Chapter 216 Internal Breakthrough (Part 1)

"Striking directly at the enemy's heart, the fierce blade conceals the enemy's form."

"Never expose your throat, never sheathe your sword."

"We are Astartes, not diplomats or envoys, we are just warriors."

"If you are inside an enemy fortress, you have breached the strongest defense."

"You have all the advantages."

"Make good use of them."

— Malcharion the War Philosopher

Captain of the Tenth Company of the Midnight Lords Legion and former member of the Council of Evebats. This poem is excerpted from his book "The Dark Road".

…

Fu Qinghai led the Mechanicus's troops and assembled at the temporary camp at No. 56. Several people stood on the hill and looked at the warlord's castle in the distance again.

The castle is still shrouded in the void shield.

That's the trouble with the Ground-Based Void Shield.

In Warhammer 40K space naval battles, even if the enemy ship has a void shield, you still have to use naval guns to blast it. Because no matter how huge a ship is, the number of void shield generators it can carry and the energy supply of the ship's core engine are always limited. As long as the attack power is oversaturated, the void shield energy will overflow, causing the void shield generator to overload temporarily, and then destroy the ship.

Space fortresses like the Phalanx and the Stone, which are larger than asteroids, are a different matter. They can probably only be breached from the inside.

But as for the ground-based void shield, you never know how many layers it has, nor do you know how sufficient its energy reserves are.

Besides, the Fiery Horse was an Enforcer-class system-controlled cruiser with only light spears but no macro cannons. It was impossible for Fu Qinghai to order the orbital bombardment to continue until the void shield of the warlord castle was overloaded.

The best solution is to adopt the espionage tactics commonly used by the Alpha Legion.

The location of this temporary camp is just outside the maximum range of the Sky Eagle macro cannon.

If you go any further in, you might get hit on the head by the terrifying ground-based macro cannon.

This time, unlike the transport ship that killed the Iron Warriors, Fu Qinghai did not choose to divide his troops to surround, but to gather and wait.

The firepower radius of the warlord castle is too large, and the troops in Fu Qinghai's hands are not enough to surround the enemy, so it is better to concentrate them.

…

At this time, inside the warlord's castle.

The technicians and soldiers employed by the warlord are trying their best to keep the void shield running, carefully checking every component of the giant generator to ensure that there are no errors or omissions.

Orbital air supremacy has been occupied by the enemy, and no one wants to be overwhelmed by the light spears and macro cannons descending on their heads, so everyone must be careful and cautious.

Four huge pillars stand tall with round spheres on top. The bases are covered with densely packed pipes and lines. The curled and entangled concrete electric charge light balls are filtered by activated sawtooth filters and enter the round spheres on top of the pillars, twisting violently as if they had life.

The air was filled with a strong smell of ozone, the unique smell emitted by the void shield in operation.

The multiple void shield arrays covering the main body of the castle are far more powerful than the void shields of other bastions and require more maintenance personnel.

The busy crowd was like worker ants surrounding the base. No one noticed that four of them cooperated particularly well and kept exchanging eye contact in private.

Their dress, their mannerisms, the warlord slave marks branded on their faces, the electrical burns from long-term maintenance of the void shield, and even the strange intonation of their Low Gothic speech - the local accent of the feudal world of Malzan - all made it completely unexpected that they were four outsiders.

Not far from these four people is the main control room of the void shield generator, where the opening and closing of the void shield can be decided. The main control room is surrounded by three iron warriors. These armored giants hold weapons in their hands, and their cold eyes constantly scan the mortals passing by, making people dare not look at them.

Not to mention entering, any mortal who attempts to approach the main control room, even just getting close, will be subject to strict inspection and questioning.

The four of them looked at each other and shook their heads slightly without leaving a trace.

It is impossible to kill three Space Marines and then go in to shut down the void shield with the strength of only four mortals.

But they had no intention of shutting down the void shield from the beginning.

Void shields can be integrated with each other.

For example, in the past, when the Titan Legion was on the march, several large Titans, Emperor-class or Warlord-class, would usually form a battle line side by side. They would hold up the Titan Void Shield, withstand the enemy's overwhelming artillery fire, move forward slowly with firm steps, and protect chariots, tanks and small Titans within their own Void Shields.

Their void shields are fused with each other to form a "void shield wall". If the void shields of friendly forces want to be superimposed and fused, it needs to be achieved by adjusting the harmonics of the void shields.

The Ground-Based Void Shield is the largest of the three types of void shields. It is responsible for the defense of many fortresses and hive cities in the empire, and also uses a fused and superimposed array of multiple void shields.

A mortal agent disguised as a warlord technician quietly pulled out a metal plug from his robe.

