Good News: Reinforcements Have Arrived! Bad News: They're Chaos!

The next day.

A ray of sunlight pierces the darkness.

After a night of rest, the Cultists once again surged into the Middle Hive through the narrow Underhive passage, and the silent heavy artillery began to roar once more!

Smoke filled the air, and the roar of cannons filled the sky!

Countless lives were lost in the fierce battle, their blood spilled on the ravaged ruins. The two sides were locked in a tug-of-war, which gradually escalated into street fighting.

Then, in the afterglow of the setting sun, the fanatical Cultists, having taken as much flesh, heads, and corpses as possible, returned to their Underhive like the receding tide.

It's like... yesterday repeating itself!

Then came countless repetitions.

This pointless battle has been going on for ten days straight. Nobody knows what the Cultists are thinking; they seem to be simply... throwing their lives away!

Each time, we retreated when they could no longer hold on.

It was as if they had precisely gauged the limits of the Planetary Defense Force, not to break through the Hive City, but to deplete their strength!

After several days of bloody fighting, Alvin's face was covered in blood, mud, and dust kicked up by artillery fire. He looked so dirty that even a familiar face probably wouldn't recognize him.

He sat cross-legged on the ground, looking at the people around him.

Today's battle was even more brutal than yesterday's, because the civilians who were forcibly conscripted suffered heavy casualties, and it was now the Defense Force, the Department of Justice, and the riot squads that had to fill the gaps on the front lines.

As it turns out, even well-trained Defense Force suffered extremely heavy losses when faced with the Cultists' reckless and fanatical human wave attacks.

The entire company of 120 men was reduced to less than half after today's battle. And this was even with Alvin possessing a "map-seeing cheat" that allowed him to see into the local battlefield personnel, yet the losses were still so heavy.

Many other companies were reduced to single digits!

The quartermaster brought today's rations, and the entire company of over fifty people only had ten cans of Corpse Starch!

Alvin's lips curled into a bitter smile. It seemed that even the supply of Corpse Starch was running out.

That's not all.

He discovered that the frequency of heavy artillery firing had also been greatly reduced; basically, only when the defensive line was completely breached would there be a chance of receiving a single artillery shell as reinforcement.

Clearly... they're running out of ammunition!

All signs seem to indicate that the Defense Force are nearing their limit, with at most five days... Even if the Cultists fail to breach the defenses, they will collapse completely due to ammunition and food shortages.

"Company Commander... aren't you going to eat?"

The short-haired guy next to him had half his face slashed by Cultists, leaving a hideous scar, but he still looked very happy, staring greedily at the food in his hand.

More than fifty people were divided equally among ten boxes of Corpse Starch, and this was after a day of fierce fighting. Forget about being full; at best, each person would only have enough to eat.

Looking at the familiar faces surrounding him, Alvin was deeply moved.

During the ten days of bloody battle, he could call out everyone's name, and even knew what they liked and disliked, and... every warrior who died for the Imperium!

"You eat it, Diz."

Alvin tossed the canned Corpse Starch over, intending to go and discuss the matter with Commissar Grey; things couldn't continue like this.

"Okay, thank you, Company Commander!"

Diz happily distributed the canned corpses to his other brothers, each taking a small bite.

Lifting the tent flap, before Grey could even erupt in anger, Alvin spoke directly, "Commissar, has there been any news from the Upper-hive..."

"I know what you want to ask, but..." Grey had been so worried these past few days that his hair was practically turning white, and he had huge dark circles under his eyes, clearly havingn't slept in a long time. "You know, right now, no news... is the best news."

Alvin certainly understood this, but the problem was... the army was short of food, ammunition, and manpower. If they weren't replenished in time, they would really be finished!

I know what you're worried about.

Commissar Grey sat in his chair, pressing his throbbing temples, his face full of bitterness. "I can even roughly guess that the reason the Cultists leave every day is to deplete our strength until we are completely desperate."

But... I have no choice.

This was the first time Alvin had seen this tough Commissar look so exhausted since joining the Planetary Defense Force, as if he had been completely drained.

To be honest, the fact that this PDF has managed to hold on until now, and that its morale has miraculously not collapsed, is entirely thanks to this Commissar. He doesn't even want to imagine what would have happened if Grey hadn't been there.

"Ha... Now, the only hope is to pray, to pray to the great Emperor." Grey sighed, his eyes filled with sorrow. "Hopefully, the Department of the Munitorum... no, it should be said that there is an Astra Militarum and a Space Marine Chapter around us."

The current situation in Hive City is beyond the capabilities of the Planetary Defense Force to resolve.

If the Upper-hive had not been sealed off, the Planetary Defense Force could have relied on Upper-hive to obtain a continuous supply of resources and more powerful weapons, and might have had the opportunity to eliminate the Cultists.

But... with their retreat cut off, the Planetary Defense Force are now trapped in the middle, waiting to be caught like turtles in a jar!

He had exhausted all his tactics, but he still couldn't withstand the sheer number of Cultists members. He was gradually tipping the scales of victory in their favor by taking lives.

"Commissar, I... can procure some food for emergencies." After much deliberation, Alvin decided to reveal some information; after all, where could he hide if the Defense Force were wiped out?

"You? Never mind..."

Grey shook his head; he wasn't taking it seriously at all.

How much food could one person possibly obtain?

How could that possibly meet the needs of the Planetary Defense Force?

"It's better than nothing, right?"

Seeing Alvin's sincere expression, Grey, having nothing to lose, reluctantly nodded. "Alright, then go ahead and do it. Just make sure it feeds your own company."

Just then, the two of them suddenly felt a pang of fear.

It was like some kind of omen, without any reason. The overwhelming malice from the High Heavens poured out like a flood from the Warp, making people tremble all over, and fear permeated every pore!

The two looked at each other and saw a deep-seated fear in each other's eyes.

Rumble!!!

A tremendous roar echoed through the night sky of the Hive City!

Immediately following, a piercing alarm blared in the dark night sky, causing the entire sky and even the ground to shake violently!

"Not good!"

Alvin and Grey rushed out of the tent immediately, looking towards the source of the tremors and the piercing alarm.

But then, the sealed gate of the Upper-hive slowly rose, and countless hideous, ferocious, and terrifying Warp "Daemon" poured in from the heavy Iron Door!

They emitted terrifying shrieks, like a vast, blood-red cloud pressing down on them!

The Upper-hive... the door is open!

But it wasn't activated voluntarily; it was... breached!

"Prepare for war! Prepare for war! Prepare for war!!!"

Commissar Grey, his eyes wide with rage, raised his Bolter high and roared at the top of his lungs, "Everyone, prepare for battle immediately! For the Imperium!!!"

At this moment... the end of the world has arrived!

Contrary to expectations, the cunning Cultists took advantage of the moment when the Upper-hive fell and the Daemon were released to surge out of the Underhive in a frenzy!

The Planetary Defense Force, the Hive City... are utterly doomed!

Good news! Reinforcements have arrived!

Bad news... Chaos has reinforcements!

Even worse news: they were caught in the middle by Chaos and cults, and turned into minced meat on a chopping board!