The Astartes Family's Notebook

Your hands aren't clean, so here you go!

However, having connections on both sides still has its advantages.

At least when Qiong En was being beaten, the people who were hurling insults at him didn't actually resort to dirty tricks to humiliate the young technical sergeant.

Qiong En, that brat, has talent, but after completing basic training, he was sent to the Forging World for further studies less than two years later. After finishing his thirty years of screw-making, he excitedly returned to Silver Skull only to be subjected to the workplace bullying that ordinary technical soldiers often encounter.

The young man couldn't understand it and defected.

So, can a technical sergeant like Kaz really shirk combat? Stop using tightening screws as an excuse to avoid daily training; that arrogant attitude is exactly what Qiong En is looking for.

That's it, that's it! My ideal battle commander should be a dashing man like Brother Samar!

Knowing he was no match for them, Qiong En refused to admit defeat and couldn't handle the insults from the other side.

No, buddy, you were just going through the motions when you came over, giving all sorts of hints in your words, why are you doing this now?

"Please forgive us, we don't want to discourage young people's enthusiasm, please bear with us."

Kaz had already entered the arena, so Trois had no choice but to initiate a voice communication and explain to the people who were hurling insults.

Okay, the insulters accepted the Blood Duck Legion's explanation. They're technical sergeants, after all, it's rare for them to get a chance to fight, so they're understandably excited.

So, while the other two matches between the insulter and the penitent monk had already been completed, with each side having its own victories and defeats, Qiong En was still receiving loving re-education from his neighbor's older brother.

The difference in basic skills is too great, and the difference in combat experience is like heaven and earth. This is a gap that talent cannot make up for.

Even though the insulters held back, Qiong En still couldn't touch his opponent, and was left only with an indomitable spirit to stubbornly hold on.

Kaz casually leaned on his power sword and turned to look, while the penitent monk didn't urge him on, simply observing as well.

Finally, the intense exercise depleted the oxygen reserves inside the power armor, and Choun struggled to raise one hand, conceding defeat.

"Your new recruits are quite good."

"He's considered pretty good among technical sergeants."

After enjoying the spectacle, Kaz and the platoon champion of the Penitentiary monks simultaneously performed the sword salute, officially beginning their duel.

However, after witnessing Qiong En's struggles, Kaz inexplicably hallucinated his own youthful days.

If I hadn't encountered the most helpless years and the most heartbreaking circumstances, would I have been able to persevere through the tedious and boring training?

If I had won against the arrogant guy back then, would the billions of innocent people in Omidas have had a different fate?

I don't know what makes you so strong, but I want my life to no longer be filled with regrets due to my incompetence.

Leaving aside the special case of those who held back to teach a lesson to the poor, the battles in Astartes are still very quick, at most a minute, and it is common for the fight to end in the first encounter or within ten seconds.

The fact that this penitent monk could become the company champion speaks volumes about his strength.

However, Katz's purity is higher than his.

Most of the Astartes were bound hand and foot by dogma and holy scriptures, becoming slaves to power armor.

Kaz gained the upper hand with a simple knee strike, using magnetic boots to disrupt the opponent's balance.

After all, according to the first blood rule, the first to strike wins, and life and death are secondary.

However, Kaz did not use his knife and let the penitent monk's company champion go.

“Qiong En, watch carefully, I will only demonstrate once.”

On the internal communication channel, when Katz said this, Astartes on Blood Duck's side were stunned, and Qiong En, who was literally holding his breath, had countless small question marks flashing across his head.

Is our leader planning to use the team championship of the Repentant Monks to play a teaching game?

They were neither grateful for Kaz's leniency nor felt it was an insult; the penitent monk's psychological education of the chapter brothers was quite effective.

On the battlefield, personal honor and disgrace are not important; before life and death are decided, victory and defeat are determined first.

If you, Karz, give up on killing the game, then be prepared to be killed by the game.

