As Strong as an Angel

A Greenskin standing two meters and sixty centimeters tall occupied the corridor.

It was the tallest and most WAAAGH Greenskin on the entire ship.

A Greenskin Warboss.

Only it could drive the other Greenskins to attack Lu Jin relentlessly.

The armor on Lu Jin's body was so tattered that only the codpiece and half of the right greave remained.

The Warboss held dual blades, strolling forward while dragging the weapons against the walls.

Amidst the spraying sparks, the Warboss slowly closed the distance.

Lu Jin had already begun walking toward the Warboss.

The crew watched from behind, their legs stiff as if filled with lead, wondering to themselves if Lu Jin was truly incapable of feeling even a shred of fear.

"WAAAAGH!!!"

The Warboss broke into a sprint.

Lu Jin sprinted as well, letting out a roar of his own.

As the two sides collided, the great blade hacked into Lu Jin's waist, while his Heavy Hammer shattered the Warboss's skull.

As the Greenskin collapsed, the wounds on Lu Jin's body gradually knit back together.

Behind the Greenskin's corpse lay the bulkhead leading to the Navigator's Sanctuary.

Lu Jin used his Sceptre to blast open the bulkhead and stepped inside.

The Navigator was surrounded by corpses; there was another body beside the bulkhead, and the Navigator himself was slumped amidst a pile of debris.

Presumably, the Navigator's guards had given their lives to drive the Greenskins out of the sanctuary and seal the bulkhead.

Hearing the noise, the Navigator first poked his forehead out from behind the debris.

The Navigator was a mutant, possessing three eyes.

That eye used to discern paths through the Warp recognized Lu Jin as a human rather than a Greenskin, yet he was still startled.

A scream rang out from behind the debris.

"It's alright," Lu Jin said. "The ship's systems are ready. If you start navigating now, we can reach a safe location."

The Navigator stood up tremblingly from behind the debris, looked up at the ceiling, and pointed outside: "Someone is coming to pick us up... we don't need to leave."

Lu Jin ran to the porthole and gazed out into the void.

The void was empty.

Seconds later, a purple rift tore open in the void, and a ship emerged, rapidly approaching the strike Cruiser.

Lu Jin saw the emblem printed on the ship—a black hand.

"It's the Red Corsairs."

The Red Corsairs were the largest warband in the Maelstrom...

But in terms of scale, they were less of a warband and more of a quasi-Legion, for they numbered over ten thousand Space Marines.

The master of the Red Corsairs was Blackheart Huron.

"They won't help us!" Lu Jin looked at the Navigator, his tone stern. "They will only seize our ship! Navigate for me!"

"No... they won't." The Navigator recoiled two steps, frightened by Lu Jin's attitude. "They have a deal with the Chapter... I helped the Chapter Master contact them... they are here to rescue us..."

As he spoke, a flash of light appeared within the Navigator's Sanctuary.

A moment later, a Space Marine was teleported in.

His armor was blood-red, and a Black Hand was emblazoned on his shoulder pad.

The Space Marine scanned his surroundings before his gaze locked onto Lu Jin.

"Fierce Angels," he said. "Where is your Chapter Master?"

"We were attacked," Lu Jin replied after a moment of thought. "The Chapter Master has already..."

The Red Corsair Space Marine suddenly tilted his head, as if listening to a transmission, before saying to Lu Jin: "The Psyker says there are no other Astartes on your ship besides you. It seems everyone else is dead."

Lu Jin was not surprised to hear himself mistaken for an Astartes.

Because his height had already reached approximately two meters and thirty centimeters.

An average Space Marine was only slightly taller than this, and among the Iron Warriors, many were under two meters and thirty centimeters due to their Gene-seed.

"Come with us," the Space Marine said with a helpless shrug. "Your Chapter Master once saved my Chapter Master, so my Chapter Master promised to protect him."

From these words, Lu Jin gathered that the man was not just a Red Corsair, but a core member.

In other words, one of Huron's confidants.

Before his betrayal, Huron had been the Chapter Master of the Astral Claws, and after his rebellion, some of his veterans had followed him into the Maelstrom.

As Lu Jin pondered...

The Space Marine suddenly raised his bolter and shot the crewman who had followed Lu Jin into the sanctuary.

Lu Jin reacted and lunged forward, but he was too late.

"Your chapter has already lost its combat value," the Space Marine said, gripping his weapon. "Only an Astartes may follow me; the rest of you will be drafted into the Red Corsairs."

With that, he turned his head to issue an order to the warship: "Once I have retrieved the Navigator and the survivors, blow this strike cruiser to pieces."

A voice seemed to ask a question from the other end.

The Space Marine continued, "This ship is already a xenos nest; it has no value. What use are those mortals? To be brought back as manure-making machines?"

As he finished speaking, the various weapons of the Red Corsairs' warship outside the porthole locked onto the strike cruiser.

Lu Jin stood beside the shredded corpse of the crewman.

The Space Marine looked at him. "Don't cling to those garbage traditions of yours, come with—"

Before he could finish, Lu Jin charged at the Space Marine.

The latter reacted with extreme speed, stepping back to fire at Lu Jin while simultaneously drawing his chainsword, slashing out after the bolt missed its mark.

