Chapter 216: Fully Forged Primaris Warrior! Astartes Vanguard V!

Chapter 216: Fully Forged Primaris Warrior! Astartes Vanguard V!

Before long, cage, mako, and the others could clearly make out the outline of the space elevator—it was rapidly coming into full view.

Outside the carriage, clusters of buildings were drawing closer. The train was about to reach its destination.

The group stood up from their seats, grabbed their belongings, and waited patiently by the cabin doors.

At this point, the train had stabilized at 70 km/h and was still gradually slowing down, but the interior remained smooth and steady.

Through the cabin's viewing window, the four simultaneously caught sight of a sprawling, brand-new megacity—Nairobi Nova!

A shining steel jungle of a city, filled with massive, fully functional facilities of every kind.

Designated as a key development hub by the LA Megacorp, Nairobi Nova boasted not only a complete industrial district, but also a significant military presence.

Fully armed Power Armor squads, the Astartes reserve corps, and elite units from Arasaka and Militech's security divisions patrolled various districts of the city.

Each bore the conspicuous insignia of the LA Megacorp, stamped clearly on their armbands and military uniforms.

It was evident that as a vital asset of the conglomerate, Nairobi Nova's security had to be top-notch—and this was just one of many such megacities.

In less than two years, the world of Edge of Tomorrow had accelerated at breakneck speed under the conglomerate's influence.

Global development and technological progress had surged. Nairobi Nova, once a half-town, half-backwater settlement, had evolved into a vast metropolis—almost as if two centuries had passed in an instant.

These radical transformations improved local quality of life and accelerated regional development, earning overwhelming public support.

As for the competing capitalist consortiums that opposed the LA Megacorp? Li Ang had already crushed them with good old-fashioned "physical business tactics," burying them deep in history.

After all, rules exist to be broken and rewritten—by those who wield absolute power.

"Everyone, here's to an enjoyable journey."

With that, the four of them strode toward the space elevator, ready to savor this rare vacation.

Meanwhile, thousands of kilometers away in the Paris region, Li Ang and his senior executives were observing a live combat trial.

---

Edge of Tomorrow Earth – City of Paris

The warm glow of the setting sun bathed this refined city. Over the past year, Paris had quietly transformed into the conglomerate's secret production base.

However, the bulk of its manufacturing infrastructure wasn't built above ground—it was buried deep beneath the city.

Below Paris lay an expansive underground metropolis, housing a complete production chain and various advanced facilities.

Here, they manufactured not only basic bio-weapons, clones, and replicants, but also personal combat gear, standardized weaponry, armored vehicles, and aerial transports.

An army of AI machines and 3D-printing lathes worked tirelessly, overseen by skilled technicians monitoring fine details and programming protocols.

Once production and packaging were complete, clones, replicants, and equipment were routed through an underground logistics network, shipped to frontline bases across the globe.

They were then distributed by various company divisions to combat units.

This was just one of many such production hubs—Ideal City's product lines were also deployed here.

Preparing for war meant keeping supply lines flowing.

At the heart of this underground metropolis lay specialized zones for the R&D and biotech departments—used for testing on human bodies and weapons alike.

Right now, a simulated urban battlefield had been constructed to train new Astartes warriors.

These recruits were mostly lower-tier rookies—at most, they had undergone three surgical modifications, which only gave them a larger physique.

To prepare for the impending invasion by the Reaper Civilization, Li Ang had ordered the Market Expansion Department to increase the recruitment quota for Astartes warriors.

Still, even with a larger intake, the quality of training and personnel had to remain uncompromised.

Thus, nearly every industrial zone had its own Astartes training camp, modification lab, and combat grounds.

At this moment, this new batch of Iron Hand reserves was undergoing live combat training against genetically engineered monsters developed by the Biotech Division.

They were refining individual combat skills and teamwork under fire.

Tat-tat-tat!

BOOM—!

Gunfire and cannon blasts echoed in bursts.

Within the vast, expansive townscape, an intense training battle was in full swing.

These rookie Astartes weren't just fighting savage beasts—they also had to contend with gun-wielding replicants and stealth-attacking Ghost Soldiers.

