Titus stepped forward, reaching out to unlock the latches of Karn’s power armor.
The servomotors emitted a harsh screech of friction.
Karn let out a muffled grunt, cooperating with Titus to remove the pauldrons, breastplate, and greaves.
The heavy ceramite armor crashed onto the metal floor.
Only the black carapace implants remained on Karn’s body, which were the neural interfaces used by a Space Marine to connect to power armor.
The veteran glanced at the equipment on the ground and turned his head away.
This was the glory that had accompanied him through a century of campaigns, yet now it was about to be destroyed.
Roya flipped his wrist and switched out an iron pickaxe.
He walked over to the wreckage of the power armor, aimed right at the center of the breastplate, and swung his pickaxe down.
“Bang!” The sound of metal colliding burst out, and a patch of black grid cracks spread across the ceramite surface.
Hearing the commotion, Karn’s mouth twitched.
“Bang!
Bang!” Roya swung the iron pickaxe repeatedly.
“Pop.” A crisp sound effect rang out.
The piles of broken power armor vanished into thin air.
A miniature model shimmering with a faint purple glow appeared in its place.
Roya reached out and grabbed it.
A prompt box popped up.
[Obtained: Damaged Mk VII “Aquila” Pattern Power Armor Fragment] Inside the inventory, the three fragments automatically arranged themselves.
With a flash of light, the fragments fused into a parchment icon marked with blue patterns.
[Obtained: Mk VII “Aquila” Pattern Power Armor Crafting Blueprint] Roya clicked on the blueprint to check the recipe.
The interface showed: Requires 28 iron ingots and 1 redstone block.
24 iron ingots are arranged in a 3×3 grid to craft the helmet, chestplate, leggings, and boots, completely identical to the placement method for an iron armor set.
The remaining 4 iron ingots combine with 1 redstone block to craft the power backpack on the back.
Iron ingots were easy to handle.
They had smelted quite a lot earlier by mining metal pipes, and scrap metal was everywhere in the ruins.
However, the redstone block was a problem.
“My lord.” Karn turned his head, looking at the empty floor, his eyelids twitching wildly.
Not even crumbs were left of his century-old battle armor.
Suppressing his heartbreak, he asked, “Can we craft brand-new power armor now?” “Yes,” Roya nodded.
Karn’s eyes lit up.
“But I’m currently missing a critical resource,” Roya said in a calm tone.
“Is there any swamp area nearby?” To get a large amount of redstone, the fastest method was to find a witch hut and build a mob grinder.
Karn was stunned; this was something he didn’t know about.
Standing among the nearby Astra Militarum troops, an officer wearing a greatcoat and a peaked cap raised his hand.
That was Political Commissar Silas of the 318th Astra Militarum Regiment.
“Lord Roya.” Silas stepped out of formation, executed an Aquila salute, and said, “Five kilometers to the rear, near the lower waste fluid disposal area, there is a vast toxic swamp.
That is an area formed by the accumulation of industrial wastewater over thousands of years, and it is extremely dangerous.” “Lead the way,” Roya commanded.
The detachment advanced rapidly through the dark passages of the Underhive.
Everyone successfully arrived at the target location.
The air was filled with a pungent smell of sulfur.
Before them lay a viscous mud pit churning with green bubbles.
Decaying support pillars jutted obliquely into the mire.
Silas ordered the soldiers to establish a cordon outside a safe distance.
Roya walked to the edge of the swamp and swept his gaze across it.
Deep within the swamp, a crooked shack built from aged wooden planks stood quietly.
The roof was covered in eerie fungi.
Titus looked along Roya’s line of sight.
He clearly saw that extremely jarring square structure.
Karn stood nearby, looking in the direction of their gaze, but saw only a patch of empty toxic water and a few scrap iron pipes.
He rubbed the neural interface on the back of his head, looking completely puzzled.
Roya summoned the workbench through his thoughts and crafted an iron axe using the previous logs and iron ingots.
He handed the iron axe to Titus.
“Hold onto this,” Roya said.
“Come with me to dismantle the wood and build a processing device.” Titus took the blocky iron axe.
He felt the solid tactile sensation coming from the handle of the axe.
The two leaped to the edge of the swamp.
Roya used cobblestone as stepping stones, rapidly paving a stone bridge straight to the shack.
Upon reaching the shack, Roya used cobblestone to build a platform above it.
Titus swung the iron axe, chopping down the surrounding trees and vines in a few strokes.
“Titus, pay attention to my structure,” Roya said while placing blocks and arranging the water flow.
“The water converges toward the center, a twenty-two-block-deep shaft is dug underneath, and a hopper is placed at the bottom connected to a chest.
When the monsters fall down, they die directly from fall damage, and the dropped items are automatically collected.” Titus’s Villager template gave him an astonishing level of acceptance toward these rules that defied common sense.
