Don't miss this exciting event: Chapter 142: Bloodline is truth, nest is eternity! To stream the full version, click here.
Lower Hive South District, a square converted from an abandoned factory.
A huge rock wall was chiselled, and it was densely engraved with names. There was a number under each name. The font was crooked, but the carvings were so deep that you could cut your skin if you touched it with your fingers.
Victor·XXXX-001, ranked first at the top.
Tens of thousands of Genestealer believers crowded into the square, and the white light of the searchlights illuminated the rock wall like a burning wall.
No one spoke, only the whine of the wind passing through the iron fence.
Moria Bishop stood on the side of the high platform with the bishops' group, his eyes scanned the dark crowd under the stage, and his fingers crossed one number after another on the roster.
Fu Haoran stepped onto the high platform.
He was not wearing the governor's uniform, but was wearing the flight jacket from the battlefield, and there were still traces of gunpowder smoke on the collar that had not been cleaned off.
He glanced at the audience and his eyes stayed on the rock wall with names engraved on it for a few seconds.
"Three months ago." He spoke in a low voice, and the loudspeaker blasted every word into the ears of tens of thousands of people, "You were still huddled in the tunnel of Lower Hive, eating moldy Corpse Starch, and drinking water with radiation."
"Adeptus Arbites's patrol team is coming, you don't even dare to breathe loudly."
Someone in the audience clenched their fists.
"Now, you have a house to live in, you have energy bars to keep you fed, and you can walk on the streets openly."
"Mid-Hive people don't dare to look at you with disdain anymore when they see you."
Fu Haoran paused and looked around below.
"Who gave all this? It's not charity from the nobles, it's the owners of these names on the rock wall who paid for it with their lives."
Fu Haoran raised his hand and pointed to the name at the top of the rock wall, and his voice suddenly rose. "The name at the top, Victor! It was him who was the first to rush up and blow up Imperial Army's air defense position, using his own life to open up the door for us to win!"
"He can do it, and every one of you can do it!"
Some people in the audience began to tremble.
"Their names will be engraved here forever."
"Believers from generation to generation will remember them when they pass by. Their souls will ascend to the kingdom of God Four-Armed Emperor, where there is endless food to eat, endless clean water to drink, and the lights will never go out!"
Fu Haoran breathed a sigh of relief, and his voice became darker, but it was engraved in everyone's heart like a poison. "And those who hide behind and are afraid to take up arms, they don't deserve to live here, and they don't deserve to eat clean food."
"They are traitors to the bloodline, abandoned sons of God-Emperor."
Fu Haoran changed the topic and raised his voice again. "But God-Emperor is kind! Taking office Patriarch will only let you hide in the tunnel and wait for death, and let your children eat the moldy Corpse Starch with you!"
"And I will let your family live in Mid-Hive's house, let your children attend Hive City school, and let you no longer have to hide in the gutter for generations to come!"
The audience immediately exploded.
"Blood is the truth, and the nest is eternity!" Bishop Moria looked at Fu Haoran with admiration, and was the first to roar out, leading the bishops to shout in unison.
Tens of thousands of people roared along, and the sound shook the dust from the ceiling of the factory building.
The registration office was instantly overcrowded. Hundreds of believers reached out to grab the registration form at the same time, almost overturning the table.
Moria led the bishopric to maintain order and stuffed registration forms into the hands of believers one by one.
Fu Haoran boarded the Valkyrie gunboat. The emerald eyes of Lucifer on the opposite side swept across the crowd who were still shouting feverishly outside the window, and then fell back on him. His tone was somewhat mocking but not smiling:
"You are getting closer and closer to becoming a qualified superior. You can coax people to die on the battlefield and make them grateful. Your mouth is better than our Necrons soul reconstructor. Being hypocritical to your level is a kind of talent."
Fu Haoran is very sure that the other party is not praising him, but it is not important. The system's data will not lie to others.
[Genestealer Cult Loyalty: 99.97% (There are still people who are dissatisfied. This 0.03% gap shows that there is still room for improvement)]
[Complete Achievements: In the Name of the Father]
[Task evaluation: SSS (You have successfully brainwashed a group of believers and made them your fanatical followers)]
[Reward: Universal Points+50000, free attribute points +5]
[Detected the formation of Reincarnator command system, unlocked tactical aura--Assault Domain (upgradeable)]
[Effect: With Reincarnator as the center, within a radius of several hundred meters, the reaction speed of friendly units will be increased and the firing frequency will be accelerated; the molecular structure of enemy armor will become fragile in the force field, effectively reducing the protective effectiveness.]