With another strike, the penitent monks' team champions held nothing back.

But Katz had lost even the last bit of urgency.

The opponent has already touched the boundaries of "martial arts," and the title of company champion is well-deserved.

The term "one in a hundred" perfectly describes this type of Astartes.

My friend, you still treat power armor as just protective gear, seeing yourself as a knight clad in iron armor—that's the reason for your defeat.

Wait, isn't the power armor directly connected to the black shell on Astartes' body, like a second skin for a Space Marine?

That's right, for a typical Astartes, the Astartes power armor is indeed such a convenient item.

Through various built-in sensors, electronic muscle bundles, and servo motors, the standard Astartes can achieve enhancements in various aspects such as situational awareness, maximum output, and survivability.

However, the situation changes once you reach the level of a company-level champion.

At the culmination of all skills, there are civil service exams and essay writing...

Bah! It's the ultimate end of techniques, all paths leading to the same destination.

Ultimately, the Astartes power armor could not replace Astartes' true nervous system. The further Astartes progressed on the path of martial arts, the more it could perceive that even through direct connection with the black shell, there was still a subtle "delay".

This is extremely dangerous when experts clash.

Therefore, most Astartes masters will subjectively shut down the direct neural connection between part of their power armor and the black shell during actual combat.

Katz naturally went through this phase as well.

By reducing the burden on the nervous system, we can improve the harmony between the dynamic body and one's own mind—it's about subtraction.

In the end, however, Katz reverted to the original factory settings of the power armor and even added a number of additional sensors.

While reducing unnecessary features can indeed raise the lower limit, actively adjusting one's body is the only way to unleash the upper limit of the power armor.

I am in control of my body; if I can't change the environment, I will change myself.

Such a simple principle is not so easy to put into practice.

But Katz did it, though it wasn't easy, he did it nonetheless.

The biggest advantage of achieving this is that you no longer need to rely on the power armor's self-stabilizing system, allowing you to perform all sorts of cool moves while wearing the power armor.

Brother, I'm not humiliating you, but helping you climb to even greater heights.

Finally, five minutes later, the champion of the penitent monks' company took the initiative to distance himself, bowed to Kaz, left his weapon on the field, and conceded defeat with great emotion.

Holy crap, is the guild leader really that good at fighting?

Nonsense, this is Samar, the "Blade of Destruction"!

Trois helped Choun replace the oxygen generator, and the little sergeant, his face flushed red, clenched his fist and took a deep, satisfying breath.

This is what a man should do.

As for the semi-final match, Kaz stopped showing off his skills and ended the match with just one strike, sending his godfather's eldest son back to rest.

Meanwhile, the duel between another group of penitent monks and the insulters unexpectedly lasted for two minutes and thirteen seconds.

Both sides chose the sword and shield setup without prior agreement.

Fighting in Astartes is quite fast, except for those wielding shields.

When both sides choose to play the role of the shield dog, only heaven knows who will win.

In the end, the repentant monks' battle group still lost.

The Penitent's Astartes didn't lose; it was the Storm Shield, a relic-level weapon of the Insulters' Chapter, that won...

Now that things have come to this, the penitent monks are willing to accept defeat. They'll see what conditions the final victor demands, settle this score, and then find supplies somewhere else. They're really in a hurry, eager to fight to the death.

Meanwhile, the insulters originally wanted to continue with the sword and shield duel, but their technical sergeant also had a temper. If they continued to attack and damaged the artifact, who would take the blame? They wanted to clarify this matter before bringing up the duel!

Ok.

If you don't want me to use it, you don't want me to use it. Why are you getting so worked up, bro?

Those who hurl insults still felt grateful to Kars for preventing a large-scale conflict and refrained from taking out more relics. Of course, it's also possible they were afraid of attracting the attention of those with unclean hands.

Kaz, on the other hand, was even more straightforward. In the final match, he simply stuck his power sword into the ground, spread his hands to let others go first, and prepared to fight hand-to-hand.

