Inside the Ark Gang's stronghold, Reyna rubbed her temples, looking at the account books before her.
Most of the Ark Gang's funds were used for building starships. Now, the construction of the starship was gradually entering a critical period, and the expenses were growing larger and larger.
The Ark Gang's expansion had also largely reached its limit.
Now, the Ark Gang had three options for expansion:
Expand from the direction of the garbage mountain towards the Bottom Nest or the outskirts of the hive city.
Expanding in this direction was extremely dangerous, very likely to lead to a direct confrontation with the genestealer Cult, and the returns were not great.
Then there was expanding towards the Ninth District of the Upper hive.
This direction was almost impossible. The governor might tolerate gangs expanding freely in the Lower Nest, but that didn't mean he would allow gangs to encroach upon the Upper hive.
Finally, expanding towards the thirteenth district.
The thirteenth district, Reyna knew, was the most mysterious and dangerous of all the Lower Nest areas.
It was said that a special cult was entrenched there; they believed in the Emperor, but their beliefs deviated from the orthodox Adeptus Ministorum.
Strangely, neither the Adeptus Ministorum nor the hive city authorities ignored this cult.
Reyna couldn't help but shiver when she recalled the bloody and dark legends of that cult.
If possible, she didn't want a direct conflict with that mysterious cult.
Reyna sighed, feeling her head throb.
These matters required too much intellect.
"I wonder when Alexander will return."
Reyna leaned back in her chair, murmuring softly.
Alexander's mind was very sharp, and after several collaborations, Reyna found him to be a reliable person.
If he was willing, she might be able to entrust some of the Ark Gang's affairs to him.
"I hope he returns safely. And ideally, brings back a Warp Engine too."
Just as Reyna was muttering, the door to her office suddenly opened.
Reyna instinctively stood up, several psychic lights flickering in her eyes, and the temperature in the air seemed to drop slightly.
"Boss! Cult Leader! Help!"
Then Reyna saw Lager's ugly face, which startled her so much she almost unleashed a psychic lightning bolt.
However, Lager's face was full of urgency, which made Reyna pause.
Lager stumbled and crawled in, panting:
"Save my One-Eye buddy, he's a good brother to Alexander buddy too!"
"One-Eye? The owner of that tavern?"
Reyna frowned, scrutinizing Lager.
She immediately understood that Lager must have secretly snuck out again to slack off at the tavern.
"A woman in a black hood, with her eyes covered in iron lumps and machinery, entered One-Eye's tavern with a living dagger."
Lager panted, speaking urgently:
"Boss, Cult Leader! You must save my One-Eye brother, he's a good man!"
Lager's ugly face was full of pleading.
A woman with mechanical implants on her face.
A living dagger.
Reyna was slightly stunned. She quickly deduced that this was an assassin from the genestealer Cult.
Why would the genestealer assassinate a tavern owner?
Lager just said that this tavern owner was Alexander's friend?
Could it be related to Alexander?
Reyna's nerves instantly tensed.
"Spear Tavern? Is it beneath the Archangel's statue?"
Reyna grabbed the jacket from her chair, threw it on, and was about to head out the door.
Suddenly, Reyna's psychic premonition flared up.
She vaguely saw a bullet shatter the window and pierce her head—
Bang!!!!
The sound of a bullet breaking through the air rang out.
Reyna's body flashed, she rolled on the ground and hid under the office desk.
Lager, startled by the gunshot, then hid behind a bookshelf in the corner with a speed that surprised even Reyna.
This old guy, he's really good at self-preservation.
Reyna couldn't help but think to herself.
"Lager, you've earned your merit this time."
Reyna leaned against the desk, looking at Lager as she spoke.
If Lager hadn't made Reyna aware of the genestealer assassin's presence, thus raising Reyna's vigilance in advance,
With that shot just now, Reyna might have avoided a fatal blow, but she certainly wouldn't have been unscathed.
"Boss." Lager said with a tearful face, "Is this really the time for that?"
"If you can ensure both of us survive, and also save One-Eye buddy,"
"I'd be willing to work as a laborer for you my whole life."
Reyna's mouth twitched slightly; it seemed that was indeed the case.
Silently, she extended her psychic power into her eyes.
Ever since her last encounter with Alexander, Reyna had understood a truth: the power of Seducer's Whisper was limited.
People with strong enough wills could resist Seducer's Whisper, and its effect wouldn't be very strong against other psykers.
