I Swear a Blood Oath on Everything I Have

Necrons has torn off all pretense first, there's no need for him to hold back.

When Lin En stood before the tomb entrance, he knew the negotiations had broken down when the two orbs of soul fire on the skull's face suddenly flared up.

Actually, I never expected that the deal would go through.

Negotiating with Zeras is like negotiating with the Japanese devils who used Chinese people for human experiments back then; if his parents found out, they would remove him from the family genealogy overnight.

Two rows of Necron Warrior opened fire simultaneously, their faces streaked with green light. Lin En didn't even blink, and immediately Dimensional Slash.

The swarm of insects obeyed his will and immediately rushed in.

Several human soldiers who were nearby were also hit by stray bullets.

A green light exploded on his body, creating small holes. The flesh around the holes sizzled and smoked, and then the holes disappeared after the smoke stopped.

The soldier looked down at the newly healed skin on his stomach, his expression shifting from "I'm dead" to "I'm not dead," and then from "I'm not dead" to "Then you die."

The swarm of insects rushed forward, climbing up the walls on both sides, densely covering the ceiling and floor.

The Necron Warrior's gun followed the insect's movement; just as he raised his head, the insect leaped down and slammed into his face.

The Space Marines charged forward, their Chainsword whistling as they sawed through one metal skull after another.

Humans and insects working together.

The Necrons outside the door.

Phoros walked up to the skull door and kicked it open!

boom.

The two large doors split open in the middle, with pieces flying to both sides.

Phoros controlled his strength quite well; he cracked the Blackstone on both sides of the door frame, but the two doors remained intact and could still be taken back as spoils of war.

Phoros retreated to Lin En's side.

"Go in." Lin En waved his hand.

Invading the central tomb of Zeras.

The swarm of insects rushed in first, flowing down the steps, a green-purple torrent spreading along the walls and ceiling, making way for those behind them.

Lin En walked in the middle, with the human soldiers following him.

The main Tomb Chamber was as large as a football field, with a ceiling carved with a green star map relief.

In the very center stood a high Blackstone platform, upon which stood a Necrons, much taller than an ordinary Necron Warrior. Eight spider legs extended from his back, each joint inlaid with emeralds, and he also had two pairs of mechanically forged arms behind him. He was clearly an important figure.

Zeras.

Zeras was surrounded by several hundred Necrons guards, arranged in several concentric circles to protect the platform, their guns pointed outwards.

Lin En didn't intend to reason with them or appeal to their emotions.

There's no point in trying to distinguish them; human lives are probably no different from an ant's in their eyes... Damn, so this is what they mean by "those who are not of our kind are bound to have different hearts"!!!

Lin En immediately waved his hand, pressed his palm down, and gestured towards the swarm of insects!

The insect swarm understood.

The insects exploded with a "whoosh," pouring out simultaneously from the ground, ceiling, walls, the base of the platform, and even from the gaps in Zeras's spider legs.

The formation of Zeras's guards was instantly broken.

The insects never faced them head-on; instead, they burrowed into blind spots, biting into joints and gun barrels.

As soon as the Necrons guards smashed the insects in front of them, other insects crawled up their shoulders from behind, biting at their necks and spines.

With a snap, the guard's head tilted to one side.

Zeras, however, was tough; all six of his creation arms simultaneously reached out and pulled the insects away.

He possessed immense strength, tearing each insect apart, but there were too many. By the time he tore the fifth one, both his hands were bitten by the insects. Then, the number of insects increased, and he was eventually overwhelmed by the insects behind him.

Zeras wasn't the Phaeron, so he couldn't tear through the Webway like the Silent King and the others. He could only be devoured by the swarm along with his guards, just like an ordinary Necrons.

Lin En did not stop the insect swarm.

Or rather, the insect swarm acted in this way at his behest.

In the end, the Necrons guards were devoured by the Tyranids, Zeras Tyranids eight legs and arms, leaving only his torso and head.

Zeras doesn't plan to reorganize right now.

His torso and head floated atop the swarm of insects, his eyes fixed on Lin En.

Lin En then stepped inside.

The swarm of insects retreated to both sides, making way for him, leading straight to the high platform.

Lin En walked up the steps, stood in front of Zeras, and looked down at the Necrons who was now just a torso and a head.

"--" Zeras opened his mouth, as if to speak.

As a result, Lin En walked over without saying a word, and just as Zeras was about to speak, he turned his Bolter around, barrel up, butt down, swung it around, and smashed the butt hard into Zeras's head!

"Bang!"

That loud bang.

Zeras's head bobbed and tilted to the side.

********

The rifle butt came crashing down.

Even Zeras was stunned, forgetting what he was going to say, and stared at him blankly for a moment.

He used all his strength in that blow; it wasn't just to vent his anger.

How could this happen? Shouldn't the process of capturing prisoners involve negotiation first, then discussion of ransom, then reparations, and finally a ceasefire?

Why doesn't this human play by the rules?

Zeras opened his mouth.

He wanted to say, "I am the Master Technomandrite of Necrons; I am extremely valuable."

He then thought, "We can talk."

I also want to say, "I have so much to give you."

He carried in his belly a complete set of star maps captured from the Aeldari, the coordinates of three hidden tombs, and the keys to two Webway nodes—all of which could be used as bargaining chips.

He even devised a negotiation strategy: first show weakness, then test the bottom line, and finally exchange a star map for a ceasefire.

If that's not enough, they can contact the Silent King and have Silent King exchange something for him; the Silent King will offer a price that satisfies them.

He opened his mouth. "I..."

Lin En pointed a gun at his head and said, "I know Necrons can resurrect, but I'll kill you as many times as you resurrect. I swear an oath of Necrons here today with everything I have. Your Memory Engram wear down every time you necromancers resurrect, right? I'll wear them down until they're smooth. If you don't believe me, let's try."

"..." Zeras's words stuck in his throat, and he couldn't say anything more.

Then Lin En fired an entire magazine of bullets into his eye socket.

Bolter, that crude, man-made contraption that propels bullets with chemical energy—slow, clumsy, but with high kinetic energy.

Zeras looked down on such a crude creation.

But this crude creation could take his life.

The green light in Zeras's eye sockets disappeared.

The resurrection mechanism of the Necrons is based on a device called a Memory Engram Memory Engram, which is responsible for carrying their memories and souls, much like a robot's memory chip.

Each time you die, your consciousness is reloaded from a backup, but tiny damage is left around the loading point, much like how repeated reading and writing of the same disk sector leaves wear and tear each time.

Necrons are reborn many times, the Memory Engram will be worn away until one day they wake up with no memories or consciousness left.

From the outside, the Necrons seem very powerful.

In fact, this is the case for most of the lower-level Necrons.

They are still alive, they can still walk, they can still fight, but they have nothing in their minds anymore, they are like moving empty shells.

The nobles are in a better position; their Memory Engram will be deeper and less prone to wear. But if, as Lin En said, he is trapped here and killed, then everything in his mind—his knowledge, his soul—will vanish like the flesh and blood of the Necrontyr sixty million years ago.

Zeras dared not resurrect, and instead hid in his coffin, falling into a deep sleep.