Warhammer 40k: Melee Warriors

The man in the gorilla-like power armor didn't approach. Instead, he used the circuitry connected to his brain to adjust his mechanical eyes, analyzing the roots on Faya's hands and her claws. "Traders? How interesting. Do you traders know about this? If you can provide some, I'd be happy to have a fair trade with you."

Is Hunter talking about fairness with the mutants of the Underhive?

Even the stone wouldn't believe this if it were said out loud, but Faya had no choice but to carefully lift her mud-covered face to look at the person.

Green bacteria?

Faya was startled. Having dealt with the Dragonscale Tribe and the Humble Servant Tribe many times, she immediately recognized what the man was holding.

The upper industrial zone discharges large amounts of wastewater and waste residue downwards. Over time, these substances ferment in various areas of the bottom nest until one day, more resilient plants adapt to the invasion of these wastes, thus forming a unique and almost unreplicable ecosystem.

This green fungus is one of those tenacious little creatures. Its mushroom-like cap has an extremely clear grassy green color, and several crystal-clear, viscous liquids that emit deadly poison hang from the bottom of the cap.

The mutants of the Bilpu tribe would venture into one radiation crater after another, risking their lives to collect these green bacteria, which they would then use to create a superb medicine that could bring the dead back to life and heal the wounded.

The location of those radiation craters is a precious secret, known only to the tribal leaders and the gatherers who would collapse after collecting the green fungus.

Why are these hunters so interested in green fungus? Logically speaking, the medicines available to the upper-class nobles are far more convenient and faster than this.

Faya's mind raced, and before the man could grow dissatisfied or suspicious, she humbly replied, "Your Excellency, it is said that only the chief of the humble servant tribe knows the location where these green fungi are harvested. I..."

"But you're a Subhound, and a Subhound merchant at that." The man in the gorilla armor spoke in a cold tone, "As a merchant, don't you think your insensitivity to valuable resources is a disgrace to your profession?"

Falla trembled violently and prostrated herself once more. "Your Excellency... the lair is too vast and chaotic, with countless unexplored areas. We're merely seeking them out for food..."

Seeing that Faya could only play a limited role, the man couldn't help but sigh, then complained to another man with two heavy laser cannons mounted on his shoulders, "Otas, your recklessness will only make us gain nothing!"

“Faust’s actions are not my fault,” Ortas retorted, but his voice was clearly weak. He touched his helmet and continued, “Blame them for resisting. If they had just reported the location of the Green Bacteria, why would I have killed them all?”

“Oh, that must be a lie. The bull Osta actually said he would spare someone’s life? That’s the funniest joke I’ve ever heard in my life.” Another woman, tall and slender, with armor that clung to her body like a tight leather suit, said this. Many alloy hair strands extended from the back of her head, which could stretch and contract at her will.

"Well said, Naris. Once Osta the Bull sees blood, he won't stop!"

Several other hunters applauded Naris's remarks. Gu Jian, listening from the side, felt that they didn't take the mutant tribe they had wiped out seriously, their attitude being no different from that of someone who had dug up an anthill.

Faust, dressed in gorilla power armor, was clearly the leader of the group. Annoyed by the noise around him, he ordered them to shut up and be quiet.

He put the green bacteria into the armor recovery box, then looked at Faya, who was kneeling on the ground, too afraid to move.

Dragon claws...what an interesting thing.

Faust narrowed his eyes, and a somewhat melancholy smile immediately appeared on his lips. He ordered Faya to remove a bit of the animal skin he was wearing, as he had always been very interested in the strange shapes of the mutants in the Underhive.

Faya shuddered, wondering what Faust's intentions were and how she could avoid attracting the attention of these killing gods to the tribe.

Koji was ready for battle. As soon as he heard Faust's request, he knew that it was impossible to get through the day safely. These pampered noble boys probably had developed a desire to collect things, just like how ancient nobles liked to cut off heads of hunters and hang them in their houses.

Gripping the handle of his axe tightly, Komi awaited the moment when conflict would erupt.

