The Death of Fu Qinghai

It was the ancient warrior Hiller.

That laconic veteran who never wasted words, the one who always stepped up at the critical moment to provide support to his brothers...

Gult held the severely wounded Vlahos in his arms, his eyes bloodshot as he watched this cruel scene unfold.

A veteran who had served and campaigned for The Emperor for over a thousand years, his body shattered, yet he could not find rest; he had to be interred within the sarcophagus of a life-support system to squeeze out the last of his utility for the Imperium of Man.

What immense loyalty this was!

And yet, such a diligent, battle-hardened veteran was being dragged out of his sarcophagus by the minions of Warp demons before he could even die in peace.

What immense blasphemy this was!

Fu Qinghai grimaced in discomfort.

He had just dealt with one Chaos Terminator.

Now, the Helbrute was standing up again.

They say that turning to darkness makes you three times stronger.

Possessed Marines are indeed far stronger than ordinary Space Marines.

But this corrupted Dreadnought was surely more than three times stronger than a standard one.

That Helbrute was still holding the mangled remains of the ancient warrior Hiller, howling madly at the sky.

This frenzied beast of Khorne had completely lost its remaining sanity, leaving only the desire for slaughter. An inhuman voice from the Warp roared from its mutated throat—

"Blood for the Blood God, skulls for the Skull Throne!"

A surviving Word Bearers marine heard this classic chant praising the Chaos Gods and excitedly stood up from the trench, roaring along with the Helbrute in a cathartic frenzy.

Then, he was swiped away by a lash from the Helbrute.

Fu Qinghai witnessed this scene.

Just as the rumors suggested, the Helbrute—a corrupted, demonic machine—possessed no sanity at all. On the battlefield, it made no distinction between friend and foe, knowing only slaughter. The servants of Chaos simply needed to deploy it at the right moment and sit back to watch it wreak havoc.

Fu Qinghai leaned down to pick up the double-bladed power axe that had belonged to the bald Word Bearer, his gaze heavy as he looked at the Helbrute in the distance.

How was this battle to be fought?

Fu Qinghai racked his brain, but found no answer.

He turned his head to see the grief-stricken Gult and the few remaining Ultramarines.

They were all exhausted and covered in wounds.

He saw the Howling Banshee standing proudly on the scorched earth, the power scimitar in her hand still dripping with blood.

Lying at her feet were two corpses of the Word Bearers.

Gult and the Ultramarines looked at Fu Qinghai in unison, the blazing flames of vengeance in their eyes telling Fu Qinghai their choice.

"Qingshan."

Gult's suppressed tone carried the resolve to die in battle this very day.

The Aeldari maiden, clad in bone-white form-fitting armor with a slender and agile figure, also looked at Fu Qinghai.

Though she wore a menacing mask, Fu Qinghai felt as if he could read her eyes beneath the red lenses.

A sense of resolute determination to face death.

Fu Qinghai looked at them and shook his head slightly.

He did not want to die yet.

His life of reincarnation had only just begun; he was not willing to die like this on this desolate, godforsaken planet.

In the distance, the Helbrute was already roaring as it charged toward them with heavy strides.

Fu Qinghai crouched down, ripped an electronic component from the neck armor near the dead bald Word Bearer, and pressed a few buttons on it.

Then, he tossed it to the Howling Banshee.

The Aeldari maiden caught the object, looked at the electronic component in her hand, and glanced at Fu Qinghai in confusion.

Fu Qinghai pointed to his own ear.

The Aeldari maiden lifted her mask, revealing a fleeting glimpse of a stunningly beautiful jawline, then hooked the electronic component onto her ear.

After the Aeldari maiden put her mask back on, Fu Qinghai hoisted the double-bladed axe and turned to face the Helbrute.

"This is the public channel. Hey, can you hear me?"

Fu Qinghai's voice, accompanied by slight electrical interference, rang out over the comms.

"I hear you."

The Aeldari maiden's voice was as cold and crisp as ever, like two ice cubes clinking together.

"I never got the chance to ask, what is your name?"

The Helbrute in the distance was closing in.

"Salamandruslan."

The ground trembled, and gravel sprang up from the earth.

"Alright, Salamanderuslan, follow my lead from here on out."

The Helbrute lunged forward, reeking of the bloody stench of the Warp.

A second before colliding with the massive, high-speed monstrosity, Fu Qinghai suddenly turned his head and roared:

"Gult, cover me, then take Vlahos and leave! Go, quickly! I can handle this!"

"BOOM!" A plasma beam crashed down.

Prepared, Fu Qinghai slid his feet and dropped into a trench, dodging the destructive beam.

The Ultramarines also opened fire, their bullets pinging and clattering against the Helbrute.

However, the Helbrute ignored the distant Ultramarines entirely, chasing Fu Qinghai while lashing out repeatedly with its power whip.

