Warhammer 40: Starting as a Rogue Trader

Chapter 319 Kerrigan and the Will of the Hive
When Tiberius saw that Norris's group consisted of only such a small number of people, he was no longer so afraid.

He began to retreat, with the remaining scoundrels blocking his way. More roars came from both ends of the passage. Tiberius had brought most of his pureblood scoundrels with him in order to kill Augustus.

Ordinary thieves from all over the dungeon also converged here on Tiberius's orders.

Tiberius still tried to use sheer numbers to completely destroy his opponent.

Norris tried several more times, but found that he could no longer pose a threat to Tiberius, who was hiding among the cunning group.

The Darkblades, whose psionic abilities had been disrupted and who were unable to become invisible, were also blocked from advancing by a large number of pureblood thieves.

Zeratul tried to cross the swarm of insects before him, but no matter how many he killed, more cunning creatures would block his way.

"Lady Kerrigan! I need help! The enemy's numbers are escalating!"

Just as Tiberius was inwardly mocking his enemies' overestimation of their abilities and preparing to wait for them to be completely overwhelmed by their cunning, he was about to enjoy the thrill of killing Augustus.

He suddenly sensed an instinctive fear.
Tiberius searched for the source of this sensation, then looked at Kerrigan, who was still beside Augustus.

At this point, Kerrigan was still wearing the Ghost Suit, and she hadn't made a move yet.

Kerrigan in her human form was the least threatening, as she didn't even have a weapon in her hand. Although Tiberius could sense psionic energy from her, it wasn't strong. Yet, it was precisely this harmless appearance that made Tiberius's body tremble involuntarily.

Since becoming the cunning clan leader, he has no fear whatsoever.

The Kerrigan before him gave him a sense of oppression from a superior, much like the feeling he had when he connected with the Hive's will and faced the Great Devourer through the lit psionic beacon.
He couldn't imagine how a human being could give him this feeling.

Tiberius was already considering running away.

After seeing that Norris and Zeratul's attempts had failed and that their target was trying to escape, Kerrigan stopped hiding herself.

The Zerg swarm's psionic network converged on Kerrigan, and a surge of immense psionic energy erupted from her body. Even the Wraith's combat suit could not withstand the overflowing psionic energy and began to disintegrate on its own.

Sharp, arthropod wings slowly unfurled behind Kerrigan, and the Zerg's dark purple carapace began to cover her entire body.

The powerful psionic energy made even the cunning spies unable to resist retreating.

"The woman before me is definitely not one of those weak humans."

Tiberius didn't believe that humans could possess such power, and that normal humans would never modify themselves into this form.
Kerrigan's appearance, coupled with the non-human nature of the Protoss, made Tiborius realize that the Tyranids' enemies in the war in the Hades system were no longer just humans, but also other races.

He was terrified and began to retreat, no longer even thinking of fighting. He knew very well that he was no match for Kerrigan, and all he could do now was run away. Killing Augustus was far less important than his own life.

Moreover, the desire to live also began to give way to the instinct ingrained in his genes—the instinct to ensure the Tyranid tentacles successfully devoured the planet, which had been suppressed by revenge.

He needs to survive and relay the information from here back to the Hive's will.

But how could Kerrigan possibly let him escape?

A massive amount of psionic energy easily condensed in Kerrigan's hand, and with a wave of her hand, she released psionic lightning that instantly turned a large number of pureblood thieves blocking Tiberius's way into molecules.

Kerrigan's combat skills may not be particularly strong, but the sheer amount of psionic energy within her is undeniable.

One force can overcome ten techniques. No matter how powerful your combat skills are, they are powerless against this overwhelming surge of psionic energy. Unless your psionic energy strength or your mastery of it reaches Artanis's current level, you may not be able to fight against it.

Artanis's psionic power was absorbed from an entire Ark world.

Instead of killing Tiberius outright, the psionicist pinned the fleeing Tiberius to the ground.

Neither a strong physique nor its own spiritual energy can break through this limitation.

Kerrigan, like a true queen, slowly walked up to Tiberius.

Kerrigan looked down at Tiberius, who was still struggling, her eyes filled with disgust for the creature.
"Kerrigan! Take his power!"

Zeratul reminded Kerrigan to hurry.

Kerrigan then bent down and placed her hand on Tiberius's head.

