Warhammer: Expedition to the Multiverse from 30k

"This……"

Luo Xi was speechless for a moment. What could he say? In front of these soldiers who were determined to hold on and die on the road to killing the traitor, all his words were extremely empty.

Looking at Hal's face in front of him, Roxi's mind suddenly recalled the World Eater Dreadnought that was salvaged from space by the Ultramarines' warship after the Battle of Amatra.

And buried in that fearless sarcophagus was the former commander of the War Dog Legion - Locke.

The war dog buried in the fearlessness, with only a trace of sanity left in his broken body, was one of the very few sober ones in the 12th Legion. He helplessly discovered that his beloved Legion was heading towards a path of no return under the influence of Butcher's Nails and Angron.

Rosh had promised that if possible, he would find a way to cure the Butcher's Nails in the Warhounds' heads, but since the defeat of Lorgar and Angron's Shadow Crusade, he has never seen the loyal World Eaters again.

Until today, when I met the loyal Broken Hound on Terra, the promise of the past once again echoed in my mind.

Luo Xi murmured, he never forgot his promise to defeat that war dog.

"Locke, you are not the only one who remembers the glory and pride of the War Dogs. On the human home planet, there is also a War Dog veteran named Endred Hal who is still holding on."

Chapter 409: Late Promise (Please Subscribe)

At the beginning, Luo Xi also learned about the so-called Butcher's Nails. This blasphemous technology inherited from the dark technological age was actually used as a brain-computer interface accessory for the stone men in the past. Under certain circumstances, the stone men would replace the matching parts to help them use their strength more sensitively.

It's just that those lunatics in Nuceria completely distorted its purpose. In order to satisfy their own perverted desires and maintain their rule, they chose to inject this technological creation into the human brain.

During the long years of the Age of Strife, the Nucerias used their wisdom for evil.

Countless smart brains continued to enhance its destructive power and aggressiveness, gradually shaping a vicious creature called "Butcher's Nail".

Luo Xi couldn't understand how humans came up with the idea of ​​injecting this damn thing into the brains of their own kind.

During the long dark age, countless planets that lost contact in the warp storms experienced civilization regression and technological loss. There were many worlds like Nuceria that went mad and out of control.

In this situation where one is completely cut off from the outside world and is isolated and helpless, the law will collapse, morality will disappear, and the malice deep in human nature will begin to take hold.

"I once met Locke, the commander of the 12th Legion. He was in the Contemptor Dreadnought at the time and was captured by us during the war." Luo Xi said.

When the name "Locke" came out of his mouth, the pupils of this war dog who had served for hundreds of years suddenly contracted, as if he heard something unexpected.

"I know you are loyal to the Emperor and hate traitors, but Locke is different. Although he is among the World Eaters, he still tries his best to save this glorious legion that is falling."

The Broken Hound slowly stood up, as if a mountain was slowly rising before him.

"Locke is a good guy. He once led our legion to fight for the Emperor until the last drop of blood."

"What happened to him in the end?" said Hal.

The eyes of this last war dog turned slightly red, and Luo Xi actually saw the slightest hesitation and wavering in the expression of this god of death.

Perhaps there had once been an extraordinary friendship between them, Luo Xi thought.

Luo Xi hesitated for a second and organized his words in his mind. The ending of War Dog Locke was not good, but he died on the path he had been pursuing.

"During the Battle of Amatra, Commander Orfeo of the Ultramarines engineered the killing of Angron and commanded our battle planet to destroy the flagship of the World Eaters, while Locke's Dreadnought was captured by us in space."

When mentioning Angron, Hal's emotions did not fluctuate at all. For him and other warriors who were among the first to serve in the Legion, the Primarch was not something sacred, because they had fought beside the Emperor and witnessed greater existence and mission.

What's more, it was the damned Angron who destroyed the once glorious warhounds and turned the once disciplined Twelve Legions into the insane, bloodthirsty demons that now carry the Butcher's Nails.

If he had the chance, he would try to kill Angron once and for all, even though he had now become a filthy Daemon Prince of the Warp.

"Later, we fought again with Angron, who had been resurrected by the Great Word Bearer, on Nuceria, the home planet of the World Eaters. Our blood stained the red sand of this sinful planet.

