142: Chapter 142 Prisoners

Fire Seed Shelter, at the open space on the outermost edge of the surface camp.

The defense boats and other spacecraft landed on this desolate, flat ground.

Immediately following them, sea breeze no. 9 also slowly descended.

The hatch opened, and Lin Li stepped out, accompanied by Iron Man 73 and several high-level players serving as guards.

As soon as this group from the The Fourth Calamity hit the ground, before they could even find their footing,

They saw the large crowd of players gathering around to watch the plot unfold and immediately began to show off.

"Did you see that? Did you see that? I just took a lap in near-Earth orbit on that huge spaceship!"

Liver Emperor pointed at sea breeze no. 9, flaunting wildly. "That push-back feeling was absolutely incredible!"

Lin Li's face was lined with frustration as he hurriedly shooed these embarrassing guys away like ducks, lest they ruin the atmosphere of the upcoming surrender.

At that moment.

A heavy, synchronized sound of footsteps echoed from the distance.

Carmen led over a dozen Thunder Warriors, marching forward with steady strides.

In the underground laboratory, through Stone Man Hong's genetic reconstruction surgery, the genetic defects within these Thunder Warriors—which could cause them to lose control and go mad at any time—had been completely excised.

No longer tormented by tumors and muscular collapse, they had fully recovered to their most elite, peak state from the era of the ancient Unification Wars.

In truth, the supreme Commander Ushtan had been strongly opposed to his veterans joining the Fire Seed Shelter.

But a few days ago, another surviving Thunder brother had reached a painful, dying state due to genetic collapse.

Coupled with Ushtan's observations of Lin Li's conduct,

To save the lives of his old brothers, he ultimately chose to compromise.

Currently, this remnant of Thunder Warriors numbered about twenty-three.

They joined the Spark Alliance as an independent veteran group, retaining their own internal organization, provided they also strictly adhered to the Alliance's supreme constitution.

Lin Li assigned these living war machines the job of serving as the Chief Instructors for the Shelter's new army.

Every two Thunder Warriors formed a primary and secondary instructor pair, each leading a thousand-man battalion of natives for training.

Civilian soldiers who performed exceptionally would have the opportunity to undergo deep genetic enhancement in the future.

Since recruitment was still ongoing, those native soldiers had not yet followed.

Carmen led the dozen or so Thunder Warriors forward in formation.

Interestingly,

These big guys, who could kill without blinking, once cured of their genetic defects and no longer needing to worry daily about how to extend their lives,

Had actually revealed a rather ridiculous hobby outside of their usual training—farming.

That's right.

These Thunder Warriors, standing over two meters tall on average and capable of tearing Power Armor apart with their bare hands, recently loved nothing more than squatting by the edge of a field, chin in hand, quietly watching plants grow, thoroughly enjoying that vibrant peace.

The reason they had come out fully armed today was entirely because Lin Li had sent a message in advance, asking them to come out and bolster the scene, acting as a background to intimidate the captives.

Besides this row of Thunder Warriors,

Ironhead and Pointy Ears, the two civilian super-soldiers who had just completed their genetic modification, also led a hundred-man Shelter native guard, marching in unison to line up behind Lin Li.

At this time.

The hatch of the armed defense boat that had landed on the wasteland finally opened slowly.

The Commander of the Mobius escort fleet, Colonel Andrei.

With a face as grim as a corpse, he lit a cigarette for himself.

As a veteran of the Astra Militarum, he had already prepared himself psychologically to die here today.

With the cigarette in his mouth, he strode out of the hatch.

The sunlight outside was a bit dazzling, but Colonel Andrei's gaze did not waver.

He squinted, wanting to see exactly what kind of monsters had utterly defeated his elite fleet.

If the opponent was some indescribable xenos, he would not hesitate to pull out his sidearm and swallow a bullet;

If the opponent was a fallen one who worshipped Chaos, he would immediately trigger the high-explosive grenade hidden in his clothes and take a few down with him.

