Zeus's grace is higher than the sky

Xiao Ai's analyzer suddenly emitted a slight beep, and she looked up at the jinx, Jian.

"The other party has changed its scanning frequency and is trying to analyze our signal pattern."

Jane, the jinx, raised an eyebrow, a playful smile playing on her lips.

"Looks like they're also wondering who we are. Should we give them a 'reply'?"

In the bridge, Bryce suddenly shouted, "The other side has responded to the signal! It's not an attack code, it's a basic authentication request—they want to confirm whether we are the enemy."

"Who cares? Let's set up the cannons first!"

“Wait a minute,” Li Bao suddenly spoke up, “Their signal included the latest monitoring data of the swarm, it’s like… a gesture of goodwill?”

The captain stared at the slowly scrolling data stream on the screen, then glanced at the still-wriggling swarm of tumors outside the window, and said in a deep voice.

"Take the order first. But everyone stay alert—near this death star, any 'goodwill' could be hiding fangs."

......

after a while.

The starship's landing module kicked up dust on the ochre-red wasteland. The hatch slowly lowered, and the captain stepped out first, followed by Bryce, Burning Hatred, and Chestnut.

The four men's armor gleamed with a cold, metallic sheen in the dim light. Their hands remained firmly on their weapon grips, their eyes scanning their surroundings warily—the planet bore no trace of the insect swarm, only exposed rocks and dried-up riverbeds.

Two figures slowly emerged from behind a rock not far away. Xiao Ai was wearing light combat gear and holding a signal analyzer in her hand, while Calamity Jane had a long weapon slung across her shoulder and her fingertips lightly tapping on the trigger guard, taking in the entire four-person team.

"Star Guard Legion, Captain." The captain took a half step forward, his voice coming through the armor's loudspeaker without any unnecessary formalities.

"We came by tracking the energy fluctuations of the swarm."

He paused, then pointed behind him, “Bryce, technical sergeant; Burning Hatred, fire support; Chestnut, medical officer.”

Xiao Ai and the jinx Jian exchanged a glance. The former spoke first, her tone calm but scrutinizing.

"Xiao Ai, signal analysis and technical support."

"Disaster Jane" added, his voice carrying the efficiency of a scout.

"Jane the Calamity, field reconnaissance. We are also tracking the swarm and anomalous energy."

After the words were spoken, the wasteland fell into a brief silence. Neither side spoke again, but they stood facing each other at a distance of more than ten meters, their eyes darting between each other's equipment and expressions.

No one wants to reveal more information first. On this planet where there are only each other and the aftermath of the swarm, caution is the only rule of survival.

......

Xiao Ai and the jinx Jane are on this side.

“They dressed like Imperial Space Marines, and genetic scans showed they were also ‘human.’”

"That person once said that parallel worlds, similar worlds, are easier to merge."

"So, they are a Space Marine company from a parallel universe?"

Xiao Ai nodded and then shook her head.

"Not quite sure? Looks like we need to get in touch further."

......

This is the four-person team.

"No genes!"

A fierce red light blazed in the eyes of the one who burned with hatred. A being without genes could only be a follower of an evil god.

"But there was no energy reaction similar to that of an evil god."

"That's a cunning evil god's minions disguising the energy reaction!"

"No, Burning Hatred, calm down! If we make another mistake this time, our company will be disbanded."

"I think we need further communication to ensure that serious mistakes do not happen again."

......

"I think we need further communication and mutual understanding." x2

"King of Space?!"

The four-person team explained to the calamity Jane the greatness of the King of Space and the purpose of their journey.

The jinx Jane couldn't hold back at all, and even the emotionless Xiao Ai's mouth slightly agape.

"Isn't this just a clone of the Emperor? They really are Space Marines from a parallel universe," Jane and Ai thought to themselves.

"It's your turn. We want to know what you are."

The vengeful one secretly gripped the twisting hammer, ready for a fierce battle at any moment.

