Warhammer: Black Emperor

Chapter 438 The Deal with Mortarian: An Unexpected Gain

The overlord was driven back to the mountains, and the casualties were fewer than Mortarian had anticipated.

But Mortarian did not relax; he gripped his weapon and approached his opponent.

"I am Mortarian, thank you for your help."

He asked tentatively, "Are you human too?"

"My name is Ning Lu." The Gene Primarch had already keenly sensed that the surrounding poisonous gas was not thick.

He knew that the threat of poisonous gas varied in different areas of this wild world.

They could survive most of the time in the valleys and low-lying plains where humans lived, before Mortarion helped them create filters.

Just like humans in the Hive and Industrial worlds, after generations of survival, they undergo adaptive evolution. If ordinary humans from other worlds come to this environment without protection, most of them will die in a short time.

The real danger lies in the mountainous region where the alien overlords live, and the closer you get to the top, the denser the toxic fog becomes.

Even the Primarch Mortalian, who grew up in such an environment, is affected when wearing a filter at the mountain's summit.

One reason he ultimately couldn't defeat Nekare was that he was weakened by the poison gas.

Ninglu manipulated the living metal to dissipate, revealing a face like a stone sculpture.

The inhaled toxic gas made his mouth and nose feel sore for a moment, but he quickly returned to normal.

The Barbarians, seeing that he was unaffected, as if he were born in Barbarossa, were filled with astonishment.

Ninglu noticed that the wariness in Motalian's eyes had subsided, but was followed by worry.

[Motalian's reaction was exactly as I expected.] Nimrod thought to himself.

Mortarion sees himself as the savior of the Barbarus and considers it his mission to kill every overlord.

He won't welcome the emergence of a new powerful figure, because I would threaten his ability to complete his mission.
"I am an outsider and I hope to make a deal with you."

Upon hearing this, Mortarian breathed a sigh of relief and asked in confusion.

"A trade? What do you want?"

The weapons used by the outsiders, and the flying metal vehicles, were all things beyond Mortalian's imagination.

The Barbarosians had only rudimentary weapons and farm tools; he didn't know what they had that would appeal to the other side.

“I need the plants and animals of Barbalus,” Ninglu said. The creatures of Barbalus live in toxic environments.

Most of them are highly poisonous, while others have strong resistance to poison.

These poisons are useful to "pharmacists," "biologists," and even "witches of pain," and may even contain ingredients for magic potions.

"I also want the heads of the overlords; I'm very interested in them."

"I will provide you with food, superior weapons, and more durable armor."

"I can also provide you with better filtration devices, and even make targeted improvements based on the toxic gas conditions in the mountains."

“Of course, you’ll have to collect the poisonous gas from the mountains yourselves,” Ning Lu said with a smile.

Mortarion wouldn't refuse such a deal; with food, Mortarion could gather more followers and feed them.

The Barbarus man has the equipment I provide, which will allow him to eliminate the overlord more quickly. In return, I give up equipment for ordinary people and receive potion ingredients and local plants and animals. It's a profitable trade.

The enemies were all killed by Mortarian; he successfully completed his mission. I can fulfill Old Man Huang's task without becoming a scapegoat or the target of his hatred.
While Ninglu pondered, Mortarian fell into deep thought.

After arranging other matters, Karas Tefon, who had just arrived, heard the outsider's offer of a deal.

His eyes lit up, and he quickened his pace to walk to Mortarian's side.

"His conditions are very good."

“I agree to your deal. Taifeng will act as your representative to discuss the details of the deal,” Mortarian said. He had no reason to refuse a deal from an outsider.

Nimrod immediately ordered Arsène Dunne to dispatch a transport ship.

Two sidereal hours later, the Barbarosians looked up at the massive black object slowly descending from the sky.

The servants, wearing respirators, unloaded the crates.

The first brave Barbarosian drank the nutritious porridge, achieving the feat of being full for the first time in his life.

Nimrod's generous advance payment of food made the hesitant Barbarosians cheer and accept the deal.

