Taking Totka City

"Enter the city. Hunt down anyone carrying a weapon."

Standing atop the city wall, Gray issued the order coldly.

"Yes."

The Space Marines silently leaped down from the wall and scattered in all directions, searching for enemies carrying weapons.

Hearing the gunfire from the city walls, gang members throughout Totka City grabbed their rifles and ran toward them. Some gang members who were closer to the walls had just rounded a corner.

When they saw a figure nearly three meters tall, clad in ornate armor and aiming an enormous rifle at them. As the gang member at the front was still wondering how someone wearing such magnificent armor had appeared in the Underhive—

The massive firearm in the other party's hands had already fired. With a single shot, the Ripper Rifle blasted the bodies of the gang members in front into pieces.

The gang member who had been puzzled no longer had any questions.

Seeing the armored figure attack first, the gang members behind them raised their rifles and opened fire on the Space Marine.

Amid the rapid bang bang bang of gunfire came several booming reports from a massive weapon. By the time this Space Marine stopped pulling the trigger, every gang member opposite her had been blasted to pieces.

"Trash."

A disdainful voice came from the Space Marine's helmet. It was a woman's voice.

Looking over the scan results displayed in her helmet, the Space Marine discovered several people hiding inside the houses. None of them had weapons, so they were probably civilians.

The Space Marine ignored those hiding in the rooms and continued deeper into the city with her Ripper Rifle. Fierce gunfire rang out everywhere throughout the city.

"Monster! This damned monster—why won't it die?!"

A gang boss stared at the towering giant before him and screamed in terror. His body had collapsed to the ground as he scrambled backward with both hands and feet.

His face was filled with terror, none of the former majesty he had once wielded over the lives and deaths of the poor remaining.

He had led more than three hundred gang members to reinforce the city walls, only to encounter this towering giant midway. The moment the other party saw their densely packed group, he opened fire without a word and slaughtered them all. More than three hundred people.

In just a few minutes, every one of them had been killed by the monster before him. Their weapons had been utterly useless against it.

"Any last words?"

The Space Marine looked at the gang boss, whose courage had been completely shattered, and asked mockingly.

"Don't kill me. I have powerful backers. I know nobles from the upper levels—I work for noble lords. I can introduce you to important people. You're so powerful; the important people will definitely value you, and you'll enjoy glory and wealth."

The gang boss said, trembling.

Even at death's door, the gang boss was still trying to recruit the Space Marine. As long as this Space Marine accepted his offer, he would have a chance to survive.

"Are those your last words? Unfortunately, your terms are of no use to me. I am loyal only to the Lord of the Stars."

The Space Marine's voice came from his helmet. The gang boss's offer meant nothing to him.

If he had still been struggling in the Underhive as he once was, he would certainly have been tempted by the gang boss's proposal before death.

The Space Marine raised one foot and crushed the gang boss's head. Blood splattered in every direction as the skull burst apart.

After killing the gang boss, the Space Marine continued searching the city for gang members with his weapon in hand.

The fierce sounds of fighting within Totka City gradually died down. Once the Space Marines had cleared out all the gang members in the city, they gradually withdrew and assembled outside the city.

Seeing the bloodstains on the Space Marines' power armor, Gray knew that the gang members in the city had basically all been eliminated. Now, they only needed to wait for the Navy and Defense Force personnel to arrive.

The forward base had been secured. The remaining regions would be fought over by the Space Marines alongside the Navy personnel.

"Rest where you are. Check your ammunition."

Gray issued the order over the communications channel.

"Yes."

The voices of every Space Marine answered through Gray's communications channel.

Having completed their mission, the Space Marines returned to their motorcycles. Those who had expended a lot of ammunition placed their empty magazines atop the motorcycles' dashboards.

Once the dashboard detected the items, it opened and drew the empty magazines inside. More than ten seconds later, it opened again, and every empty magazine had been refilled. The Space Marines returned the replenished magazines to their weapon belts.

They continued maintaining their weapons. Though it had only been a small battle, weapon maintenance after combat was a compulsory lesson for every Space Marine.

After resting in place for more than ten minutes, countless heavy armored vehicles, tanks, and troop carriers came driving from the direction the group had arrived from. Many vehicles still bore fresh bloodstains on their hulls.

Although the Space Marines had cleared the way ahead and killed many powerful alien creatures, some alien creatures had still escaped their notice.

The sounds made by the convoy as it traveled drew the attention of those alien creatures, and the Navy and Defense Force had killed quite a few of them along the way.

Rows of brilliant headlights illuminated the empty Underhive as brightly as day. The vehicles stopped when they reached the Space Marines.

A burly man jumped down from an armored vehicle at the head of the convoy. Wearing black force-feedback power armor, he strode toward Gray, removed his helmet, tilted his head up at the towering Gray, and said with a smile:

"Captain Gray, you finished the battle quickly. We hurried all the way here, but still failed to catch the first fight."

Seeing Latus remove his helmet, Gray had no choice but to remove his own as well. Smiling, he said:

"Couldn't be helped. This is also the first official mission for us Space Marines. We used to train in the 'Metaverse,' so we've been eager for a real battle."

As they spoke, the two extended their right hands and bumped fists in the air.

At that moment, the commander of the First Defense Force Regiment also walked over and joined the conversation.

"Captain Gray, that wasn't very sporting of you. You didn't even leave us any scraps."

Anrida also raised his head to look at Gray and teased him.

Faced with the teasing from the two men, Gray could only smile awkwardly. He showed hostility only when facing Mendeleev, who had once been a noble. Toward these officers who had all been born in the Underhive, Gray's attitude was relatively gentle.

"Commander Anrida, we've taken Totka City. Now we need you to pacify the civilians inside. You're more familiar with this sort of thing."

Gray turned to business as he looked at the two men.

Hearing Gray's words, Anrida patted the ceramite armor on his chest and said solemnly, "Leave it to me. I'll handle it properly."

Thank you, godfathers, for your support. I'm deeply grateful.