74: Chapter 74 Who wrote this manual? I promise I won't kill you!

Inside the bridge of the moon-class cruiser, Valerius stared at the monitor screens filled with footage, his face heavy with gravity.

He realized he couldn't understand Fu Haoran's tactics!

From the moment they boarded to now, this group of Boarding Party infantry grunts had been crashing around the corridors like headless flies, firing a shot then changing positions, completely disregarding the rules of Imperial Navy boarding combat.

What was even more absurd was that the further they ran, the more off-course they got, actually diving straight into the hangar at the stern of the ship.

The hangar was located directly below the bridge, a straight-line distance of a full six hundred meters, separated by over a dozen airtight decks and dozens of sealed corridors.

"What kind of tactic is this? How are they going to fight their way up? Fly up?"

Valerius felt an intense aversion to this unconventional style of fighting.

Wait!

A thought suddenly shot into his mind, and Valerius instantly broke out in a cold sweat.

"The captain's exclusive emergency elevator!"

This was the quick escape route reserved for the captain, allowing direct access from the bridge to the hangar, making it convenient for the captain to board a ship-based aircraft and flee when under attack.

Although it was rarely used, every Imperial capital ship was required to have one as standard equipment.

"So that's the idea that kid is playing at!"

"Deliberately taking a detour to the hangar, avoiding all frontline defenses, taking the emergency elevator to strike directly at the bridge, completing the decapitation strike, and then seizing control of the entire ship!"

"A fine plan!"

"I underestimated this bunch of infantry grunts!"

Valerius wanted to cut the power, but suddenly realized he only had basic permissions and no authority to shut it down.

After all, this ship was rented; the Rogue Trader would never hand over the highest level of control to him.

Very well, very well, a fine calculation.

"Pass the order down! All mobile forces, duty squads, and the Boarding Party within the ship are to assemble around the bridge! Construct three layers of defensive positions! As soon as anyone comes out of the elevator, shoot them to death on sight!"

The adjutant hesitated for a moment: "My lord, what about the defenses in the hangar and other corridors..."

"Don't worry about them!" Valerius sneered, his face full of certainty, "His only target is the bridge! Keep all forces nailed to the bridge! I want to see how this kid manages to break through!"

Valerius felt that he had seen through everything.

Inside the hangar, Fu Haoran had no interest in the dazzling array of goods.

He stared at the map marker on the system panel, his face as dark as Valerius's.

Fu Haoran discovered a massive bug.

The damn system displayed distances in a straight line; in other words, he was currently directly below the bridge, a vertical distance of six hundred meters.

"Sigh, I thought of boarding combat too simply."

In Fu Haoran's original impression, boarding combat was just fighting and killing all the way, finally meeting the final boss, engaging in a fierce battle, killing the enemy, and taking over the entire ship.

But the reality was that the map in his hand and the actual structure were miles apart!

The map provided by Lucifer was correct; it was the original design and construction blueprint of the moon-class cruiser.

But the problem was that this ship had been launched nearly 2000 years ago, and had undergone no less than ten major and minor renovations and overhauls, each of which was akin to major surgery on the ship's structure.

Later, when it was sold to the Rogue Trader, to increase cargo capacity, the internal compartments were mostly torn down and completely remodeled.

Original blueprints? They were no different from waste paper now.

Not to mention that this ship was 5 kilometers long and 800 meters wide, with all sorts of unauthorized structures inside; once the airtight doors were closed, you couldn't even tell north from south!

The atmosphere on the scene was somewhat awkward.

Fu Haoran pulled a crumpled booklet out of his tactical backpack to check his Plan B.

This booklet was the official "Boarding Combat Emergency Manual" issued by the Imperial Navy, which he had gotten Yuri to obtain before boarding.

For now, he had to make do with whatever he could find.

Fu Haoran opened the booklet.

"Hello, soldier!"

"When you read this special edition, I believe your butt is already sitting in the spacious and comfortable seat of an Imperial Navy boarding craft, and the special operations team you have joined is preparing to retake a starship."

"Boarding an enemy ship, even if the ship has lost power, is just drifting, and its weapon systems have all failed, is still a highly dangerous task."

"Landing locations are usually full of uncertainty, and you will find that before reaching your target, you will have to fight in narrow corridors as intricate as a maze."

"The enemy may have long been prepared to deal with boarding, and you will have to engage in a grueling battle against well-equipped defenders."

