Chapter 437: You Need to Be Purified

Zzzzt! Zzzzt! Zzzzt!

In an instant, a barrage of concentrated crimson laser beams rained down toward the 11 o’clock direction of the assault craft’s temporary landing site.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

Fragments of stone and splinters of wood scattered everywhere. With a loud crash, a large, skinned creature collapsed in front of the group. It resembled an antelope from the African savanna, yet it possessed six hooved limbs, twisted at an unnatural angle to facilitate running. Its muscles were abnormally well-developed, and the keratin layer on its hooves measured a full foot in thickness.

Zzzzt! Zzzzt! Zzzzt!

Cautiously, the veteran auxiliary soldier fired three additional shots into the creature’s skull, ensuring that the exploded brain matter exposed the gaping wound—a direct line of sight into its cranial cavity. Squatting down, he assessed:

“Not Flood. Just a native species from this planet’s ecosystem.”

“Something’s off. That sound earlier—it was more like a predator’s roar. But this… this thing looks like an omnivore, maybe even a herbivore.”

The auxiliary soldier, still filled with doubt, bent down slightly, his eyes scanning the surroundings with heightened vigilance. After a long, wary sweep, he raised his heavy laser rifle and slowly advanced toward the dense rainforest, from which the sound had originated.

“Something’s wrong. After the bombardment, the whole area was reduced to fire and ash. And yet, these primitive alien creatures still dare to approach so soon?”

As a precaution, every landing zone for the assault craft had been thoroughly bombarded by Imperial Navy warships in near-orbit before deployment.

Outside the jungle, though the largest wildfires had already burned out, the scorched remnants of the forest within the blackened impact ring still crackled and popped from superheated wood. Small flames continued to flicker and smolder, their hissing whispers carrying on without pause.

“Then expand the search radius! All units, weapons hot—if you detect anything unusual, you are authorized to fire immediately. No need to request clearance. Lethal force is permitted!”

Wearing a wide-brimmed officer’s cap and a lavishly adorned double-breasted military coat, the auxiliary captain furrowed his brows. He kicked the dead animal at his feet, then raised a hand and signaled forward.

The auxiliary soldiers and their servitor troops moved in pairs or small groups, fanning out in tactical search formations. They meticulously combed through every corner, sometimes encountering a severely wounded, barely-breathing animal. Not wishing to let it suffer, they would simply step forward and—

Bang!

A clean shot to the head, sending it peacefully to the afterlife.

“Smells amazing, boss.”

One of the soldiers sniffed the air, catching the aroma of charred alien carcasses—victims of the orbital bombardment’s residual flames. Over the comms channel, he audibly swallowed his saliva.

“Shut up! What the hell do you mean, ’smells amazing’? You dare eat some unidentified alien animal? Poisoning is the least of your worries—what if it’s a parasitic biomass? You’d explode from the inside out!”

“Keep babbling, and I’ll lock you in solitary. You won’t see the mess hall for a whole damn year!”

Across the vast territories and vassal worlds of the Imperium, new food sources are discovered almost every moment, gradually integrating into the diets of Imperial citizens.

Take, for example, the dangerous native species of Imperial homeworlds, the Sea Kings from Conquered World-22 (One Piece)—a territory of the Blood Angels of the Ninth Legion—and the ferocious magical beasts harvested from various wild worlds. These creatures have long since become an indispensable part of the Imperial dining table.

These aggressive, highly active species are entirely edible, rich in nutrients, and exceptionally flavorful. Moreover, they are easy to domesticate and capable of surviving even in the harshest environments.

Well… aside from their violent tempers. While it’s unclear how many casualties have resulted from improper handling of live ingredients on various colonial worlds, for Imperial citizens, such concerns are trivial matters.

This gluttonous spirit, inherited from Selene, has fermented over time, becoming an integral part of the Imperium’s very essence.

Consider, for example, ant-cattle meat—a widely known military ration in the Imperial armed forces. This canned meat originated from a species discovered on an Inquisitor’s expedition planet. Its unexpectedly delicious taste earned it a spot on Imperial restaurant menus, and at a royal banquet, Selene herself sampled it, granting it the name “ant-cattle” on the spot.

As for why it was named “ant-cattle”, the Inquisitor who discovered it simply shrugged and said:

“I have no idea. The Empress’ wisdom is beyond us mere mortals. No one dared to ask.”

While ant-cattle is indeed delicious, its flesh is riddled with lethal, highly resilient parasites, requiring extremely meticulous preparation before it can be safely consumed.

In fact, a rather high-ranking fool once neglected this crucial detail, failed to properly process the meat, and ended up in the medbay as a result.

