Kabutack Fu Qinghai

Fully armored, Fu Qinghai had already seated himself inside a boarding torpedo with its warhead removed, bowing his head to inspect his new weapon.

Around him, the crew and servitors were busy making preparations for the launch.

The gun in Fu Qinghai's hands was the "new toy" Ogedei had spoken of.

After replacing the standard curved magazine of his Bolter with a drum magazine, Fu Qinghai had returned from Moradigan and dove straight into Master Kunto's laboratory to tinker.

The result this time was a composite weapon; the principle was simple, essentially combining a small flamer with a Bolter, much like mounting an under-barrel grenade launcher on a rifle back on Earth.

The complexity lay in the fact that while the Imperial military's standard-issue composite weapons were designed with integrated firing mechanisms and attachment points from the moment of manufacture, Fu Qinghai had to modify a standard Agripinaa-pattern Bolter, which put his modification skills and machining capabilities to the test.

But this was no obstacle for Fu Qinghai, who possessed the backup of an electronic Iron Man in his mind.

With a Tech-priest by his side, this level of modification was as simple as a primary school craft project for him.

Yet, at this moment, Fu Qinghai's mind was occupied with other matters.

Was Ogedei sending him alone to deal with the pirates a test of his abilities, or a form of protection?

Anything involving psykers was never easy to handle; this wasn't just about dealing with a primitive planet. Psykers were threats that every Space Marine had to take seriously, so it was fair to call it a test.

As for the frigate Dagger facing off against a Lunar-class cruiser of unknown allegiance, if the newcomer were hostile, the Dagger would essentially be blown to smithereens, without even a chance for boarding actions or close-quarters combat.

From that perspective, it was also a form of protection for Fu Qinghai.

Fu Qinghai thought more deeply: if the other party were rebels, according to the plot of the official novels, the rebels' objective was Terra. They shouldn't care about the existence of space pirates; in fact, the more pirates and xenos in the galaxy, the more advantageous it was for the rebels. These minions would tie down more loyalist forces, making it easier for the main rebel fleet to assault the Solar System.

Therefore, that Lunar-class cruiser most likely belonged to the loyalists.

The hatch closed, and his vision was briefly plunged into darkness. Fu Qinghai shook his head, deciding not to dwell on these thoughts; focusing on the mission at hand was more important.

As his low-light vision adjusted, Fu Qinghai felt a massive surge of thrust.

At the edge of the asteroid belt, the frigate Dagger launched boarding torpedoes at the two ships hovering in space.

Judging by the dimensions, that cargo merchant ship was even larger than the frigate Dagger, with a bulkier silhouette.

Furthermore, facing a stationary target, the torpedoes were almost impossible to miss.

Sitting inside the torpedo, Fu Qinghai felt that the design of this boarding torpedo lacked any user experience. In the cramped, dark space, he had no dashboard or screens, nor could he see anything of the outside world. There was only a single red light; when it turned green, it meant the target had been hit and he could exit.

Then, a loud bang occurred, and a massive vibration accompanied the impact, shaking Fu Qinghai within the narrow space.

The small explosive charge at the head of the torpedo blew open the merchant ship's hull, embedding the torpedo into its body.

The flashing red light turned green.

Fu Qinghai thought to himself that the indicator light design was completely redundant.

The hatch above his head slid open slowly, but it jammed halfway through.

Fu Qinghai punched the hatch directly, then tore it open with force.

Then, a crimson-eyed, menacing, and hulking Space Marine appeared in the corridor.

Fu Qinghai looked left and right. The dim corridor was illuminated by flickering, pale lights and was completely empty. The air was rapidly escaping toward the breach created by the torpedo, whistling with a hissing sound, while the distant bulkheads were automatically closing and sealing.

Fu Qinghai ignored the closing bulkheads and took out a teleport homer to set it up. Whether or not he would summon Terminator armor was one thing, but he had to set it up first.

After placing the teleport homer and seeing its indicator light up, Fu Qinghai held his gun in one hand and walked into the depths of the quiet corridor.

No matter how slow the enemies were, they would certainly have been alerted by the vibration of the torpedo impact.

Fu Qinghai's keen hearing caught the sound of chaotic footsteps coming from deep within the corridor.

Then, he saw a group of raggedly dressed people wielding various weapons rushing toward him.

The moment they saw Fu Qinghai, the group let out a shout, and without firing a single laser shot, they turned around on the spot and began to flee.

Fu Qinghai fired a few controlled bursts from his Bolter, turning the pirates into piles of gore.

He continued forward.

At this moment, in the merchant ship's main control room, the crew members were tied up in the corner. A middle-aged man with black hair and a horse-like face slapped a gorgeously dressed fat merchant across the face, cursing in Low Gothic: "Turn on the surveillance for me!"

This middle-aged man had a long face, small triangular eyes, gaunt cheeks, and slightly prominent cheekbones; his appearance made one feel as if he were constantly wearing a gloomy expression.

The fat merchant, having been slapped by the horse-faced man, scrambled toward the console and began operating it in a panic.

In the corridor, Fu Qinghai encountered the first person who dared to face him directly.

A man wearing a black mask that revealed only his eyes, clad in a tight-fitting black tactical suit.

Judging solely by this attire, Fu Qinghai could not determine the man's background.

A psyker? But according to the training Talal had provided him earlier, he could not find any psychic amplifier on the man's head.

The other party was also sizing up Fu Qinghai, observing the armored warrior who stood a full 2.7 meters tall, seemingly at a loss for how to engage.

In the main control room, after some frantic operation by the fat merchant, the black screens lit up one by one. The people in the control room quickly located the intruder, Fu Qinghai, on a screen in the bottom right corner.

The horse-faced middle-aged man frowned slightly and asked in Japanese, confused: "What is this? A clumsy armored man?"

A young man with yellow hair nearby chimed in with a grin: "Am I the only one who thinks he looks like Kabutack?"

Another person added, "Right, Cockroach Bully!"

"It's Scorpion Lailai!"

No one took this bulky armored man seriously.

For a moment, the control room was filled with a cheerful atmosphere.

Only the fat merchant captain stood frozen, staring at Fu Qinghai on the surveillance screen, whispering a word that no one else had heard before:

"Astartes..."