Duanmu Huai had no idea what the Wian Government Alliance was thinking, but in truth, Presko had more or less guessed his intentions. Through decrypted satellite intelligence, Duanmu Huai had already learned a fair bit about the Wian Government Alliance, and he had no plans to get too close to them. If he'd wanted to cooperate, he could've contacted them directly rather than operating independently. Clearly, Duanmu Huai had his own plans.
At the moment, the Starborne Legion was spreading outward from their base, sweeping the area and hunting down any remaining Beastmen soldiers. With battleships providing orbital surveillance, pinpointing the enemy's positions wasn't difficult—the rest was just a matter of sending in the Starborne Legion to wipe them out.
As for Duanmu Huai himself…
"This is the latest prototype?"
He eyed the bolter before him curiously, picking it up as he asked the question.
Ever since recovering that hybrid weapon in the underground fortress—the one that combined a chainsword with a firearm—Duanmu Huai had been impressed by its design. Especially for the Starborne Legion, such a combination would be devastatingly efficient. So, he handed the weapon over to the research division led by Kurala, asking her team to redesign the bolter based on that concept.
The Starborne Legion's standard weapon was the Storm Bolter, featuring dual parallel barrels that fired .75-caliber explosive rounds. Structurally speaking, their bolters were heavier and broader—basically the thickness of two standard guns stuck together—and about the length of a compact submachine gun.
But after Kurala's modifications, the bolter had become an entirely different weapon. The width remained the same, but the length had increased to roughly that of a conventional assault rifle, and beneath the barrel was now mounted a power chainsaw, seamlessly integrated into the gun itself.
The result was a weapon that looked like a massive, blocky rectangular frame fitted with a chainsaw.
Or, as Duanmu Huai quipped, "It's like someone drilled a gun barrel into a chainsaw."
But there was a problem—that was why Kurala had called him in.
It was an issue of power supply.
Kurala's design offered two versions:
One continued to use explosive rounds as its primary weapon and added an independent power source to run the chainsaw blade.
The other scrapped the bolt system entirely, converting it into a laser rifle powered by a shared energy cell that also fueled the chainsaw mechanism.
The first version was more reliable—you could keep hacking even after you ran out of ammo.
The second version had more capacity—each energy cell could fire about 150 laser bursts, and carrying three cells equaled the ammo count of a bolter magazine.
However…
"A glorified flashlight, huh…"
Duanmu Huai aimed the gun, pulled the trigger, and a thin red beam shot forward, missing the target and striking the wall behind it.
"..."
He silently rolled his eyes.
Alright, maybe his aim was trash.
Back in the night market shooting range, he'd once fired ten rounds and missed every single one. The stall owner ended up giving him the prize just to make him leave, afraid the crowd would think he'd rigged the targets.
Ten shots, zero hits—it was that bad.
Not that Duanmu Huai was completely hopeless; he was fine with shotguns or grenade launchers—anything that didn't require precise aim. But rifles or sniper weapons? Yeah, forget it.
To summarize:
The bolter variant had higher power but limited ammo.
The laser variant had lower power but unlimited endurance.
And given the choice…
"We're sticking with the bolter."
Duanmu Huai set the chainsaw rifle down decisively. In the old Imperial era, they'd standardized laser weapons because the army was massive and made up of conscripts of varying quality. Under those conditions, reliability, stability, and ammunition count mattered most.
But his Starborne Legion was modeled after the Astartes—elite, few in number, and devastating in strength.
For that kind of force, firepower came first.
After all, most of their enemies were thick-skinned monstrosities that a laser couldn't even scratch. No wonder Imperial Guardsmen had jokingly called their laser rifles flashlights.
Because, really—what else could they do but light up the target?
And besides, Duanmu Huai's battle doctrine was simple: bolters for ranged combat, chainsaws for close-quarters carnage, and when the ammo ran dry—charge in and self-destruct if necessary.
In that kind of combat style, who the hell needed flashlights?
"Understood, my lord," Kurala nodded, then paused as something else occurred to her.
"Ah, right—Mr. Badi sent word that your new transport unit is finished. He'd like you to inspect it."
"Oh? Already?"
That surprised Duanmu Huai. He'd expected the dwarf engineer to take longer. Then again, this wasn't like the indestructible Metallic Wyrm—he'd asked for something disposable.
Curious, Duanmu Huai immediately headed for the Holy City and found Badi waiting for him. The dwarf led him once more into the massive warehouse.
"Well then, Mr. Badi—what kind of surprise do you have for me this time?"
"This one's built exactly to your specifications," the dwarf said proudly.
He flipped on the lights, illuminating the vast chamber. At its center stood a massive object draped under a white cloth. Its outline alone suggested it was huge—definitely something big enough to ride into battle.
"So, what is it?"
"Hahaha—see for yourself, lad!"
Badi grinned triumphantly and yanked the cloth away.
A mechanical beast emerged beneath the light.
It had four thick limbs, an armored black frame covered in heavy plating, and a single vertical horn rising from its head. The thing looked brutish, solid, and terrifying. Massive steel shields jutted out from its shoulders like fortress walls.
It was a rhino.
"PFFFFFT—!"
Duanmu Huai nearly spat blood on the spot.
"By the Tribunal—what the hell is this thing!?"
"Well? Doesn't it fit your request perfectly?" Badi said cheerfully, patting the machine's armor.
"You can ride it comfortably, it's got power, speed, and durability—and I even made it modular! It's big, but fast and damn near indestructible! Isn't it magnificent?"
Duanmu Huai could only roll his eyes and sigh. With a flick of his wrist, a Soul Card appeared before him.
[Magitech Electromagnetic Rhino (Legendary)]
Cost: 7
Attack: 0
Defense: 7
Effect: When attacking, add three [Magitech Electromagnetic Rhino] cards to your hand. Upon summoning, gain +X/+0, where X equals the number of Construct-type cards remaining in hand. (Rush)
"..."
Well… it did meet his "expendable unit" criteria. While it lacked the Metallic Wyrm's physical immunity, its effect was impressive: every attack generated three new copies in hand, meaning even if one was destroyed, he could instantly summon replacements. And its attack scaled with the number of Constructs in hand, allowing devastating burst power.
Flight wasn't an issue either. With his gravity gauntlet, Duanmu Huai could easily apply anti-gravity to make it hover or fly—simple enough for him.
The only problem was…
"Why the hell is it a rhino!?"
He stared helplessly at the massive mechanical creature. Between this and the skull carvings etched into its armor to "match" his own battle suit, Duanmu Huai was starting to wonder if Badi was secretly a cultist trying to make him look ridiculous. The rhino's small red-glowing eyes only made it look more like some demonic war beast.
Just imagining himself astride this monstrous metal rhino, thunder hammer in hand…
Yeah. That image was… something.
"Well, you're a big guy," Badi said matter-of-factly. "I figured a large mount would suit you better. I thought about an elephant, but that seemed too big. The rhino's perfect, right?"
"...…Yeah. Sure. Perfect."
At that moment, Duanmu Huai was too defeated to argue.
(End of Chapter)