He promised to become a knight, but what the heck is Astartes?

Luo Xia's eyes were cold. He took a deep breath and, once the steam car arrived at the War Academy, he quickly got out and ran towards the War Spire.

"Rorschach?"

"What's wrong? Why are you in such a hurry?"

Anderson and the others who got out of the car behind him were taken aback when they saw Luo Xia's hurried appearance, and were somewhat confused.

Didn't we say we'd have a good meal at the cafeteria after we got back?

"Commander Taylor is also injured; you'd better go and check on him."

After getting off the bus, Ilya saw the group standing there dumbfounded and gave them a timely reminder.

"Company Commander Taylor?"

Anderson's pupils contracted, and he immediately understood what had happened.

It seems that the mission to retrieve the lost civilization's spark from the Abyss Rift has gone wrong!

Where is Cliff?

As soon as he entered the War Spire, Rorschach immediately grabbed a patrolling knight and asked him a question.

"Good day, Deacon Rorschach. Sir Cliff is in the priest's room on the third floor..."

swoosh~

Rorschach released the patrolling knight and went straight up to the third floor via the spiral staircase without even taking the steam elevator.

……

The third floor, inside the pastor's room.

The air was thick with the stench of blood and the pungent smell of high-level healing potions.

Pushing open the door to the pastor's office, Rorschach immediately saw Cliff lying peacefully on the hospital bed.

This once spirited knight now looked decades older, his once thick black hair now white and sparse.

The other person's right arm was severed, his chest was wrapped in bandages, and the gray wolf pelt he had been wearing was now just the wolf's head, which sat on a table to the side.

Luo Xia carefully sensed it, and his heart sank.

At this moment, Cliff's life magnetic field was extremely weak, like a candle flickering in the wind, ready to be extinguished at any moment.

"What happened?"

Suppressing his anger, Rorschach asked Gwen softly beside him.

"It's the Blood God Cult."

Taylor, with bandages wrapped around her arms and head, slowly sat up from the bed beside her, her voice hoarse.

"Company commander! You're not dead!"

"That scared us to death."

Anderson and the others rushed into the pastor's room and breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that Taylor was alive.

They thought something serious had really happened.

But they soon realized something was wrong. They sensed the incredibly oppressive aura emanating from Luo Xia and the old man lying on the bed whose life force was as weak as a candle in the wind, and they immediately fell silent.

That must be someone incredibly important to Rorschach, right?

"It's them again..."

Rorschach felt like he was being plagued by filth lately; his stench seemed to be everywhere.

"We were exploring the ruins of a lost civilization when we were attacked by a squad of knights, led by a peak-level Grand Knight..."

"Cliff sacrificed his life force to cover our retreat, which is how he managed to withstand the enemy's fatal blow."

Gwen sat on the edge of Cliff's bed, wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes, turned to look at Rorschach, and slowly said:

"sorry."

"Who is the Grand Knight of the Peak?"

Luo Xia frowned, his fists clenched so tightly they cracked, and asked in a cold voice.

"Bloody Cult, Red Skull."

Taylor's eyes burned with suppressed rage as he gritted his teeth and uttered the name, then explained:

"Gwen's civilization exploration team discovered an ancient mechanical civilization's laboratory in the ruins beneath the lost city. The exploration was going smoothly, and they even found many artifacts. But then Red Skull and his Hydra team suddenly attacked."

Taylor took the water glass that Anderson handed him, took a sip, then suddenly crushed it in anger, and sighed helplessly:

"This Hydra squad is no ordinary team. There are seven members in total, all of whom are at the level of Grand Knights. The Red Skull is even a peak Grand Knight. Furthermore, they have some kind of dark-attribute abyssal monster implanted in their bodies, making their speed and regenerative abilities extremely terrifying!"

"If it weren't for my Life Armor, I would have had almost no chance against that Red Skull."

"Cough cough."

Taylor coughed lightly, clearly indicating that even with the protection of his Life Armor, fighting a peak Grand Knight had still caused him considerable internal injuries.

"Didn't we get the Abyss Beacon? How did they get in? Are the Abyss Border Guards in the North all useless?!"

"Such a large cult has penetrated deep into the abyss rift, and there's been absolutely no reaction?"

Anderson gritted his teeth upon hearing this.

