Warhammer 40: Starting as a Rogue Trader

Chapter 181 Abathur, the Zerg Gene Flesh Master

"I didn't expect there to be more than one Astartes under Comoros... It's amazing that they've survived in a place like this for hundreds of years. I bet even the Salamanders Chapter doesn't know that some of their brothers survived the raid hundreds of years ago."
If we told the salamanders, I wonder if they would plan another rescue operation like they did hundreds of years ago.

Although Gao Yi knew the chances were slim, after all, dozens of people might die in battle to save one of his brothers in the battle group, and no normal battle group would make such a decision.

But how will you know if you don't try?
If an attack were to be launched against Comoros, the more people the better.

This is far more difficult than attacking an Ark world.

Argus had lived in Comoros for so long that he probably had his own understanding of the city.

The settlement had a population of over ten thousand.

But only so many people have been living here over hundreds of years, which shows how difficult life is here.

Hunger, disease, and fighting can easily take the lives of the people here.

These people were all rescued by Argus and two other Astartes during their attacks on the Dark Eldar over the years.

The existence of SCVs is perfect for arming these people.

Lying on the simple bed, Burns' tense nerves relaxed.

The relief of not having to keep his nerves constantly on edge made Burns drowsy.

But before he could rest for long, Argus called to him again.

Stepping out of the tent, he saw Argus studying the combat suit and the SCV.

He immediately noticed the gold plating on the SCV.

Even he, who came from the fire lizard, had never seen such extravagant use of refined gold on an engineering machine.

"Burns, what exactly is this thing that's worth using adamantite to make part of the armor?"

"Lord Argus, this is a holy artifact from the Holy Mechanism Order of the Dynasty. It possesses unimaginable power."

"Holy Machine? A new branch of faith within the Mechanic Order?"

Argus, a former technical sergeant of the Salamanders Chapter, had also studied at the Mechanicus and knew that the Mechanicus, which seemed to share the same faith, had an absurd number of factions.

But he had never heard of the Holy Machine Order.

What concerned him even more were the combat suits.

It's not just the combat power brought by the combat suits; the cold fusion cores on the suits are arguably what they desperately need right now.

He discovered that this fusion core had an even higher power output than the power armor used by their Astartes.

After hundreds of years of fighting, their original power armor was already badly damaged, and its energy system was long gone.

If the fusion core on his combat suit were removed, it might be possible to repair his already damaged power armor.

Otherwise, this power armor can only provide the most basic protection at best.

Moreover, they survive at the bottom of society by hunting mutated creatures and eating alien corpses thrown down from the Comoros.

However, energy is extremely scarce, and both survival and the manufacture of simple weapons depend on energy support.

The bodies that were thrown down were often stripped clean.

Their usual energy source is obtained by attacking patrols of the Dark Eldar or from other Xenomorphs hiding in the lower levels, but this not only causes casualties, but also does not always yield results.

The fusion core on the combat suit continuously produces a stable amount of energy.

However, removing the fusion core as an energy source would mean losing the combat capabilities provided by the combat suits, and 30 combat suits would be too few people to arm.

Argus was at a loss for what to do.

"Lord Argus, if you're concerned about the number of combat suits, I think you don't need to worry about that."

"What do you mean? Do you have more combat suits hidden nearby?"

"No, what I mean is that with the existence of the Holy Machine, we can carry out production stably."

“Production, Burns, perhaps you don’t know, but although we have some rudimentary workshops and priests, it’s impossible to manufacture something so sophisticated.” The weapons the humans here possess are nothing more than rudimentary powered projectile weapons, with even laser weapons being few and far between.

"My lord... have you forgotten that I said the Holy Machine possesses unparalleled power? That is a gift that Lord Gaoyi brought to the dynasty."

Argus initially thought Burns was talking nonsense out of shock, but when he saw a pile of scrap metal transformed into a military camp, he was speechless.

Some ragged priests frantically lay on the barracks, touching and looking at everything, exclaiming that Ohm Messiah had appeared to them.

When the first brand-new combat suit was produced, they kept pestering Burns, wanting to know what this holy machine was all about.

This is the sacred STC! This is a miracle! Absolutely a miracle! What kind of existence is the Holy Machine Order? I want to join!
Argus tried his best to calm himself down; at that moment, he seemed to see a glimmer of hope.

With this thing around, perhaps they really do have a chance to escape?

In any case, these survivors are now well-equipped to handle even greater threats.

They even have the capability to launch proactive attacks to rescue more human survivors in the Comoros.

As humanity received this new support, the Bloodbringer Tevantias also arrived at the ruins of this once magnificent Comoros city with several worker bees.

Hidden within these endless ruins at the bottom is also a testing ground belonging to him.

However, compared to his laboratory, the testing ground here is many times larger, and it also houses his various other experimental subjects.

A Dark Eldar army, personally modified by him, protects this testing ground, preventing the experimental subjects from escaping and protecting it from other Dark Eldar from spying on or stealing his experimental results.

"My lord, the experimental site has been prepared for you!"

Meanwhile, in the center of the testing ground, corpses of different races had piled up, serving as nourishment for the development of the Zerg.

In order to further experiment on the characteristics of the Zerg, this huge testing ground also contained slaves from various races, and they were even given weapons.

Tevantias stroked a worker bee beside him.

"Eat up, go ahead and eat, you little rascals, let me see just how much potential you have!"

Worker bees arrived at the pile of corpses and began to devour them, while the hatchery was also being built.

Looking at all this, Tevantias felt that everything was under his control, but he had no idea what consequences his actions would have on the entire Comoros.

The Zerg had stored at least one-third of their biomass without hatching, but even so, their numbers continued to grow rapidly.

Tevantias watched as various alien insects, such as springtails, venomous blasters, hydralisks, and cockroaches, multiplied in an incredible way.

Just as Tevantias was about to settle down and study these alien insects properly...

However, he received a message.

"Viktor needs to speak with me about something important?"

As the ruler of a ruthless conspiracy and the current overlord of the Comoros, Victor's eagerness to find him clearly indicates that something extremely important is happening to him.

He reluctantly put aside his plan to study the alien insects for the time being.

"Keep an eye on these creatures for me, record their combat data, and keep them within the number threshold I set!"

He also issued his orders to the King Insect.

The king insect also revealed the will to follow.

When Tevantias left, a unique individual of the Zerg began to hatch inside the hatchery.

When he was fully hatched, a seemingly defenseless soft-bodied alien insect looked around with intelligent eyes.

"Observe entities, tap potential, study lineages, adjust sequences, distort essences, disassemble limbs, reintegrate, and strive for perfection. Abathur will obtain more powerful genes for the great Queen of Blades and the Zerg Swarm here!"

When the Zerg colonized the uninhabited planet near Char, the Zerg swarm reached a size sufficient to hatch other special Zerg.

Meanwhile, Abathur, the genetic mastermind, was born from the flesh and blood of the Zerg.

(End of this chapter)