Warhammer: Rebuilding the Golden Age Starting with Farming

The shelter has three underground levels.

Gamma-9 stared intently at the ever-expanding yellowish-brown smoke and dust on the screen.

When the Helios Group's armored column passed the massive crossroads of the bottom nest, it did not continue south to the main entrance of the refuge.

"They turned around."

The entire convoy traced a huge arc and headed straight for the southwest.

In that direction, there is only one area worth conquering with an army of that size.

Acidic swamp.

Andy's second base, a heavy industrial military fortress.

Perhaps in the eyes of the Helios Group's top brass, the shelter was at best a dilapidated camp that housed a few hundred refugees, and even if it had a few guns, it had no strategic value.

In contrast, the acid swamps to the southwest are the real source of threat.

The special agent team that was wiped out in that area must have sent back the coordinates before they died.

"call……"

Gamma-9 breathed a sigh of relief; the suffocating feeling of being about to be crushed by a tank had dissipated considerably.

The shelter is safe for now.

But then, an even more serious sense of crisis struck.

After all, if the base is gone, they're finished.

The base has a newly assembled precision machining center, mountains of raw materials, and most importantly—the family business entrusted to him by the sage Andy.

Gamma-9 quickly manipulated the communication station, switching the frequency to the dedicated line:

"Bauer! Bauer! Can you hear me?!"

The communication was established.

The background noise coming from the other side was extremely loud.

"Splash—splash—"

The loud surging of liquid, accompanied by the metallic clanging of large mechanical gates opening and closing, clearly indicated that non-combatants were being evacuated in an orderly manner.

"I can hear you, stop yelling."

Bauer's voice sounded tense, but not panicked.

"You saw it too?"

"nonsense."

Gamma-9 shouted into the microphone.

"They're charging at you, at least two companies of armored troops! And there are Valkyries flying in the sky!"

"I know."

A muffled hiss of hydraulic pressure bleed came from Bauer's end.

"The outer sentry turrets had already sounded the alarm, and I have initiated the emergency evacuation procedure."

"Then what are you standing there for? Run!"

Gamma-9 was so anxious it was stamping its feet.

"Run? Where to run?"

Bauer snorted coldly.

"The underwater base is not fully expanded yet, and it can't accommodate all the equipment."

"And Andy entrusted me with so many good things, and I'm giving them away to Helios before I've even had a chance to enjoy them?"

"Gamma-9, where can you see the overall picture? Tell me quickly, what exactly are our current resources?"

Gamma-9 paused for a moment.

He then realized that, as the nominal commander-in-chief remaining in command, he had indeed neglected the specific output data of the military base.

These past few days he's been busy directing the Black Spirit Spiders to run all over the nest. Although he knows Andy has been working on military industry there, he hasn't actually counted the exact number of units produced.

He immediately brought up the base's real-time inventory log on the console, and rows of green data popped up.

Gamma-9's single eye suddenly lit up.

"Iron Ostrich... an all-terrain self-propelled artillery piece."

Gamma-9 uttered the somewhat comical name, but the numbers that followed made him unable to laugh.

"20 units in stock? That's quite a lot!"

Bauer added over the phone:

"That's right, three units were just taken offline this morning. The fire control system was just calibrated and hasn't been put into storage yet, so it's perfect to use them now."

"And what about drones?" Gamma-9 continued scrolling down, "'Raptor' class combat drones... 15 in stock."

This number is a little less than expected.

"Why only fifteen?" Gamma-9 asked, somewhat dissatisfied.

"I'd love to build more too!" Bauer complained, "but we're too slow at developing high-precision fire control chips, anti-gravity engines, and attitude balancers for Raptors. The rest of our production capacity has to be carried back from the nest by Sisyphus."

"Although the supply of 'Gear Heart' has been stable recently, the production capacity is just so-so, fifteen is the limit."

"The good news is, we have plenty of ammunition!"