Mortarian carried the food to the surrounding human settlements.

In just a few days, his human resistance army grew several times larger.

Having liberated the barren land, Mortarian, now able to support more people, recruited followers rapidly without hesitation.

Malena Skala arrived in Barbaros and excitedly received crates of poison sent by the Barbarosians. On the fourteenth day after Nimrod's arrival in Barbaros, Malena, her red lips slightly parted, excitedly reported to him in Vostonian.

"To date, we have acquired 140 species of plants and animals through transactions, bringing the total to over 7,200."

Ninglu nodded slightly. With the addition of the forty-seven overlord heads he had already moved to the "Land of Chaos," Barbarus's trip had not been in vain.

His gaze fell on the distance, where Taifeng led hundreds of Barbarus men wearing gas masks and gray armor into the camp amidst cheers.

The gas masks were originally stockpiled for use by legion followers and crew, but were temporarily diverted and traded to the Barbarians.

The gray armor was forged from the deck of the Shadow of the Throne specifically for the walkers driven by the Overlord. The walkers' poisonous slaps and vicious bites would not poison them.

Ninglu's gaze passed over them and landed on the metal cart.

He saw the blood-red vines inside, their stems and branches densely covered with hooked thorns.

Some of the spikes had gray armor hanging from them, while others had bloody flesh hanging from them.

[The main ingredient for Sequence 6 "Rose Bishop", Flesh and Blood Rose.]

There was indeed an unexpected bonus.
Nimrod's gaze swept over the Barbarus people again, and he noticed that a dozen or so of them had damaged armor on their arms and other parts of their bodies, as if they had been torn by something.

Several others were carried on the shoulders of other Barbarosians; their greyish-white skin was reddish, as if it were burning red.

They fell into a coma, their bodies trembling slightly from time to time.

"Marlena, give them the antidote."

Marlena immediately went over. Nimrod forbade her to use psionic powers in Barbarus, but even without bio-psionic powers, detoxification was not difficult for the "biologist".

Ning Lu walked towards Tai Feng and said:
“I am very interested in these plants, and I am willing to pay a hundred sickles forged from fine steel.”

Tai Feng's gloomy face immediately lit up with joy.

"Ninglu, thank you for your generosity."

“I need more, the more the better,” Ning Lu said again, noticing Tai Feng’s hesitation.

"I will provide an antidote and protective gloves for picking."

"Thank you for your generosity." Just as Taifeng agreed, cheers erupted again from the camp.

The thunderous cheers were even louder than when Taifeng entered.

Mortarian, clad in grey armor, strode into the camp.

His heavy armor made a creaking sound as he walked.

A dozen or so children, chained together, were driven into the camp in terror by the gray-armored warriors.

The Barbarians in the camp were stunned when they saw them, and then they all started cursing angrily.

A burly Barbarosian woman throws a half-finished object with force.

The piece of wood, already showing the beginnings of a cup shape, smashed hard on a boy's head.

"You sorcerer bastard, die!"

Most Barbarosians have eyes that blaze with hatred and fury.

Nimrod's gaze swept over all the Barbarus. He knew that in the hearts of the Barbarus, those who used witchcraft deserved to die because their overlords, who had enslaved them for generations, used psychic powers.

These children who were brought back were all psionicists.

However, not everyone is like that.

The Primarch astutely observed that only Typhon and the dozen or so people closest to him looked at the children who had been brought back without hatred in their eyes.

Nimrod's gaze finally fell on the chain hanging from Mortalian's right little finger.

The other end of the chain was tightly locked around a boy's neck.

The boy struggled desperately, but to no avail.

With each step Mortarian took, the boy would be pulled into the air.

He stumbled and fell to the ground, again and again.

The Primarch stared at the child and immediately understood why Mortarion had been holding the child alone.

Not only did he have a resolute gaze and not beg for mercy like other children, but he also possessed powerful psychic abilities.

His instinctual, psychic powers were stronger than those of the other children.

As he walked, the Barbarians around him instinctively avoided him.

(End of this chapter)