RNP Chapter 29 The Necessary Pain
Chapter 29 The Necessary Pain
In the basement of the seventh maintenance workshop.
Luo Wei stood in front of a worktable covered in grease.
He was holding a gun cleaning cloth in his hand.
He gently wiped the coolant off his fingers.
His movements were slow, with a touch of nonchalant elegance.
However, this is only the surface.
His gaze never left the machine being "desecrated" before him.
A heavy logging gun.
The brass pipes that were originally used to circulate cooling water have been forcibly cut off.
Father Alpha was lying prone beside the gun.
Three mechanical tentacles simultaneously operate the welding torch and the wrench.
A black flexible tube covered with heat-insulating asbestos was connected to the cooling sleeve of the gun barrel.
The other end of the hose is connected to a high-pressure steam valve on the wall.
Those are pipes from the fermentation workshop.
The steam flowing inside is not ordinary water vapor.
Instead, it was a special steam containing excess vitality and high temperature after being "heated" by that subspace crystal.
"Your Excellency, this modification is a serious violation of the provisions of the General Foundry Codex."
Father Alpha's voice rang out, accompanied by the crackling sound of electricity.
His infrared prosthetic eye flickered, revealing a struggle stemming from the core of logic.
"The machine spirit is screaming. It can't understand why steam at 400 degrees Celsius should be allowed into an area that should be cooling down. This will cause the gun barrel to overheat and deform within thirty seconds."
"It won't deform, Alpha." Rowe put down the gun cleaning cloth and walked to the gun.
"Because the enemy we face is not ordinary flesh and blood. Ordinary kinetic warheads hitting a Nurgle are like trying to pierce a piece of rotten butter with a toothpick—completely pointless."
"We need heat, we need enchantments, we need a little bit of 'fighting fire with fire' from the warp."
He pointed to the dark red lines that were beginning to appear on the barrel due to excessive heat.
"This isn't overheating, it's 'charging'," Rowe emphasized. "As for the Machine Soul's scream... tell it, this is the Emperor's wrath. Wrath is always scorching, isn't it?"
Father Alpha fell silent.
At this moment, the logic circuits within his body are experiencing a storm.
On one side is the "Universal Casting Codex," engraved in the core code and passed down for thousands of years.
That is an inviolable dogma.
On the other side is the insane plan proposed by this mortal, full of theological sophistry yet incredibly practical.
Normally, any tech priest would draw his explosive gun at this moment and execute this heretic who blasphemed the STC template on the spot.
But Alpha did not.
Perhaps it was working with Luo Wei during this period and witnessing a series of seemingly "irregular" operations that ultimately turned into amazing efficiency.
Or perhaps, even a cold, mechanical heart, when faced with the temptation of even more intense firepower, might experience a stirring that is almost a biological instinct.
In short, the purest desire for "destruction" ultimately broke through the firewall of dogma.
"Praise be to Om Messiah."
The priest no longer hesitated.
His voice trembled with fervor.
"Modification complete, stress testing underway."
As the priest turned the valve.
A hissing sound instantly filled the entire basement.
High-pressure steam rushes into the barrel sleeve.
The expected physical explosion did not occur.
Instead, the heavy logging gun began to vibrate.
It wasn't the vibration of a machine, but more like the deep breath of a living thing.
The originally dark metal barrel turned into a sickly dark purple within seconds.
A layer of luminous veins, resembling blood vessels, appeared on the surface.
The surrounding temperature suddenly rose.
Luo Wei felt a stinging pain on his skin.
That was a slight psionic radiation.
"Case, assess the situation," Rowe commanded in a low voice.
The cold, synthesized voice of the wet component server came through the headphones:
"Warning: Phase transformation has occurred in the metal structure of the gun barrel. Hardness has decreased by 15%, and thermal conductivity has increased by 300%."
"As the bullet passes through the barrel, its surface will be coated with a layer of high-energy plasma and subspace thermal energy."
Theoretical lethality: Causes "molecular-level" burning and ulceration in organisms.
"very good."
Lo Wei nodded.
He doesn't need this gun to last long.
All he needed was for it to burn those damned Chosen of Nurgle to ashes before it exploded.
"How many were modified in total?"
"Six, advisor. This is all of our heavy firepower inventory." Father Alpha retracted his mechanical tentacles, his tone fanatical. "Now, they're more like... sacrificial vessels."
"Anything, as long as it can kill."
Luo Wei turned and walked outside.
"Get them to the front line. Tell Buck to bring his squad leader and machine gunner to my office."
……
Stepping out of the basement, the outside world was shrouded in a suffocating gloom.
The smell of decay in the air was even stronger.
Rowe walked across the square where the granary stood.
The workers are carrying sandbags and ammunition boxes.
They worked very hard, even tirelessly.
But on everyone's face was that strange, dazed smile.
A porter was hit on the toe by a heavy ammunition box, and blood seeped out.
He didn't scream; instead, as if he felt no pain, he grinned foolishly and picked up the box again, humming an off-key tune.
