178: Chapter 178 The True Knight

Nikon Da Niao's distress post on the forum, using the highest-level red font, did not achieve the sensational, crowd-pleasing effect he had anticipated.

The reason was simple.

At this moment, over ninety percent of combat players across the entire server had gone bloodthirsty, fully immersing themselves in the epic siege of Mobius Prime!

Who had the spare time to browse the forums and read travelogues from sightseeing players?

Even if a few players occasionally saw the post title, they just glanced at it and scrolled past.

In the end, beneath Nikon Da Niao's long warning post, there were only a few "cloud players" who hadn't even drawn a beta qualification, leaving sour comments to farm post counts.

[Steel Wool Enthusiast]: Wait? How long has this game been in beta? The Greenskins just finished, how did the plot jump to the interstellar Tyranid invasion? Devs, open up more slots quickly, I'm dying to play!

[Brainless and Unhappy]: Looking at the battle reports, apparently players even launched their own hand-crafted warships. I feel like I missed out on a billion bucks by not getting a qualification.

[Big Black Pen]: I was the first to register, didn't get in for several versions, is anyone more miserable than me?

[Steel Wool Enthusiast]: Awesome! Sympathies to the guy above.

Watching the thread go completely off-topic.

Nikon Da Niao sat in his shuttle, furious.

"These ungrateful people! I brought back intel risking my life, and nobody believes me?!"

Nikon Da Niao slapped the console.

"Forget it! Since the main force isn't coming, I'll run away myself!"

He was just about to start the shuttle's engine when his hand stopped in mid-air.

In Nikon Da Niao's mind, the weary and compassionate look of the gaunt Duke Louis King when he spoke of the serfs suddenly flashed by.

"In this dark, hopeless Warhammer wasteland, vampires like Governor Cromwell are the norm. It's too rare to meet an NPC governor who cares about the lives of commoners and has a bit of humanity."

Nikon Da Niao stroked his chin. "If I just let him be eaten by bugs as emergency rations, I feel a bit guilty."

Thinking of this, Nikon Da Niao gritted his teeth.

"Forget it! I'll do a good deed to the end. I'll go warn this NPC and give him a chance to run away."

Nikon Da Niao jumped off the shuttle, ran wildly, and quickly returned to the Duke's mansion in the city center.

When he pushed open the door to the parlor, panting.

Duke Louis King was still maintaining his previous posture, standing silently by the window, staring blankly at the distant wheat fields.

"Your Grace!"

Nikon Da Niao rushed over, shouting breathlessly,

"I'm here to warn you! Those bald mutants are not just ordinary mutants! They are a Genestealer Cult of the Tyranids!"

"Judging by the scale of their riots, those food processing cities have likely already completely fallen and become incubation nests for the Tyranids!"

Duke Louis King turned his head abruptly, looking at Nikon Da Niao with a face full of astonishment:

"Tyranids? How is that possible?!"

Although Louis King was just a duke of an agricultural planet, he had heard of these terrifying existences capable of devouring the biomass of an entire planet in ancient Imperial texts.

But hearing was one thing; when he learned that these monsters, which only existed in legends, had truly descended upon his home, he couldn't accept this cruel reality for a moment.

"Oh! Forget about whether it's possible!"

Nikon Da Niao stamped his feet in anxiety,

"Just run! The Defense Force you have on hand isn't even enough to get stuck in their teeth! Take a ship and leave! Don't throw your life away here!"

Duke Louis King was silent for a while.

He turned his head and took one last deep look at the golden wheat field outside the window that he had guarded his whole life.

Afterward, the Duke turned around and straightened the collar of his washed-out old dress uniform.

"Thank you for your generous warning, stranger."

Duke Louis King's voice became incomparably firm,

"However, as a knight of the Galactic Empire blessed by the God-Emperor, fleeing alone and abandoning my people and land is more terrifying than death."

Nikon Da Niao was stunned, then cursed out loud:

"Are you crazy?! It's crunch time, who cares about knightly honor?! Staying alive is what matters. If you get eaten by bugs, there won't even be scraps left, what use is honor then!"

Louis King turned his head abruptly, and in those deep-set eye sockets, a kind of nearly fanatical light flickered:

"No! If I die in battle here, my soul will return to the sacred Golden Throne! The honor of our family guarding this land will be sung by bards forever!"

"I am the lord here, I must live and die with my planet!"

Looking at the Duke's expression of facing death unflinchingly.

Nikon Da Niao fell completely silent.

"Damn, no hope, this cursed Warhammer worldview."

Nikon Da Niao sighed, unable to understand this kind of nearly stupid sense of honor.

Finally, he shook his head helplessly and turned to leave alone.

It's hard to save a ghost determined to die; he had done his best.

However!

Just as one of Nikon Da Niao's feet stepped out of the door!

"Rumble—!!"

A dull, terrifying roar, as if coming from the depths of the earth, erupted suddenly!

Immediately after, the ground began to shake violently!

The magnitude of the vibration was not like ordinary plate movement at all, but as if an invisible giant hand was frantically tearing at the crust of this planet!

Countless hideous cracks instantly spread across the sturdy stone walls of the Governors Mansion!

"Earthquake?!"

Nikon Da Niao stumbled, grabbing the doorframe tightly,

"Why such a massive earthquake at this time?!"

But soon, his knowledge base as a veteran player made him instantly recall a classic setting regarding the Tyranids!

