The Bizarre Adventures of the Oil Man, but Starting with Warhammer 32K

The High Lord's ward occupies the entire top floor of the hospital, and the floor-to-ceiling glass walls around it offer a panoramic view of the city.

Veritus lay in a hospital bed. This ward, reserved for the High Lords, was equipped with the best medical equipment in the Empire. However, these devices were not functioning. Veritus, the former Inquisition representative, who claimed to be ill, simply lay in bed, overlooking the hive city outside the window.

The Grand Master of the Assassin's Court, Wangolichi, dismissed the biological priest who was blocking the door. He walked into the ward and looked at Veritus who was lying leisurely on the bed.

"You don't seem surprised."

Veritus said.

"Of course I'm not surprised. A truly ill High Lord wouldn't be treated here. In fact, everyone can guess that you're just pretending."

Both sides were silent for a moment. Wangerlich sat down next to Veritus, sizing up the former Inquisition representative with a sinister look. After a long moment, he asked:

"What are you looking at?"

"Of course it's the scenery of Terra."

Veritus replied.

A gray sky hung over the city like a grimy rag, barely a ray of sunlight piercing the haze. Looking down from the high buildings, the entire hive seemed submerged in a tawny, brownish-brown water. The dark facades of Gothic buildings towered like tombstones in this world.

Despite being the Imperium's most sacred place, Terra was never a paradise. The resource-depleted throne world lay like a rotting corpse at the heart of the Imperium, barely surviving on resources pumped in from all directions.

Just like Veritus, who has barely survived until now by relying on life-sustaining drugs.

"I don't think it's anything good."

"Everyone sees something different, Wangoliqi. What exactly do you see?"

"Dark clouds, dark clouds gathering over Terra."

Wangerich leaned forward and stared at Veritus: "What is the conspiracy of your Inquisition?"

"You shouldn't be asking me that question."

Veritus waved his hand. "I am no longer a representative of the Inquisition. That position is now held by Margaret Venan."

"Wasn't this all planned by you? Whether it's the Supreme Admiral of the Navy, Lanson, or the Inquisitor you sent to Port Covenant, Veritus, the intelligence I have clearly points to you. You are the one who orchestrated all of this!"

"What about you, Wangoliqi? You've been doing a lot of things behind the scenes, haven't you?"

The Grand Master of the Assassin's Court fell silent. But he wasn't speechless; instead, he was accumulating anger.

He had previously planned the poisoning of Pope Meslin of the State Religion, in order to force the State Religion representatives to put pressure on the Navy Supreme Admiral Lanson, who was also a High Lord, to force Lanson to gather all the fleets on Terra and march towards the Covenant Port approaching the Battle Moon.

He was certain his plan had nearly succeeded, but a sudden change in the Inquisition's representatives caused a large number of high lords to defect at the last minute. Despite a series of maneuvers, Lanson ultimately led more than half of the fleet to the Covenant Harbor. But this outcome was unacceptable to Wangorichi.

Each of them knew very well how great the threat posed by the Orks was. The fleet that could gather on Terra under the influence of the Warp Storm was not large in itself. If they did not send their entire army forward, what chance would they have of winning against those beasts?

The Human Empire is already in turmoil, but this group of people is still on Terra, playing their boring political tricks!

"Lan Song's assembly of the fleet on Terra wasn't entirely his own decision. He also had the guidance of the Imperial Commander Udo behind him."

Visible to Wangorichi's fury, Veritus explained slowly, "The Empire is a fragile union. Forcibly dispatching troops would mean confronting more than half of the High Lords. Haven't you seen Forge General Kubik, who has returned to Mars and is no longer traveling? Your actions will tear the entire Empire apart."

"That's better than letting the empire be trampled by wild beasts."

Wangoliqi said coldly, "Resistance is not absolute, and resistance is absolutely non-existent. I believe the Holy Hammer Order will understand this principle better than I do."

"This is why the Grand Master of the Assassin's Court is no longer a High Lord. Fortunately, the High Lords still need you as their sharp knife, so you won't be sent out to die like the Imperial Fists, when the High Lords knew the Greenskins were approaching."

"I only serve the Empire as a whole."

"But the assassination of the Assassin's Court must be approved by eight of the twelve members of the Council, right?"