According to his own account, he distinctly felt the gelatinous meat chunks inside his stomach coming back to life. Inside him, they grew fine, sharp bristles, scratching incessantly against his gastric lining. He could clearly sense maggot-like organisms burrowing and wriggling—a tingling itch, an agonizing bloating pain.

A sensation akin to being torn open from within.

After being rescued by the Imperial medics, he swore, upon regaining consciousness, that he would never—never in his life—experience something like that again.

“Too damn weird.”

Because of this, ant-cattle meat has taken on an infamous, almost mythical reputation among all military divisions of the Sacred Selene Empire.

“Uh… maybe another time.”

Although the comms channel was buzzing with lively chatter, the team’s movements remained swift and precise.

They had one final task to complete before leaving the mountains—to verify the existence of an ancient ruin, detected from orbit, emitting energy readings similar to Forerunner or Precursor artifacts.

If the ruins were intact, they needed to see them in person. If they were destroyed, they needed to confirm the wreckage.

“Report—no thermal life signatures detected on infrared radar…”

The operative, controlling a scanning device, relayed the data through the internal comms system within his helmet.

Boom! Boom boom!

A large scorpion-like creature was struck repeatedly by the officer’s light bolt pistol. Its naturally sturdy carapace, which would have been considered durable in the wild, was utterly fragile against the explosive rounds. In an instant, it was torn apart, sending splashes of purple-green corrosive mucus spraying onto the ground, where it sizzled upon contact.

“Something’s wrong!”

The further the auxiliary captain led the advance, the more uneasy he felt. The attacking creatures were changing—their variety had become unnaturally vast, as if something unseen was controlling them from the shadows.

Suddenly, he shouted sharply, “Stop advancing! Defensive formation—requesting second orbital bombar—”

But the moment he halted his steps—

Crack!

The ground split open beneath him, revealing a massive pit!

From its depths, countless tendrils burst forth, launching a swarm of maggot-like flesh sacs straight at the auxiliary captain!

Szzzzzzzz—!

“What the fuck is that?!”

His pupils shrank, his face twisted in shock, as the flesh sacs struck his shield barrier, halting just a centimeter from his forehead. His eye twitched, and he roared:

“Watch out! Parasitic spores! It’s the Flood!”

The flesh sacs resembled tiny octopuses, with massive bulbous heads and thin, writhing tendrils flailing wildly beneath them. Their tiny, serrated fangs dripped with thick, viscous mucus, making his skin crawl just looking at them.

At that moment, he felt a deep sense of relief.

Thank the Empress I was cautious.

In addition to his uniform’s built-in energy shield module, he had also installed a secondary shield generator—originally meant to block sniper shots on the battlefield, but now, it had saved him from the Flood’s attempt at infestation.

Tat-tat-tat! Zzzzt! Zzzzt! Zzzzt!

The auxiliary troops and servitor soldiers nearby opened fire furiously!

From beneath the surrounding jungle soil, countless grotesque abominations began crawling out, their deformed bodies writhing and shifting.

A piercing screech erupted from deep underground.

The twisted creatures instantly went berserk, hurling themselves at the Imperial soldiers like ravenous lunatics!

Tat-tat-tat-tat—!

A heavy support gunner raised his equipped general-purpose machine gun, deactivated the semi-auto ammo limit, and in an instant—

The thick, box-fed ammo belt began roaring.

A dense storm of bullets tore into the enemy ranks at supersonic speeds!

Flesh and blood flew in every direction.

At this point, precision shooting was unnecessary.

The Flood were everywhere—a putrid, writhing mass—even blindly firing into the swarm would hit something!

Meanwhile, explosives of all kinds were being rapidly deployed.

Boom!

With superhuman strength, the soldiers hurled grenades into the Flood-infested tunnels.

A massive detonation ripped through the jungle, sending a wave of scorching heat expanding outward.

The high-explosive charges, equipped with delayed fuses, detonated upon impact, instantly tearing through steel casings, unleashing a storm of molten shrapnel that burned upon contact.

Flames consumed everything—

The jungle. The Flood.

All of it.

The tunnel entrance was engulfed in fire, while the shockwave violently hurled the surrounding Flood creatures into the air.

Sching!

The auxiliary captain swung his power longsword, its disruption field activating—

With a single sweep, he shredded the parasitic spores still trapped within his shield barrier.

“Fall back! Get to the assault craft!”

“It’s the Flood!”

“These bastards can’t be wiped out with conventional weapons—conserve your ammo! Fall back in covering formation!”

Whoosh—Bzzzzzt!!

Drawing another pistol from his waist, he pulled the trigger.

A distinctive hissing sound erupted, followed by the sizzling crackle of something being incinerated—a red-hot melta beam shot forth, precisely striking the cracked soil fissures exposed by the Flood’s tendrils!