At the last moment of the war, Locke the Fearless, the Legion's think tank chief Vorrias, and the 8th Captain Kahn and others paid the price of their lives to prevent Angron from completely ascending to demonic power, but unfortunately, Angron still became the Demon Prince of the Warp. "

"Angron tore apart Lok's sarcophagus, dragged out the remains of his son, and trampled them into a pool of blood."

The Broken Hound closed his eyes in pain. Luo Xi could no longer see his heart, but the intense sorrow broke through the barriers and surged out.

He was not crying for his genetic father. What saddened him was that the few sober ones among the war dogs died regretfully after their final efforts failed.

"In fact, you don't need to ask me. I promised Commander Locke that I would do my best to heal you and pull the damn butcher's nails out of your heads!"

Whether out of admiration for these respectable loyalists or the promise made in the past with the war dog Fearless Locke, Luo Xi had to do this no matter how difficult it was.

"Come on, Captain Hal, let your fellow war dogs follow. The most advanced biological laboratory is waiting for you."

Roche and Sage Rand brought Hal and his Black Shield troops to the laboratory in the planet's control center, while some Black Shield warriors returned to Terra to bring their fellow War Dogs who remained on Terra to Ganymede.

After a quick round trip, Hal and his 193 War Dog fighting brothers were already lined up neatly and standing outside the door of the biological laboratory.

All the war dogs except the Broken Hound had Butcher's Nails inserted into their heads. These hideous and twisted metal creatures drilled deeply into their skulls like vicious flesh worms.

Even without the use of scanning equipment, one could clearly see with the naked eye the delicate cables of the Butcher's Nails, which pierced deeply into Astartes' brain like the long hair of a demon.

These last remaining Warhound veterans are incredibly tenacious, relying on their unwavering faith to withstand the heart-piercing pain of the Butcher's Nails, a vicious technology that eliminates all emotions other than anger and the desire to kill, including weakness, mercy, and hesitation.

In the end, there will only be a puppet left, struggling to survive under the control of the Butcher's Nails, with no self-will, repeating meaningless killing and destruction.

"What a great warrior." Luo Xi sighed in his heart.

Unlike their cousins ​​in other legions, these Warhound veterans are in constant torture and pain. Their war never ends, and under the control of the Butcher's Nails, they cannot even have a second to sleep.

"If it was the original Butcher's Nail, perhaps we would be in even bigger trouble. But fortunately or unfortunately, the Butcher's Nail on their heads was the product of the World Eaters' pharmacist, Galan Surak, who reverse-engineered the technology of the original Butcher's Nail from the Genna world."

“This replica is not as strong as the original and does not have as strong an erosion effect.”

War dog Hal stood beside Roche. He could see the data displayed by the scanning device in front of him and the scan results inside his battle brother's head.

The Butcher's Nails are far more serious than imagined. The parts exposed outside the skull are like some extremely precise cables, while inside them, countless intricate metal wires expand and spread wantonly like plant roots.

"These butcher's nails are alive in a sense." Luo Xi said in a heavy tone.

"They continue to expand themselves, eating away at parts of the brain and replacing those functions with themselves. It's almost a twisted parasitic relationship."

"It will instinctively make the host unable to leave itself, and even make it more and more dependent on itself."

In the scan results, the butcher's nail tendrils of the war dog had penetrated deeply into the brain and spine, and even his limbic lobe and insular cortex had disappeared.

"If the Butcher's Nail is removed rashly, even an Astartes' body will not be able to withstand such damage, and his brain function will be severely impaired."

Luo Xi tried to use a more tactful tone to better explain the current situation to Hal.

"You don't need to be so polite to me, Sage Luo Xi. Since you are someone Locke trusts, I will trust you too."

"I place all my trust and possibility in you."

Hal said calmly, his voice as hoarse as rusty steel rubbing against each other.

"I don't understand these technical issues. I just want to know what the probability is that you can suppress the Butcher's Nail on my brother's head?"

Chapter 410: Taking an Unconventional Path

"It's been too long. The Butcher's Nail has replaced more than one-third of his brain tissue. If it weren't for this damn vicious technology that is maintaining the life of the war dog, I'm afraid he would have died long ago."

Roche and Sage Rand nervously operated the equipment and conducted physical examinations on 193 War Dog Astartes.

These speechless war dogs silently endured the pain of the butcher's nails. They did not make a sound even when a medical cutting saw was used to cut open their skulls, and then a narrow metal probe was inserted into the cranial cavity to slowly obtain brain tissue for testing.

