[Warhammer: Starting as a Planetary Governor] Chapter 79/80 (Patreon)

The assault ship had finally broken through into the core area of the Hoffman family's stronghold!

Upon receiving the report, Eden, sitting in the cabin, let out a sigh of relief.

The anti-air network of the Hoffman family had been incredibly tight, and the ship's shields had almost failed. But luckily, they made it through.

Now, it was time to execute the next phase of the plan.

Eden closed his eyes and activated his psychic sense with all his might.

Hum!

An almost imperceptible psychic wave expanded outward from Eden, rapidly spreading across the surrounding area and beyond, eventually covering the entire core region of the Hoffman family.

As his psychic sense enveloped the area, a flood of information surged into his mind.

Eden could feel the taint of Chaos everywhere, the people's screams of agony, their prayers of despair.

They were begging for the God-Emperor's protection.

But this place had been cut off.

All their prayers were being heard by some unknown entity that had answered their calls instead.

There was so much darkness, deeply saturating this place.

Eden pushed aside his shock, focusing on filtering through the interference as he traced the thickest trail of Chaos.

The deeper he reached, the stronger and clearer the Chaos became.

He knew he was close to finding the source of this foul power.

Guided by his psychic trail, Eden's mind arrived above a dilapidated building, where a secret entrance lay hidden.

Descending further, he finally reached a massive underground laboratory.

Inside, a dozen giant glass cylinders stood, each filled with grotesque Chaos monstrosities.

Going deeper still, Eden at last spotted the target of his mission!

It was a ten-meter-high cylinder, containing a deformed woman.

Her upper body and legs were shriveled, resembling dried twigs, but her stomach had swollen into an enormous, multi-meter-wide mass of flesh, covered in pitch-black eyes.

That mass was a gigantic womb, and within it, a dark shadow writhed, seemingly brimming with life.

The creature's movements were unmistakable—its birth was imminent!

Then, Eden sensed a faint connection between the abomination and some distant entity.

On instinct, he manipulated his psychic power to follow that thin thread further.

Suddenly—WHAM!

In an instant, Eden's hair stood on end, his scalp prickling with fear as icy dread washed over him.

With all the strength he could muster, Eden slammed the brakes on his psychic probe, stopping himself from going any further.

For he had "seen" something—a massive shadow lurking behind the enormous cylinder.

It was an ever-shifting presence, floating mid-air.

Its head and body were one, with two grotesque, indescribable tendrils protruding from it. Its skin crawled with constantly changing faces.

The moment he "saw" this being, Eden felt as though countless eyes had turned toward him, seeing through his very soul.

Luckily, the terrifying entity didn't move or show any signs of interest in him.

Seeing that the horrific figure had no reaction, Eden slowly and carefully retracted his psychic powers.

Only when he exited the lab did he whip his psychic presence back into his body with all the speed he could muster.

Whoosh!

Eden's eyes snapped open, his heart pounding, his body drenched in cold sweat.

"Damn… seeing everything will only get you killed."

It was terrifying!

That entity… could it be Tzeentch?

Tzeentch, one of the Four Chaos Gods, the most cunning and deceitful, symbolizing twisted wisdom, a master of endless schemes and plots.

He thrived on chaos, and his followers were often scholars craving forbidden knowledge or ambitious nobles.

Eden sighed. He had barely been in the Warhammer 40K universe for long, yet he had already encountered two Chaos Gods: Slaanesh and now Tzeentch.

Of course, he had met them, but they didn't know him.

If they knew who he was, he'd be dead in an instant.

To be honest, even slitting his own throat probably wouldn't help in such a situation.

If a Chaos God ever truly noticed him in reality, there would be no escape. He would likely be twisted and corrupted beyond recognition.

Thankfully, his psychic sense had "stopped" in time, avoiding disaster.

Still, Eden couldn't shake the memory of what he had seen in that final moment. The more he thought about it, the more unsettled he felt.

Did it… smile at him?

Had it really noticed him?

Eden quickly suppressed these terrifying thoughts.

No matter, he had his own powerful backer after all.

If things got desperate, he could always hide with the God-Emperor.

But for now, the priority was to deal with the monstrosity inside that lab!

Eden immediately relayed the location of the secret lab to the Special Forces.

Meanwhile, the assault ship he was on sharply veered towards the lab's coordinates, accelerating.

