83: Chapter 83 The Outhouse and Hope

After gaining full access to the Hive City, Fu Haoran began reviewing the data on the Underhive.

He didn't know until he looked, and what he saw shocked him.

Blurry surveillance footage instantly covered the entire wall—in the dark corners of the sewers, several hunched figures were huddled in the shadows, gnawing on human remains on the ground. Their mouths were split to their ears, and they had grown two extra limbs with sharp claws on their arms, giving them exactly four arms.

What drove Fu Haoran even more insane was that, according to records over the past decade or so, hundreds of thousands of people went missing in the Underhive every year.

This figure would be unimaginable in the 2k era, but in the Warhammer Hive City world, it was just a bit high.

"Damn it, and this is just what has been recorded. Doesn't that mean there are even more unrecorded cases?"

Fu Haoran already had a premonition that the number of the Gene-Stealer Cult in the Underhive had likely reached an alarming level; otherwise, they wouldn't dare to assassinate a judge.

"My lord, what is this? Are they mutants?" Wade asked.

"They are Genestealers." Fu Haoran's voice deepened as he tapped his fingertip on the screen. "They aren't mutants of the Underhive; they are the vanguard of the Tyranids."

"Tell me more." Lucifer, who was standing nearby, became interested.

She discovered that there were still creatures in this world she hadn't seen before.

"Don't let their human appearance fool you. They have long been infected and transformed into another kind of creature."

"They rapidly reproduce by infecting other creatures, and they also mate to propagate. Once their numbers are sufficient, they will cultivate a Psyker, which will send a signal to the sector to summon a Hive Fleet."

"Although Hive Fleets lack the ability to travel through the Warp, they seem capable of entering faster-than-light travel by relying on psychic beacons, and their travel speed is not much slower than Warp travel."

"Once the Hive Fleet arrives, they will devour everything on the planet—literally devour everything, leaving not even the crust or magma behind."

"Interesting. I'm looking forward to their arrival; it should be an amusing war to wage against them."

Looking at Lucifer's eager expression, Fu Haoran really wanted to ask, "Can you lend me some troops?"

"My lord... can these things really crawl from the Underhive to the Mid-Hive?" Wade's voice wavered.

Staring at the monsters on the screen gnawing on remains, his home in the Mid-Hive flashed through his mind, and the hair on the back of his neck stood up.

Wade had been in the Hive City for a few decades; he had seen seventeen mob riots and over a hundred cult disturbances, but he had never seen anything so terrifying.

With the Imperial Navy in space and orbital defense cannons near the surface, he had always felt that any alien was just trash, but now, looking at the spreading red dots on the screen, his palms were covered in cold sweat.

He had been with Fu Haoran for so long, and he had never seen his Governor speak in such a tone; there wasn't even a hint of joking in his voice.

"They will definitely come out to cause trouble." Fu Haoran answered decisively.

"Right now, we need manpower, equipment, and money."

"We must dig their nest out from underground and burn it to ashes before this group of monsters cultivates a Psyker."

Wade nodded heavily. "Understood, my lord. I will arrange for men to lock down District H-7 24 hours a day; I will not let them expand even one step further."

Just then, a cold system notification suddenly exploded in Fu Haoran's mind.

【Series Quest: Haze (Completed)】

【Quest Rewards: Free Attribute Point +1, Temporary Command Authority over Planet Scylla IV Adeptus Arbites, General Points +1000, Permanent Unlock of Adeptus Arbites Standard Equipment Procurement Permissions】

【Initiating Series Quest II: Undercurrent Squad】

【Quest Description: You need to train a team of elite soldiers to strangle the threat in the cradle or complete a decapitation strike.】

【Quest Requirements: Train a 50-man tactical squad within 40 days.】

【Quest Rewards: Obtain the coordinates of the Pureblood Grave-Thief (Patriarch).】

【PS: If you don't want to die too horribly later, please take this seriously.】

Fu Haoran really wanted to ask if he could just bring a large army to wipe the place clean, but upon reflection, he realized that wasn't realistic.

The more people, the easier it is to be discovered.

"Since the system provided the coordinates, it must want me to decapitate the Pureblood Grave-Thief."

Fu Haoran knew that as long as the Pureblood, who was the Patriarch, died, the neural link within the Gene-Stealer Cult would break, and the remaining Grave-Thieves would simply become a disorganized rabble.

Fu Haoran stared at the system panel and twitched the corner of his mouth.

This was probably the easiest system quest he had completed since he transmigrated.

Yet he felt no joy at all.

This thing was like the door to an outhouse; it looked like it would open with a push, but the cesspit inside was too filthy to even look at.

He clicked on the details page for the Temporary Command Authority over the Adeptus Arbites, and the most conspicuous line of bold text was an eyesore:

【Commandable Adeptus Arbites Law Enforcement Personnel: 0】

【PS: After the death of Arbiter Horn, all law enforcement power of the planetary Adeptus Arbites was taken over by Judge Dredd.】

Fraud!

A naked scam!

