Preparation for War

Chapter 29: Preparation for War

Barbarus, Northern Mountains, Old Stronghold.

Two Barbaran months later.

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Inside the forge, the roaring furnace burned brightly, brilliant yellow and vivid red splashing about as sparks burst forth from time to time, flashing across the corners of the room.

Several muscular men were intently swinging forging hammers, sparks flying and tearing through the air of the forge.

At the side of the workbench, several others were nervously assembling a tall suit of armor, the refined steel comprising the armor glowing under the gaze of the fierce fire.

Beside this half-finished tall suit of armor stood several smaller, already completed suits of the exact same style, though much smaller in scale.

Hades stood not far off to the side, holding a blueprint and looking up from time to time to inspect the assembly work of these men.

The tall suit of armor under construction was clearly not sized for ordinary men; standing over four meters tall within the room, it appeared all the more majestic and colossal against the height of the craftsmen.

This was a type of fully sealed armor that Hades had designed by combining style blueprints seized from the southern alien lords with technology brought by other submissive human territories.

This armor consisted of three layers: the first layer was the thickest, composed of refined anti-corrosion alloy with mechanical seals at the joints, and housing the respiratory circulation system within.

The second layer was a protective layer sewn from alien lord leather provided by Hades, its dense stitches and numerous tanned marks proving the maker's incomparable patience, with special thickening applied at the joints.

The third layer was a thick cotton layer repeatedly soaked in herbal medicine; if the first two layers failed to perform their due function, this layer would filter the poison gas at the final line of defense, providing a final defensive barrier for the wearer.

Of course, the herbal effects provided by the third layer also included hemostasis and stimulation.

The exterior of the armor featured a breathing backpack connected to the respiratory circulation system, utilizing the filtration material with the strongest adsorption capacity currently available and a system for physically adsorbing toxic gas particles.

Hades anxiously and sternly inspected every step of the assemblers' work, and should anyone's assembly not meet his expectations, Hades would immediately order them to start over.

There was no help for it; Hades still could not touch machinery, so he had to compress his null field to the minimum, then stand to the side and direct the movements of others.

Moreover, because of the null field, the sealed armor crafted for Hades lacked an electronically driven respiratory circulation system; he had to rely on the simplest filtration and then inhale the air himself.

As for the other sets of Guard armor, they lacked the second layer, as the alien lord leather brought by Hades was insufficient and only permitted him to sew two suits.

Hades still remembered the visibly startled reactions of the surrounding craftsmen when he took those pieces of leather out of his pack.

Indeed, not everyone could accept Hades's proposal.

To this end, Hades even went to briefly persuade Mortarion.

Although Mortarion was a primarch with an extreme aversion to aliens, there were no perfect idealists on Barbarus; only absolute pragmatists could tenaciously survive.

Thus, upon realizing the importance of the second layer of armor, Mortarion also tacitly permitted Hades's actions.

When the final suit of armor custom-made for Mortarion was completed, all seven suits of armor would receive a uniform spray of anti-corrosion paint and an electroplated metallic layer.

Finally, simple decorations of crossed double scythes would be fixed to the shoulders of the armor, and thus, these special fully sealed suits of armor were finished.

Aside from the forge overseen by Hades, the remaining forges in the old stronghold were operating at a fever pitch, with countless firearms and artillery pieces manufactured to make up for losses on the front lines.

Barbarus, Northern Mountains, Alien Lord Nac'Lare's Territory, Foothill Plains.

Present.

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Countless artillery pieces roared, and rolling flames blossomed while the earth trembled.

The corpses of puppets were sent flying, limbs streaked across the air before crashing heavily back into the earth.

countless low-speed vehicles were overturned, the puppets inside directly shaken into a loose mess of bloody pulp.

.

Then came the sound of blades cutting through the air.

Mortarion charged into the fleeing group of puppets first, brandishing his scythe with sweeping, powerful motions. Each swing was a storm of blood and violence, and each swing was accompanied by the wails of the enemy.

All around him, corpses composed of stitched puppets were scattered everywhere; limbs piled upon limbs, viscera heaped upon viscera, blood splattered, and bodily fluids covered the ground.

The Death Guard charged in as well, following closely in Mortarion's footsteps. For a time, scythes crossed, fire flashed, and countless puppets shrieked as their heads were lopped off.

Aside from the wails of the fleeing enemy, the piercing sound of blades cleaving the air, the roaring discharge of firearms, and the thunderous trampling of running feet, there were no other sounds across the entire battlefield at this moment.

Yes, the Death Guard carried out their slaughter and harvesting work silently and methodically.

A silent dance of harvest blossomed on the poison-drenched plains, with the dead serving as its necessary tribute.

When the head of the final puppet spun and dropped away, when the last Death Guard put away his sharp battle scythe—

A wordless silence and joy simultaneously enshrouded the battlefield.

This was yet another victory worth celebrating.

Based on the intelligence maps sent from the front lines earlier, Mortarion led the Death Guard to successfully sever all of the alien lord Nac'Lare's supply lines.

Those supply lines were like blood-sucking nematodes, continuously draining the blood of the people of Barbarus, with the lives of countless Barbarans being sapped by these greedy monsters.

But all of this was about to end.

The oppressed status of Barbarus, the millennia-long status of Barbarus being exploited, and the history of Barbarus being shamefully ruled by aliens.

It was about to end!

He, Mortarion, would sever the head of the last alien lord, proclaiming the victory of the Death Guard and proclaiming the victory of the people of Barbarus!

With the severing of the final supply line, and with the forging of the last suit of armor in the rear, Mortarion knew that the alien lord Nac'Lare's days were numbered.

The rhythm of war grew increasingly fast; both sides took the field, committing everything and wagering their lives in mortal combat.

In the next clash of arms, the next thunder of artillery, and amid the flashes of swords and blades, whose head was about to fall to the ground?

The game of fate was about to usher in its first climax, with everyone taking their positions and the curtain about to rise.

Could the game of the gods welcome a way to break the deadlock?

Emperor's Dream.

Present.

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"My Lord, our vanguard has discovered a planet named Barbarus by the locals."

"The vanguard has discovered that a progeny of yours may exist on this world."

Happy reading to you all (≧▽≦)