Chapter 143: Warhammer: Lord of the Endless Monster Horde [143]

"I'm just a bit worried. If we go to Terra with the identity of Xenos and end up fighting the Custodians, those guys won't show any mercy. If we lose, Titus is as good as dead," said Chaplain Magro. As a Chaplain of the Chapter, he knew a bit about the Custodians' situation. Even though the Custodians had spent the last ten thousand years confined within the Imperial Palace on Terra, the Imperium would regularly capture its newest enemies for them to fight. These included Tyranid warrior organisms like Hive Tyrants, Lictors, Zoanthropes, or Ork war bosses. The Custodians' daily training was combat against one another. They knew every weakness of the Space Marines—perhaps even better than the Space Marines themselves. It's said that during the Siege of Terra, hundreds of Space Marines could die without managing to kill even a single Custodian. Moreover, these Imperial bodyguards had no concept of mercy. Anyone daring to provoke them would meet their end under their power halberds. "Lord Rhodes! The Custodians are equipped with the Imperium's most advanced Aquila-pattern Terminator armor. The materials used to make these suits include auramite. It's said that each suit of Custodian armor is worth as much as an entire world—an Imperial world!" Magro said. "Trust me, super Space Marines can match the Custodians. Besides, the new model of Terminator armor you're wearing now isn't necessarily much worse," Rhodes replied. If it came down to it, Rhodes could have Salome craft a custom power armor for Titus using the steel from Ace Killer's Armory. This type of armor weighed over two tons, but the Ace Killer's Armory had an abundant stockpile. Combining the inventories of two Ace Killer, Rhodes' armory steel reserve totaled more than thirty thousand tons! He could outfit each of his Space Marines with one of these without a problem. Rhodes had also discovered that if the armor wasn't too badly damaged, it could slowly repair itself in the system's storage space, processing about ten tons a day without issue. How strong was this Ace Killer Armory steel? Previously, a Nemesis Dreadknight power sword had slashed at it for ages and only managed to scuff the surface; it couldn't penetrate the defense at all. "I understand, Lord Rhodes, but please be cautious." "Hmm. By the way, how are those Space Marines you mentioned observing?" Rhodes asked. "Don't worry, Lord Rhodes. The faith of those five battle-brothers hasn't been significantly compromised. Over this period, they've recovered somewhat, and I've allowed them free movement within the ship. After some time, they'll be ready for their super Space Marine transformation surgery and can join your team," Magro replied. Although their faith had wavered after being confined for so long, Magro's guidance had restored their loyalty. Rhodes nodded at this. The number of Space Marines under his command had now reached over sixty. Soon, they would all become super Space Marines. This force would be more than sufficient as a private guard for venturing to Holy Terra, fully displaying his strength. ... On an Imperial Hive World, Mefilas had carried out Rhodes' orders to establish an Ork farm. A month had passed since then. Due to the Tyranid invasion, the Hive World had been reduced to a wasteland devoid of living humans. All human structures had been corroded and entirely digested into organic matter by the Tyranid swarm. However, before the Tyranids could enjoy the biomass on the planet's surface, they had already been defeated by Rhodes' monstrous armies. This left the soil extremely fertile, with plenty of sunlight and rain—perfect conditions for cultivating Ork spores. After arriving with Ork blood-seed, Mefilas immediately began cultivating a high-quality plot of land, fertilizing it carefully. Within days, vast numbers of squigs and snotlings began to grow, followed by grots. By the seventh day, the first Ork Boyz finally emerged. Once the Ork Boyz and hundreds of grots, along with a large number of squigs and snotlings, had matured, they were immediately captured, chopped into pieces, and evenly scattered across the planet as fertilizer for further cultivation. Now, the green mushrooms had grown significantly. According to Mefilas' calculations, it would only be a few more days before the harvest. Once the giant monsters completed the harvest, the entire planet would be replanted, continuing the cycle. Rhodes' farm would soon be in full operation. ... A green mushroom wiggled slightly, and a thin hand stretched out from within. A timid snotling crawled out of the ground. Around it, one small mound after another began to crack open, and countless snotlings emerged. These were the lowest-ranking Orks, with a status even lower than grots. Their task was to tend to the Ork mushrooms. When the Ork Boyz went off to war, snotlings would handle the logistics, preparing food from mushrooms and squigs to supply the Ork armies. After their birth, the snotlings