96: Chapter 96 Cloudburst Cleansing

The team advanced for another half hour.

The tunnel gradually widened, and faint hisses echoed from ahead.

Fu Haoran raised his hand, and the team stopped instantly.

The Servo-skull hummed as it flew out, transmitting real-time night vision footage back to the tactical pad.

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An underground cavern stretched out before them, filled with dense crowds of Genestealers moving weapon crates; metal boxes were piled high like small mountains. Over a hundred Purestrain Genestealers patrolled along the rock walls, their sharp claws glinting coldly in the darkness.

At the highest point of the cavern crouched a Genestealer twice the size of an ordinary Purestrain. Its three giant claws gripped the rock, and the carapace on its back shimmered with a cold light.

“It's not a Hive Lord,” Fu Haoran narrowed his eyes. “It should be a Hive Lord's personal guard.”

Dredd tensed his body, waiting for Fu Haoran to issue a tactical plan.

However, Fu Haoran merely tilted his chin toward his back.

A Servitor immediately brought over a large crate. Once opened, it revealed rows of twin-linked individual thermobaric rocket launchers.

Fu Haoran grabbed one and hoisted it onto his shoulder: “The cavern is fully enclosed, and the rock layers can block sound and psychic fluctuations. A single volley to clear the area—we absolutely cannot give them the chance to alert the core zone.”

“Ronan, you take the left sector with your men. I’ll take the right.”

“I want one too!”

Tychus stepped forward, his fan-sized hand directly snatching up two Thermobaric Rounds. His three-meter-tall frame completely blocked the light behind him.

Ling Shuang frowned and stepped forward: “Do you even know how to use that thing?”

Tychus looked down, casting her a look of blatant disdain.

“Even a five-year-old child can use this stuff, why wouldn't I be able to?”

Ling Shuang was instantly choked up, her face flushing crimson.

Beside her, Dredd turned his face away, looking as if he were used to such things.

However, he was more concerned about where Fu Haoran’s weapons came from: “Xenos technology?”

Fu Haoran rolled his eyes: “This is good stuff scavenged from Ancient Terra.”

Fu Haoran silently added in his mind: 'Goods redeemed from the Marvel Universe, produced by the Great Eastern Nation, specifically designed to treat firepower deficiency phobia. I originally kept them for suppressing noble rebellions, but today I’ll let these xenos have their eyes opened.'

As soon as he finished speaking, Fu Haoran was the first to pull the trigger.

More than a dozen Thermobaric Rounds trailed white flames, plunging in unison into the depths of the cavern.

Boom!

The first explosion shook the rock walls so hard that debris fell.

Blinding white light instantly swallowed the entire cavern. A 2000-degree fireball swept across the ground and through every crevice in the rock walls without leaving a single blind spot. The Genestealers in the front were instantly carbonized, unable to even let out a scream.

The overpressure shockwave followed closely behind, sweeping horizontally through the entire space.

Genestealer bodies were torn apart, alloy weapon crates were twisted into iron balls, and the patrollers on the rock walls were slammed against the stone and crushed into meat paste.

Three seconds later, the second wave of explosions followed.

The secondary combustion of the twin-linked rounds sucked all the oxygen out of the cavern.

The Genestealers who had luckily survived the first wave of explosions clutched their throats, collapsing to the ground in convulsions. The air in their lungs was instantly squeezed dry, and their limbs twisted into bizarre shapes.

As the aftershocks of the explosion dissipated, only the sizzling crackle of molten rock remained in the cavern.

“Move.”

Fu Haoran tossed the empty launcher to the Servitor behind him, shouldered the 2.2-meter diameter Chain-disc, and swaggered into the cavern.

Two half-crippled Genestealers hissed and lunged at him.

The Chain-disc hummed to life.

Fu Haoran swung it casually.

The two Genestealers were split straight down the middle, blood splattering everywhere. They departed quite peacefully.

Along the way, any Genestealer still drawing breath was split in two by Fu Haoran with a single saw stroke.

