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“Looks like you’ve already made arrangements for me.” Seth looked at Lynch, a sinister smile creeping across his face. “Give us the most dangerous places, and I have no other requests.”
"You will be working alongside Commander Forros," Lynch said calmly. "You are both children of angels, and you will need to cooperate in the upcoming battles. Also..."
Lynch made his eyes meet Seth's to make sure they could both see each other's gaze clearly.
“I will not sacrifice my warriors in vain. No matter how you see yourself or the Flesh Tearers, Gabriel Seth, I am waiting for the day you will oversee and tear me apart in the future.”
The Lord of the Flesh-Tearers fell silent, remaining motionless like a statue, until a minute later he made a move.
However, his movements were neither speaking nor any other action.
Gabriel Seth turned and walked straight out of Lynch's office.
Five minutes later, Lynch received a message—Gabriel Seth had returned to the Flesh Ripper's battle barge aboard his Stormbird.
It seems this matter has come to an end.
Lynch exhaled and looked at Malakin Forros beside him.
The latter nodded, took a step, went to the hangar, and boarded the Stormbird back to his combat barge.
All forces are now ready. Lynch stood up, led Asford through the corridor, took the elevator, and finally arrived at the bridge of the Wolf.
Here, the elite company of Star Claw had already lined up in formation. They were fully equipped, without helmets, and their exposed faces were filled with solemnity.
Lin Qi took a deep breath and then gave the order.
"All ships, prepare yourselves. Half a Terran hour later, we will conduct our first short-range warp jump, targeting the Orc raiding force located in the asteroid belt."
"Wolfherd, received."
"Angry Gauntlet, received."
"Red Tears Mother, received."
"Galloping Horse, received."
"Blade of Destruction, received."
..............
"Red Herald, received."
All the warships received the orders from Lynch. The flames from their conventional engines traced long trails in the void. At this moment, if one were to look up from the planets below the fleet, one would find that even the light of a star would be obscured by the fleet.
The phrase "covering up the sky and blocking out the sun" is given its most vivid and descriptive meaning at this moment.
The navigators began their calculations, immersing themselves in the warp, using the gleaming starlight on Terra as an anchor point to determine the distance, intensity, and location of their next jump.
This jump was not far, as the target was only an orc outpost and patrol fleet located in the asteroid belt, less than thirty light-years away from the Badab system.
Destroying them would also be the first signal to wage war against the orcs.
The warp engine began to operate, and in the once calm and dark void, a massive rift suddenly appeared. It was like a huge scar that had suddenly appeared on the galaxy, and beneath the scar, shimmering, was another world interwoven with countless lights.
Each ship began sealing its outer decks, the final step before entering the warp. Aside from a small, special group, normal people, even those from Astartes, would suffer intense mental pollution the moment they looked directly into the warp, going insane on the spot, or even mutating into terrifying monsters.
The transparent dome of the bridge was slowly covered by steel. Lin Qi watched all this and let out a long breath.
"This is our first step."
He thought to himself.
"Sooner or later, we will go there and put an end to some things that were never put to an end in the past."
Horus responded, standing beside Lynch and reciting the phrase with him.
"For the sake of humanity, may the Emperor protect us."
Chapter 158 The Orcs Got MVP! The Empire Just Won Without Effort!
War is a...
What kind of thing is it?
Caesar pondered his answer, but his hands remained unaffected. The chainsaw swung in an incredible arc, easily severing the grotesque, green alien's head. Behind him, a hunting squad of new recruits followed closely, firing at the onrushing enemies.
Every time bombs and plasmas fly through the air, it represents the loss of one or more orc lives. No matter the era, suppressing firepower is always the first answer when outnumbered.
This attack, based on the timing, took place as night fell on the main planet of Badab. And indeed, the orcs acted as if it were nighttime—their defenses were incredibly lax, so much so that Lynch, who was devising the battle plan, initially wondered if it was a trap. Until the very moment before the attack began, he was still considering his contingency plans and preparing for any possible ambush.
As the human fleet began unleashing heavy artillery and torpedoes, beams of light spears pierced the dark void, and boarding torpedoes crashed heavily into the orc warships, Lin Qi realized that there wasn't a trap here, but rather that the defenses were truly incredibly lax.
Caesar and his hunting squad were part of a group that boarded with the veterans of the company. Because the enemy was not strong, this battle was used as an acclimatization training exercise for the new recruits, so that they would not be overly nervous when facing the real battlefield.
Caesar beheaded the last orc. Watching the round thing spin twice on the ground, he thought for a moment, then walked over and picked it up.
"What do you want to do?"
Lancelot walked over. His power sword still bore traces of blood. After the battle, he obediently deactivated the power sword's disintegration field and, following standard weapon maintenance procedures, draped it over his shoulder.
Believe me, he did this not because there was a new recruit in his unit who was about to become a technical sergeant.
Caesar watched his approaching comrades, his gaze fixed on them. He simply looked around and finally picked up a rope.
He wrapped the rope around the orc's head twice and finally tied it around his waist.
Lancelot frowned, looking at the person in front of him with a puzzled expression.
"This is spoils of war," Caesar said casually, his tone carrying a hint of pride for some reason. "This orc is quite large; I plan to take it back so that those who couldn't come this time can have a good look at it."
