This is the bonus chapter for reaching 1750 Powerstones.
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Zeke had thought the Emperor summoned him to the palace to bestow some great treasure upon him. After all that fuss, he was merely handed a golden vox-caster that allowed for face-to-face communication with the Emperor across vast distances.
Still, it was better than the jump scare of a sudden voice booming inside his head.
As Zeke stepped out of the palace, a squad of Ultramarines had already assembled by the camp, led by the Captain of the Second Company, Cato Sicarius.
Sicarius: Knight Champion of Macragge, Commander of Guilliman's Victrix Guard, and an absolute unit. Legends (and rumors) of his martial prowess were widespread among the Ultramarines: that he could face-tank a hit from Chapter Master Calgar's Power Fist and only lose two front teeth, or tear off Abaddon's topknot with his bare hands.
"Where's Guilliman?"
"The Primarch is currently coordinating with Archmagos Cawl to urgently mobilize a batch of Primaris Space Marines," Sicarius said, his face stern and his voice carrying an air of invincibility. "They hope to deploy the Primaris to support Baal. He is currently unable to leave, so I, Cato Sicarius, shall assist in the support mission."
That works. We're just scouting the situation first anyway. Zeke nodded.
"Give me a moment. I need to make some pre-battle preparations."
Sicarius nodded in acknowledgement and didn't ask further questions.
Zeke ducked back into the camp and found Karmine to ask about the new results of the potion refining.
Karmine looked up, a trace of exhaustion on her face.
"This time, there is only this single bottle," Karmine's voice held a hint of nervousness. "It was an accidental byproduct of the experiment. Its effects might be a bit... intense."
Zeke took the vial. The color of the potion inside was so rich it seemed solid.
This was definitely no ordinary potion. Zeke looked at its name.
Speed Potion 255?!
You actually managed to brew this?
Speed 255. In Minecraft, this was the maximum speed effect grantable via command blocks. It was so fast the player's naked eye couldn't even react; a single blink could send you rocketing from one mountain to another.
Fortunately, in the Warhammer universe, speed potions also amplified neural reaction speeds, so he didn't have to worry about crashing.
Zeke pocketed the potion and proceeded to the crafting table to create a weapon to match it.
A slender Netherite Lance, its tip shimmering with a dark red glow.
This was a weapon from the latest Minecraft update before Zeke transmigrated. Its damage was linked to the user's movement speed—the faster the user moved, the more terrifying the damage caused during a charging thrust.
Zeke vaguely remembered that with the buff of Speed 255, this lance could poke a Warden to death in just two hits.
Converted into damage values, a single charging thrust would deal over 250 damage.
Lady Luck was truly smiling on him. Zeke gave the lance a test thrust; the handling was excellent.
Next, Zeke went to Dance to apply the [Bane of Arthropods] enchantment to the lance. He didn't forget Sicarius and his squad, applying this anti-Tyranid enchantment to their weapons as well.
There was a certain thrill in stacking stats. Zeke looked at the glistening Netherite Lance in his hand. Everything was ready.
At the spell transcription table, Zeke used the Emperor's Prayer Book gifted by the Emperor himself to transcribe the Invisibility spell. He then headed to a specially prepared area in the outer city.
To prevent the worst-case scenario of a bug swarm flooding out upon connection, several Earthshaker Cannons and various heavy weapons were aimed at the center.
If anything abnormal came out of the portal, the firepower would tear apart both the gate and any creature inside it.
Zeke held the Flint and Steel in his hand. He turned his body sideways, stretching his arm out as far forward as possible while leaning his head and upper body strictly backward.
He looked just like a child during New Year, wanting to light a firecracker but terrified of getting blown up.
"I'm lighting it!" Zeke shouted.
"Ready." Sicarius drew his weapon, while the Ultramarines beside him shouldered their Manticore rocket launchers.
Click. The Nether Portal ignited with purple light, connecting to an unknown location.
A scent of rust wafted out as the portal's watery film reflected the scene behind it.
A thick, suffocating red steam appeared behind the portal.
"It is Red Fog, a natural disaster that only occurs on low-gravity celestial bodies like the moons of Baal."
Looks like our luck held out. The Cadian ship at least reached the vicinity of its destination, Zeke thought to himself.
Baal had two moons, Baal Prime and Baal Secundus; he didn't know which one this was.
They waited for a while, but no creatures rushed out. There was only a deathly silence.
Gulp, gulp, gulp, gulp. Sicarius watched the human beside him chugging potions.
"Want one?"
Zeke offered a Strength Potion to Sicarius.
"No need," Sicarius declined, pulling a Strength Potion from his own tactical belt. "I have my own."
Gulp, gulp, gulp. It wasn't just him; the Ultramarines behind him also began pulling out Strength Potions. The scene turned into a synchronized doping session.
Zeke looked pleased.
That's right. Pre-battle doping is the way to go.
Waiting for the Ultramarines to finish their potions, Zeke took the lead, put on his Armor of Fate helmet, and stepped into the Nether Portal.
The thick red fog instantly surged around him.
–
Beside the crashed Cadian ship.
Water-seller Yuji curled up in the corner, shivering, using his emaciated body to barely shield his elderly grandmother as he watched the horrifying scene before him.
Several giants clad in dark red Power Armor were nearby.
Their armor was battered and covered in dried, blackened bloodstains.
If one got close, they could even smell the faint rot emitting from the coagulated blood clots in the armor's crevices.
The Knights of Blood. A successor chapter of the Blood Angels, a force sent to Baal Prime to act as bait to distract the main Tyranid fleet.
They had come to investigate after spotting the crashed Cadian ship, only to encounter a small swarm of Tyranids.
As for the mortals beside them... they were merely portable rations for the Knights..
"Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill!"
"Kill them all!"
"Blood... I need more blood."
The battle was brief; the roar of chainswords drowned out the shrieks of the Tyranids.
A Tyranid Warrior had just raised its deathspitter symbiote when a Knight of Blood's chainsword severed its cervical vertebrae. The ugly xenos head spun as it flew into the air, while the headless body stood twitching on its own.
With the big one taken care of, only a few smaller Tyranids remained.
As the battle progressed, the Knights of Blood felt their bodies growing hotter, a furious hunger surging from the depths of their hearts.
Their teeth elongated, biting into their lower gums.
Water-seller Yuji shrank back, trembling.
He felt that these Space Marines who were supposed to be protecting them were acting increasingly strange. They looked at him the way a wolf looks at a sheep.
"Blood..." A slurred whisper leaked from the vox-grille of a helmet.
Finally, one of the Knights of Blood could hold back no longer. He walked toward Yuji, his gaze sweeping over the mortals before he hoisted Yuji up.
"What... what are you doing?" Yuji stammered in terror. His frail body couldn't put up even the slightest struggle against the Knight of Blood.
The Knight of Blood chuckled, made a guttural sound, and tightened his grip, crushing Yuji's cervical spine.
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Next Goal = 2100 Powerstones, Lets see if we can cross 2000 Powerstones before the reset.
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