Alex closed his eyes, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly as he waited for that liberating explosion.
Thump.
A dull impact sound.
Like a rotten watermelon hitting a steel plate…
there was no explosion.
No flames.
Even the warning lights didn’t flicker.
Alex snapped his eyes open.
The spore mine was hanging pitifully from the chimera’s reactive armor hooks, swaying with the vehicle’s bumps like a deflated balloon.
“…?” Alex stared at the “dud” in disbelief.
“It didn’t even explode?
Did you Tyranids learn your quality control from the Orks?!” Just then, a reckless Tyranid Lictor lunged out from a nearby mud pit, attempting a flank attack.
Its claws had just brushed against the spore mine hanging on the vehicle— BOOM—!!!
A massive fireball of acidic fluid instantly erupted.
The unfortunate Tyranid Lictor didn’t even have time to scream before being blasted into a shower of meat paste.
The shockwave of the explosion gave the chimera a violent jolt, but all the damage was absorbed by the Tyranid Lictor’s body.
Aside from some scorch marks, the hull was unscathed.
Sitting inside the vehicle, Alex looked at the scattered meat and felt completely numb.
“…So this thing is a picky eater?” “Don’t daze off, mortal.” Avitus walked up from behind, his heavy bolter kicking aside a piece of still-smoking carapace.
“Keep clearing the path.
Your luck is good; the Emperor is protecting you.” Alex desperately banged his head against the targeting scope…
After crossing the minefield, they finally saw it.
The Capillary Tower.
It wasn’t just a puddle; it was a cancerous tumor on the planet.
In the center of a crater made of massive biomass, thick yellow-green liquid churned.
That was the highly acidic digestive fluid used by the Tyranids to digest the entire planet’s organic matter.
And in the center of the pool, a massive pulsating duct was continuously pumping out pure Progenitor Toxin.
This was the “sample” they were looking for.
“Gordian, the container,” Tarkus said over the comms.
“Transmitting data…
The sealed case is unlocked.
Be careful, that is an extremely dangerous biochemical medium.” Matellus walked forward, carrying a metal case engraved with prayers and inlaid with Purity Seals.
Alex thought they would use some kind of mechanical arm or a remote drone to take the sample.
But he was wrong.
Tarkus and Avitus actually knelt on one knee and began chanting prayers.
As if performing some sacred religious rite, Matellus carefully opened the case and used a gilded sampling tube to scoop a tube of the sample from the churning digestive pool.
His movements were gentle, his expression solemn.
It was as if what he held in his hands wasn’t Tyranid digestive fluid that could melt a person into bloody water, but holy water bestowed by a god.
“…Is that really necessary?” Alex watched this scene from the turret, feeling a sense of absurdity that almost overflowed the screen.
“That is the hope for saving the sector.” Thaddeus stood guard next to the chimera, his voice low.
“To us, this is a holy relic.” The moment the sample was placed in the case and the airtight lock gave a “click.” ROAR————!
The entire cave suddenly began to shake.
The pulsating duct in the center of the pool suddenly contracted violently, emitting a sharp hiss.
Immediately after, the surrounding rock walls, which had been quiet, suddenly split open with countless cracks.
“We’ve triggered an immune response!” Cyrus’s voice rang out urgently.
“The entire hive is waking up!” Countless purple figures crawled out from the rock walls, the ceiling, and the mud.
It wasn’t dozens, or even hundreds.
As far as the eye could see, there were only teeth and claws…
“Retreat!
Protect the sample!” Tarkus grabbed the metal case and locked it to his waist.
“Avitus!
Clear the way!” “Die, xenos!” Avitus held down the trigger, the roar of the heavy bolter deafening in the enclosed cave.
But there were too many bugs.
As soon as the ones in front were shredded, those behind trampled over the corpses to pounce.
Two shadows dropped from the cave ceiling—no, not shadows, two Lictors.
Their carapaces were still changing color, transitioning from rock gray to fleshy red, like two drops of blood dripping from the ceiling.
Massive scything talons carved deathly arcs through the air, aiming straight for the back of Tarkus’s neck.