The Chain-disc swept across the alloy door at the cavern entrance; the thick door panel was directly sawn open with a massive rift, and metal fragments scattered across the floor.

Ling Shuang and Dredd stood at the cavern entrance, looking at the floor full of charred corpses and weapon crates melted into molten iron, speechless for a long time.

Dredd’s throat bobbed: “Are all the Governors of your Hive Cities this crazy?”

The veteran beside him calmly changed his magazine: “You get used to it. The Governor said, if it can be solved with firepower, don't waste the effort getting close.”

As for the Ogryns, they stood around the giant crater created by the blast, nodding repeatedly: “That was real pretty just now, me want to see more!”

On the other side, in the deepest part of the Underhive, lay the Sanctuary Cavern.

The ground was paved with human skeletons, piled layer upon layer against the rock walls. The stench was so thick it felt physical; a single breath made the lungs ache from the sting.

On the obsidian high platform in the center of the cavern, a Hive Lord nearly six meters tall lurked like a statue.

A diamond-hard carapace covered its entire body. Four giant claws were curled in front of it—claws that could easily tear through armored vehicles. At its feet lay a pile of human skulls picked clean.

The entire cavern was permeated with the suffocating psychic pressure it emitted.

Below the stone platform stood a young woman. She appeared to be a human female in her twenties with a bald head and fair skin. She wore a spotless Hive City noble gown; only her vertical pupils and the retractable bone claws at her fingertips betrayed her non-human nature.

Her name was Moria Ten-Thousand-Claws. She was the Cult Bishop, the Right Claw of the Hive Lord, and the Chief Psyker of the entire cult.

Originally a young lady from a branch of the Greenough Family, she had masterminded the infiltration of the entire Hive City after being infected. From the Noble Council to the Hive Guard, countless traitors were gene-seeds she had planted using psychic seduction.

At this moment, she was using a soft-spoken psychic voice to soothe the restless Purestrain Genestealers around her.

Suddenly, her movements paused.

A psychic transmission from the Prime slammed into her mind.

The outpost had been wiped out. The enemy was very close to the Sanctuary and was currently pushing toward the core zone.

The gentleness on Moria’s face vanished instantly, replaced by fury.

“You failed.” Moria’s voice was icy, containing no reproach, only a statement of fact. “Because of your arrogance, the lackeys of the False Emperor are about to break into our Great Father's Sanctuary!”

The Prime tightened its grip on its weapons with all three arms, speaking while leading its group at a rapid pace: “I know. I am rushing back to rectify everything.”

“The Great Father's slumber must never be disturbed by these unclean ones.” Moria waved her hand, and over a dozen Genestealers with membranous wings emerged from the darkness. “I will dispatch more warriors to complete the task you failed. The unclean ones must not be allowed near the Great Father's Sanctuary!”

“I will go as well.”

The Prime's psychic roar echoed through the cavern.

“Even if they have already reached the gates of the Sanctuary, they will ultimately die beneath our claws.”

Moria was just about to nod.

Thump——

A dull, thunderous heartbeat came from atop the stone platform.

Boundless psychic pressure surged instantly, crashing down like a massive mountain.

This wave of psychic fluctuation instantly interrupted the communication between the two.

Moria fell to her knees instantly, her forehead pressed against the cold rock. Her voice was full of ecstasy and awe, and her entire body was trembling: “Great Father! I hear your call!”

“Our Great Father is awakening!”

Psychic currents surged wildly along the rock walls. Every Genestealer in the Sanctuary prostrated themselves on the ground, letting out pious roars.

At the same time, Fu Haoran’s footsteps paused.

[Prompt: The Hive Lord is awake! All Genestealers in the Underhive are rushing here. S-rank mission warning! Win the duel for a massive profit; lose, and the funeral feast begins!]

“What's wrong?” Ling Shuang asked.

Fu Haoran didn't explain, he just continued walking.

The team pushed forward all the way, arriving at an open-air freight elevator platform. This was the only passage leading to the core zone.

The elevator platform was about half the size of a basketball court, pulled up and down by steel cables, with heavy steel guardrails welded around it.

