The Corrupted Rogue Trader

Veil looked at Gao Yi beside him. Though Gao Yi had never been to the Bottom Hold before—in fact, this was his first time aboard this warship—he navigated the route with absolute clarity.

On the surface, Damon and his group were scouting ahead, but whenever a choice of path was needed, Gao Yi made the decision without hesitation.

As they pressed deeper into the dim corridors, a sound emerged from the shadows.

A soft murmuring voice stood out sharply in this environment.

Having served the Rogue Trader for over a decade, Veil vaguely recognized the speaker.

"That's Lord Ludwig's voice?"

Veil moved to step forward but was immediately stopped by Gao Yi.

"Lord Gao Yi, that's Lord Ludwig's voice!"

"It might be his voice, but whether the one speaking is still Ludwig is another matter."

"Lord Gao Yi! What do you mean by that?"

"I mean the Rogue Trader may have already been corrupted."

"Impossible! How... how could that be?"

"This is why I didn't bring anyone else. If others saw the Rogue Trader in his fallen state, word would inevitably leak, and that would have a massive impact on the Dynasty! Unless you choose to silence everyone."

Veil clearly still didn't believe Gao Yi. After all, he had no idea about Gao Yi's ability to read memories.

For all he knew, Gao Yi might be plotting to kill the Rogue Trader and take his place—Gao Yi was only the acting captain for now.

"Offensive formation! Commander, stay behind us. This is an extermination mission—no one to rescue, no civilians. All targets are clear to engage. Switch to depleted-uranium rounds! Move out!"

Damon immediately began issuing orders. Veil tried to intervene, but Gao Yi slammed him against the wall.

Feeling the crushing force against his chest, Veil realized he couldn't break free from Gao Yi's grip!

"How is he so strong!"

The squad advanced toward the source of the sound. Along the walls, various blasphemous symbols of Chaos appeared.

The metal bulkheads were replaced by living, pulsating flesh.

When they pried open the powerless airlock door, Ludwig, who had been missing for so long, was indeed inside.

"Lord Ludwig!"

Veil's call seemed to rouse Ludwig, who had been kneeling with his head bowed.

Ludwig was submerged in a pool of green liquid. The source of the entire warship's Warp corruption was this very pool, its rising bubbles carrying lethal viruses.

"Veil... it's you... why are you here?"

"My lord, your body..."

At Veil's words, Ludwig looked down at himself.

His lower body, from the waist down, was gone, replaced by a mass of foul, stinking flesh. Seeing this, Ludwig seemed to snap back to his senses.

"What is this! No! This isn't what I wanted!"

"He's beyond saving! Take him out!"

Gao Yi gave the order to open fire.

Dozens of C-14 rifles spat bullets, and the Firebat spewed flames toward the twisted flesh.

The struck areas burst with pus and blood. The squad's attacks seemed to awaken the entire fleshy chamber.

Writhing flesh vomited out monsters. The pool of liquid began to boil, and Plague Flies swarmed out from it. The humanoid monsters still wore the armor of the Dynastic Guards.

These elite soldiers, who had accompanied Ludwig down here, had become sacrifices.

Their proliferating flesh had burst through their carapace armor, yet they still remembered to fire back with their bolters.

"Ophelia? Gaspar? Why have you become like this?!" Veil recognized some of the monsters among them.

Now the firefight had turned into an intense exchange.

Even the Combat Suit couldn't withstand the power of bolter rounds. Even when the explosive impact was blocked, the soldiers inside still suffered.

Several bolter rounds flew toward Gao Yi, but they were stopped by his force shield.

In Gao Yi's Psionic Vision, Ludwig's soul was no longer his own.

"A Daemonhost? A daemon inhabiting his body?"

Gao Yi remembered the torment of facing a Daemonhost when he first played Dark Tide. Later, he could smash them with a few hammer blows, but early on, they were truly disgusting—once disturbed, they'd likely take down one or two people.

Gao Yi also saw what daemon inhabited Ludwig's body. It wasn't one daemon... but a swarm.

Countless Nurglings piled together, occupying Ludwig's form.

They chattered and laughed, treating it all like a game, utterly unconcerned about being discovered.

These were the most numerous daemons in the Garden of Nurgle—endless in number. One Nurgling was harmless, but a swarm could bury any opponent.

As embodiments of Nurgle, his beloved children, they represented Nurgle's gaze to mortals.

The Nurglings' greatest wish was to find any way to spread Grandfather's gospel, and the fact that demons return to the Warp upon death in the material universe meant they had no fear of dying.

The unusually harmonious atmosphere in the Garden of Nurgle also meant they didn't have to worry about punishment from Nurgle for failure, allowing these Nurglings to try whatever they pleased.

But behind every attempt by these Nurglings to invade, there was often the shadow of a more powerful Nurgle demon.

Gao Yi was truly envious. If it didn't mean growing strange things or rotting all over, he'd really consider pledging himself to Nurgle.

He genuinely liked that kind of corporate culture! Where else could you find such a good boss, one who truly treated his demons like children?

"So it's a bunch of Nurglings that caused all this?"

Ludwig's body was a conduit. As the Warp's energy grew denser here, the Gellar Field protecting the ship began to destabilize.

The truly powerful Nurgle demon behind the Nurglings was trying to force its way into the ship.

Seeing this, Gao Yi knew he couldn't wait any longer. This ship was sailing through the Warp, after all—if that demon actually got in, who knew what would happen!

And he was the only one here who could withstand the baptism of psychic power.

Gao Yi activated his Power Sword, aimed his master-crafted boltgun at the two corrupted Praetorian Guards in front, and pulled the trigger.

The massive recoil was thankfully absorbed by his Marauder armor. The struck Guards were blown to pieces in the explosion.

His body already reinforced, Gao Yi burst forward at an unbelievable speed, even weighed down by the heavy Combat Suit.

Bolts fired at him were blocked by his shield field. After shoving aside a few Guards in his way, Gao Yi thrust his Power Sword at the fully corrupted Ludwig.

Watching Gao Yi leap high, the Nurgling inside Ludwig sneered contemptuously.

But they quickly realized something was wrong.

Their power was being drained... The great might of Grandfather was actually being sucked away by this guy?

Even the disgusting flesh around them began to shrivel, and the highly corrosive plague in front couldn't stop Gao Yi in the slightest.

"Die! Demon, this is my ship!"

The Power Sword plunged into Ludwig's flesh without resistance. Only then did the Nurglings truly start to panic.

Their host body was collapsing. They should have returned to Grandfather's garden, but they found that this guy was devouring their souls!

They struggled desperately to escape, but the terrifying suction pulled one Nurgling after another into Gao Yi's Warp projection.

When the last Nurgling was consumed, the corrupted Guards once again turned into corpses.

At the same time, in the Garden of Nurgle, a Great Unclean One stared in confusion at the now-closed passage.

The passage closing was no big deal—just another trivial failure—but why hadn't a single Nurgling returned?

Then the Great Unclean One scratched its massive rear and stopped caring about the matter.