"It's a trap! Hey, don't fall for it!"

The champion of the Confessional Brotherhood, who had competed against Kaz, was anxious, but he didn't have the communication frequency code of the insulter, and he couldn't broadcast it publicly in this space environment.

Kaz is not a swordsman in the traditional sense; he is closer to Guterra's definition of a warrior.

In terms of martial arts skills, the commander believed he was no less capable than anyone else.

So, the company commander who was leading the group that was hurling insults admitted defeat on behalf of the brothers in the company who were still stubbornly refusing to admit defeat despite being under the control of a strongman.

Kaz waved his hand and returned all the spoils and exquisite weapons that should have belonged to Blood Duck to their respective owners.

However, such a "frank" act aroused the collective vigilance of both the insulters and the penitent monks.

Um?

I don't understand why...

"We're all loyal to the Emperor and dedicated to the Empire. What's the point of us having a conflict? If we're short of supplies, we can ask the Mechanicus for them."

Just as I expected...

I see......

The winner of the tournament can set conditions, and as soon as Kaz started, the other two warbands revealed... well, you know...

It's just right! It finally feels just right!

As expected of the Blood Ravens, their bloodline is truly pure.

As expected of the Blood Ravens, they never leave empty-handed.

"Joint action is fine, but we, the Penitent Monks, have a sense of honor and will not do anything shameful."

"Collective pressure is fine, but if you've already robbed the Mechanicus, you can't steal from us, the ones who hurl insults at you."

What could Kaz say?

Man, what can I say?

I never thought that even the Hall of the Central Emperor could be burdened by his reputation. The Blood Raven Legion, you've got something else.

Chapter 448 Deep Duck Fantacy

A person who wants to win doesn't have a smile on their face.

Those who can win at will never stop smiling.

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Chaos Astartes, especially the new generation of Chaos Astartes born from the Eye of Terror, are really no good.

To put it bluntly, they don't even know how to rob.

Huh? You can't even do something as simple as robbery? Your Excellency, you've gone too far with this.

Hey, I'm not trying to be mean, robbery is a skill, it's not as simple as you think.

The Penitent Monks and the Cursed Monks warbands were adamant in their refusal to allow Blood Duck to come aboard their warband's ship to discuss important matters. Left with no other option, Kaz, as the initiator of the team-building activity, could only invite everyone to the Ishimura for a meeting to discuss the details of the operation.

But......

Was the Ishimura a normal Astartes attack cruiser?

"Qiong En, stop messing around with your broken silver-plated skull. Take a few skilled craftsmen and carve the imperial statue for me, immediately, right now!"

“Ovisa, check the details of each of the brothers’ power armor. I didn’t make a big deal out of their slacking off before, but now, anyone who messes around, just kill them without hesitation.”

"Trois, you personally lead a group to the lower decks. The master is kind-hearted and cannot bear to see the poor suffer, understand?"

"Hex, you shake your head, grab my crowbar, and tell those demon hosts to shut up. While you're at it, decorate that thing a bit. It's made to be seen, understand?"

The brothers in the guild haven't been this nervous in a long time. Is the guild leader playing this big game? Is this the first real test of his loyalty, hosting such a grand event to entertain brother units?

Only the true Afas gained a tremendous sense of psychological superiority.

The Light of the Legion is indeed the Light of the Legion, Brother Samar!

To reiterate, humanity is in, and will remain in for a long time in, the early stages of psionic awakening. There are very few psionic canned empires like the Grey Knights. Tigris the Ultramarines, Ezekiel the Dark Angels, and Mephisto the Blood Angels before he reached the Golden Core stage are truly rare exceptions.

So it's not a big deal that the chaotic aura on the Ishimura is a bit strong. Everyone in the Blood Raven Legion knows that there's a lot of chaotic aura on the ship after using a lot of psionic energy.