The Man of Imposing Build

The battleship's gun deck, Cannon Position 2.

Skulls bobbed up and down. Hundreds of slaves crouched behind the loading bay of a colossal cannon. The air was thick with the smell of oil and metal drifting from inside the cannon, mingled with the slaves' sweat.

"The battleship may be under attack! Get up and load the Nova Cannon!"

An officer strode over, shouting orders as he lashed the metal floor with an electrified whip.

The slaves immediately gathered in orderly fashion, as they had countless times before. They formed two lines and hoisted the iron cables attached to the lifting rig onto their shoulders.

Out of their sight, other slaves carried the Nova Cannon's warhead onto the lifting rig. Then the slaves at Cannon Position 2 chanted in unison, straining together in step as they hauled the rig and shoved the warhead into the Nova Cannon's loading bay.

The officer had supervised this loading crew many times, but each time, his eyes inevitably settled on the slave who had arrived not long ago.

The slave stood at the head of the line.

That position called for the strongest, most robust, and most resilient slave, and the one working there was perfectly suited to the task.

He stood about two meters and ten centimeters tall, with huge muscles bulging beneath skin that seemed as hard as steel, gleaming in the dim light of the gun deck. As he strained against the cables, his muscles flexed like a carbon-based engine brimming with limitless power.

Whenever the officer looked at this slave, he was reminded of the Angel of the Emperor he had seen as a child—an Astartes. A towering, heroic, glorious superhuman warrior.

It wasn't easy for an ordinary human to grow to such a size.

His unusual physique also made him the only slave whose name the officer could remember: Lu Jin. A name with a strange sound to it.

"Reporting, sir!" A skinny slave dropped the cable and shouted at the top of his lungs. "The Nova Cannon at Cannon Position 2 is fully loaded!"

The officer nodded in satisfaction. "Get ready to eat. I'm about to be promoted, so today you'll get something good."

The slaves immediately crowded around him, showering him with well-wishes.

Lu Jin, meanwhile, walked past the officer and sat on a pile of junk, taking a piece of dry bread from his pocket and chewing on it.

The cook bringing their meal soon arrived on the deck where the crew at Cannon Position 2 worked. He slammed two iron buckets onto the floor and left.

Their improved meal amounted to replacing a bucket of water with a bucket of soup made from ingredients no one could identify. The other bucket still held dry bread.

The slaves lined up to collect their food, then scattered into groups of three or five around Lu Jin.

No one paid Lu Jin any mind. They simply ate and chatted.

"I heard that when the ship was boarded last time, that kid killed a heretic Astartes."

"Yeah, I saw it myself. But we've talked about that a hundred times already."

"..."

Lu Jin knew they were talking about him.

He had corrected them long ago: he hadn't killed an Astartes. The heretic Astartes had boarded the ship and fought one of the ship's own Astartes. It had killed the latter, but had also been gravely wounded. Lu Jin had merely gotten lucky and finished it off.

Lu Jin's own take on the matter was that he'd gotten lucky. Although that hadn't earned him a promotion or freed him from slavery, it had taught him what made him special.

As long as he killed someone, he gained a little strength and recovered some stamina.

Lu Jin shoved the last piece of bread into his mouth, then held out his hand and stared at his fist.

He had brought this body with him when he crossed into this universe. He didn't know who he should thank, but he was grateful that he'd brought his body along, instead of just his soul.

So this body wasn't the result of killing that heretic Astartes, but the extra strength in it was.

"Hey, kid."

A man and a woman, both slaves, came over to Lu Jin and set two iron buckets in front of him.

Lu Jin first looked down and saw seven or eight pieces of bread and a little soup left in the buckets, then looked up at the pair.

"Here, kid." The woman took a piece of bread from a bowl and offered it to Lu Jin.

"You don't have to give me food every time... Everyone already leaves me plenty." Lu Jin said.

The other slaves glanced over at his words. Some lowered their heads and kept eating; others smiled at him.

It was a habit among the crew. Each time, everyone tried to eat a little less so they could leave more for Lu Jin, the biggest and hungriest among them.

"My child's still alive thanks to you. Otherwise, those cables would've crushed him last time." The man smiled and held out a bowl full of soup. "It's only right that my wife and I thank you ourselves. I thank the Golden Throne, and I thank you."

Lu Jin had been smiling, but his smile faded at the mention of the Golden Throne.

He didn't understand why these slaves had anything to thank the Emperor for.

"I'm grateful to you and your wife." Lu Jin took the bread and soup and dug in.

The couple sat down in front of him to eat.

A child ran over and threw himself into their arms.

Even children had to work on this deck. During the loading just now, he had been at the back of the line, holding a cable.

"I never asked your names before." Lu Jin asked as he ate.

Lu Jin had been on this ship when he crossed over. From the day he woke up until now, he had planned to escape the next time the ship docked at some world.

Since he didn't plan to stay long, Lu Jin hadn't made an effort to get to know people. Those who regularly tried to save extra food for him had been more likely to receive practical help from him. Before now, he hadn't asked anyone's name or what they had been through.

"Call me Dalian." The man put an arm around his son.

Lu Jin nodded and gave the family of three a grateful look. Silently, he told himself, I'll remember everyone who's shared their food with me, including you.

Since he was born, Lu Jin had never feared death or hardship. What he feared was not getting enough to eat.

A little while later, the slaves had eaten their fill.

Lu Jin tucked the last piece of bread into his pocket, quietly convincing himself he was full, then looked at the family of three in front of him.