Lu Jin dodged the strike according to the combat techniques taught by the Apothecary, circled behind his opponent, and smashed his left and right hands toward the enemy's head and sword-wielding arm respectively.

However, relying on his experience, the Space Marine anticipated Lu Jin's move, shifted his sword-wielding right arm in an unnatural way, and severed Lu Jin's left arm that held the axe.

As their first brief exchange ended, the bolter was pressed against Lu Jin's forehead; as the gun fired, Lu Jin tilted his head to dodge and smashed his warhammer into the Space Marine's right leg, breaking it.

Lu Jin dropped the warhammer, his expression ferocious. In a fit of rage, he grabbed the Space Marine by the neck and pinned him to the ground, then repeatedly yanked him up and slammed him back down, causing his head to strike the floor again and again.

Before the opponent could recover, Lu Jin tore off his helmet and used his leg to deliver a series of violent strikes to the back of his head.

The Navigator had hidden back among the obstacles, watching as Lu Jin beat the Space Marine to within an inch of his life, then seeing Lu Jin release the head, turn around, pick up the warhammer, and raise it high, ready to end the man's life.

But just as the warhammer was about to fall, Lu Jin calmed down and stopped.

The Space Marine was battered and bleeding, but he was not dead.

Lu Jin first sensed his own physical state.

After the continuous, sleepless, and tireless slaughter of Greenskins, his strength could now be described with only one word.

Strong as an angel.

Then, Lu Jin began to consider what he should do next.

If he killed this Space Marine, the people on that warship would discover it and open fire, and no one left on the entire ship would survive.

He then considered the person of Huron Blackheart...

Lu Jin unearthed a fact from his memory: there was a member of the Adeptus Mechanicus who had saved an Astral Claws veteran and, as a result, received courteous treatment from Huron.

Furthermore, Huron was not a chaotic madman; he was wary of the Chaos Gods and resisted their corruption.

A plan gradually emerged and took shape in Lu Jin's mind.

"Knock out the Psyker on that warship!" Lu Jin shouted, turning to the Navigator.

There was a Psyker on that ship who had seen that there were no other Space Marines on the strike cruiser besides Lu Jin, and thus might have seen the situation in the sanctuary.

"I... before you acted... I used my psychic powers to cloud his vision," the Navigator said, trembling. "My younger brother is a crewman, I... I couldn't possibly want them to kill all the mortals..."

Lu Jin breathed a sigh of relief and walked up to the Space Marine.

"Kill... all of you..."

"Kill... all of you..."

The Space Marine muttered to himself intermittently, crawling toward the helmet that had fallen to the side.

Just as Lu Jin was about to rush over and deliver a heavy kick, the Navigator raised his hand and used some unknown psychic spell, causing the Space Marine to kick his legs and fall unconscious.

"I didn't kill him..." the Navigator said timidly. "I turned him into a vegetable."

Lu Jin cast an approving look at him, then spoke, "What is your name?"

"Onaas."

"Good. Clever Onaas, I need you to be strong. Do you see the Greenskins outside the door? You know what to do next."

"Yes, warrior."

Lu Jin nodded and walked out of the Navigator's Sanctuary.

The Greenskins, having lost their leader, were milling about; seeing Lu Jin suddenly walk out, they scattered in a panic, but were ultimately overtaken by the flames released by the Sceptre.

Lu Jin turned and returned to the sanctuary, picking up his severed arm and pressing it against his shoulder.

Sensation gradually returned, and the wound began to heal.

About a minute later.

A squad of Red Corsairs Space Marines teleported into the sanctuary.

They saw Lu Jin sitting beside the fallen veteran.

Some unknown power was affecting Lu Jin; flesh was gradually sprouting from his shoulder, connecting to the severed limb.

"That xenos killed him?!" the leader demanded sharply.

"None." Lu Jin glanced at the entrance of the sanctuary, where the corpse of the Greenskin Warboss lay sprawled.

"Whew..." The lead Space Marine let out a sigh of relief.

Before arriving, he had ordered the Psyker aboard his ship to probe the situation inside the strike Cruiser.

The Psyker had reported: "The Lone Wolf has been defeated by the Xenos, and that Fierce Angel is defending him."

This was because Onaas had used her psychic powers to influence the Psyker, forcing him to see an illusion.

Regardless, at least the veteran was not dead.

The Space Marine signaled for the Apothecary in his squad to step forward and examine Lu Jin's wounds.

As the Apothecary walked over to bandage Lu Jin, one of the others spoke up: "The Lone Wolf is a confidant of the Lord of the Maelstrom. You helped him, and the Lord of the Maelstrom will grant you a reward."

Lu Jin looked up: "Take everyone, including the mortals."

"Upholding the Chapter tradition of protecting mortals?" The Space Marine nodded helplessly. "Everyone on the ship can come with us, and I will leave this ship to you. How you take it back from the Greenskins in the future is up to your own ability."

He then pointed at Lu Jin: "That tradition of you Fierce Angels keeping Xenos on your ships cannot continue—at least, not on my ship."

Lu Jin nodded.

As the Red Corsairs vessel began deploying transport craft, Lu Jin turned to look at the Navigator, Onaas.

The young girl's face was pale, yet she still managed to force a smile that looked more like she was about to cry.

Psychic powers are so useful, Lu Jin thought.