As Eden's ship arrived at the lab, several more assault ships, assisted by decoys, broke through the anti-air defenses and joined them.

Wearing his golden power armor and wielding a power sword, Eden was the first to leap from the assault ship to the ground.

Behind him, dozens of elite guards, led by Carter, followed, forming a defensive perimeter around him.

The battle had begun!

Eden and his elite guards charged towards the building housing the lab.

Soon, several squads of Hoffman family cyborg guards arrived.

They silently formed ranks and raised their guns.

Bang!

Before the squad leader could lift his command sword, his head exploded like a watermelon.

Eden had drawn his golden bolt pistol, embedded with the symbol of the Grant family's golden lion, and blown the leader's head off with a single shot.

He holstered the pistol and raised his hand.

At his signal, the elite guards stepped forward, raising their boltguns and firing at the Hoffman soldiers.

Boom!

The boltguns roared, and blood mist exploded throughout the enemy ranks.

The cyborgs were torn to shreds by the explosive, rocket-propelled shells, their bodies left unrecognizable.

This was the foundation of the Grant family's rule, the Governor's Angels of War—the Elite Guard!

After clearing the cyborg squad, Eden led his elite forces, sweeping through all opposition, cutting down anyone who dared stand in their way.

They broke through multiple obstacles, making their way into the deepest parts of the secret lab...

In the lab's cultivation zone, scientists frantically tossed chunks of flesh into a massive pool, conducting the final stages of the sacrificial ritual.

Yusef stared at the twisted flesh ball inside the giant cultivation cylinder. The fetus within was moving more and more violently.

It would only be a short while before the true offspring of the Thousand-Eyed Master descended upon this world!

This would be the ultimate weapon, capable of deciding everything.

All would tremble before the overwhelming power granted by the Thousand-Eyed Master.

Gradually, Yusef heard the sound of gunfire and screams from the perimeter of the lab, but he remained unshaken.

He knew it was Eden, that incompetent fool.

And he had been waiting for this moment for so long!

(End of Chapter)

Chapter 80: Destroy the Target?

After throwing the remains of the Hoffman family members into the pool, the experimenters worked together to pull the massive metal lever.

As the lever was pulled, the ground trembled, and the mechanical devices buried beneath the lab began to operate.

The blood-red pool reacted instantly, with the flesh dissolving and boiling, producing continuous bubbles.

Then, the mechanical conduits extracted all of the crimson liquid and injected it into the giant glass incubation tank.

Inside the tank, the dried-up body of a woman screamed and writhed, twisting uncontrollably.

Her stomach, bloated to the extreme and covered in black eyeballs, pulsed and shrank as it ravenously absorbed the red liquid.

It was so hungry, eager to devour the nutrients.

It was also full of joy!

The joy was so intense that it spread to everyone outside the tank, causing them to smile involuntarily.

The black-robed cultists of the Cult of the Broken Eye were particularly joyous and fanatical.

They grinned with twisted expressions, laughing silently.

Kneeling around the incubation tank, they fervently praised the great Master of the Thousand Eyes.

As the cultists' fervent prayers echoed, the womb-like mass inside the tank began emitting a heartbeat-like sound.

Thump, thump, thump, thump—

The sound grew louder and louder.

Until it resonated throughout the entire laboratory, each heartbeat seemingly pounding in people's chests, causing their blood to surge.

Watching all of this, Yusef was incredibly excited.

It was finally complete. The true offspring of the great Master of the Thousand Eyes was about to be born!

Suddenly, there was a loud bang from the outer area, the sound of iron doors being blown open.

It seemed that Eden had already reached the final level.

So close.

A lab worker rushed over in a panic, looking at Yusef.

"Lord, the King's Court forces have broken in, but the Chaos embryo still needs more time to hatch!"

Before he could finish, blood spurted from the worker's chest as he collapsed to the ground.

Yusef calmly wiped the blood off his dagger and tossed the silk handkerchief away.

"I know, and next time, don't speak so loudly to me…"

The handkerchief drifted down, covering the face of the lifeless worker.

Yusef gestured with his eyes, and the cyborg guards behind him unsheathed their blades, slashing at the remaining lab workers.

The sacrifice ritual was already complete; these people were no longer needed.

These weak, lowly mortals had no right to witness the birth of the offspring of the great Master of the Thousand Eyes.