The opposing force, composed of 500 combat units, was massed in the town's southern district.

To simulate realistic battle conditions, the replicants were fully equipped with mechanical exoskeletons and various weapons.

Under the control of their combat chips, they charged the Astartes with fearless, suicidal aggression.

"These rookies aren't bad—solid coordination. A hundred of them taking on such a force without suffering any losses? Impressive."

Morgan Blackhand smiled, offering genuine praise.

But Li Ang shook his head. To him, the enemy formations were a chaotic mess—disorganized and ultimately no real threat to the Astartes. Pure cannon fodder.

"Next time, increase the difficulty. At this level, they're barely getting any meaningful training."

Li Ang instructed Morgan bluntly.

It wasn't cruelty—it was necessity. Astartes were the conglomerate's most elite troops.

Only through brutal, life-or-death combat could they become the unstoppable force needed for future campaigns of conquest.

"Yes, sir!"

Morgan immediately dropped his smile and replied with seriousness. He wouldn't dare keep flattering the recruits when Li Ang was clearly displeased.

Li Ang 's gaze shifted to the other end of the battlefield—to the enemy forces composed of gene beasts and replicants.

The biotech department had bred these creatures using DNA from Pandora's hexapedes, small Bursters from the Forerunner civilization, and other alien predator strains.

But intelligence-wise, they were still just animals.

Against disciplined, well-equipped Astartes—even rookies—concentrated firepower turned them into minced meat and gore.

At first glance, Li Ang almost thought the soldiers were just helping clean up the biotech lab's trash.

This wasn't the outcome he wanted.

Then, under Morgan's signal, the simulation was extended with a surprise round of testing.

A horde of 150 bio-tyrants launched a sudden assault. Standing at 2.7 meters tall and capable of high-speed movement, they used cover effectively and launched coordinated attacks under handler control.

The unexpected escalation led to a few injuries among the trainees—but they still emerged victorious.

> "One seriously injured, three lightly wounded. The rest unharmed. Final score: 94.5. Grade: Excellent."

> "Commence cleanup. Prep the next test batch. Uninvolved personnel, please exit."

As the combat trial concluded, the watching executives finally perked up.

They hadn't traveled all this way just to see rookies shoot targets.

They were here to witness a human miracle—

Or rather, the glorious moment of the Iron Hand Astartes Legion

Soon, under the staff's cleanup efforts, all corpses—monster and replicant alike—were cleared away from the simulated town.

Once the site was sterilized and secured, the new batch of enemies was prepped for the next test.

> "Boss, everything's ready. Should we begin?"

Morgan Blackhand turned to Li Ang after confirming the lab was cleaned and the enemies were in position.

Li Ang nodded. "Yeah. Bring out V."

That's right— Li Ang hadn't brought the executive board here to watch new recruit exercises.

They were here to witness the power of a Primaris Astartes.

Just recently, Li Ang had maxed out the tech tier for his gene-seed research.

As the commander of the Iron Hand legion, V was eligible for his final set of organ enhancements.

Now, under the watchful eyes of the LA Megacorp top brass, V had completed his 22nd organ implantation: the Belisarius Furnace.

At this very moment, the special organ was pulsing in V's chest, activating new bodily functions.

The Belisarius Furnace allowed V's body to autonomously secrete a powerful cocktail of combat-response hormones when suffering catastrophic injuries—

Rapidly regenerating muscle, bone, and tissue to restore combat capability.

In essence, it was like installing a personal respawn core inside his body.

For V, the market expansion poster boy and commander of the Iron Hand Astartes, this marked his ascension as the first to complete all modifications—

The conglomerate's first true Primaris Astartes.

But for the Galactic LA Megacorp this meant far more than just gaining a demigod-like supersoldier.

V would become the face of the company's might—a beacon to rally more human warriors to their cause.

That was V's political value.

And now, under the gaze of everyone present, V stepped into the simulation alone.

His challenge: survive against 1,000 enemy combatants.

He was only allowed standard-issue firearms and ammo—just what he'd carry on a real mission.

