Despair?
Fear?
These emotions can appear in anyone.
But they will never appear in Players.
The threat of death means nothing to them.
Gunfire cannot bring them any fear.
Facing the roaring artillery fire, not only did they not fear, but it instead aroused their desire for experience, victory, and spoils of war.
They are a natural disaster that makes enemies despair.
As soon as the battle began,
the Players cheered and launched an attack on the enemy.
Their fighting style was exceptionally fierce.
They charged bravely, enduring the enemy's laser fire and bullets.
There was not a trace of fear of death in their eyes.
Only a craving and excitement for the battlefield.
Aying, who had landed, looked at this scene and even wondered if the God Chosen were green-skinned brats in human skin.
The Cultists and Plague Zombies in the outer city had already suffered heavy casualties after a round of orbital bombardment.
Under the Players' fearless assault, they quickly collapsed, scattered, and fled, unable to organize any decent resistance.
The old Players, wearing exoskeleton armor, charged at the very front.
Their shoulder-mounted machine guns spun continuously, shooting down enemies who peeked out from behind cover.
Behind them were the new Players responsible for finishing off enemies.
"This game is exciting,"
Desert, holding a laser gun, continuously shot and killed the Cultists in the trench.
"Die, Emperor's minion."
From behind a cover, a Cultist suddenly rushed out.
He looked insane, holding a sharp knife in his hand, and stabbed towards Desert.
Desert dodged, and the opponent lunged into empty space, stumbling forward.
Desert took the opportunity to smash the butt of his laser gun onto the opponent's back.
This made the opponent lose balance and fall forward.
Immediately after, he quickly pulled the trigger again, shooting the opponent dead.
"Desert, have you been in the military?"
Gabe saw Desert's fluid set of movements and his tone was a little surprised.
"No, I just work and practice often," Desert said casually.
"Let's team up," Gabe said. "The old Players have too much of an advantage now; it's hard to catch up to them without teaming up."
"Team up?" Desert pondered, "That's a great suggestion. You help me get stronger first, and then I'll help you get stronger. It's a win-win."
Gabe: "..."
"Damn it! Pretend I didn't say anything."
"Don't be like that, let's team up. When we're offline, you come to the island, and I'll treat you to a one-stop tour of food, drinks, and fun."
"..."
On the other side of the battlefield.
A group of fleeing rebel soldiers hid in a half-collapsed ruin.
Boom!
The charred wall was smashed open.
When they saw a five-meter-tall exoskeleton armor appear, the rebels were stunned.
"Heh! Heh! Traitors to the God-Emperor—die."
Little Fatty's voice came from inside the exoskeleton armor.
The circular saw installed at the end of the mechanical arm spun at high speed, swinging towards the Cultists.
The rebels' flesh was instantly torn open, and crimson blood and internal organs splattered all over the ground.
The rebel soldiers who luckily survived were scared to collapse and turned to flee from this hellish place.
The multi-barreled laser cannon installed on the other mechanical arm began to spin at high speed.
The muzzle flashed with light, and dense beams of light poured out.
Instantly, the few rebels attempting to escape fell, their bodies covered in dense charred wounds.
"Praise the omnissiah."
Little Fatty searched for new targets and continued the slaughter.
He wanted to turn these damned enemies into his experience packs, contribution points, and faith values.
Inside a trench.
"We lost, we must leave."
The deputy's report made Klass show an expression of disbelief.
An hour ago, they still held an absolute advantage.
They had countless Plague Zombies and well-equipped Cultists.
They only needed to complete the ritual and spread the plague to the inner city to win this planet for Father Nurgle.
But now, they were losing this war.
"What exactly is going on?" Klass asked.
"It's that Guide. Rumor has it he's the Emperor's messenger, possessing a moon-class battleship and a group of fearless subordinates."
The deputy's voice carried fear.
"Damn rotten corpse minions." Klass roared in anger.
"We must retreat and find an opportunity to reorganize our forces," the deputy said.
