Total Annihilation

In the corridor, muzzle flashes burst from the Combi-Bolter as Fu Qinghai opened fire without hesitation.

The black-clad man was unexpectedly agile. The instant Fu Qinghai pulled the trigger, he pushed off with his toes and sprang into the air, dodging the bullets.

The man braced himself against the ceiling of the corridor, pushed off, then landed on the side wall. He ran toward Fu Qinghai as if the wall were level ground.

Fu Qinghai saw the man leaning forward with both arms stretched straight behind him in a bizarre running pose. He also noticed that two oddly shaped black daggers had appeared in the man's hands.

His jaw nearly hit the floor.

Was that... a Naruto Run?

And those were... Kunai?

With astonishing flexibility and agility, the man dodged Fu Qinghai's shots using Taijutsu. As he reached Fu Qinghai, he did a forward somersault, sprang into the air, and sailed over Fu Qinghai's head.

Facing forward, Fu Qinghai drew the Power Glaive from his waist with his right hand and swung it behind him without even looking.

The blade, crackling with pale-blue lightning, swept through the air in a perfect arc. Fu Qinghai twisted his body and bent his knees, slashing at the black-clad man, who was landing from his leap and had nowhere to dodge.

From the corner of his eye, Fu Qinghai could already picture the man being sliced in half at the waist.

Then came a sharp bang.

The sensation in Fu Qinghai's hand told him that he hadn't hit a person.

Holding the blade in one hand, Fu Qinghai looked at the Ceramite panel split in two before him, then at the unharmed black-clad man a short distance away.

"Substitution Technique?"

This was the Warhammer 40K universe. Taijutsu was one thing, but why could the man use Ninjutsu too?

Fu Qinghai raised his gun again. A few meters away, the black-clad man cautiously flung two Shuriken.

Fu Qinghai stood motionless as the black projectiles flew toward him. As both sides had expected, they went "clang, clang" against his chest plate and bounced off, leaving not even a scratch.

Seeing this, the black-clad man gritted his teeth and charged again, using his agile and unpredictable Taijutsu.

But from the corner of his eye, Fu Qinghai had spotted a surveillance camera quietly turning above the corridor.

Fu Qinghai's lips curled into a smile. He had an idea.

With the gun in his left hand and the blade in his right, he adopted a defensive stance against the oncoming man. At the same time, he subtly adjusted the muscles in his arms, deliberately slowing his movements.

If Fu Qinghai's combat instructor, Albuslang, had been there, he would have cried out that the kid was up to his tricks again.

The black-clad man, barely over five feet tall, was a runt beside Fu Qinghai, who stood nearly nine feet tall in his armor. He nimbly dodged Fu Qinghai's swinging blade, dropped into a knee-slide, and darted between his legs.

He thrust his Kunai toward the gap between the Ceramite plates on Fu Qinghai's thighs.

"Clang!"

Unfortunately for him, the MK4 Maximus Power Armor was fully enclosed.

The black-clad ninja rolled away from Fu Qinghai's incoming steel magnetic boot, then flitted around him like a butterfly weaving through flowers, leaping and darting in every direction. He repeatedly stabbed at the joints of Fu Qinghai's Power Armor with his Kunai, but all he got in response was a shower of sparks.

At last, just as the black-clad man leaped to stab at Fu Qinghai's visor, he made a misstep. Fu Qinghai grabbed him and slammed him hard onto the floor.

The black-clad ninja struggled beneath the dark muzzle pointed at him.

The flames that erupted from the barrel turned him into a charred lump.

[You have killed your first enemy Reincarnator! Career Achievement unlocked!]

[Calculating Assimilation Points... 123 points]

An enemy Reincarnator!

And killing an enemy Reincarnator really did earn a reward. The notification called it a "Career Achievement," too... But why was the reward so small? Was it because this guy was so much weaker than me?

Fu Qinghai mused to himself as he casually twirled his blade and returned the Power Glaive to its holster at his waist.

The people in the control room had witnessed the whole thing.

No one was laughing and joking anymore after watching their companion die.

The black-clad man hadn't been weak among their team. He specialized in Taijutsu and had a quick, unpredictable fighting style. He was also the leader's younger brother. Asano, the shut-in, cautiously glanced at the silent Horse-faced Man, wanting to speak but not daring to.

The middle-aged Horse-faced Man narrowed his eyes as he watched Fu Qinghai on the monitor, silently assessing him. Strong defense. Ordinary physical attacks couldn't penetrate it. Average agility, somewhat slow...