What are we?

“That’s right. According to the instrument scan, you have no genes and are composed entirely of energy.”

The calamity star gave a detailed introduction to the existence of heroic spirits to the four of them.

"The Third Law: Materializing the Soul? Other Worlds? All of Humanity!"

Three key pieces of information greatly shocked the four-person team.

The key characteristic of the evil god's followers is that they have offered their souls to the evil god, and what descends into the material world are merely energy aggregates with their original memories.

Although the two people in front of them were also composed of energy matter called "ether," they had souls. According to the Supreme Command's criteria, they could not be regarded as followers of an evil god, nor could they be regarded as aliens.

Chapter 273 Greenskin Expansion

A crimson wind swept across the wasteland, and the standoff between the two teams quietly eased with a shared decision. The captain withdrew his hand from his weapon, the joints of his armor creaking slightly. His gaze swept over the calamity Jane and Xiao Ai, his tone softening somewhat.

"The product of the swarm fusion is still active in the ruins, and it's too risky for it to act alone. Since we have the same goal, let's cooperate for now."

Calamity Jane put away her dual pistols, tapped her fingertip on the tactical terminal, and brought up a real-time monitoring map of the swarm tumor.

"Our analyzer can penetrate energy interference and locate the movement trajectory of the mutated insect swarm. However, their exoskeleton is harder than expected, requiring fire support."

Xiao Ai added, "I can analyze the biological signals of the swarm and give early warnings of their attack patterns."

Bryce immediately pulled up the starship's weapon parameters and projected them into the air.

"Our thermomelting cannon can penetrate ten centimeters of chitin, but it takes three minutes to charge. The Burning Hatred's twisting hammer can destroy the core at close range, and Chestnut will be in charge of battlefield medical care."

Li Bao pushed up her goggles and picked up her portable medical kit.

"My agent can neutralize the radiotoxicity of the swarm, but its effectiveness against the new variants still needs to be tested."

Although the Burning Hatred One still frowned, the red light in his eyes had faded somewhat, but he did not loosen his grip on the twisting hammer.

"If you dare to play any tricks, I'll smash your 'energy shells' first."

Jane, the jinx, raised an eyebrow and smiled, but didn't reply. She simply shared the signal analyzer's access to the four-person team's terminal.

"Real-time data synchronization, no one can hide anything."

Xiao Ai brought up a 3D map of the ruins and tapped the mark on the core area of ​​the swarm with her fingertip.

"The target is near the star core fissure in the center of the ruins, where the residual quantum energy is strongest, and the mutants should be absorbing energy to strengthen themselves. We need to approach them in two groups to avoid alerting them."

The captain nodded and raised his hand to draw a dividing line on the tactical projection.

“Bryce and I will maneuver around the rubble pile on the east side to draw out the outer swarm of Zerg; you and Chestnut will cut in from the abandoned space station on the west side to locate the core; Burning Hatred, you will provide support and be ready to break through the Zerg swarm's defenses at any time.”

After assigning tasks, both teams turned and headed towards their respective landing craft.

......

Zeus stood on the steel plaza of the orc tribe, with the broken power claw of the former war leader beneath his feet. Behind him, the sail tower was surrounded by a group of greasy mechanics. The inkwell hung in mid-air, rapidly sketching on the spread-out metal plate.

"I think this lump of iron needs to be taller!"

A young mechanic brandished a wrench and shouted, and the green-skinned soldiers instantly erupted in a cacophony of voices demanding "a big pipe that can breathe fire" and "an iron fist that can smash tanks."

Fanlou did not refute, but with a flick of his finger, the ink line suddenly thickened, adding two pairs of tilted thrusters on both sides of the mecha's torso, and drawing rotating chainsaw blades at the ends of the arms—with sharp teeth patterns specially drawn on the chainsaw teeth.

"In this way, it can fly, cut, and even attach bombs to the thrusters for surprise attacks."