Veritus finally turned around. This former representative of the Inquisition, who was often suspected to be over a thousand years old, stared at Wangorichi with his old but still bright eyes.

"The Assassins' Court is the sword the Emperor holds high over the Twelve Senators, but that doesn't mean you can act recklessly. Wangorichi, thinking you can control everything is a dangerous thought. No one can truly have a comprehensive view, not even the Emperor."

Wangerlich chuckled sarcastically. "That's not what the Inquisition should say."

"At least I'll leave some things to people I trust."

Veritus picked up a data panel, which displayed information about the two Inquisitors he had sent to Covenant Port: Pavonis and Fratilena.

"Fladirena is my agent. I originally wanted to send her alone to Covenant Port, but perhaps Mars had other intentions, so they inserted a Mechanicus Magus who was a member of the Inquisition into my team. However, this is irrelevant. After all, other than tracking down the traitor in the Inquisition, my true purpose has never been revealed to the public."

He slid the panel to display the next person's information. Wangoliqi frowned and asked in confusion: "The Sage of Huangquan No. 8?"

"You've probably heard of him, but you might have just seen him as a mere ambitious individual. Leon, the biological sage who took advantage of the chaos to seize control of Maxim's Forge World."

"What's so special about him?"

"The Final Wall's coalition forces have assembled, and he arrived at Covenant Harbor with them—even though they only number three hundred now. Regardless, this sage's goal is definitely not just to forge a single world. I've already had agents make some contact with him. His performance and the subsequent situation in Covenant Harbor will determine our actions."

"Humph, even you don't understand him."

"Pay attention to detail, Wangerlich. Sometimes a small, subtle move can overturn the entire world, rather than one person meticulously planning the overall situation. If you can understand this, perhaps we can become good allies."

Chapter 132: The collapse of the Bottom Nest Gang.

Return to the portal world of Covenant Harbor, just two weeks' flight from Terra.

Leon, who was unaware of the game between the bigwigs on Terra, was still preparing for his own proxy war.

The fate of the Life Cult was just as Li Ang had anticipated. They were quickly surrounded and intercepted by the other Under-Nest gangs, who had already stockpiled food and weapons and immediately responded to the Life Cult's unusual movements.

The previous brutal expansion of Nurgle's believers had long destroyed the other gangs' trust in this strange religion. Even though these Nurgle believers repeatedly explained that they only wanted to attack the planetary defense forces to retaliate against the false emperor's lackeys, those gangs only thought that these people had ulterior motives.

The righteous Nurgle believers had no intention of giving in to the Underhive Gang after their explanations failed. The conflict between the two suddenly intensified, and a war was about to break out.

Although their opponents were cultists whose true nature was unknown, these gangs had dominated the Underhive for many years and were indeed quite capable. Although their members' fighting skills were not as good as those of the Astra Militarum, they still defeated the refugees encouraged by the Nurgle cultists with their richer combat experience and familiarity with the Underhive.

The Nurgle sect, which is interested in recruiting more believers, is unwilling to show too much of its own distortions, and they can only send out those slightly mutated Nurgle believers on specific battlefields.

These Nurgle believers relied on their toughness to repel the gang members' attacks many times, but the high-power laser guns purchased by the gang members from the Middle Nest came in handy at this moment.

These weapons that can penetrate the Space Marine power armor can naturally cause fatal damage to Nurgle believers. The Nurgle sect, who do not want to see their believers die, has no choice but to evacuate in a panic, and the situation of their battle with the gang has reached a stalemate.

The Undernest Gang is satisfied with their display of iron-blooded tactics, and residents who originally wanted to leave the gang and join the Life Sect are beginning to hesitate. But just as the gang is about to make a breakthrough, a strange virus sweeps through all the gangs' bases.

This unremarkable virus is a secret weapon that the Bishop of Nurgle spent days custom-making.

Creating a virus that is not contaminated by the evil energy of the Warp is as painful for the Bishop as preventing Sun Zha from drawing arrows in the comics, but the results achieved are also significant.

This virus, which is like a weakened version of dysentery, was released into the drinking water source. For the believers of Nurgle, drinking this water was just like adding another companion to their bodies, but the gang members suffered.

