Waaagh!!!

When the Stormbird formation swept over the Hive City, Fourth Company Captain Gawain immediately realized what had happened here.

A nuclear blast—and several detonations triggered simultaneously from within the Hive City at that. Otherwise, there was no way to reduce a structure of the Hive City's scale to a half-buried ruin. Once he stepped onto the Hive City's ruins, the radiation traces detected by his Power Armor also confirmed Gawain's guess.

Yet an even greater question arose: why had they used nuclear weapons?

As a veteran civil engineer, Gawain did not like building bunkers, but he had a fondness for human civil architecture throughout history. He knew how sturdy the Hive Cities passed down from the Old Night Era were.

According to his father, they had once fought the rampaging Abominable Intelligence on a Titan. That meant this Hive City had fallen during an age of madness even older than the Old Night Era.

With the human technology of that era, there had been far more efficient ways to carry out a demolition than stringing together these primitive low-yield nuclear bombs.

"So the only explanation is that they had no choice. Whoever chose to self-destruct could only use nuclear bombs to take everyone down with him."

As the Second Legion's first military mission, every Space Marine wanted to show off in front of the Gene-Father. Mordred, however, did not pretend to know everything and handed full command authority to Goff. He still needed time to learn.

As Gawain's speculation spread through the internal comms, Goff immediately ordered the Stormbird's high-powered airborne scanners to sweep the ruins.

Soon, countless high-energy red dots filled the Holographic Projection and appeared before Mordred, who was wearing an oversized Ironclad Terminator Armor.

"Father?"

"Why are you looking at me? I'm just a common soldier right now. You're the commander! Go ahead boldly and let me see what you can do."

"Don't worry, Father. I won't disappoint you." Goff was greatly reassured. He was just as eager to prove himself as everyone else.

Out of caution, the reconnaissance squad did not act rashly. Instead, they called in engineers to set up drilling rigs along the Hive City's outer wall, preparing to melt their way in and send a few probes inside first.

As the plasma melter began operating, the Adamantium composing the Hive City's structure turned into boiling vapor, gradually exposing the buried metal framework beneath the outer shell.

As time passed, a square opening large enough for a Knight to pass through was cut open, and several Servitor Skulls were tossed inside.

Through the Servitor Skulls' visual modules, everyone saw the interior of the Hive City, which had been sealed for at least four thousand years. As expected, there were no living creatures inside—only metal frameworks entwined with human skeletons.

Just as the Servitor Skulls were preparing to continue their exploration, an unexpected change occurred. Intermittent, ear-piercing electronic sounds rang out.

[Foreign intrusion detected. Requesting connection to central %￥...]

[Mother unit unresponsive. Data array lost. Requesting security support. %￥#...& Third Emergency Protocol initiated]

[Visitors are requested to leave voluntarily. In the event of a property dispute, please report to the company's core. Dahl Tech is at your service.]

Accompanied by shrill alarms, the robots that had looked like discarded wreckage came back to life. Dangerous red lights flickered in structures resembling human eyes as they charged at everyone like zombies.

There was no need to sneak around anymore. The roar of Bolters rang out instantly. Before those abominations could erupt and hurt anyone, Atlas, who had already established a firing position at the opening, began delivering a barrage.

Lasers, bolter rounds, and deadly searing plasma shot out, directly destroying the first batch of machines to awaken.

The rusted and corroded Sentinels could not withstand the barrage. After testing the enemy's strength, the Space Marines, who had long been itching for action, began charging recklessly forward—including Mordred, who regarded himself as a Hero Unit.

"All troops, advance! Sweep the target area and protect the auxilia as they establish a forward outpost."

Goff gave the order.

"Understood, Commander!"

The warriors in Terminator Armor began their charge, using Ion Shields and heavy armor to serve as cover for their brothers. The remaining soldiers advanced in dispersed formations behind them. Although they had never operated together as a unified force, the Atlas who had returned from studying with various Legions were no pushovers.

The Space Marines' superb combat discipline allowed each warrior to find the position best suited to him without orders. Their exaggerated physical abilities and reaction speeds were the finest guarantee of victory.

Boom! Boom!

Metal wreckage flew high into the air before crashing heavily to the ground, where it was finally crushed beneath armored boots.

The moment the explosions ended, a rapidly spinning chainsword stabbed into a Sentinel's torso. Amid a shower of sparks, it split the enemy in two.

"Continue advancing. Have the auxilia take over the cleared area and deploy Knights to provide heavy-weapons support."

Perhaps because of their small numbers, or perhaps because of the habits he had developed while studying with the Thirteenth Legion, Goff's command style emphasized steady, methodical progress, advancing wave after wave like the sea.

Yet while advancing steadily, Goff remained flexible. He sent heavy troops to attack from multiple points, used a swift assault to divide the battlefield, then seized the opportunity to slit the enemy's throat and complete a localized annihilation.

Through the internal network, Mordred could see the exact position of every one of his sons. Combined with Goff's battlefield command, he began learning the art at astonishing speed.

Mordred was not omniscient or omnipotent, and the enemies he would face in the future would not be steppe savages. Once he realized that he was already a planetary governor, a responsibility he had never felt before began weighing on him.

Guided by his simple values, Mordred believed that since they called him Father and addressed him as Legion Commander, he had a duty to give them a better future.

Mordred advanced in silence as the sounds of large numbers of machines gathering reached his ears.

He raised a hand, signaling for the sons behind him to stop.

Soon, several shells screamed through the air, blasting the wall and the Sentinels behind it into scrap. For reasons unknown, the building shattered across the ground, revealing a much vaster space beyond.

As a verdant wilderness emerged into view, Mordred and his guards vanished, avoiding the Sentinels' deadly volley. This caused the mechanical guards' thought circuits to pause briefly.

But Mordred had no intention of explaining himself. He swung his Greatsword, reducing the rotten steel heads to fragments that rolled across the ground beneath the glow of muzzle flashes.

The Yellow Skins had been right. Although he was essentially a Chimera, that did not mean he was some worthless piece of trash. He was an all-rounder, and so were his Atlases.

"Only when the heavens collapse will my name be revealed. We raise the firmament high—we are Atlas!"

"Lads, charge with me! Crush them!"

The bond stemming from their bloodline sent every warrior into a frenzy. Under the Gene-Father's call, the wildness in their hearts was released, and a strange, indescribable power surged through every body.

Mordred felt himself growing stronger—and that was exactly what was happening. He grew faster and faster, his spatial jumps became more and more practiced, and every swing of his Greatsword turned the enemy before him into fragments. Even dazzling emerald lightning began to crackle along its blade.

Nor was that all. Every Atlas felt power flooding into him, to the point that all kinds of ghostly wails and wolfish howls rang through the internal comms, accompanied by shouts of, "This is power!!!"

But soon, even that was not enough for them. Driven by their wildness, several Space Marines whose armor glimmered with green light began howling loudly amid the ruins:

Waaagh!!!

Waaagh!!!

Mordred: Hm. (＃°Д°) This can't be right, can it?