Chapter Summaries

Alexander prepared Malakbel’s ancient fortress as a trap while Angron and the World Eaters arrived to destroy the Hymn Engine. Angron descended onto the planet and led his forces against the Imperial defenders, beginning a battle the chapter described as a one-sided massacre.

• Admiral Abukhensis secretly delivered plasma explosives to Alexander, who turned the fortress beneath the Hymn Engine into a sacrificial array.
• Angron’s flagship, the Conqueror, and a vast World Eaters fleet emerged from a Warp Rift and engaged the Imperial fleet.
• Angron saw the Hymn Engine, was overwhelmed by memories of Nuceria, and launched himself toward Malakbel.
• Angron crashed onto the planet, and World Eaters and cultists followed in Drop Pods before charging toward the Hymn Engine.
• The Astra Militarum and Space Marines opened fire as the ground battle began.

Angron smashed through Malakbel’s defenses and summoned a daemonic host, but the Hymn Engine’s golden power wounded the Bloodthirsters and banished lesser daemons. As Angron charged the final fortress, Alexander prepared to address the Fourth Fleet, whose bridge received his urgent communication amid reports of catastrophic losses.

• Angron tore through the Astra Militarum’s defensive line and summoned eight Bloodthirsters and a legion of daemons through a crimson portal.
• The Hymn Engine unleashed a golden psychic wave that destroyed lesser daemons and wounded the Bloodthirsters and Angron.
• Angron hurled his axe into the fortress gate, used it as an anchor, and charged the fortress with his daemonic servants.
• Alexander watched Angron approach and told Colonel Carsten that their guest had arrived; Carsten drew his Power Sword as Alexander contacted the Fourth Fleet.
• Admiral Abukhensis received reports of massive losses, the fall of the outer defenses, and the destruction of General Marcus’s fleet.
• Alexander von Lawrence’s highest-priority communication appeared on the flagship Glory of Terra’s main screen.

Alexander persuaded Admiral Abukhensis to evacuate the fleet before the Hymn Engine’s destruction could turn survivors into Khorne’s slaves. As the fleet began retreating, Alexander and his ten thousand followers prepared to sacrifice themselves against Angron and his eight bloodthirsty servants.

• Alexander told Admiral Abukhensis that the fortress and Hymn Engine could not be saved and urged the fleet to retreat.
• Alexander warned that the Hymn Engine’s destruction could infect the survivors with Khorne’s hatred and drive them to slaughter one another.
• Admiral Abukhensis ordered every mobile ship to retreat and assemble at the emergency jump point.
• Alexander told his ten thousand followers that they would shield the retreating fleet and ordered them to prepare their explosives.
• Angron and eight of his servants broke through the Engine Room’s blast doors and entered Alexander’s fortress.

Alexander and the 99th Regiment sacrificed themselves in a mass assault that destroyed Angron’s eight Bloodthirsters and nearly banished Angron from realspace. Just as Angron was about to disappear, a golden greatsword thrown by the will on the Brass Throne pierced his chest.

• Angron entered the Engine Room and found ten thousand soldiers ready to charge him and his daemons with explosives.
• Alexander led his 351 loyal veterans through the soldiers’ sacrificial assault to reach the Bloodthirsters.
• The remaining veterans detonated their explosives, destroying all eight Bloodthirsters and severely damaging Angron.
• Angron resisted being banished from realspace, but began to turn transparent.
• The will on the Brass Throne hurled a golden Holy Greatsword into realspace, and it pierced Angron’s chest as he was about to vanish.

Angron destroyed the Hymn Engine, unleashing a psychic curse that turned much of the surviving Imperial fleet against itself. Alexander von Lawrence and his regiment were posthumously honored for saving the Fourth Fleet, while Liu Zhipeng received a new ability and prepared to begin his fourth life.

• Angron struck down the Hymn Engine, spreading Khorne's blood-red psychic plague across the Malakbel System.
• The curse drove surviving Imperial mortals to attack their own comrades, while the Sisters of Silence, Grey Knights, and Adeptus Custodes resisted it.
• The battered Imperial Fleet returned to Terra with less than forty percent of its original strength, and Alexander von Lawrence was posthumously canonized as the Imperial Saint [The Burned-Out].
• Alexander's 99th Regiment, the "Pride of Cadia," was honored as the [Emperor's Fireplace].
• Liu Zhipeng's system awarded him [Undying Spark] and fused his three permanent passive abilities into [Primordial Fire].
• The system announced that Liu Zhipeng's fourth life would begin shortly.

