Once players get into the grind, it's a disaster for the mutants.
To compete for the squad rankings, the players applied tactical knowledge they'd learned online, like leapfrogging cover and clearing positions.
Because weapons and ammunition needed to be purchased with Contribution Points, wasting too much without recouping the cost meant a loss.
Another point: dying too often would reduce grinding time.
Back and forth, it's easy to fall behind others' progress, leading to a drop in squad ranking.
After leaving the tactical projection hall, the three squads coordinated, shooting mutants.
Upon reaching a fork in the corridor, the three squads split up to perform clearing tasks in different areas.
Old Bird, Warmaster, Ten-times, along with Monkey (Steal Monkey King's Nuts) and Dovahkiin (Dovahkiin is also a Chosen One) formed one squad.
Their mission was to reclaim control of the data processing hub.
That was where all the ship's data was aggregated.
This data was preliminarily processed by specialized servitors and Thinkers before being distributed to various departments and work groups.
Old Bird had earned the most Contribution Points earlier by taking out the Chaos Ogryn with a suicide bomb.
Because of this, their squad's weapon loadout was the most luxurious.
The only heavy stubber was in their hands.
With its terrifying rate of fire and damage, they practically bulldozed their way through.
The mutants couldn't even get close, being shredded into piles of charred, stinking flesh.
Another wave of mutants attacked and was crushed by the squad.
"Old Bird."
Warmaster put his hand on Old Bird's shoulder, wiggling his eyebrows repeatedly.
He looked like a creep trying to pick up an innocent girl.
"What do you want?!" Old Bird widened his eyes, panicked.
"I just think you're so amazing, I really admire you," Warmaster's voice became shrill.
"Piss off! I'm not interested in guys, don't even think about it."
"Have you been corrupted by Slaanesh into a femboy heretic or something!!"
Old Bird stared wide-eyed, his hand on the pistol at his hip, ready to execute the other at any moment.
Warmaster looked shocked. "Old Bird, I just wanted to borrow the heavy stubber for a bit, and you have impure thoughts about me??"
"Get lost!"
Old Bird nearly spat blood, his face instantly darkening, but he also breathed a sigh of relief.
"If you want to use the stubber, just say so. Acting all gay, you scared me to death."
"Hehe, that's because your heretic mind isn't pure enough."
Warmaster pushed Old Bird aside and took over as the gunner.
"Let's go, let's speed up. Blood for the God-Emperor, skulls for the Golden Throne. Right now, I don't want to know anything else, I just know I'm about to go on a killing spree."
The small interlude didn't affect the squad's advance.
They moved quickly.
Ordinary mutants were no match for them.
They were harvested like weeds, becoming Faith Points and Contribution Points for the squad.
As the fighting progressed, they encountered some mutants with guns.
Those mutants would shoot at the players.
But due to Warp corruption and diminished sanity.
Their aim wasn't great, similar to AI bots.
Their only advantage was their fearlessness.
They caused some trouble but were quickly eliminated by focused fire.
During this time, Ten-times leveled up and learned a new skill, [Ethereal Shard].
This skill could condense ethereal shards, like ice crystals, and launch them.
The trajectory was somewhat random, but the penetration was very strong.
It could easily pierce through even a helmet.
"Damn I'm so envious, Ten-times, you're actually a psyker."
Dovahkiin looked at Ten-times with envy as he threw ethereal shards that pierced two mutants' heads.
A proper Warhammer spellcaster.
But Dovahkiin's envy didn't last long.
The reason was that after throwing a few times, Ten-times knelt on the ground, holding his head in pain.
Even after being helped up, he needed a long time to recover before he could continue fighting with his gun.
His combat efficiency was lower than theirs, who just kept shooting.
Relying on coordination and tactics, the squad swept through the enemies along the way.
The strongest enemies they encountered were a group of armed crew members.
But with the power of the multi-laser heavy stubber and their ambush tactics,
After two players were shot and injured, they successfully secured control of the data processing hub.
The servitors and Tech-Priests responsible for processing data in the hub were dead.
But the Thinker wetware and logic engines were still operating, largely undamaged.
"Watching videos before didn't make it feel like much, but seeing it up close is really spine-chilling."
"Knowing these things are alive is scarier than a horror movie."
Old Bird pointed at the rows of logic engines on the wall.
Those engines had their limbs amputated, eyelids sewn shut, fixed in metal recesses, their brains and spines connected to dense clusters of cables and nutrient tubes.
"Classic Warhammer feature. Wetware is more reliable than silicon chips."
Warmaster shrugged. "At least it's less prone to Warp scrapcode viruses."
"Enough about that. Let's do what the Guide said, reboot the data system, and initiate the scrapcode purge program."
Ten-times stepped up, telling the squad members to get to work.
