The entire city was reduced to a wasteland.
People who should have died wandered like walking corpses among the ruins.
"May the Emperor protect your souls."
Milia, a Battle Sister, raised her bolter, pulled the trigger, and shot down the walking corpses.
They were once her comrades, who had fought alongside her against the metal monsters that awakened from underground.
However, today, she had to aim her gun at them, because their souls had been defiled, and only a pure Purification could allow them to return to the Emperor's embrace.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Each gunshot simultaneously took down several Guardsmen, their bodies and heads exploding, crimson blood gushing out, a shocking sight.
After every body had fallen, Milia put away her bolter, her metal-gloved hand tracing the holy relics carved into the gun's body and the ancient lily emblem on its grip.
The blood-red tattoo on her cheek and the hilt of the chainsword sheathed on her back bore the same symbol.
These weapons were ancient tools of faith, just like the power armor she wore; they screamed to achieve their purpose.
"What blasphemy, the crimes committed by the xenos are unforgivable."
A Salamanders warrior with only one arm walked over and stood beside Milia.
His name was Sakan, a Salamanders sergeant who followed the Kalides Combat Group.
He was dispatched here to support the battlefield for some reason, but instead encountered a Necrons attack.
All of his teammates had been killed, leaving only him.
Due to Necrons communication interference, he lost contact with the main force, and while attempting to cross this enemy-occupied area, he encountered some hidden refugees.
When the children among the refugees looked at him with sincere eyes, asking if he was the Emperor's angel, if the Emperor had sent him to save them, a hint of tenderness arose in Sakan's normally cold-as-iron heart.
He answered the child.
"Yes, I am the Emperor's angel, and He sent me to save His people."
Sakan became the guardian of these refugees, and later, he met the Battle Sister Milia and the Ultramarines Apothecary, Brutus.
The three traveled together, protecting these innocent refugees, attempting to cross this wasteland and escort them to a still-safe zone.
"Emperor's blessing."
The priest in the team prayed incessantly, bestowing blessings upon everyone.
The Necrons launched a Necrons Pylon, targeting the souls of all living beings.
But the Imperial commander of the Kalides Combat Group found that cultists with stronger faith were less susceptible to its effects.
For this, they had priests bless every loyalist and set up defenses around churches and other religious sites, relying on their faith in the Emperor to protect themselves.
"We still have half the journey, but someone on orbit has responded to our distress call, saying that someone will come to help us soon." Sakan looked at his two companions.
"Who will come to support us?" Milia looked up at the sky, "Didn't the Imperial fleet withdraw from this planet to support the main force?"
"Maybe other forces have arrived," Brutus said. "No matter what, there's always hope. As long as we can return to a non-enemy-occupied zone, we can receive treatment and supplies."
"Another new message has arrived." Sakan operated his arm-mounted display, opening a projection.
The figure of an Inquisitor appeared.
His voice was deep and authoritative.
"The unit coming to rescue you has departed. If you notice any abnormalities with them, please disregard them and always believe that they are your teammates."
"They might utter blasphemies against the Emperor or worship Chaos Gods, but they are loyal, there is no doubt about that."
"Do not mind the whispers you hear. Always remember one thing: they are loyal, and all abnormalities about them are reasonable, a blessing and a prank from the Emperor."
Milia: "..."
Sakan: "..."
Brutus: "..."
This Inquisitor sounded so crazy, it just seemed a little off!!
"Is that really reliable?" Milia rarely frowned, the support offered by the other party gave her a feeling of unease.
Before her companions could reply, a ghostly green beam shot out from a charred tall building beside the street, killing a Guardsman and turning his flesh and blood into dust.
"Enemy attack." Sakan, with his only remaining hand, raised his bolter and fired at the location.
The opponent tore open a dimensional rift and vanished.
Movement came from the ground, and a group of Necrons emerged from various parts of the street, surrounding them.
The refugees screamed in fright.
"Hide!" Brutus shouted, telling the refugees to find cover.
Just as Sakan, Milia, and the others thought they were about to face an earth-shattering battle, a sharp whooshing sound came.
