" Isolde," Lynn, looking at the group of massive, imposing figures. He already had a plan in mind.
He needs his own "legitimate" armed force, and he cannot directly expose the existence of the Tyranids.
After all, he didn't think his current strength ( the Rena Swarm ) could compare to that of a planetary-level Orks warlord.
Or perhaps the Brevis homegrown forces that could rival the Orks warlords.
So he had to put on a show, and these loyal, resilient, and formidable Ogryn were undoubtedly the best choice.
"Who's in charge of these Ogryn?" Lynn asked.
Although Lynn kept asking Kerry, Isolde was also ready to answer them at any time; she wanted to make herself a "useful" person.
Having anticipated Lynn's question, she immediately answered:
"Reporting to Your Excellency, we have not specifically appointed a manager."
Ogryn typically only obeys the 'smart leader' recognized within their own group.
However, these 'smart heads' of Ogryn's are a bit special."
"Special?"
"Yes, their clever head is still a child, and a young Ogryn at that."
"A child?" Lynn, somewhat surprised.
Ogryn's "smart head" refers to an individual with relatively outstanding intelligence who naturally emerges from a group.
Or perhaps he became the captain after undergoing BONE neurochemical enhancement surgery performed by the Imperium Adeptus Mechanicus.
But a young Ogryn almost completely ruled out the second option.
Such naturally occurring "smart heads" are quite rare.
"Yes, an eight-year-old Ogryn."
Isolde confirmed this, then called out to the Ogryn group, " Doudou! Come out here for a second!"
There was a commotion among the Ogryn, and then a head popped out.
"Who is calling Doudou?" A naive voice sounded.
"Are you a child?" Lynn looked at Doudou.
Doudou nodded.
Compared to the other "wild"-looking Ogryn, Doudou looks very young and is much more pleasing to the eye.
How old are you?
Eight years old!
"Come out."
"Yes, sir!"
To make sure the Ogryn remembered him, Lynn deliberately retrieved his armor and wore Kerry's captain's uniform.
When Doudou finally emerged from the crowd and stood in front of Lynn.
Lynn felt as if darkness had fallen, and the corner of his mouth twitched involuntarily.
This "eight-year-old child" is a full 2.6 meters tall!
His body was bulging with muscles, his arms were thicker than Lynn's waist, and his skin was the typical gray of Ogryn.
It was practically a small mountain of flesh, its shadow completely covering Lynn.
Without his armor, Lynn, who is only 1.8 meters tall, only reaches his chest.
"This is eight years old?!" Lynn pointed at Doudou, then turned to ask Isolde, his voice filled with disbelief.
Isolde seemed to have anticipated Lynn's reaction and nodded calmly.
"Yes, eight years old, but the child is growing a bit faster than usual."
She went on to add, her tone surprisingly carrying a subtle sense of pride, almost like that of someone introducing their own child:
" Doudou is very smart. Most Ogryn would be considered 'smart' if they could count to five."
But Doudou is different; he can count from one to nine in one go!
Sometimes, when I'm in a good mood and performing exceptionally well, I can even count to eleven in one go!
Lynn: "..."
He was silent for a few seconds, then slowly raised his hand and gave Doudou a thumbs up.
"Awesome!"
Although Doudou didn't understand the meaning of the word "awesome," she knew that Lynn was praising her, and scratched her head a little shyly.
"Then you'll all be working for me from now on, okay?"
Lynn looked at the Ogryn in front of him and said with a smile.
Doudou scratched his belly, blinked his eyes, and asked in a simple, honest way:
"Will I be able to make a living by following you?"
The other Ogryn also stopped chewing and all looked at Lynn.
His eyes gleamed with the most primal, direct desire—a craving for food.
Lynn laughed, "Follow me, and I guarantee you'll eat nine meals in three days!"
"As long as we have food to eat, we'll follow you!"
Doudou immediately patted her chest and said, and the other Ogryn also murmured in agreement.
"Okay!" Lynn stretched out his fist and shook hands with Doudou's large hand.
The Ogryn cheered, though it sounded more like the roar of some wild beast.
To their simple minds, a good leader is one who can feed them!
Over the next few days, the Ogryn, under the guidance of several Genestealer "instructors," began to learn the most basic combat skills.
After all, they would be serving as Lynn's personal guard in Brevis, so they needed to master the necessary combat knowledge.
It's called learning, but it's actually more about repetitive muscle memory training.
How to form a simple formation and understand commands to move forward or backward.
They also use weapons that would be considered "heavy firepower" by ordinary people.
Although Ogryn have simple minds, their bodily memory is exceptionally good.
Especially when there's always plenty of food as a reward after training.
Doudou, being a "smart girl," is the focus of their development.
Once he learns these things, then the entire Ogryn Squad will have learned them.
Of course, counting ability remains his "special skill," as Lynn, who often comes to visit them, says.
I once witnessed Doudou counting to eleven while distributing food!
After the final inventory, only the Song Offering itself remained.
Lynn breathed a sigh of relief when the detailed damage report was presented to him.
The situation was roughly as he had anticipated.
Despite having just experienced a multi-party battle, the main structure of the Song Offering was not severely damaged.
Black Bean Sprouts's attacks are mainly concentrated on the shield generator and engine area. Although these are critical areas, their destructive range is limited.
When the Rena Swarm landed, the sporangia only corroded a few gaps and did not cause large-scale damage to the ship's hull.
The most troublesome thing is actually what those Chaos Cultist left behind.
The Warp energy leaked during the Chaos Ritual, and the "traces" left by the demons' activities within the ship.
Like an invisible virus, it lingers on the ship.
Those colorful, eerie lights, distorted spaces, and whispers in the shadows cannot be erased by physical means.
The Ministorum Priest and Sisters of Battle accompanying the ship were supposed to be responsible for dealing with this Warp contamination.
But they had all perished in previous battles.
Without their purification rituals, these Chaos remnants would slowly spread like cancer cells.
Ultimately, this could turn the entire ship into a terrifying realm where Warp and reality intersect, attracting even more Chaos enemies.
However, Lynn has Rena.
" Rena, can you handle this?" Lynn asked softly, standing in the center of the bridge, as Rena surrounded him.
Rena let out a low growl, giving Lynn a positive response.
Immediately afterwards, a massive surge of Psychic Power spread out from her, slowly engulfing the entire Song Offering, like an invisible tide.
This is not "purification," but a direct and domineering "countermeasure."
Rena's Warp Essence is a cold, greedy, and pure Hive Mind, an extreme manifestation of the life force of the material universe.
As her Psychic Power swept across the areas contaminated by Chaos, the two distinct energies collided and Annihilation violently.
This is a violent and unreasonable method of cleanup, which may cause some spiritual pressure damage to the ship's hull, but the effect is significant.
It took Rena an entire day to "cleanse" every corner of the Song Offering with her Psychic Power.
When the last trace of Chaos was cleared away, the entire Song Offering seemed to be relieved of a heavy burden, and even the gravity system became more stable.