"What?" A deep, familiar voice rang out. Everyone turned to see Chapter Master Affos walking over. His originally flowing long hair was gone, replaced by a short crew cut.
That must have been done for the sake of combat as well.
"Nothing. We were just discussing Brother Quan Tiehua's combat techniques." Quilstein hurriedly stood up to explain. With his helmet on, he sounded a little like someone speaking through a gas mask—his voice muffled and nasal.
"Ah, do as you please. Right now, I need each of you to hold a separate defensive line. The mortal auxilia and the local planetary defense forces will support you. At the same time, the remaining brothers will be randomly assigned to the various sections." As he spoke, Chapter Master Affos looked ahead at Tylert, who was directing the construction of the fortifications. "Tylert's fortifications have always been excellent. Our first priority is to stop the Chaos cultists outside the hive city and whittle down their effective strength as much as possible. If things become untenable, we'll fall back into the hive city behind us and fight them in the streets, buying as much time as possible while waiting for the Imperium's reinforcements."
"My lord, the weapons you requested have arrived." At that moment, more than a dozen mortal auxilia pushed carts over and reported to Chapter Master Affos.
Chapter Master Affos looked over, then said to everyone, "These are the last Chainswords and Power Weapons in our Chapter. Choose what suits you. For each defensive line, you'll be facing the greatest pressure."
As he spoke, he sent the final combat assignments to the combat systems in everyone's helmets.
He was about to turn and leave, but at that moment Quan Tiehua suddenly stood up and hurriedly called out to him. "Chapter Master."
For a moment, everyone's eyes turned toward him.
"If things become untenable, I hope you can lead all our brothers to gather around me. I think I have a way to keep our Chapter alive."
The moment he said this, everyone looked shocked. Chapter Master Affos turned around and stared blankly at him, unable to speak for a while. At last, he sighed, put on his helmet, and asked in a trembling voice, "How confident are you?"
Quan Tiehua did not answer immediately. Instead, he glanced at the few lines on the system panel in his mind, then said with absolute conviction, "One hundred percent."
"Good."
Everyone left their positions. After taking their personal weapons and ammunition, they arrived at their assigned posts.
To be honest, Chapter Master Affos was extraordinarily capable at management and administration. Although the Chapter's recovery was also inseparable from Guilliman replenishing the various Chapters after taking office,
in this remote frontier region—even a place that was almost beyond the Milky Way Galaxy—the reinforcements they received were minimal. Yet Chapter Master Affos had still managed to obtain so many supplies. He had even managed to acquire several sets of Terminator Armour.
His abilities were obvious from that alone.
For that very reason, the brothers in the Chapter had often speculated that their Chapter Master might have come from the Ultramarines.
But no one had ever said it openly.
After all, the Chapter's history and origins had been severed. Throughout the countless years of warfare, the successive Chapter Masters had done whatever it took to keep the Chapter alive.
As long as the gene tithe demanded by the Imperium was paid, the remaining gene-seed could be stored or used regardless of its origin. So long as it was clean, anything went.
As a result, the brothers in the Chapter had developed a traditional pastime during their rest periods.
They would try to guess which Legion each of them was descended from.
Some brothers made it so obvious that everyone could identify them at a glance. But there were others whom no amount of guessing could reliably identify.
After all, a few unconscious habits and behavioral patterns were not necessarily enough to prove which Chapter someone had come from.
Eventually, the game had even led everyone to speculate whether there were members of the Alpha Legion in the Chapter.
Of course, once that theory was brought up, the Chapter Master learned of it. He summoned the brother who had raised it and gave him a thorough dressing-down.
Quan Tiehua wore a Chainsword at his waist, along with his perpetually cool plasma pistol. He also carried his personal Combat Dagger, a boltgun, a bolt pistol, various grenades, and Melt Bombs.
Seeing the Melt Bombs, he was reminded of Sergeant Leonster, who had once tied Melt Bombs to his head during a battle.
That man had an eccentric sense of humor. His dreadlocks, woven from chains of bolter rounds, had been tied densely across his head like braids.
"Ah." He sighed despondently. After placing the Astartes weapons and ammunition he had been carrying on his shoulder inside a nearby bunker,
he glanced at the activity outside the trench and ordered the surrounding mortal auxilia to remain vigilant. Then he returned to the bunker and sat there, staring blankly into space by himself.
The progress bar on the system panel in his mind still displayed the words: "100%—Reincarnate?"
He had no idea what it was for. Reincarnate. Reincarnate.
Could it be... that if he died once, this thing would revive him and let him relive everything all over again?
Then what would that make it?
Infinite resurrection?
Or was he trapped in a certain stretch of time?
However he looked at it, this seemed to be Little Blue Bird's handiwork.
But to be honest,
if things really became impossible to salvage, perhaps this thing could actually work.
But... what about the other brothers in the Chapter?
Meanwhile, in the warp, the Sea of Souls churned violently. The Emperor was directing the Word Bearers in a sustained assault on Slaanesh's daemonic army.
Not far away in the warp, a Little Blue Bird was sneakily observing everything, muttering under his breath, "Everything is proceeding according to my plan."
But in the next second, he suddenly let out a shrill, agonized scream.
It turned out that the Emperor had discovered him long ago and sent him flying out of the battlefield with a psychic slap.
Meanwhile, in Garden World,
Grandfather Nurgle was brewing a fine soup in a pot, lamenting as he worked, "It's been so long since new life came to bring joy. I'm feeling a little lonely. Today, I'll brew something new."
As he spoke, he stirred the pot with a large ladle and muttered, "Soak it slowly, simmer it slowly..." (My Guangxi brethren, please don't hit me) (ω).
Finally, he ladled it into a bowl. His fat body waddled back to the palace, where he looked at the Aeldari goddess of life, whose beautiful yet somewhat withered, pitiful air made his heart ache. He said, "Drink up. Perhaps it can cure your illness."
I'll be crossing over soon. What familiar worlds would everyone like to see connected? If no one chooses, I'll pick one from Pacific Rim 1, Nano Core, and Ling Cage.
Before you continue