“Get back!” Thaddeus’s jump pack ignited, knocking one aside in mid-air, but the other had already blocked the retreat exit.
spore mines fell like rain from above, blocking the chimera’s path forward.
A desperate situation.
Alex looked at this certain-death scenario, but his eyes lit up.
Finally!
Finally, this moment had come!
This was dying a glorious death to cover the Astartes’ retreat, to save others!
With this kind of death, the heavens should finally let him die a quick and clean death.
He pulled open the cockpit hatch and roared toward the rear compartment: “Tros!
Get your men off the vehicle!” “Wh-what?” Tros looked bewildered.
“I said get off!
You guys evacuate, I’ll hold them off!!” Alex’s voice left no room for argument.
Tros froze for a second, then gritted his teeth and patted Gar’s shoulder: “Go!
Move!” The driver, Gar, looked back at Alex, his eyes turning red: “Veteran…
For the Emperor!” “Get out!!” The rear hatch popped open, and Tros jumped out with Gar and several veterans, sprinting toward the exit under Tarkus’s covering fire.
Alex didn’t look back.
He vaulted into the driver’s seat and stepped on the gas; the chimera let out a roar.
Vroom—!
The engine’s roar changed.
It was like some long-dormant beast was waking up.
The power readings on the dashboard began to climb…
78%…
90%…
Alex hadn’t stepped that hard; he was certain he hadn’t stepped that hard.
But the chimera was still accelerating.
The tracks crushed gravel, and the hull emitted a metallic hiss amidst the jolts, like an iron beast breaking its chains.
“This vehicle…” Alex had no time to think.
He aimed straight for the Lictor blocking the door and the swarm of bugs surging behind it, preparing for the moment the mantis blade would pierce the cockpit.
“Farewell, this shitty world!” Power readings: 95%…
98%…
100%…
Warning lights began to flash.
Overload.
Overload.
Overload.
Alex didn’t slow down.
The Lictor’s silhouette got closer and closer; he could even see its face full of teeth.
Thirty meters.
Twenty meters.
Ten meters— The moment the vehicle was about to make contact with the swarm.
Zzzzt—!!!!
The piercing roar of lasers suddenly exploded from the roof.
The multi-laser turret spun violently without any operator, its muzzle spitting out dense red beams.
Psh!
Psh!
Psh!
Every beam accurately cut into the densest parts of the swarm.
Tyranid Lictors, Zerglings, and even the face of that Lictor were turned into sieves in that instant.
“Wha—!!” Before Alex could react, the chimera had already smashed through the wall of bugs.
The tracks churned through shredded meat and carapaces as the hull charged out of the encirclement like a wild bull.
But the turret didn’t stop.
Vroom—!
The chimera spun in place amidst the swarm.
It wasn’t a drift.
It was a 360-degree rotating strafe.
The turret rotated in sync with the hull, laser beams cutting through everything around it like a meat grinder.
Zerglings were sliced in half at the waist, Lictors were split in two, and spore mines were detonated before they could even trigger.
The vehicle Three seconds.
It only took three seconds.
Within twenty meters of the chimera, nothing was left alive.
Then, the engine sound smoothed out.
Power reading: 75%.
Warning lights extinguished.
The turret slowly stopped rotating and returned to its standby position.
Alex froze in the driver’s seat, his hands still gripping the controls.
He mechanically turned his head to look at the turret on the roof.
The turret was empty.
“…” He glanced at the instruments again; all the readings had returned to normal, as if nothing had happened.
The words that the Priest had said echoed in his mind.
“The machine spirit approves of you.” Matellus’s reaction when he had smashed the array into lighting up.
“The machine spirit…
has awakened.” And Tros’s fanatical face: “You are awakening the machine spirit!” “…” What exactly did that idiot goddess give him as compensation?
As the chimera wildly charged out of the encirclement, Alex watched the scenery receding rapidly outside the window and the bugs that couldn’t possibly catch up to him.
He wasn’t even operating it; the chimera was automatically avoiding all obstacles on the road.
“machine spirit…
is pleased?” Avitus’s loud laughter came over the comms: “Hahahaha!
I knew you mortal had some skill!” Alex slumped in his seat, his eyes vacant.
“I really want to ram myself into a wall…”