The explosive burst of melta particles instantly charred and carbonized everything within a ten-meter radius, the intense heat igniting both the surrounding jungle and the fat-laden corpses of animals.

The melta beam continued sweeping across the landscape, until the overload alarm blared. Only then did the auxiliary captain release the trigger, having unleashed an inferno worthy of a lifetime prison sentence.

“Move! Move! Fall back—Command, requesting immediate support!”

Crash—!

A tactical roll sent him out of the burning jungle, his uniform scraping against the scorched earth.

Without hesitation, the retreating squad shouted:

“Fall back! Confirmed Flood presence!”

But just as their voices fell, the ground behind them rumbled violently, as if the world itself was turning over.

Bzzzt—!

A power sword slashed through the air, leaving a brilliant arc of light—

A large Flood abomination was instantly cleaved apart, its mutated flesh scattering in all directions.

From multiple directions, Astartes squads surged forward in support.

Splatter!

Blood and brain matter erupted—

One Astartes warrior, his armor coated in a disgusting layer of mucus, had just crushed a Flood creature beneath his gauntleted fist.

Without pausing, he secured the retreating auxiliary squad, then demanded:

“Wasn’t this supposed to be a Forerunner ruin? Where the hell did you wake up the Flood from?”

Still falling back while firing, the auxiliary captain responded:

“I don’t know! But they came from underground!”

“I suspect the Flood have been dormant beneath this planet for centuries—our orbital bombardment must have woken them up!”

Bang—Splurt!

Diving into the assault craft, an Astartes warrior, stationed at the exit ramp, caught a Flood infection form mid-air—

And with one crushing punch, obliterated it.

“It doesn’t matter how they got here.”

“Now that the Flood have been confirmed—this planet is beyond salvation.”

“It must be purified.”

Bzzzt—!

Accompanied by roars of alien beasts, the thundering engines of the assault craft carried them above the fire-engulfed landscape, weaving through layer upon layer of desolate mountain valleys.

Leaning against the cabin windows, the crew watched in silence as horrors unfolded outside.

The land had been utterly devastated.

Panicked alien wildlife fled in all directions, their primal instincts screaming at the impending end of the world brought upon them by the Flood’s awakening.

Within the circular bombardment zone, a sea of Flood abominations had risen from the depths.

Their misshapen, tumor-covered faces, grotesquely lined with teeth, eyes, and gaping maws, turned skyward—

Glaring at the intelligent lifeforms escaping above, they let out an enraged, ear-piercing howl.

As the assault craft ascended, what followed close behind was a rain of apocalyptic fire.

Colossal, sun-like spears of orange-red plasma descended from orbit, igniting the atmosphere.

BOOOOM—!!!

In an instant, the entire planet seemed to tremble.

Mountains crumbled like dead trees in a hurricane, collapsing into obliteration.

The earth itself split open, erupting with towering geysers of magma and deadly radioactive ash, searing the sky.

The relentless campaign of destruction ignited a devastating inferno, consuming the land in flames of annihilation!

…

Upon receiving the underground reconnaissance team’s report, the Imperial Navy detachment faced an undeniable truth—the discovery of the Flood meant only one thing.

The planet beneath their fleet was a world suffering from severe corruption.

You must be purified.

The Empress’ will is absolute.

Once the Flood is discovered, it must be reported—and eradicated.

In mere moments, the highest-ranking officials of the detachment—the Astartes commander, the Imperial Foundry Division director, the Imperial Science Bureau chief, and the High Inquisitor—unanimously reached a decision.

Exterminatus.

As the Imperial forces on the ground completed their evacuation, the orbital fleet immediately commenced a large-scale planetary bombardment.

Thousands of Honkai-fission warheads were launched onto the surface.

Any Imperial soldier who had participated in the reconnaissance mission was required to undergo Flood spore purification before they could return to their respective warships for recuperation.

Thus, by the time Selene’s fleet arrived, the once lush and vibrant planet had already been reduced to a lifeless, inhospitable world.

Colossal volcanic ash clouds erupted into the sky, forming a swirling mass of darkness, blocking out nearly all light from reaching the planet’s surface.

“Oh? Something’s still alive.”

Selene frowned.

Stepping toward the viewing port, she gazed down at the planet, now consumed by silence and magma.

Her gaze pierced through the vast cosmic expanse, through the dense volcanic ash clouds, through the lava-spewing mountains, descending into the deepest layers of the mantle.

Beneath it all, a stark contrast to the molten wasteland above, lay a vast, enclosed space of silver-gray geometric perfection, completely untouched by the orbital bombardment.

And within it—

Life remained.

“Found it.”

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