Yellow sand swirled, ancient and desolate.
Emrys, who had just returned from the Alien universe, opened his eyes to a scene that looked like the end of the world.
A violent sandstorm, like a world-destroying behemoth, dyed the entire sky ochre, emitting a deafening roar, approaching at hundreds of kilometers per hour!
"Detecting a massive storm approaching, with a central speed of 785 kilometers per hour. User, please evacuate to a safe zone immediately!"
Mark 5 immediately issued a warning.
"...Does it have to be this unlucky?!"
Before he could express more emotion, Emrys realized he had to leave quickly.
Otherwise, the storm, approaching eight hundred kilometers per hour, would quickly engulf him completely. Even wearing two layers of armor didn't guarantee absolute safety.
Fortunately, the damage to the Mark 5 was barely within acceptable limits, and the energy replenished from the Prometheus was more than enough to fly directly back to the hive city.
After a brief moment of charging, Emrys' bent legs suddenly pushed off, shattering the surrounding ground like a cannonball and soaring into the sky.
Then, the Mark 5 armor spewed scorching Mach rings, propelling him like a streak of light, cutting through the swirling yellow sand.
He flew for about half an hour, approaching the location of the hive city.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Suddenly, earth-shattering roars, like ten thousand cannons firing at once.
Every roar was enough to tear the sky, like an enraged God bellowing, making his heart tremble along with it!
What on Earth happened?
The increasingly uneasy atmosphere, like an invisible hand, fiercely clutched Emrys' heart, almost rising to his throat. With an ominous premonition, he sped up.
Soon, he saw the Roselle hive city.
But, contrary to his imagination, Emrys' pupils instantly constricted, his entire face stiffened as if petrified, and a tumultuous wave surged in his heart: "Is that... Planetary Defense Artillery?!"
The entire Roselle hive city was engulfed in flames!
More than half of the hive city was burning, fierce flames mixed with rolling black smoke, like a devil baring its fangs and claws, forming a massive dark cloud hovering over the hive city.
Heavy artillery emitted deafening roars, seemingly unleashing firepower like crazy, shells as dense as raindrops slammed into the front lines, smoke, flames, and explosions made up the entirety of the battlefield, and the violent aftermath caused the ground for several kilometers around to tremble!
Thick smoke, mixed with flames and raging air currents, seemed to ignite the entire sky above the hive city!
Gazing at the flame-engulfed hive city, Emrys' mood slowly sank to rock bottom: "Damn cultists, couldn't they hold back any longer?"
Emrys urgently lowered his altitude, trying his best to avoid being caught in the artillery fire.
After all, the hive city's artillery didn't have eyes. If he were shot down by the hive city's anti-air cannons, it would be quite laughable.
"Tsk, with the current density of anti-air firepower, even getting close is a challenge." Looking at the ubiquitous gunfire and the ignited atmosphere, Emrys was truly in a difficult situation.
If he went in like this, he would 100% be mistaken for a 'cultist' and be blown to smithereens by a cannon.
After a moment of thought, Emrys suddenly had a bold idea. Looking at the endless stream of cultist armies pouring from the Lower Hive into the Mid Hive area, he made the Aquila sign on his chest: "Emperor protect me, you must see clearly, I'm not joining a cult, this is an emergency!"
After a quick prayer for protection, Emrys found a relatively secluded battlefield that was not easily noticed.
Then, under the cover of the smoke from the artillery fire, he used the armor's stealth mode to sneak into the cultist legion without anyone knowing.
To avoid attracting attention, Emrys took off his Mark 5 armor and threw it into his personal space.
Although doing so would entail some danger, if he wore this armor and was noticed by the cultists, it might be even more dangerous.
Of course, the reason Emrys dared to do this was purely because he was still wearing a biological armor underneath.
Infiltrating the cult was not difficult at all.
In the massive flow of people, completely engulfed in fanaticism, charging like a collective suicide mission, Emrys was like a drop of water, completely inconspicuous.
The biggest problem should be the influence of Chaos sorcery.
But fortunately, Emrys had already lit the 'Blessed Censer' he had treasured for a long time.
The ashes of a psyker blessed by a Ecclesiarchy priest could, to the greatest extent, ensure he would not be affected by Chaos sorcery.
"Blood for the Blood God, Skulls for the Skull Throne!"
"Blood for the Blood God, Skulls for the Skull Throne!"
"Blood for the Blood God, Skulls for the Skull Throne!"
Tens of thousands of cultists, completely brainwashed by Chaos sorcery and turned into Chaos pawns, surged madly towards the hive city's pass.
Even though the shells in front fell like dense raindrops, and countless bullets, trailing screams, formed a dense crossfire network, they still could not stop the fanatical tide of people.
The tide of people, as if converging into a flood, fell in swathes like mown wheat, only to be filled by countless people from behind. Each time a shell fell, it was accompanied by the Emperor's roar, blasting large numbers of heretics into blood mist, and the fallen bodies were trampled into viscous mud!
With no training whatsoever, relying only on crude weapons, the cultists had to sacrifice tens of thousands of lives for every step they advanced!
The cultists intended to use 'human lives' to flatten the Planetary Defense Force's line!
How should one describe this situation? It's probably: Your bullets are finite, but my cannon fodder is endless?
"I didn't expect the cultists to have already breached the Mid Hive?"
After struggling to follow the cultist flow into the Mid Hive, Emrys' eyes darkened slightly.
In fact, the moment he saw the 'Hell Drakes,' he had already guessed that the cultists would most likely not be slowed down.
But he never expected the battle to be so fierce!
Logically speaking, the hive city had the Adeptus Arbites, Enforcers, noble armed forces, and was garrisoned by the Planetary Defense Force outside.
Even if the planetary governor's head was full of dung, it shouldn't have taken only a dozen days for the cultists to breach the hive city, right?
Emrys, who had finally escaped into the hive city, gasped for breath by a ruined building, cold sweat trickling down his forehead: "Luckily I ran fast, otherwise... I'd be blasted into a bloody mess like those lunatics!"
This area was not yet occupied by the cultists, but it wasn't too far either. He could see large groups of people fleeing deeper into the Mid Hive.
Suddenly, a Planetary Defense Force unit of dozens of people emerged from the depths of the Mid Hive.
Then, large numbers of people attempting to flee, whether young adults or elderly, were all intercepted by them.
"Boy, you're very lucky, you've been conscripted by us."
The high-ranking Officer strode with powerful steps, not even glancing at him, and simply tossed him an old lumberjack's gun: "Now... in the name of the God-Emperor, you are assigned to the Provisional 177th Regiment, responsible for defending Sector B-17. Go, you are now a warrior of the Emperor!"
"???"
Emrys was dumbfounded, his mouth wide open.
What? He just took one extra look, and now he's a 'warrior of the Emperor'?
Holding that old lumberjack's gun, it felt as hot as a fire poker.
Just then, an older man next to him looked at the Officer with a pleading expression: "Lord... I'm old, just an ordinary Mid Hive resident, can you not..."
Click!
The high-ranking Officer directly drew his gun and pressed it against the old man's forehead: "Now, I'll give you two choices."
"Either become a warrior of the Emperor, and for the God-Emperor, purge those damned heretics." The high-ranking Officer's voice was cold, as if containing endless killing intent, like a chillingly sharp blade held against the necks of the crowd: "Or... I'll shoot you all dead immediately!"