After all, wherever the abyssal rifts have been discovered, the empire has built war fortresses there, guarded by the empire's strongest legion, the Abyssal Wyverns.

This is why the general public is almost completely unaware of, or has never even seen, the Abyss Rift.

"A peak Grand Knight leading six ordinary Grand Knights clearly came prepared, and the guards of that D-level abyss rift are no match for them."

"When we came out, the place had been completely slaughtered."

Taylor shook his head, his expression incredibly gloomy.

This Blood God Cult incident has undoubtedly been a direct slap in the face to the entire Empire and the Church of War.

"Has the Blood God Cult gone mad lately?!"

Upon hearing Taylor's words, Anderson was stunned and quickly recounted what had happened in the Black Wilderness Forest, also taking out the package of minced meat.

"The Church of Radiant Light has issued a kill order?"

Upon hearing this, Taylor was also shocked. How could they have angered the Church of Light? What exactly did the Blood God Cult do in the Black Wilderness Forest?

"However, to directly crush a peak second-tier crimson magical beast to this extent..."

Taylor pulled a sliver of flesh from the package, carefully squeezed it, and then said with some reverence:

"To achieve this level, one's strength must be at least at the third rank."

"Forget it, let the Glorious Wizards Association deal with this headache."

Taylor shook his head, then looked at Rorschach and smiled, saying:

"Not bad, they actually managed to win the Winter Hunt Cup and did not disgrace the War Academy."

"Ms. Taylor, Ms. Cliff's injury..."

Rorschach calmed down. Impotent rage was useless. Only by finding that Red Skull and Hydra team could he teach them a lesson in cruelty!

"His life has been saved. The pastor of the Radiant Church personally intervened and stabilized the life force within Cliff's body."

Taylor looked at Cliff, whose tone was heavy, and sighed:

"But his life force is damaged, and his strength is practically crippled. Even if Cliff awakens, he won't be able to easily use his life magnetic field in the future..."

The path of chivalry is now completely severed; I can only return to being an ordinary person.

The atmosphere in the pastor's room suddenly became incredibly oppressive.

Damage to the flame of life is something no knight wants to face.

Moreover, Cliff is still young and has the opportunity to become an Earth Knight.

"Red Skull...Cult of Blood..."

Cliff's experience made Rorschach realize for the first time the cruelty and danger of this world.

Even the mighty Grand Knight is like an ant in the face of a stronger enemy.

[Ding ding ding! The great Emperor has seen the rage and determination for revenge burning in your eyes.]

[Triggered Emperor's Quest: Blood Debt!]

"My child, war is always accompanied by sacrifice, but a true Astartes never grieves for the dead. We must commemorate them with the blood of our enemies! Turn grief into strength to hunt down those heretics—that is what an Astartes should do!"

Mission Objective: Locate and completely eliminate the Hydra team.

[Mission Rewards: 1300 Imperial Honor Points, +1.0 Free Attribute Point, "Gene Seed Manufacturing Method"!]

Chapter 129 Gene Seeds, Gwen the Lamenter

"Hiss~ It's actually a method for creating genetic seeds..."

Upon seeing the golden mission panel appear before him, Luo Xia's eyes lit up slightly, and his heart skipped a beat.

Gene seeds!

It is an unparalleled masterpiece created by the Great Emperor in the genetic laboratory of Holy Terra using the basic templates of twenty Primarchs.

With the genetic seed, nineteen extraordinary organs are created, and then implanted into the target body in stages through implantation surgery, thus giving birth to a powerful Astartes!

"Teacher Cliff's life force has been damaged, and his path as a knight is severed, but if I could implant a gene seed into his body..."

Luo Xia thought this to himself, but inwardly he sighed helplessly.

Although the gene seed is a good thing, not everyone can withstand the nineteen modification and implantation surgeries.

Even though Rorschach possessed the genetic template of an emperor and had certain unique characteristics, the surgery to implant a second heart still caused him excruciating pain.

Most importantly, Rorschach is only sixteen years old, and the transformation to become an Astartes begins at this stage.

Cliff is already over forty years old. Although the other party has the strength and physique of a Great Knight, it is unknown whether he can withstand nineteen implant surgeries.

"And none of that is the most important thing..."

Luo Xia looked at the mission reward helplessly. You only have the method to create gene seeds, but not the method to cultivate the nineteen extraordinary organs. How am I supposed to cultivate them?