Capturing the Foundry

The gang members preparing to shout out their answers looked blank, save for one man with a grey-black face who held his prosthetic hands high.

"Boss, I know. There is a foundry in the Underhive that was once managed personally by the Tech-Priests serving Mars."

"Around the perimeter of the factory, there is a deadly organic barbed wire. It is incredibly tough; you can't even cut it with a blade, and even if you detonate a grenade right next to it, it simply regenerates."

"The spikes it grows can pierce armor and cause wounds deep enough to reach the bone, and it secretes an acidic sap that can corrode a person trapped within it down to a skeleton in mere minutes."

He gripped his spoon and bowl nervously. "Boss, that is everything I know."

"Your information is useful. You have earned two ladles of soup. You may begin serving yourself."

Hearing Nimrod say this, the grey-faced man hurried to the large pot. After ladling out two scoops, he gripped his yellow-green aluminum bowl tightly. Just as he was about to head to the side to enjoy his meal, he heard the Boss's voice again.

"You seem to know that factory quite well. Can you provide me with more information about it?"

"Boss, my name is Rawlslev. I used to work at that weapons foundry, serial number D-46, as a foreman for a furnace crew."

"Before the Priests abandoned the factory and relocated to the Upper Hive, life was hard, but it was at least bearable."

"Ever since Vulture of the Scavenger Gang took control of the factory, he has lived up to his nickname, squeezing every last drop of effort out of everyone..."

After questioning Rawlslev about D-46, Nimrod decided to seize the weapons foundry.

In the Underhive, Foundry D-46 was ablaze with light.

Vulture leaned back in his chair, watching the foreman who kept begging before him with a mocking expression.

"Lord Vulture, those are just children. If they keep working like this, they will die."

"I am willing to work three extra hours every day. I am much faster than them."

"Is that so? Then you can work four extra hours every day," Vulture sneered. "As for them, they will keep working too."

Vulture did not notice a flicker on the surveillance screen behind him, a figure rushing forward at high speed.

A rubber tire two meters in diameter slammed into the barbed wire covered in countless spikes.

Nimrod slipped through the hollowed-out center of the rubber tire, his right hand flicking out to drive a silver-grey shard precisely into the center point between two spikes.

"Intruders!"

Two Scavenger Gang members armed with lasguns were patrolling nearby. Hearing the noise, they sprinted over.

Nimrod tucked the shard back into his belt and gripped both ends of the wire-grass with his gloved hands. The seeping acidic sap immediately corroded a hole through his glove.

The Primarch sensed the small hole in his palm instantly. He curled his hand slightly, angling his palm so that the hollow space in the center aligned perfectly with the hole.

He lunged forward with lightning speed, swinging the wire-grass at the two men running toward him.

The spikes pierced the backs of the two men's hands as they raised their guns to fire. They let out agonizing screams, and in an instant, their hands were corroded down to the bone by the sap.

Nimrod picked up a dropped lasgun and scavenged twelve power packs from the two corpses.

He fired a shot into the air—a signal to his men—and charged toward the control room.

Vulture watched on the screens as his trash subordinates were cut down by the boy.

"Useless! You are all useless!"

Vulture stood up abruptly, grabbing his chainsword. Amidst the roar of the engine, the sound of "kill, kill, kill" echoed in his ears once again.

Vulture strode out of the control room, leaped over the railing, and slashed down at the boy.

His pupils were blood-red. He felt as if he had returned to that day, the same crimson rising in his eyes after he killed his gang leader and seven bodyguards.

After that day, he found he had grown taller and his strength had increased.

He did not know what had happened; he only knew that killing made him stronger.

Nimrod had just raised his hand to strike down a gang member when he felt an enemy rushing toward him from above.

He rolled backward while pulling the trigger, the shot hitting Vulture square in the chest.

A fist-sized hole was blown through Vulture's chest, but he felt nothing. The voice in his mind drove him to keep charging forward.

Nimrod remained calm, pulling the trigger in rapid succession. Vulture's eyes, heart, hands, and ankles were pierced through by the beams, blooming like flowers of blood.

Vulture's corpse slammed heavily onto the metal walkway, his blood staining the vibrating chainsword.

Nimrod slung the lasgun over his shoulder and picked up the chainsword, sensing that there was something different about this weapon.

Rawlslev, who had been appointed as a lieutenant, rushed into the foundry just in time to witness the Boss firing several shots to execute Vulture, and he was deeply shocked.

The Scavenger Gang was not a major force in the Underhive, but Vulture was known for his ferocity and ruthlessness. To think he had been killed without even getting into close quarters.

The Boss is so powerful at his age; he will surely be a big shot in the Hive City one day. Following him is a promising path!

Thinking this, Rawlslev immediately shouted to his men.

"What are you standing there for? Do you want to drink the dregs at the bottom of the pot? Get moving! Secure the workers, capture the Scavenger Gang members, and kill anyone who dares to resist."

Two hours later, Nimrod sat in the control room. The foundry had resumed operations, and including the workers, he now had five hundred and thirteen subordinates.

Nimrod changed into a clean set of work clothes, slinging the lasgun and chainsword—which were taller than he was—across his back.

The factory cook had prepared him a piece of hard, brick-like bread and a bowl of borscht made from a few vegetable leaves; it was the best food the foundry had to offer.

Nimrod devoured ten slices of rye bread in a row; his superhuman physique left him feeling no discomfort at all, and only after downing a large bowl of soup did he finally feel full.

He looked up toward the door, and a moment later, a knock echoed through the room.

"Come in."

"Boss, the foundry has resumed normal production."

Rawlslev pushed the door open and entered, his face etched with worry as he led with the good news.

"Boss, the Khanty-Mansi Dome, which oversees Foundry D-46, is under the jurisdiction of Arbiter Dimitrov, and he wants you to pay him a visit."

Nimrod knew that the Underhive was composed of domes, structures built by the original settlers.

As the Hive City expanded, these domes had been gradually abandoned.

To the citizens of the upper levels, the inhabitants of the Underhive were barely considered higher than the giant rats and other vermin that lived there; they used these clusters of buildings as settlements, surviving in a honeycomb-like subterranean city formed by domes, tunnels, and ruins.

"Arbiter?"

Nimrod's first thought was of the "Arbiter," the Sequence 9 of the "Lawyer" pathway, but the Arbiters of Vostonia clearly did not share the same meaning.

After asking a few questions, Nimrod understood that these so-called Arbiters were akin to law enforcers under the Hive Governor, tasked with overseeing the domes.

The Arbiters of the Underhive independently governed their respective domes, adjudicating all manner of affairs within their jurisdiction.

The runaways from the foundry had reported to Dimitrov that Nimrod had crushed the Scavenger Gang and seized the factory.

"Boss, 'Vulture' had a foul reputation. I think Dimitrov is just curious about you; after all, you are far too young."

"Mm, going by the Arbiter's usual style, he'll likely give you a warning as well. I've heard he's quite fond of using that massive dog of his to intimidate people."

"A Chem-Dog?"

Upon hearing this, Nimrod's interest was immediately piqued.

"Yes, Boss, you've heard of that vicious beast too?"