The next day, Alexei looked at a pulsating sac inside one of the Hive structures, his eyes filled with anticipation.
The corpse of the Genestealer from yesterday had provided just enough biomass to exchange for a new genetic template. Without hesitation, he had chosen the Zerg's early-game tank unit: the Roach.
After all, Purestrain Genestealers were the definition of "glass cannons"—high attack, low defense. Even the Terminator Power Armor of a Space Marine was like paper before their rending claws.
His existing Hydralisks and Zerglings were still too fragile. The Roach, with its incredible regenerative abilities and thick chitinous carapace, would undoubtedly become the vanguard of the Swarm.
Once the Swarm's numbers increased, the next step would be dealing with the nearby Genestealer Cults.
Then the entire Underhive, the whole Hive City, and finally, this entire planet.
Alexei looked up at the ceiling where the sky should have been. He had to accelerate his progress; the shadow of the Great Devourer (Tyranids) was beginning to loom over this sector.
As he pondered, the sac in front of him began to stir.
Alexei took a few steps back. With a wet pop, the sac burst open, and a Zerg unit clad in purplish-black chitinous armor crawled out. The scythe-like claws on either side of its head, capable of shearing through composite alloys, flailed rhythmically.
He stepped forward and looked up at the two-meter-tall Roach, reaching out to touch its slimy shell. "Impressive. This is way more intense than in the game."
He closed his eyes to feel the psionic link between himself and the Zerg, but a sudden movement on the Creep behind him caught his attention.
Alexei instinctively leaned aside, dodging a heavy punch. He looked at the man who had somehow escaped the room and was now attacking him with gritted teeth. There was no panic in Alexei's eyes.
For some reason, since the initial construction of the hive, his body had been undergoing a transformation. Not only was his physical constitution significantly stronger than before, but his emotions were more stable, and he could now go long periods without food.
Alexei signaled the Roach to stand down. He lunged at the man, dropping him with a single strike that left him clutching his stomach, incapacitated.
"Listen, I don't want to kill you yet, but you can't leave. Otherwise, I can't guarantee what I'll have to do to you."
Kaider knelt on the ground, reeling from the intense pain in his abdomen. He looked up at the expressionless Alexei and forced a sentence through his throat: "You damned heretic... By the Emperor... judgment will surely descend upon this place."
Hearing this, a strange expression crossed Alexei's face. Unfortunately, the old man on the Throne doesn't seem to have that much hostility toward me, he thought.
He sighed, summoned a Drone, and locked the man back in the house. To prevent another escape, he had the Queen spray some Creep over the door, leaving only a small crack to ensure the man wouldn't suffocate.
This was enough to keep the Enforcer alive.
Alexei then returned to the room housing the young psyker. He saw the blonde girl huddling in a corner, her face marked with fear and tension. There was no trace of Alpha-level psychic energy radiating from her.
Usually, Alpha-level psykers were driven mad by their vast, uncontrollable power. They were either used as "fuel" for the Golden Throne or they spontaneously combusted into a warp-breach, vomiting demons into reality.
Now, after the Emperor's intervention, the girl's psychic energy seemed to have stabilized. Alexei walked over, knelt down, and tried to comfort her, offering clean water and food.
Seeing the girl eat ravenously, he felt a sense of relief. If he could earn her trust, an Alpha-level psyker would be an invaluable asset.
Suddenly, a warning from the Hive Mother echoed in his mind: "Master, at the end of the tunnel, a large number of unknown lifeforms are destroying our Creep."
What? Had the Hive City Enforcers found him? After all, the dangerous local fauna near the nest had been almost entirely consumed by the Swarm and turned into biomass.
He narrowed his eyes. It could also be the Genestealers; Purestrain Genestealers could share their vision with the Patriarch. "Good timing. Saves me the trouble of hunting them down."
Through the Overlords, he exerted his hive-mind control. Nearly a thousand Zerglings, over a dozen Hydralisks, and the newly hatched Roaches rushed toward the source of the alarm.
"Praise the Four-Armed Emperor! Burn these sacrilegious abominations!"
Just as Alexei predicted, a middle-aged man with slightly purplish skin and a malformed skull stood among a mob of cultists. He raised a staff with a third arm, shouting at the top of his lungs.
Nearly a hundred Genestealer Cultists, armed with various weapons, responded in unison. They praised the name of the Four-Armed Emperor, determined to sweep away all enemies of "humanity."
Several cultists with flamethrowers advanced slowly into the depths of the tunnel. Promethium turned into endless flames, scorching the Creep before them.
However, at that moment, roars echoed from the shadows ahead. Something was coming.
The cultists stopped and looked forward. An endless tide of Zerg, like a crashing wave, surged toward them.
"Fire! Fire!" With the leader's roar, Heavy Stubbers opened up, pouring lead into the Zergling swarm.
But there were simply too many. The cultists' defensive line began to crumble. At the critical moment, the flamethrowers fired again, turning the lead Zerglings into ash.
Just as they thought they had held the line, something moved beneath the floor. With a furious roar, several Roaches burst from the ground.
Seeing these terrifying creatures, the cultists frantically redirected their fire. But the Heavy Stubber rounds merely sparked against the purplish-black shells, leaving not even a scratch. Even the promethium flames failed to harm the Roach's armor.
The Roaches opened their maws, spitting acidic bile capable of melting steel. Any Genestealer caught in the spray dissolved into bloody sludge in an instant. Their sharp foreclaws ruthlessly reaped any mortals who dared approach.
The tide of battle turned instantly. The cultists began to flee, but whistling sounds pierced the darkness. Sharp bone spikes harvested the lives of the retreating enemies.
As the Zerg's ranged specialists, the Hydralisks had immense range. Their spikes could penetrate hardened steel; flesh was as flimsy as paper before them.
Explosions, screams, tearing sounds, and wails of agony echoed through the dark tunnel. Before long, only a field of severed limbs remained, with crimson blood coating the walls and floor.
Alexei looked at the hellish scene. The air was thick with the scent of blood, but he felt no emotional stirring.
"Lost more than half the Zerglings, one Roach, and one Hydralisk." He counted his losses with a pang of regret, but seeing the ground covered in biomass and discarded weaponry, he felt the trade-off was acceptable.
"The size of the Swarm is still not enough..." Alexei thought silently. These people were likely just the vanguard of the Cult of the Twisted Helix. To completely eradicate them, he needed more powerful units.
He looked at the system panel, at the black, locked icon of a Hero Unit. With the current biomass, he should finally be able to summon Her.