As Fu Qinghai scrambled to escape through the trenches and ditches, he glanced at the Helbrute's side and back, which had been scorched by the Contemptor Dreadnought's twin-linked melta cannon.

He discovered that while the steel plating and chassis structure had been melted into charred, curled ruins, perhaps because the Helbrute's existence and actions had pleased the Chaos God Khorne, more blood-red, proliferating flesh had grown out to cover the ablation cavity on its rear.

That evil, pulsating flesh wrapped around the chassis, bulging and contracting.

This was the troublesome nature of Chaos demons; the Warp possessed magical power that could distort reality.

"Fight and retreat, don't engage head-on."

Fu Qinghai said over the comms channel.

"We'll lure it toward the stern... watch out!"

As Fu Qinghai dodged and directed the tactics, the Helbrute's power whip suddenly swept horizontally toward the Howling Banshee.

Witnessing the Howling Banshee narrowly dodge the strike, Fu Qinghai immediately hacked his axe hard into the base of the Helbrute's chassis to continue drawing its aggro.

The two fought and retreated, quickly nearing the stern of the transport ship Bloody Worm.

There were other ranged attacks from the Ultramarines nearby, but the Helbrute remained locked onto the two of them, ignoring everyone else's fire.

Whenever the Howling Banshee spotted an opening, she would fire her shuriken pistol at the head of the pilot in the center, forcing the Helbrute to divert the arm carrying its plasma cannon to block the annoying monofilament discs.

Seeing they were almost at the stern of the transport ship, Fu Qinghai gripped the axe handle with both hands and threw it with all his might, the double-bladed axe spinning toward the Helbrute.

Then, Fu Qinghai turned around and, without looking to see the result of his attack, ducked into the ship's cabin without a backward glance.

He ran?

"Hold on, Sara, I need two minutes!"

Fu Qinghai's voice rang out over the comms channel.

The Aeldari girl gritted her teeth; instead of choosing to flee with him, she raised her shuriken pistol and fired another shot, actively drawing the Helbrute's attention.

After ducking through a hatch, Fu Qinghai sprinted through the transport ship's internal corridor.

He ran while scanning his surroundings, searching for something.

"Engine control room, engine control room..."

Fu Qinghai's eyes darted everywhere, his mouth muttering incessantly.

"Found it!"

Following the corridor littered with the corpses of Word Bearers and Ultramarines, Fu Qinghai spotted the nameplate for the engine control room.

Fu Qinghai stepped over the piles of bodies and blood, entering the engine control room.

"Damn it."

Seeing the chaotic, ruined equipment inside the cabin, Fu Qinghai slammed his fist against the bulkhead.

This engine control room had already been destroyed by the Ultramarines' explosives.

Fu Qinghai turned and walked out the door without hesitation to find the next one.

The transport ship had three sets of nine sub-light engines in total; theoretically, it required three engine control rooms to operate.

Fu Qinghai thought silently to himself.

Let's hope the Ultramarines under Vlahos weren't too efficient and didn't destroy all three of the Bloody Worm's engine control rooms.

He had risked his life to destroy the engine control rooms back then, yet now, the hope of turning the tide lay within them.

Fate was truly ironic.

Fu Qinghai ran to the outside of another engine control room.

There were no signs of combat here.

Fu Qinghai dove inside.

Excellent! The equipment inside was intact.

It was completely empty, with neither servitors nor crew members operating the controls.

But that didn't stump Fu Qinghai; he quickly walked to the equipment, and the mechanical arm on his back automatically unfolded and rose.

A mechanical tentacle extended from the mechanical arm's pincer, plugging into the connection port of the equipment.

Fu Qinghai had to seize control of this Logis Engine within one minute!

Fu Qinghai's eyes flashed with murderous intent, and the Tony Stark Electronic Soul Backup in his mind was already boiling with activity.

Outside the transport ship.

A slender, bone-white figure was darting and weaving around a Chaos Dreadnought.

The form-fitting armor outlined the owner's lithe and graceful physique, and her chest was currently rising and falling rapidly.

Clearly, focusing entirely on dodging the attacks of a Helbrute was no easy task, and the Aeldari maiden Salamandruslan was already struggling to catch her breath.

The Helbrute roared, and another strike from its Power Whip swept toward her!

Salamandruslan twisted her body to dodge in a hurry.

However, the tip of the Power Whip grazed the bone-white armor at her waist.

The moment it made contact with the Power Field, the bone-white armor hardened instantly; the Power Field did not tear through her waist, but the immense kinetic energy accompanying it sent her flying.

Salamandruslan heard the sound of a Spirit Stone embedded in her bone armor shattering.

She knew that the soul of a departed kin had blocked the blow for her.

"Bang!" The Howling Banshee, sent flying, crashed against the rocks.

She staggered to her feet.

She felt as if her legs were as heavy as lead, and the slender Power Scimitar in her hand seemed as difficult to wield as a Power Hammer.

The Aeldari maiden felt she could no longer hold on.

