Chapter Sixty-Four: Free Labor
The Sixth Regiment aboard the Imperial Truth and the Primarch’s Guard arrived on the surface of Mors with unparalleled speed. They launched a sweeping search throughout the Thanatos hive, determined to capture the sniper who had attempted to assassinate Wang Ming. Yet, despite scouring both the upper and middle hive, they found no trace of the sniper. Wang Ming surmised the culprit had likely escaped back into the warp.
Wang Ming sat in what used to be the planetary governor’s office, conversing with his fellow travelers through the communication channel.
“Boss, did something just happen? We all suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of grief—some of the more sensitive brothers even broke down in tears,” Wang Xiaofa asked through the channel.
Earlier, when they were stationed on the eastern wastelands and had just finished setting up their positions with the auxiliary forces, they were struck by a crushing wave of sorrow. It surged from deep within, enveloping every traveler and plunging them into profound sadness; the more emotionally attuned among them collapsed to the ground, sobbing uncontrollably.
This unexpected display left the mortal auxiliaries deeply shocked—these angelic warriors of the Emperor, their supposed paragons, were sprawled on the ground, weeping as if their world had ended.
“It’s nothing. I just died once,” Wang Ming replied, unhurried, recounting the entire assassination attempt.
As he spoke to Wang Xiaofa, a curious thought struck him: he recalled that the woman who tried to kill him seemed to be wearing Earth-style casual clothes.
“Damn, someone tried to assassinate a Primarch! No wonder—we really are your gene-seed, aren’t we?” Wang Xiaofa responded, realizing why Wang Ming’s death had devastated the travelers so thoroughly.
“Boss, Hu Jin is about to become the leader of the greenskins,” Wu Xuan suddenly chimed in.
“What? What did Hu Jin do?” Wang Ming stared, bewildered. How had Hu Jin ended up as a greenskin boss?
“You had Hu Jin take us to clear out the greenskins, right? He ended up facing off with their boss in a Waaagh duel. Both sides enjoyed it immensely. Hu Jin took on the greenskin boss one-on-one, chopped him down, and now the greenskins have collectively made Hu Jin their new leader.”
Wu Xuan recounted the whole incident: Hu Jin had taken the Second Regiment and ten thousand mortal auxiliaries to deal with the greenskins. When the fighting broke out, the Second Regiment and the greenskins realized they were kindred spirits—both sides erupted in a joyous Waaagh.
Hu Jin charged to the front, shouting, “The greenskin boss is a coward and wouldn’t dare fight me!” The local greenskin boss leapt out to accept the challenge. Hu Jin, wielding two power swords, shredded the greenskin leader’s battered, crude armor with a force field, and with his greenskin-esque fighting style and speech, quickly won over the remaining greenskins, making them his followers.
Upon hearing Wu Xuan’s report, Wang Ming and the other travelers in the channel, except for those in the Second Regiment, were left speechless. An Astartes becoming the greenskin boss in the human Imperium was certainly a first.
“Boss, I’m telling you, we’ve just acquired a batch of free labor,” Hu Jin suddenly appeared in the channel.
“What free labor? You expect the greenskins to do what? Wage a blood feud against the cultists in the lower hive?” Wang Ming felt a headache brewing. Why had Hu Jin gotten himself into such a mess? How was he supposed to deal with so many greenskins?
He took a sip of tea, but Hu Jin’s next words made him spit it out.
“Boss, you’re so clever! How did you know I wanted the greenskins to fight the cultists?” Wang Ming was momentarily lost for words.
“You really plan to do that?” Wang Ming coughed, clearing his throat.
“Of course, boss! Think about it—let the cultists and the greenskins tear each other apart. Isn’t that perfect?” Hu Jin replied, intending to use the greenskins who now saw him as their chief as cannon fodder against the cultists in the lower hive.
“In fact, Hu Jin’s plan isn’t so bad,” Wang Xiaofa interjected. “According to the planetary governor’s intelligence, the lower and bottom hives of both Thanatos and West Syphos have been completely taken over by cultists. Chaos and Genestealer cults together are estimated at about twenty million. We could use the greenskins as a test to gauge the cultists’ strength.”
“And they’d also help wear down some of the cultists,” Wang Xiaofa added.
“Alright, Hu Jin—how many greenskins do you have?” Wang Ming agreed to the plan and asked about their numbers.
“About three hundred thousand, just the greenskin boys. I’m not sure about the grots and other affiliated species,” Hu Jin replied. The greenskins on Mors hadn’t been around long, so their numbers were limited. With nothing nearby to Waaagh against, they had only each other, keeping their population modest. They were still in the era of cold steel, having never encountered the native humans of Mors.
“Fine, bring them to the Thanatos hive. Try them against the Genestealer cult first,” Wang Ming ordered. The main cult in Thanatos was the Genestealer cult, who viewed themselves as a buffet for the Tyranids and had little affinity with the Chaos cult.
One side aspired to become the Tyranids’ feast; the other hoped their god would grant them strange mercy. Even before their open rebellion, the Chaos and Genestealer cults fought fiercely in the underhive, with the Genestealers emerging victorious and the Chaos cult forced to retreat to West Syphos's bottom hive to spread their faith.
According to Thomas Peckhart’s previous investigation, the Genestealer cultists in Thanatos numbered around eighteen million—a figure so staggering that Wang Ming had considered deploying viral and gas weapons in the lower hive. However, Thomas explained these weapons wouldn’t be very effective down there.
Viral weapons could infect a few, but Genestealer cultists, being adept at biotechnology, would likely adapt within a month. Gas weapons would also be largely ineffective, given the hive’s intact air circulation system.