The lumen lights installed on the tunnel ceiling flickered, causing the illumination to be very dim.
Argentius and the others, armed with bolt guns and chainswords, were hidden in the darkness, waiting for the ork counterattack.
The expected ork counterattack didn't materialize even after they had waited for a long time.
"This doesn't fit the orks' character," a team member whispered in the communication channel.
His words resonated with his companions.
In the past, the orks would have charged in regardless of the consequences.
But now, there was no movement, which they found strange.
"Stay quiet."
Argentius also felt it was strange.
By the Holy Emperor, what were these damn greenskins up to now??
The tunnel was unusually silent, except for the sizzling sounds from poorly maintained circuits and the dripping of water from the ceiling in damp areas.
There were none of the orks' frenzied roars.
Nor were there any of their chaotic, disordered footsteps.
Argentius and the others, deep underground, naturally didn't know that the orks outside had already fallen into chaos.
After killing the Warboss, the ork Ufka hadn't even settled into the Warboss' position before he learned some unpleasant news from the Meks.
The 'umies' big ships had taken over the sky.
The orks were isolated on this planet.
"I'm the smartest ork, I reckon I can't die here. I'm gonna be a Warboss, an Emperor ork in the future."
The Warbosses and Big Bosses fought each other all day, but Ufka thought they were all inferior to him.
A smart ork should survive so that they can continue fighting the 'umies in the future.
So they can find better scrap, better parts, and build bigger, fatter, and stronger big shootas.
So they can become bigger, greener, stronger, and more WAAAGH.
Realizing that he couldn't stay on this planet, Ufka went to find the most powerful Big Mek in the clan after the big 'umies entered the tunnel.
That was an ork with many tool-hands attached to his body.
The Big Mek could always tinker out all sorts of powerful weapons to help the orks defeat the 'umies, the metal boxes, and the pointy ears.
Besides building weapons, they could also fix all sorts of things.
With the prestige of being the new Warboss and promising to give the Big Mek a mountain of teeth and a mountain of scrap, Ufka got the Big Mek's help.
A twenty-meter long 'umie transport was dragged out, and after the Big Mek tinkered with it, it flew up and rushed towards the starry sky.
Every part of the flying transport trembled non-stop.
The engine also sputtered and belched black smoke.
It gave the impression that it could fall apart at any moment.
But this ship still operated stably in a way that other races couldn't understand, rushing towards space at an extremely fast speed.
The near-orbit range of a planet is extremely vast.
The Imperial Fleet possessed firepower that the orks couldn't compare to, but without a defense network constructed from orbital space stations, weapon satellites, and defense platforms, it would be difficult to blockade the entire planet.
With the 'umies' fleet unable to encircle the planet, Ufka took the Big Mek and a group of obedient ork boys and made a run for it.
This resulted in the orks in Argentius's area being leaderless.
Countless orks were fighting tooth and nail to choose a new Warboss, completely ignoring Argentius and the others.
The Argent Arrow.
Admiral and captain of the Argent Arrow, Ither, sat at his command post, looking at the holographic screen in front of him, his face as cold as ever.
Runes flickered on the glowing screen.
These runes represented the rescue teams sent by Chapter Master Argentius completing their missions.
Nine runes had already turned green, indicating mission completion.
There was still one last rune that hadn't turned green.
The fleet still needed to wait.
The Communications Officer, Power Officer, and others were seated at their respective stations.
Their scalps were embedded with neural cables connecting them to the ship's main control center.
Cogitators and Servitors placed behind them were sharing their processing load, allowing these senior officers to better perform their duties.
Ding!
A crisp, pleasant sound rang out, and the last indicator rune turned from red to green.
This meant all mission teams had withdrawn from the surface and entered the underground.
The planned operation was complete, and it was time to proceed to the next step.
"Use the virus bomb, initiate exterminatus."
Ither, seated on the command throne, straightened up, opened the fleet-wide communication channel, and issued the order.
Following Ither's command, the lower decks became busy, preparing for the exterminatus.
Junior officers wielded whips, lashing at the laggard crew members to make them complete their work more efficiently.
The virus bomb, requiring multiple passwords and the fingerprint confirmation of officers at various levels, was extracted from the Argent Arrow's secure armory.
It was transported to the gun deck using a massive cargo elevator, where mechanical arms grabbed it and loaded it into the macrocannon.
Even when issuing the exterminatus, an order sufficient to destroy all life on a planet, Ither remained absolutely calm.
He just watched the screen in front of him until the indicator rune for exterminatus readiness appeared on the screen before taking the next step.
"exterminatus initiation," Ither pressed the button and said in a low voice.
Amidst a silent roar, the shell loaded with the microbial virus was fired from the macrocannon, flying towards the planet.
A large number of shells were detonated within the planet, and green mist billowed out from the explosion sites.
Looking from outer space, the explosion locations of the shells were very evenly distributed.
The green mist formed by the explosions rapidly expanded, covering the entire planet.
The Imperium possessed many weapons capable of destroying planets.
But when it came to the best method for purifying greenskins, this type of virus bomb was undoubtedly the most suitable.
The virus would kill the unseen spores, ensuring no lingering threat.
The original purpose of this virus bomb was to eradicate all life on the planet's surface.
It would destroy the target's cellular structure at a molecular level.
In just a few seconds, the virus would rapidly consume everything, then quickly divide and grow.
Any flesh and blood that came into contact with these viruses would dissolve, becoming a pool of foul-smelling gore.
The virus shells fired by the Argent Arrow were enough to destroy the world a hundred times over.
They were deployed at different latitudes and altitudes, completely covering every corner of the planet.
Aided by air currents, the viruses rapidly traversed forests and plains, entered oceans and rivers, sweeping through aquatic algal communities, and covering all life forms on this planet.
Purifying an entire planet with chainswords and artillery was a time-consuming and costly endeavor.
Using viruses was quick and convenient.
The orks roared to the sky, wanting to fight those hateful 'umies.
Unfortunately, their intentions were destined to be thwarted.
The orks looked up at the sky, and before they could react, they were already infected by the virus and perished on the spot.
Flesh dissolved and flowed from their skeletons, their nervous systems disintegrated, and their bones became as soft as jelly.
Within a few minutes, tens of thousands of orks fell, disintegrating into decaying and putrid flesh.
The colossal screen in the ship's control room showed the scene of the virus bomb consuming the entire world.
A dark patch bloomed like an evil flower, rapidly expanding into a black ring, consuming everything on the surface at an astonishing speed, leaving only a gray wasteland behind.
On the other side, another wave of decay spread from another area of the surface, leaving behind only decaying flesh and blood in its wake.
The two streams of black matter converged, continuing to spread across the planet's surface like some terrible disease.
All life on the entire planet was screaming.
The orks let out roars of extreme pain, but after only a moment, they were unable to make any sound.
The virus had corroded their internal organs and vocal cords, turning them into silent corpses.
The decaying flesh flowed like a strange river.
It was a pity that the orks had no connection to the Warp.
Otherwise, the death of so many orks would surely have caused a violent Warp ether storm.
Argentius and the others stood in the darkness, already knowing that the fleet had initiated the exterminatus strike.
Underground, they imagined the terrible hell that was unfolding above.
Facing so much death, Ither on the bridge remained completely unmoved, indifferent to the demise of the xenos.
Only when the entire planet was enveloped by the virus, decaying and rotting, did Ither issue his second command, preparing to set the entire planet ablaze to ensure the effectiveness of the exterminatus.