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

"If you really want to know, I can also teach you numerology."

Chapter 134: The Blade of Fear.

Vilnius Malik deftly climbed through the window. The power armor was heavy, but his movements had a lightness that belied its weight.

He sneaked into the room as quietly as a bat, and hid his whereabouts in the shadows of the room in an imperceptible moment.

But Efron Hasdrub still discovered his whereabouts: "You should go through the main entrance, Malik, I have told you many times."

“I like a more distinctive approach.”

"Then you might as well hang upside down from the ceiling."

Efron sighed, his darkvision allowing him to see the dark brown substance covering Malik's power armor. "Honestly, you should curb your 'little hobby'."

"I've never been ashamed of this."

Malik emerged from the shadows, proudly displaying the morbid masterpiece of his power armor—a piece of brown human skin with veins visible. He had just peeled it off a gang member who had taken advantage of the chaos to massacre civilians. "Fear is my way of survival."

Efron shook his head, knowing there was no way he could convince Malik.

He may never accept Malik's hobby.

But this man is at least better than those "brothers" who are shouting about fallen angels and wanting to chop him to death.

Besides, he had to admit that this method was indeed efficient.

Since the raid commander gave the order, Malik has single-handedly curbed the attacks of the bottom-nest gangs on the settlements of the bottom-nest residents - although the residents of those settlements are not good people either, they have at least accomplished the order that the commander asked them to complete - to unite the bottom-nest gangs and launch an attack on the already powerful life sect.

As a Dark Angel who could only watch from the safe house, Efron felt that it would be better for him not to give orders to a "hard-working" Night Lord.

"As long as you don't give away anything that could get caught by the Imperial Fists."

He could only simply warn: "Those gangs are finished. The bottom nest is no longer a slaughterhouse for you alone."

"Those Dornish cubs are as dull as stone."

Malik said disdainfully, "They will only advance steadily and collectively to achieve their set goals. If that's all they do, they'll never catch us."

"But they have discovered the ritual circle."

Efron countered.

"Isn't that what we need?"

"I'm just worried that there might be variables in them that we don't anticipate."

"I think this is something our raid commander would like to see."

No one spoke again, and the two were silent for a moment.

After a while, Efron continued to ask: "What do we know about the Mechanicus Sage?"

"Not much, I just know that he has a special way of suppressing machine spirits."

Malik replied, "The last time the raid commander heard about the sage, he was plotting to seize the Forge World of Maxim. Since then, we have lost contact with our informant on Maxim. However, since he can appear here unharmed, it means that Maxim must have been captured by him."

"No wonder they were able to locate our ceremony so easily. Capturing a Forge World's sage is truly no easy feat... I think we should change our plans."

"tell me the story?"

Malik was intrigued.

Their warband's leader grants them considerable autonomy, allowing them to make any temporary changes to their plans as long as they serve their ultimate goal.

"I contacted those Chaos believers through informants and told them that the Imperial Fists already knew the location of the magic circle. You go and contact the Imperial Fists who have already set out, and use their pursuit to lure them into discovering some details they haven't noticed before. This way, they will all arrive at the center of the magic circle at the same time."

The Knight of Caliban was clear and organized, and the Night Lords were willing to follow his instructions in general. "What's the time requirement?"

"We need to complete this before the Imperial support fleet arrives."

"Then we must act now."

The two left the safe house and acted separately. Under Efron's manipulation, a Nurgle follower who "accidentally" learned of the Imperial Fists' movements stumbled towards the Bishop.

"Bishop, something bad has happened!"

The Nurgle believer cried sadly: "Those false emperor's lackeys who retreated just now are on the move again! They left the defense line and no one knows where they are going!"

Now that only the planetary defense forces were stationed in the defense line, this was undoubtedly a good opportunity to capture the defense line. But somehow, the bishop had a bad feeling.

"What's their direction?"

he asked sharply.

"Southeast!"

The Nurgle follower answered, and the bishop's eyes widened suddenly when he heard the answer.

Southeast? That's where they perform the ritual of handing themselves over to their loving father after death!

The bishop did not think that it was just a coincidence that these pseudo-emperor's lackeys headed southeast. They must have discovered something!

