Howard's Adventurous Decision

"My Lord, Boleslaw's hive spire is in that direction."

Bukayo came to Nimrod's side and pointed toward the front right.

"My Lord, my full name is Bukayo Arshavin. My family was wiped out by King Boleslaw under trumped-up charges, though in truth, he simply coveted our printing business."

"I was forced to flee to the lower hive. If I hadn't run into you, I would still be worrying about my next meal."

Nimrod nodded slightly. No wonder the youth possessed a maturity beyond his years; he had once hailed from the upper hive and received a fine education.

The freight elevators shuttled rapidly, transporting the eight hundred and forty men to the upper hive, when Nimrod suddenly heard the sound of vehicles approaching.

He immediately snatched up a nearby metal pillar and charged toward the source of the noise.

As Nimrod leaped and sprinted, he displayed an agility that defied his giant stature; obstacles like shipping containers in the freight zone posed no hindrance to his charge.

He vaulted into the air and swung the dry metal pillar, smashing the lead vehicle of the convoy into the air.

The tumbling truck collided with two others, knocking them over.

When Bukayo arrived at the scene first, he saw over a dozen trucks all crushed by his master.

Even though he had anticipated it, he was still stunned into silence by the sight.

Nimrod realized he could not afford to wait; his advantage was not troop numbers, but time.

Once the enemy reacted, the forces they could mobilize would be a thousand times greater than his men waiting for transport. More importantly, they could call upon the Adeptus Mechanicus for aid.

Nimrod did not want to exhaust all his loyal forces in the conquest of Tezwork Hive; this was only the beginning.

He issued an order to Rawlslev, who had hurried over, "Leave eight squads to guard the elevator entrance."

"The rest, follow me to launch an attack on the hive spire."

"As you command, my Lord."

Rawlslev obeyed immediately. If someone had told him a month ago that they would rely on fewer than eight hundred men to attack a royal hive spire, he would have laughed at them for being insane.

But if that person was Nimrod, the god-like, towering giant, he firmly believed it could be achieved.

Just as Nimrod led his team away, a luxury sedan painted with a golden lightning emblem arrived fashionably late.

Kaminski, who had just been promoted from personal butler to steward of House Finde, leaned back in the leather seat with his eyes closed to rest.

His personal secretary suddenly let out a shriek, "Master Steward, something has happened at the freight station!"

"What?"

Kaminski opened his eyes in annoyance, only to see the raging flames ahead.

"Damn it, retreat!"

The steward secretly rejoiced that he had let the freight convoy depart first while he prepared for the banquet, allowing him to escape disaster.

A moment later, Howard received the news and immediately switched to the communication channel of his family's intelligence officer.

"The family freight convoy has been attacked. I want you to find out exactly what happened immediately."

He switched to the guard channel, "Assemble the family armed forces."

After hanging up, he furrowed his brows.

"Brelon?"

"No! He is nothing but a waste."

"Estupinian is possible, or perhaps the royal family themselves have stepped in. It wouldn't be the first time they've seized assets. Perhaps the Fifth Arbiter is merely a puppet Boleslaw put forward."

The blonde noble youth stood up and paced around his desk several times.

Just then, a beeping sound echoed.

Howard took a deep breath before connecting to the intelligence officer's channel.

"Count, my men pulled the surveillance footage from near the freight station and discovered a force of less than a thousand men marching rapidly. They have already wiped out several hive security units."

"Is their target our hive spire?"

"No, my Lord. Judging by their route, their target is the royal hive spire."

Howard froze, asking in astonishment.

"What?"

He suspected he was hallucinating; only the most insane would launch an attack on the royal hive spire.

He remembered reading in family history that a house once attacked the hive spire with their entire elite force of over sixty thousand, and they hadn't even managed to break through to the spire itself.

Yet the attacking force now consisted of only one thousand men.

"My Lord, their leader is unique. I have never seen a human so tall. I believe you should take a look."

Howard pulled out a data pad to view the footage sent by the intelligence officer.

His blue pupils constricted. He had expected a sturdy man of two meters, but seeing him on screen, even an Ogryn was significantly shorter than him.

When he saw the man's majestic face after the footage was processed in slow motion, he suddenly felt a sense of familiarity.

In Howard's mind, the handsome face of a young man magnified and overlapped with the giant's visage, and he cried out in shock.

"Nimrod!"

"How could he have become like this?"

After the blonde noble recognized Nimrod in astonishment, he was further stunned to see him slaughtering the Hive City security forces with a combat style completely different from what he remembered.

He smashed directly into oncoming vehicles, shattering the fast-attack craft and scattering metal debris across the ground.

He hoisted a security officer up like a chick, flung him into the air, and slammed him into an automated drone equipped with a stubber.

Several words surfaced in Howard's mind: simple, brutal, efficient, cold, ruthless, and unstoppable.

Nimrod was no longer a man; he was a god of war.

Howard snapped out of his shock; now was not the time for awe.

The critical issue was how House Finde should respond.

[Even if Nimrod's armed uprising fails, House Boleslaw will suffer heavy losses. Considering their methods, they will certainly shift the losses onto others and seize the assets of other houses; this is also a means of deterrence following the unrest. By back-tracing his route, one can pinpoint the Khanty-Mansi Dome, which would also implicate me—even my previous request for him to assist with my defense could be linked to this.]

Howard clenched his fists, realizing that House Boleslaw would use him as a scapegoat, claiming he provided intelligence to Nimrod or was even the mastermind behind the scenes.

The truth had never mattered; as long as they covered up the fact that under-hivers had breached the Hive Spire, they could continue to maintain the prestige of the royal family.

Howard tightened his grip, making a risky decision: join Nimrod's forces and launch an attack on House Boleslaw, which had been leeching off House Finde.

Nimrod had given him the courage to decide; in the less than four minutes he had spent watching the footage, the giant had actually carved his way through the defenses of an entire street, and he was now only 5.2 kilometers away from the royal Hive Spire.

As Howard led the House Finde guard detachment in vehicles, marching toward the House Boleslaw Hive Spire, Nimrod encountered trouble for the first time.

Four fixed turrets opened fire, and a devastating volley of mortar shells blanketed his team.

Amidst the deafening explosions, over a dozen battle-hardened gang members were torn to pieces by the shockwaves, shredded like burst sandbags.

"Scatter!"

"Find cover!"

Nimrod roared, charging headlong into the hail of shells toward the turrets.