Shipping goods from the game to the World of Warhammer

Chapter 97 Born a Broom Star, a Trouble-Maker with a Sacred Body

Rhodes sent Aria a encrypted text message with only four words: Prepare to receive her.

Then another message popped up on Liriel's personal terminal: Don't sleep too soundly tonight.

After sending the message, he put the data board aside, turned off the light, pulled up the covers, and closed his eyes.

Her breathing was steady, her posture relaxed, and she was no different from someone who had eaten and drunk their fill and was slightly tipsy.

In the darkness, time passed second by second.

The suite's ventilation system maintained a constant low-frequency hum, with occasional extremely faint airflow fluctuations coming from the vents, sounding particularly sweet in the darkness, so sweet that it felt somewhat off.

A sound similar to the friction of fingernails scratching a metal surface came from the air, with each scratch occurring at slightly different intervals, as if some living thing was carefully adjusting its center of gravity.

The cover of the ceiling access passage was silently pushed open from the inside, and a black figure slowly squeezed out from the gap.

It was a size larger than an average human, with four arms that stretched from the shoulders to the knees, each finger ending in a curved, bony claw that gleamed in the darkness.

Its head is smooth and hairless, and the shape of its chitinous skull extends backward into an unnatural arc.

A long, purplish-gray tongue, about half a meter long, slowly emerged from its mouth. Its forked tip trembled gently in the air, like a snake capturing scent molecules. The tongue's surface was covered with tiny, barbed protrusions, and a tubular opening could be faintly seen at its tip.

Pureblood gene stealer.

The first ancestor of the gene-stealer family, or the fifth generation of offspring who reverted to their ancestral form, can become the source of the entire infection chain and is also the most powerful individual.

Its claws can easily tear through terracotta armor plates, and the ovipositor on its tongue can directly implant the gene-stealer's seed into the host's body. The infection can be completed in just a few seconds. The infected person will not even feel pain, but will forget about it in the days that follow, and will gradually have their will rewritten, becoming a new member of their family.

It moved toward the bed, its movements so light they made almost no sound. To it, the sleeping human before it was just another new member about to join its family.

The long tongue stretched closer and closer, and the mucus secreted on its tip stretched into a thin thread in the dim light, slowly dripping onto the floor.

It was less than a meter from the edge of the bed.

Half a meter.

The tip of my tongue could already feel the body temperature emanating from the body on the bed. The opening of the ovipositor was slightly opening and closing, preparing for the impending infection.

A glass bottle flew out from under the blanket.

The bottle spun halfway through the air before smashing squarely into the pureblood's face. The glass shattered into dozens of sharp fragments upon impact, and the bright red liquid inside seemed to explode, scattering everywhere, splashing all over its head and face, flowing down the curve of its skull into its eye sockets, nasal cavity, and its wide-open mouth.

Mercurochrome.

Only for those who deserve it.

One of the most useless items in the system shop is a special potion from the game Terraria. This thing only costs 5 universal energy points and looks very tempting.

However, this thing is not a healing potion; unless in some special world, it is purely a prank tool.

Poisoning, darkness, curse, fire, bleeding, confusion, slowness, weakness, silence, broken armor, suffocation.

Eleven negative effects take effect simultaneously, lasting for up to an hour.

The red liquid takes effect the moment it comes into contact with the exposed skin and mucous membranes of the pure-blooded gene stealer, and all effects occur simultaneously.

Its body suddenly stiffened, as if an invisible hand had gripped all its muscle fibers from the inside. Then it began to convulse violently, and dark purple spots appeared on its skin at a visible speed, spreading from its face to its limbs, as if something was spreading wildly in its blood vessels.

Its pupils rapidly expanded to almost fill its entire eyeballs, then completely lost focus. The darkness destroyed its visual system, leaving the predator truly unable to see anything for the first time.

It opened its mouth, trying to unleash a psionic shriek to summon its kind—a mental wave that could travel for kilometers within the family network—but the silence effect acted like an invisible lock, tightly sealing its throat and psionic glands. All signals attempting to be sent out were blocked at the source, and only a series of bubbles, like those of a drowning person, could be squeezed out of its throat.

Immediately afterwards, the burning effect caused wisps of smoke to rise from its skin, and it could feel as if every inch of its skin was being pressed against a red-hot iron plate.

The bleeding effect caused blood to seep uncontrollably from every crevice in its body.

Fine cracks began to appear on the surface of its exoskeleton, as the damaged armor effect dismantled its proud natural protective layer, which, which could withstand ordinary bullets, was now as fragile as dry, cracked soil.

The suffocation effect caused its respiratory system to spasm, preventing oxygen from reaching the depths of its lungs. The confusion effect completely threw its central nervous system into disarray, turning the concepts of left and right, front and back into a jumbled mess.