Following Faust's command, Falla lifted up her animal skin garment. When Faust saw the smooth, reflective scales on Falla's body, his eyes widened, and he spoke to Naris beside him.

"Would you like a leather bag?"

"Really? I love that!"

Chapter 35: Conflict with the Hunters

Upon hearing this, Faya felt as if she had fallen into an ice cave. She realized that a bloody battle was about to begin, so she began to gather her spiritual power in preparation for a counterattack.

Once these hunters are killed, Faya must lead the Dragonscale Tribe to migrate quickly to avoid the wrathful retaliation of the Upper Nest noble families.

The other hunters understood Faust's nonsensical words. They chuckled, and Austa, known as the Bull, deactivated the two heavy laser cannons on his shoulders and sprang out the bayonets mounted on his arms.

Realizing they were about to be skinned alive, all the tribesmen gripped their weapons tightly.

Miyan stepped forward and announced the full number of the 88th Mobilization Regiment to the approaching noblemen.

This certainly caused the hunters to pause for a second, but when their gaze swept over Miyan's burned face and tattered armor, the wariness in their eyes turned into mockery.

"Hahahaha...that's hilarious." Faust laughed, his icy gaze palpable even through the mask. "88th Mobilization Corps, even if your entire unit were to die at my hands, I would be perfectly fine, let alone this dark and hopeless underbelly. I don't know where you learned your military reporting style. But I really like your purple eyes; I'll keep them as a keepsake."

Mi Yang trembled with anger at these words, while Gu Jian was somewhat dazed, wondering why this noble boy kept speaking in the tone of a chaotic cult.

But upon closer reflection, Koji felt relieved by the disregard for human life shown by the nobles of the Red Mining World. They were just a few worthless lives; once they died, they were gone, and no one would remember them.

The overwhelming superiority of their strength led the hunters to despise the tribesmen. They scraped the blades off their power armor, preparing to skin the ancient people as quickly as possible.

To be more precise, it was the skin of mutants. For the Emperor, eliminating all mutants was not considered heresy, but a great act of charity, and that's how the entire Empire was prophesied.

Austa yelled and charged forward first. With the help of the machine and prosthetics, his steps were incredibly fast, and he slashed at a tribesman with the bayonets on his arms.

"Remember to keep the leather intact; if it's too torn, you can't make a bag," Faust reminded him.

"Okay!" Austa responded in a muffled voice; he could already picture the gruesome scene of blood spurting out.

With a "plop," a large amount of blood gushed out, the stench of which was mixed with the pungent smell of stimulants and other drugs.

Faust's expression changed, and he looked towards Austa, only to see that this fierce man, known for his brute strength and who had even been given numerous stimulants and enhancement drugs, was now a headless corpse.

His power armor detected the rapid loss of life and injected large amounts of stimulants and life-sustaining drugs into his veins. These drugs, capable of buying the upper hive residents as slaves, gushed out from the gap in his neck with each beat of Austa's heart.

It was Komi who killed him, the axe in his hand dripping blood.

An axe?

An axe that can't even break down a field?

The axe, which looked like it would struggle to chop wood and bones, pierced through Aosta's armor and even cleanly chopped off his head.

is it possible?

Aosta's armor has a personal field protection device, and even when the Centaur he encountered before hit him hard, it couldn't break through his defense.

Faust was shocked by the death of a Hunter, as was Komi. Although he had killed many monsters from the bottom nest with his axe, those things were much more fragile than the Hunter's power armor.

How did it get chopped open with just one axe?

Because of the aura that buffs Khorne's melee weapons?

It's good that it can be cut open!

Koji gritted his teeth and decided to make the most of the situation. He held up his machete and roared at the hunters.

Fear and shock were instantly imprinted on Hunter's heart.

Fearlessness and courage are also etched in the hearts of the tribespeople.

Those who make a living in the bottom nest are not afraid of death, let alone these hunters who have killed one of their companions.

Now that Komi has killed one and shouted, the villagers are settling all their old and new scores at once!

"Damn it!" Naris shrieked, his tight leather suit changing color like a chameleon's skin, blending into the surrounding scenery.