[Battlefield with Reincarnator as the core, all attributes of friendly forces +5]
In the words of Warhammer, this is a heroic aura, so Fu Haoran is not worried about being discovered at all.
Fu Haoran, who was in a good mood, said, "Thank you for your affirmation. I just fulfilled their wishes and requirements."
"It's a misinterpretation." Lucifer glanced at him.
Fu Haoran shook his head. "Misunderstanding? I told them how dangerous the battlefield is, gave them weapons, and let them choose. They chose to die for Hive City. This is called faith, not misinterpretation."
Fu Haoran and Lucifer both know that Genestealer Cult is a dam. If water is not released from time to time, it may burst at any time.
Instead of spending all efforts to eliminate them in the future, it is better to let them shine on the battlefield.
Fu Haoran believes that this is the most cost-effective deal.
Raising a regular army that can fight tough battles, providing military pay, equipment, and pensions will cost the empire Throne Coin hundreds of thousands every month.
But these Genestealers believers, as long as they are given a full meal, a house, and an honor, they are willing to risk their lives.
"I just use the lowest cost for the highest battle damage ratio, and I can also clear the time bomb in Hive City, killing three birds with one stone."
Lucifer raised his eyebrows. "So you squeezed out every drop of the value of these heretics?"
"This is called the economics of raising Cultists."
Lucifer did not deny this.
"Besides," Fu Haoran walked back to the window, "These Genestealers, left in Lower Hive, will either be regularly eliminated by Adeptus Arbites, or captured by the Imperial Army and burned to death as heretics, rotting in the tunnel without even being able to leave a name."
"Now they can get dignity and honor, and they can walk on the streets openly. Even if they die in battle, they can have their names engraved on the monument. It's better than dying in the gutter."
Lucifer suddenly asked, "There are seven Hive City coalition forces on the opposite side. What are you going to fight with?"
"We can't afford to fight head-on, so we can only fight an asymmetric war." Fu Haoran's tone became serious.
"No matter how hard you struggle, it's all in vain." Lucifer concluded.
Fu Haoran was unhappy. "Believe it or not, within three months, I can make Cole's troops not even dare to step out of the camp gate."
Lucifer Give a polite yet graceful smile.
Well, I don't believe it at all.
Fu Haoran also got angry. "Do you want to make a bet? Within three months, Cole's main force does not dare to act alone."
"If you do it, don't stay in the command post all the time. You have to follow me wherever I go."
Lucifer raised his eyebrows. "You want me to be your bodyguard?"
"Don't put it so bluntly." Fu Haoran smiled, "After all, we are lovers in name only. Isn't it natural for us to go out for a walk together?"
"It's natural to protect me by the way..." someone added in a low voice.
"What if you lose?"
This stopped someone.
Seeing that Fu Haoran didn't answer, Lucifer took the initiative to speak, "You lost, the surgery must be put on the agenda, and your surgery must be scheduled before Tychus."
Fu Haoran's heart stopped for a moment. You know, Ronan has the super self-healing ability of a werewolf and almost didn't survive.
Change yourself...
"You don't dare anymore?" Lucifer asked with raised eyebrows.
"Haha, the weather is really nice today."
Early the next morning, Fu Haoran distributed two sets of materials: <Militia Training Manual> and <Hive City Friends of Dual-Use Talents>.
"Wade, these are distributed to all officers, and then each officer leads the soldiers and believers to execute them."
"Remember, don't teach believers doctrines, just tell them what to do."
Wade was flipping through the book "Hive City Friends of Dual-Purpose Talents", his expression became more and more strange, and his brows furrowed more and more tightly.
"Governor, if you give this thing to Genestealers, will it cause trouble for tigers?" Wade closed the book and couldn't help but ask.
"Their faith is with me, in the Kingdom of God of Four-Armed Emperor." Fu Haoran didn't even raise his head, "As long as I can give them dignity and honor, the guns in their hands will always be aimed at our enemies."
Thinking of the fanaticism of the believers during the day, Wade finally relaxed a little, closed the book, and said no more.
Moria led the bishopric and divided the believers participating in the war into teams of more than a dozen people based on blood purity and combat ability. Each team was assigned a clergyman from the bishopric, who was responsible for both tactical command and doctrinal brainwashing before the war.
It was she who personally comforted the families of those who died in the war with the bishops, delivered the pensions and Mid-Hive's house keys to the family members, and then preached to everyone:
"This is Intercessor's gift to the devout! Your dedication is seen by God-Emperor and Intercessor!"