The metal plug has a sharp universal plug that can be connected to any instrument or equipment within the Empire. It contains the virus code written by the Alpha Legion technical sergeant.

This virus code has only one function:

to rewrite the harmonic code of the void shield array.

Several warlord technicians passed by each other, and the metal plug-ins were passed covertly with the waving of their hands and sleeves, until the last technician came to the side of the generator base.

…

Deep underground in the warlord's castle.

It is still so dim here, still filled with candles and incense, the hanging iron chains are swaying, and the light and shadows are distorted and floating on the walls.

An Iron Warrior quickly walked up behind Lionel.

"grown ups."

"What is it?"

"Sir." The visitor considered his words and said,

"I think we should once again conduct a comprehensive investigation of all the mortal technicians who maintain the void shield array. The brothers on the space station inexplicably lost contact, and then the enemy fleet appeared in the space orbit, and then the place where we hid the transport ship was discovered. This series of events is too coincidental."

"I don't believe that this is something that a mere Raven Guard from Satfaran can accomplish."

"What do you want to say?"

Lionel asked calmly, looking forward.

"I want to say... there might be a traitor in the company!"

The Space Marine standing behind him said through gritting his teeth.

"oh."

Lionel said "oh" but didn't comment.

After a while he asked:

"Where's Bancroft Kellogg?"

"In his room, hanging out with his concubine."

The warrior replied, his tone full of disdain.

"oh."

Lionel uttered another "oh".

Then there was silence, an awkward silence.

The warriors behind him seemed irritated by this attitude.

He shouted angrily,

"I think our current task should be to strengthen the castle's defenses, not to chat with some deformed and ugly monster, let alone to believe the devil's slander and do nothing!"

"clang!"

Lionel turned around suddenly and pulled out the power axe from his waist, with the axe blade pointing directly at the visor of the warrior behind him.

"Are you teaching me how to do things?"

Lionel yelled.

The atmosphere suddenly became tense, and the underground space was so quiet that one could hear the sound of dripping water.

"Hahahahahaha!"

A sudden burst of laughter interrupted the confrontation between the two.

The two turned around and saw the Astropath who was possessed by the demon. His body was twisted into a ball in the chains, and he opened his huge mouth and laughed wildly, his deformed body twitching.

…

Fu Qinghai sat in the cockpit of the Thunder Eagle gunboat, looking at the warlord castle in the distance, tapping his fingers lightly on the steering column. He was driving the Thunder Eagle gunboat alone, and he plugged several iron ring cables in the cabin into the back plate of the power armor, so that he could aim and shoot even without a gunner.

Joe Star, Camille, No. 56 and Satfaran, all fully armed, were sitting in the crew cabin of the gunboat.

Fu Qinghai waited patiently.

He established communication with the cruiser in orbit:

"Eugene, are you ready?"

"Ready, Khan, the Fiery Horse is in the designated position, and the Light Spear array has adjusted the shooting angle."

"OK."

…

In the warlord's castle.

The last technician took the metal plug-in and without any hesitation or waiting, he inserted it directly into the pipe of the base.

"laugh."

The mortal technicians around him looked at him in surprise.

As the virus was released, the void shield generator began to undergo a series of changes, and the entire giant device was shaking.

"What's going on?"

"what happened?"

The people around were a little panicked.

An Iron Warrior pushed aside the crowd and walked over, grabbed the mortal agent by the neck and slammed him to the ground.

"Crack!"

The mortal agent's cervical vertebrae were broken, and his head and chest were bent at a strange angle, but there was still an inexplicable smile on his face.

"Sizzle, sizzle... snap!"

Huge, winding lightning and flares flashed and rushed on the transparent, blurry dome above their heads, and people looked up.

What would happen if two large, hostile Titans moved close to each other?

Just like the current situation, the Void Shields, which had no unified harmonic code but were fused with each other, would emit colorful lightning flashes because of their respective huge energies pushing each other, and violently spread into the air, releasing destructive shock waves as the excessive pressure of the collapse.

Fu Qinghai, who was far away, saw the abnormal situation above the castle. He did not wait for the void shield to completely collapse and disappear, but directly pulled up the joystick with force.

Charge!

A raging flame burst out from the tail of the Thunder Eagle gunship.

The huge turbofan at the junction of the main wing left an afterimage.

The Thunder Eagle gunboat flew close to the ground and headed straight for the warlord's castle!

Suddenly, a voice came from the communication channel.

Eugene Eleanor:

"Khan, the Astropathic Director requests to speak to you."

"Now?"

Fu Qinghai frowned as he operated the Thunder Eagle.

"Yes, she is eager."

"Connect."