Tiberius had no idea what he was about to face.

The next second, a massive influx of psionic energy completely robbed Tiberius of his ability to resist.

He saw it, he saw yet another Great Devourer. He saw not only Kerrigan, who was a convergence of countless Zerg wills, but also the end of the Zerg network, Gao Yi's Xel'Naga projection.

Just as Gao Yi had devoured the Terran Network, Kerrigan began to use the devouring ability of Gao Yi's projection to begin devouring the cunning psionic network on Asford.

Tyrande's psionic beacon began to go out, and all power and control were absorbed by Gao Yi and integrated into the Zerg network.

Kerrigan also began to seize control of the planet, which was linked to all pure-blooded thieves and their followers.

Everything went smoothly at first. Could there be as many cunning believers on the Hades Galaxy as there are now Zerg?

The sheer number of enemies meant that Kerrigan's devouring was not hindered in the slightest.

However, the lighting of the psionic beacon also created a link between the Terran network here and the central node of Leviathan.

Like a spider web, Kerrigan's devouring behavior began to spread into the tentacles of the Leviathan hive.

The moment the two made contact, Leviathan's hive will noticed Kerrigan, a being it had never seen before. Kerrigan could sense the form of the Terran will, and the Terran will could also sense the Zerg; this was relative.

At this moment, Leviathan's central will curiously perceives this previously unseen individual.

He was surprised that the other party could not lose his composure when facing him directly.

He saw Kerrigan, and he also saw the Xel'Naga projection.

The two devouring forces seemed to naturally repel and antagonize each other.

The Hive's initial curiosity quickly transformed into a desire to devour and merge with it.

At this moment, the Great Devourer's desire for the Hades system had reached an unimaginable level. If it could devour Kerrigan and Gao Yi, the entire Leviathan tentacle fleet might reach an unimaginable height.

Gao Yi, who was outside the underground city, also sensed the spying from the Great Devourer.

Meanwhile, the Leviathan tentacles, already close to the Hades system, began to accelerate again. Most Imperial psykers who attempted to probe the Hive's will met with death or madness.

Only a few people with protagonist aura can make some use of the Hive Will.

For example, the Ultramarines Digglis infiltrated the Zerg hive to spy on the Tyranids' next move.

Digglis was already one of the most powerful psionicists in the Empire; only those who reached that level could barely resist the Hive Will.

Kerrigan, on the other hand, sensed the manifestation of the hive's will within the entire Leviathan tentacle through this swarm network.

She saw the enormous, perpetually hungry biological fleet, and the Norn queen hiding within the mothership. Inside a biological chamber resembling the interior of a Leviathan, a gigantic Tyrannosaurus was constantly devouring the biomass sent by smaller Tyrannosaurus.

This entity, which exists only in the background and on paper, is currently hiding in the most secret location within the Leviathan fleet.

The Queen's mandibles allow the Norn Queen to pulverize and recombine genes.

Just as Kerrigan was trying to continue sensing her location, the Norn Queen also realized Kerrigan's intentions.

The Norn Queen instinctively severed her link with the gene-stealing network above Asford in order to conceal herself.

This brought Kerrigan's devouring to an abrupt halt.

The Norn Queen never expected that there would be a real-world entity in this galaxy that could maintain its rationality and even actively seek out her location after directly confronting the will of the hive.

Such a powerful individual is exactly what the Zerg hive needs.
Gao Yi's perception was even deeper. The Xel'Naga's divine power, already infiltrated into the Hive's network, began to extend even deeper into the Hive's will.
Having traversed vast distances and disregarded spatial barriers, Gao Yi witnessed an incredibly massive Terran bio-ship.
Its enormous size is almost comparable to the Spear of Adun.
The Spear of Adun was a technological creation, while the colossal biological vessel before them was pure flesh and blood.
It lay motionless in the void, and in the next second, the hive will belonging to this flesh and blood warship began to rush towards the power belonging to the Xel'Naga.

Meanwhile, Gao Yi, inside the command post, also felt a sharp pain in his head.
The Hive Will within the Leviathan fleet was like a child before it. Soon, the remaining Xel'Naga power within the Hive Network was completely eradicated.

"An ancient ship?! This must be an ancient ship from Terran!!"

Gao Yi has confirmed the other party's identity.

