I summoned the Fourth Scourge in Warhammer

Chapter 73 Vehicle Pro Guy Enjoys Sneaky Fries

More than ten days later.

Assassin lay prone on the edge of an abandoned industrial area, peering through broken ventilation ducts into the dark, deep inner city below. The air was thick with the smells of engine oil, decay, and some indescribable stench, while in the distance came the low rumble of machinery and the dripping of water from pipes.

Before them lay a scene barely discernible even with binoculars—a vast and bizarre alien encampment. It was a complex fortification composed of countless old factories and pipeline hubs corroded and modified by the aliens, densely packed and spreading like a cancerous tumor, with some structures even penetrating the upper foundation.

"Such a large scale, at least ten thousand people, and they seem quite orderly. There must be at least one pure-blooded cunning thief among them," Company Commander Assassin muttered to himself, his voice filled with barely suppressed excitement as he put down his binoculars.

Why did Assassin become a company commander in just over ten days?

It turned out that just over ten days after the establishment of the Military Committee, the company of those who went to their deaths had officially reached a size of 500 people. After much deliberation, Nguyen Van Bo decided to establish a battalion-level unit instead.

Although the Astral Army has a tradition of "uniting the battalion and the regiment," players are ultimately different from the regular Imperial Astral Army, and players need to be more flexible in adjusting their cohesion and organizational structure. With the establishment of battalion-level units, Ruan Wenbo's position on the system panel naturally changed from company commander to battalion commander.

During this time, some players wanted to become lone wolves, and the military council didn't force them, simply letting them try. However, they soon discovered that being a lone wolf in this game was simply inhuman—as lone wolves, dying meant losing all their merits, and in this perilous world, one could die a dozen times just sleeping at night. Ultimately, without exception, these lone wolves chose to return to the ranks of the dead.

"Speaking of which, I thought you, Brother Sa, a master of self-destruction, would choose to be a common soldier," the deputy company commander of the first company joked beside him. "Why did you think of becoming a company commander?"

“What do you know? I’m just following in the footsteps of Boss Ruan Wenbo,” Assassin glared at him, then grinned. “Alright, stop talking nonsense and give me the walkie-talkie.”

"Here you go." The deputy company commander suppressed a laugh and handed over the walkie-talkie.

Assassin took the walkie-talkie and pressed the call button: "Samsung calling water tank, Samsung calling water tank... Damn it, I shouldn't have bothered the military council to give me a code name."

The deputy platoon leader, suppressing a laugh, said, "This is the collective will, platoon leader, you'll just have to accept it."

A hissing sound came from the other end of the walkie-talkie, mixed with the background noise of heavy machinery: "This is the water tank. What does the company commander want with us?"

“It’s time for you to make your appearance,” Assassin’s tone suddenly turned serious. “Come to Cargo Terminal 07 in the Gamma Sector. There’s a pureblood thief. Over.”

The voice on the other end became noticeably excited: "Roger that!"

Soon, the heavy roar of engines and the creaking of metal tracks crushing the ruins came from behind, and a steel behemoth slowly drove into this dilapidated industrial area.

This is the war machine they redeemed with merit points in the system shop—the Lemanrus Punisher.

This classic Imperial-style heavy tank possesses formidable firepower. The menacing multi-barreled weapon on the turret is a large-caliber Punisher Gatling gun; a heavy flamethrower is mounted at the front of the hull for close-range trench clearing; and each side of the gun mount has a heavy explosive shell for additional suppressive fire.

It can be said that this Lemanrus variant possesses extreme anti-infantry capabilities, while its heavy explosive rounds can also pose a threat to lightly armored units. It's perfectly suited for clearing out these remnants of the Genestealers. Although these cunning forces haven't actually suffered significant losses, without their leader, they are like decapitated serpents—their massive bodies still writhing, but devoid of a unified will, unable to expand effectively or maintain a tight organization. Therefore, describing them as "remnants" is very apt.

There was a reason why the people who went to their deaths had been carrying out a high-intensity crackdown on the thieves for more than ten days.

One reason is to earn merit points. Since the nuclear explosion, gene stealers have gone from being tough nuts to crack to being as easy as cultists, but they are rich monsters who earn at least three times more merit points than cultists, which is a windfall for players. The fact that they now have enough merit points to arm heavy equipment like tanks is proof of this.

On the other hand, it's about striking while the iron is hot, taking advantage of their weakness to finish them off. We must prevent these cunning individuals from creating a new leader amidst the chaos and reshaping their organization.

After all, such a groundbreaking tactic as airdropping nuclear bombs can only be used once. After that, the enemy will definitely be more vigilant and will never again gather all the high-ranking officials in a conspicuous building in such a grand manner as last time.

Once the tanks were in position, the infantrymen of the company immediately spread out behind them to form temporary firing positions.

Almost simultaneously, the thieves' den also discovered these uninvited guests. Piercing screams rose and fell, and countless twisted figures surged out of the shadows and holes like a tide, wielding sharp claws and crude industrial weapons, charging fearlessly towards the doomed.

However, they were facing a wall of steel, a death trap.

The Leman Russ Punisher's turret rotated slightly, locking onto the densest concentration of enemies below. The Gatling gun's barrel began pre-rotating, emitting a teeth-grinding hum, like Death clearing its throat.

The next second, a scorching torrent of tracer bullets erupted!

"Da da da da da da-!"

It was a dense, violent storm of metal! Hundreds of large-caliber bullets per second formed a barrage, like an invisible giant scythe, sweeping across the entire battlefield. The gene-stealers at the forefront didn't even have time to utter a cry before being instantly torn into a cloud of blood and flesh. Their prized, sturdy chitinous carapaces were as fragile as paper before this rain of steel.

The sturdy industrial bunkers and makeshift fortifications were easily flattened like sandcastles under the barrage of bullets, turning into clouds of dust. The entire battlefield was shrouded in a moving death zone; anything that entered the firing range was annihilated in a second.

After a mere ten seconds of firing, the Gatling gun stopped, its barrel glowing red from overheating.

The surging alien wave below had vanished, leaving only a mess of limbs and broken bones, and ruins riddled with holes.

After the high-threat, densely packed targets were cleared, the infantrymen, ready to die, immediately picked up their weapons, crossed the cover, and began to advance.

The Leman Russ Punisher's ammunition is precious; at full firepower, the ammunition reserves will be depleted in minutes. Wasting this precious firepower on scattered individuals is clearly a great waste. The real mopping-up work still needs to be done by these infantrymen.

(End of this chapter)