It was Xia Long Frospin. The little girl's voice was full of anxiety and fear. She spoke quickly:

"Khan, Khan! I just heard an astropathic message sent from the surface of Malzan to the depths of the subspace. It was an extremely violent psychic fluctuation. There is an astropath in the feudal world of Malzan, and he is very powerful!"

You overheard all this? Xia Long is really good.

Fu Qinghai stared ahead, frowned and asked,

"What did he say?"

"I, I...I don't know."

The Star Language Supervisor's voice trembled.

"I couldn't understand what he said, and I didn't dare to listen carefully. It seemed to be the language of the devil."

The language of the devil?

Fu Qinghai's eyes were as sharp as a sword. He pulled the control lever hard, and the Thunder Eagle gunboat rolled sideways, narrowly avoiding the laser beam. He said,

"Okay, I got it, Xia Long."

No matter what, the arrow has been put on the string and must be shot. No matter what the devil's star language is, we have to deal with the warlord's castle first.

The four Space Marines in the crew cabin were about to vomit.

If they knew that Fu Qingbian was driving a gunboat while talking on the phone.

"boom---"

The multiple void shield arrays, which were incompatible with each other due to the rewriting of the harmonic codes, finally could not hold on and exploded completely. The air wrapped in the void shields vibrated violently. The mortal soldiers present felt that the air in their lungs was about to be sucked out. The light of the flash flame was enough to blind the fragile eyeballs without goggles to protect them. The entire fortress was suddenly in chaos.

The bubbles of the void shield flickered and finally went out.

"Overload, restart in five minutes."

A line of characters appeared on the screen in the main control room.

Before Fu Qinghai's Thunder Eagle gunboat reached the city wall, five thick golden light beams, like gods descending from heaven, penetrated the clouds and hit the castle directly.

The scorching golden shock wave twisted the air, and the light made it impossible to see.

The first beam of light struck the Sky Eagle-shaped macro cannon standing at the highest point of the castle. The turret dissipated and collapsed in the dazzling golden light column, and the foundation macro cannon disappeared.

The second lance of light hit the generator of the giant void shield. The lance of light ignited the plasma pipeline, causing an even more violent explosion. The void shield would no longer restart.

The third, fourth, and fifth beams of light struck, knocking down the city walls, piercing the bunkers, and setting the oil depot on fire. The warlord's castle was ablaze and in ruins.

A volley of five-colored spears was fired, instantly paralyzing the defense.

The bottom of the Thunder Eagle gunboat almost brushed the edge of the battlements of the city wall, and it roared into the castle's defense circle. The giant steel eagle rolled up a strong wind and a sonic boom.

The door on the side of the fuselage opened and Qiao Shida jumped out first.

"Bang!"

The Moon Wolf Warrior landed on the ground brazenly and stabbed a seriously injured Iron Warrior to death with one claw.

"Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!"

The remaining three people also landed.

Camille clenched the chainsaw sword in his hand. Flames were billowing all around him, blood and debris were everywhere, and black smoke was billowing straight into the sky. Witnessing such a cruel scene, he instantly felt the blood pressure filling his skull, and he howled and was about to rush out to kill the enemy.

He was pushed to the ground by Qiao Shida.

A round grazed the top of Camille's helmet.

Camille calmed down immediately.

The sophisticated and selfish surgeon is back.

He quickly climbed up and looked for cover, and said on the communication channel:

"Thanks, Old Joe."

Qiao Shida didn't say anything. He saw the opportunity, stood up, pulled out the explosive assault rifle and fired a shot. The thin dark red rays ignited an iron warrior, turning him into a running torch.

…

Space orbit, the Fiery Horse cruiser, lower deck.

The alchemist sat cross-legged on the bed and felt the warship tilt and tremble. A low muffled sound was transmitted along the deck to the cabin. It was the sound produced by the volley of light spear arrays.

They started fighting.

The middle-aged man suddenly opened his eyes.

He quickly pulled two objects out from under his cloak.

A silver cylinder.

A blood-red translucent stone.

Alchemist Guy raised his hand and opened his cloak, revealing his underwear. He pressed a button and the hatch slid open.

The armed sailor guarding the door saw the hatch open and immediately stopped him, saying,

"Sir, at Commander Eugene's request, you must..."

"laugh!"

The crimson lightsaber blade pierced through the sailor's back.

The alchemist retracted his blade, and the armed sailor holding the shotgun fell down helplessly.

…

"Ding-ling-ling-ling!"

Red lights flashed and alarms blared throughout the bridge.

Eugene Eleanor suddenly looked at the monitoring array. On the screen, the weird guy named "Guy" was holding a red lightsaber and killing people on the lower deck!