That made sense. In armor that bulky and protective, it was only natural for him to move sluggishly.

At that thought, the Horse-faced Man suddenly spoke. "Come over here. I have a plan."

In the corridor, Fu Qinghai rounded another passageway, climbed another flight of stairs, and headed straight for the control room.

Along the way, he swept his flamethrower over every suspicious room and corner. He even managed to burn several pirates hiding inside.

Looking at the pirates' sallow, emaciated faces, Fu Qinghai figured they'd burn for only a few minutes after being hit by the flamethrower. So these were space pirates? Was being a pirate in the Warhammer 40K universe really such a dead-end career?

He'd heard Huron Blackheart was doing pretty well in the Maelstrom.

But that was all in the 41st millennium. This was the 30K era. Maybe space travel was safer under the Imperium at this point in time.

Fu Qinghai carefully searched every compartment before heading to the control room on the merchant ship's top deck, making sure no enemies could sneak up behind him.

Finding nothing, Fu Qinghai didn't believe that he'd already killed every pirate aboard the ship.

Looks like they're waiting for me in the control room, he thought.

Should I summon the Terminator Armour? Fu Qinghai wondered as he headed upstairs.

He thought about Ogedei and the others possibly having to face an even more powerful cruiser, as well as the Assimilation Points he'd earned for killing an enemy Reincarnator... Fu Qinghai wasn't sure whether killing an enemy Reincarnator by the hands of a local from the Reincarnation World would still earn him Assimilation Points.

In the end, Fu Qinghai decided to go alone.

When he reached the control room, he found a sealed hatch blocking his way.

Fu Qinghai slammed his fist into the button panel beside it. With a bang, sparks and white smoke burst from the controls, but the hatch didn't budge.

That was careless of me.

Fu Qinghai turned sideways and gripped the hatch handles with both hands. Inside his armor, the muscles across his shoulders and back bulged in layers. The electronic fiber bundles running throughout the Power Armor tightened and engaged as he summoned his strength and yanked hard.

The hatch seams shrieked with twisting metal and burst with sparks.

The hatch was wrenched open by force, just enough to leave a gap. Fu Qinghai took a deep breath, then pulled again with all his might.

With a long creak, the hatch swung completely open.

Then he saw two white Paper Bombs on the wall behind it, just about to burn out.

Fu Qinghai had been doing his best to recall the plot and abilities of Naruto along the way. He recognized the source of the two Paper Bombs at once.

Paper Bombs!

And at the very moment he recognized them, they detonated.

Boom! Two fireballs engulfed Fu Qinghai, each no less powerful than a high-level Fire Release Ninjutsu cast by an elite Jonin.

His visor was immediately swallowed by a sheet of crimson flame. He staggered backward two steps.

His vision had only just returned when someone in a black, tight-fitting outfit appeared at his side. The person rapidly formed Hand Seals and shouted:

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"

Again? Fu Qinghai couldn't understand Japanese, but he strongly disapproved of calling out an attack before using it. Before the ninja had finished the last syllable, a Mass-reactive Bolter Shell blew his head apart.

Skull fragments, blood, and brain matter sprayed everywhere as the body crumpled to the floor.

The Horse-faced Man in the control room was startled. Fu Qinghai's quick reaction and the precision of his snap shot had left him stunned. He abandoned the Hand Seals for his "Wind Style: Air Cannon Jutsu," gritted his teeth against the Chakra backlash of stopping mid-sequence, and shouted without even wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth:

"Plan's changed, Nagase! Sakata! Attack now!"

The blond young man swallowed a yellow capsule. He threw his head back and howled as his face twisted and convulsed. His body swelled and stretched, and his clothes ripped apart. He transformed into a three-meter-tall, upright beast with a blue-green face and fangs.

At the same time, a shadow behind Fu Qinghai warped and stretched into a human figure. A black-clad ninja appeared silently at his back, a Paper Bomb clenched between his teeth.

Fu Qinghai sensed the ninja. Ignoring the beast still transforming in the distance, he whipped around and slashed. The ninja, unable to escape into the shadows in time, was cut in two. Blood sprayed everywhere, but the Paper Bomb slipped from his mouth and drifted toward the floor.

Boom!

A close-range explosion filled Fu Qinghai's vision with static. Realizing his helmet might be damaged, he immediately tore it off and tossed it aside, revealing his face.

Fu Qinghai's agility and reflexes were nothing like what he'd shown in the corridor. The Horse-faced Man, the group leader, no longer had time to question it. He was preparing an even larger Ninjutsu.

