Battle Settlement

"C'tan Seed with no past memories and unlimited growth potential!!"

Seeing the mission reward, Qin Yun nearly drooled in excitement.

Get it!

He had to get it!

This was a C'tan.

The most powerful non-psychic entity in the material universe.

A true god of the present age.

Why did the Necrons possess so much advanced technology?

Because they had inherited the C'tan's legacy.

If he could gain the aid of a C'tan, many problems in the Warhammer Universe would no longer be problems at all.

"Continue following up on this. Investigate all information related to the C'tan Shard in secret, but don't act rashly. Wait for the right opportunity."

Qin Yun was determined to obtain the C'tan Shard.

But Tyreen Hive City's situation was somewhat complicated.

Outside were rebels supported by Nurgle cultists.

Inside were Genestealers.

He could not act recklessly.

He had to resolve these issues before taking the C'tan Shard.

After replying to the Warmaster's message, Qin Yun ordered the Imperial Glory to reposition itself in orbit.

He was preparing to give the rebels another little orbital bombardment.

In Tyreen Hive City's inner district.

Magos Koro of the Adeptus Mechanicus hunched before the laboratory's Cogitator System, editing a message he intended to send.

He swore to make the fraud who had impersonated the Omnissiah pay the price.

Suddenly, he felt unwell.

Blood flowed from his nose and mouth, and his body staggered, unable to remain standing.

His mechanical implants and flesh organs lost control simultaneously, irreversibly collapsing.

++Rust Virus attack detected++

++Rust Virus attack detected++

The repeated warnings made Magos Koro's face change drastically.

The Rust Virus was a lethal virus developed specifically to target Tech-Priests.

Not only could it corrode flesh, it also caused irreversible damage to sacred machinery.

"Help me."

Magos Koro cried for help, but the Tech-Priests and Servitors outside did not respond.

"Help me."

Magos Koro looked around, searching for a way to save himself.

"Don't waste your effort. Your death here today will be a good thing for many people, including yourself."

"At least you'll die as a hero, rather than a disgraceful traitor."

A voice came from nearby.

Von, the Planetary Governor, walked in through the doorway.

Two genetically modified bodyguards followed behind him.

Magos Koro stared fixedly at Von. "You did this, didn't you?"

"Yes."

Von did not deny it and openly admitted to it.

Magos Koro pointed at Von. "Murdering a Magos with poison—the Adeptus Mechanicus won't let you off."

Von maintained a safe distance from Magos Koro, avoiding any chance of being harmed.

"As long as they don't know. Besides, do you really think killing you was my idea alone?"

"What do you mean?" Magos Koro asked.

The corners of Von's mouth lifted into a smile.

"You publicly questioned that great man and joined forces with other Tech-Priests to embarrass him."

"Those Tech-Priests regretted it deeply afterward. They had offended the Omnissiah's messenger, a sacred man capable of soothing the Machine Soul."

"If you remained alive and appeared before that great man, you would only remind him again and again of your past offense and their foolishness."

"So you have to die. This is not merely my will; it is also what your colleagues want."

At that moment, a sound came from outside.

A Tech-Priest whose lower body had been converted into a tracked chassis appeared at the laboratory entrance.

Like a drowning man seeing hope of life, Magos Koro struggled to beg him for help.

"Help me, Tech-Priest Casca. The Valancius Family has rebelled."

Tech-Priest Casca glanced at the fallen Magos Koro, then looked away.

"Governor, all recordings and Servitor logs have been altered. No one will discover what happened today."

"You have my thanks," Von said to him.

"To serve the Omnissiah is our supreme honor," Casca said.

"No!"

Magos Koro fell into complete despair.

Then Casca and Von stood to one side, watching as the Rust Virus consumed Magos Koro.

Magos Koro's flesh melted away, and his machinery rusted.

His death bore a striking resemblance to infection by a Nurgle plague with supernatural power.

Afterward, Von claimed that the fleeing rebels had flown into a rage and sent spies to assassinate him.