Fanlou's voice traveled through the protective barrier Zeus had set up for her. The mechanics were stunned at first, then burst into cheers of "Waaagh!" and rushed to the pile of scrap metal, hammering and tinkering according to the blueprints.

Three days later, when the first "God Steed" mech was activated, purple energy surged from the thruster nozzles, and the roar of the spinning chainsaw blades shook the ground. The oldest tech master approached the mech, punched the armor, and suddenly grinned.

"I think... this thing is even more powerful than the King Kong!"

The greens instantly erupted in excitement, scrambling onto mechs and vehicles, brandishing their weapons and howling with gusto—excitement spores filled the air. For them, nothing was more anticipated than this powerful and formidable new gadget.

A few days later, on a battlefield.

Dust billowed into the air by the roar of engines as dozens of "God Steed" mechs formed a steel torrent that swept across the wasteland, each step cracking the ground with fine lines. In the cockpit of the foremost mech, the mechanic "Bonebreaker" frantically pressed the fire button, his chainsaw blades spinning at high speed, slicing oncoming enemies to pieces. The purple flames spewed from the thrusters instantly burned Jumper, who was attempting a sneak attack, leaving only charred remains.

Another mech suddenly leaped high into the air, spinning in mid-air with the thrust of its thrusters. The missile bays hidden on both sides of its torso opened with a bang, and several "improvised missiles" strapped with explosives accurately struck the energy shield of the enemy fortress. The shield flickered twice and then completely collapsed. The green-skinned kids behind it immediately charged forward with howls. Some clung to the legs of the mechs, while others brandished their big guns and fired wildly. Even the farts jumped and bounced after them with their little knives.

In the center of the battlefield, the "Gorilla Steed," personally operated by the old tech tyrant, was particularly eye-catching. Its chainsaw blade had been replaced with a larger "Chopper," and two rotary machine guns were welded to the side of the thrusters, capable of mowing down a group of enemies with each shot. The old tech tyrant leaned out halfway and shouted "Waaagh!" towards the sky, his voice drowning out the gunfire. The surrounding greens immediately responded, their morale soaring to almost break through the sky.

As the last enemy was crushed by the mech's iron hooves, the greens swarmed around "Gorilla Steed," patting its armor and showing off their spoils. Some even climbed onto the top of the mech and used oil to draw crooked skull patterns on the armor.

In the command tent at the rear, Pi Jing barged in, brandishing his broken horn and fangs, stammering as he described the situation at the front. The old tech master followed closely behind, placing his blood-stained chainsaw blade on the ground and gruffly reporting how the mechs tore through the enemy's defenses, how the thruster flames burned through the shields, and how even the most timid kid dared to charge on the mechs.

Old Techie paused, then patted the tent flap with his rough hands. Two green-skinned boys immediately carried in a piece of remains covered with a hard shell—the insect's shell gleamed with a cold, metallic light, and there was still some viscous purple liquid at the break.

"Strange bugs we encountered during the expansion! They're somewhat similar to the ones you showed me before, boss."

The old master pointed at the spikes on the wreckage, his voice deeper than before.

"The shell is incredibly hard; ordinary bullets can't penetrate it. It also sprays acid that can burn through iron plates. We had to destroy three mechs just to remove this piece!"

Zeus's gaze fell on the remains, and as soon as his fingertips touched the hard shell, he frowned—this was clearly the shell of a true gnat bug, but upon closer inspection, the shell surface was covered with fine biological patterns, and the edges were inlaid with a cuticle layer similar to that of the Tyranids. Even the purple sap at the break point was mixed with fluorescent particles unique to Tyranid creatures.

Zeus withdrew his hand, looked at the old master, and spoke with approval.

"Well done! We not only won the battle, but also brought back something useful."