Fu Qinghai had only just regained his sight when the blue-green beast pounced on him. It grabbed his left hand, the one holding his gun. Several Bolter Shells flew off course and exploded with loud bangs inside the control room.

The beast also pinned down Fu Qinghai's right wrist as he swung his blade. It opened its massive jaws and lunged for his face. Fu Qinghai let go of the Combi-Bolter and pulled backward. He wrenched his left hand free from the beast's claws and leaned back, dodging its attack. The beast's huge mouth, lined with fangs and sharp teeth, snapped shut with a clack in empty air.

Once his left hand was free, Fu Qinghai swung it back to build momentum, then drove a powerful left hook into the beast's cheek.

Thud! The blow knocked the beast off balance and sent it sprawling to the side.

With the beast's massive body no longer blocking the view, the Horse-faced Man, who was gathering power behind it, was exposed.

A huge ball of white lightning crackled in the Horse-faced Man's hands, constantly spitting arcs of electricity. He shouted:

"Hold him, Nagase!"

Then he rushed toward Fu Qinghai, clutching the lightning.

The beast staggered to its feet and crouched on its canine legs before lunging at Fu Qinghai's waist, intending to wrap its arms around him.

Behind the beast, the Horse-faced Man charged through a storm of sparks and lightning, shouting:

"Light...ning...Blade!"

Just as the beast was about to reach Fu Qinghai's waist, Fu Qinghai grabbed its wrist, lowered his center of gravity, and twisted as he pulled. Using the immense power of his core, he swung the airborne beast around in a full circle like a giant pendulum, placing it between himself and the Horse-faced Man.

The beast slammed into the Horse-faced Man before he could stop. The S-rank Ninjutsu Lightning Blade, said to be able to cut through lightning, pierced straight through the beast's back.

"Argh!" The beast let out a bloodcurdling scream. As electricity coursed through its body, it began to convulse.

The beast's trembling body suddenly went still. Fu Qinghai pulled the Power Glaive from its chest, drawing out a spray of dark blue-green blood.

The Horse-faced Man struggled to shove the beast's body off himself. He saw what had happened and opened his mouth to speak, but suddenly felt heat in his throat.

Then he saw the scene before him spinning away.

Fu Qinghai didn't give his enemy a chance to speak. He swept the Power Glaive upward as he withdrew it, and the Horse-faced Man's head flew off.

The last thing the Horse-faced Man wanted to ask before he died was—

Why are you so fast?

Fu Qinghai smiled at the Horse-faced Man's wide-open eyes.

Died with your eyes open, huh? Couldn't figure out why my health and armor are so high, or why I'm still this agile?

Go ask the Games Workshop writers.

Fu Qinghai looked around the control room and spotted a black-haired young man with a round face, wearing a hoodie and jeans. He was huddled in a corner, trembling.

Fu Qinghai stepped over the beast's and the Horse-faced Man's corpses and strode toward him.

"N-no... no, don't... don't kill me..."

The bone-white Power Armor had been scorched and blackened by the three explosions, and great patches of wet blood stained it. Faced with the sight of such a towering, bloodthirsty warrior approaching, Asano was so terrified that he wet himself. He sat on the floor and kept scooting backward.

"Please, please..."

Unable to look at the Power Glaive crackling with blue electricity, Asano covered his face with both hands, babbling incoherently.

"Speak English."

Fu Qinghai's low voice rang out.

Speak English?

The Low Gothic spoken by the Imperium of Man in Warhammer 40K was practically equivalent to English. Even so, Asano had been so frightened that he'd blurted out his native language without thinking. But the words "Speak English" gave him a clue.

He hurriedly looked up at Fu Qinghai's calm face and asked in English:

"Are you a Reincarnator too?"

"Yes."

Hearing Fu Qinghai's answer, Asano clung to it like a lifeline and hurriedly said:

"Don't kill me! Please, don't kill me! I'm useful! I can be your consultant, your plot consultant."

Fu Qinghai had been about to say that Asano didn't look particularly useful, so why had the others brought him along? But when he heard the words "plot consultant," he paused, then immediately understood.

Fu Qinghai stroked his chin. He didn't answer right away, but instead asked from above:

"Did you all enter together?"

"Yes, we're in the same group."

"Group?"

"You don't know about groups? Oh, right, I only heard about it from them too. Some experienced Reincarnators—they call themselves advanced players—can unlock this feature in the Reincarnation World. You can call the organization a group, a guild, whatever you like."

