As the four-man squad stepped into the core fortress, rebuilt from the wreckage of a Cruiser, their final objective finally appeared.
"WAAAGH!!!"
Accompanied by a furious roar that could have brought down the building, a massive figure towering over six meters tall rose from the fortress’s throne.
It was a true Green-skinned Warlord.
It wore a set of massive, grotesque Power Armor, cobbled together from various pieces of Warship Armor, Power Armor wreckage, and giant bones.
Dozens of "dakka guns" and Rocket Launcher Nests were mounted on the armor. One arm was a Hydraulic Power Claw belching thick smoke, while the other hand dragged a Chainsaw War Axe larger than Qin Feng himself.
It emanated a WAAAGH! field so dense it was nearly tangible, causing the surrounding space to distort slightly.
The battle that followed was a bloody struggle that lasted a full seven days.
The Warlord’s Power Armor and WAAAGH! field were too strong.
The Spiritual Energy attacks of Linzhou and the other two only created ripples upon impact.
Qin Feng’s brutal assaults could only leave shallow white scratches on the armor.
They were locked in a grueling fight, forced to skirmish around the behemoth like the most patient of Hunters, constantly clearing out the personal guards it summoned while searching for a weak point.
After countless probing attacks, they finally found an opening.
"Its left knee joint is made from the wreckage of an Imperial ’Knight’ Mecha! The defense is flawed!"
Linzhou roared after a life-threatening close-quarters assault.
The strategy became clear in an instant.
Qin Feng became the unbreakable "shield," tanking the Warlord’s frenzied attacks head-on.
His Power Armor erupted with sparks as alarms blared, but he held the monster at bay through sheer physical strength and tenacious Will.
Meanwhile, Linzhou, Carlo, and Yu Lin became the sharpest "spear," focusing all their attacks on that single weak point in the Warlord’s left knee joint.
Energy Beams, the tearing of Power Claws, overwhelming blade qi... After tens of thousands of strikes, like water dripping through stone, they finally destroyed the joint at dusk on the sixth day.
"ROAR—!"
The Warlord let out a pained roar. Its massive body lost its balance and it fell to one knee, kicking up a cloud of dust and debris.
It furiously swung its Chainsaw War Axe, trying to get back up, but Qin Feng had already closed the distance.
Facing the great axe that could split mountains and shatter peaks as it came crashing down, Qin Feng did not dodge or evade. His feet rooted themselves to the ground as he poured all his combat experience from the past few months, all his Will, and all his strength into his right fist.
In his eyes, there was no enemy, no battlefield—only the Eternal Emperor, seated upon the Golden Throne.
[Golden Court]!
He threw a punch, striking the Warlord’s massive chestplate, which had been exposed when it knelt.
"CLANG—!!!"
A tremendous clang, as if from a primordial bell, echoed throughout the entire fortress.
In that moment, time itself seemed to slow down.
Everyone saw that Qin Feng’s fist never made direct contact with the heavy chestplate, yet a light brighter than the sun erupted between them.
An invisible, world-dominating "presence" collided head-on with the frenzied, chaotic WAAAGH! field emanating from the Warlord.
"CRACK... CRACKLE-CRACK..."
A crisp cracking sound rang out. The Warlord’s sturdy chestplate, forged from Warship Armor, began to show spiderweb-like cracks, like a shattered eggshell, which quickly spread outwards.
Finally, with a dull BANG, the entire chestplate, along with the flesh and bone behind it, was crushed inward and pulverized by an indescribable force!
The Warlord’s massive body suddenly stiffened, and the savage light in its eyes quickly faded.
"WAA...AGH..."
It let out one last, weak roar, and then its colossal body crashed to the ground, silent forever.
The WAAAGH! field collapsed and dissipated along with it.
The battle was over.
A dead silence fell over the fortress, leaving only the faint hum of the Power Armor’s life support systems.
Qin Feng, Linzhou, Carlo, and Yu Lin stood silently beside the Warlord’s corpse, their chests heaving violently.
"HISS..."
With four synchronized hisses, they all opened their helmet visors, revealing their faces.
Each of their faces was etched with exhaustion and stained with green blood, but their eyes were astonishingly bright.
They didn’t cheer, nor did they speak.
The four of them exchanged a silent glance, then simultaneously raised their right arms, balled their hands into fists, and struck their left chests.
It was the standard military salute of the Imperial Army.
After the salute, genuine, brilliant smiles bloomed on all four of their faces at the same time.
-----------------
The thick stench of blood and cordite lingered in the air, mixing with the pervasive smell of spores to create a nauseating odor unique to a green-skin battlefield.
The four of them stood in place, silently steadying their ragged breaths as their Power Armor’s life support systems hummed faintly, filtering the foul air.
The months-long bloody war had been a massive drain, even for powerhouses of their caliber.
Once they had recovered, Carlo took out a Spiritual Flame Sprayer and began incinerating the green-skin corpses.
If they weren’t burned, a new horde of Green-skinned kids, just itching for a fight, would sprout up here next year.
After they finished clearing the battlefield, everyone gathered together again.
"Primordial Acupoints."
Qin Feng’s voice broke the silence. He looked toward the depths of the fortress, where a red coordinate point on his Tactical HUD was still flashing stubbornly.