The Armageddon Steel Legion soldiers were exceptionally well-trained.
They completed their deployment in an extremely short amount of time.
“Fire!”
Leo commanded the battle while ordering a few peasants provided by the System to work at the gold mine.
A Tier-1 gold mine could only produce 1 gold coin per hour, truly giving new meaning to the phrase “time is money.”
80 Armageddon Steel Legion soldiers raised their lasguns simultaneously.
Hum!
Crimson beams of light cut across the wasteland.
The Orks charging at the front suddenly staggered as charred holes were burned directly through their chests.
However, the Orks behind them did not stop.
Hundreds of green figures waved choppers and iron axes, stepping over the corpses of their companions as they continued charging forward.
Tier-1 Ork Boyz possessed high attack power and incredible vitality.
Just from their physical build alone, they were comparable to Human Race Level-3 troops.
But no matter how tough their flesh was, it could not withstand continuous volleys of lasgun fire.
“Grenadiers!”
Leo raised his hand.
10 Grenadiers simultaneously dropped to 1 knee.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Grenade after grenade flew over the heads of the infantry and landed directly in the middle of the Ork horde.
Fire erupted.
Dozens of Orks were blown into the air.
The originally dense charging formation was instantly torn apart, leaving several large gaps.
“First row, fall back!”
“Second row, take over!”
The soldiers fired in alternating formations.
There was no chaos.
A continuous wall of fire pressed forward.
The Orks reached 100 meters.
An entire section of the horde collapsed.
50 meters.
Only a few scattered Orks remained.
The final Ork Boy let out a furious roar and raised its iron axe.
The next second, dozens of crimson laser beams pierced through its body simultaneously.
Bang!
It crashed to the ground.
[Novice Stage Ended!]
[Time Taken: 2 Minutes and 16 Seconds!]
[Battle Casualties: 0]
[Evaluation: Perfect!]
[Obtained: Gold Coins ×180]
Leo glanced at the Ork corpses scattered across the battlefield.
He was not particularly surprised.
To other players, encountering Orks during the novice trial might be considered extremely bad luck.
But against a force of Armageddon Steel Legion infantry, they were hardly a serious threat.
Another system notification appeared.
[Congratulations to Lord Leo for completing the Novice Stage!]
[The First-Day Novice Stage Speed-Run Leaderboard has opened!]
Leo casually opened it.
The first name immediately caught his attention.
[First Place: Leo]
[Clear Time: 2 Minutes and 16 Seconds]
[Second Place: Jin]
[Clear Time: 10 Minutes and 55 Seconds]
[Third Place: Wendy]
[Clear Time: 11 Minutes and 22 Seconds]
Leo looked at the leaderboard.
A clear time of just over 2 minutes placed him far ahead of the others.
He continued looking down.
Then his gaze suddenly stopped.
[First-Day Speed-Run Leaderboard First-Place Reward: Grade-A Military Building Blueprint ×1, Gold Coins ×1000]
[Reward Distribution: 11 Hours and 48 Minutes Remaining]
“Grade-A military building?”
Leo smiled.
Others would already be excited to obtain a Grade-A building.
But in his hands, it would have to be converted once again.
If he could maintain first place until the leaderboard settlement, he would obtain another Warhammer building.
Just as Leo exited the leaderboard—
Ding!
A new system window appeared.
[Novice Stage Rewards are being distributed!]
[Obtained: Hero Altar Blueprint ×1]
[Obtained: Food Workshop Blueprint ×1]
These were the basic rewards given to every lord who successfully passed the Novice Stage.
One was responsible for heroes.
The other was responsible for food.
However, in front of Leo, that familiar red system window appeared once again.
[Territory of the same System detected.]
[Building is automatically converting!]
[Conversion complete!]
[Hero Altar converted into Tower of Heroes.]
[Food Workshop converted into Corpse-Starch Processing Plant.]
“Corpse-Starch Processing Plant?”
Leo’s eyes lit up.
He was extremely familiar with this thing.