As a Space Marine recruit, his tactical mind was exceptionally well-developed.
After watching the water flow direction once, he instantly understood the logic of this automated execution device.
Holding his tools, he quickly helped Roya pave the stone walls.
The two cooperated seamlessly, and within just over ten minutes, a makeshift witch mob grinder took shape.
A one-block-high collection opening was left at the bottom of the tower.
The two returned to the ground in front of the collection opening.
A strange murmuring sound drifted down from above the mob grinder.
“They’re here,” Roya looked up.
“Heh heh heh…” Accompanied by a bizarre laugh, a creature wearing purple robes with a huge nose and a square head tumbled down from the water flow.
“Bang!” The witch crashed heavily onto the cobblestone at the bottom of the pit, a red flash flickering across its body.
It didn’t die; instantly pulling out a glass bottle, it prepared to drink a healing potion.
“Chaos heretic!” Titus’s eyes widened in fury.
“Don’t worry.
This isn’t Chaos,” Roya drew his iron sword and slashed it across the witch’s leg through the opening.
“This is merely one of my powers.” “Bang!
Bang!” Two sword strikes fell, and the witch let out a miserable scream before dissolving into white smoke.
“Pop.” Several piles of red powder dropped onto the hopper and slid down the pipe into the wooden chest behind.
Titus looked at the redstone dust in the chest and put away his combat knife.
His awe for Roya deepened by another layer.
The mob grinder’s efficiency was extremely high.
Within a few minutes, four or five witches fell down in succession.
Roya stood below and swung his sword.
Soon, nine piles of redstone dust had accumulated in the chest.
Roya reached out and grabbed the redstone dust, filling the 3×3 grid in his inventory.
[Obtained: Redstone Block] He called up the smelted iron ingots from his backpack and placed down the workbench.
The 28 iron ingots and 1 redstone block were ready.
Then crafting began.
“Ding!” Soon, five brand-new icons appeared in the inventory.
A blue-painted helmet, breastplate, greaves, boots, and a power backpack bearing a golden double-headed eagle insignia.
Roya exited the interface and threw the five pieces of equipment directly in front of Karn.
The heavy metal crashed onto the ground.
Karn stared at the equipment on the ground, his breathing instantly halting.
That was a flawless set of Mk VII power armor.
The dark blue ceramite surface was as smooth as a mirror, without a single scratch left from battle.
Karn picked up the breastplate with trembling hands.
He walked over to the side and, with Titus’s help, secured this brand-new power armor onto his black carapace.
As the power backpack was connected.
“Hum——” The servomotors emitted an extremely smooth hum.
The tactical lenses of the helmet lit up with a crimson glow.
Karn clenched his fists.
The output and feedback of this power armor were even more formidable than his century-old battle armor that he had broken in.
“Emperor protect us…” Karn dropped to one knee, his voice carrying fanatical devotion.
“This is absolute divine might of the Emperor!
My lord, you have displayed a miracle!” In the distance, Silas and the Astra Militarum soldiers saw this scene and once again burst into suppressed cheers.
Roya paid no attention to Karn’s praise.
He turned around and glanced at the mob grinder; witches were still falling continuously.
Iron ingots and redstone were plentiful enough.
Roya stood before the workbench, his fingers operating rapidly.
Two more sets of brand-new power armor were crafted once again.
He threw one set to Titus and held the other set in his own hands.
“Put it on,” Roya said to Titus.
Titus caught the heavy armor, a rare look of hesitation appearing on his face.
“My lord, I haven’t completed the black carapace implantation surgery yet.
I cannot connect to the neural interface, and this suit of armor will crush me to death.” “Under my rules, there are no such restrictions,” Roya said in a firm tone.
He took the lead by pressing the power armor components against his body.
An eerie scene occurred.
There were no complex mechanical latches, no neural connections.
The moment the power armor components touched Roya’s body, they directly transformed into a stream of light, encasing him seamlessly.
Blue armor, a golden Aquila.
Roya’s body at that moment also transformed to be just like a Space Marine’s.
Roya moved his shoulders; there was no sense of weight or oppression, and within his subjective field of vision, his armor bar was instantly maxed out.
Seeing this, Titus hesitated no longer and pressed the armor against himself.
With a flash of light, Titus similarly donned a complete set of power armor.
He stared in shock at his own hands, throwing a casual punch that caused the air to erupt with the sharp screech of tearing airflow.
Without surgery, without interfaces, he had attained the full combat power of a Space Marine.
Karn abruptly stood up.
The eyes beneath his helmet widened to the maximum, staring fixedly at the two people in front of him.
One was a recruit who hadn’t completed the surgery.
The other was a mortal who had never undergone genetic modification at all.
They had actually perfectly operated the exclusive equipment of the Astartes Battle-Brothers!
Karn felt that his worldview had been completely shattered at this moment.