Liu Zhipeng began his fourth life as an Ork Boy in the Big Iron Jaw tribe and discovered that Ork teef could serve as valuable wealth. After he sparked a tribe-wide brawl over teef, he slipped away with his two trophies to pursue his ambition of becoming the strongest Ork.

• Liu Zhipeng awoke as an Ork Boy in the Big Iron Jaw tribe on an unknown wasteland planet.
• After another Ork Boy shoved him, Liu Zhipeng knocked him out with a punch.
• Liu Zhipeng broke two tusks from the unconscious Ork and pocketed them as his starting capital.
• The other Orks copied him, triggering a tribe-wide brawl as they fought to take each other's teef.
• Liu Zhipeng slipped away with his teef and set out to become the strongest Ork.

Liu Zhipeng built up his teeth by repeatedly beating and robbing Ork Boyz, then traded them at Big Wrench’s Mek workshop for heavy armor and powerful weapons. After he emerged looking like a formidable fighter, Big'un approached and asked to follow him.

• Liu Zhipeng targeted Ork Boyz near his size, defeated them with precise strikes, and took their teeth while leaving them alive.
• The tribe’s lower ranks began calling Liu Zhipeng the “Tooth Puller” and avoided him whenever they saw his iron pipe.
• Liu Zhipeng visited Big Wrench’s Mek workshop and traded more than half his bag of teeth for a Choppa, a Shoota, and “Eavy Armour.
• Liu Zhipeng left the workshop transformed into an armored fighter, and Big'un asked to follow him.

Liu Zhipeng built the Big Tooth Gang into a wealthy, disciplined force before a WAAAGH! led by Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka swept across the planet. He brought his gang to join the invasion, then chose an auxiliary lift instead of fighting through the chaotic boarding ramp.

• Liu Zhipeng recruited Big Guy and founded the Big Tooth Gang by demanding teef as a pledge of loyalty.
• Liu Zhipeng led the gang in tactical ambushes against other gangs, attracting recruits and growing into a rising power in the Big Iron Jaw tribe.
• Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka arrived with his fleet, and the planet's Orks were swept up in a WAAAGH! and rallied to join him.
• Liu Zhipeng agreed to take the Big Tooth Gang to war, and they reached the boarding point beneath Ghazghkull's ship.
• Liu Zhipeng rejected the bloody crush on the main ramp and directed the gang toward an auxiliary lift he called the VIP entrance.

Liu Zhipeng used bribery and cunning to establish the Big Tooth Gang aboard Bonecrusher Saraka’s warship, then launched a dirty attack on the Ironhead Gang. His gang overwhelmed the incapacitated rivals and began its climb toward power aboard the ship.

• Liu Zhipeng bribed the Gretchin operating the auxiliary lift, allowing the Big Tooth Gang to board the warship ahead of the Orks fighting over the main ramp.
• Liu Zhipeng secured a spacious cargo hold for his gang and announced his ambition to become the toughest, richest, and most cunning Ork aboard.
• Liu Zhipeng sent thieves to map the ship’s gangs and chose Ironhead’s gang near Engine Room Three as his first target.
• Liu Zhipeng’s elite Boyz sneaked into the ventilation ducts and scattered chili spore powder over Ironhead’s gang while they celebrated.
• Liu Zhipeng led the Big Tooth Gang into the blinded, coughing Ironhead Gang and launched a one-sided assault.

Liu Zhipeng built the Big Tooth Gang into a powerful force by defeating rival gangs with underhanded tactics and igniting loyalty among his followers. Just as he prepared to challenge Gogrum the Skullcrusher, Bonecrusher Saraka summoned him to the command bridge, where Liu Zhipeng came face to face with the Great Prophet.

• Liu Zhipeng defeated Ironhead's gang through dirty tactics, took its territory and teef, and persuaded its members to join him.
• Liu Zhipeng absorbed other gangs with tricks tailored to their habits, growing the Big Tooth Gang and earning a reputation for cleverness.
• Liu Zhipeng grew past three meters as [Primordial Fire] strengthened his followers' fervor, and he set his sights on Gogrum the Skullcrusher.
• Two of Bonecrusher Saraka's Nobz arrived in Mega Armour and told Liu Zhipeng that the Great Prophet wanted to see him.
• Liu Zhipeng followed the Nobz to Bonecrusher's command bridge and saw the enormous ruler seated on a throne.