Because of the existence of the Butcher's Nails, conventional anesthetics are completely ineffective on them, and their nerves are always in a state of extreme excitement.

As Rand Sage controlled the metal needles to touch the distorted brain tissue eroded by the tendrils of the Butcher's Nail, the war dogs were even able to calmly answer Rand Sage's different questions.

The naked body of the war dog lay on the cold silver metal table. The dense and cruel scars were as dense as a spider web, and the black neural interface was particularly eye-catching.

That is the mark of their meritorious service. Every war dog that survived to this day is a true veteran of hundreds of battles.

The Stoneman assistants assisted in the inspection. They covered the war dog's body with a layer of white cloth, while the other Black Shield warriors fell into deep silence at the same time, silently looking at their fighting brothers.

Hal showed no expression at all, he knew that to his brother, this pain was not worth mentioning.

Even dying on an operating table is better than being tortured to death by butcher's nails.

The brain tissue samples taken from the war dog's head were sent for testing, and the collected data were entered into the intelligent brain model by the stone people for analysis and simulation to obtain the most perfect solution.

The precision of this examination and surgery has reached the cellular level. They must ensure that when removing the Butcher's Nail, the damage to the existing brain tissue is minimized.

"No, the Butcher's Nails are resisting our attempts, damn it!"

Suddenly, the Butcher's Nails in a war dog's brain twitched violently, and those thin cables seemed to come alive and wriggle madly, as if the frightened death worms were fighting back.

Immediately afterwards, the war dog's originally peaceful expression and even chest rise and fall suddenly became rapid. Veins popped out on his face, his muscles were tautly tangled together, and one could even hear the sound of his hard teeth biting and colliding violently.

A trace of deep pity and extreme hatred for the Butcher's Nail flashed in Luo Xi's eyes.

He hated how this blasphemous and vicious art of humanity tortured a loyal and brave war dog. The malice of humans towards their fellow men was sometimes no less than their hatred for aliens.

If there is no external threat, human beings will often start fighting among themselves and thus decline.

Sage Rand quickly retracted the probing metal probe from the brain, and the stimulated Butcher's Nails tortured their hosts as if to punish and vent their anger.

The Black Shield Warrior was shaking with anger, but he still tried his best to control his strength and hold down his fighting brother who was shaking in pain.

Emperor, if you have mercy on us - please grant us release.

Some people prayed silently in their hearts, longing for their brothers to be freed from the slavery of the Butcher's Nails.

"These damn nails are not dead objects. They have psychic reactions. Perhaps in a sense, they have extremely primitive and pure consciousness."

Rand analyzed calmly. In fact, he had studied the original Butcher's Nails with the Emperor as early as when Angron was found. The frustrating thing was that even Ohm Messiah himself said that he could remove the Butcher's Nails, but he could do nothing about the damage to the brain after the Butcher's Nails were removed.

"The Butcher's Nail has been constantly strengthening its perception of anger and killing. Its primitive consciousness will stimulate the host when it performs actions and thoughts that conform to the settings, and it will actively release various hormone compounds, making the host more violent."

"In addition, this ghost thing has an extremely keen reaction to psychic energy. It seems that it is born to hate psychics. Once it discovers the existence of a psychic, it will urge the host to launch a killing counterattack."

Luo Xi was also troubled by the stubbornness of the Butcher's Nails. If the Butcher's Nails began to enter a state of stress as soon as it sensed their peeling operation, how could the operation go on?

He has a way to deal with the trauma after removing the Butcher's Nails, but when removing them, the Butcher's Nails may kill the host due to stress.

He and Sage Rand looked at each other and took a deep breath in tacit understanding.

If this is the case, there may be another way, but it requires taking an unconventional approach.

Wearing a white protective suit, Luo Xi looked at the display screen next to the operating table and explained to Hal the current situation of the peeling operation.

“Just do it.”

Hal's voice was a little hoarse. Although he had not been branded with the Butcher's Nails, his cold anger was no weaker than those battle brothers who had been branded with the Butcher's Nails.

He could even transform his anger into cold hatred, and then use hatred to maintain his clarity and rationality.

In this case, Luo Xi let go completely. He and Sage Rand both thought of one thing - the thought stamp they had just analyzed.

The difficulty of the Butcher's Nail operation lies mostly in the extremely sensitive self-awareness of this blasphemous technological creation. It is not some dead object that can be easily removed, but a being with simple consciousness.