"Teleportation will begin in five seconds."
Qin Fengâs voice echoed clearly in everyoneâs ears via the internal comms. "Check your weapons and brace for impact. Remember, weâre facing the creations of Nurgle. Donât hold back. Destroy their heads and torsos on sight!"
The five seconds passed in a flash.
HUMMMâ
An immense, indescribable force enveloped the four of them. The world before their eyes fractured into a chaotic kaleidoscope of color.
The chaotic, maddening currents of the Subspace threatened to devour them, body and soul, leaving them like a lone skiff adrift on a surging dimensional sea.
The sensation lasted for barely an instant.
The next moment, the feeling of solid ground returned.
The light and shadows before them stabilized, and the four of them found themselves in a wide, deathly silent metal corridor.
This was the interior of the Star Walker-7.
The corridorâs design was opulent. It was wide enough for dozens of power armor suits to walk abreast and over ten meters high, providing ample room for combat.
Expensive Spiritual Crystal Lamps on the ceiling still cast a soft glow, but the walls and carpets were spattered with dried, dark-red blood and sickening, faintly glowing, ghastly green ichor.
The air hung heavy with a cloying, fetid stenchâa mix of rust, putrid flesh, and some kind of rotting vegetation that was enough to make one gag.
Dead silence.
The only sounds in the entire corridor were the faint whir of power armor servos and the amplified rasp of their own breathing.
But in the very instant they arrived, before they could even get their bearings...
ROARâ!
An inhuman roar erupted from the shadows deep within the corridor!
Immediately after, several bloated, hulking humanoid silhouettes charged out with a frenzy and agility that defied their massive frames!
They were the Plague-corpses, reanimated by Nurgleâs plagues!
The monsters still vaguely retained a human silhouette, but their bodies had undergone horrific mutations.
Their skin was a lifeless, gray-green, covered in massive pustules that constantly swelled and deflated, oozing a yellow-green fluid.
Some had arms that had mutated into bone blades. Others dragged long, barbed tentacles that left viscous, disgusting trails on the polished floor.
In Qin Fengâs perception, their life force registered at around 60 points!
But there were more Plague-corpses behind them, some reaching as high as 70 points.
Combat erupted the moment they arrived!
"Zhou Quan, Yin Jing, form a defensive line up front! Focus on cleaves and sweeps to clear the rabble! Donât let them break our formation!"
"Zou Yun, take my right flank! Weâll handle the largest and most threatening targets!"
Even as the Plague-corpses roared, Qin Fengâs commands came through the comms channel, calm and clear.
His reaction speed and tactical deployment were too fast for a rookie on his first mission!
Zhou Quan and Yin Jing didnât even have time to think; their bodies moved on instinct, carrying out the order.
"Hah!"
With a sharp cry, Zhou Quan drew his twin blades. He strode forward, the blades whirling like a windmill, creating an impenetrable storm of steel as he hacked into the densest cluster of Plague-corpses!
Yin Jing was right behind him, wielding a standard-issue Long Spear that glinted silver.
She moved with light steps, her spear striking like a dragon, precisely picking off the stragglers that slipped past Zhou Quanâs blades.
As for Zou Yun, his pupils constricted the moment he heard Qin Fengâs command.
He saw themâtwo monsters in the horde that were noticeably larger and more ferocious than the others. Their target was the core of the newly arrived squad!
âQin Feng had identified the highest threat levels instantly!â
No time for further thought. Zou Yunâs energy surged, and a faint golden light shimmered over his alloy-gauntleted right fistâthe telltale sign of his Tyrantâs Fist technique being pushed to its peak.
He was about to engage one of the elite monsters when Qin Fengâs voice rang out again.
"Leave the one on the left to me! You focus on the one on the right! Watch its abdomen, thereâs something in there!"
A chill went down Zou Yunâs spine. He instinctively focused all his attention on the elite Plague-corpse to his right.
Sure enough, he could see something squirming beneath the skin of the monsterâs abdomen, a deeply unsettling sight.
At this very moment, Qin Feng moved.
His movements were nothing like Zhou Quanâs wide, powerful swings, nor Yin Jingâs nimble evasions.
He perfectly blended the aggressive pressure of the Fierce Owlâs footwork with the exquisite agility of the Wandering Dragon Step Technique. His Long Spear would shift in an instant from wide, sweeping arcs to the relentless, sharp strikes of a predatory owl.
One after another, Plague-corpses fell as Qin Fengâs spear pierced their skulls.
Control!
This was Control, the domain of true masters, a level beyond the Perfection stage of the Slaughter Realmâthe Control Realm!
The elite Plague-corpse, its life force registering a high 70 points, instinctively sensed a mortal threat. It let out a furious roar, crossing its bone-blade arms before its chest in an attempt to block the fatal strike.
However, just as the tip of Qin Fengâs spear was about to make contact with the bone blades, it trembled, tracing a minute arc almost invisible to the naked eye.
[Fierce Owl Chasing Shadow!]
HUM!
The spearhead seemed to pass through space itself, ignoring the bone bladesâ defense entirely. It struck with unerring precision from an unbelievable angle, plunging directly into the elite Plague-corpseâs eye socket!