Breakout

Quan Tiehua ran at full speed. The servo-skull ahead of him was also rapidly guiding the way. He needed to find a passage that would let all his brothers break out quickly.

Earlier, when he had installed the remaining Melt Bombs in all the deck compartments beneath the bridge, his aim had been to blast straight through the enemies inside the bridge and send them plunging to the very bottom of the ship.

But who could have expected such a sudden twist? Those Greater Daemons had actually emerged without any sacrifice at all.

After winding through the corridors several times, the servo-skull flying ahead gradually slowed down. Clearly, they were about to reach the place he had chosen. The Bird Servitor device hanging from his waist also began issuing faint beeping alerts.

He slammed on the brakes, holding a boltgun in one hand and picking up the Bird Servitor device with the other as he looked at the clusters of red dots displayed at the front of the screen.

As a specialized Bird Servitor device, it had been modified to directly locate enemies within a hundred-meter radius. This included some Chaos Astartes.

Quan Tiehua hung the Bird Servitor device back on his waist, then removed the bolt pistol from his belt and checked its ammunition.

Next, he checked the boltgun in his hand, along with the various weapons, ammunition, and Power Armour on his body.

Because what came next would be a brutal battle for him.

After taking one last look at the progress bar in his mind, which had already reached 99 percent, he stepped forward and charged ahead.

He gripped the boltgun in one hand. Inside its magazine, every other round had been replaced with a Kraken penetrator round.

He loaded every Kraken penetrator round on his body into the boltgun in one go. He intended to punch through the encirclement ahead by himself.

As he sprinted, his Magnetic Boots thundered through the corridor like heavy stomps, their sound echoing throughout the entire passage.

The Noise Marines, whose senses had been drastically enhanced, heard the faint noise from far away. They had originally been savoring the emotional high brought on by slaughtering loyalist Astartes.

But they never expected another creature that did not know its place to be disturbing them from behind.

One of the Noise Marines at the very rear turned around angrily. A flashbang grenade came flying straight at him.

It struck his helmet only a few centimeters from his eyes. The violent flash instantly blinded the Noise Marine, whose senses had been comprehensively enhanced.

This sudden turn of events also instantly snapped the other Noise Marines out of their intoxication.

Bang bang bang bang bang bang—

The Noise Marines reacted extremely quickly, immediately turning the Sonic Blasters in their hands and laying down covering fire toward the rear.

But just as they fired their first shots, an endless stream of bolts tore through the smoke like meteors bent on destroying the world. They smashed apart the Noise Marines' helmets and pierced their skulls.

In an instant, several Noise Marines collapsed limply to the floor.

The people of the Crimson Angel Chapter, who had all retreated into the bridge, immediately noticed the weak spot where the enemy fire had vanished.

"Break out this way!" Chapter Master Affos shouted to the brothers still fighting around them while several Apothecaries struggled to support him.

At the order, the despairing warriors were immediately inspired when they saw this scene.

Everyone shouted in unison, "For the Emperor!" The brothers nearest to the passage raised their boltguns and launched a fierce assault against the Noise Marines firing at them from within.

Their swift reaction allowed the warriors still carrying boarding shields to move directly to the front. They covered the entire corridor and advanced rapidly.

The veterans of the First Company, who had worn Terminator Armour for a century, brought up the rear and held back the Chaos Daemons surrounding them.

Quan Tiehua had also spotted the panicking Noise Marines. Without hesitation, he drew the Combat Dagger from his body and charged through the smoke like a demon.

Because of his excessive speed, the thick smoke formed an invisible, trailing cloak behind him.

He switched the bolt rifle in his hand to the bolt pistol and fired repeatedly at the Noise Marines more than ten meters away.

An Astartes could run as fast as a speeding tank. Even a new recruit might be somewhat slower, but his speed was still unstoppable.

After using his thick shoulder armour to take the Noise Marine's sonic attack head-on, he forcibly suppressed the negative emotions and discomfort caused by his trembling organs. Then he closed in and assumed a stance that looked as though he was about to deliver a leaping strike.

The move successfully deceived the remaining Noise Marines. Quan Tiehua immediately dropped his body, and the boltgun in his hand followed in an instant. He spun around, pressed it beneath a Noise Marine's chin, and fired repeatedly, blasting away half of the evil head.

The other Noise Marines recovered and concentrated their fire on him. However, the Sonic Blasters' disadvantage in close combat became a fatal flaw in the cramped space. Although their power was greatly amplified there, firing required a certain amount of preparation time.

Without hesitation, they switched their weapons one after another, changing them to boltguns. Then they concentrated fire on the corpse that was about to fall.

Quan Tiehua instead grabbed the corpse of the Noise Marine who was about to collapse and used it as a shield. Ignoring the concentrated fire, he charged straight toward the nearest Noise Marine.

The enemy fire followed close behind, but he did not attack. Just before reaching his target, he suddenly kicked the corpse in his hands toward that Noise Marine.

Then he spun around and pounced like a starving wolf at another Noise Marine on the opposite side.

A feint to the east followed by an attack in the west.

The other Noise Marines also reacted extremely quickly and hurriedly adjusted their firing lines. But Quan Tiehua had already reached the Noise Marine's side. His dagger followed through toward the man's neck, but the Noise Marine merely turned sideways, causing the dagger to stab into his hard shoulder blade.

The Noise Marine immediately followed up with a brutal shoulder charge. The spikes on his shoulder armour pierced through the Power Armour on Quan Tiehua's arm.

A sharp pain struck. Right behind it came the Doom Siren that had long been primed on the Noise Marine's power pack.

The violent sonic attack arrived in an instant. Only one second after making contact with the sonic assault, the visor of Quan Tiehua's helmet exploded with a bang, and blood flowed inside it.

Taking that attack head-on was no easy matter. At that moment, every organ in Quan Tiehua's body trembled and resonated. Blood flowed from his seven orifices like a living little snake.

But he still forced himself to endure it. Gritting his teeth, he quickly shifted the bolt pistol in his hand and emptied the magazine into the Noise Marine's vulnerable abdomen.

The terrifying bolts tore into him at point-blank range, blasting the Noise Marine's waist and abdomen into minced flesh. His entire lower body collapsed to its knees on the floor.

Quan Tiehua, however, gripped the upper half in his hand as though he were holding a shield.

Although the sonic attack had not lasted particularly long, it had still caused Quan Tiehua a certain amount of injury.