Masterpiece-Class Organism

Night.

When news of the successful daytime decapitation operation had just been announced, the entire front had already advanced a hundred kilometers.

The Composite Regiment under Duncan's command had moved so quickly that it had to stop at dusk and wait for the friendly forces.

For the ground troops, today was undoubtedly a good day, because they had indeed won.

But as they sat around the campfires waiting for food, there was something dazed beneath everyone's excitement.

"Didn't we win a little too easily?"

"I thought this was going to be a fight to the death."

"The Emperor bless us. No matter what, we did win."

As his subordinates discussed the outcome of the battle, Duncan recalled the events of the day.

Advance.

Those two words were enough to summarize the entire day, as well as the first victory since the counteroffensive began across the front.

At first, the rebels' resistance had been fierce. Then it became especially fierce. Then their line suddenly collapsed, and all they could find along the way were rebels fleeing in blind panic.

If Duncan wanted to write a memoir, he could only write one sentence:

We advanced. Under the cover of Artillery Drones and countless drones, we advanced without stopping. We cleared out the enemies who had survived the bombardments and occupied one strategic location after another.

"When we possess powerful firepower and are fully prepared, our battles should be this smooth. I do not believe in genius command tactics or strategy, nor do I enjoy gambling against the enemy in war. I only believe in the strongest weapons, the fiercest firepower, and the sturdiest armor."

A voice interrupted their discussion.

The soldiers seated around every campfire all rose to their feet at the sound, turning toward its source.

Qin Mo and his guards in Terminator Power Armor were walking over from nearby.

Everyone immediately gathered around Qin Mo and respectfully gave him the Aquila salute.

Qin Mo's gaze swept across the crowd before finally settling on Duncan. "I heard about your brave performance during the day. You were the first to lead your troops this far, and you annihilated many organized Rebel units along the way. Well done."

"Your recognition honors both me and my soldiers." Duncan was delighted to receive such praise. "We have also learned of your decapitation operation. Had you not eliminated the Rebel leadership, we could not have advanced so smoothly."

"I have to admit that is true." Qin Mo smiled and nodded, then began looking over the others present as he continued forward.

Duncan silently followed behind him, wondering why Qin Mo had come in person.

There had to be an important combat mission.

"Is there anything you need?" Qin Mo turned and asked Duncan.

"We only need more rebels to destroy," Duncan answered.

"That is your opinion. You are not a Psyker, so you cannot perceive the thoughts of all your subordinates. Let them answer me now," Qin Mo said.

The soldiers then gathered before Qin Mo, talking over one another as they made their requests.

Many hoped to have backpacks fitted onto their Power Armor. Others wanted their Power Armor equipped with higher-capacity batteries. Some hoped to receive alcohol after the current phase of the campaign ended.

After the soldiers made their various requests, a guard in Terminator Power Armor named Anreda recorded them all.

Anreda was one of the survivors of the 44th Regiment. His original duty had been serving as Burl's clerk, so he was highly skilled at this work.

"I will ensure that every one of your requests is fulfilled," Qin Mo told them.

This was not an empty promise. It truly could be done.

For the Logistics Machines that produced goods using matter-printing technology, these requests were absurdly easy.

After recording everyone's needs, Qin Mo said to Duncan, "The purpose of my visit was to inspect the situation and ask what you need. From here on, you only need to do what you are supposed to do: attack and occupy."

"Yes, sir." Duncan stood at attention and saluted.

At that moment, a transport craft had already flown overhead. The thrust produced by its Anti-Gravity Engine was not particularly loud, and those present could only hear its low hum.

"Keep up your morale. Keep up your efficiency." Qin Mo gave this final instruction, then turned and led his guards onto the transport craft. They departed for the next regiment's position.

This sort of post-battle appearance had not been Qin Mo's own idea. Klein had suggested it.

Klein believed that visiting each regiment in turn at this time, showing himself and giving the soldiers some benefits, could solidify Qin Mo's authority within the military.

Because Terminator Power Armor had appeared everywhere during the previous integration of the defense line, the soldiers were also happy to see these armored guards.

But the greatest benefit of appearing everywhere was stabilizing morale. After all, Qin Mo was about to research weapons targeting the Gene Stealers, and at least for a short time, he could not personally appear in the war.

After spending an entire Terra day visiting every unit, Qin Mo returned to his cave laboratory within the fortress.

As he placed the blood extracted from the Patriarch into a matter analyzer and waited for the results, Qin Mo fell into thought while watching the machine he had created operate.

He was not thinking about weapons. He was thinking about the decapitation operation.

The Gene Stealer Patriarch's Psychic Power far surpassed that of any other individual, yet it had not even managed to use Psychic Power during the battle.

It had indeed wanted to use it, but every time it mobilized its Psychic Power, it seemed to be interrupted. Every attempt ended with it falling to the ground.

It was as if someone had silenced the Patriarch.

Qin Mo knew very well that this had not been caused by his own power. While he was immune to the mental influence of Psychic Power, he was not a walking Blackstone and could not prevent Psychic Power from being released.

Otherwise, the bishop who had arrived afterward would not have been able to use Psychic Power.

Who had interfered with the Patriarch?

Ding, ding, ding!

As he pondered, the analysis results came out.

An analysis report of several hundred thousand words appeared on the analyzer's screen. Qin Mo stopped thinking about those strange matters and walked over to examine the results.

The information on the screen scrolled rapidly. After Qin Mo finished reading it, he reached a conclusion.

Extracting biological tissue from the Patriarch rather than another Gene Stealer individual had been the correct choice. Its genetic information far surpassed that of the other hybrid individuals and was the most comprehensive. Any weapon created using its genes would inevitably cover the broadest range of targets.

But the Gene Stealer Patriarch was also constantly adapting and changing. Its genes had already altered while adapting to the environment of Hive Terra.

Simply put, the Patriarch's genes could indeed be used to create a weapon, and that weapon could indeed end the war.

But such a weapon would only be effective within Hive Terra's environment. Even on another planet in the same star system, if there were Gene Stealers there as well, it would likely no longer work.

Because even differences in air density or levels of pollution could cause many changes in the Gene Stealer Patriarch's genes.

"Who created you?"

"What a masterpiece."

Qin Mo turned and stared at all the biological tissue taken from the Patriarch, speaking with heartfelt admiration.

He even began to think that if he were to create a biological weapon species—assuming he could—he would create one like the Gene Stealer Patriarch.

The Gene Stealer Patriarch could already be called a masterpiece. The Tyranids, then, had to be called works of divine craftsmanship.

Nor could he rule out the possibility that the Tyranids were a naturally evolved species, but the odds were exceedingly slim unless their evolutionary environment had been perfect.

For example, if they had been born on a planet where the environment underwent earth-shaking changes constantly, they would have been forced to evolve rapidly enough to adapt, until evolution itself became the skill they excelled at most.

"Focus on what is in front of me." Qin Mo cleared his thoughts and concentrated on researching and creating the weapon.