Hold On, Hold On

The rebels began to concentrate fire on Grey—heavy logging guns, lasrifles, solid-slug weapons... whatever they had, they threw at him. But none of it could land. Solid rounds were stopped cold, and energy weapons were deflected by the energy coating on his Power Armor's surface.

"For the Emperor!" Qin Mo raised his scepter and Chainsword high, charging at the nearby aberrations.

"To battle! For the Emperor!" The Planetary Defense Force officer leaped out of the trench, bellowing at his men.

The melee that had been interrupted by Qin Mo's sudden arrival now resumed in full chaos.

The fighting on the front lines was a mess, which played perfectly into the hands of Qin Mo, Grey, and anyone else in Power Armor.

They didn't even need to follow tactics—just advance slowly across the battlefield with their Gravity Shields up, sweeping the area with the multi-barreled energy cannons integrated into their gauntlets.

Even if rebel soldiers rushed them with bombs or bayonets, it didn't matter. They were all stopped by the Gravity Shield.

The most lethal threat to a Gravity Shield—energy weapons—couldn't even breach the Power Armor. Every joint on the armor housed a Shield Generator specifically designed to counter laser weapons. With just a trickle of power, it generated an energy coating on the armor's surface that deflected laser fire.

The Power Armor had only one flaw: extreme energy consumption. With all systems active in combat mode, it could sustain only an hour of fighting.

But the rebels didn't know that. And even if they did, it wouldn't matter—because unless the numbers gap was enormous, not many of them would survive that hour.

"Shut down the Power Armor's energy coating. Reroute all power to the weapon systems. Full firepower!" Grey sprinted over to Qin Mo, who was steadily advancing and focusing on the aberrations, covering his advance while issuing commands to the armor.

When the armor integrity display below the HUD showed the coating deactivated, the weapon systems received maximum energy.

In the Power Armor Qin Mo had designed, energy could be freely reallocated.

For example, pouring all power into the Gravity Shield expanded its effective range, or funneling it into the weapon systems made the integrated arm cannons hit harder and fire faster.

Grey's Gravity Shield overlapped with Qin Mo's—the closest two shield-bearers could get.

Grey did his best to gun down the infantry that didn't need Qin Mo's special attention, while Qin Mo focused entirely on using his transcendent power to pick off the aberrations.

"For the Emperor! For the Emperor!" Grey's helmet stared straight ahead. The integrated smart system in his Power Armor tagged every enemy in his field of view, and Grey swept his multi-barreled lascannons across them until the markers vanished, then moved on to the next group.

Unsurprisingly, both of them drew concentrated fire.

Solid rounds were easily intercepted by the Gravity Shield. A few stray laser shots left scorch marks on the armor, and whenever that happened, Grey swung his guns toward the source and laid down suppressing fire.

Even if the rebels dragged over heavy logging guns or anti-armor artillery and opened fire, it was useless. The moment they fired, they'd face Grey's full attention.

"I am the Emperor's champion! Taste my wrath, you heretical bastards!" Grey shouted in exhilaration. He felt invincible, untouchable, and the rebels helpless against his Gravity Shield were nothing but ants.

"..." Qin Mo killed an aberration with a bolt of lightning, then turned to look at Grey. He couldn't see Grey's face inside the armor, but he could guess.

The others scattered across the battlefield, slaughtering rebels in their Power Armor, were the same.

Soldiers who once had to dodge and weave in combat, praying to the Emperor that the next bullet wouldn't find them, now strode invincibly across the battlefield in Power Armor. It was hard not to get the illusion that they were unstoppable.

Grey and the others needed time to adapt.

But Qin Mo, the man who built these suits, felt nothing. He still thought it wasn't exciting enough, efficient enough.

He had always wanted to create his masterpiece—not just a piece of tech or a weapon, but a goal.

The goal was simple: send soldiers into battle, and have them kill the most enemies in the shortest time with the fewest numbers.

Qin Mo multitasked, splitting his focus—most of his mind on his thoughts, the rest on the fight.

Until the last aberration was reduced to charcoal by lightning, and the remaining rebel soldiers broke, fleeing in panic.

"The Emperor above! Victory!" Grey raised both arms in triumph. The multi-barreled lascannons on his Power Armor's gauntlets were spinning so fast they spat sparks.

"Yeah, we won." Qin Mo turned coldly, looking at the allied soldiers who had fought alongside them.

Two officers of regimental rank stepped forward. When they saw the Aquila Scepter in Qin Mo's hand and the Power Armor he wore, they immediately assumed he was either a noble or the elite of the elite—either way, above their pay grade.

"Salute to you." The two officers performed the Aquila salute, and the rest of the soldiers followed suit.

"The Emperor guided me to reinforce you." Qin Mo accepted their respect without hesitation, and used it to speak words that would lift their spirits.

Sometimes, lies mattered more than the truth.

For soldiers struggling in the dangerous underhive, believing the Emperor was watching over them was the greatest morale boost.

And they had no way to disprove it.

Otherwise, how could they explain six people dropping from the sky at the critical moment, cutting through the rebels like vegetables until their morale shattered?

"The Emperor above..."

"Praise the Emperor! Praise the Lord of Humanity!"

The soldiers looked up, as if the hundreds of meters above them weren't a dark space filled with massive pipes, but a sky clear enough to see the stars.

Watching their joy, Grey raised a hand and scratched his helmet, then turned to Qin Mo.

Feeling the gaze, Qin Mo turned back and shrugged. "Special circumstances... I... you know."

Grey nodded silently.

"Ahem!" Qin Mo cleared his throat, drawing everyone's attention. He pulled a communication device from the Jump Pack on his back. "This comm unit has a Psychic Power Suppressor built in. You can use it to communicate. If you run into a psyker, try to toss this thing near them."

"Thank you for your generous gift." The officer reached out and took the device. "What should we do next?"

"Hold the line." Qin Mo said two words.

"With all due respect, sir, if we stay here and the rebels attack again while you go save someone else, we're dead."

"Hold the line." Qin Mo emphasized.

"Yes," the officer nodded.

"I won't let you stand here like fools on a shattered position." Qin Mo walked forward, picked a spot of ground that was still intact, and unleashed his most practiced skill.

Under the astonished gazes of the crowd, a fortress was rapidly constructed.

His Star God abilities had been honed to greater refinement. When building this fortress, the range of physical distortion he could apply had expanded fourfold, naturally doubling the construction speed.

"Hold the line. If the situation turns dire, contact me with the communicator. I'll arrive within a day. If I can't make it, keep holding out. Either way, this position must not fall," Qin Mo instructed.

"You'll only hear news of this position falling from others," the officer said, his gaze firm, his right hand gripping the Chainsword at his waist. "Because by then, every officer and soldier of the 87th and 31st Regiments will have returned to the Golden Throne."