Space Marines and the Medic

"Bang, bang, bang."

Explosions and pounding impacts echoed continuously from the hall's main door. Clearly, whoever was outside wanted to break through and kill him.

But the door guarding the Trade Warrant wouldn't be breached so easily.

Gao Yi knew he was safe for now, at least temporarily, but he had no idea what was happening on this ship.

"Medic, what's your name? How did you get here?" Gao Yi asked curiously, looking at the doctor beside him.

"You can call me Connie. I don't know how I got here either. The moment I gained consciousness, I knew you were the great Creator, and my mission is to protect you and obey all your commands."

"You're saying I'm the Creator?!"

"That's right!"

Hearing this human from StarCraft mention the title of Creator, Gao Yi's first thought was the Xel'Naga.

They were beings capable of creating universes and even sowing life. These powerful entities existed in the Void but could project their physical forms into the material universe, though they needed to absorb energy to maintain their presence and strengthen their power.

Come to think of it, it was a lot like the demons or Chaos Gods of the Warp!

Unable to get any more useful information from Connie, Gao Yi decided to tackle the immediate problem.

Since he could recruit a medic, then the Terran brother Machine Gunners should be possible too!

Opening the shop page again, Gao Yi shifted his gaze to the Machine Gunner.

"Didn't expect the 50-buck brother to go up to 100. Hope it's worth the price. I still don't know where Psionic Crystals come from—am I gonna have to mine like in the game?!"

Gao Yi spent all his remaining 800 Psionic Crystals on Machine Gunners. Not knowing the number or strength of enemies outside, he played it safe and used everything.

As the Psionic Crystals were consumed, eight beams of light appeared simultaneously in the hall. A few breaths later, eight Machine Gunners in blue CMC-400 Combat Suits materialized out of thin air.

In the game, Machine Gunners looked tiny, but standing right in front of him, their presence was overwhelmingly imposing.

They weren't as tall as Space Marines, but in their CMC Combat Suits, each Machine Gunner stood a solid 2.5 meters. The suits massively boosted strength, endurance, and speed, while built-in infrared detection, shared intelligence, real-time positioning, and firing prediction enhanced their combat effectiveness.

Space Marine Power Armour required a Black Carapace implant to function properly, amplifying the user's natural abilities while boosting defense and survivability. The Black Carapace made the armour feel like a second skin.

But the CMC Combat Suit's greatest value was that it could be used by ordinary people.

And the massive C-14 Gauss Rifles in their hands provided more than enough firepower.

"Ranger Lieutenant Damon reporting for duty," the lead Machine Gunner said sternly to Gao Yi.

"Ranger? The rebel force Jim Raynor raised?!"

Surrounded by these burly men, Gao Yi suddenly felt a wave of security.

As long as the enemy wasn't Space Marines or some powerful Psykers, Gao Yi was confident these Machine Gunners would give them an unexpected surprise.

The C-14 could punch through 5 centimeters of steel and fired at 1,800 rounds per minute. As long as the enemy was still flesh and blood, there was no problem.

"Everyone, kill anything alive you see out there. Connie! Keep an eye on everyone's status—don't let anyone die."

"Mission guaranteed."

The Machine Gunners trained their rifles on the hall's main door, while Gao Yi walked up to the Thinker at the entrance.

He placed his hand on the console in front of the Thinker.

Bloodline verification complete.

Identity confirmed: Gao Yi Mongert.

The Machine Spirit of the Thinker awakened, awaiting Gao Yi's command.

"Open the door!"

"Please verify the command. System detects minor Warp energy fluctuations outside."

"Open the door! Now!"

As the Thinker began to operate, the massive, Adamantium-infused door slowly creaked open.

The people outside froze for a moment when they saw the door opening.

"Looks like that bastard's given up! Charge in, kill him, and destroy that warrant! The Mongert Family's oppression ends here! From now on, we're the masters of this ship!!"

The mob outside was a ragged bunch, their faces gaunt from chronic malnutrition. How they'd fought their way here was anyone's guess.

But when the door fully opened, what greeted them were eight Machine Gunners and their pitch-black gun barrels.

"W-who are these guys?! This isn't what we were told! Weren't there supposed to be no guards around the candidate?!" the rioters stammered in terror.

"Open fire! Kill them!!!"

The Cold Fusion Devices on the CMC Combat Suits' chests powered up the C-14 rifles. Electromagnetically accelerated and flame-boosted Spike Rounds rained down on the mortals like a hailstorm.

These rioters didn't even have the crudest armor. One hit meant being blown to pieces.

"Advance! Suppress them! Don't let a single one escape!" Damon ordered, switching the squad from full-auto to burst fire. The tactical visors' assisted targeting let them pick off the survivors with deadly precision.

However, that didn't mean the mob was completely helpless. The bullets from their hand-made autoguns only sparked off the armor of the Combat Suits, but the laspistols they'd somehow acquired could already injure the Machine Gunner.

But it was precisely this damage that showed Gao Yi just how absurd the Medic was.

The nanite beam fired by the Medic could not only repair physical wounds but even restore inorganic matter like the Combat Suit.

Once again, the game bled into reality.

As the mobsters were killed one by one, Gao Yi noticed that his Psionic Crystal count was actually rising.

Each mobster only provided 2-3 Psionic Crystals, but the sheer volume made up for it.

Nearly a hundred rioters had already been taken down by Damon and the others, netting Gao Yi close to 300 Psionic Crystals.

"So killing people tainted by the Warp lets me plunder the Warp energy inside them. Even these not-fully-corrupted mobsters give this much... maybe that 100k Psionic Crystal goal isn't so hard to reach after all."

And as he killed more of these Warp-tainted mobsters, it wasn't just his Psionic Crystal balance that rose—Gao Yi also felt some kind of power within his body growing.

He could almost see his projection in the Warp growing more solid, even devouring the surrounding Warp energy to strengthen itself, like a black hole existing in the Warp. The power it consumed was being converted into an exceptionally pure force that nourished Gao Yi in return—but for now, it wasn't enough.

"Did my physical strength just go up a little...?"

When the gunfire outside finally stopped completely, Gao Yi poked his head out of the hall.

The sight of severed limbs and the thick, overwhelming stench of blood nearly made him vomit.

Growing up in a peaceful era, he had never seen anything like this.

Damon and his men began checking every corpse to make sure they were truly dead.

Forcing down his fear, Gao Yi stepped out the door.

"Are you alright!" Connie came to his side.

"I'm fine... just not used to it yet."

Just then, the elevator not far away began to move.

Damon and the others aimed their guns at the elevator again, but when it reached Gao Yi's floor, what emerged wasn't the mob—it was a group of people in Imperial Navy uniforms.

Both sides were about to pull the trigger the moment they saw each other.

"Stop! Don't shoot! It's me, Gao Yi! Hold your fire!!"

Gao Yi recognized them—it was Boatswain Dris and Steward Veil from the ship. They recognized him too.