"Do not panic, please follow the instructions in the 'Emergency Procedures for Falling into Space' issued by the Departmento Munitorum to save yourselves, and our rescue team will rescue you back to the ship at the first opportunity."

Fu Haoran's face darkened; he felt this booklet was somewhat unreliable.

Wait for someone to save us? I'm afraid it would be too late even to collect the bodies.

Fu Haoran continued to flip through it.

"Attention! After boarding the enemy ship, immediately form a combat squad with your comrades to ensure maximum mobility in the ship environment, use the ship's facilities as cover as much as possible, aim your weapons at the enemy, and fire!"

"Use grenades and heavy weapons sparingly to avoid damaging the hull."

"Even on an enemy ship, you must do this to prevent hull rupture and damage to important facilities; after all, none of you want to be sucked out into space, right? If such a situation unfortunately occurs, please save yourself according to the methods mentioned earlier."

"If you have done the above and unfortunately get blown out of a hull breach and fall into space, remember the following points: hold your breath, cover your mouth, nose, and eyes, and turn on your emergency light."

"Recite the Vacuum Prayer, move your limbs in a swimming motion to swim back to the breach to return to the ship; or wait for the rescue team to save you back to the ship."

Fu Haoran looked up at the corridor behind him, which he had blasted full of holes along the way, and silently ignored this point.

"Attention, before boarding, be sure to bring dry rations, because this is destined to be a protracted war!"

"A sailor may serve on a warship for a lifetime and never walk through all the corridors on that ship."

"For those of you who only know a little information, or even know nothing about the internal map of the warship you are being teleported to, trying to find your mission objective in this intricate network of corridors is almost a fantasy."

"So listen to me, go where there are many enemies; the enemy will not waste troops in unimportant places."

Seeing this, Fu Haoran's heart sank suddenly.

As an Imperial Navy Commodore, it was impossible that Valerius hadn't read this manual.

He surely had already guarded all key locations, especially the bridge, heavily and tightly.

The problem was, this group of theirs hadn't encountered any decent resistance so far!

Which meant...

"This place is not important at all!"

Fu Haoran gritted his teeth and continued to flip through.

"It should be noted that the spatial limitations of boarding combat will inevitably affect your fighting style."

"You can no longer expect artillery or luxurious mechanized support."

"In the confined cabins of an enemy ship, all you can rely on is yourself, your Laser Gun, and your unshakable faith in the Emperor."

"But don't be afraid! You will enter these dangerous corridors side-by-side with your comrades, sharing noble goals and personal space."

"Even in extreme situations where your righteous firepower cannot achieve your goals, your advancing bodies can serve as a reliable barrier between high-ranking officers and the approaching enemy."

"Precautions before engaging in fire inside an enemy ship:"

1. Check your position, do not fire from the second row of the formation, but remember to stand between the officers and the enemy.

2. Stay vigilant! The bulkheads will protect you while limiting your field of vision; it is best to ensure your shouts can be heard by nearby officers.

3. Occupy every open space! Doors and corners easily cause tragedies; be extremely careful when approaching them.

4. Do not dig trenches, because beneath your feet is only the hungry and deep void!

Fu Haoran looked at the last point and fell into deep thought.

He really wanted to grab the person who wrote this manual and ask them, how do you dig a trench on a steel deck?

By firing a melta bomb at the soles of your feet?

This boarding manual from the official Imperial Navy couldn't be said to be completely useless, only that the paper was too hard even for wiping your butt.

The reality facing Fu Haoran now was cruel.

There was no Tech-Priest familiar with the terrain to lead the way, no accurate internal map of the ship, and certainly no continuous Boarding Party support like the regular Imperial army.

According to what was written in the manual, regular fleet-level boarding combat lasting for days or even half a month was a common occurrence.

But the Hive City couldn't wait.

Although the nobles on the ground were controlled, the remnants of the private army were still resisting stubbornly, and Valerius's reinforcements could warp into the system at any time.

Let alone days, they couldn't even hold out for thirteen hours.

Could this decapitation strike just fail like this?

Fu Haoran lowered his head and glanced at the system panel; the [Boarding Decapitation] mission was still lit, and there was only one core objective: kill Valerius Costa and complete the decapitation.

Fu Haoran suddenly realized something and took the little guy off his back.

This was the small tactical nuke brought back from Marvel.

An idea of using brute force to create a miracle took shape in Fu Haoran's mind.

"The system only requires a kill, but it didn't say how to kill the target."

"It seems the big gift prepared for Valerius needs to be used ahead of schedule."