Synthetic Meat

Qin Mo had not taken part in the battle at all.

Grot strode through the enemy encirclement, spraying enemies with the weapon mounted on his hand. After being modified into something resembling a shotgun, the weapon had become even more effective; at its extremely rapid rate of fire, every shot covered a swath of enemies.

Grey unleashed his full firepower, making skillful use of his Shoulder Cannon.

On the HUD inside his helmet, the lower-left corner displayed an overhead view transmitted by the Recon Drone, with every Rebel marked on the screen.

The Recon Drone could also coordinate with the Shoulder Cannon. When the cannon adjusted its firing angle, an indicator for the blast radius would appear directly on the HUD, ensuring there would be no awkward misses after firing.

By the time the rebels broke and chose to flee, the battle was over.

Grey and Grot returned to Qin Mo's side, and the three of them headed into the large bunker together.

Every survivor inside the bunker watched the three with reverence. They came over from all around, knelt on one knee, and gazed at the Double-headed Eagle on the scepter in Qin Mo's hand.

"Who is the highest-ranking officer among you?" Qin Mo asked as he walked.

"That would be me, my lord." A Regimental Commander wearing the same shoulder insignia as Klein stepped forward, approached Qin Mo, and knelt on one knee.

Qin Mo looked down at the Regimental Commander and gave him an order. "Your current strength is 472. That is too few. There is no need to hold this position. Proceed west immediately and join up with the other units."

"Yes." The Regimental Commander nodded, somewhat surprised. Even he did not know how many men remained now that the battle had just ended.

Qin Mo's order was immediately carried out.

The soldiers gathered at the position with all their weapons and supplies.

Of these fewer than five hundred people, nearly half were wounded. Some were supported by their comrades, while others were carried on metal sheets.

Making these people march more than seventy kilometers was truly asking too much.

Qin Mo could only summon the Transport Drones and have the wounded board them first.

Seeing the kindness Qin Mo showed toward the injured and disabled, the Regimental Commander finally could not help asking a somewhat inappropriate question. "Are you a general? Does our defensive line still exist?"

Qin Mo had not wanted to answer, but he felt their burning gazes and decided to respond after all. "I do not know whether the defensive line established after the offensive plan failed still exists, but I have already begun establishing a new one. There are currently two fortresses."

Upon hearing that there were only two fortresses, grief and despair appeared on the soldiers' faces.

Qin Mo decided to say something to raise their morale, but just as he was about to speak, a buzzing sound came from the sky.

Everyone was drawn by the buzzing and looked up.

Five black spheres suddenly descended from the air. They stopped half a meter above the ground and hovered there, mechanical arms extending from within them to pick up anything useful around the position.

Seeing that his Logistics Machines had arrived, Qin Mo looked away and continued with his morale-boosting speech. "Soldiers, we..."

"Rrrgh!"

A low growl rang out.

Not far away lay an Aberrant whose chest was riddled with holes, yet it was still alive. Growling, it rose to its feet and staggered forward while dragging an iron pickaxe, glaring viciously at Qin Mo.

One of the Logistics Machines happened to search its way over to the surviving Aberrant. Its mechanical arm retracted into its body and extended again with a sword in hand, swiftly killing the Aberrant before collecting its corpse.

"Do not worry, everyone. It is one of our machines," Qin Mo told them.

The soldiers nodded, then looked back at Qin Mo, waiting for him to finish the words that had been interrupted twice.

"Compatriots, loyal servants of the Emperor, we... wait." Qin Mo suddenly remembered something and opened a communication channel to the Master Control Intelligence. "Why are you collecting Aberrants? Do not tell me they are for eating."

The Master Control Intelligence immediately responded. "According to my scans and observations, Rebel corpses can be repurposed. After undergoing multiple processing procedures, they will be completely non-toxic. Using them as nutritional supplements will produce no adverse effects."

"I... forget it." Qin Mo did not dwell on it any longer. He understood that supplies were scarce now. Even if that Aberrant had been turned into nutrient paste, they could only hold their noses and eat it.

The Logistics Machines collected not only enemy corpses, but friendly corpses as well.

After collecting the corpse of a fallen soldier, a Logistics Machine walked over to the Regimental Commander.

"I am still alive." The Regimental Commander panicked slightly, thinking the machine intended to collect him too.

The Logistics Machine did not respond, nor was it capable of responding. It paused silently for a moment, then a square opening opened in its shell.

While everyone around them wondered what this meant, a clang suddenly sounded. A square object shot out from the opening and landed in the Regimental Commander's hands.

The face of the fallen soldier was carved onto it, with a line of text beneath it: Ash block of one who died bravely in the underhive.

"..."

The Regimental Commander was a little bewildered.

Qin Mo heard the Master Control Intelligence say, "Humans have a habit of commemorating the dead."

The Logistics Machines continued their work and soon cleared the entire battlefield, then rose into the air and flew toward the next location.

"My lord." As the Regimental Commander motioned for his men to pack away the dead soldiers' ash blocks, he said, "I will follow your orders and proceed to the position due west to join the friendly forces."

"Good." Qin Mo nodded and took out a communicator, handing it to the Regimental Commander. "If you encounter danger on the way, use this to contact me. The channel has already been set. Also, if you run into a Psyker, you can throw this thing at her. It has the effect of a Psy-Suppressor."

"Thank you, my lord." The Regimental Commander nodded and headed west.

After watching everyone leave, Qin Mo ordered the Master Control Intelligence, "Gather intelligence on the other positions as quickly as possible."

"Received. Recon Drones are already under construction."

Night.

The fortress held by the 47th Regiment.

Logistics Machines descended from the sky, set down metal crates filled with food, and then left.

The soldiers collected their food, and ten minutes later, thunderous cheers erupted throughout the fortress.

Qin Mo, who was constructing the fourth set of Power Armor, was drawn out of the cave by the cheers and went aboveground to see what was happening.

"This stuff is seriously delicious." Klein carried a box of food over to Qin Mo, speared a piece with his fork, put it into his mouth, and chewed with an intoxicated expression.

Qin Mo glanced at the food in Klein's hands. It was solid synthetic meat.

"Is it good?" Qin Mo asked.

"Mhm, mhm." Klein nodded vigorously, then glanced at Qin Mo and clutched the meal box tightly to his chest. "That kid Grey brought you a portion. You cannot have mine."

"Do not worry. I do not want to share," Qin Mo said with a nod.

As they spoke, Grey came over toward the cave carrying two meal boxes. He handed one to Qin Mo, then placed his own box in Klein's hands.

"Are you crazy?" Klein stared at Grey in disbelief. He had actually given him such delicious food.

Grey said nothing and walked off with his head lowered.

"Enjoy your feast." Smiling, Qin Mo placed his own portion in Klein's hands as well, then returned to the cave to continue manufacturing.

Klein watched Qin Mo's retreating figure, then lowered his head to look at the three portions of food in his hands and fell into deep thought.