To fulfill the first and most difficult prerequisite-finding a "suitable" opponent-Lynn had racked his brains.
The greatest obstacles were the information imbalance and risk control.
The nests that might contain high-level Tyranid Synapse Creatures were either hidden extremely deep.
Even Rena could only pick up vague traces by sensing signals of the same origin.
Or they occupied forbidden zones that were far too dangerous.
Lynn did not dare let Rena venture too far in her reconnaissance.
Having only recently recovered from serious injuries and still assimilating her new power, she needed time to consolidate it; any unnecessary risk could disrupt the entire plan.
Through the system, he gave Rena reconnaissance instructions that were as detailed as possible while remaining safe.
He also mobilized the Anvil Society's intelligence network himself.
He searched for possible leads in the vast sea of old Adeptus Arbites archives, the rumors of the lower-level black markets, and the smugglers' forbidden maps.
It was a contest of patience and luck.
After days of screening, comparison, and elimination, two potential targets finally emerged on Lynn's tactical map.
The first target was a "large Genestealer nest" deep within the fault at the boundary between District Seven and District Six.
According to the sensory feedback from Rena's repeated cautious approaches, the Genestealer Cult entrenched there was unusually large.
The concentration of biological signals was extremely high, and there was a stable, powerful command core emitting psychic signals.
"There's probably a Genestealer 'Magus' stationed there."
A Magus was a psychic leader that could emerge in the later stages of a Genestealer Cult's development.
Usually a fourth-generation or purer mutant, she possessed intelligence and psychic powers far beyond ordinary hybrids, as well as absolute control over the brood.
The cult she led was often tightly organized, cunning in combat, and utterly fanatical.
This was almost the highest-threat Tyranid-related target Rena could find within her relatively "safe" reconnaissance range.
A cult nest led by a Magus.
Its defenses, trap arrangements, and the psychic threat posed by the Magus herself were enough to give any purging force a serious headache.
The second target was a "large spore-hatching nest" at the bottom of District Eight, almost touching the edge of the forbidden ninth level.
This target's location was extraordinarily dangerous, practically bordering the point where the Hive City's official order ceased to function altogether.
The environment there was extremely hostile, filled with toxic industrial fog, radiation leaks, and unknown Warp contamination.
Rena had not approached too closely, but the scale of the biomass accumulation she sensed from a great distance.
And the sense of "heaviness" and "oppression" emanating from the nest, unlike that of ordinary Tyranid units, had led her to a judgment.
Lynn considered Rena's descriptions, the vast underground space, and the violently pulsing incubation chambers.
Along with a suffocating "physical pressure" rather than psychic fluctuations, and formed a conjecture.
It was very likely not a command node, but a "bioweapons factory" or "heavy-unit spawning pool" prepared by the Tyranids ahead of their main fleet's arrival.
Growing within it were very likely multiple Tyranid behemoths, perhaps even an "elite behemoth."
A Mawloc? A Haruspex? Or a Trygon?
Lynn listed several possible names in his mind.
These were all heavy assault units among the Tyranids' ground forces, possessing the terrifying strength to tear apart light vehicles and destroy fortifications.
They might not be particularly intelligent, but their sheer destructive power was enough to shake a Space Marine battle line.
This was exactly what Lynn wanted: a "meat shield" capable of drawing and soaking up the Sons of Medusa's heavy firepower head-on.
Two targets, two different styles.
One was devious, with a psychic leader and a tightly organized cult.
The other was brutal, nurturing behemoths of pure destruction.
As Lynn looked at these two "options" gradually taking shape in his mind, he could not keep the corners of his mouth from curling into a cold arc.
His thinking opened up in an instant.
He had already worked out how to take these two targets, Cassius's squad, and Rena's power.
And weave them into a "perfect drama" on the chaotic stage of the Hive City.
And the destruction of the Sons of Medusa squad would be this drama's most splendid "perfect curtain call."
"Senior Cassius," Lynn murmured, the warmth gradually fading from his eyes.
"The 'efficiency' and 'pragmatism' you taught me-I'll put them to good use on you."
The core of the plan was already settled, but how to fulfill all three conditions at once was a problem Lynn urgently needed to solve.
He needed to fulfill every condition cleverly without arousing Cassius's suspicions.
He would even have to deliberately leave a few "flaws" to lead him into certain misconceptions.
Only then would his plan have a higher chance of success.
It was the art of dancing on a knife's edge, requiring lies and half-truths.
To weave a web that appeared natural but concealed deadly danger at every step.
Lynn did not choose to lay his two trump cards-the "big Genestealer nest" and the "Tyranid weapons factory"-directly before Cassius right from the start.
That would have been far too pointed and obvious, practically planting a sign saying "there's a trap here" right in his face.
With Cassius's cold logic, it would immediately provoke suspicion of the highest order.
He adopted a more roundabout approach, one more consistent with his "efficient but limited" persona.
As always, he continued to provide "intelligence."
But this time, large amounts of that intelligence began pointing in a particular direction.
He began frequently reporting small Genestealer Cult gathering sites above District Seven.
These targets were small, with threat levels on the lower side of moderate, usually nests where a few dozen hybrids gathered.
Clearing them out took no effort at all for the Sons of Medusa squad, amounting to the simplest kind of "garbage disposal."
At the same time, he mixed in reports to Cassius about things such as hive incubation nodes that had absolutely nothing to do with the "big Genestealer nest."
Making his purpose less obvious.
As for missions involving the Genestealer Cult, Lynn would "meticulously" append certain reconnaissance details to his reports.
The cultists' movements vaguely pointed toward higher regions, while crude ritual objects seized from them bore strange symbols.
Or anomalous, faint background psychic fluctuations had been detected at certain nodes.
These clues, some true and some false, were mixed together like a scattering of seemingly unrelated pearls.
Individually, they were insignificant.
But if someone-say, an Astartes sergeant with a first-rate tactical mind and data-analysis capabilities.
Was willing to expend the effort to connect them and trace them to their source.
Lynn had no doubt that Cassius would do so.
For a scion of the Iron Hands who pursued "efficiency" and "root-and-branch eradication."
Eradicating the surface abscesses was merely the first step; following the pathways of infection to the core of the disease was true, thorough purification.
He did not need to personally hand Cassius the coordinates of the "big Genestealer nest."
He only needed to provide a reasonable, logical "direction of investigation."
Then trust that Cassius's terrifying powers of logical analysis would "follow the trail" there on their own.
It was like leaving a faint, elusive scent in a maze, guiding a hound toward a preset trap.
And the hound would still believe it was all thanks to its own exceptional nose.