Once his ammunition ran dry, he would have no choice but to fight hand-to-hand against monsters, replicants, and Ghost Soldiers.

> "V, are you ready?"

---

As V's direct superior, Li Ang spoke up with concern for V's condition before the test officially began.

  [Alright, let's begin!]

  "Understood."

  At Li Ang 's nod, Morgan immediately issued a command to the operators below.

  In an instant, a dense horde of gene monsters and cloned soldiers, along with the stealthy Phantom Troopers lurking in the shadows, surged toward V.

  At that moment, V could see nothing but a mass of heat signatures flooding his helmet display—enemies converging from every direction.

  "Bring it on, you bastards!"

  Boom—!!

  Before a few gene monsters could even reach him, a distinct, high-caliber gunshot rang out—it was the blast from V's Rampage Burst Pistol.

  The explosive round shredded the nearest monsters into pieces. Towering at three meters tall, V, like an unstoppable armored juggernaut, charged straight into the fray.

  Bang! Bang!

  Amid the signature roar of the Rampage Burst Pistol, the recently cleared-out district was once again soaked in blood and littered with torn flesh.

  Every shot triggered an explosion, turning monsters into sprays of blood and flying chunks of meat. The air reeked of gore.

  Clearly, this terrifying destruction came from the pistol's unique dual-detonation rounds.

  And not once did V consider conserving his ammo or planning for efficient kills.

  Just like Li Ang , who was closely observing the test, he wanted to see exactly how far he could push his physical limits.

  As V poured out ammo with reckless abandon, many of the personnel on the observation deck frowned, seemingly questioning his wasteful shooting.

  But only a few who knew V well understood—he was doing it on purpose!

  Despite the brutal carnage V's explosive weapon wrought, the monsters and clones, controlled by chip implants, continued to hurl themselves at him without hesitation.

  But what awaited them was only death—V crushed them one by one, tearing them apart into bloody mist. His Mark X power armor was soon drenched in red.

  After depleting most of his ammo, V dove headfirst into the enemy ranks, relying solely on his bare fists for brutal close-quarters combat.

  Still, he kept one weapon in reserve—a plasma discharge gun—saved specifically for dealing with the Phantom Troopers. His fists weren't much use against them.

  As V launched himself into the monster horde, the test operators on the platform began frantically recording data and compiling analysis reports.

  This combat test wasn't just for show—it was to assess the performance of their own products. The data from V's combat condition was incredibly valuable to them.

  Before long, V's power armor was riddled with damage, and the enemies lay in piles of torn flesh and splintered bone.

  With his body covered in wounds, multiple fractures, and even internal organ damage, V simply shed the now-cumbersome armor and prepared to take on the remaining hundred-plus enemies with nothing but his bare body.

  "Is this guy insane?!"

  The executives on the observation deck couldn't help crying out in astonishment.

  But Li Ang knew exactly why V did it—he wanted to test the effects of the Furnace of Belisarius!

  Sure enough, in the final stage of battle, despite his grievous injuries, V waded through a sea of blood, bones shattered, body broken, and still launched himself into the assault.

  Strictly speaking, V's body was a fusion of flesh and regenerative metal.

  The organic material in his body could generate new metal, while consuming the enemy's flesh allowed him to regenerate his own tissue.

  To the executives of the mega-corporation, it was as if V were devouring cloned soldiers and monsters alive, all while using his iron fists and elbows to crush skulls.

  "V's completely gone berserk... he's using a Boneflayer's femur as a weapon, and hurling acid from its stomach as biochemical bombs."

  "He actually thought of that…!"

  Watching the combat test, Jack and Reed shook their heads in disbelief.

  It had been a long time since they'd seen V this terrifying. He truly lived up to his title as the Iron Hand's battle leader—arguably the pinnacle of all human warriors!

  With no more armor to shield him and no more heavy weapons to rely on, V turned his entire body into a lethal weapon, using every available part to inflict deadly damage.

  After using the plasma discharge gun to take down the Phantom Troopers, V wildly swung his arms, smashing every creature in sight with his iron fists.

