Hellworm

Above the endless industrial smog of the Hive City, atop this city forged from steel and chaos, Deep within the Governor's ancient spire-palace, Augustus Flax slowly opened his eyes on the soft, red velvet sofa.

Beside him lay a bottle of Quartis Golden Dry Red, resting by his hand.

The cork had been pulled, and the priceless crimson liquor flowed from the bottle, only to be absorbed by the blood-red velvet sofa.

Augustus Flax let out a drunken burp, gazing hazily at the ceiling adorned with a magnificent crystal chandelier.

The hangover from a long night could not erase the pain of the nightmare, That nightmare could not be erased, Augustus Flax thought blankly, No amount of fine wine, song, dance, or pleasure could dispel that nightmare, No amount of schemes, calculations, or spies could see through that nightmare, No amount of armies, soldiers, or weapons could stop that nightmare, That nightmare had plagued Augustus Flax since he was a young seventeen years old, and it continued to haunt him to this day.

He had undertaken massive construction projects, recruited private soldiers, and even harbored illegal psykers who had escaped from black ships, all in an effort to expel that nightmare.

But as he grew older, the shadow of that nightmare became thicker and thicker.

It lurked in the smoggy streets of the underhive, extending four ferocious claws, waiting for Augustus to fall from the highest point of the Hive City into its monstrous maw.

From that time on, Augustus almost stopped caring about the underhive, or rather, he dared not care about the underhive.

He used all his strength to focus on protecting his own safety.

The lights were hazy, as if transporting Augustus Flax back to his younger days.

It also reminded him of his brother, Tiberius Flax, that Hellworm.

"Tiberius, my brother."

"Tiberius, the Hellworm."

Augustus Flax muttered to himself.

When he was a child, he was the sole son and only legal heir of the Flax family.

His family had ruled this planet in the distant past, and he was destined to become the Governor of this planet.

At that time, Augustus Flax was confident that he could fulfill the duties of Governor, even better than all his ancestors before him; he was wise enough and diligent enough.

But when his parents returned from an interstellar trade meeting, everything changed.

Augustus Flax's mother gave birth to a child for their family.

Tiberius Augustus, his younger brother, his blood relative, But he was born with four arms and claws, a grotesque and disgusting mutant.

Yet Augustus's parents turned a blind eye to this, instead showering all their affection on this deformed, mutated child.

They even announced that he would replace Augustus as the new heir of the family.

But what Augustus truly could not tolerate was not jealousy, but fear.

He vaguely realized what kind of monster his blood relative was.

Many times he saw his parents lead guests to visit their newborn brother.

Those guests never reappeared, and even the guards and servants in the palace often went missing.

His parents, however, turned a blind eye to that monster, and instead began to personally train him to control the planet's affairs.

Augustus was terrified, terrified that he would disappear like those guests, servants, and guards.

He found a few trustworthy guards, and with their help, he rallied the support of the nobles and launched a rebellion against his parents and his monstrous brother.

Blood flowed in the Governor's palace.

His blade pierced the chests of his corrupted parents.

But his deformed brother, that monster, that beast, that worm, escaped.

It must have fled into the depths of the city, hiding in the shadows of the underhive and even the deep hive.

Rumors of disappearances and strange occurrences often echoed from the underhive of Fortia City.

Augustus Flax's brother, the monster that shared his blood, Tiberius Augustus, it acquired a new name: "Hellworm."

Augustus curled his aged body, lying on the damp sofa like a restless child.

He sobbed softly, filled with fear.

Tiberius would surely seek revenge on him; it was close, very close.

Just then, a datapad he had placed on the table beside the sofa suddenly lit up.

He reached out his trembling, withered arm, picked up the datapad from the table.

After a series of complex passphrases, keys, and questions, Augustus was certain the person on the other end of the datapad wasn't corrupted.

"Ignatius Carkas's ledger wasn't found," the person on the other end of the datapad said.

"Tell me, specifically," Augustus asked, his voice low and dry.

The person on the other end of the datapad explained the specific situation to Augustus.

"He lied to you! That scavenger from the underhive lied to you!"

Augustus's voice became sharp, revealing an uncontrollable rage.

From the voice transmitted through the datapad alone, he judged that the scavenger was lying.

He definitely found that ledger!

"He found it, but he knows what's in that ledger!"

"I guess he destroyed or hid the ledger!"

After a burst of angry venting, Augustus lowered his head and said weakly:

"Tell him, I'm willing to pay more, double the price."

"If he's not willing to give it, then forget it. I didn't have much hope for that ledger to begin with."

"Or rather, I stopped hoping for anything a long time ago."

Augustus leaned back on the sofa, his eyes tightly shut, like an old man waiting for death to claim him at any moment.

He opened his eyes and looked at the datapad, "Old friend, you need to be careful."

"Two more of our people were assassinated by Tiberius's assassins. You might be next."

He said dryly to the person on the other end of the datapad.

"Aren't you the same?" the person on the other end of the datapad retorted mercilessly, "We're all close, the curse is always there."

"But the Emperor teaches us to face corruption with faith."

Augustus gave a dry chuckle, unconcerned by his old friend's disrespect towards the Governor.

The connection on the datapad was immediately cut, and silence returned to Augustus's luxurious and spacious room.

Augustus curled up again, hugging his legs, trembling with unease.

The underhive, a new base for the Ark Gang.

The Ark Gang had captured this sector under the leadership of the Pontiff.

That Pontiff was now occupying the former gang's stronghold, gradually beginning to rule the nearby blocks.

Many Ark Gang members, wearing linen robes and with flame-rocket ships painted on their faces, came and went.

They were busy and diligent, like a swarm of worker bees.

Zhou Yun, wearing a linen robe and with Rag's face, strode into the stronghold.