Changes in the Battle Situation
Li Qinwu removed his backpack and placed it in front of him, resting the rifle steadily on top. Xiao Dao immediately dropped beside him, clutching magazines and loose rounds, his movements quick but tense.
At this point, he was completely following Li Qinwu's rhythm.
Li Qinwu lay prone, unmoving, for over thirty seconds.
His breathing slowed.
His heartbeat stabilized.
The battlefield noise faded into the background.
Only then did he begin firing again.
This pause wasn't hesitation—it was discipline. After three consecutive magazines, the barrel had already built up heat. The brief relocation and rest had allowed it to cool just enough to maintain accuracy.
Then—
The rifle spoke again.
Each shot was deliberate. Controlled.
One shot. One adjustment. One kill.
Every one to three shots, a member of the Chemical Gang dropped.
No wasted bullets. No panic fire.
Just execution.
---
On the opposite side of the battlefield, the leader of the Chemical Gang—Mother—noticed immediately.
This kind of gunfire… it didn't belong here.
All around her, men hacked at each other with crude blades. The few firearms present were poorly made—short-ranged, inaccurate, barely controlled. Most were fired blindly into crowds.
But this…
This was precision.
Long-range. Controlled. Lethal.
Her gaze shifted toward the battlefield flank, where faint muzzle flashes flickered in the darkness.
Her expression hardened.
She turned to a massive figure beside her.
"Baby… go. Bring Mommy his head."
---
The man dropped to one knee.
He pressed his lips against her boot with obsessive devotion, eyes filled with a warped hunger.
Mother raised her arm.
A mechanical injector slid out from her wrist guard and plunged into his neck.
A vial emptied.
---
The effect was immediate.
His skin flushed red. Veins bulged violently beneath the surface. Muscles tightened, swelling beyond normal limits.
Combat stimulants. Overloaded.
A crude, unstable enhancement—common in the underhive. Cheap. Effective. Deadly… to everyone involved.
---
He moved.
Fast.
Too fast for something that size.
He charged toward Li Qinwu like a living projectile.
---
Li Qinwu was mid-shot when he heard it—
Heavy footsteps. Rapid. Closing.
His instincts reacted before thought.
He turned.
Saw it.
A towering figure—over two meters tall, muscle mass pushed beyond natural limits, charging straight at him with terrifying speed.
"Damn."
He snapped the rifle up and fired.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Five rapid shots.
All missed.
Too fast. The target's movement was erratic, explosive—far beyond normal human tracking speed.
---
"Aaaah!! Kill it!! That's a Muscle Dog! It'll rip us apart!!"
Xiao Dao's voice broke into panic.
---
Li Qinwu ignored him.
He dropped slightly, stabilizing his stance.
Inhale.
Hold.
Everything narrowed.
The battlefield vanished.
Only the target remained.
---
Bang!
The shot landed.
The bullet tore into the Muscle Dog's thigh, ripping away a chunk of flesh. The force disrupted its momentum, sending the massive body tumbling forward, rolling violently across the ground.
Skin scraped. Blood sprayed.
---
"Hit! You hit it!!"
Xiao Dao shouted.
Li Qinwu didn't respond.
That wasn't a kill.
---
He re-aimed.
Tracked the target as it struggled back to its feet.
Crosshair aligned—
Trigger—
Click.
Empty.
---
"Magazine!"
---
Xiao Dao snapped out of his daze and shoved a fresh magazine into Li Qinwu's hand.
Reload.
Fast. Efficient.
But—
Too late.
---
The Muscle Dog stood again.
Blood poured from its ruined thigh, but it didn't slow.
Its pupils had shrunk to pinpoints. Foam gathered at the corners of its mouth. Its body trembled unnaturally.
Pain response—gone.
Mind—gone.
Only command remained.
---
"Mom… told me… bring your heads back!!"
---
It charged again.
Faster.
Closer.
In under ten seconds, it crossed over a hundred meters.
Then—
It jumped.
---
At that exact moment—
Li Qinwu finished reloading.
Bolt pulled.
Weapon raised.
Target acquired mid-air.
---
He fired.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!!