The slow and weakening effects act like two invisible chains, dragging down every muscle of its body, making this predator, which could tear through power armor in the blink of an eye, as slow as a snail.

It stumbled and knocked over the bedside table, spilling the still-steaming soup all over it, mixing with its blood.

Rod didn't look back at it.

He jumped off the bed barefoot and rushed straight to the suite door.

The door slid open in front of him, and the light in the corridor made him squint.

At the same time, a door at the other end of the corridor was kicked open with such force that the door panel detached from its track and bounced against the opposite wall.

Lillie stumbled out, her long red hair disheveled and plastered to her face. She was still wearing her loose silk nightgown, and only one slipper on her foot; the other was nowhere to be found. Her right hand was clutching an automatic pistol, and her left hand was gripping half of a curtain rod that had been torn off from somewhere.

Behind her, a pungent plume of smoke billowed from the room, billowing out of the open doorway, and the muffled thuds of something tumbling and crashing against the wall could be faintly heard inside.

It seems that the cunning Lillie has also accepted the "little gift".

Lillie ran to Rhodes, her slipper slipping on the smooth hallway floor, nearly causing her to fall. Luckily, she reacted quickly, using the curtain rod to steady herself. Her expression was complex, a mix of relief at surviving, lingering fear, and a hint of apology.

"This is the vacation paradise you were talking about."

"I...I don't know how this thing got here!"

Lillier, still breathless, exclaimed, "I've heard this place is very safe! Nothing's ever happened here! Go check it out, check as much as you want, Craigern's safety record is among the best in the entire sector!"

"No time for nonsense."

Rod grabbed her wrist and ran towards the end of the corridor. He had already contacted Aria; the shuttle and armed forces were already on their way, and they just needed to get to the rendezvous point.

But Rod stopped after running only a dozen meters.

On the ground outside the corridor exit, several of his guards lay face down, in various positions, their weapons scattered around them. One of them still held a gun in his hand, but his fingers were completely loose, and the gun rested crookedly on the back of his hand.

Their chests were still rising and falling slowly, but judging from their condition, they were probably already infected.

Rhodes clenched his teeth. He crouched down and glanced at the nearest guard's pupils, which were already dilated, and his eyeballs were twitching unnaturally. The infection had begun, and the seeds of the gene thieves were rewriting their nervous systems.

When they wake up, they will still remember who they are, and they will still say the same things and make the same expressions, but their will will no longer belong to them.

A hive world with tens of billions of people, with exceptionally good public security, never owing a tithe, never having a mob uprising, and even the crime rate in the lower hive areas is abnormally low.

He should have figured out why sooner.

In a hive world where a family of gene-stealers has infiltrated to the very marrow, there would naturally be no mobs, because everyone's will has been woven into the same network.

To avoid being exposed, the leader of the pure-blooded thieves would use psychic powers to rewrite their perceptions. Most of the respectful civil officials, well-trained stewards, smiling waiters, and law enforcement teams maintaining order probably didn't even know what flowed in their blood. They simply felt that they were more united, more obedient, and more passionate about their homeland than people from other worlds.

If they dare to openly target the traveling merchants, then the entire power structure, administrative system, and military force of the Nest City world may have been infiltrated from top to bottom.

The "low-key" reception delegation sent by the planetary governor, the respectful middle-aged civil servant, and the well-trained old steward—they were not only earnestly receiving a distinguished guest, but also unintentionally leading their prey into their lair.

Rod grabbed Liriel, bypassed the fallen guards, and ran in another direction. Liriel glanced back at the men lying on the ground, her lips moved, but she said nothing, only gripping the automatic pistol in her hand tighter.

From the darkness behind me came a series of faint, increasing crawling sounds.

From the corner of the corridor and behind the doors of the guest rooms, pureblood gene stealers were pouring out of every corner of this Upper Nest, far exceeding Rhodes's expectations.

This wasn't just a few scattered assassins; it was an entire mobilization of the entire lair. Those two bottles of red potion had taken out the first two pureblood assassins to infiltrate, but now their actions had been discovered.

These cunning individuals knew their prey was difficult to deal with, so they abandoned stealth and assassination tactics, opting instead for overwhelming numbers. If Rhodes escaped, their fate would be one of two things: either they would send out a psionic signal, attracting the Tyranids and becoming slimy biomass, or they would be ordered exterminated, wiping out all life on the planet.

The path ahead in the corridor was blocked. Three pure-blooded gene stealers squatted side by side at the end of the passage, their claws gripping the walls and ceiling, their long tongues trembling incessantly in the air, as if savoring the scent of fear emanating from their prey.

The path behind them was also being blocked rapidly, and more figures emerged from the darkness, crawling along the walls and ceiling, gradually swallowing up Rhodes and Liriel's escape route.