Just then, Fu Qinghai's voice suddenly rang out over the communication channel:

"Salamandra, now, immediately, get behind those three engine nozzles to your left!"

Salamandruslan's spirits lifted; she leaped backward to dodge an attack and then ran toward the position indicated by Fu Qinghai.

The three circular engine nozzles were arranged in a triangular formation, each large enough to fit an Astartes in Terminator Armor; the three nozzles stacked together were even taller than the Helbrute.

The Helbrute grinned hideously and gave chase.

Fu Qinghai was in the engine control room and could not see the situation at the stern of the ship, but when he heard a breathless voice reply over the communication channel:

"And then?"

Fu Qinghai immediately shouted: "I'll count to three, and you drop to the ground immediately!"

"One."

"Two."

The Helbrute landed another strike that grazed the Aeldari maiden just as she was preparing to unleash a Psychic Scream, knocking her helmet to the ground.

"Three!"

Salamandruslan quickly flattened herself against the ground.

If Fu Qinghai were lying to her, she would be unable to dodge while prone and would be torn to shreds by the Helbrute in the next second.

"BOOM---"

The three circular engine nozzles erupted with scorching white flames.

In an instant, they engulfed and submerged the massive Helbrute.

"Aaargh-ooh--"

A painful roar from the Warp echoed out, and the Helbrute standing within the flames of the engine nozzles could only be seen as a blurred, massive black shadow.

Fu Qinghai, in the engine control room, pushed the output power of this engine cluster to the maximum setting.

Salamandruslan on the ground rolled away in a hurry to avoid being scorched by the intense heat currents.

Fu Qinghai kept the engine power locked at maximum output; this was an output level that could only be briefly maintained when a spacecraft was accelerating at full throttle.

The blazing white flames continued to pour out.

They kept pouring.

They did not cease for a long time.

Until the nozzles overheated and automatically shut down to cool.

Finally.

The white flame currents slowly dissipated.

A withered, charred, carbonized upright object.

Stood silently behind the three engine nozzles.

"Hah..." The Aeldari maiden, still in a prone position, let out a long breath.

Fu Qinghai, standing quietly inside the engine control room, listened intently to the gasps of the Aeldari maiden coming through the communication channel.

"How is it, Sara?" he asked.

"It's dead."

Fu Qinghai could hear the joy of surviving a catastrophe hidden within the Aeldari girl's feigned calm voice.

Having taken down the Helbrute, Fu Qinghai was also very happy.

He won!

A smile reached Fu Qinghai's eyes.

The corners of his mouth curled up involuntarily.

Immersed in the joy of victory, he did not notice.

Outside the hatch behind him, a woman draped in a black robe and carrying a long, rod-shaped parcel appeared silently.

Infected by his teammate's joy.

Fu Qinghai grinned foolishly.

Suddenly, he sensed something was wrong.

He turned around abruptly.

"Shing!"

A black longsword was thrust deep into his chest.

"Urgh... urgh..."

Fu Qinghai stared blankly at the scene before him, slowly sinking to his knees.

He gripped the blade buried deep in his chest with both hands, as a large amount of bloody foam uncontrollably gushed from his mouth.

Before him, a white woman with a hood, deep eyes, a pointed chin, and a high nose bridge held the hilt, smiling as she looked at Fu Qinghai.

"Why... how... could you..."

Fu Qinghai lifted his eyes with great effort to look at the black-robed woman.

The black-robed woman smiled, her fair hands gripping the hilt as she twisted it hard.

"Ah... urgh..."

Fu Qinghai felt as if he could hear the sound of his own heart valves being shredded.

"Wow, I can feel it, the sound of a heart breaking; this feeling... is simply wonderful."

The woman spoke in standard English.

A large amount of thick blood spilled uncontrollably from Fu Qinghai's mouth and nostrils.

"Confused, aren't you? Wondering why this ancient cold weapon of mine, which lacks a Power Field or serrated edges, could pierce the indestructible Plasteel plating of your Power Armor?"

The woman asked with a light chuckle.

"I have waited a long time for this opportunity."

The woman continued.

"I have been hiding in the shadows observing you for a long time."

"You are strong, very strong."

"If you are a plot NPC, then you must be a very important plot character for the Loyalists. If you are a Reincarnator like me, a player, then you must be a powerful, high-level player in the faction of The Emperor."

"Regardless of which option it is, as long as I kill you and earn enough Assimilation Points, even if the plot mission fails, it's worth it, haha~"

"This is how I play in the Reincarnation World. Before you breathe your last, make sure you remember..."

The woman tucked a strand of black, slightly curly hair behind her ear and leaned close to Fu Qinghai's ear, whispering softly:

"Remember this sword, remember my name..."

"Alicia the Heartbreaker."

"Oh, I forgot to answer your biggest question before you die—this sword is a Valyrian Steel Sword."

"Its name."

"Is Heartbreaker!"