Those sharp, thin alloy hairs also attacked Komi. If they touched even a little bit, they could swim along Komi's veins and torture him to death.

The seemingly transparent strands of hair were not undetectable to Komi. He dodged and weaved to ensure that the blade of his axe could strike the hair directly.

The alloy hair strands fell to the ground one by one, but there were too many and too densely packed ones, and even Komi couldn't block them all with his axe.

When the strand of hair was only centimeters from Komi's eyes, Faya gathered some spiritual power and shouted, "God Emperor, protect your people!"

A spherical shield formed around her, freezing all the attacks from the Hunters in mid-air. Although it only lasted a few seconds, it was enough for Komi to swing his sword several times.

All the incoming strands of hair were cut off, and it was clear that these strands of hair had a magnetic connection with Naris's power armor.

Some of them shot up towards Komi, while others flew towards Naris's head and the electromagnetic device.

Several tribesmen screamed as Faust and the other hunters disemboweled them. Faya, unable to grieve for their deaths, could only forcefully urge his spiritual power to erupt once more.

This time, she chose the dead Osta. A character with a distinctly evil meaning was spat out from between her lips, and her tongue and lips were instantly burned and bled.

This is the difficulty of not having a systematic psychic education; all the psychic spells one can know can only be obtained through luck, and one must pray to the Emperor that these spells will not have too many evil side effects.

Austa's cold body trembled violently, then he quickly rose to his feet in a contorted posture, crawling on all fours like a spider on its back as he attacked Faust.

The heavy laser cannons that had been deactivated on both shoulders also activated. Whether these powerful weapons were controlled by the machine spirit or by demons was unknown.

The only certainty is that its power did not disappoint; a single charged shot could completely overload a Hunter's personal field protection device.

"Damn psionicist!" Faust cursed, his arrogant aristocratic air vanishing. He vowed to spare the psionicist's life and hand her over to the Inquisition to face the cruelest punishment.

Another scream rang out, and Faust was startled. He turned around and saw that Naris's head was being held by Komi.

Her leather helmet shimmered erratically, with many errors in its color variations, making it look as if Komi was carrying a bleeding mosaic in her hands.

Unfazed by Naris's death, the next Hunter was already being targeted by Komi's axe.

Chapter 36: Souls Lost Under the Axe

How could this person be so strong?

Faust was shocked. Osta's death could be attributed to underestimating his enemy and being ambushed, but Naris was killed by only being slightly disturbed by psionic magic.

Possession by evil spirits? Ancient techniques?

As Faust assessed the situation of Komi, he began to consider escaping. As a young master of the Jin family, he could not possibly risk his life in this dark and foul-smelling den.

Once he returns to the central passage, he can easily gather the family's troops to clean up all these idiots.

But... but this is a Hunter of Kings event.

Summoning the family's troops will only drastically lower one's status, making it incredibly difficult to regain one's standing in the future.

Faust looked extremely pale, and Austa, under Faya's control, charged towards him.

The dead man forcibly twisted his body structure, launching attacks on Faust in various postures that a human could not possibly perform.

Koken, on the other hand, set his sights on the other hunters. He threw out Naris's mosaic-like head to distract them, and then shot several pieces of scrap metal toward the guns in the hunters' hands.

The other Hunters' equipment is clearly not very good; it's only average for power armor, offering no other benefits besides enhancing strength and survivability in dangerous environments.

As the ancient axe came crashing down, Hunter raised his weapon and gripped it tightly. The seemingly dirty and unremarkable longsword suddenly shimmered with a faint blue light.

Weapons equipped with disintegration fields!

Koji was startled, but he no longer had time to retract the power he had unleashed.

The axe blade and the disintegration field collided with each other, and should have been instantly reduced to dust, but it stubbornly withstood the disintegration field, with the blade and field emitting several undeniable flashes of light.

"How is this possible!" Hunter was astonished; he couldn't comprehend how sturdy the axe could be.

Could this be an ancient, black-tech axe forged in the Dark Ages?

If he could hear the Hunter's inner thoughts, Koji would surely mercifully answer his questions.