Warhammer 40K in a box

Chapter 353 Bottom Nest Settlement
Led by Gross and the Bloodfinger Gang, 32 and Guterres finally arrived at the bottom of the nest through the intricate network of pipes and underground passages.

This place is outside the building structure of the hive city, but because it is located at the bottom of the hive city, it is called the bottom hive.

For most hive cities, the existence of the bottom hive is more like the underground sewage pipes or landfill of a city. Some bottom hive areas are even simply spaces hollowed out at the bottom of the hive city or located on the outer layer of the hive city's foundation.

This area is mainly composed of abandoned industrial areas left over from the early construction of the hive, collapsed pipes, rusted metal frames, and slums illegally expanded before or during the construction of the hive.

After all, the Empire has never been a planetary mega-project like building a hive capital on a planet. In most cases, a hive capital will only be built on a planet after it has developed to a certain level and can afford the expenses and burden of building one.

Typically, because the nests are so enormous, their bases will cover the original industrial facilities, mining areas, or even the city itself.

For example, if Chen Xi wanted to build a nest city on Rostov II, he would expand upon the existing city without relocating.

While some of the existing cities may be demolished, much more will simply be buried beneath the existing urban centers.

If this part of the building, buried at the deepest level of the nest city, is utilized by some people who have been left behind, it will gradually form a bottom nest settlement.

The living conditions here are extremely harsh. Not seeing sunlight all year round is a minor issue. Because it is located at the bottom of the nest, it can basically say goodbye to things like fresh air and clean water.

The food and water that flow from the nest city to this place are all waste that has been recycled countless times.

Furthermore, since the bottom nest is not strictly within the scope of the nest city, it does not even have the air purification and water purification facilities that the lower nest has.

In other words, people here can't even get the most basic filtered water to drink, nor can they breathe air that has undergone even the most basic filtration.

All that exists here is severely polluted industrial waste gas and toxic wastewater, as well as almost ubiquitous radiation leaks.

At least 32, after setting foot in this area, the reform counter on her body never stopped, the only difference being that it went from high-frequency short notes to continuous long notes.

So she simply turned it off, since radiation wasn't a problem for a motorist like her anyway.

As for the Astartes that Guterres brought, it was even less of a problem. Although their Phobos-type power armor was a lightweight version, it still provided all the necessary protection.

It's just that it doesn't have the exaggerated defense of the Gravis-type heavy armor, which is comparable to the Terminator armor, but it's still more than capable of withstanding the harsh environment and radiation of the bottom nest.

As for the special agents from the Ministry of Justice who came down with them, they were also wearing completely sealed power armor, which could effectively isolate radiation and air pollution.

"My esteemed lords, this Nest settlement is jointly controlled by three gangs. Our Bloodfinger Gang only controls a portion of this settlement. However, if you need anything, please feel free to ask. As long as it is within the Bloodfinger Gang's power, we will do it without hesitation!" Gross fawned over 32 and Guterres, having already discerned that these two were the key figures.

32 and Guterres exchanged a glance. After exchanging ideas on the communication channel, 32 spoke to Gross, saying, "Let's find a place to settle down first, without alerting anyone else."

“I understand. The Bloodfinger Gang has a warehouse nearby where you gentlemen can hide for a while.” Gross understood immediately and began leading the way while explaining the situation to 32. The other members of the Bloodfinger Gang quickly scattered to drive away the mutants and other Undercity inhabitants living nearby.

You obviously can't expect the humans living at the bottom of the hive to look like human beings. Those who end up at the bottom are either members of gangs who are brave and violent, or people who are exploited by the empire to the point of being unable to survive, but who still have some ability to escape to the bottom.

None of these people are simple, because ordinary people wouldn't survive more than 12 hours in a place like the bottom nest.

They were either captured and made into raw materials for rejuvenation potions, or their entire value was squeezed out and they became the source of corpse starch.

Of course, this also includes mutants who are not accepted or tolerated by the official laws of the Empire.

Although Imperial law stipulates that mutants whose mutation level is not too high can have legal status in the Empire, they are usually subject to severe discrimination.

Even psionicists face discrimination within the Empire, let alone ordinary mutants.

Although Imperial law allows them to exist, and some who meet the criteria can even join the Star Guardians, this cannot conceal the fact that they are only second-class citizens in the Empire.

So many mutants fled to the bottom nest, where they formed mutant settlements.

Although life was a bit tough, without the Empire's heavy tithes and discrimination, mutants could at least survive.

(This is already considered a relatively mild form of mutant; at least they still resemble a human.)
The nest where 32 and his group lived had developed into a town of considerable size, and most of the people living on the streets were mutants of varying degrees of mutation.

"About how many people live in this town?" 32 asked Gross, as they had arrived at the warehouse Gross had mentioned.

Several Astartes took control of the high points and key locations around the warehouse, hiding in the shadows and monitoring every move around them.

“My esteemed sir, there are about 30,000 people in the town, a quarter of whom are mutants. There is a mutant settlement nearby, and some of them come here to make a living.” Gross explained in detail, and then said to 32 with a slightly helpless wry smile, “Living in the Bottom Nest, people generally don’t care much about mutants. Unless they are mutated to a particularly severe degree, no one really cares.”

After all, in a place like the bottom of the nest, caring about such things is mostly meaningless.

Although Gross's answer was somewhat understated, 32 could still sense a kind of bittersweet helplessness in his words.

"How powerful is your Bloodfinger Gang? What do you do for a living?" 32 looked at Gross, intending to start with this Nest City gang.

"The Bloodfinger Gang mainly makes a living through smuggling. We get energy bars and nutritional pastes from the lower nests, transport them down, and sell them to others, making a considerable profit." Gross didn't mind being frank with 32 about the Bloodfinger Gang's business: "In addition, we also mine some Nether Crystals from the lower nests, which are truly top-tier valuables!"

(End of this chapter)