Rod pulled Liriel into a side corridor, kicked open the door at the end, and rushed into the rooftop of the room.

The rooftop is small, only about ten square meters in area. It is surrounded by waist-high carved railings, and beyond the railings is the extreme vertical drop of the upper nesting area, with no end in sight.

Rhodes quickly assessed the situation.

He can summon troops, and naturally, he has plenty of general-purpose energy. Marines, ghosts, apostles, and zealots—all infantry units—are within his summoning range. However, the pureblood genestealer's melee capabilities are terrifying; his claws can easily tear through the terracotta plates of power armor.

On this cramped rooftop, engaging in close combat with a multitude of purebred thieves who outnumber you all would not end well.

Even if he poured all the remaining general-purpose energy into it, the number of infantry he summoned might not be enough to keep him alive until reinforcements arrived.

Vehicles? This rooftop isn't big enough to fit a 60-ton siege tank. Viking fighters could provide air support, but before he and Liriel could board either, they'd be overwhelmed by them.

At the entrance to the room, the first pureblood gene stealer had already appeared in the doorway. Its body almost crawled in along the ceiling, its eyes fixed on the two humans in the center of the rooftop.

Then came the second and the third—they didn't rush forward, but spread out in an orderly fashion, surrounding the center of the rooftop from three directions.

They need to ensure Rhodes lives, because only a living Rhodes can spread the infection to more planets after being infected.

Or perhaps, those two bottles of red potion had taught them a lesson: this prey carried something dangerous. So they chose the safest strategy: to use their numbers to form an absolute encirclement, leaving the prey no room to escape.

Liriel stepped back in front of Rhodes, raised her automatic pistol, and aimed the muzzle at the nearest pureblood. Her hand trembled as she prepared to fire at any moment.

She knew there weren't enough bullets for the automatic pistol, but it was better than nothing.

"This is on my tab."

Her voice was low and her speech was much faster than usual, but she tried to maintain a tone that she thought was relatively calm. "It was me who suggested the vacation. It was me who said that the security here was good. If you hadn't intercepted me in Blackwing Harbor, I probably would have fallen into the hands of these things long ago."

.6

She took a deep breath, raised the muzzle of the gun slightly, and aimed it at the smooth head of the leader, a pureblood creature covered in mucus.

"You go first, I'll try to stall for a while."

"Which way?"

Rod's voice sounded quite calm. "Look around."

Liriel glanced around quickly. The room was completely sealed off by these monsters; countless dark purple-gray figures filled almost every direction. The only remaining direction was the railing, beyond which lay a vertical drop of unknown distance, stretching for kilometers.

Below is a dense cluster of hive city buildings, with lights spreading out like a sea of ​​light at your feet. It looks beautiful, but if you fall, the puddle you turn into on the ground won't be so pretty.

"—Okay, there really is no way out."

Liriel's lips twitched.

Do you believe me or not?

'

Liriel paused for a moment, then turned to look at Rhodes.

This question came too suddenly. In this situation where we are surrounded by enemies, with no way forward and pursuers behind, this sentence sounds like the opening remarks of a dying man's last words, or a sentimental line spoken by the male protagonist in some cheap holographic drama at the last moment.

But Rhodes's eyes were serious, without any hint of joking or despair. Instead, they held something familiar to her, something she had noticed when she first met this traveling merchant in Blackwing Harbor.

That look in his eyes meant that he had already thought of his next step, and it was unlikely that this step was a solution that a normal person could come up with.

Having navigated the world for so many years, Lillie had seen all sorts of people. Her greatest skill was judging whether someone was trustworthy in the shortest amount of time. Most of the time, the answer was no, so she chose to deceive them.

But this time, she answered almost instinctively, because she saw hope in surviving rather than being dragged away by these monsters.

"I believe you! I knew you had a way, boss!"

Rhodes nodded, then turned and ran toward the railing.

Before Lillie's brain could process the meaning of the image, she heard Rod shout without turning his head.

"Jump!"

Then he climbed over the railing and disappeared at the edge of the rooftop.

Lillie's mind went blank for a moment.

In that instant, her mind raced through the following thoughts at lightning speed: This person is crazy, I'm crazy too, why did I say I believed him just now, why did I go to Blackwing Harbor in the first place.

At the last minute, she made her decision.

It would be better to fall to your death.

She cursed in low Gothic, fired two shots at the nearest pureblood, then turned and rushed to the railing, bracing herself on the bars and vaulting over.

The moment my foot slipped, my stomach sank, as if an invisible hand was lifting all my internal organs up.

"Aaaaaaaahhhhhh, it's so high!!!"

Liriel's screams echoed through the Steel Canyon of the Upper Nest District.