Chapter 10: The Pinnacle of Stealth, the Simplest Approach

Zhang Ge, who was on a reconnaissance mission, had already reached the outer wall of the mayor's mansion. To avoid the clanking sound of his armor, he had removed his carapace armor. In theory, if he were discovered, it would almost certainly mean his death.

However, even though Zhang Ge had been unavoidably exposed to surveillance cameras several times while evading guards, the cameras seemed to ignore him completely. Even when he deliberately paused for a few seconds, there was no reaction.

What's going on? Is the surveillance room guy slacking off?

Zhang Ge felt indignant.

But if he could have been in the surveillance room at the same time, he would have realized that things were not as they seemed.

On the large screen in the surveillance room, all the camera feeds that should have been displayed were uniformly black.

This was not caused by the decapitation team but because the mayor's mansion was the origin point of the rebellion and the main center for demon summoning. The influence of the Warp on the material universe here was particularly intense, causing occasional subtle changes and distortions in the otherwise stable physical laws.

Such changes might have little effect on those with Warp projections to correct them, but for some equipment, especially delicate electronic instruments without special protection, even a single occurrence could be fatal.

Military-grade components that had been blessed and consecrated at every stage of assembly might function normally, but the current mayor... clearly wouldn't spend money on such things.

Thus, the surveillance system had been damaged from the start, and the surveillance room had long been abandoned.

After carefully scouting the outer wall, Zhang Ge realized that without special skills or the coordination of an entire specialized team, this was as far as he could go.

The cultists wouldn't leave blind spots for Zhang Ge to exploit like in a game. On the contrary, under favorable conditions, overlapping sentry points, various traps, and defenses were the norm.

The cultists guarding the mansion were likely the mayor's private troops or rebellious PDF and Astra Militarum. Under such strict deployment, even if Zhang Ge could eliminate one or two sentries to create a momentary breach, it would be of little practical significance. Unless an entire section could be neutralized simultaneously, the remaining forces would quickly respond.

However, the tighter the security at the mayor's mansion, the more it aligned with Zhang Ge's expectations. Having come this far, the team couldn't just turn back, could they? When the time came for a direct assault, with bullets flying everywhere, who would fear death?

With this in mind, Zhang Ge retraced his original route to bypass the outer patrols and reported the situation to the Commissar and others waiting on the periphery.

The Commissar, however, showed no particular reaction, likely due to his extensive experience. He simply asked Zhang Ge to repeat the route to bypass the outer defenses and then led the entire team toward the mansion's outer wall.

But even with utmost caution, an unexpected incident occurred.

"Heret—"

A lasbeam cut off the cultist's words and his life. Zhang Ge thought to himself: The difficulty of infiltrating with an entire team was completely different from infiltrating alone, especially with an Ogryn. Many cover options were simply unusable, so it was no surprise that the team had been discovered.

Sister Amelie, who was closer, swiftly moved forward and cut down the remaining two cultists with her sword. However, the exposure was irreversible. In such a sensitive location, "no information returned" was itself a form of information.

Recalling the patrol patterns he had observed earlier, Zhang Ge spoke up:

"According to the Terran clock, we have roughly five minutes."

The Commissar didn't respond but glanced at the mansion's outer wall. After a moment, he turned to Priest Lyd and said:

"We're close enough. Wake the psyker."

The priest lowered the psyker from his back, removed the restraints, and injected a stimulant into the psyker's neck. The potent drug caused the psyker to convulse immediately, and he soon regained consciousness.

"Oh... My connection to the Warp has never been clearer. Is this my destined place? So magnificent."

The psyker rose from the ground as he spoke.

He looked around, his gaze quickly locking onto the massive structure before him.

But the Commissar had no intention of listening to further ramblings. He pointed at the psyker and then at Big Mouth:

"Big Mouth, throw him. Aim for the wall ahead."

Compared to the Ogryn, the psyker's emaciated body was like a bamboo pole, easily lifted by the waist. However, he offered no resistance, as if he had anticipated this. His expression grew even more excited.

"Glory, glory! My body endures suffering, my soul returns to the heavens!"

Under the Ogryn's immense strength, the psyker was hurled in a graceful arc toward the mansion's outer wall. Naturally, the numerous guards saw this, but before they could intercept, the psyker seemed to lose all momentum, hanging suspended in mid-air.

His robes billowed without wind, and dazzling blue lightning began to dance around him. The psychic energy overflowing from his pale body formed a milky white sphere of light.

In an instant, countless brilliant psychic lightning bolts surged from his raised hand. Though there was no thunderous roar, the screams of the cultists struck and turned to ash were deafening.

The unrestrained use of psychic energy caused the overflowing power to spontaneously annihilate any counterattacks from the cultists. Bullets and lasbeams aimed at the psyker were all swallowed by the radiant light.

This came at a cost. The psyker laughed maniacally as his body rapidly withered, soon resembling a desiccated skeleton.

The brief, dazzling burst caused his life force to fade quickly. Simultaneously, the Warp's daemons, drawn by this radiant projection, swarmed in.

But this was the final part of the psyker's plan. Feeling his body and soul invaded by one, then multiple, twisted entities, he used his last reserves of psychic energy as a fuse, igniting himself with these Warp entities as fuel.

As the far more powerful and unrestrained psychic energy surged, a white, star-like sphere appeared on the ground and rapidly expanded. Accompanied by the wails of the daemons drawn into the inferno, the sphere transformed into a storm that tore apart everything within its range.

When it finally subsided, the team, who had retreated a considerable distance earlier, saw a massive circular breach hundreds of meters wide centered on the psyker. The ground was cracked, with fissures extending even further. The psyker had, in the most brutal manner, torn open the final breach for the decapitation team's "infiltration."

"Do not let anyone's sacrifice be in vain. Now it's our turn to go and greet them."