That day, two months ago, had been the beginning of this grueling struggle.
The steel forest gathering countless human souls had burst into terrifying flames.
It was as though that had been a signal. From that point onward, the madmen who had once only roamed the northern district began flooding into the east.
They were extremely numerous, so numerous they almost seemed endless.
These things knew no pain and feared no death.
Some of the more exceptional mutated individuals had grown enormous, and all of them possessed vitality and strength not inferior to Mir's.
The Tearblood Gang's battle lines rapidly contracted, and every warband could do little more than rely on their familiarity with the terrain to resist these suicidal charges.
Almost no one knew what exactly had happened.
Death became the new normal, and blood stained the skies of this place red.
Vicious sayings began to spread, and news of the hive city's fall spread through the frightened eastern district like a plague.
The shadows of despair and panic shrouded this hive world...
"What? The boss wants to see me?"
Gavo, who had just led the reorganized First Warband back from the front line, stared at the man before her in confusion. He claimed to be the Tearblood Gang's second-in-command.
This burly man, with one cybernetic eye, was covered in powerful muscles. Though not as imposing as Mir, he was still a full size more solid than Griffin had been.
He nodded and repeated the words he had been tasked to deliver.
"Every warband leader must be acknowledged by the boss. That's part of the procedure. Things were too urgent before, so there was no time to summon you."
"But now that the five warbands have stabilized the current defensive line, the process has to be completed."
In the world of Warhammer, thoughts had weight and faith had power, so formalism was carved into the bones of society.
Gavo understood clearly that she had no choice but to go through this ritual.
After saying goodbye to her adoptive father and assuring him again and again that she was not heading off into danger this time, she entrusted him to Mir and the others. Then she set off with the second-in-command toward the heart of the eastern district.
As a massive industrial complex rose at the far edge of her vision, they reached the destination of this trip.
The Tearblood Gang's headquarters. The eastern district's munitions factory.
It had originally been a waste recycling plant, but under generations of Tearblood effort, it had been transformed into the large military factory it was now, a place capable of mass-producing modified firearms.
It was precisely thanks to the weapons and ammunition produced here, together with the ones Gavo had scrounged up from the battlefield, that the First Warband had suffered relatively fewer casualties during this war.
Now, as the front lines tightened, this heart of the Tearblood Gang was beating beyond its limits, pumping huge quantities of weapons into the hands of warriors locked in slaughter with the mutated freaks.
This was Gavo's first time here.
It was also her first time meeting the boss.
She had once asked Griffin what the boss looked like, but he had only smiled and refused to answer.
Still, she had imagined the boss must surely be the biggest, strongest, most fearsome bastard around.
Just... not green.
But if that was the case, why would his nickname be "Gentleman"?
With such strange thoughts in mind, she followed the second-in-command into the very core of the factory.
It was a sealed warehouse, and some bizarre music was blasting loudly from within.
The music sounded as if someone had stuffed nails and springs into a cocktail shaker and then vigorously shaken it while a hundred tractors roared in the background. Gavo could not appreciate it in the slightest.
What appeared before her eyes was not some grand scene of a gang boss seated on a throne with huge brutes lined up on both sides.
Instead, it was a bar with a heavy punk vibe.
An ancient disco ball, stained with disgusting grime accumulated over who knew how many years, cast flashes of light that somehow looked strangely dim.
Many massive men and towering women, wearing very little or outright nothing, danced wildly atop a catwalk fashioned from shipping containers.
Gavo's mouth twitched as she followed the second-in-command past those maniacs dancing like they were high out of their minds and arrived at a private room inside the bar.
Then Gavo was shocked all over again.
Soft candlelight illuminated a chamber decorated in a style reminiscent of eighteenth-century Old Terra. Elegant carpets lay across the floor.
A perfume scent, slightly strange but ten times, no, a hundred times better than the smell outside, drifted through the air.
Paired with the refined music playing quietly in the background, it made Gavo feel as if she had accidentally wandered into the residence of some lord from the upper hive.
While she looked around in curiosity, the second-in-command had already dropped to one knee.
Facing the direction in which he knelt, seated on a sofa decorated with red velvet, was a man in luxurious clothes, gently swirling a gold-trimmed wine glass in his hand.
The man wore a vintage monocle, and a faint smile rested at the corner of his lips. He slowly raised the glass in greeting to Gavo, then brought it to his mouth and took a small sip.
He did not look especially large, strong, or fierce.
But there was an undeniable presence in every movement he made.
This was the current boss of the Tearblood Gang.
"Gentleman" Sorik.
"I have heard of your achievements, Gavo of the First Warband."
"I was deeply saddened by Griffin's passing. He was one of the Tearblood Gang's old guard, and one of the finest Weepers."
"But I am also gratified that before his death, he chose you for me. That was the final contribution he made to the Tearblood Gang, and no less significant than when he single-handedly captured the southern district's boss ten years ago..."
Sorik smiled lightly as he spoke these polite words. His voice was gentle but carried undeniable authority, making Gavo find herself nodding along almost unconsciously.
"Thus, here and now, I formally appoint you as the leader of the First Warband."
Hearing that, Gavo's face darkened beneath the mask.
He had dragged her all the way back from the front lines just to say that?
Seeming to notice her resentment, Sorik narrowed his eyes slightly and continued.
"In truth, I called you here for another matter..."
Gavo's heart jolted.
What kind of matter could make the boss summon her back in person, even pulling a frontline commander away from the battlefield?
"We have received a special assignment. It comes from the Rogue Trader guild that has always maintained trade with the underhive."
"They have discovered one of the key nodes behind this upheaval, and it happens to be located in the western district, the same place where the next Rogue Trader exchange is supposed to take place."
"They require someone to eliminate that node and reopen the trade route."
"It is a highly dangerous mission, and in my view, you are the most suitable candidate."
After finishing, Sorik turned and gave a slight nod toward a corner the candlelight did not reach.
Then, under Gavo's faintly trembling gaze, a figure dressed like a Rogue Trader, yet somehow a full size larger than even Mir, stepped out of the darkness behind Sorik with footsteps heavy enough to make the floor tremble.
A voice like rolling thunder came from beneath the hood hiding his appearance.
"Hello. My name is Raven. I am the one commissioning this mission."
(End of Chapter)
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