Liu Zhipeng impressed Bonecrusher Mag Uruk Saraka with his “Fight More, Get More” method and earned permission to challenge the ship’s disobedient Orks. Bonecrusher promised him command of the vanguard if he became the ship’s toughest fighter besides Bonecrusher before they reached Octarius.

• Bonecrusher questioned Liu Zhipeng about how he had subdued the ship’s rookies, and Liu explained that fighting and looting teeth could fund better gear and greater victories.
• Bonecrusher praised Liu’s method and revealed that the WAAAGH! was headed to Octarius to fight the Tyranids.
• Liu asked to grow stronger, gain more teeth, and recruit more fighting Boyz before taking on the bugs.
• Bonecrusher ordered Liu to knock the teeth out of the ship’s disobedient Orks and promised him the vanguard if he became the strongest fighter aboard besides Bonecrusher.
• Liu returned to the cargo hold and rallied the Big Tooth Gang’s minor bosses to begin the campaign against the disobedient Orks.

Liu Zhipeng challenged Gogrum the Skullcrusha for control of his camp and the loyalty of tens of thousands of Orks. After dodging Gogrum’s opening hammer strike and finding his bullets ineffective, Liu Zhipeng discarded his weapons and prepared to fight bare-handed.

• Liu Zhipeng rallied his gang and led tens of thousands of Orks to Gogrum’s camp, demanding that Gogrum come out and face him.
• Gogrum charged Liu Zhipeng with his enormous Power Hammer as the assembled Orks formed a circle around them.
• Liu Zhipeng dodged the hammer strike, which smashed a crater into the steel deck and killed nearby Orks.
• Liu Zhipeng fired his Shoota at Gogrum, but the bullets only drew harmless spurts of blood from the Skullcrusha’s tough body.
• Liu Zhipeng dropped his Shoota and serrated cleaver, then raised his fists and declared that he would fight Gogrum without weapons.

Liu Zhipeng challenged Gogrum to a bare-handed fight and defeated him, becoming the new Warboss. After the Orks pledged their loyalty, he took Gogrum’s tusk and declared himself Tooth Puller, their new boss.

• Liu Zhipeng challenged Gogrum to settle their rivalry with their fists, and the Orks roared in admiration.
• Liu Zhipeng dodged Gogrum’s power hammer, closed in, and battered his belly with a barrage of punches.
• Liu Zhipeng gouged Gogrum’s eyes and struck his groin, killing him.
• The Orks from both camps rallied to Liu Zhipeng as he grew taller and stronger, becoming a true Warboss.
• Liu Zhipeng snapped off Gogrum’s largest tusk, raised it as a trophy, and declared himself the new boss named Tooth Puller.

Zug Bigteef and the Orks of Orkutar faced defeat as the Tyranids overwhelmed their fortress, until a force of Ork reinforcements arrived in scrap-built roks from the sky. Their Green Tide charge halted the Tyranid advance and gave the defenders hope.

• Zug Bigteef watched the Tyranids swarm Orkutar and batter the Orks’ last defenses.
• Flaming meteors smashed through the Tyranid flyers and crashed into the center of the battlefield.
• Zug Bigteef realized the objects were Ork roks, whose guns opened fire as thousands of Orks poured out.
• A huge red war vehicle led the Ork charge, crushing Tyranids and blasting open paths through their ranks.
• Zug Bigteef and the defending Orks cheered the reinforcements as the Tyranid offensive stalled.
• A colder, greater will sensed the unexpected change on Orkutar.

The Hive Mind sent Titan-sized Tyranid beasts to crush the Ork reinforcements on Orkutar, but a vast Ork force teleported into the battle and revealed Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka had arrived. Liu Zhipeng, now known as Tooth Puller, led the Big Tooth Gang in a charge, urging them to turn Tyranid bones into weapons.

• The Hive Mind deployed Flesh Eaters and Tyrants to smash the Ork battlewagons and threaten Zug Bigteef's fortress.
• Green flashes teleported millions of Orks and their war machines across the battlefield, where they attacked the Tyranid swarm.
• Zug Bigteef and the Orks recognized the emblem of Gork, Mork, and an iron jaw on a battle fortress as Bonecrusher, Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka.
• Earlier, Liu Zhipeng stood atop his battle fortress and rallied the Big Tooth Gang to harvest Tyranid bones for their weapons.