The effects of the "green soup" are becoming more pronounced.
The "happiness" mixed with warp forces is robbing these people of their most basic warning mechanisms as living beings—
Pain and fear.
Luo Wei strode into the office.
He locked the heavy explosion-proof door behind him.
He took out a silver briefcase from a hidden compartment at the bottom of his desk.
Open the box.
The deep blue potion lay quietly on the velvet cushion, emitting a faint, cold light.
This is the "sobering" sent by Governor Alicia.
Lo Wei did not hesitate.
He took out a set of chemical test tubes and distilled water and began to dilute the solution.
He wasn't a pharmacist, but he knew basic dosimetry.
If this vial of highly purified mental stabilizer were injected directly into these chronically malnourished soldiers, it could directly cause them to suffer cardiac arrest.
He needs to dilute it into twenty portions.
This will reduce the drug's effectiveness and prolong its duration of action.
But it's enough to tear away that layer of false happiness.
Ten minutes later.
A knock came at the door.
Buck walked in with five squad leaders from the defense force.
They looked to be in "good" condition.
Buck's one eye no longer looked as fierce as usual, but instead exuded a hazy, gentle light.
A faint smile played at the corners of his lips.
This is a side effect of drinking too much "added-flavor green soup".
"Advisor, you wanted to see us?" Buck gave a weak salute. "The brothers are in high spirits, everyone feels... full of hope."
"hope?"
Rowe stopped what he was doing, looked up, and stared coldly at him. "Buck, do you really think that's hope out there?"
Buck paused for a moment, seemingly trying to think about the question.
But his brain was clearly blocked by something like cotton wool: "Uh... at least everyone's not hungry anymore, and they're not afraid. Isn't that a good thing?"
Lo Wei did not answer.
He placed six syringes filled with a pale blue liquid in a row on the table.
"This is a 'strengthening agent' bestowed upon me by the governor." Lowe told a lie, a necessary lie.
"It can enhance your reaction speed and perception. There will be a major battle tonight, and only the most elite officers are qualified to use it."
Upon hearing the words "enhancer," a primal greed flashed in Buck and the others' eyes.
At the bottom of the Nest City, anything that can make a person stronger is hard currency.
"One injection per person, now administer the injections," Rowe commanded, leaving no room for argument.
Buck hesitated for a moment.
However, his long-established habit of obedience led him to pick up the syringe.
The other squad leaders followed suit.
The needle is inserted into the vein.
The pale blue liquid slowly entered the blood vessels.
one second.
two seconds.
three seconds.
Suddenly, a burly squad leader dropped his empty syringe on the ground with a crisp sound.
Immediately afterwards, he clutched his head with both hands and let out a low, beast-like growl.
"Ahhhhh!"
That was a scream of extreme pain.
It was like a red-hot knife plunging directly into the cerebral cortex, stirring wildly inside.
Next up is Buck.
This man, who killed without blinking an eye on the battlefield, suddenly had his knees buckle and knelt heavily on the ground.
His face turned deathly pale, and large beads of sweat rolled down his forehead.
He was retching violently, as if he wanted to vomit up his internal organs.
The false "filter of happiness" that enveloped their senses was brutally torn apart by the domineering power of the drug.
The tangible feel of the real world returns like a tsunami.
The itching that occurred during wound healing turned into excruciating pain;
The sour, rotten smell of inferior synthetic starch in my stomach assaulted my nasal cavity.
The rotting aroma in the air instantly turned into a nauseating stench of corpses.
What's even more terrifying is the collapse of emotions.
The blissful feeling of being on cloud nine vanished.
Instead, there is a deep-seated fear, anxiety, and repression in this despairing universe.
All the negative emotions, after being suppressed for a long time, erupted with ten times the intensity.
"Advisor... what... what is this...?"
Buck lay on the ground, trembling all over, his single eye bloodshot.
His eyes went from dazed to terrified and fierce in an instant.
"This is 'wake-up call,' Buck."
Rowe sat in his chair, looking down at the group of officers struggling in pain, his voice cold.
"The specially supplied green soup can turn you into tireless slaves, or you can turn you into fools who don't know what's good for them."
"If you go to war with that kind of silly grin, you'll be swallowed up by the plague in the blink of an eye."
He stood up, walked over to Buck, squatted down, and looked directly into the other's trembling one eye.
"Does it hurt?"
"It hurts...it hurts so much I want to die..." Buck gritted his teeth, blood seeping from his gums.
"It should hurt."
Lowe patted Buck's cheek, not lightly.
"Pain is humanity's last line of defense. Only pain can remind you that you are still alive, that you are still a human being, and not a bunch of walking corpses."
He stood up and pointed outside the door.
"Remember this pain. Operate the heavy logging rifle with this pain. I want you to pull the trigger with this fear and anger. Only the most lucid of you deserve to live through tonight."
Buck, panting heavily, struggled to get up from the ground.
His body was still trembling.
His eyes were still filled with fear of the world.
However, the feigned weakness had vanished, replaced by murderous intent.
"He's...an advisor!"