The armed sailors formed a formation to block the passage of the warship, raised their shotguns and fired at the same time, but the man just raised his hand and grabbed it, and all the shotgun pellets were frozen in mid-air, and then fell down and bounced on the floor.

What is this!

What happened?

Eugene's eyes were suddenly stunned.

The only three Space Marines on board the battleship were on the surface.

Eugene quickly opened the communication channel.

"Khan, Khan! Something's happening!"

…

Guy easily defeated the armed sailors and headed straight for the bridge.

Suddenly, the passage ahead was blocked by diffuse black fog, and cold winds swirled around. The walls on both sides were filled with ghostly shadows, and random palm prints and blasphemous curses covered the walls. Long black hair like seaweed hung from the vents at the top of the passage, with blood dripping between the wet hair.

She is here.

Guy raised the corners of his mouth.

Valak and Kayako, their feet dangling in the air, appeared side by side in front of Guy.

The two ghosts had ferocious faces. They looked at the alchemist who had changed drastically and asked in unison:

"Who are you? Who are you?"

At this time, Gai no longer looked his normal self. His eye sockets were sunken, his skin and flesh were sagging, and there were brown-red spots all around his eye sockets.

"This is a Force mask, Ms. Zhang Yuning."

Guy said with a smile.

"And I, Guy, is of course just a pseudonym."

"My name is Lauster, Lauster Cordell Gray. You may have heard of my name."

In the captain's room, Zhang Yuning opened her eyes wide, recalling the wanted post she had seen on the Samsara Forum, and subconsciously said:

"You were once the fourth in command of the Zero Realm Guild, the chief alchemist of Azeroth, and later a high-level player who betrayed the society. The Zero Realm Guild is offering a bounty of 2,000 points for your first life, 3,000 points for your second life, and 5,000 points for completely eliminating you!"

"Haha, you're notorious. I'm sorry to embarrass you."

Lauster said with a smile.

Zhang Yuning frowned and said in a deep voice:

"Sir, we have no grudge against you, why are you boarding the ship to cause trouble?"

Lauster seemed to have heard something strange, and spread his hands and said:

"Hey, that's strange. I chose the Chaos camp. Do I need a reason to kill you?"

"Okay, very good."

Zhang Yuning responded coldly.

In the battleship corridor, Kayako's pale white pajamas rolled up and turned into black smoke as she attacked Laust.

Laust slowly took out a small cigarette box from his arms. The English word "Cleopatra" was written on the outer shell of the box. He held it in his palm and shook it gently.

There was a sound of friction on the floor.

Humans hear it but don't feel anything.

But Kayako revealed her true form and fell to the ground, covering her ears and screaming miserably.

"Screaming Beetle!"

Zhang Yuning blurted out.

As a veteran horror movie fan, she recognized the origin of the item at a glance.

In the movie "Hellblazer", it is one of Constantine's exorcism items. Every time it is shaken, the demon's spirit and form will disperse.

It wasn't over yet. Laust took out a pair of golden brass knuckles. A black cross was engraved on each protrusion of the knuckles. He put on the brass knuckles and punched Valak who was floating over.

"Bang!"

The ghost nun was knocked away, her black nun robe was torn into pieces, and her ferocious ghost face was distorted.

Golden brass knuckles!

Zhang Yuning was too tired to complain.

Did you rob Constantine's lair?

This is a rare melee weapon of Hellblazer. The gold used was blessed by an archbishop named Annicott during the Crusades. Zhakon once used this weapon to expel the demon Baldassar.

Screaming Beetles and Golden Brass Knuckles, exorcism items from the DC Universe, are more professional than the Valkyrie Sword and Broken Heart in dealing with evil spirits and ghosts.

Lauster smiled as he walked:

"Ms. Zhang, beautiful Ms. Zhang Yuning, do you think that I, Lauster, have been walking in the reincarnation world for so many years, and I don't have any anti-ghost things on me?"

"I have also experienced the horror movie universe, and I also know how difficult it is to deal with you, a group of supernatural reincarnations. If I didn't have some tricks, I would have been put on the bounty list long ago."

The illusions created by the wicked spirits and demons quickly dissipated with Laust's steps, and the battleship passage returned to normal.

Lauster walked leisurely, but his speed was not slow at all, and he whistled playfully:

"Shh, shh, shh, shh, Miss Zhang Yuning, hide quickly, I am coming to find your real body~"

The ghost illusion dissipated quickly, and Zhang Yuning quickly put on a coat and ran out of Fu Qinghai's captain's room barefoot.

She had to find a cabin to hide in first.

......

(PS: This chapter is divided into two parts. Mine is very big, please bear with it.)

(End of this chapter)