There was also the type like Alexander, who was almost completely immune to Seducer's Whisper. Who knew if there were others like him?
So Reyna tried to re-train other aspects of her psychic powers, mainly by using her will and psychic energy to strengthen her physical body.
Reyna's eyes became extremely sharp, even able to see through profound darkness.
She saw it: approximately eighty to ninety meters from the stronghold, on a twisted building common in the hive city, a man with a refined sniper rifle and mechanical implants covering his face was lying prone.
A Saint Arbiters. An assassination master among the genestealer, an enforcer of the genestealer patriarch's will.
Reyna immediately made a judgment.
Alexander had previously sold her a copy of The Idiot's Guide to genestealers.
Now Reyna had a good understanding of the enemies she was about to face.
Without hesitation, she leaped from behind the office desk and rushed towards the window—
Bang!!! The sound of a bullet breaking through the air rang out again.
Reyna's pupils contracted sharply into pinpricks. Powerful psychic energy transformed into a heavy hammer, directly smashing the window in front of her, centered on her.
The window shattered into thousands of flying glass shards, and the bullet mid-air was also flattened by the powerful psychic energy Reyna released.
Her psychic power then surged into the nerves and muscles of her legs, stimulating changes in cellular structure.
Reyna stepped on the window sill and leaped out, like a rabbit suddenly springing from the grass.
Using the recoil force of her psychic power, Reyna soared through the air like a bird, charging towards the Saint Arbiters who had ambushed her.
The Saint Arbiters hastily aimed at Reyna in mid-air, attempting to fire again.
"Put! Down! Your! Weapon!"
Reyna adjusted her tone in an extremely short time, making her pronunciation sharp and irresistible.
The Saint Arbiters' movements suddenly froze, and Reyna arrived before it in the blink of an eye.
Lasers flashed in the dark, piercing through the tavern's door.
One-Eye suddenly burst out of the tavern.
The space inside the tavern was so narrow, which was too advantageous for the agile Saint Arbiters.
Only when he came out into the open did One-Eye have more opportunities to maneuver.
One-Eye pulled the trigger, firing into his tavern, and lasers rained down inside.
The Saint Arbiters, like a shadow, constantly darted and dodged in the darkness.
The laser beams were indeed fast, but its mechanically enhanced eyes were enough to catch One-Eye's movements before he fired, allowing it to easily dodge.
Its slender, elongated body was full of genetically modified muscles; each leap was as agile as a swallow in the air.
The Saint Arbiters leaped lightly, passing through the lasers, and a sharp biological dagger stabbed towards One-Eye's chest.
One-Eye rolled agilely to dodge, the biological dagger passing less than half a centimeter from him.
The Saint Arbiters spun around, suddenly thrusting the dagger towards One-Eye's face.
Bang!!
The sound of the biological dagger colliding with metal rang out. One-Eye raised the lasgun in his hand, blocking it head-on.
This lasgun, made in Cadia, did not disappoint One-Eye; it was sturdy enough.
Seeing its attack blocked, the Saint Arbiters' fingers began to twist in a way incomprehensible to humans. In an instant, it reversed its grip on the dagger, carving a short curve in the air, and stabbing towards One-Eye's chest.
But the dagger only penetrated less than a finger's width. One-Eye was wearing a vest woven from fibers underneath.
The fiber vest, composed of thousands of cell-like individual links, could harden instantly upon impact, dispersing the force of the attack.
At the same time, its honeycomb structure made it much lighter than a bulletproof vest.
The common bulletproof vests equipped by the Astra Militarum and PDF weighed a full five to six kilograms, while the fiber vest weighed only one kilogram.
Of course, it was also more expensive.
"It seems my brother isn't so stingy with you either."
The Saint Arbiters chuckled, pulling the dagger stuck between the fibers, and said in a low voice:
"No wonder you're so devoted to him."
"I am no longer loyal to the governor." One-Eye shook his head and said, "I am now loyal to a greater will."
"I follow the Emperor's teachings and use my loyalty to atone for my past mistakes."
"I also believe in the Emperor, but the one I believe in isn't a moron." The Saint Arbiters cackled, using a blasphemous joke it had learned from who-knows-where.
The Saint Arbiters held the dagger, seemingly in no hurry to attack.
It was waiting for One-Eye to expose a weakness, a fatal spot.
Sweat beaded on One-Eye's forehead.
He had been an elite in the PDF back then, and then trained by the Flax family to be a top-notch bodyguard.
