The clock beside the passage, its glass shattered, pointed straight up at twelve, though there was no telling whether it was noon or midnight.
The clamor faded. In the oppressive darkness of the Hive City, only distant flickers of fire lit the depths, accompanied by faint echoes of crazed laughter and terrified wails.
Dense rustling filled the depths of the passage. As the firelight danced, who knew how many people lurked within.
After discovering that low-grade cannon fodder alone could hardly eliminate Sith, the rebels finally chose to withdraw for the time being, leaving the battlefield in a brief, eerie silence.
Bonfires now burned throughout the supply station. Apart from the soldiers on duty, everyone gathered around them, holding their hands toward the flames and enjoying the waves of warmth washing over their bodies.
Meanwhile, numerous helmets had been set over the fires, rich aromas wafting from within.
The soldiers watched the helmets with eager faces, while Brunok carried a food container toward the supply station's half-basement office.
He pushed open the door. Under the lights stood tightly packed rows of shelves, piled with warehouse records.
A large desk stood directly ahead. Sith sat behind it, scanning the report Ana had compiled.
"My lord, your... er... food."
Brunok had struggled for ages, genuinely unsure whether to call it lunch or dinner.
"Starch chunks stewed with protein blocks, with salt and oil added."
He placed the container in front of Sith. As its hot aroma rose, Sith finally turned his attention away from the warehouse inventory.
Looking up at the pale yellow starch chunks and white protein blocks in the thick soup, Sith, who had spent days eating cold, hard compressed starch, took the container.
Scalding heat seeped through the container into his palms.
He first drank a mouthful of steaming soup, and a warmth he had not felt in a long time flowed through his entire body.
Then he scooped up starch and protein together with his spork, brought them to his mouth, and chewed heartily.
It was heavy on oil and salt, and actually tasted remarkably good. Finally, he swallowed hard, and it settled in his stomach with a deeply satisfying fullness.
His famished body eagerly absorbed the oil-rich, salty, high-calorie food, turning it into strength that spread through Sith's limbs.
"Have the soldiers eaten?"
"Yes. There are plenty of supplies. Everyone received five times their ration."
Sith nodded, quickly finished the container in front of him, then picked up a second.
Only after Brunok had made another two trips did he finally toss a full six empty food containers onto the desk in satisfaction.
Ana showed no reaction to Sith's appetite, and Brunok also looked perfectly unperturbed. Sith briefly enjoyed the peace of a full stomach, then let out a long breath and raised the inventory from the desk.
"Besides food, the supply station has plenty of equipment. Reequip our people from head to toe."
Brunok took the inventory, glanced at it, and immediately nodded. Sith then rose and walked out, warmth filling his body.
By now, the soldiers in the supply station were already feasting. Groups beside the bonfires busied themselves with eating, heads down, while the helmets over the fires kept being refilled with food to continue stewing.
Was six containers a lot for Sith to eat? Every one of the veterans outside ate no less than he did!
Seeing Sith emerge, the veterans hurriedly stood straight, food containers in hand.
"My lord!"
Their respect was sincere. Not only the 101st Regiment, but even the remnants of the other units saluted Sith with wholehearted conviction.
Sith nodded casually in acknowledgment, but his gaze fell on a corner on the other side.
Civilians crouched all over the floor there, watching the veterans feast with yearning eyes.
"They're civilians the rebels dragged into the supply station."
Brunok explained. Looking at the frightened, cold, and hungry crowd, Sith pointed straight at the civilians.
"Give them ample rations too."
Brunok: "???"
He looked at Sith in confusion. Even Ana frowned slightly.
Because to them, giving civilians food at a time like this was an enormous waste!
But before Brunok could object, Sith was already walking toward the defensive wall, his calm voice drifting back:
"They're my new recruits now."
Brunok: "...!"
Atop the defensive wall, Sith gazed outside.