However.

When he turned his head and saw the group of warriors lined up on the wasteland,

Colonel Andrei's pupils constricted violently, and the cigarette in his mouth lost its grip, falling directly from his lips to the ground.

"An... Angel?!"

Colonel Andrei's brain instantly short-circuited.

As a veteran who had served in the Astra Militarum for twenty years,

The Emperor's Angels were the most sacred legend in the military.

They were the incarnations of the Great Emperor in the Physical Universe, the sharpest swords against the enemies of humanity.

Even for someone like Colonel Andrei, who had participated in the meat-grinder campaigns of the Northern Star Zone, he had only ever caught a distant glimpse of the massive, blurred silhouette of a Space Marine from far behind the lines.

And now, standing before him were over twenty super-giants, standing over two and a half meters—nearly three meters—tall, wearing armor filled with the aesthetics of classical violence!

But immediately, Colonel Andrei shook his head vigorously, frantically denying this absurd thought in his mind.

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

Colonel Andrei stared fixedly at Carmen and the others,

"In a remote scrapyard like this, where even an Astropath can't make contact, how could an entire unit of Angels descend?! This must be some kind of illusory conspiracy created by fallen heretics!"

Colonel Andrei kept chanting the prayers of the Ecclesiarchy in his heart, trying to dispel the vision before him and praying for the God-Emperor's protection.

As personnel from the ships and shuttles continued to disembark,

The noble scions who had come along to pad their resumes and the ordinary Defense Force soldiers also saw this group of fully armed Thunder Warriors and the guards standing beside them.

A wave of discussion broke out among the crowd.

The nobles whispered to each other in disbelief, speculating about the true identity of these super-soldiers.

The low-ranking soldiers were more direct.

Upon feeling that tangible sense of genetic pressure, many of them felt their knees go weak and knelt on the ground, showing absolute submission to this superhuman power.

Lin Li stood at the front, roughly counting the numbers.

Including logistics personnel, this wave of captives amounted to barely five thousand people.

If the two ships that the players had just sunk in space were included,

The full strength of this pacification force would be just over five thousand at most.

"With just this much military force, you dared to come and cause trouble on my turf?"

Lin Li looked at the lead Commander, Andrei, whose face was solemn as if he carried a deep-seated hatred, and felt somewhat puzzled.

"No, buddy,"

Lin Li complained wildly in his head,

"If you weren't willing to surrender, you should have ordered the whole ship to self-destruct in martyrdom while you were still in the sky. Now that the ship has landed safely, what's with you coming down and putting on this tragic 'ready to die' act?"

At this point, Lin Li's gaze swept across the crowd.

He noticed a small group of people standing shiveringly next to the Defense Force phalanx.

These people were clearly not soldiers; they weren't even wearing uniforms. All of them were dressed in gaudy, luxurious, and puffy noble attire.

"What's the deal with those people dressed like peacocks?" Lin Li asked, pointing at the group of nobles.

A long time passed.

Seeing that Commander Andrei still maintained his silent, stubborn attitude,

Lin Li asked another question:

"Is there anyone among you who can speak for the rest?"

At that moment, a tall young woman stepped out from the group of nobles.

Though she looked somewhat nervous, she still performed a standard Imperial military salute toward Lin Li.

"My Lord,"

The girl said loudly,

"We are the private forces under the Sector Governor of the Mobius main star. A few days ago, a member of our House Rofis was murdered by criminals on this planet. We were ordered to come and investigate this matter. We have no ill will toward you or your territory. The exchange of fire just now was purely a misunderstanding."

After hearing this, Lin Li couldn't help but give the girl a mental thumbs-up.

This little brat's speech was airtight and quite ingenious.

First, she pointed out that she was with the Sector Governor, indicating she had a powerful backer.

Second, she emphasized that they were here to investigate a family murder, seizing the moral and legal high ground.