The Necrons soldiers instinctively looked up, searching for the incoming target.
Milia and Sakan also looked up at the sky, discovering that someone was descending rapidly from the sky, at an incredibly fast speed.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Upon landing, there were deafening impact sounds, creating deep craters. For a moment, smoke and dust billowed, and countless cracks appeared on the ground.
Bang! Bang! Bang! The bolter shots rang out, deafening.
In just a moment, a large number of Necrons were killed.
The arrivals were none other than Little Alpaca and her group.
After entering the atmosphere, they immediately chose the Players' favorite method of air-dropping, directly plummeting to the ground.
"All targets cleared."
Xiao Yu looked around, and after confirming there were no targets to kill, she shouted.
"Be vigilant, protect the refugees, don't let them be attacked."
After giving the orders, Little Alpaca walked up to Sakan and the others.
"We are members of the Combat Roses, sent by Inquisitor Drax to rescue you. Now, the person in charge, step forward and report to me."
Milia and Brutus looked at Sakan. This refugee team was formed by him, so naturally, he was in charge.
"I am Sergeant Sakan of the Salamanders Battle Group, Sixth Company. I am in charge of this team."
Sakan walked up to Little Alpaca.
"According to the mission brief, we will protect you to a safe zone. In three minutes, a transport shuttle will arrive on the ground. Organize your people and have them board in order."
Little Alpaca didn't waste any words. After speaking, she looked at Sakan's hand, "How can a warrior with one hand serve the Emperor to their fullest potential?"
She took out a recovery potion, "Remember to have your Battle Group reimburse me. This stuff isn't cheap."
Sakan saw the other party inject the potion into his severed arm and instinctively wanted to dodge, but remembering that the other party was an ally, he held back.
As the potion entered his body, the severed limb regenerated at a visible speed, a true miracle.
Milia and the others watched in stunned silence, the effect of this potion was truly miraculous.
"This must be the Emperor's great power." Milia murmured, instinctively beginning to pray.
The refugees, seeing this scene, showed devout expressions and also began to pray.
The roar of engines sounded. Several transport shuttles with the Imperial Aquila slowly descended, spewing streams of air and stirring up dust from the ground.
However, at this moment, in a distant abandoned building, a Deathmark slowly aimed at Little Alpaca, adjusting the gun's power to maximum.
With a single shot, a ghostly green beam instantly cut through the air, hitting Little Alpaca's head.
Before everyone's eyes, Little Alpaca was hit, and her body gradually turned to sand.
"It's that Necrons sniper." Milia shouted, raising her gun and firing at the Deathmark's position, but the opponent again used dimensional space to escape.
Just as everyone was saddened by the death of the person who had saved them, they saw the other God Chosen laughing heartily.
"Hahaha, the boss died just like that?"
"I'm dying of laughter, the mission started with a resurrection process!!"
"Wait for resurrection, there won't even be a hair left."
Milia, Sakan, and the others widened their eyes, once suspecting that these people had been corrupted by Slaanesh, otherwise why would they laugh at the departure of their comrades?
If they had encountered such a situation before, they should have immediately confiscated their weapons for investigation.
But remembering what the Inquisitor said, they suppressed this urge.
"You all evacuate first," Brutus said to Milia and the others, "That Necrons sniper is very troublesome, there's no need to stay here and just incur more casualties."
"What about you?" Milia asked.
"I still have to fulfill my duty and retrieve the gene-seeds of my battle brothers," Brutus said.
"You need a companion," Sakan said, "Please allow me to accompany you."
"This journey is too dangerous, and you still have your own duties to complete." Brutus shook his head, refusing Sakan's kind offer.
While they were talking, the Players used their equipment to open a dimensional space, and soon, they apprehended the Deathmark who was hiding in a corner, waiting for an opportunity to strike.
They severed the Deathmark's furnace protocol, preventing him from using death to return to the furnace for rebirth, and then blocked his dimensional travel function, preventing him from causing trouble with dimensional space.
After doing all this, they teleported back to Milia and the others with the Deathmark.
Sakan and the others hadn't finished their discussion when they saw the God Chosen tie up the Deathmark and bring him back.
