He had already led the gang members in an unprecedented transformation of the area around Gragg's designated defensive position. They had hollowed out the ground beneath it, creating an enormous cavity. Then they had spent several days pouring in all the gang's "stock," along with the filthiest, stickiest substances they could gather.
Inside was an upgraded version of "Grandfather's Surprise Sauce"-"Rainbow Broth," a mixture of over a hundred different plagues; "Despair Mud," collected from the Sorrow Swamp, which could plunge anyone's emotions into endless despair; and their greatest masterpiece-a gigantic "Ultimate Pustule," cultivated from a dead plague toad's gastric juices and the essence of countless Nurglings.
This pustule was the "crown" prepared for Ka'Bandha. Those responsible for putting the crown on him were Liu Zhipeng himself and his most loyal companions, a "suicide squad" of one hundred Nurglings. They would be both the officiants and the sacrifices at this "coronation."
Everything was ready.
The roar of war descended once more. Like a red comet, Ka'Bandha tore through the Nurgle army's defensive line. He ignored the Plaguebearers and Beasts of Nurgle trying to stop him, his eyes locked on the Great Unclean One slowly swinging a massive rusted sword—Gragg, "The Vomiter."
A duel between titans began at the center of the stage Liu Zhipeng had prepared.
From a Nurgling's perspective, it was a battle beyond words. Every swing of Ka'Bandha's enormous axe carved a burning trail through space and split deep fissures in the earth. Gragg's Plague Sword seemed slow and ponderous, but every parry unleashed great clouds of plague spores.
All the gang members held their breath beneath the thin layer of earth, feeling the shock waves overhead that could grind them to dust. For a few moments, Liu Zhipeng even wondered whether his plan was too far-fetched. Before such absolute power, every scheme and trick seemed feeble.
But he had no way back. He could only gamble that the arrogance and fury ingrained in the Khorne Daemons would make them overlook the lowliest danger beneath their feet.
The battle dragged on. The aging Great Unclean One finally ran out of strength, and under a storm of savage attacks from Ka'Bandha, his enormous, bloated body was cleaved down the middle by the great brass axe.
A torrent of countless maggots and entrails gushed from Gragg's body. Even in his final moment, this great champion of Nurgle used his death to bring "Plague Father's Gift" to the land.
Ka'Bandha stood atop the Great Unclean One's mountain-like corpse and raised his axe high, ready to unleash a victorious roar that would shake the heavens. He had succeeded. He had slain a powerful enemy. This glory, this skull, would please the Blood God.
"Now!"
Just as Ka'Bandha was about to roar, the ground beneath his feet suddenly collapsed without warning.
The mighty Bloodthirster and the Great Unclean One's corpse beneath him fell together into a bottomless pit filled with thick, multicolored liquid.
The sudden turn of events briefly stunned Ka'Bandha. Then a liquid combining unimaginable stench with deadly poison swallowed him completely. Thick as a swamp, it clung tightly to his limbs, leaving even his mountain-splitting strength unable to act for a time. The countless plagues within the liquid ravaged his body, and even as a favored son of Chaos, he felt waves of bone-deep pain and itching.
"ROOOAR!!!"
His stifled roar finally became tangible fury, erupting from the pit. Ka'Bandha struggled upright through the slime. His body was now drenched in multicolored, nauseating liquid, leaving him a wretched sight.
He saw countless little green heads crowding the rim of the pit. Those damned vermin he had been searching for were watching him with an incomprehensible "cheerfulness" in their eyes.
Humiliation! This was the ultimate humiliation!
He was about to charge out of the damned mire at any cost and crush those vermin. But just then, he heard a distinctive shriek.
"For Plague Father's love! Let the coronation begin!"
On the other side of the pit, dozens of giant fungi shaped like slingshots released their "triggers" at once.
One hundred and one figures shot into the air like cannonballs, tracing green arcs toward Ka'Bandha in the center of the pit.
The one at their head was the smallest, but his eyes shone unusually bright.
It was Liu Zhipeng.
The instant he was hurled into the air, his thoughts became clearer than ever before. He saw the entire battlefield, the shock and fury of Khorne's army, the confusion and curiosity of Nurgle's army. He saw Ka'Bandha's face twisted by overwhelming rage.
He felt his body completing its final fusion with the "Ultimate Pustule" inside him. His life, his consciousness, everything he was would become the most brilliant, most disgusting firework in the next second.