This Reincarnation World was starting to sound more and more like an online game.

"What's the point of it?" Fu Qinghai asked.

"I haven't unlocked the feature, but the group leader, Takakura Yuki, told me that Reincarnators in the same group can enter the next Reincarnation World together. And when the Reincarnation World randomly assigns them to factions, they'll all be assigned to the same one."

"Randomly assigned to factions?" Fu Qinghai picked up on something and emphasized those words as he asked.

He clearly remembered that when he entered the Main Reincarnation World, the Marvel Cinematic Universe (Earth-199999–Earth-616)—SSS-rank, the Reincarnation World had let him choose his faction himself.

Fu Qinghai immediately asked what happened in worlds where they could choose their faction. Asano shook his head, indicating that he didn't know.

Fu Qinghai considered this.

Fu Qinghai pointed the tip of his blade at the headless corpse behind him and asked:

"So that was your group leader?"

"Yes. He called himself Takakura Yuki, but we don't know his real name."

"What was your group called?"

"Kotohira-gumi."

"Why that name?"

"I don't know. Everyone guessed it was because the group leader was from Kotohira Town."

Oh, so Kotohira was a place name.

"You're all Japanese?"

"Yes. Everyone in the Kotohira-gumi is either Japanese or of Japanese descent."

Kotohira-gumi, Kotohira-gumi... Fu Qinghai repeated the name to himself. Reincarnators had three lives, so they might run into each other again in another Reincarnation World. He'd better remember their name in case they came after him later and he didn't know who they were.

"It looked like you were all using abilities from Naruto?"

"Yes. The group leader, Takakura Yuki, and several of the core members came out of the Naruto Reincarnation World. I joined them later."

As if he'd thought of something, Asano added, "Except Nagase. His ability has nothing to do with Naruto."

Asano pointed at the blue-green beast behind Fu Qinghai.

Fu Qinghai turned to look.

Five minutes had passed. As the yellow capsule's effects gradually wore off, the beast slowly shrank, transforming back into a naked blond young man.

But the terrible hole in his chest hadn't shrunk along with the rest of him.

Fu Qinghai thought of the blond man swallowing a capsule when he entered the room and had a pretty good idea what was going on.

Project Power, an action science fiction film starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt. The thing Fu Qinghai remembered most about the movie wasn't the flashy special effects when people took the capsules and got superpowers. It was the black girl's rap scenes.

Even wilder than The Rap of China.

Fu Qinghai feigned ignorance and asked, "I remember he transformed after taking some kind of capsule?"

"Yeah. I don't know where those capsules came from... Oh, right—he's got some in his waist pouch, too." Asano wore an ingratiating expression as he pointed to a pouch on the floor.

Oh? It was time for his favorite part: looting the bodies... Fu Qinghai perked up at once.

They found a small pouch lying where the blond had transformed. Sure enough, there were two yellow capsules inside.

Fu Qinghai picked one up and examined it. A flame seemed to swirl slowly within. He casually asked, "Is this what he took?"

"Yes, but taking one of these might... might..." Asano suddenly faltered.

"Might what?" Fu Qinghai asked with interest, looking at the chubby-faced kid.

At that moment, Asano wanted to slap himself.

Asano, you idiot... Why'd you have to open your mouth? If this Reincarnator got curious and swallowed the capsule, then exploded into a pile of minced meat, wouldn't you have pulled off the comeback of a lifetime?

Asano stammered aloud, cursing himself inwardly for being a complete fool.

Having seen the movie, Fu Qinghai knew better than to take the capsule. He put it away and decided to stop teasing the poor guy. His expression turned serious as he asked, "You mentioned being a plot consultant. What did you mean?"

At last, the powerful Reincarnator had returned to the subject. Asano hurriedly explained, "Before I entered the Reincarnation World, I was an otaku. Uh, what you'd call a shut-in. I'm a gaming otaku. I've played every game from Sony, Konami, and Nintendo, and I still remember the plots of a lot of them. I can help you work out the storylines, which is a huge advantage in the Reincarnation World. In our last Reincarnation World, it was Konami's Castlevania: Lords of Shadow. We didn't win the story mission, but thanks to my guidance, we all made it through that round alive."

"Mm..." Fu Qinghai gave a noncommittal hum.

Konami did have a lot of game franchises. The ones Fu Qinghai knew included the Metal Gear series, Silent Hill, and the old Contra games... But there were also dating sims like Tokimeki Memorial Girl's Side. What would he need your guidance for in a game like that?

