The Mechanic Girl's Rage

Lin Fan ducked beneath a barrage of bullets, gritting his teeth as he looked at the assorted civilian vehicles outside the window. Thank the Emperor, the transport vehicle's massive size allowed the assault squad soldiers riding on it to fire down at the rioters from above. Its heavy armor could withstand all those improvised firearms, while the engine Delia had modified unleashed astonishing power. However, Delia said this was terribly damaging to the Machine Spirit, and the vehicle might break down before they even reached their destination. Lin Fan told her not to worry about that for now. He believed the Machine God would protect them.

And so came the current scene: Delia, flushed with excitement, was like an unlicensed driver who had just learned how to street race. She rammed wildly through the various vehicles trying to surround them, crushing them into twisted sheets of metal stuck to the ground.

"Do you want to ram me?! Are you even worthy?!" Delia watched the little toy cars constantly interfering on either side of her. An unhealthy flush colored her face, and her voice carried an excitement utterly unlike her previous shy demeanor. With a sharp turn of the wheel, she drove the vehicle's weight straight over the presumptuous little car.

The screech of tearing metal made everyone in the assault squad cringe. Only Delia still looked thrilled. Lin Fan covered his face helplessly, thinking this mechanic girl had probably been suppressing herself for far too long. "Listen, listen, don't get so excited. We still have to reach headquarters."

"I know, I know!"

Lin Fan hoped she really did know. Silently invoking The Emperor's name, he extended his Lasgun through the window and continued returning fire.

His precise bursts struck the moving vehicles' tire connections perfectly, instantly robbing them of stability and speed. They rolled hard across the broad, paved road, flinging out countless parts along with their passengers.

"Sir! There's a fast-moving monster chasing us from behind! What do we do?!"

Hearing his soldiers' warning, Lin Fan immediately turned toward the rear. A hulking figure in jet-black armor, decorated with golden patterns and countless spikes, was sprinting toward them at incredible speed. It was already faster than the transport vehicle, and the distance between them was shrinking rapidly. It would board the vehicle any moment now.

"My God." Lin Fan's head spun. Just how lucky was he? Not only had he run into a Chaos rebellion, but he had also encountered those black bad brothers under the topknot's command on a mission? It seemed the earlier communications blackout had a perfectly good explanation. These black-armored superhumans must have assaulted the headquarters or something similar, disrupting the entire planet's communications network and preventing this poorly defended world from sending out even the slightest distress signal.

Black Legion Chaos Space Marines

It was even possible that the Adeptus Mechanicus branch stationed here had been slaughtered to the last man. Delia, as a tech-priest capable of repairs, had naturally become one of their targets. Otherwise, Lin Fan did not believe that his mere ten-man assault squad of ordinary humans could attract such a terrifying figure.

"Who cares what it is?! Shoot it first!"

"Wait!" Lin Fan had barely opened his mouth to stop his soldiers' reckless move when that ignorant idiot had his head perfectly blown apart by the Bolt Pistol in the hand of the sprinting Black Legion warrior. The poor bulletproof helmet was barely tougher than paper against a bolt round, and cooked brain matter and blood sprayed over everyone.

"My God, that was a Bolter! What the hell is that thing?" Damian shrieked, his voice cracking like that of an old eunuch.

With a grating roar of torn metal, the Black Legion Space Marine drove his blasphemous Chainsword deep into the transport vehicle's heavy rear plate, then climbed upward at astonishing speed.

Lin Fan gritted his teeth, leaned out, and unleashed a barrage at the Chaos Space Marine. As expected, a bolt round struck his head squarely as well. The impact knocked him to the floor, and his helmet shattered into pieces.

"Sir!" Everyone rushed over anxiously to check on Lin Fan.

"I'm fine. I dodged it by luck." Lin Fan brushed the fragments of his helmet from his head and gave an explanation that sounded both reasonable and absurd. "Damian, give me your fragmentation grenade."

Damian hurriedly pulled out his grenade and handed it to Lin Fan. Just as Lin Fan took it, a shadow fell over them from behind. The Chaos Space Marine stood before the group.

The Chaos Space Marine in power armor stood over three meters tall, completely blocking everyone's view. Covered in blasphemous symbols and pulsing with profane power, he left the assault squad standing there blankly, paralyzed by instinctive terror.

But the Chaos Space Marine did not care about that. He did notice, however, that Lin Fan—the man whose head he had just blown apart—was standing with his back to him.

"Interesting." The Chaos Space Marine was certain that his previous shot had struck this man directly in the forehead. Whether by the feel of the shot or the scrutiny of his superhuman vision, there should have been no chance of this person surviving.

Was it the Corpse Emperor's protection? For a mere human soldier?

Though countless thoughts ran through his mind, his hands did not slow in the slightest. The Chainsword clenched in his right hand swept toward Lin Fan at high speed. He only needed to gut him, kill everyone in the vehicle, and regroup with the other two.

Unfortunately, Lin Fan was no ordinary Astra Militarum grunt.

In a burst of speed incomprehensible to the assault squad, Lin Fan dodged and drew the monomolecular dagger he carried, stabbing viciously toward the Chaos Space Marine.

Startled by such speed, the Chaos Space Marine adjusted instantly. The sword stroke that had seemed slow and powerless in his eyes was infused with new force. The others could no longer see the blade itself; they only saw a streak of light flashing toward Lin Fan.

In that instant, Lin Fan caught the Chainsword's trajectory and blocked it with his monomolecular dagger. But unfortunately, his body was still sent flying uncontrollably into the vehicle.

The Chaos Space Marine did not stop. His left-hand Bolt Pistol fired several more shots at Lin Fan, while the Chainsword in his right hand swept through several assault squad soldiers before charging at Lin Fan. Blood and organs spilled across the floor, steaming and reeking. In those few seconds of combat, Damian, who had never seen anything on such a scale, was already terrified senseless. He sat frozen in place, unable to move, able only to watch the Black-armored Warrior charge Lin Fan with the force of an armored vehicle.

Lin Fan felt the armor on his body shattering as well. He hurriedly climbed to his feet, preparing to face the Chaos Space Marine's second attack.

The moment he stood up, the Chainsword was already at his throat.

The Chaos Space Marine's doubts deepened. Not even another Space Marine could take several bolt rounds head-on and act as if nothing had happened. Yet this human had taken at least an entire magazine of bolt rounds from him and remained completely unharmed. To avoid dragging things out, the Chaos Space Marine decided to bring down this strike with all his strength. He swore to sever Lin Fan's head.

He felt none of the expected smooth sensation of slicing through butter. Instead, the Chainsword in his hand shattered apart like a glass rod.

The eyes hidden beneath his helmet revealed utter disbelief. The blasphemous Chainsword that had accompanied him through countless years of war, tempered and empowered by the Warp, had shattered so easily—and had failed to leave even the slightest wound.

"What the—!" Unable to accept reality, the Chaos Space Marine had just begun to curse when Lin Fan drove his dagger into the center of his helmet in a desperate counterattack. The thin, light monomolecular dagger pierced the sturdy helmet of Ceramite and Adamantium as easily as if it were butter, stabbing straight through the Chaos Space Marine's skull.

The Chaos Space Marine howled in agony. His altered body granted him immense vitality, allowing him to survive for a short while even with such a grievous wound. But Lin Fan's hand did not slow. He repeatedly stabbed into the Space Marine's helmet until it was unrecognizable.

The terrifying warrior of the Black Legion thus breathed his last at Lin Fan's hands, becoming a massive, cold corpse.

And from beginning to end, it had all taken only four or five seconds.