Bauer's voice carried a hint of murderous intent:

"The twin-mounted boomerang cannons that Boss Andy equipped us with have two warehouses overflowing with ammunition, plus miniature shaped charge armor-piercing rounds. I had the workers work through the night to make over a hundred rounds!"

Upon hearing this, Gamma-9's expression softened slightly.

Twenty heavy artillery pieces, fifteen attack drones, and a formidable defensive line built upon the acid swamp indicate that this battle is far from over.

As expected, Andy the sage had foreseen this day and had amassed a fortune in advance!

Wise one, you are truly prepared for the worst!

"Listen, Bauer."

Gamma-9 took a deep breath, his tone becoming serious.

"Since we're going to fight, let's hide our big guns properly. Now execute the sinking protocol, and I'll give you the key."

"The sinking agreement?" Bauer paused, then asked, "You mean that?"

"Yes, that's the one."

Gamma-9 pulled out a metal plate engraved with binary code from his pocket; it was the highest-level key that Andy had given him before he left.

Although Andy was not present, as an authorized lieutenant, he could remotely activate the base's last line of defense.

"Listen carefully, enter the following code."

"01001……110……"

As Gamma-9 recited a complex key, a tremendous roar came from the other end of the communication.

Inside the core temperature-controlled workshop of the military base, the ground where the giant precision machining center, along with its internal black box, was located suddenly began to shake.

Immediately afterwards, the entire floorboard began to slowly sink.

The fully enclosed sinking platform will carry these two most crucial and irreplaceable industrial machine tools of the shelter directly into the underground depth of fifty meters, entering the underwater base's compartment.

Even if the surface is razed to the ground, and Helios blows this place upside down, as long as the earth's crust isn't torn apart, these two machines will be safe.

Andy the sage explained it this way: "As long as the green hills remain, there will always be firewood to burn."

"Submersion complete."

Bauer's voice came through.

"The top cover has been closed, and quick-drying cement is being poured to seal it."

"very good."

The Gamma-9 lost communication.

The command center was deathly silent. Several apprentices looked at him, waiting for the next instructions.

Helios's army was still advancing, less than half an hour away from the military base.

Gamma-9 stood up.

He stared at the constantly moving red arrow on the screen.

Reason told him that his task was now complete.

He relayed the intelligence, initiated the sinking agreement, and hid the core assets.

As one of those remaining behind, what he should do now is close the doors of the shelter tightly, hide on the third basement level, and pray that the god of war will bless his allies so they can hold on.

After all, he was just a junior priest in charge of logistics; fighting wasn't his forte, and... he was also genuinely afraid of dying.

Even if he were given the finest weapons, he would feel as fragile as a piece of paper in the face of that steel torrent.

but……

If the base is lost and Bauer and the others die, when Andy returns, all he'll see is ruins.

Then how could he, the commander-in-chief who stayed behind to guard the rear, have the face to face the sage?

"...Damn it." Gamma-9 muttered a curse under his breath.

He turned and walked to the weapons rack by the wall, grabbed an automatic rifle that Andy had modified, and checked the magazine.

"You guys, call the people from Engineering Department One!"

Gamma-9 pointed to the apprentices who were usually the most efficient at their work.

"Everyone, bring your weapons!"

"Where are we going, Master?" the apprentice asked tremulously.

"Let's go for a drive!"

The Gamma-9 sped out of the command center without looking back.

A few minutes later, in the garage of the shelter.

Gamma-9 was the first to jump onto the bottom-dwelling pleasure vehicle, followed by two jeeps and several motorcycles, all filled with engineering team members carrying rifles.

His hands trembled violently as he inserted the key into the ignition hole.

No matter how much mental preparation I did, the fear of death still lingered in my mind.

There are thousands of regular troops outside; if he goes there, he most likely won't come back.

"Praise be to the wise one, praise be to the god of all machines."

Gamma-9 pressed his trembling wrist with his other hand and twisted the key hard.

"boom--!!!"

The engine roared, and the accelerator was floored.

"Set off."