Lancelot: '?'
"threw."
"why?"
"You throw it away first."
"...........good."
Seeing Caesar throw away the orc's head, Lancelot, still uneasy, drew his plasma launcher from his waist, pointed it at the orc's head, and pulled the trigger.
A blue plasma cloud roared out, the intense heat instantly vaporizing the orc's head into a cloud of flesh and blood. Lancelot breathed a sigh of relief after confirming the orc's head had vanished, then stared at Caesar and spoke with utmost seriousness.
"My teacher told me not to think of any enemy's head as a trophy on the battlefield."
"Teacher... did Senior Asford tell you that?"
"Yes."
Did he give a reason?
"No, but it's always good to listen to the veterans. Don't take orc heads as spoils of war anymore. They're so heavy and have a strong smell of blood. Taking them with you will greatly affect our stealth operations."
Caesar shrugged. It was an unintentional act, and he was stopped once he was stopped.
"Captain." Another recruit from the same cohort stepped forward, holding a chainsaw axe in his hand. The chainsaw was still mixed with orc flesh and broken bones, clearly indicating that he had just gone through a brutal battle.
"What's wrong, Alvin?"
Caesar responded gently.
A recruit named Alvin made a hand gesture indicating that the molten bomb was ready.
Caesar nodded, indicating he understood. Their squad had boarded the orcish frigate with the intention of infiltrating the cockpit at the bow. From there, they planned to take control of the orcish warship and ram it into their "port" built on the asteroid belt.
Right now, if the thermal melt can be successfully detonated, a path can be opened directly to the cockpit.
Caesar intended to order his squad to retreat to a safe distance before detonating the bomb. But at that moment, a strange phenomenon occurred—the ship's deck beneath his feet began to tremble, and the sound of massive footsteps was mixed with the ferocious battle cries unique to orcs. Caesar quickly activated his chainsaw sword and drew his explosive pistol from his waist, aiming it in the direction of the sound.
The others also raised their weapons, one of them even taking out a grenade. Then, relying on his incredible arm strength, he hurled it an unknown distance, directly hitting the advancing orc.
boom!
The grenade exploded, and in the intense flash, the squad members could clearly see the attacker's face.
It was an exceptionally large orc with a mechanical left eye that was glowing red. Its right arm was devoid of flesh and blood, replaced instead by a huge and ferocious mechanical arm.
Upon just one glance at the orc, the team members immediately realized that he was a formidable opponent.
The flames and shockwaves from the exploding grenade struck the orc, tearing his flesh and charring it black. But this did not stop his advance. With a roar of "Waghhhhh," he picked up the corpse of one of his own kind from the ground and forced his way through the dense hail of bullets, pulling himself to within thirty meters of the squad.
Caesar's expression darkened, and he twisted his wrist, gripping the chainsaw sword, preparing to strike and kill the orc.
But before he could make a move, another, even faster figure rushed out.
It's Lancelot.
"Covering fire!"
Caesar immediately changed his strategy. He and his teammates began to take pinpoint shots at the smaller orcs following behind the large orc, avoiding interfering with the battle between the two.
At that very moment, Lancelot had already rushed in front of the giant orc.
The power sword gleamed with a pale blue light. At this moment, the swordsman had completely forgotten about routine weapon maintenance. Immersed in his swordsmanship, he deftly dodged the claws on the mechanical arm, seized the opportunity, and thrust his sword out with a sudden upward slash, severing the mechanical arm and turning it into a black shadow falling from mid-air.
The great orc let out a painful roar, its tenacious life force protecting it. Lancelot frowned, never expecting that even in this state, its opponent hadn't completely lost its mobility and could still launch a counterattack.
That's settled then.
A third of a second later, Lancelot changed his sword-swinging motion. He threw a fragmentation grenade at a clever angle, which entered the orc's wide-open mouth and went down its throat directly into its stomach.
Lancelot retreated rapidly, and five seconds later, with his back to the orc, he heard a violent explosion.
Not only the large orcs, but also most of the smaller orcs were killed in the bloody explosion. The survivors, demoralized, fled in disarray in another direction.
"Well done."
Caesar patted Lancelot on the shoulder, expressing his approval.
"Alright, let's get down to business. Let's finish this battle as soon as possible. I want to go back to the Wolf Shepherd and have some nutritious porridge."
-------
If given a choice, Lin Qi would absolutely never have engaged in a direct, face-to-face conflict with the orc warlord who was unifying the forces.
But the problem is he had no choice.
"You mean," Lynch said solemnly, looking at the projected image of Gabriel Seth, "that you and your men, by eating orc heads, obtained that orc warlord and sent your main fleet deep into the Great Vortex to fight the traitors?"
Seth nodded, his face also full of surprise, clearly feeling extremely surprised by the information he had just obtained.
“Okay. I understand.” Weighing the pros and cons, Lin Qi immediately made a judgment on this intelligence. He took a deep breath and then nodded to Seth. “You guys continue fighting. The most urgent task is to take this orc outpost and turn it into our supply depot.”
Seth gave Lynch a salute of the eagle and then disconnected from the communications. Lynch leaned back in his chair. He had been directing the entire naval battle with Horus since the moment the fleet leaped out of the warp three Terra hours ago. By now, the mental strain had left him feeling utterly exhausted.
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