As he spoke, he gestured to his attendants behind him to take out a new mecha design blueprint that had been prepared beforehand. The "God Steed" on the blueprint was larger than before, with its arms replaced by heavy chainsaws with acid protection, and two additional jet engines added to its back.

"This is your reward. Tell the mechanics to do the same. Next time they encounter this kind of bug, let them taste something even tougher."

The old master strategist stared at the blueprints, his eyes instantly lighting up. He grinned, revealing his uneven teeth, and patted his chest heavily.

"I'm going right now! I guarantee the new guy will smash that bug's shell!"

The commotion caused by Zeus directing the Greenskins to expand wildly had already broken through the wasteland boundaries of the planet and drifted towards the outposts of forces in the surrounding star systems.

The Astronautical Army's reconnaissance ship hovered at the edge of the asteroid belt. The captain looked at the Greenskin activity area on the tactical screen, which was turning red, and tapped on the communicator: "Report to command, the Greenskin population on planet V-73 is showing abnormal integration, expanding at a rate thirty times faster than the usual record, and is equipped with heavy mechs never seen before."

On the other side, the Eldar prophet saw the green-skinned torrent sweeping across the old battlefield in her crystal vision, and her pupils suddenly contracted—in the corner of her vision, the energy fluctuations of the "God Steed" mech contained a faint spiritual light that did not belong to this universe. She immediately turned and gave orders to her warriors.

"Send people to explore planet V-73. We must find out what's hidden behind these green-skinned people."

Even on the far edge of the warp, the Chaos Space Marines' warbands detected the signal through looted star maps. The warband leader rubbed the bloodstains on his chainsaw axe and grinned as he spoke to his subordinates.

"A bunch of greens who can only shout 'Waaagh' are here to take over our territory? Perfect, let's dismantle their mechs and use them as parts for our weapons."

Chapter 274 Data Return

Inside the Grammer Empire's deep space observatory, a pale blue holographic star map unfolded at the control panel. Several researchers in silver-white uniforms surrounded the screen, their expressions grave. In the center of the screen, a red dot representing the Tyranids moved along a strange trajectory at the edge of the galaxy, its activity pattern drastically different from that of the "breeding swarm" in the database.

"The energy characteristics are completely inconsistent."

A researcher pulls up comparison data, swiping his finger across the fluctuating parameters on the screen.

"The biological signals of the breeding swarm have high-frequency resonances, but this swarm of insects... has low-frequency pulses, and the metal content of the cuticle of its exoskeleton is three times higher than the usual record."

The observatory commander leaned over, staring intently at the star chart, his knuckles turning white from the effort.

"They are quite efficient at consuming minerals from the asteroid belt, although their reproduction rate is at least half that of the breeding swarm. But what's more troublesome is their evolutionary speed—the three samples captured by the probe grew a crystalline layer on their shells that could withstand energy weapons within just twelve hours, a characteristic that the breeding swarm has never had!"

He had barely finished speaking when an alarm suddenly sounded, and the red dots on the holographic screen abruptly changed direction, surging towards the border outpost of the Grammer Empire. The commander immediately pressed the communicator.

"Immediately report to the Imperial Central Command: An unknown alien insectoid race, not a breeding swarm, has been discovered. It is evolving at an extremely rapid pace and is moving towards the border. Requesting support!"

While the message was being transmitted to the Imperial Central Command.

The searchlight radar of the border outpost pierced the night sky, and the energy shields on the metallic fortifications emitted a pale blue glow. Suddenly, the ground began to tremble slightly, and the sensors around the outpost sounded a sharp alarm—on the screens, countless dark shadows were rapidly approaching from the horizon; it was the evolved Tyranid horde.

"Fire!"

At the outpost commander's order, the pulse machine guns on the fortifications instantly spewed out blue flames, and bullets rained down on the swarm. However, the expected scene of the swarm being torn apart did not occur. The bullets struck the crystalline layer of the swarm's exoskeleton, leaving only white streaks before ricocheting off.