It was a strange feeling. As a human, he had feared death. But now, as a creation of Nurgle, he felt the joy of homecoming and rebirth within death. Perhaps this was Nurgle's true meaning-the end of decay was the beginning of new life.
"Goodbye, you fucked-up world."
These were Liu Zhipeng's final words as a human soul.
The next second, he and his "suicide squad" struck Ka'Bandha with perfect accuracy, like a meteor shower.
"POP!!!"
An indescribable explosion, deep and thunderous, rang across the entire battlefield.
The "Ultimate Pustule" burst. The purest essence of Nurgle's divine power, refined and strengthened countless times within it, instantly engulfed Ka'Bandha like a flood breaking through a dam.
For a moment, an eerie silence fell over the battlefield.
Every daemon's gaze fixed on the center of the pit.
When the slime cleared and Ka'Bandha reappeared before them, even the most deranged Chaos Daemons drew a sharp breath.
The mighty Bloodthirster had not died. But the body he took such pride in was now covered in countless multicolored fungi resembling flowers and mushrooms. His wings, once blazing with fury, were wrapped in a thick layer of rainbow-colored slime. Every flap scattered countless glittering spores with a cloyingly sweet scent. His great brass axe, the symbol of his strength and glory, was now mottled with rust. A little mouth with a single eye had even grown on it, opening and closing incessantly.
Most terrifying of all was his voice.
He opened his cavernous maw to roar in fury, but what came out of his throat was a stream of uncontrollable, joyous... giggles.
"Heh... hehehe... heh... haha... hic..."
The mighty Ka'Bandha, champion of the Blood God, stood in the middle of the battlefield laughing so hard that he rocked back and forth, his whole body trembling like a child being tickled.
The sight utterly destroyed the will of every Khorne Daemon. Their faith, their fighting spirit, their understanding of glory and fury-all were shattered in that moment. Their commander, the invincible god of war in their hearts, had become a ridiculous clown.
Khorne's army collapsed. They began fleeing in screaming disarray, as though they had witnessed something more terrible than death.
Nurgle's army, meanwhile, erupted in peals of joyous laughter. They had won this war in the most unbelievable way, one that perfectly embodied Nurgle's teachings.
No one remembered the Nurglings who had delivered the decisive blow. They had already dissolved into primordial Chaos energy in the explosion and returned to Plague Father's embrace.
Somewhere beyond everyone's sight, a gentle, ancient power enveloped Liu Zhipeng's soul just as it was about to dissipate.
[Eternal Reincarnation System activated] [Current host has died. Soul protection protocol activated] [Disconnecting from the current timestream...]
Liu Zhipeng's consciousness entered a space composed entirely of data and streams of light. He had no physical form, only pure consciousness. Before him, an enormous wheel formed from countless runes turned slowly.
[First life: concluded] [Beginning behavioral assessment...] [Assessment: as the lowliest of Nurglings, you inflicted the ultimate humiliation. You deeply understood and practiced the true meanings of 'decay' and 'resilience,' wielding 'joy' as a weapon to shake the foundations of 'fury.' You overturned the battlefield situation and brought your faction an unexpected, great victory.] [Beginning to forge the previous life's actions into a permanent ability based on the assessment...] [Forging...] [Ability generated] [Permanent passive ability acquired: Grandfather's Watch and Love] [Ability description: in any life-form, you instinctively radiate a peculiar affinity that inspires inexplicable trust and affection in creatures who are weak, lowly, abandoned, or filled with despair. They will regard you as a symbol of hope and a change in fortune, and willingly follow you. At the same time, you possess an exceptional ability to adapt to your surroundings. No matter how harsh or filthy an environment may be, it cannot cause you substantive harm and may instead become an advantage.]
In an instant, every insight from his previous life became a beam of green light and merged into the depths of his soul.
[Reward delivered] [Random rebirth will begin shortly...] [May you find your own 'fun' in your next reincarnation as well]
The enormous wheel began spinning faster. Countless worlds, races, and identities flashed before him like streaks of light.
Orks, Aeldari, T'au, humans...
Space Marine, inquisitor, Aeldari Farseer, Adeptus Mechanicus magos...
At last, the wheel slowed, and a pointer formed from light settled on one flickering coordinate.
An irresistible force pulled Liu Zhipeng's consciousness toward that coordinate.
Endless darkness swallowed his vision once again.
Before you continue