Liu Zhipeng rallied the Big Tooth Gang and led a vehicle charge into the Tyranid swarm, aiming to break through and join Zug Bigteef's defenders. When three Flesh Eaters blocked the Red Comet's path, he accelerated straight toward them, leaving a massive collision imminent.

• Liu Zhipeng promised the Orks the biggest bones and the best steel teef, rousing them to charge.
• Liu Zhipeng drove the Red Comet out of the landing bay as his heavily modified convoy formed an arrowhead and attacked the Tyranid swarm.
• Liu Zhipeng's Red Comet led the charge with its drill ram and turret, smashing through Tyranids as it approached Zug Bigteef's defenders.
• Three Flesh Eaters countercharged toward the Red Comet, frightening Big'un and the Orks around it.
• Liu Zhipeng rejected Big'un's suggestion to go around and floored the accelerator, charging straight at the three Flesh Eaters.

Liu Zhipeng used the Red Comet’s death-defying drift to unleash a point-blank rocket barrage that destroyed a Flesh Eater. As the Deffskull Clan’s massive WAAAGH! poured onto the battlefield, he surveyed the chaos and fixed his attention on the remaining Tyranid Bio-Titans.

• Liu Zhipeng drifted the Red Comet past a Flesh Eater and ordered the Big Tooth Gang to fire its hidden rocket pods into the creature’s flank.
• The rocket barrage blew the Flesh Eater apart and sent the two nearby Flesh Eaters staggering back.
• Zug Bigteef and the Deffskull Orks watched Liu Zhipeng’s maneuver in stunned admiration while the Hive Mind reassessed the Red Comet as a threat.
• The teleportation pillars brought tens of millions of Orks onto the battlefield as Liu Zhipeng watched the Tyranid Swarm begin to falter.
• Big'un asked Liu Zhipeng what they should do, and Liu surveyed the battlefield before focusing on the surviving Tyranid Bio-Titans.

Liu Zhipeng led the Big Tooth Gang in a hunt for a Biotitan, using their vehicles to cripple its legs before destroying it with a two-stage attack. The Biotitan fell, and Liu Zhipeng emerged alive from the wreckage.

• Liu Zhipeng ordered the Big Tooth Gang to stop fighting smaller bugs and follow him to hunt a Biotitan.
• Liu Zhipeng’s convoy attacked the Biotitan’s legs with rockets, slowing the beast and making it stumble.
• Liu Zhipeng drove the Red Comet up a mound of corpses and crashed it into the Biotitan’s head, blasting open its skull.
• Liu Zhipeng leaped from the burning wreckage with a Homemade Spear packed with explosives and drove it into the Biotitan’s brain.
• The second explosion destroyed the Biotitan’s head, and its enormous body collapsed to the ground.

After Liu Zhipeng killed a Biotitan, Zug Bigteef and the Orks rallied, and Bonecrusher Mag Uruk Saraka arrived to lead their assault. Bonecrusher survived being swallowed by a Digger Serpent, and the Orks launched a final counterattack against the Tyranid Swarm.

• Zug Bigteef led the Deffskull Clan in a charge against the disorganized Tyranids after the Biotitan's fall.
• Bonecrusher Mag Uruk Saraka teleported onto the battlefield and charged into the Tyranid lines with his bodyguards.
• A Digger Serpent swallowed Bonecrusher and several of his bodyguards as they neared the Biotitan's corpse.
• Bonecrusher blasted his way out of the Digger Serpent, tore out its heart, and crushed it before the watching Orks.
• Bonecrusher led the Orks of Octarius in an all-out counterattack against the faltering Tyranid Swarm.

After Bonecrusher’s Orks wiped out Leviathan’s Tyranid tendril in Octarius, an even larger Tyranid fleet began gathering for revenge. As Bonecrusher prepared the sector for war, Liu Zhipeng proposed a three-layer defensive strategy and began outlining its first two lines.

• Bonecrusher’s WAAAGH! overwhelmed the Tyranids and exterminated Leviathan’s forces across Octarius.
• The Hive Mind assembled a vast Leviathan fleet to retaliate against Bonecrusher and erase Octarius.
• Bonecrusher summoned Orks from across the galaxy and transformed the sector into a sprawling war factory.
• Liu Zhipeng’s fame and strength grew after he helped lead the counterattack, and he went to present Bonecrusher with a plan.
• Liu Zhipeng proposed a positional war with an elite front line to kill Tyranids and a second line of Gretchin to recover useful materials and biomass.