, sidelining and controlling those parasitic upper-class nobles.

Then, using a combination of carrot and stick, he would use food supplies to control the Hive City gangs.

With such a sequence of moves, Coastal City—a prize with a population of two hundred million—would basically be safely in his pocket.

Once this massive force was integrated, he could turn back and slowly deal with the stubborn Imperial Department of Justice.

The plan was practically perfect.

But who could have expected that those brain-dead Orks would not only hand-assemble a Titan stompa, but that fat pig of a Governor would also run away with the funds, only to be shot dead in public by the Political Commissar!

Through this series of bizarre and coincidental events...

The command system of the Coastal City Defense Force had completely paralyzed, and the defensive lines became precarious in an instant.

Although there were tens of thousands of players acting as a meat grinder at the front...

The number of players was still too small after all.

Facing a sea of tens of millions of Orks, it was impossible to completely eliminate the crisis in a short time.

The longer the front lines dragged on, the leaderless state of the Defense Force would make the uncertainty of Coastal City even higher.

If the refugee camps at the bottom took the opportunity to riot, the whole thing would be ruined.

"So, I changed my mind and brought you along."

Lin Li looked at Ushtan.

"Your task is simple. Once we reach headquarters, use your iron-fisted methods to forcibly take over the command and coordination of this mess of an army."

As a big-shot Commander who had commanded millions during the Unification Wars of Ancient Terra...

Handling a local defensive battle with only a few hundred thousand people was almost effortless for Ushtan.

Only by firmly grasping this local military in their hands could the Kindling Alliance truly establish a foundation of power in this Hive City!

...

Just as Lin Li and Ushtan emerged from the underground platform...

On a remote beach in eastern Coastal City, far from the main battlefield.

An armed squadron of over a hundred people was stepping over slippery reefs, carefully searching forward under the leadership of an Ecclesiarchy priest.

If Lin Li were here right now, he would surely recognize the Commander of this team at a glance.

It was none other than that old acquaintance who had cleared out the corruption incident in the western mines with him over a month ago: Neil, the Arbiter of the Imperial Department of Justice.

The priest leading the team held a relic censer burning with strange incense.

The base of that censer was carved from the skull of a holy sister.

The priest's eyes were closed as he muttered under his breath, as if tracking a scent undetectable to ordinary people through the censer.

Following the priest were dozens of elite Arbites shock troops in black carapace armor, along with seventy or eighty red-robed Skitarii of the church.

"Stop."

Suddenly, the sharp-eyed Neil raised his fist, making a tactical hand signal to halt.

He drew the Bolter pistol at his waist, his gaze fixed intently on a flat stretch of beach several hundred meters ahead.

"Is that... a sacrificial ritual?!"

Neil's pupils contracted sharply.

On the gloomy beach, someone had used a massive amount of fresh mortal flesh, viscera, and hundreds of bloody skulls to meticulously arrange a giant Eight-Pointed Star pattern over thirty meters in diameter!

At each point of the Eight-Pointed Star, a torch burning with an eerie blue flame was planted.

Neil's heart sank instantly.

He realized that this had already far exceeded the scope of capturing a few scattered cultists!

This was absolutely a premeditated, high-level, large-scale blood sacrifice ritual!

However, these were currently troubled times.

The vast majority of the Arbites' shock troops and the main force of the church's Skitarii had been sent north to fill the trenches against the Orks.

The only people Neil could mobilize were these hundred or so men before him.

"Everyone, check your weapons!"

Neil ordered decisively.

"Heavy weapons ready! Use high-purity Promethium flamethrowers to burn those disgusting sacrifices to ash! We absolutely cannot let the ritual—"

Before Neil could finish his sentence...

A bone-chilling coldness suddenly shot from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head!

"An ambush?!"

The painful memory of suffering a psychic ambush from cultists in the underground mines over a month ago instantly flooded his mind.

But this time, Neil had brought more shock troops, as well as Skitarii equipped with plasma weapons.