"Holy crap! I remember the background info saying! When a massive Hive Fleet is about to arrive, the terrifying Shadow in the Warp they emit not only cuts off Warp communication, but its massive biological gravitational field can directly trigger severe geological disasters on the target planet!"

Nikon Da Niao's face turned pale instantly,

"It can't be that coincidental, right?! The fleet is already at the doorstep?!"

He didn't have time to think too much and quickly turned back to run to the parlor.

"Bang!"

A huge piece of ceiling rubble crashed down.

Relying on his agility attribute, Nikon Da Niao rolled on the ground and narrowly dodged it.

He grabbed the collar of Duke Louis King, who was still standing there posing in a daze, and roared:

"Run, you moron! Are you still waiting to die?!"

Nikon Da Niao dragged the Duke, pulling him out of the crumbling mansion.

The two had just run out of the Governors Mansion.

The square outside was already in chaos.

A large number of planetary Defense Force troops were alarmed by the earthquake, thinking the rebels had invaded.

They rushed out of the barracks one after another, holding laser rifles.

When the soldiers saw a stranger in strange clothes holding their noble Duke, they immediately raised their guns.

"Put down the Duke!" an officer shouted loudly.

"Put down your head! Run, you fools! The bugs are coming!" Nikon Da Niao cursed in anxiety.

Duke Louis King finally struggled to break free from Nikon Da Niao's hand.

He barely stabilized himself on the violently shaking ground and smoothed his clothes.

"Put the guns down!"

Duke Louis King shouted at the soldiers,

"He is right! A terrifying monster capable of devouring everything is about to appear! They will eat our home clean, not even a drop of water will remain!"

Just then, another dust-covered Commander arrived with a squad of soldiers.

"Duke! It's bad!"

The Commander's expression was full of panic,

"The last wired telegram just came in! The mutant rebel army at the food factories, under the cover of the earthquake, has completely seized the surrounding processing cities!"

Louis King nodded, but his face did not show the panic he had expected.

He methodically issued his final defensive orders:

"Notify the guard, build barricades on the spot! Send someone to contact the Adeptus Arbites and the church's Skitarii! Tell them the xenos are coming! And they are the most terrifying kind! Abandon all prejudice, arm the whole city!"

Nikon Da Niao stood on the side, watching this old man who had been in a state of decadent waiting for death just a moment ago.

When a real catastrophe descended, he actually showed such calm and steady demeanor of a general.

"This NPC's quality is something else!"

Nikon Da Niao suddenly felt that this Duke was quite good.

He immediately raised his camera and started snapping photos of the Duke commanding the army in the ruins.

After finishing, Nikon Da Niao stroked his chin.

"Although I want to run, if this NPC dies so easily, it's really a pity."

"This old man is not only good at internal administration, but also has a bit of conscience for the commoners."

Nikon Da Niao calculated in his heart,

"If I save up enough points later and buy a planet as a lord in the game, this old man would be the perfect candidate for an administrator!"

But the problem was, if he didn't run now, he wouldn't be able to get these exclusive first-hand photos of the Tyranid arrival out of the game pod to show off on the forum!

After thinking for a while, Nikon Da Niao gritted his teeth and gave up the idea of boarding the ship to run away.

He walked up to Duke Louis King and patted his tactical vest:

"Old man! I have plenty of high-explosive weapons and ammunition reserves in my shuttle. Let me go get them, and I'll fight the bugs with you!"

Duke Louis King looked at Nikon Da Niao with some surprise.

Although he was a mortal, his eyes were still sharp.

He could see that this stranger was actually not very brave.

But the other party was willing to give up the chance to escape and stay behind to face the terrifying swarm with those who were about to die!

Duke Louis King took a step back, took off his hat, and bowed deeply.

"You are a true knight!"

...

Meanwhile.

In orbit of Mobius Prime, far from the agricultural planet.

The Spark Alliance's massive expedition fleet was conducting ground landing operations exceptionally smoothly.

After the Governor's Defense Force lost the cover of all large warships.

Their pitiful anti-aircraft fire on the surface was completely pinpointed and wiped out by the Galactic Empire Stormtroopers' fusion fighters and massive drone formations in less than a few hours.

Now, the Hive City's Defense Force could only be forced to hide in the steel ruins, sporadically firing some old-fashioned anti-aircraft missiles in a desperate struggle.

But unfortunately, the Imperium of Man's conventional missiles, in this era without high-end chips and intelligent algorithm support, had extremely rigid trajectories.

It was difficult to use them to hit drones that were as agile as flies, let alone lock onto the enhanced fusion fighter that Shushu Failed the Exam could fly at Mach 10!

On the bridge of sea breeze no. 9.

Lin Li was sitting in the command chair, looking with satisfaction at the battle line constantly advancing on the holographic projection.

"My Lord."

Ushtan stepped forward to report,

"Currently, the Hellfire Legion has safely landed on the Hive City surface. They are building a secure landing zone in the industrial zone on the outskirts of the Hive City using heavy tanks. The Hand of God Legion's armored units are also in position, starting preparations for the final assault!"

Ushtan's tone revealed a sense of inevitable confidence,

"With our current speed of advance and firepower advantage. I estimate that it will take at most three days to completely break through the Governors Mansion and end this campaign!"

Lin Li nodded, just about to give some praise.

"Warning!"

Iron Man 73, which had been waiting quietly, suddenly had its electronic red light flash again!

The sharp alarm sound made everyone on the bridge's eardrums ache!

"Warning! Coordinates: Eight astronomical units, 60-degree angle! Ceres agricultural planet region!"