  Before long, the thousand-unit combat force—composed of gene monsters, clones, Behemoths, and Phantom Troopers—was completely annihilated.

  Only blood and corpses remained on the battlefield.

  Covered in wounds, V forced himself to stand, feeling the Furnace of Belisarius raging within him, rapidly repairing every injury in his body.

  At the same time, applause erupted in the observation room above the town. This breathtaking display of human limits had shattered everyone's understanding!

  After today, V was destined to become a legendary warrior of the LA Megacorp.

  The test teams on-site immediately began collecting and organizing data to present to Li Ang.

  "The combat test is now complete!"

  "All 1,000 test units have been neutralized. Duration: 28 minutes and 17 seconds. Subject V has sustained injuries of varying severity across the body."

  "However, he remains combat-capable and is estimated to have a single-combat capacity of up to 5,000 enemy units."

  "More precise and detailed analytics will be completed within 10 minutes and uploaded to the central database."

  "..."

  The staff at the control consoles were methodically reporting the test results to the attending executives and to Li Ang.

  The heads of the biotech and augmentation departments exchanged looks of disbelief and fear.

  Had they not seen it with their own eyes, they never would've believed that the limits of a human body could reach such a terrifying level.

  Even more shocking—V seemed capable of enduring at least two more full combat trials. These enemy units hadn't even pushed him to his true limits!

  Standing by the observation window, Morgan Blackhand turned after ordering V taken for treatment. With excitement in his voice, he said to Li Ang.

  "Boss, one man against a thousand enemy units—this level of destruction and endurance is insane. It looks like our company's Gene Seed is fully developed!"

  As a senior executive, Morgan was naturally aware of the Gene Seed's existence.

  But what he didn't know was that its capabilities had only been unlocked through Li Ang incremental upgrades.

  Over the past two decades, since Li Ang first acquired the Gene Seed tech tree, he had been using corporate currency to level it up—gradually unlocking every function.

  Now, the Universal Mega-Corp had the technology to create Primaris Astartes, complete with all 22 organ augmentations!

  V's unprecedented combat performance had proven the Gene Seed's power and flawless adaptability.

   Li Ang nodded thoughtfully. While the perfected Gene Seed drastically reduced rejection and allowed seamless integration of bodily modifications…

  It didn't mean everyone could undergo Astartes augmentation.

  Test results had shown that individuals with subpar physical traits experienced breakdowns, necrosis, and even death post-modification.

  So after extensive trials and analysis, the biotech and augmentation departments concluded that creating more V-level warriors required one of two approaches:

  Either rigorously screen, train, and maintain elite human candidates,

  Or build specialized incubation chambers to clone high-performance Primaris Astartes.

  But even one clone required more resources to cultivate than supplying ten Vs for an entire year.

  So in the end, the most cost-effective method was still to train and select elite humans for Astartes transformation.

  After all, cloned warriors required polymer control systems, which made them far less flexible than pure humans.

  "Create a dedicated column for this test and publish it across all Earth sectors. Also, order the augmentation department to expand surgical bays in every warzone."

   Li Ang fully understood what these Primaris warriors meant for the Iron Hand Astartes—this was the perfect beginning.

  With V as the first of his kind, more Primaris warriors would soon follow.

  It wouldn't be long before a vast army of fully-enhanced elite troops emerged, ready to take on the most dangerous missions.

  Today's combat test held a significance for the LA Megacorp on par with the establishment of a new megastructure.

  "Yes, sir!"

  Morgan nodded solemnly.

  One month later.

  There was less than a year left before the arrival of the Reaper Civilization.

  Under Li Ang leadership, the market expansion division accelerated the army's growth and infrastructure development.

  If they were going to fight these alien invaders, the battle couldn't happen on Earth.

  There were simply too many core facilities and industrial zones—if they were destroyed, those losses would be irreparable.

  So Li Ang decided to establish the first front on the moon, constructing space cities and frontline bases there.

  If the enemy could be eliminated at the doorstep, there was no reason to let them foul the house.

  …

---

(Show your support and read more chapters on my Patreon: p@treon.com/psychopet. Thank you for your support!)