The Leviathan Hive Tentacle Fleet, as its name suggests, is merely an extension of the Hive Will in the Milky Way.

There are several other tentacle fleets in the Milky Way, but these fleets are not directly connected to the central Hive Will; they still have a higher-level central authority.

The true central authority of the Zerg hive in the Milky Way is this colossal Terran bio-ship known as the Ancient Ship.

The will of all the tentacle fleets in the galaxy will converge here.

If they could kill it, the Tyran threat across the entire galaxy could be minimized.

If the Hive Will within the Leviathan Tentacles is a great demon created by the Great Devouring Will, then this Ancient One is an avatar of the Great Devourer itself.

Unfortunately, the other party was too well hidden. Gao Yi could only sense that the other party was within the hazy star field, but could not sense its exact location.

Stop thinking about that ancient ship; dealing with the Leviathan fleet in front of us is the most important thing.

With Kerrigan's invasion, the Norn Queen began issuing new commands to the entire Leviathan hive.

This wasn't the first time the Hive Will had been invaded in this way. Previous invasions were always clandestine, but Kerrigan's blatant intrusion, which left the branch fleet's Hive Will completely helpless, was unprecedented.
This power made the Hive Will feel a strong sense of crisis, and the way to resolve this crisis was to eliminate the instigator.

Now, in addition to devouring all life in the Hades system, Leviathan also needs to find and devour Kerrigan. If successful, the Hive Will may undergo a new evolution.

After discovering the connection was broken, Kerrigan began to focus on completely devouring the cunning Zerg hive network.

With the Hive Network's will severed and completely devoured by Kerrigan, Tiborius was now like an empty shell, its massive body falling straight down.

Kerrigan frowned as well; probing the Leviathan hive's will was not as easy as she had imagined.

The clash between the two immense wills caused a faint stinging pain in Kerrigan's brain.

Kerrigan, are you alright?

Zeratul looked at Kerrigan, who was covering her head.

At this moment, the surrounding thieves were all in a daze. They stopped attacking, and even the purebred thieves stopped what they were doing.

It was as if their self-awareness had been completely stripped away, turning them into useless shells.

They all looked at Kerrigan, awaiting orders from their new master.

"I'm fine. I saw the center of the Tyranids, but unfortunately they severed the connection. Otherwise, I might have had a chance to find their central node. Perhaps when the Tyranids fully descend, I can continue searching for it through the more powerful node creatures within them."

However, we have completed Father's task; we can sense all the cunning followers throughout Asford.

Kerrigan said regretfully, but once the enemy arrives and finds that they cannot easily win the war, Kerrigan believes that they will release powerful enough node creatures, and then she will definitely not let the Norn Queen escape again!

After giving a cold snort, Kerrigan gave the order to the scoundrels, who quickly laid down their weapons and knelt on the ground.

Norris, carrying Augustus, walked up to the two of them.

"This guy's gone mad with fear and's completely useless. Should we kill him?"

“Let him live for now. Father said that his life might still be of some use. The Astartes from the Holy Blood Angels are looking for the bloodline of his family.”

"What about that cunning clan chief's body? Is he dead or alive now?"

Norris then pointed to Tiberius's body on the ground. The body's physiological functions were still operating autonomously, but its soul had completely disappeared.

"Norris will send this body out of the dungeon and arrange for a spaceship to take it to Isox. I think Abathur should be able to extract something useful to the Zerg from its genes."

"I'll take care of it right away!"

When Kerrigan devoured the cunning chieftain Agassos and was born, Abathur had not yet appeared. However, the cunning chieftain's genes might allow Abathur to bring a new evolutionary direction to the Zerg Swarm, giving him the same infiltration capabilities as Terran.

I wonder if we can produce some cunning alien insects.
Kerrigan then began ordering these cunning individuals to do hard labor. Augustus had hidden a large amount of weapons, ammunition, and various supplies in this dungeon, and the completely insane Augustus certainly wouldn't refuse the request to contribute these supplies.

When all the supplies were brought out, everyone was shocked by just how afraid Augustus was of death. The entire underground city only had 200,000 inhabitants, yet the supplies he had stockpiled were enough to feed millions of people for over a decade.
Supplies and ammunition were piled up like mountains. Augustus had invested almost all of his wealth as governor and his family into building this underground city.

(End of this chapter)