This troublesome Necrons sniper was taken down just like that.
The speed was so fast that it felt unreal.
"I think you don't need to go by yourself at all. You can ask them for help." Sakan looked at the God Chosen who were muttering around the Deathmark, "This kind of task should be very simple for them."
"Do you have any tasks for us?" Yuzu Jiang heard Sakan and the others' discussion and came over, "Combat Roses serve every loyal Imperial citizen. No matter how difficult the task, we will do our best to complete it."
"Can we entrust you with taking Brutus to retrieve his comrades' gene-seeds?" Sakan asked.
"Of course, it's our honor." Yuzu Jiang looked at Sakan and Brutus with anticipation.
Seeing that they didn't react, she repeated herself.
"We are really looking forward to it, really looking forward to it."
Still no reaction, Yuzu Jiang tentatively asked, "Did we do something wrong just now? Did we displease you? So you are unwilling to give us the mission?"
Sakan and Brutus exchanged glances, not understanding what the other party meant.
After contacting Drax, his reply was very simple.
"You have to give them missions, then they will do things."
Before they could understand this sentence, Yuzu Jiang and the other Players received the mission released by Drax - [Assist Brutus in retrieving gene-seeds].
Then, Brutus felt what the enthusiasm of the God Chosen was like.
Milia and the others took a shuttle to a safe zone.
And he was crammed into a speeder by the God Chosen.
Several God Chosen took him on a city-wide speed run, collecting the gene-seeds from all the Ultramarines bodies on the ground in just 20 minutes.
"There are still a few bodies in the black pyramid underground, which should be the Necrons's lair. We also detected an individual with an excessively high energy reading. According to the data, it should be Illuminor Szeras."
Gray Bao'er checked the instrument in her hand and looked up at her companions.
"We don't have enough people to fight Illuminor Szeras. Let's wait until everyone is here. For now, we'll just retrieve the gene-seeds and scan the surrounding terrain to prepare for the raid."
"Understood."
"OK."
Meng Zhu and the other Players nodded.
"We should be more cautious." Brutus looked at the God Chosen and offered a suggestion, "We should formulate a tactic first, then launch a surprise attack."
"Of course, we are very cautious. We always prefer stealth tactics." Gray Bao'er said.
A few minutes later, Brutus looked at the Necrons bodies strewn everywhere, "Is this your'stealth' infiltration?"
Gray Bao'er kicked a Necrons corpse nearby, sending it flying with a bang against the black wall.
"See, it didn't even react to that. Isn't that stealthy?"
Brutus: "..."
The process was smooth, and the Apothecary obtained the gene-seeds of his battle brothers.
He was safely evacuated under the escort of Gray Bao'er and the other Players.
Of course, Illuminor Szeras discovered them, ordered his subordinates to pursue, and intended to punish the Deathmark, only to find that the Deathmark had been captured.
"No need to see us off. We'll be back to kill you next time."
After leaving such a remark, Gray Bao'er and the other Players swaggered away, leaving behind a furious Illuminor Szeras.
"You will not escape my grasp. All living beings on this planet will become my experimental material."
Szeras looked at the fleeing humans, his oily green eyes extremely cold.
When Brutus returned to the camp with the gene-seeds and saw the God Chosen, Little Alpaca, who should have been sacrificed, reappear, he then realized that the God Chosen, like demons, could be resurrected infinitely.
At the same time, he also saw that the other party had dismantled the captured Deathmark into pieces and even installed the opponent's head onto a gunboat, their desire for revenge was off the charts.
Meanwhile, in Reality,
With the release of the new expansion, the popularity of the Warhammer 0L official website soared again, reaching an all-time high on the internet.
Netizens' comments were also varied and exciting.
However, Alex did not pay attention as he used to.
He was discussing the campaign against the Necrons with several Primarchs, and also another matter.
With continuous reverse engineering of those ancient creations, Cortana already possessed the technical reserves to manufacture Aetheric Engines.
Alex planned to have people secretly build Aetheric Engines, so that if the Imperium of Man ever failed, they would directly activate the engines and everyone would perish together.