But now, he was no longer young, his physical condition was far from what it used to be, and he was truly struggling to withstand the Saint Arbiters' attacks.
"Uncle Lardben, you've grown old."
The Saint Arbiters opened its mouth, speaking on behalf of the Hellworm behind it:
"How pitiful, but unfortunately, I will not grow old. I will only grow stronger."
"If I had the chance, I'd really like to show you what I am now. I would make you tremble with fear."
"I only feel anger and guilt that I allowed an alien like you to escape." One-Eye said through gritted teeth.
His gaze involuntarily swept around.
What was going on?
Lager had secretly gestured before leaving, indicating he was going to get reinforcements, and he did indeed run towards the Ark Gang's direction.
There was no need for this old guy to put on a show for him, right?
Besides, he still had two bottles of wine stored in his shop. If he died, who would he ask for the wine?
So where were the reinforcements?
If the Cult Leader of the Ark Gang were here...
"I sent someone to snipe the Ark Gang's Cult Leader."
The Saint Arbiters seemed to read One-Eye's mind:
"I don't know if that psyker has any connection to you, but to be cautious, to prevent her from interfering, I sent someone to snipe her."
"Killing her might be difficult, but trapping her is quite simple."
To be this cautious... Tiberius, you are indeed a member of the Flax family.
One-Eye was shocked by the genestealer patriarch's caution, a caution that was identical to governor Augustus Flax.
One-Eye's inner turmoil was also reflected in his body.
The biological dagger drew a short arc in the air, and a bloodstain suddenly appeared on One-Eye's neck.
One-Eye clutched the wound on his neck, retreating repeatedly.
If he hadn't dodged fast enough, that strike would have already taken One-Eye's life.
"It seems you haven't regressed too much, Uncle Lardben."
The Saint Arbiters said in a low voice:
"Don't you miss the strength of your youth? Back then, you were the most revered among the governor's palace guards."
"How many victories did you win in the gladiatorial cage? Many noble children secretly admired you, hoping you would teach them combat."
The Saint Arbiters' voice was full of temptation, like a demon's whisper in the dark space:
"Look at what you're doing now? An old man selling cheap wine in a dilapidated Lower Nest tavern?"
"If you can tell me who the person who entered the Bottom Nest is, tell me, and I can make your body young and strong again."
"I can do it. You don't understand how great the being I serve is. It is a being vaster than the entire Imperium, and its will is even stronger than the Emperor's."
One-Eye panted, staring intently at the Saint Arbiters.
He knew that the Saint Arbiters' purpose was not to persuade him, nor was it to waste time with idle talk.
It was using words to lure One-Eye's attention, make him expose a weakness, and deal with One-Eye in the quickest and most concise way.
After all, if they were to get into a direct entanglement, One-Eye wouldn't lose immediately.
"Ah!" One-Eye let out a low growl, a sharp pain coming from his neck.
Neurotoxin, that dagger had neurotoxin on it—it was waiting for One-Eye to succumb to the poison.
"You are indeed old."
The Saint Arbiters shook its head helplessly, and the dagger in its hand suddenly stabbed towards One-Eye's face—
Sizzle!!!
The scorching sound of a lasgun firing rang out.
The Saint Arbiters dodged in the first instant, however...
Its arm, holding the biological dagger, was pierced by the laser, turning into a pile of ashes and disappearing into the air.
How the hell did I get hit? I clearly dodged!
This doesn't conform to ballistics at all!
This was the first thought that popped into the Saint Arbiters' mind. It hastily turned its head to look in the direction the laser came from:
"Who!!!"
Only to see a sturdy, bald figure, over three meters tall, standing beneath the statue of Sanguinius.
"I forgot the beginning, and I forgot the end too."
"In short,"
A magnificent voice, full of sacredness, came from the mouth of that sturdy figure:
"Thirty years! Firstborn! Centaur! Gold ring!"
"Archangel! Heir! Vengeful soul! For whom did he die!"
"Emperor! Thoughts flow like a spring!"
"Warmaster! Light up the galaxy!"
"Angel! When will you return!"
The Saint Arbiters stared in shock with its mechanical eyes at the sturdy bald man standing beneath the statue of Sanguinius.
The man's face was actually identical to Sanguinius' on the statue!
"I, Hoggilius. Lupaerbal!"
The bald man said, spreading his strong arm holding the lasgun.
"White phosphorus torture! You must undergo white phosphorus torture! Even if I die, you must undergo white phosphorus torture!" Sanguinius pointed and gestured wildly at Alexander.