With a Whoosh

The two went downstairs. Li Qinwu headed straight for the forest, picked up an Autogun from a corpse, and checked its condition.

The Psyker thought Li Qinwu was going to take a weapon and attack him. He had already gathered Psychic Power, intending to restrain him, and the Warp energy leaking from him had begun freezing the ground.

But Li Qinwu merely slung the gun over his back and ran toward the next one, showing no intention of attacking him. The Psyker dispersed the Psychic Power he had gathered and watched Li Qinwu curiously.

"What are you doing?"

Li Qinwu picked up a third gun and strapped it on, then pounced toward the fourth.

"Picking up money!"

He could not be bothered to explain and focused on finding guns.

He rejected guns ruined by bullets, guns in poor condition, and guns without rifling. He was truly picking only the best of the best, hanging seven guns from his body.

These homemade guns were too heavy, but there were still at least fifty good guns on the ground. What was he supposed to do? A hoarder Skaven could not stand even the slightest waste!

He suddenly turned to look at the curious Psyker. Wasn't there still a pack mule here?

"Put this on!"

He took the guns off himself and strapped them onto the Psyker, loading him up with ten in a row. The Psyker did not stop him, because Li Qinwu's actions put him at ease.

Taking more things obviously meant transporting them home. This mysterious man really did seem to be taking him home.

As for danger, what danger could a Psyker who could casually slaughter hundreds of people possibly fear?

In his mind, as long as no Daemon was around, he was invincible!

After hanging all the guns on him, Li Qinwu picked up another seven good guns. He also found a rebel's backpack and stuffed it with twenty full magazines and twenty grenades.

That whole load brought him straight up to sixty kilograms, triggering yellow encumbrance and crushing him until he gasped for breath.

"Huff, huff. Okay, let's go!"

With all those belongings on him, Li Qinwu felt as though he were carrying the whole world—painful, but joyful.

After that came the long journey to the ventilation shaft extraction point. Li Qinwu would run until his stamina bar was empty, then walk slowly. Run for a while, then walk slowly. By the end, he was practically exhausted to the point of collapsing, yet he still refused to put down his belongings.

All he could say was that crawling to the extraction point was an essential part of the Search-Fight-Extract experience.

The Psyker, meanwhile, showed no signs of stamina depletion at all. He followed calmly behind Li Qinwu, supported by his Psychic Power.

Psychic Power was an incredibly versatile force. It could predict the future—whether accurately or not, do not ask—launch Psychic Blasts, physical attacks like exploding shells, immobilize bullets and people, and invade others' minds.

Using Psychic Power to strengthen one's body and stamina, or even fly at low altitude, was perfectly normal.

A powerful Psyker as skinny as a skeleton warrior catching a Chainsword strike from a three-meter-tall Astartes in Power Armor with his bare hands was also perfectly normal.

Li Qinwu was soaked in sweat. Seeing this guy walk so easily, he complained,

"Buddy, my home is still over thirty kilometers away. If I carry all this stuff there myself, it'll be tomorrow by the time I arrive. Shouldn't you be doing something?"

The Psyker considered it without saying anything, but he still spread Psychic Power over Li Qinwu.

Li Qinwu felt his entire body lighten. The weight that had nearly snapped his waist vanished completely, and his steps became more than twice as brisk.

He sighed in relief and yearned for Psychic Power even more.

"Buddy, what special spells can you use now?"

The journey was boring, so Li Qinwu struck up a conversation with the Psyker.

The Psyker had not spoken with anyone for a long time. He had awakened Psychic Power early and displayed unusual traits while still underage. Everyone around him feared him and treated him as an outcast.

That had made him lonely, and he longed to communicate with others. Once Li Qinwu asked, he told him everything.

"I can store up power and release an extremely powerful strike that can blast through thick walls.

"I can stop bullets, control objects and make them fly around, and control myself to fly short distances.

"From fifty meters away, I can tear the skin from a person, separate his flesh from his bones, or drain all the blood from his body."

Li Qinwu listened with immense envy. Used properly, these abilities really could change the course of an entire war zone, provided one did not enter a high-level fight.

He asked, "How did you learn to use these Psychic Powers? Did you figure them out yourself?"

The Psyker nodded, then shook his head.

"I figured some of them out myself, but after the Daemon moved into my head, it taught me most of them. For example, the flesh-and-bone separation and blood-draining techniques—the Daemon told me to use them to kill people for fun!"

As he spoke, his face filled with pain again.

Generally speaking, the more a Psyker fell, the more he was influenced by Chaos Daemons, and the stronger he became. That was because Daemons taught Psykers how to use Psychic Power while tormenting them.

These methods were extremely evil. The Daemons' goal was to make Psykers fall into Chaos Wizards, slaughtering people and offering sacrifices everywhere to increase the Warp's corruption of this world.

Once that corruption reached a certain level, Chaos Wizards could open a gateway between reality and the Warp. Daemons could then enter the real world to slaughter and indulge themselves. Many worlds of the Imperium had been destroyed by Daemons this way.

Although the spells taught by these Daemons were evil, their essence was still pure knowledge.

Take flesh-and-bone separation, for example. At first glance, it was terrifying! But its essence was separating substances of different densities. Human bone and human flesh had different densities.

If it were applied to mining, could Psychic Power directly separate rocks from metal?

And that blood-draining spell controlled water content. If he washed clothes and then directly drew out the water, he could wear them immediately, right? Fucking convenient!

As the two chatted, the underground ventilation shaft of the Hive City came into view. They had reached the extraction point.

He brought the Psyker before the ventilation shaft, standing in the mud. One more step would place them on the Ceramite-hardened ground, and the extraction countdown would begin.

Li Qinwu stopped before the hardened surface and looked at the Psyker. As he removed the guns from the Psyker and strapped them back onto himself, he asked,

"By the way, what's your name?"

The Psyker did not understand why this man no longer wanted him to carry the guns, but he did nothing. He was too confident in his own power and believed he could control the situation completely.

"Silent One."

Li Qinwu hung every gun on himself. The enormous weight made his knees tremble and his spine creak.

He panted, then said, "Silent One, is it? Looks like Daemonic Whispers really scared you badly. You like quiet.

"Let me introduce myself. Scavenger Li Qinwu, available for any job. As long as the price is right, even Redstone is negotiable!

"Well then, Mr. Silent One, go back and wait for me. In a few days, I'll come find you with Holy Oil."

Silent One froze for a moment.

"What do you mean?"

With great difficulty, Li Qinwu lifted one foot and stepped onto the Ceramite-hardened ground. A green extraction countdown appeared.

He turned back and smiled at Silent One.

"Little Silent One, have you ever seen someone go whoosh and vanish into thin air?"

Silent One looked utterly confused.

"No... I haven't?"

The smile on Li Qinwu's face deepened.

"Then you're about to see it~

Whoosh!!"

He shouted "whoosh" before the countdown reached zero, and the next moment, he truly vanished into thin air.

Silent One's pupils shrank.

"Huh?"

"Ah!!!"

He frantically grabbed at the air in front of him, but there was nothing there.

Overwhelming terror swept over him. How had his salvation disappeared? What was he supposed to do now?!

"Ahhhhhhh!!! Scavenger Li Qinwu! How am I supposed to live without you?!"

Silent One instantly snapped. Enormous fear consumed him. Like an enraged mad bull, he continuously waved his hands and fired Psychic Blasts, blasting the surroundings into a pockmarked mess...