Such thoughts made the bishop feel more urgent. No matter what their purpose was, returning to the embrace of the true God was what these Chaos fanatics desired most.

Now that he knew the Imperial Fists might destroy the ritual site that would allow them to return to the true God, the Bishop had no intention of resting, even after suffering a heavy loss. "Assemble! We cannot allow those false emperor's lackeys to destroy the ritual that would allow this planet to return to the true God!"

But his orders received little response.

Except for the core believers who gathered towards him, the rest of the people looked at them with fear.

"bishop."

The people around him whispered, "We may have lost the support of those mortals who previously followed the Cult of Life."

The Bishop looked around and saw that the mortals nearby had already undergone irreversible mutations the moment they witnessed the Chaos Egg. Now they were just a pool of flesh that could only groan unconsciously on the ground, emitting twisted power.

Those mortals in the distance who had not directly witnessed the Chaos Egg also looked in fear at these Nurgle believers who no longer concealed their mutations - their aesthetic sense had not yet been distorted by the power of Chaos, so even if they were just watching, they could sense that there was something wrong with these "people" covered with tumors.

Especially those Nurgle zombies...

Oh my god, they joined the Life Sect just to make a living, how come there are monsters who come back from the dead here?!

The unburned debris floated in the air, and they fell on the bishop with a gloomy face like a bloody snow.

The picture formed by these ashes and the mortals who subconsciously stayed away from this place seemed to show the imminent failure of the Life Sect.

The Chaos Egg is no longer there - the abundant Chaos Power will allow Chaos Believers to mutate into powerful Chaos Eggs, but the flesh that cannot withstand so much Chaos Power will die in a short time.

If these mortals are unwilling to serve as cannon fodder for them anymore, they will have no chance of winning next.

But at this moment there is no time to let them fool people again, or even corrupt these mortals.

"Those who are unwilling to sacrifice themselves for the true God are not worthy of the blessing of the Great Father."

The bishop made a decision: "Send them to fight against the Planetary Defense Force, and let these people who cannot understand our power contribute their final value to us!"

"Bishop, what is your request...?"

The Nurgle believer beside him confirmed in a low voice.

"Let them surround the Planetary Defense Force's defense line. I don't want those pseudo-emperor's lackeys to receive support from the Planetary Defense Force while we're fighting them!"

After receiving the order, the Nurgle believers separated several people and drove the mortals to siege the defense lines held by the planetary defense forces. In order to make a living, these refugees had no objection to fighting other humans.

The bishop turned around and looked at the remaining Nurgle believers: "As for those angels of the false emperor? Humph, they are certainly powerful, but there are only so many of them together... I will use the power of the ritual to eliminate all these blasphemies of the true God!"

The Nurgle believers, who had just witnessed the power of the Astartes, were a little silent.

Seeing morale plummet, the bishop could only wave his scepter and encourage them once more: "We will fight bravely during the ceremony. No matter what, everyone who sacrifices while guarding the ceremony will surely return to the arms of the Great Father! In the Garden of the Loving Father, we will live in harmony with other creatures, enjoying the boundless love and eternal tranquility bestowed upon us by the True God!"

This sentence touched the hearts of all the believers. The feeling that they could get what they desired just by dying excited them. Even though they knew that this action was likely to be a one-way trip, they still shouted in unison:

"For the unity of all beings! For the Great Father!"

-

On the other side of the Underhive, the Astartes were still unaware of the cultists' actions.

Through numerology, Leon deduced that this magic circle should have a deep connection with the Nurgle believers - but this result was inconsistent with his previous speculation that these Nurgle believers were just pawns.

Although he was puzzled, Leon had no time to hesitate. To confirm the situation, they had killed too many Nurgle believers as sacrifices. This ritual, whose purpose was still unknown, might be nearing its end. Their only choice was to move forward.

No matter why this ceremony is held, all Leon has to do is lead his troops to the center of the ceremony and destroy it!

After a short rest, the Astartes replenished their ammunition, then they gathered and set out again, following Isaga's guidance and heading straight for the center of the formation.

But just as the troops were advancing unimpeded, an unexpected visitor disrupted their plans.