In that mad Forty-First Millennium, even corpses were considered resources.
After being processed, they could be converted into rations to sustain human survival.
Leo raised his head.
More than 100 Ork corpses were scattered across the wasteland.
Originally, these corpses would have had no value beyond being burned or buried.
But now, they could be turned into food.
This meant that the larger the wars became in the future, and the more enemy corpses accumulated, the smaller his food shortage would become.
“Drag them all back.”
Leo immediately called Old John over.
“Don’t waste a single one. Move all of them into the Corpse-Starch Processing Plant.”
“Ah?”
Old John stared at the Ork corpses covering the battlefield before looking back at Leo.
“Lord, these corpses…”
“Move them in. Follow my orders.”
Leo did not explain.
These NPCs possessed a certain degree of intelligence, so it was understandable that they had never seen a corpse-processing facility before.
But Leo was more concerned about the other blueprint.
The Tower of Heroes.
Heroes.
These were existences that could directly change the course of a war.
Leo walked to an open area beside the Armageddon Steel Legion War Fortress.
He raised his hand and placed the blueprint down.
Rumble!
The earth shook violently.
A gothic black tower suddenly rose from the ground.
Its thirteen-sided structure extended straight into the sky, piercing the clouds like an enormous black spike.
The surface of the tower contained no complicated carvings.
Instead, it was densely covered with countless different emblems.
Ultramarines.
Imperial Fists.
Blood Angels.
Dark Angels.
The higher the tower rose, the more emblems appeared, stretching all the way toward the heavens.
At the top of the pitch-black tower hung an enormous ancient bell.
It had yet to ring, but it already gave the entire structure an indescribably solemn atmosphere.
[Tower of Heroes]
[Can summon Hero Units from the history of the Imperium of Man.]
[First construction by the Lord detected. Free Summon Chance ×1 obtained.]
Leo’s eyes immediately lit up.
A free summon!
What was he waiting for?
During the Great Crusade, countless heroes had existed.
Mortals.
Astartes.
Countless powerful warriors had once followed the Emperor across the galaxy.
Even by the Forty-First Millennium, there were still pillars of the Imperium such as Dante and Calgar.
No matter who appeared, it would be a valuable addition to his territory.
“Summon!”
Leo did not hesitate.
Hum!
The entire Tower of Heroes shook violently.
The next second—
Dong!
The ancient bell at the top of the tower rang for the first time.
The deep toll spread throughout the entire territory.
A brilliant golden light burst from the tower’s entrance.
Leo instinctively narrowed his eyes.
A figure slowly walked out from within the golden light.
He was not particularly tall.
He lacked the overwhelming presence of an Astartes.
But the moment Leo clearly saw the figure, his eyes suddenly widened.
A black Political Commissar’s long trench coat.
A high-peaked military cap.
A massive power claw.
A Storm Bolter.
And a bionic laser eye embedded in his aged face, glowing with a crimson light.
“No way…”
The golden light gradually faded.
The old man stepped out of the Tower of Heroes.
His black trench coat was covered in scorch marks and dust.
His aged face was engraved with scars left behind by countless battles.
The massive power claw slowly opened.
Its mechanical components produced a low grinding sound.
The crimson bionic eye swept across the surroundings like the gaze of a vicious predator.
How could Leo possibly fail to recognize him?
Sebastian Yarrick.
Old Bale-Eye.
The Savior of Armageddon.
The Hero of Hive City Hades.
The Nightmare of the Orks.
And what made the situation even more coincidental was that the hero Leo had just summoned belonged to the very same world as the army he had just transformed.
The Armageddon Steel Legion.
Yarrick raised his head.
His crimson bionic eye swept across the neatly arranged Steel Legion soldiers.
Then his gaze fell upon the green corpses scattered across the battlefield.
He remained silent for a moment.
The massive power claw slowly tightened.
An aged yet razor-sharp voice suddenly resounded throughout the entire territory.
“Hold fast!”
“People of the Emperor!”
“Do not kneel to the xenos!”
“For the Emperor!”