The entire Lower Hive, under her control, turned into a seamless war machine.
Lower Hive's tunnels and squares are full of believers gathering around to read the manual.
The literate ones explained to the illiterate ones, and the veterans who had fought in the war taught the newcomers how to ambush and hit and run.
An atavistic believer with a broken arm, using bone claws to fix the steam tank. He is a fellow villager of Victor. Victor died in the battle. He will continue to rush to the front with his fellow villagers.
A newly adult mixed-race believer squatted in the corner, using his mutant claws to peel the sealing ring of the steam tank. His fingers were scratched by the iron piece and blood flowed, but he smiled with satisfaction.
Three months ago, he was snatching moldy Corpse Starch in the tunnel, and he was not even qualified to see the light of day.
Now, building bombs for sixteen hours a day is not hard labor in his eyes, but a gift given to him by Intercessor and belongs only to the devout.
Within half a month, Red Sand Hills completely turned into Cole's nightmare.
All the countermeasures Cole tried were all in Fu Haoran's predictions.
The entrance to the mine is blocked, so you have to go through the underground pipe network.
When the mine is dug, it switches to dual modes of pressure trigger and delay trigger.
The army's carpet search was broken into pieces and scattered throughout the ravines of the hills.
He had no intention of fighting a decisive battle with Cole. He just wanted to use the lowest cost to drag Cole's troops to death in Red Sand Hills until Joint Defense Alliance's reinforcements arrived, completely wearing down the opponent's morale.
The first Chimera convoy that went out for patrol had just driven three kilometers when the lead car was hit by a pressure cooker bomb buried in the sand.
The iron nails penetrated the chassis, and the soldiers in the car were covered in blood.
The few remaining cars turned around in panic and triggered a second bomb.
Cole ordered to send infantry to explore the road, poking the ground with probes at every step. The infantry walked for five kilometers without triggering any bombs, and then were ambushed by dozens of Genestealers believers at the entrance of an abandoned mine.
The believers rushed out of the mine tunnel, fought with Meltagun and Bolter for less than two minutes, turned around, ran away, got into the mine tunnel and disappeared into the darkness.
Imperial Army chased in. There were as many side roads as a spider web. After chasing for half an hour, he couldn't even find a shadow.
Cole ordered to use incendiary bombs to clear the entrance to the mine and seal all exits.
But there are hundreds of mine tunnel exits, and after clearing them out, ambushes pop up in the east and west.
He tried laying mines outside the camp, but the mines were dug up the next day and buried on the path that the patrol would pass.
What makes Cole collapse even more is that these heretics are always a small team of more than a dozen people, hit and run, and never willing to fight.
Even if the ambush is successful, they will never pursue him. They will turn around and disappear into the mine tunnel without a trace. There will be no chance of encirclement and suppression.
The losses in half a month were calculated: eleven Chimeras, seven Rhino assault vehicles were destroyed, and more than 300 soldiers were injured or killed.
The loot seized was several blown-up pressure cookers and several smashed mobile phones.
Cole slapped the table angrily. "Let Astropath send a request for help to the Joint Defense Alliance!"
The adjutant replied with an unsightly expression, "Colonel, Joint Defense Alliance replied that it will take at least a month for the other Hive City troops to complete their assembly. Even if they rush for reinforcements at full speed, it will take half a year to arrive."
Cole slammed his fist on the table and gritted his teeth.
He has been fighting for twenty years and has never seen such a shameless fighting style!
If he doesn't fight head-on, he's like a rat in the gutter, eating away his troops one by one without even giving him a chance to fight head-on.
Now, he can only survive the past six months on his own.
On the other side, Fu Haoran also has troubles.
Spread on the table are the financial statements sent by Jimmy and 2K World.
Three hundred thousand pressure cookers, two hundred thousand used mobile phones, three thousand tons of raw materials for civilian explosives, plus tens of thousands of test pickup trucks that disappeared one after another, the procurement costs accounted for 70% of the working capital.
The company suffered serious losses.
"Boss, the working capital on our account is less than US$30 million. We must find ways to expand our income."
Fu Haoran hung up the phone and rubbed his temples.
Winning a big battle is originally a happy thing.
However, "Garden World", which is its own rear area, actually has a fiscal deficit.
"Hey, the war is really expensive, and there is no money in the account again."
Fu Haoran picked up the financial report on the table, and saw that the densely packed expenditure items were so irritating to the eyes.
"Hey, it's really troublesome. I have to think of ways to make money again."