Contact

However, the Astartes did not reply.

It was not until Quan Tiehua arrived a few seconds later. After learning the whole story through the communications channel, he called out uncertainly in Chinese, "Chinese?"

The voice on the other side, which had occasionally been speaking English, abruptly fell silent. Then, filled with disbelief, it said, "We're Chinese! May I ask who you are?"

"I'm the acting... person in charge... of our... chapter! My name is Quan Tiehua." He had originally intended to make up an excuse to gloss over their origins, but after thinking it over, he told them a mixture of truth and lies.

"Mr. Quan, was the cooperation you mentioned earlier genuine?"

"The cooperation is genuine. Once you have an authorized representative contact us, we'll each take what we need!"

"Very well, Mr. Quan. I'll come out. Please have you and your chapter personnel avoid accidentally opening fire!"

"Don't worry. I swear on the honor of our chapter!"

"?"

Li Muye wore a baffled expression. What did he mean, swearing on the honor of his chapter? This wasn't the Middle Ages. The rules of chivalry had long since passed, hadn't they?

But he did not continue hesitating. After placing his gun back on the ground, he raised both hands and slowly stood up.

The instant his head appeared, every bolter muzzle immediately trained on it.

The killing intent erupting from the machine spirits of the bolters, which had slaughtered countless aliens and servants of Chaos, made his bladder clench. It was as if he had plummeted from the sky, and the urge to urinate shot straight up!

His entire body instinctively lowered backward, but he soon steadied himself. He swallowed, turned sideways, and slowly walked forward.

Only after reaching the center of the battlefield did he shout, "Mr. Quan! I've already demonstrated my sincerity!"

Seeing this, Quan Tiehua was about to stand and go over, but Vals grabbed him by the arm.

At that moment, his Power Armour was dirty and battered. One arm hung empty; the prosthetic limb that had originally been attached had long since been knocked away by a daemon during a battle within Imperial territory.

Fortunately, he had relied on the various mechanical tools on his body to survive until now, though his injuries were quite severe.

"Have you forgotten how those people disregarded the lives of their own countrymen when we landed? And the attack we suffered while negotiating with that enormous machine?" As Vals spoke, he pulled a sphere from somewhere and handed it to him. "If this is a trap targeting us, then with their previous experience, the attack will probably be even more powerful this time. It could very well injure you. So I used the damaged helmets of our chapter brothers to make defensive equipment that can automatically detect threats! Hopefully, there won't be any problems!"

Vals had originally wanted to stop him from advancing, but after sensing the force behind Quan Tiehua's movement, he swallowed the words of protest and could only remind him to be careful.

"Don't worry, brother. I know what I'm doing! If things go well, once we return to the Imperium, those Mechanicus fanatics might even come curry favor with you! Then our chapter will have... a Titan!" Quan Tiehua patted his shoulder reassuringly, but his eyes remained fixed on the empty arm beneath the shoulder plate.

Hearing this, Vals merely nodded and handed the device to Quan Tiehua.

The sphere was not large, but it had no markings whatsoever. It looked as though it had been cut directly from a massive block of iron.

After looking around, he placed the iron ball into the recess at the neck of his Power Armour.

After all, the head was a relatively vulnerable area.

As he emerged and drew closer, the oppressive presence brought by his massive build and height surged over them. Li Muye watched Quan Tiehua approach. When he stopped two meters away, his height—nearly half a body taller than Li Muye—forced him to tilt his head back.

"Mr. Quan, it's a pleasure to meet you!" As he spoke, he tried to extend an arm to shake hands and offer a greeting. But when he sensed the sudden killing intent, and saw that Quan Tiehua made no movement, he could only nod awkwardly and continue maintaining his surrendering posture.

Especially when he saw the steel fist nearly as large as his head, Li Muye had no doubt whatsoever that a single punch would turn his head into minced meat.

"Speak. What do you want to do?" Quan Tiehua asked bluntly.

"Mr. Quan, we're agents stationed in Fusang. Our authority is very limited, so I can only tell you this: if we cooperate, we'll bring out everything we can to offer in exchange!"

"This is the foundation of our cooperation! I want to contact your person in charge!"

Li Muye nodded. "I need to take a communicator from my pocket..."

Quan Tiehua nodded immediately. A mortal standing this close to him could make any movement they wanted. As long as he wished, he could crush them instantly!

Li Muye did not dare harbor any ulterior motives. The lightning-fast punches and brutal slaughter in the intelligence videos he had seen earlier had left nearly all the personnel involved in the operation feeling intimidated.

He took several communicators that hung over the ears from his backpack, then held them up over his head with both hands. "This can directly contact the person you want to meet. But we only have half a minute."

After the communicators were put on and the signal connected, both sides exchanged their initial greetings before getting straight to the point and briefly discussing their cooperation.

"Your person in charge has already spoken to me. We'll choose to travel on your aircraft." After discussing matters with the person in charge for only a little over half a minute, Quan Tiehua removed the earpiece and waved for his chapter brothers to begin assembling.

"That's possible, but our Transport Aircraft can't easily enter Fu... this country. So first, we need to find some vehicles and reach the designated location. Only then can we board it." Li Muye explained. When he saw the armored men beginning to assemble in orderly fashion, he knew that the matter had been settled.

On his orders, the other agents also began coming out. The assembly was completed in less than half a minute, and everyone began withdrawing toward the designated location. Meanwhile, several members of Li Muye's team stayed behind and began setting something up.

"That's fine, but I need to know what plan you've devised."

Li Muye nodded, then directed his subordinates to carry over several backpacks. After opening them, he said, "These are some electronic devices that can currently connect to network communications. All our information and missions will be sent to this terminal." As he spoke, he walked forward and took a thick electronic tablet from the bag, one heavy enough to be used as a brick.

Behind him, Vals and several Tech-Sergeants stepped forward to take them. They began turning the devices over in their hands and examining them roughly.

To be honest, Warhammer 40k technology was countless times more advanced than that of this world. Yet many crude applications made its efficiency feel countless times lower than that of modern technology.

Take the transmission of information through these electronic products, for example. Within the Imperium, servitors or cogitators were used for such tasks. Naturally, their efficiency could not be compared.

Here, however, the terminals and computer arrays they used provided a clearly visible, all-around improvement in the efficiency of information transmission.