Meanwhile, the other two squads were methodically clearing out mutants.
Brother Ballsy, Scalpy, along with Milk Dragon (Milk Dragon Also Wants to be Emperor's Chosen), Corn-bro (Slaanesh's Chosen Corn Seller), and Zhuge (Zhuge Captured Ka'bandha Seven Times) formed a squad.
Their equipment wasn't as good as Ten-times's squad, but their firepower was still fierce.
Their mission was to reclaim the main communication control room.
With tactical coordination and fierce firepower, they quickly reached their target location.
The blast door to the main communication control room was not closed.
They could faintly hear the sound of machinery operating inside.
Bloodstains and mutilated limbs remained on the floor.
It seemed a fierce conflict had erupted here when the ship's accident occurred.
Grotesque mutants prowled on the platform before the door.
The most conspicuous were two enemies wearing black hooded robes, implanted with tentacle-like devices.
When the battle started, these two enemies launched psychic attacks at the players.
Boom!!
A lightning bolt materialized out of thin air.
Milk Dragon, who was charging at the front, was struck by the lightning, sent flying, convulsing, his hair smoking as he collapsed.
"Chaos Psykers!" Brother Ballsy's face changed. "Focus fire, take them out first!"
The other players raised their guns, pouring fire onto the two Chaos Psykers.
But a transparent barrier appeared, blocking the incoming lasers and bullets.
"It's a psychic barrier," Zhuge frowned. "This thing can deflect ranged attacks into the Warp."
"Then let my knife judge them!"
Corn-bro, holding a gun in one hand and a dagger in the other, charged at the enemies.
The next second, another lightning bolt appeared, sending him flying too.
"Damn, take a plasma shot from me!"
Scalpy raised his plasma gun, aimed at the two Chaos Psykers, and pulled the trigger.
This guy really loved this plasma gun.
He was always muttering stuff like 'loyal plasma never overheats', 'the Machine Spirit is displeased', etc.
The plasma ball traced a graceful arc through the air towards the Chaos Psykers.
But the next moment, the plasma ball hit the psychic shield and was simply swallowed up.
This scene made the players widen their eyes.
They were getting a firsthand experience of the power of psykers.
A plasma ball that could take out a Chaos Ogryn in one shot couldn't break the psykers' shield.
"Let's do it! Eat my human bomb!"
Milk Dragon staggered to his feet, pulled up his clothes to reveal Melta bombs strapped to his waist.
But before Milk Dragon could run more than a few steps, he couldn't move.
He was firmly restrained by an invisible psychic force.
"I'm going all out too! No matter what, we must take the comms control room."
Brother Ballsy also revealed the Melta bombs on his waist, charging at the psykers with a determination to die.
One Chaos Psyker attempted to control Brother Ballsy like it had controlled Milk Dragon.
However, this time, its method failed, allowing Brother Ballsy to charge forward successfully.
As Brother Ballsy approached, the transparent psychic barrier around the Chaos Psykers popped like a bubble.
The two Chaos Psykers were stunned by the sudden turn of events, instinctively widening their eyes.
Zhuge, from a distance, seized the opportunity, continuously pulling the trigger of his lasgun.
Ruby-red lasers streaked through the air, piercing the Chaos Psykers' heads, ending their lives.
"I hadn't even used my full strength yet!! How are they dead?"
Brother Ballsy, who had been planning to go out in a blaze of glory, stared wide-eyed at the fallen Chaos Psykers in surprise.
"You might have a Blank physique," Zhuge walked over, examining Brother Ballsy.
"Possibly," Scalpy agreed with Zhuge.
"I don't know either. Forget it, let's not dwell on it now. Let's go check the situation inside the comms control room."
Brother Ballsy stepped through the doorway, followed by the other players.
Porn-bro also staggered up from the ground.
The armor plates on his body had absorbed most of the damage, and coupled with his robust physique,
Although he had taken a psychic lightning bolt and was in immense pain all over, he was still alive.
The floor of the main communication control room was covered in frost.
This was caused by uncontrolled psychic energy leakage.
A huge transparent psychic chamber was fixed in the central area of the comms room.
Data cables thicker than an adult's waist connected the base and top of the psychic chamber.
The Astropath immersed in the nutrient fluid inside the chamber had been dead for a long time.
Astropaths were key to the Imperium's faster-than-light communication.
Across the astronomical distances of the void, the speed of light was too slow; only by using Astropaths could messages be transmitted quickly, disregarding physical laws.
For interstellar communication, an Astropaths was needed to pierce the veil and convey messages.
"Use the comms to report to the Guide. Say the FTL communication function of the main comms control room is offline."
"Unless we can find an Astropath."
Brother Ballsy, after inspecting, said to Zhuge.
"Understood," Zhuge nodded.