“Further down is the core zone.” Dredd lowered his voice, his hand gripping his Chainsword tightly. “Once we go down...

There will be no turning back.”

Ling Shuang took a deep breath, just about to speak to boost morale, when Tychus suddenly looked up: “They’re here.”

Tychus looked up abruptly, and the Power Maul in his hand slammed violently onto the platform's steel plate, letting out a massive bang.

In the next second, countless dark shadows descended from above.

Purestrain Genestealers poured out of the holes in the tunnel walls like dumplings being dropped into water, lunging toward the platform.

Fu Haoran reacted the fastest.

He held the 2.2-meter Chain-disc vertically in front of him. The saw teeth spun frantically, and the humming sound was deafening.

The first Genestealer to pounce down slammed directly into the high-speed rotating disc, instantly being sliced into two sections, blood and flesh splattering all over Fu Haoran.

He simply braced the Chain-disc against the platform railing, shifting his steps left and right, waiting for the Genestealers to throw themselves onto the saw.

Having a large surface area was truly a benefit.

No skill was needed at all.

Just set the position, and the rest of the kills were completed by gravity and the saw teeth.

The Cyber-Mastiff lunged into the Genestealer pack, biting onto throats and refusing to let go.

The Servo-skull hovered in mid-air, using its laser pistol to pick off any Purestrains that slipped through.

Ling Shuang held her Boltgun and guarded a blind spot of the platform, every shot steady, accurate, and ruthless.

Dredd’s Chainsword danced into a wall of light, cleaving apart all Genestealers that broke through the fire net.

Tychus, wielding his Power Maul, guarded the other side of the platform. With one swing per kill, he smashed the lunging Genestealers directly into meat paste, while roaring: “This can't go on! Someone must stay to hold the elevator entrance and block the reinforcements, otherwise we'll be sandwiched!”

Everyone was stunned.

The logic was sound.

But coming from an Ogryn's mouth, it sounded incredibly strange no matter how you heard it.

Fu Haoran didn't hesitate for a moment.

“Ronan!”

“Present!”

“You take the veterans and the Ogryn squad to hold the elevator entrance.”

“Received!”

Ling Shuang immediately stepped forward: “I’m going with you!”

“No, you are the Political Commissar of the Ogryn squad, you must stay to command.” Fu Haoran’s tone left no room for doubt. “Holding this place is our greatest insurance for a retreat.”

Ling Shuang opened her mouth, but finally nodded hard: “Understood! I guarantee we will hold the position!”

Fu Haoran scanned the team and finally decided: “Tychus, Dredd—the three of us will take the executioner mech, the Cyber-Mastiff, and the Servo-skull to meet the Hive Lord.”

Dredd’s eyes widened, feeling that the other man had gone mad.

The platform gave a violent jolt as it finally hit the ground.

The heavy alloy Sanctuary gate stood right before them.

Fu Haoran stepped forward and slammed the Chain-disc down hard.

The piercing sound of tearing metal echoed through the tunnel.

The alloy gate was sawn open with a massive rift and collapsed to both sides with a crash.

The moment the gate opened, a suffocating psychic pressure rushed toward them.

At the end of the passage, the Prime stood with a large group of Purestrain Genestealers, staring fixedly at them.

It recognized Fu Haoran.

It was this human who had destroyed its outpost and disturbed the Great Father's slumber.

Fu Haoran pressed the Chain-disc to maximum power. Purple psychic energy instantly enveloped the entire saw, and the hum of the teeth was almost enough to shatter the rock walls.

He turned back and gave the order to those behind him.

“You hold the elevator.”

“This fellow is mine.”

Dredd’s face turned deathly pale; the squad he had led was the very one wiped out by this opponent.

“Don't be impulsive, you can't beat it,” Dredd reminded him in a low voice.

The Prime stepped forward, its three giant claws opening slightly with a cold mockery: “He is right. You are seeking your own death.”

Fu Haoran’s footsteps paused, and then he smiled.

He hoisted the Chain-disc onto his shoulder and said those words in the most casual tone: “My sword is not without its edge.”

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