"So, System, you gave me a blank check!"

However, it wasn't all bad news.

At least the Adeptus Arbites equipment procurement shop that had just been unlocked piqued Fu Haoran's interest.

Besides the standard body armor and conventional weapons worn daily, what really interested Fu Haoran were the exclusive weapons listed later.

The first column on the page was the Adeptus Arbites standard issue "Cyber-Mastiff." It came with thermal imaging and life signal detection, had a high recognition rate for alien genes, and was a sharp tool for searching the Underhive. The price was 80 General Points per head, plus 500 throne coins, which wasn't expensive.

Looking further down, some heavy-duty items appeared.

【Punisher Mech】, a dedicated riot control unit for the Adeptus Arbites.

【Description: A semi-sentient servo-robot with the remains of a retired Judicial Police Officer's brain that meets legal requirements built-in. It has no emotional fluctuations, is absolutely loyal to Imperial legal codes, and its heavy armor is immune to most light weapons. It comes with a battlefield repair system and is a mobile fortress more terrifying than a cult in the eyes of gangs and rebels.】

Price: 3000 General Points + 20,000 throne coins.

The Punisher Mech reminded Fu Haoran of his favorite movie from childhood, "RoboCop." Although it wasn't as bulky, the setup was similar—basically just a head left.

"For the sake of nostalgia, I'll buy one."

Fu Haoran gritted his teeth and purchased one.

【The Punisher Mech has been delivered to the Governors Mansion exclusive hangar; accompanying Bolter ammunition and maintenance manuals have been synchronized and updated.】

Fu Haoran whistled; he had finally managed to squeeze something substantial out of the system.

Soon, a mech appeared before Fu Haoran.

It was no exaggeration to call it a mortal version of a Dreadnought.

The four-meter-tall ceramite shell was matte black and equipped with a deflection field generator. Its left arm was an assault cannon resembling a Gatling gun, which was a heavy Bolter that only Space Marine Terminators could use.

Fu Haoran was satisfied with this, so he continued to look down.

One had to admit, the Adeptus Arbites were truly wealthy.

Besides the rhino and valkyrie transport aircraft, Fu Haoran was shocked to see the 【Punisher-class Strike Cruiser】!

After taking one look at the configuration, Fu Haoran had only one word in his eyes: "Want."

The Punisher-class Strike Cruiser possessed the speed of a light cruiser combined with the combat capability of a cruiser. It was fully equipped with heavy armor, torpedoes, bombardment cannons, and fighters, and also had advanced scanners for locating rebel dens.

"It is actually equipped with short-range artillery arrays and powerful bombardment cannons. Its firepower exceeds that of the Navy's Dauntless-class light cruisers and the Space Marines' strike cruisers by a significant margin..."

"No wonder they say the Judicial Police Officers are 'Little Astartes'; their equipment is insanely wealthy."

"As a security vessel, this firepower configuration is a bit excessive."

Fu Haoran continued to scroll down, and at the very bottom of the page, a line of gray, small text was locked there:

【Punisher-class Strike Cruiser, customizable weapon modules, supports installment payments】

Down payment: 30,000 General Points + 24 billion throne coins

Full payment: 110,000 General Points + 90 billion throne coins

...

Fu Haoran stared at the screen and was silent for three seconds.

"It wants General Points as experience and throne coins as military funds? Is this system based on 'World of Warships'?"

Fu Haoran was incredibly envious.

"If I could really fly this over the Hive City, Grave-Thief or no Grave-Thief, one shot from the Macro Cannon would turn them all into slag."

Unfortunately, it was too expensive.

Fu Haoran did the math. Based on the current fiscal revenue of his Hive City, he would have to save for 40 years without eating or drinking just to afford the down payment.

Fu Haoran closed the page with an expressionless face.

"Can't afford it. Goodbye."

Right now, the most important thing was to complete the quest.

Just as Fu Haoran closed the system panel, Wade came in with a data pad:

"My lord, here is the situation with the prisoners. Please take a look."

Fu Haoran quickly flipped through it, his gaze stopping on the word "Ogryn."

The Underhive tunnels were narrow, regular troops couldn't get in, and gangs couldn't be trusted. Only these big, dumb guys who could take hits and fight were absolutely reliable... well, at least they were excellent meat shields.

"I've made my choice. Go prepare." Fu Haoran instructed.

Wade nodded. "Understood. Who is it?"

Fu Haoran was silent for two seconds. "Ogryns."

Wade's smile froze on his face.

"Governor... are you serious?"

If he could avoid it, Fu Haoran wouldn't want to either, but thinking about the upcoming battle in the narrow Underhive, Fu Haoran felt this was probably the best choice.

Fu Haoran rubbed his temples. "Yes, that's them. Also, ask the Ministry of the Interior when our Political Commissar will arrive. I urgently need a Political Commissar here."

Wade seemed to think of something and felt three seconds of sympathy for the Political Commissar he had yet to meet.

That Political Commissar probably didn't know that what he was about to face were fifty giant babies capable of stomping through the training ground.