---
Changes in the Battle Situation (Continued)
While Li Qinwu dealt with the flanking threat, the main battlefield shifted.
---
The Fertilizer Gang held the line.
Crude armor. Iron shields. Melee weapons.
Yet somehow—
They maintained formation.
Against the drugged tide of the Chemical Gang's poison-injected cannon fodder, they did not break.
---
Mother's expression darkened.
"Release the real dogs."
---
Orders spread.
The Chemical Dogs advanced.
---
Unlike the earlier waves, these were different.
Stronger. Armored. Disciplined—by underhive standards.
Some even carried crude firearms.
Roughly 1,600 of them surged forward, freshly injected, minds flooded with stimulants.
---
On the opposite side—
Electric Eye gave a single command.
"Begin."
---
A separate unit stepped forward.
Fifty men.
Each wearing a backpack rigged with explosives and packed with metal fragments.
Human fragmentation charges.
---
They were not volunteers.
They were prisoners.
Men taken from the middle hive.
Men with families.
---
One of them hesitated.
Fear. Pain.
A question formed.
"…Will my family live?"
---
A senior henchman stepped forward.
"Fifteen years ago, my father stood where you stand. I was ten."
He smiled faintly.
"Now I stand here."
---
Silence.
---
"Swear it. In the Emperor's name."
---
The one-eyed leader spoke.
Cold.
"I swear. Your children will live. Your wife will work. They will not die without purpose."
---
That was enough.
---
The man closed his eyes.
When he opened them again—
There was no fear left.
Only cruelty.
---
"FOR THE EMPEROR!!"
---
They charged.
---
Impact.
Detonation.
---
The explosions tore through flesh and steel alike.
Bodies shredded.
Shrapnel carved through entire lines.
Even distant Chemical Dogs were caught in the blast.
---
Blood, bone, and metal filled the air.
Meaningless.
Replaceable.
Exactly as the Imperium intended its lower classes to be.
---
The Chemical Gang's assault collapsed.
---
Electric Eye roared with laughter, raising blade and pistol.
"Charge! Wipe them out!!"
---
The Fertilizer Gang surged forward.
Momentum shifted.
Victory—within reach.
---
Mother's face twisted.
"Release all the pigs."
---
Her subordinate froze.
"…Our people are still in there—"
---
She glanced at him.
That was enough.
---
He activated the device.
---
On the battlefield flank—
Xiao Dao was still screaming, stabbing wildly at the corpse of the Muscle Dog.
Over and over.
Even though it had already stopped moving.
---
The truth was simple—
It had died instantly.
Li Qinwu's final burst had destroyed its internal organs completely.
But its body had still crashed into him, pinning him beneath its weight.
---
"Push it off!"
---
Xiao Dao didn't respond.
Still stabbing.
---
"STOP STABBING! IT'S DEAD! PUSH IT OFF!"
---
Silence.
Realization hit.
---
Xiao Dao finally shoved the corpse aside.
---
Li Qinwu inhaled sharply, pulling himself free.
Alive.
---
He checked the body.
Recovered four injector needles.
Valuable.
---
"Worth it."
---
He stored them.
Then looked up.
---
The battlefield had changed again.
---
The final phase had begun.
---
More than thirty Chemical Pigs were unleashed.
---
Massive.
Over 2.5 meters tall.
Layers of fat and crude armor.
Unstable.
Uncontrollable.
---
They attacked everything.
Friend. Foe. Each other.
---
The battlefield descended into complete chaos.
---
Li Qinwu switched magazines.
AP rounds loaded.
---
He didn't fire.
Not yet.
---
Too chaotic.
Too unpredictable.
---
Then—
An opening.
---
A Chemical Pig pinned a man.
Tore him open.
Fed.
---
Movement slowed.
---
Li Qinwu steadied his rifle.
Inhale.
Hold.
Crosshair aligned with the pig's forehead.
---
Bang!!
---
The armor-piercing round punched through the iron plating.
Through bone.
Through brain.
---
The massive body froze—
Then collapsed.
---
Dead.
---
One shot.
One kill.
---
No wasted movement.
No wasted ammunition.