Finally, she characterized the fleet as a private family action, attempting to distance themselves from any official conflict with the Fire Seed Shelter.

But this clever girl could never have imagined,

That the man in the red Power Armor standing before her was the very culprit who had blown her cousin's head off with a single shot.

Lin Li curled his lip and did not take the bait.

[part:gemini-3.1-flash-lite]

He looked up at the heavy armed defense boats.

A warship of this caliber was not something a private family militia was qualified to possess, unless they were a Rogue Trader with official high-level authorization from the Empire.

Clearly, that Sector Governor was abusing their power, directly mobilizing a regular Defense Force fleet to handle private family business.

But Lin Li couldn't be bothered to expose such tedious political theater.

"Enough, cut the chatter."

Lin Li waved a hand. "As for you nobles, find yourselves an unarmed shuttle and get the hell back to wherever you came from."

He pointed at Colonel Andrei and the remaining five thousand soldiers. "As for these soldiers, you are now officially prisoners of the Spark Alliance. Everyone, drop your weapons immediately and submit to labor reform. Once your labor has compensated for the ammunition we expended, I will consider restoring your freedom."

Hearing this verdict, the group of nobles felt as if they had received a pardon and let out a long sigh of relief.

The dozen or so individuals completely abandoned any semblance of aristocratic decorum, scrambling and crawling their way into a small shuttle.

Within minutes, the shuttle ignited its engines and took off, diving into the clouds as if fleeing for its life, vanishing from sight.

Lin Li watched the departing shuttle, a cold sneer tugging at the corners of his mouth.

The reason he had let these high-ranking nobles go so easily was, of course, to let them return and deliver the message!

Only by relaying the news of the great terror here would that local despot of a governor be enraged, and only then would he continuously send more high-level ships and fleets to deliver the goods!

At this moment, Lin Li turned around, looking with some confusion at the leather-clad girl who was still standing there.

"Why aren't you leaving?" Lin Li asked. "Judging by your attire, you must be a scion of that noble family, right?"

Hearing Lin Li's slightly hostile remark, a man not far away—wearing a red headband with muscles like blocks of steel—silently stepped forward.

Without any superfluous movement, he stood like an impassable shield, firmly blocking the path in front of the girl.

The girl, seemingly afraid of a conflict erupting between the two sides, hurriedly poked her head out from behind the man to explain:

"It's alright. You see, sir, I am actually a scholar who accompanied the fleet to investigate the geology and local culture of this planet. This is my bodyguard, Cork. I apologize for the misunderstanding."

Upon hearing this, Lin Li couldn't help but let out a scoff.

"An investigator? Heh." Lin Li mocked mercilessly. "Seeing you step forward so righteously to negotiate earlier, I thought you were going to take responsibility for the lives of these five thousand soldiers. It seems I overestimated you nobles. So you're just here for the scenery. You can go, too."

The girl caught the sarcasm in Lin Li's words. She bit her lip, a flash of defiance in her eyes, yet she did not move. She simply stood there, stubborn.

Lin Li couldn't be bothered to indulge this young lady's temper tantrum. He turned his head to look at Ironhead behind him and ordered: "Ironhead, take some men and confiscate their weapons. Take all five thousand of them to the construction site in the north of the city to build roads. Remember, just provide food, no wages."

"Yes! My Lord!" The two-meter-tall Ironhead replied in a booming, muffled voice, then strode toward the Defense Force formation.

However, just as Ironhead approached, the man with the red headband—Cork—stepped forward once more. His eyes, cold as a leopard's, were fixed on Ironhead. "Do not touch her." Cork's voice was hoarse, carrying an unquestionable, dangerous aura.

Seeing this, Lin Li became deeply interested. As a veteran Warhammer fan, he recognized the man's characteristics at a glance. This was definitely a Catachan Jungle Fighter mercenary!