Leman Russ turned its gun and used high-explosive shells to blast the enemy's hiding place into powder, but the black shadow had already jumped out nimbly before the bombs arrived.

However, the flying debris from the explosion did slightly hinder the shadow's escape. Thorn, sword drawn, gave chase, his powerful strike forcing the shadow to turn and block the attack. A massive lightning claw intercepted Thorn's power sword, and amid the clanging of metal, everyone finally saw the unforeseen event.

Lightning patterns like tear marks, feathers on the helmet standing up like bat wings, and human skin and bones covering the power armor.

"Midnight Lords!"

Thorne roared and slashed his sword with all his might: "This is the sacred Sun Star Region, not a place for traitors like you to meddle in!"

"Really? But we've been here for fifteen hundred years."

Malik released his force. The veteran before him was no match for him, so he focused on dodging. But that didn't mean he would show weakness. "It's okay if you forget. I'll remind you of the fear we brought you once again."

"Are you backed by an entire Midnight Lords warband? What exactly is your purpose?!"

Malik laughed, and his bright smile looked particularly creepy on his pale face: "We are here for you!"

Even Thorn couldn't defeat a Night Lord so quickly, facing one who was intent on dodging and refusing to fight. The Night Lord deliberately controlled his evasion range, causing the other warriors who were supposed to provide long-range fire support to hesitate, fearing they would kill their own Chapter Master along with him.

However, there is only one Midnight Lord. As long as they leave a small team to support them, they can pass the Midnight Lord and continue to advance towards the center of the formation.

But Leon's logic analyzer reminded him that the trajectory of this Midnight Lord was very deliberate.

After importing the opponent's movement data since its appearance into the panel and presenting it visually, Leon realized that this Midnight Lord had been consciously guiding them in a specific direction since his appearance.

Li Ang was very interested in his purpose.

"Thorne, don't just keep chasing after him."

He suggested over the comms, "Slow down a bit, let's see what this Night Lord wants us to see."

Fearing the Night Lord might flee, Thorne slowed down his attacks as instructed. Sure enough, the Night Lord didn't turn and flee. He remained at a distance, not disguising his seductive intent.

If he wanted to lead Li Ang and the others into the encirclement, it would be a bit too bold.

The pace accelerated greatly in this strange unspoken communication between the two sides, and Leon was finally led to a ritual venue consisting of an eight-pointed star and chaos prayers.

The Night Lord seemed to have completed his mission. His figure disappeared into the shadows of the building, never to be seen again. Leon squinted his eyes as he surveyed the ritual site, his gaze finally resting on the broken inscriptions and faded bird feathers within the magic circle.

Isaga stepped forward to investigate, and he quickly understood the situation: "This was once a node connected to the center of the formation... but it has been abandoned for a long time."

Kurland was puzzled: "Why did the Night Lord send us here?"

"I have no idea……"

Isaga shook his head. This was obviously beyond his understanding.

"Don't try to guess what a traitor is thinking."

Thorne, who had returned, warned him, but he turned to look at Leon: "Sage Leon, what did you see?"

"I can see that there is probably more than one abandoned formation."

Leon replied, "And...the water in Port Covenant might be deeper than we thought."

Chapter 135: Defeat Ceremony.

If you want to understand anything about the rituals of these Chaos believers, you have to consult more professional people.

Leon took some time to contact Inquisitor Frati Lena. He used the Servo Skull to scan the data here and sent the data to the Inquisitor.

Such a reckless move startled the Inquisitor. Realizing what Leon was saying, she cut off the call and shouted, "Are you crazy? Don't tell me you guys who serve the Machine Spirit every day don't know how to avoid contamination of the subspace!"

"I am on my way to hunt down the traitor Inquisitor."

Not wanting to explain his peculiarities, Li Ang lied skillfully.

Reina suddenly quieted down. "This is a magic circle that summons evil beings from the Warp. Although it looks worn out, its core components are intact. With a little repair, it will be operational again in no time."

"It seems that abandonment is just a deception."

"Indeed. By the way, what clues did you find?"

"Your Excellency the Inquisitor, please do not worry about this."