Dalian's son lay in his parents' arms, fast asleep.

"That kid's always half asleep. I wonder what's wrong with him." Lu Jin said. "At least the officer doesn't make him do any real work."

At Lu Jin's words, the boy opened his eyes and smiled mysteriously. He couldn't speak, so Lu Jin had no way of asking what he was smiling about.

"My son spends every night fiddling with mechanical parts. He's good at it." Pride showed on Dalian's face as he looked up and daydreamed. "Maybe those red-robed people upstairs will notice his talent and take him on as a servant. Then when he grows up, he won't have to haul cannon shells like me."

When he finished, Dalian clasped his hands together and closed his eyes. "I thank the Golden Throne for granting my son this talent. The God-Emperor took away his speech, but left him something more precious."

Lu Jin looked away.

Dalian's son kept watching Lu Jin. When their eyes met, he beamed at him. His expression made it plain that he was keeping something to himself.

That kid's probably plotting some kind of prank, Lu Jin thought.

"Crisis over! Unload the shells from the Nova Cannon!"

A shout came from behind the slaves.

Everyone instinctively got up to work, while Lu Jin looked toward the source of the voice.

The order had come from an officer in charge of supervising the loading crew under the Nova Cannon team at Cannon Position 2.

The previous officer had been promoted and moved on. The new officer had a sinister-looking face and a constant smile. He was speaking to someone beside him in a very calm voice.

The one shouting the orders was an attendant.

One of the slaves stumbled while carrying a cable. The attendant immediately stepped forward and raised his whip.

"Wait."

The new officer lifted a hand slightly, signaling the attendant not to strike. Then he looked over each of the slaves at work.

"I'm Omi, the new supervisor of the loading crew. My rule is that you can make a few small mistakes outside of wartime."

Lu Jin helped the fallen slave up. The latter hurried back into line and picked up the cable.

After announcing his rules, the new officer, Omi, fell silent. The attendant beside him spoke up in a harsh whisper. "Sir, these wretched slaves need a firm hand. If you're too lenient with them—"

"I have my own way of managing things." Omi shot the attendant a sideways glance.

The attendant immediately shut his mouth and stepped back, bowing.

Omi looked over the slaves again, his gaze settling on Dalian's son.

He narrowed his eyes and drew a breath. An inscrutable glint appeared in his sinister gaze.

Following Omi's line of sight, the attendant spotted Damian's little brat, half-asleep and practically hanging off the cable. His expression instantly turned vicious.

"Looks like he's not suited to work on the gun deck." Omi smoothly turned to face the attendant with his hands behind his back. "Take him away."

The attendant immediately went over, grabbed Damian's son by the collar, and led him away.

Seeing this, Damian assumed his son was going up to the deck above, as he had hoped. He smiled at Lu Jin, then worked even harder.

As Lu Jin hauled on the cable, he frowned. Something about the officer struck him as no good.

The Nova Cannon was a weapon that fired special warheads.

Unlike the shells used by weapons such as Macro Cannons, its warheads couldn't just be left in the loading bay when not in use. They had to be hauled out and sent back to the armory for maintenance.

Lu Jin mulled it over as he finished the job. A deep rumble came from the overhead mechanism, and the chains came loose.

The slaves scattered around the area to rest.

Just then, a floating skull flew over, slowly descending from above. Its empty eye sockets projected a holographic image in front of the slaves.

Inside an office, Omi, the new officer in charge of Cannon Position 2, held an electric baton and repeatedly slammed it into the person lying on the floor.

Sparks flashed as flesh split open.

Yet the person being beaten didn't make a sound.

Only when they looked closely did everyone realize it was Damian's mute son being beaten.

Lu Jin charged toward the hologram, eyes wide as he stared at the scene.

The other slaves quickly got up and gathered around, too.

Damian and his wife pushed through the crowd to the front. Disbelief showed on their faces, and every time Omi brought down the baton, the couple's bodies jerked violently.

Everyone else whispered among themselves, wondering how Omi could have gone from all smiles to so vicious in the blink of an eye.

"What right do you have to beat him!" Lu Jin roared at the skull.

The soldiers guarding the entrance heard the shout and rushed over in formation. Some raised their weapons and took aim, while the others drew their electric batons, ready to put down the disturbance.

Lu Jin strode alone toward the soldiers. Just as he was about to charge through them and go after Omi, he suddenly heard a creaking sound.

A... contraption with tracks for a lower body and a human upper body rolled slowly toward them.

The strange half-human, half-machine contraption came to a leisurely stop and suddenly opened its eyes. A voice came from its mouth.

"I don't want to be turned into a machine..."

"Machine..."

"According to the ship's administrative regulations and the Gun Crew Affairs Code, anyone who obstructs the work of the gun-deck slaves may not remain at a cannon position. Violators will receive twenty strokes."

"However, in exceptional circumstances, or with a supervisor's approval, someone else may serve the punishment in their place."

The Mechanic Servant's voice grew colder, sounding more and more like a real machine.

Everyone lowered their heads and looked away.

The severity of a flogging depended on the person administering it. Judging by the way the officer named Omi had personally beaten the boy in the hologram, he certainly didn't seem like a man who'd go easy. No one was willing to take the punishment in his place.

"Let me through! I'll take the punishment!" Lu Jin faced the soldiers.

The soldiers opened a path and escorted Lu Jin to Omi.

"Bring him back!"

Damian's wife shouted after Lu Jin.

"Please... please..."

As he walked, Lu Jin turned back and nodded vigorously at the couple to reassure them.