Only broad stains of blood remained across the open ground. The rebels had dragged the bodies away, and now the smell of meat drifted over from the distance.
The rebels had pulled back, but this concession did not let Sith breathe easier. Instead, he carefully scrutinized the distance, his brow furrowing even more tightly.
"They started setting up defensive lines as soon as they pulled back. They've brought in quite a few heavy weapons too."
Brunok followed behind him, carrying out his duties as adjutant.
Sith swept his gaze around, then suddenly fixed on a heavily protected position.
He stared a few times in disbelief, then abruptly let out an exasperated laugh.
"A bolt machine gun?"
Bolters were standard equipment for elite forces such as the Astartes or the Sisters of Battle. But what served as an individual weapon for an Astartes became a heavy weapon in mortal hands, one that could even be mounted directly to serve as a major firepower position.
He was not hacking anyone apart now, and Khorne's blessing had long since faded. Against bolt rounds, flesh and blood would only end up blasted into mince, even with a few extra corpses held up as shields.
Brunok's lips also moved through several silent curses before he finally spoke.
"And this terrain gives us no cover at all. We can only charge down the passage in tight formation. Combined with the other weapons around it, I'm afraid..."
"I'm afraid a frontal charge would mean throwing our lives away."
Sith finished for him. Brunok did not argue; that was clearly what he meant.
Withdrawing his gaze, Sith surveyed the entire rebel position once more.
The rebels had clearly been terrified by Sith's close-combat prowess. Every position was now filled with guns of every kind, waiting for Sith to lead his men out from behind the defensive wall so they could drown them in gunfire. They did not dare give Sith any chance to get close.
After looking around and confirming that there was no way to hack his way back out along the route they had come, Sith helplessly turned his gaze behind him.
In the camp, the burly man and several other rebels knelt in a corner, tightly trussed up.
"What did they say?"
Brunok's expression grew even uglier.
"The entire Mid Hive and Underhive have fallen. Just around us, the rebels probably number in the hundreds of millions."
Even though he had been prepared, Sith's eyelid still twitched at those words.
On a Hive World whose population easily reached tens or even hundreds of billions, it was perfectly normal for a single Hive City to house several billion people.
These rebels were also scattered throughout the Hive City; they could not possibly all come after him.
But at the thought that there were more rebels outside than bullets in his gun, even with his body enhanced a hundredfold, he could not help feeling a sense of helplessness.
And that was not the end of the bad news.
In the distant depths, the smell of meat grew richer, and the crazed howling became louder and more intense.
Sith's attention was drawn over. Then, from the direction he was looking, a strange sound gradually emerged amid the clamor.
Sith frowned slightly. The veterans around him noticed it too, setting down their food and looking over in confusion.
A moment later, what appeared in the passage made Sith freeze.
"A tank?"
Brunok stared in shock, but after taking a careful look, Sith slowly shook his head.
"It's a Chimera infantry fighting vehicle fitted with a bolter."
Brunok pursed his lips. In his eyes, since everyone on their side was flesh and blood, there really was no difference between an infantry fighting vehicle and a tank.
Brunok's expression was grim, but Sith beside him instead breathed a sigh of relief.
"The Mid Hive and Underhive have fallen. That means the Upper Hive and the spire are still holding?"
Brunok looked at Sith with wide, puzzled eyes and nodded instinctively, only to grow even more confused.
Although there would be far fewer rebels higher up, and they could contact headquarters through the signal tower once they reached the spire, how were they supposed to get there right under the rebels' noses?
Besides, the Upper Hive had only avoided falling because those above had simply locked the gates, cutting off all passage.
There was no way they could blast those gates open with only the individual weapons in their hands.
Brunok hesitated.
"Yes, but... how do we get there?"
Sith's expression remained calm, his gaze fixed solely on the Chimera operated by the traitorous Planetary Defence Force.
Even the worst infantry fighting vehicle could be driven like a mech once it was enhanced a hundredfold!!!