To stabilize the situation, Tech-Priest Casca was promoted to Magos and placed in command of Tyreen Hive City's Adeptus Mechanicus.

People mourned the sacrificed Magos, but within days, they had forgotten him.

On the desolate plains outside the Hive City.

The fleeing rebels did not stop until they were utterly exhausted.

Only after seeing that the Loyalists had not pursued them did the Rebel leaders reorganize the scattered troops.

"Those damned lackeys of the Corpse Emperor."

Yuba gazed toward the spired silhouette of Tyreen Hive City, his corrupted vocal cords issuing a hoarse curse.

Kras, their commander, had vanished without a trace.

As the highest-ranking person present, Yuba automatically assumed command of the forces.

"My lord, only one-third of our troops escaped. The Plague Zombies used as cannon fodder have also been almost entirely wiped out."

A man whose face was covered in pustules walked up to Yuba.

He reported the casualties to him.

Hearing this, Yuba's hatred deepened further.

Those damned Corpse-Stench Minions had caused them to fail Grandfather Nurgle.

"At this point, there is no other way. Kras is missing."

"The forces we have on hand are insufficient to deal with the Corpse Emperor's lackeys."

"Order officers at every level to gather the troops, find a suitable place to set up camp, and await reinforcements."

After issuing his orders, Yuba secretly swore to himself.

Once the reinforcements arrived, he would immediately launch another offensive and never fail Grandfather Nurgle again.

However, just as the rebels had established the beginnings of a camp, a piercing howl came from the sky.

Yuba looked up and saw enormous aerial bombs falling toward them.

The remnants they had painstakingly gathered showed terror on their faces, screaming as they scattered in every direction.

"Why are they still coming?!"

Yuba's disease-blued face went pale as paper.

Boom! Boom!

Deafening explosions rang out.

Terrifying flames shot into the sky, illuminating the entire firmament.

The sweeping shockwave engulfed the screaming Rebel soldiers.

Those traitors died miserable deaths.

Their souls were dragged into the Garden of Nurgle, where they screamed in despair without pause.

Cough! Cough! Cough!

Amid the ruins on the surface, Yuba dragged his festering body out of a shelter.

Nurgle's blessing had given him vitality far beyond that of ordinary humans.

It allowed him to survive the orbital bombardment by sheer luck.

By then, the desolate plains had become a scorched wasteland.

Crater after crater pockmarked the ground.

The camp they had worked so hard to establish had become ruins, with charred corpses everywhere.

Yuba's heart turned to ashes. Even his last remaining troops were gone.

"Do those damned lackeys of the Corpse Emperor only know how to bomb us endlessly?"

The moment he finished speaking, the roar of engines sounded in the sky.

Valkyrie Gunships and Thunderbolt Fighters appeared overhead.

Missiles trailing fire launched from both sides of their wings and exploded upon striking the ground.

Their mounted Multi-lasers and Heavy Bolters opened fire on the rebels below.

Lasers and bullets poured down like rain, forming an impenetrable net.

The Rebel soldiers who had survived the orbital bombardment were slaughtered once more.

They cried for their fathers and mothers as they fled in all directions, searching for somewhere safe to hide.

But where could there possibly be anywhere safe?

Amid the chaos, Yuba, who had only been commander for a few days, was blasted into a pile of mangled flesh.

After the airstrike ended, Tyreen Hive City's players and defenders immediately launched their assault.

The rebels completely lost the will to fight and fled farther away.

After pursuing them for some distance, Qin Yun ordered the troops and players to withdraw back to Tyreen Hive City.

He allowed those rebels to flee toward other Hive Cities.

At this stage, the ground forces had already been exhausted by their previous siege and the battle for the Outer District, and they needed rest.

Moreover, reclaimed Tyreen Hive City needed to be rebuilt before it could provide logistical support for the coming war.

Knowing when to stop was a very wise choice.

The Battle of Tyreen Hive City ended here.

Qin Yun summoned several Tech-Priests and had them calculate the players' battlefield rewards with him.