In no time, the cyborg guards slaughtered all the remaining lab workers in the area.

The black-robed cultists seemed oblivious, fully devoted to their prayers to the great Master of the Thousand Eyes.

The mixture of desperate screams and the cultists' chants was truly beautiful.

Afterward, Yusef led the cyborg guards quickly to the other side of the incubation area.

There were over a dozen spheres covered with black cloth.

Yusef and the cyborg guards each approached a sphere and yanked the cloth away.

Before them were flesh balls, entangled with dark eyeballs and tendrils of flesh.

These flesh balls resembled the Chaos embryo in the giant tank but were much smaller, merely byproducts of the Chaos embryo.

Without hesitation, Yusef placed his hand on the flesh ball in front of him.

Instantly, blood tendrils spread from within, penetrating his palm and then more tendrils wrapped around him, pulling him completely into the flesh ball.

The cyborg guards did the same, each being drawn into the flesh balls.

The blood tendrils burrowed into their bodies, causing them to twitch and howl in pain.

Inside the blood spheres, Yusef's body twisted and convulsed uncontrollably.

He gritted his teeth, forcing himself not to scream.

This process was far from perfected; he hadn't wanted to use it.

But time had run out.

Since Eden dared to challenge him, Yusef would show him what real power was!

While Yusef was struggling in agony, Eden and the Imperial Guards stormed into the incubation area.

Just as they entered, the glass tank outside shattered, releasing grotesque creatures that howled and charged at them.

Carter stepped in front of Eden, drawing his chainsword.

"Draw swords!"

The Imperial Guards lined up, drew their chainswords, and turned the valves, injecting the Promethium fuel into the engines, causing the chains to spin and roar.

Then, they rushed forward and swung their swords!

Working in coordination, the guards hacked the monstrous creatures apart, sending flesh and blood flying.

One cunning mutant hid in the shadows, its cold, vertical pupils locked onto the group.

It crouched low, muscles coiling with tension, then it leaped with incredible speed, heading straight for the most prominent figure in the middle.

The mutant moved so fast that it appeared as a blur of shadow, catching everyone off guard.

Its gaping maw was about to close around Eden.

But Carter moved faster, raising his chainsword to intercept the creature's charge.

With the roar of the chainsword, the mutant was sliced in half, from head to tail, its pieces flying behind the group.

As expected of the Chainsaw Maniac—Carter always cleaved his enemies in two, leaving the scene drenched in gore.

A true brute!

Looking at the ruthless Carter, Eden couldn't help but be impressed.

But being too brutal has its downsides.

As Carter's violent slash cut through the creature, foul-smelling blood sprayed in all directions, evenly splattering everyone around.

Especially Eden, who was drenched head to toe in the stinking blood.

"Governor!"

Carter immediately realized what had happened, panicking.

The Governor, such a noble figure, was now covered in this vile, stinking blood.

What sacrilege!

His limbs went weak as he hurriedly ran over, raising a hand to wipe the blood away.

"Are... are you alright?"

"I'm fine."

Eden raised a hand to stop Carter, then shook his body, causing all the foul blood to fall to the ground.

His entire body, including his gleaming golden armor, remained spotless and immaculate.

It turned out that, just as the blood was about to touch him, Eden had used his psychic powers to envelop his body, preventing any contamination.

Though his physical constitution was excellent, he hadn't undergone augmentation, so he likely couldn't resist toxins as well as Carter and the other guards.

After dispatching all the monsters, Eden led the Imperial Guards toward the core of the incubation area.

Thump, thump, thump, thump—

The heartbeat grew louder and clearer.

Stepping into the core area, Eden finally saw the giant glass incubation tank and the horrific flesh mass inside.

He had found it—it was the target!

Eden immediately gave the order.

"Destroy the target!"

The Imperial Guards raised their bolt rifles and fired at the giant glass incubation tank.

Flashes of fire erupted from the gun barrels as rounds rained down, penetrating the praying black-robed cultists without them even noticing.

The cultists fell, and the bullets struck the glass, the tails of the rounds still spewing flames, but they could go no further.

Boom, boom, boom—

Next, dozens of armor-piercing grenades exploded.

When the smoke cleared, the giant glass incubation tank remained intact.

The glass was too strong; even rocket-propelled ammunition and armor-piercing grenades couldn't break it!

(End of Chapter)