After all, the name of Catachan's Sly Marbo was legendary within the Warhammer meme community, especially those utterly ridiculous Sly Marbo jokes. For example: "Sly Marbo slapped Warmaster Horus, and Horus bowed deeply to apologize." Or another: "If Sly Marbo went to the Warp for a vacation, Khorne would rush to polish his brass throne and invite him to sit."

Although the man before him was not the monstrously powerful Marbo, the fierce melee capabilities of a Catachan should still not be underestimated.

Lin Li pointed at Ironhead and proposed a very interesting suggestion to the Catachan man: "How about this? Neither of you is allowed to use weapons; have a hand-to-hand fight. If you can beat him, I will allow you two to move freely within my territory. There will be no need to go to the construction site to build roads."

Cork didn't speak, simply nodding in silence. He then unclipped the tactical knife from his waist and tossed it onto the ground.

The crowds on both sides tacitly retreated, clearing a large open space.

Ironhead twisted his neck, causing his bones to crackle with a crisp sound. Although he usually looked like a bit of a simpleton, once it came time to fight, the wildness he had honed while slaughtering his way through hordes of greenskins exploded instantly.

Opposite him, the Catachan man had been undergoing survival training against the poisonous insects and fierce beasts of a Death World since he was three. Whether in terms of neural reflexes or melee killing techniques, he was undoubtedly one of the best in the Empire.

"Hah!" The two-meter-tall Ironhead attacked first. Like a raging bull, he charged with terrifying pressure, unleashing a heavy, powerful straight punch aimed directly at Cork's face!

Cork didn't take the blow head-on. His body, agile as a leopard, dodged to the side while his right leg swept out like a steel whip, aiming fiercely at Ironhead's supporting leg!

The two instantly became locked in combat. The dull thuds of fists connecting with flesh echoed across the open ground.

Lin Li stood to the side with his arms crossed, watching with relish. He could clearly see that Ironhead wasn't using his full explosive power, but was simply sparring with Cork to test his close-quarters combat skills.

The two's spectacular exchange drew loud cheers from the many players watching nearby.

"The motion capture! The impact! It's incredible!"

"This NPC bodyguard is the real deal! That armbar was executed perfectly!"

After a fierce 1v1 battle between real men, although Ironhead held the absolute advantage in strength and durability, the experienced Catachan veteran had the upper hand in pure combat-killing technique.

In a moment of passing, Cork precisely locked onto Ironhead's center of gravity. With a beautiful and ruthless motion, he executed a suplex!

"Bang!" The two-meter-tall Ironhead was flipped over, slamming heavily into the ground, back of his head first.

However, at the moment Ironhead was about to impact the ground, Cork consciously pulled back most of his force. Ironhead's back slammed hard into the mud, kicking up a cloud of dust, but he didn't sustain any real injury.

Ironhead popped up with a kip-up. Rather than becoming angry from embarrassment, he simply brushed the dirt off his body with a clean, decisive motion. "I concede. Purely in terms of technique, I can't beat you."

Lin Li applauded instinctively. "Well fought."

Lin Li stepped forward, looking at Cork with admiration. He then clapped Ironhead firmly on the shoulder. "You're not bad either, kid. You know how to lose with grace."

Lin Li deeply respected Ironhead's character. Even while possessing an absolute advantage in strength, the lad hadn't let his competitive nature drive him to bully others with brute force; that was the baseline for a true warrior.

"Very good." Lin Li waved his hand at Cork and the girl. "You two have won. As long as you don't cause trouble, you are free to do whatever you want in this territory."

Subsequently, nearly five thousand ashen-faced Defense Force prisoners were escorted by the Shelter guards and the Scourge Legion players, marching in a massive column toward the construction site in the north of the city.

Lin Li also left behind a detachment to handle towing the captured ships and defense boats back. The noisy wasteland returned to tranquility, leaving only the proud girl and her silent Catachan bodyguard standing there.