Hellworm

Above the endless industrial clouds of the hive city, at the pinnacle of that city forged from steel and chaos,

deep within the governor's ancient spire palace, Augustus Flax slowly opened his eyes from a soft sofa covered in red velvet.

A bottle of Quartis golden dry red lay beside his hand,

its cork already removed, precious Scarlet Wine flowing from the bottle and soaking into the blood-red velvet sofa.

Augustus Flax let out a drunken belch and stared dazedly at the ceiling, where a magnificent crystal chandelier hung.

A night-long hangover could not erase the pain brought by the nightmare.

That nightmare could not be erased.

Augustus Flax thought blankly,

no amount of fine wine, song, dance, or pleasure could drive away that nightmare.

No amount of schemes, calculations, or spies could make it clear.

No amount of armies, soldiers, or weapons could stop it.

That nightmare had haunted Augustus Flax since he was seventeen, still a young man, all the way to the present.

To drive it away, he had undertaken massive construction projects, recruited private soldiers, and even sheltered illegal psykers who had escaped the Black Ships.

Yet as he grew older, the shadow of that nightmare only became heavier.

It lurked within the murky streets of the lower hive, extending four savage claws as it waited for Augustus to fall from the hive city's highest point and into its hideous maw.

From then on, Augustus hardly cared about the lower hive anymore—or rather, he did not dare to care about it.

He devoted all his strength to protecting his own safety.

The hallucinatory lights seemed to carry Augustus Flax back to his younger days.

They also reminded him of that brother, Tiberius Flax, that Hellworm.

"Tiberius, my brother."

"Tiberius, Hellworm."

Augustus Flax muttered.

When he had been a child, he had been House Flax's only son and sole legal heir.

His family had ruled this planet throughout its long history, and he would one day become its governor.

At the time, Augustus Flax had been confident that he could fulfill a governor's duties better than any of his predecessors. He was wise enough, and diligent enough.

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

Augustus Flax's mother bore a child for their family.

Tiberius Augustus—his younger brother, his Blood Relative,

yet he had been born with four arms and claws, grotesque like a disgusting mutant.

But Augustus's parents turned a blind eye to it, instead showering that malformed mutant child with all their affection.

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

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

He vaguely realized what kind of monster his Blood Relative was.

Many times, he watched his parents lead guests to visit that newborn brother.

Those guests never appeared again. Even the palace guards and servants often vanished.

Yet his parents turned a blind eye to that monster and instead began personally teaching him how to control the affairs of the entire planet.

Augustus was afraid—afraid that he would vanish like those guests, servants, and guards.

He found several guards he could trust. With their help, he won over the nobles' support and launched a rebellion against his parents and that monstrous younger brother.

Blood flowed through the governor's palace.

His blade pierced the chests of his corrupted parents.

But his malformed brother—that monster, that beast, that worm—escaped.

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

Rumors of disappearances and strange incidents often came from Fortia City's lower hive.

Augustus Flax's brother, that monster who shared his blood,

Tiberius Augustus, gained a new name: "Hellworm."

Augustus curled up his aged body and lay on the damp sofa like an anxious child.

He sobbed softly, trembling with fear.

Tiberius would surely take revenge on him. Soon. Very soon.

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

He extended a trembling, withered arm and picked up the data-slate from the table.

After a series of complex passphrases, keys, and inquiries, Augustus confirmed that the person on the other side of the data-slate had not been corrupted.

"We didn't find Ignace Carcass's notebook," the person on the other side said.

"Tell me the specifics," Augustus asked in a low, dry voice.

The person on the other side explained the details to Augustus.

"He lied to you! That lower-hive scavenger lied to you!"

Augustus said sharply, unable to suppress the rage in his voice.

From the voice coming through the data-slate alone, he had determined that the scavenger was lying.

He had definitely found that notebook!

"He found it, but he knows what is in that notebook!"

"I suspect he destroyed it or hid it away!"

After that burst of rage, Augustus lowered his head and said weakly:

"Tell him I'm willing to pay more. Double it."

"If he refuses to hand it over, then forget it. I never held much hope for that notebook anyway."

"Or rather, I stopped holding much hope for anything long ago."

Augustus leaned against the sofa and tightly closed his eyes.

Like an old man waiting for death to arrive the very next moment,

he opened his eyes and looked at the data-slate.

"Old friend, be careful."

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

He spoke dryly to the person on the other side of the data-slate.

"Aren't you the same?" the person on the other side said mercilessly. "We're both almost there. The curse has always been with us."

"But The Emperor taught us to face corruption with faith."

Augustus gave a dry laugh, paying no mind to his old friend's offense toward the governor.

The person on the other side immediately cut the connection, and silence returned to Augustus's lavish, spacious room.

Augustus curled up again, wrapping his arms around his legs as he trembled uneasily.

Lower hive, the Ark Gang's new stronghold.

Led by the cult leader, the Ark Gang had taken this district.

That cult leader now occupied the former gang's base and was gradually beginning to rule the nearby blocks.

Many Ark Gang members, dressed in linen-colored robes and with flaming-tailed spacecraft painted on their faces, came and went.

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

Zhou Yun wore a linen-colored robe and Ragg's face as he strode into the stronghold.