quickly got to work, tending to the yet-to-be-born Ork Boyz and fertilizing the mushrooms. Protecting the mushrooms from any potential threats was hardwired into their DNA. Several more days passed. The root systems beneath some of the giant mushrooms had developed into massive cocoons, within which two-meter-tall Ork Boyz were growing. Mefilas summoned Rhodes from the Warp realm to visit the Ork farm. As Rhodes gazed out at the vast fields of green mushrooms, he couldn't help but feel a sense of amazement. This is practically a world of green mushrooms. If the Human Empire were to discover these ork mushrooms, they would likely issue an immediate extinction order, wouldn't they? Given their numbers, it's clear that these orks are beyond being completely eradicated. They're like weeds—no matter how hard you try to wipe them out, they just keep growing back. "Master, based on my calculations, today is the day all the young orks will mature. Once they're born, we can immediately begin the harvesting process," Mefilas said as he approached Rhodes. "You've done well. You managed to get these orks cultivated before I headed to Terra," Rhodes said with a nod. He only had about a week left before leaving for Terra. During this time, he'd managed to harvest some Dark Eldar, earning a total of less than 100,000 system coins. On the other hand, the Chaos Daemon Slayer had followed the Grey Knights on two missions. However, the scale of the daemon invasions wasn't significant, and they only managed to earn a few tens of thousands of system coins. Opportunities where an entire planet is overtaken by a massive daemon invasion are rare. Usually, the Grey Knights nip such situations in the bud. So now, Rhodes' greatest hope was this ork planet farm. It had to produce a massive yield. This ork farm had been cultivated for over a month now, and Mefilas had done a commendable job. Using limited seeds, the planet had been filled with green ork mushrooms—every place where mushrooms could grow was covered. The mountains and plains were a sea of green ork fungi. "You flatter me, Master. This is simply my duty. Being able to cultivate a proper farm for you is my honor," Mefilas said, bowing to Rhodes. "Once the young orks are born, should we start harvesting them immediately? Don't they need some time to grow?" Rhodes asked. "No, Master! As soon as these young orks are born, they'll start fighting each other. Within a short time, hundreds of young orks will hammer away at each other until a single ork warboss emerges. This warboss will then gather all the nearby orks and begin rapidly advancing their technology. They'll utilize everything around them, and their evolutionary speed is astonishing. However, even after they evolve, the system coins generated by them won't differ much from what they produce when they first emerge. Ork warlords or warbosses yield slightly more, but with their emergence comes the death of large numbers of young orks. It's completely inefficient. The best time to harvest them is right after they're born, while they're at their weakest—but also when the yield is at its highest." "Make sure to preserve some seeds! Have you handled this properly?" Rhodes asked. When killed by the monsters, all the ork corpses would disappear. To maintain sustainability, it was necessary to preserve some ork seeds. "You can rest assured, Master. I've specifically reserved an island for ork breeding. According to my calculations, it will take about 4–5 days for all the monsters to clear the orks across the planet. After 4–5 days, the orks on the island will have developed sufficiently. At that point, we can harvest the island's orks and use them as seeds for the next planting cycle," Mefilas explained. He had everything planned—the ork seeds, the harvest time, and the process. Before Rhodes, the green mushrooms began to tremble. Sturdy green arms stretched out from the soil, and the young orks were finally born. "Ace Robot and Iron, you're in charge of clearing the orks in the northern hemisphere. Bemstar and Golza, you handle the southern hemisphere. King Joe will split into three units to clear the western hemisphere. The remaining monsters—Melba, Red King, and the Slannesh Slayer—will head to the largest landmass in the eastern hemisphere to clear the orks there," Rhodes commanded. ... The slaughter across the four hemispheres began almost simultaneously. On the continents, the green mushrooms trembled violently. One by one, tall young orks emerged from the fungi, curiously observing their surroundings. "WAAAGH!" "WAAAGH!" "ROAR!" The enormous feet of the giant monsters came stomping down. Having just been born into this world for only a few minutes—and without so much as a scrap of rusty metal in their hands—the young orks were crushed into meat paste, instantly converted into system coins for Rhodes. Several mechanical monsters unleashed a brutal assault. Countless cannons rained fire across the planet, harvesting the green-skinned orks on a massive scale.