The virus, which spread from the water source, caused many gang members to suffer from diarrhea and physical weakness, losing their fighting capacity. The once aggressive gangs were forced to switch to a strategic defensive strategy.

As long as there is a certain treatment system, it is not difficult to cure this disease without subspace bonus.

But this is the bottom nest where there is no treatment.

All the infected people have no recourse except to pray, but no amount of prayer will work against this pure disease.

Incurable diseases spread rapidly through water and excrement, causing rumors to spread throughout the Bottom Nest. Rumors of divine support for the Life Cult revitalized the once-weakened Life Cult.

The gang members, having lost a large number of men and weapons in the successive defeats, were in a precarious situation. Their morale was so low that some of their members even defected to the Cult of Life in large numbers.

The gang leaders were furious, but this did not change the fact that the Life Cult accepted these "brothers" and turned their guns against the gangs. This further shook the gang members' already weakened morale, and many smaller gangs even showed signs of disbanding.

The gang leaders, who had originally fought on their own, each hoping to tear a piece of flesh from the Life Sect, had to unite to discuss countermeasures. They planned to go to the Lower Nest or even the Middle Nest to purchase a batch of medicine, but this was the Warhammer universe, and medicine was even rarer than weapons.

Just when the gang leaders were at their wits' end, a mechanical priest came to their camp.

Facing the gang members' vigilant eyes, Leon spread out his hands, showing the weapons and medicines shipped from the foundry ship: "Don't worry, I bring you 100% goodwill."

Their eyes suddenly turned into greed and fear.

Greed is the desire for drugs and weapons, and fear is Leon's identity.

It is not surprising that there are mechanical priests in Covenant Port. The factories here are not managed by the Mechanicus, but they cannot operate without members of the Mechanicus.

The mechanical priests who can work in the hive factory may not be considered as big figures in the forging world, but on the hive planet, they are senior managers who started from the upper nest.

The gang leaders did not dare to neglect him and they welcomed Li Ang in warmly.

"I'm here to make a deal."

Li Ang went straight to the point, displaying the arrogance that suited his status in front of the gang members. "I know you are short of ammunition and medicine, and I happen to be able to provide these things."

"Excuse me, what do you need...?"

The gang leaders wisely did not ask where Leon got the news.

"The sacred flame of Om Messiah cannot be extinguished. Your actions of cutting off resource transportation are harming our interests. We cannot tolerate the inefficiency of black market turnover, so I need a share of your transportation line."

The gang leaders immediately identified Leon's huge appetite for requests as a high-ranking priest who wanted to bypass other channels and trade directly with them. Their expressions became more respectful, but they couldn't help but show bitterness.

These oil guys are really good at taking advantage of others’ misfortunes and robbing others!

Considering the imminent crisis and Li Ang's status, the gang leaders knew they couldn't refuse this deal. After some bargaining, each gang agreed to hand over a third of their share in exchange for Li Ang's long-term support in the form of food, medicine, weapons, and ammunition.

Resource extraction in Covenant Harbor had already been dwindling due to the war, and the gangs controlling the production lines had already converted their previously stored resources into weapons. This one-third might seem like a lot, but the gang leaders believed that as long as they held onto the deal long enough, they would still have the upper hand.

But will it really be long enough?

The potent medicine Leon crafted quickly cured the sick gang members, and the additional food and water they received prevented any re-infection. The lost weapons were replaced with weapons crafted by Xie Ri. While the safety of these orc-made weapons was questionable, their power was undeniably impressive.

The gang didn't care whether their men would be killed by their own weapons. The Nurgle believers who had thought victory was in sight sadly discovered that their opponents had become vigorous again, and they were once again defeated.

No matter how slow he was, the bishop realized that there must be the pseudo-emperor's lackeys behind this.

The bishop, who had been planning to retaliate against the imperial forces for his loss of favor with his loving father, was furious. Now faced with the prospect of being killed if he didn't show some real skill, he couldn't care less.

"Someone, bring us our zombie plague!"

Furious, he tore off all pretense of charity: "I want the false emperor's lackeys dead!"

At the Bishop's command, the faithful lifted the stinking, green crucible of corruption from its lair.