Oh, right, there was also the Pro Evolution Soccer series. Did anyone need a shut-in to teach them how to play soccer?

Fu Qinghai said coolly, "But you clearly don't know anything about the Warhammer 40K universe. Otherwise, your group wouldn't have ended up like this, would you?"

As he spoke, he gestured with his long blade at the corpses scattered around the control room.

"Uh..." Fu Qinghai's words left Asano with no reply.

"What's more..." Fu Qinghai slowly crouched down and looked at the Japanese otaku before him. "Do you think I went to all this trouble to come aboard this merchant ship and slaughter everyone for the sake of justice?"

"We're Reincarnators from opposing factions, after all..." Fu Qinghai raised a hand and patted Asano on the head.

"Uh, I... You..."

The chubby otaku froze as he understood what Fu Qinghai meant. He managed only a few faltering words before falling silent.

He'd deliberately left it unsaid, but this man clearly knew that killing enemy Reincarnators earned Assimilation Points.

Fu Qinghai stood up and said, "Thanks for sharing some of what you know about the Reincarnation World. What's your name?"

"A-Asano Jinan."

"All right, Asano Jinan. I'll remember your name. You look pretty weak. You've probably got more than one life left, right?"

"..." Asano Jinan didn't know how to answer. Should he say yes, or should he say no?

Fu Qinghai raised his gun and pointed it at his head. "Next time, remember to be on the same side as me."

"Bang!"

After he shot the Japanese otaku Asano Jinan dead, the Reincarnation World's notification rang out right on cue.

[You have wiped out your first enemy-faction Reincarnator group, achieving a career milestone!]

[Calculating Assimilation Points... 831 points]

For killing just... Fu Qinghai counted on his fingers. One, two, three, four, five, six—six Reincarnators. Even after the whole group was wiped out, the Kotohira Society didn't have many people. Fu Qinghai reflected.

Had he made too much of them? He'd thought the Kotohira-gumi might have branches in Tokyo and Osaka or something. He hadn't expected to wipe them all out in one go. He'd even been planning to pay them a visit for revenge later...

At this level, even giving them three lives each wouldn't have helped them win... Fu Qinghai thought.

Just as Fu Qinghai stood alone in the control room, lost in thought—

"Crash!"

Amid a clatter, a fat man in luxurious furs tumbled out through the wall.

Fu Qinghai jolted in surprise and only then realized the wall was hollow. A cluster of thick pipes had been hidden behind the steel plating.

He cursed himself for his carelessness. He hadn't even thought to sweep the area. If another Reincarnator had been hiding in there, things could have gone badly.

The moment the fat man emerged, he scrambled over to Fu Qinghai's feet and wailed, "Th-thank you, Lord Astartes, for saving my life!"

Clutching Fu Qinghai's leg, the fat man sobbed and pleaded, tears and snot streaming down his face.

Fu Qinghai looked at the man's quivering rolls of fat and the black implants embedded in them with distaste. He kicked him away and asked, "Are you the owner of this merchant ship?"

The fat man nodded vigorously.

It was a wonder he'd managed to squeeze his bulk into the gap among the pipes behind the steel plating.

"Good. Wait for me outside."

"Uh..." The fat merchant had no idea why, but he obediently went outside.

Fu Qinghai had an image to uphold. He couldn't let these mortals see a noble Astartes looting corpses.

Once the fat man had left, Fu Qinghai thoroughly searched the area and gathered all the items belonging to the Reincarnators. Only then did he leave the room.

"Come on. You're coming with me to the warship."

As he spoke, Fu Qinghai grabbed the fat man by the back of his collar and hauled him toward the place they'd entered.

Not long after Fu Qinghai had used a torpedo to board the merchant ship alone, a massive Lunar-class Cruiser appeared before the Shortsword frigate.

Everyone aboard the bridge was present except for Fu Qinghai. Captain Adenna Conrad and Navigator Marco van Riel were there, and aside from Master Kunto, who was still hidden away in the lower-deck laboratory, all the important figures aboard the Shortsword had gathered.

"Bzzzt." After a brief flicker, a holographic projection appeared among them.

A middle-aged man appeared in the projection. He wore finely crafted blue Power Armor edged in gold, had a white cloak draped over his shoulders, and held a helmet in his arms. His short hair was golden.

He surveyed the group and spoke in a calm, steady voice. "Greetings, warriors of the White Scars."