Even if there were cultist psykers, he was confident he could wipe them out!

However...

When the enemies lying in wait moved with heavy steps and slowly emerged from behind the reef...

Neil's breath hitched, and his heart instantly went cold.

There were six terrifying monsters, over two and a half meters tall, their bodies covered in twisted spikes!

They wore heavy, scratch-covered Power Armor, with black slime seeping from the gaps in the plating.

Behind their demonic, hideous helmets hung an iconic, blasphemous pendant—the Chaos Eight-Pointed Star!

These weren't some mortal cultists holding scrap guns.

These were fallen Astartes!

A warband of Chaos Space Marines who had betrayed humanity!

"Fire! For the God-Emperor!"

Neil roared at the top of his lungs, pulling the trigger of his Bolter pistol.

Battle erupted instantly.

But from the very beginning, this battle was a one-sided slaughter with no suspense.

Mortal carapace armor was as thin as paper in the face of Chaos Bolters.

The semi-mechanical Skitarii had just raised their plasma guns when they were brutally hacked to pieces by chainaxes wielded by the Chaos Space Marines charging into their formation.

Severed limbs and blood stained the beach red.

In less than five minutes...

The squadron of over a hundred people was slaughtered to the last man.

Neil knelt in a pool of blood, his left arm and right leg already severed.

He gritted his teeth hard, letting out no scream, only staring fixedly at the Chaos warband leader standing before him with eyes full of hatred.

It was a Chaos Sorcerer radiating intense Warp fluctuations.

"Mortal, your bones are quite hard,"

The Chaos Sorcerer mocked in a raspy, piercing voice,

"Just right for pleasing the Master."

He did not kill Neil immediately, but turned and walked toward the captured Ecclesiarchy priest.

This Chaos Sorcerer was currently filled with rage.

His original plan was to release Warp whispers to drive those mindless Orks to attack Coastal City, using the Orks' slaughter to sacrifice the city.

But out of nowhere, a group of equally crazed outsiders appeared, not only blocking the onslaught of millions of Orks but even vaporizing the stompa with a single shot!

To turn the tide of battle and to please the Dark Gods with the destruction of this Hive City of two hundred million...

The Sorcerer had designed this trap to lure in the people of the Arbites and the Church to complete this final step of the blood sacrifice!

"This place is not far from the Demons Throat; the veil of reality is as thin as tissue paper!"

The Chaos Sorcerer raised high the staff inlaid with a malevolent eyeball and grabbed the priest by the throat.

The priest struggled in agonizing despair.

The Sorcerer tore open his chest directly, ripped out the still-beating heart, and threw it into the center of the Eight-Pointed Star array!

"With blood as the guide! Tear apart this hypocritical reality!"

The Sorcerer let out a fanatical, inhuman shriek.

As the living sacrifice fell in...

The Eight-Pointed Star pattern on the ground instantly erupted with a pillar of dark purple light that shot into the sky!

A visual spectacle difficult to describe in words played out over the eastern suburbs of Coastal City!

The originally gloomy, leaden sky was instantly dyed a sickly and twisted purple-red.

The clouds were torn apart by an invisible, massive force, and a Warp rift hundreds of meters long—like a giant abyss mouth dripping black blood—slowly opened in mid-air!

Ear-piercing Warp shrieks filled the entire beach.

Neil lay in a pool of blood, looking at that rift, and closed his eyes in despair.

Accompanied by a crushing sound as heavy as thunder...

First to step out of the rift were three fully armed Chaos Space Marine squads.

Following closely behind...

Was a massive, mountain-like Daemon Engine spewing eerie green soul-hellfire—a Defiler!

It made its entrance with a roar!

This six-legged crawling iron beast had a torso in a bizarre crab-like shape.

It was strictly protected by heavy, dark-gold Chaos alloy armor.

The surface of the armor was covered in twisted spikes, blasphemous runes, and terrifying reliefs depicting scenes of bloody slaughter.