The bishop had long ago ordered the refugees to collect the bodies of those who died on the battlefield. These bodies, which were said to be for a proper burial, were now piled up into a small hill in front of the bishop, emitting a strong stench.

The believers of Nurgle greedily breathed in the smell that brought them joy. They were ordered to kneel in a row around the mountain of corpses and pray devoutly to their great father under the leadership of the bishop.

A dozen believers carried the crucible to the top of the pile of corpses while praying. They poured the plague that had been boiling for a long time into the crucible, and each corpse was soaked in the pale green liquid.

The ceremony has reached the most critical stage. The bishop raised his hands high and chanted a prayer that could draw on the evil power of the warp, pushing the ceremony to its climax.

"In the name of the loving Father. Now, they will be given life again!"

A corpse staggered to its feet from the ground, its cheeks sunken, its teeth missing, and rotting veins bubbling beneath its papery skin. This state could not be called a living thing in any way, but the father's plague drove him to walk the world again.

More corpses stood up, their desire for flesh and blood undisguised, yet they were suppressed and driven by the rituals performed by the gathered Nurgle believers. Even the bishop couldn't manipulate these corrupted creatures too much, so he roughly pointed in a direction and let these Nurgle zombies attack the gang members on their own.

"Go, the dead who have returned to the world! Go and attack those who do not believe in the Great Father, offer their death to us, and their souls to the loving Father!"

The evil power attached to these Nurgle zombies was surprisingly small, which prevented them from undergoing any special mutations, and the plague on them was also not contagious. But the fact that they could walk was terrifying to normal people, and when these zombies appeared on the battlefield, every gang member opened their eyes wide.

"Rich?"

A gang member unconsciously walks up to a dead body: "I remember you were dead, how did you..."

The zombie would not answer his questions. He opened his mouth and bit the gangster's shoulder, causing the gangster to cry out in pain.

This bite was just the beginning, as the flesh-hungry Nurgle zombies swarmed over and tore the reckless gangster into pieces.

This little bit of flesh and blood obviously couldn't satisfy their insatiable hunger. The zombie, with the victim's blood still on the corner of its mouth, turned around and stared at the rest of the gang members with its empty eyes.

Looking at the group of zombies who were their friends, brothers or enemies yesterday, the morale of the gang members suddenly dropped to freezing point.

"What kind of monsters are these...!"

They screamed and fought back with the weapons at hand. But the tenacity of Nurgle's creations had not weakened like their infectiousness. Unless they were hit directly in the head, these seemingly weak plague zombies would not stop advancing.

But if they are all sharpshooters who never miss a shot, how could they be just an ordinary bottom-nest gang?

The gang members, who were terrified and lacked accurate shooting and suppressive firepower, were completely unable to stop the approach of the zombies. When these bloodthirsty zombies rushed in front of them, one gang member finally could not bear the psychological pressure anymore. He threw down his weapon and turned to flee the front line.

"I don't want to fight these monsters! I don't want to join them! I don't want to die here!"

The escaped gang member expressed everyone's thoughts, and for a moment, most of the gang members fled for their lives. The gang leaders who learned of this were furious, but they were also full of fear for these strange zombies.

First there's disease, then there's walking corpses? What other sorcery does this life cult have?!

Even without any knowledge of the Warp or the Four Vendors, the leaders could sense the anomaly of this "resurrection from the dead." Faced with this extraordinary power they couldn't comprehend, they could only turn to Leon, who was present, for help.

"Father, we need some weapons to deal with these zombies. What's your reward...?"

"Don't worry, that thing isn't that hard to deal with."

Leon saw these gang members as doomed, and he didn't provide them with weapons as they wished. However, he didn't leave the Underhive gang to sit and wait for their demise. Having executed a dozen escapees, the gang leaders quickly regrouped their armed forces. They pooled their weapons and, following Leon's "suggestion," formed a defensive line in an open area. As a massive number of Nurgle walkers poured into the area, the concentrated weapons roared in unison.

The flying laser beams and the rain of bullets from the felling guns knocked down the Nurgle zombies like wheat. The Nurgle zombies, which had always been victorious, finally suffered a slight setback here, but the bishop who controlled these zombies did not panic.

This is the bottom nest, there is no one to manage it, and you can have as many corpses as you want!