Klass looked at the messy battlefield and the fleeing Cultists, then nodded.
"Give orders to all contactable units: we are retreating to regroup."
Just as the deputy was about to transmit the order, he heard an excited voice.
"Hey, brothers, there's a boss here."
"Take a psychic blast from me."
Klass and his deputy subconsciously turned their heads.
They saw several glowing crystals flying towards them.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The subordinates next to Klass didn't even have time to scream before their heads all exploded.
At this moment, Tenjiro, Twisted person, Wrist Bro, and Sea Turtle, wearing exoskeleton armor, appeared above the trench.
Facing the dark muzzles of the guns, Klass and the other surviving rebels chose to kneel and surrender.
"This guy looks like he's pretty high-ranking; he must be worth a lot."
Tenjiro scrutinized the kneeling Klass.
Twisted person stroked his chin, "He's probably some kind of big boss."
Sea Turtle chuckled, "The Warmaster will surely be furious when he hears about this; he won't get a share of our big catch."
Seeing the Imperial Glory's airborne troops advance with irresistible force, driving the rebels back step by step,
the city's defenders also took the opportunity to launch a counterattack.
Boom! Boom!
Artillery fire rang out.
Several heavy tanks rumbled over rubble and debris.
They fired at the remaining rebel strongholds.
Smashing both the enemies and the covers adorned with Chaos symbols.
"Charge! Make those bastards pay their blood debt!"
"In the name of the Golden Throne, for honor, advance faster!"
The Imperial officer shouted, urging the soldiers to speed up.
The rebels completely collapsed and fled outside the Hive City.
The wandering Plague Zombies were also swept away.
A few days later, the Imperial Aquila flag once again fluttered in the streets of the outer city.
The rebels, with their morale shattered, abandoned their armor and weapons all the way.
They were driven out of the Hive City by the Players and loyalist forces working together.
The news of the victory in the outer city battle invigorated the ragged refugees.
This was the first good news they had heard in such a long time.
Many people spontaneously took to the streets, praising the God-Emperor, praising the Guide and the God Chosen, and the bravely fighting Imperial soldiers.
Upon learning of the ground rebels' defeat, Alex ordered the ships to proceed to new orbital coordinates.
He prepared to let those rebels and Cultists enjoy a new round of orbital bombardment.
The Warmaster, serving as the diplomatic envoy, sent another message shortly after the outer city battle ended.
"Lord Guide, thanks to my identity as a God Chosen and the victory in the outer city battle,"
"the people here are very willing to share their hidden histories with me, and they even allowed me to freely search for information in the library."
"Through my efforts, I finally found information about the ancestor of the Valanxius Family."
"What they brought back is very likely a C'tan Shard."
"The reason why the exploration fleet was completely annihilated in the Koronus Expanse was because they encountered a Necrons fleet that came to retrieve the C'tan Shard."
"A conflict erupted between the two sides, and the exploration fleet paid a heavy price to destroy that Necrons fleet, bringing back the C'tan Shard."
"Currently, that C'tan Shard is very likely located within the ancestral tomb of the Valanxius Family."
The intelligence gathered by the Warmaster made Alex's eyes widen.
One must know that was a C'tan!
The oldest beings in the galaxy, participants in the Paradise War, the personification of the Holy Terra (Earth/Reality)'s cosmic laws.
Even when shattered into fragments, they possessed unparalleled power.
The ancestor of the Valanxius Family actually stole one back.
And placed it inside their own tomb.
What kind of heaven-defying Dragon King story is this?
At this moment, a golden light curtain appeared.
[Quest: Obtain the C'tan Shard of Planet Atoma.
C'tan are ancient life forms of the Holy Terra (Earth/Reality) universe, possessing wisdom and power beyond imagination.
If this power and wisdom can be used properly, it may bring you unexpected help.
Please find the C'tan Shard hidden on Planet Atoma and bring it before the Emperor's Shrine.
Reward: A C'tan Seed with a blank past and infinite growth potential.
]