It was impossible to tell whether it was day or night.
The Underhive of Necromunda could never receive the light of its home star. For those narrow, grey streets, the only sources of light were oil lamps and flickering torches.
Yuki found it hard to imagine that in a world that had developed interstellar civilization and conquered the galaxy, hundreds of billions of people lived in environments worse than those of feudal societies.
Seeing it with his own eyes was a completely different experience from complaining about it online with others. Yuki felt a desperate need to talk to someone.
Yuno had connected to the internet of the real world through her psychic powers; only an entity like the Great Devourer could achieve such a feat.
Because of this, Yuki could still vent his frustrations about Warhammer to her.
"Um, my love... actually, I have no way to communicate with other races. Only you are special. If I have an edict to convey later, can I count on you?"
The grotesque creatures noticed them.
Yuki took a deep breath. This was a trial.
He saw the hideous forms of the Genestealers with his own eyes. Fear and survival instincts urged him to turn and run, but he held his ground.
Facing purple skin, thick carapaces, long tongues, and razor-sharp claws, he struggled to maintain his composure.
"Will you still not submit?"
Yuki's tone was flat, even though the Purestrain Genestealer standing before him was three meters tall, possessing a physical presence comparable to an Adeptus Astartes.
The giant fell to its knees with a heavy thud. Every Genestealer present felt it: a Great Presence had descended.
The Genestealers—the vanguard of the Tyranids. At this moment, the Patriarch of a family that had flourished here for over a century knelt on the ground with all the Purestrains, extending their hands in absolute submission.
"I thought it would take more effort, but this is for the best."
Yuno led Yuki into the stronghold, a place that had only recently been captured.
Yuki saw the hybrids trembling in fear. The massive, hideous Patriarch followed submissively behind them. He was the leader of the Genestealers in this sector, and there were hundreds more like him.
Yuno had come to feed. Her current vessel could hardly contain her power; from the moment it was fashioned until now, this physical shell had already begun to break down significantly.
Furthermore, being able to use psychic power from beyond the galaxy to follow the soul-vibrations generated by a transmigration was an incredibly energy-consuming, non-repeatable miracle.
"This consumed nearly a small 'tendril's' worth of biomass. Enough for me to conquer several star systems," Yuno described it so.
Fortunately, the Genestealers were nearby, and they could provide Yuki with a temporarily safe place to stay.
Yuki was taken to a relatively clean room. On the table were various foods—not corpse starch, but real food: meat and plants.
Ravenously hungry, Yuki stuffed the food into his mouth. Meanwhile, in another part of this underground space, Yuno was also "feeding."
She looked at the Genestealer Cultists prostrate at her feet. They respectfully offered their lives to their Goddess.
There were over a thousand people here willing to offer their lives and souls to the Great Devourer. Yuno looked at these fanatics and offered a gentle smile.
Heavens, since when have I been so polite to my food?
"Take us to paradise!"
These people shrieked, tearing at their own bodies, exposing their flesh, and spilling their blood.
The tentacles behind Yuno coiled around the nearest organism. Countless suckers crushed and absorbed it.
Yuno had connected to the internet ten years ago, but before meeting Yuki, she couldn't understand any knowledge from the other world.
Why? When she first encountered Yuki by chance, she didn't understand his expressions either. But when he said he loved the Tyranids, Yuno understood instantly.
Was Yuki the man of destiny? He had opened the door to a new world for her, allowing her to find something other than eternal hunger.
Now, he had even come to find her. For the first time, Yuno felt a sensation—a flutter—that made her feel truly alive.
Could Yuki accept her as she was?
Yuno was afraid. She had existed for infinite eons but lacked a sufficient consciousness of emotion and self.
For a long time, she had been a collective consciousness driven solely by hunger.
The fact that psychic energy had pierced the veil between worlds, allowing her to see other universes and meet Yuki, was such a blessing.
She finally had someone she could talk to.
Yuno would absolutely not lose him. She would not allow it to happen.
She turned her attention back to reality as more organic matter came forward to replenish her vessel.
These morsels were insignificant compared to what she had devoured in the past; they were useless for sating her true hunger.
But why did she feel a sense of joy?
Was it because this energy would be used to protect Yuki?
If it weren't for Yuki, what right would these lowly bugs have to be devoured by her? What chance would they have to make her feel pleasure?
Yuno made her decision.
No matter what kind of life Yuki wanted, the Great Devourer—the Tyranid race itself—would spare no effort to help him achieve it.
Because she loved Yuki more than she loved feeding.
...
Yuki knew what Yuno was doing. Occasionally, screams of unbearable pain would drift through the walls.
This was unavoidable in Warhammer, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.
Suddenly, he felt a lump in his throat.
God, this really is a hellish world.
Yuki couldn't help retching, though it had nothing to do with so-called sympathy.
If it weren't for Yuno, he would have died on his first day of transmigration.
In less than twenty-four hours, the death and tragedy he had witnessed on the streets exceeded the sum of his previous ten-plus years of life.
Dammit, why did so many people have to die? They died like stray dogs, without any value whatsoever.
On the way, he had witnessed the war between the Arbites and the Genestealer Cult.
He saw massive tanks crushing the corpses of those pathetic souls. After the battle, these bodies would be taken away to be used as fertilizer or turned into corpse starch.
The piles of bodies didn't just contain Genestealers and Arbites. What Yuki saw more of were ordinary people with no alien features, killed by either Genestealer or Arbites fire.
The smell of coal smoke and rot in the air constantly reminded him that without Yuno by his side, his fate would be no better than theirs!
Where was the Emperor? Where were the Space Marines? The Astra Militarum? The Battle Sisters? Where were those iconic entities of the Warhammer world?
Where were those cool and gung ho scenes?
Where was the so-called "grand space opera" manifested?
All Yuki saw were endless tragedies and suffering people. This was the foundation upon which space operas and infinite epics were built.
He had always understood this intellectually. But only when he saw it in person—when he nearly became part of the cost—did he gain a deeper realization.
"Mr. Yuki?"
A Purestrain Genestealer approached him on its knees.
"Please leave this place for now. The Arbites are preparing for a counter-attack."