Zhang Ge was currently on a reconnaissance mission, having reached the edge of the Governor's Mansion. To avoid the clanking sounds of his armor, he had removed his Carapace Armor. In theory, if he was discovered, it would mean certain death.
However, despite several close calls where he found himself exposed to cameras while dodging guards, those cameras acted as if they were blind to him. Even when he deliberately paused for a few seconds, there was no reaction.
What's going on? Is the guy in the surveillance room slacking off?
Zhang Ge felt indignant.
If he could have seen the surveillance room at that moment, however, he would realize that things were not as they seemed. The massive screens in the room displayed nothing but darkness where multiple camera feeds should have been visible.
This was not because of the Decapitation Squad; rather, it was because the Governor's Mansion was the epicenter of the rebellion and the primary center for Daemonic Summoning. The impact of the Warp on reality was particularly severe here, causing even stable physical laws to exhibit minute fluctuations and distortions.
For those who could correct their position with Warp Projections, these shifts might not matter much, but for sensitive equipment—especially unprotected electronic instruments—such anomalies could be fatal.
While military-grade components that had been blessed and purified during assembly might still function, this Governor obviously hadn't spent any money on that.
Thus, the surveillance equipment was already damaged from the start, and the surveillance room had long since fallen into disrepair.
After carefully examining the outer wall, Zhang Ge realized that unless he had special skills or an entire squad trained for coordination, getting this far was already pushing his limits.
The Heretics weren't like characters in a game, leaving intentional blind spots for him to exploit. Instead, they employed overlapping Kill-Zone Overwatch points, traps, and defenses wherever possible.
The cultists stationed here were likely drawn from the Governor's mercenaries, or perhaps the traitorous PDF, or even Astra Militarum. Under strict guard, even if Zhang Ge managed to take down one or two sentinels to create an opening, it would be meaningless unless he could eliminate the entire group. The remaining guards would quickly respond.
On the other hand, the tighter the defenses surrounding the Governor's Mansion, the more it conformed to Zhang Ge's expectations. He had come this far; the squad couldn't just turn back now. If they launched a frontal assault with stray bullets flying everywhere, wouldn't that just invite death?
Thinking this way, Zhang Ge circled back to avoid the outer patrols and reported the situation to the Commissar and the others waiting outside.
The Commissar showed little reaction; likely, his battle-hardened experience told him this was all part of the game. He asked Zhang Ge to repeat the route he had taken to bypass the outer defenses and then led the whole squad to approach the Mansion's outer wall.
However, despite their careful approach, an unexpected incident occurred.
"Fake—"
The laser beam cut off that Heretic's words and his life. Zhang Ge thought to himself: infiltrating with a whole squad was completely different from sneaking in alone, especially with an Ogryn in tow, making many forms of cover impractical. It was not surprising that the squad had been discovered.
Sister Amilia, who was closer to the action, also lunged forward and took down the remaining two Heretics with a swift strike. However, their exposure was irreversible. In such a sensitive area, "no messages returned" was, in itself, a signal.
Remembering the patrol patterns he had observed earlier, Zhang Ge spoke up:
"According to the Terran Chrono, we have about five minutes left."
The Commissar did not respond immediately, only glancing up at the Mansion's outer wall. After a moment, he turned to Chaplain Laird and said, "We're close enough now. Wake the Psyker."
Laird set the Psyker down from his back, untying him before pulling out a syringe and injecting the Psyker in the neck. The potent serum caused the Psyker to convulse instantly, and moments later, he regained consciousness.
"Oh… my connection to the Warp has never been this clear. Is this my Fated Nexus? How wonderful."
As the Psyker pushed himself off the ground and stood up, he gazed around and quickly locked his eyes on the imposing structure before him.
But the Commissar had no intention of letting him drone on. He pointed at the Psyker and said to Big Mouth, "Big Mouth, toss him out—throw him toward the wall ahead."
In comparison to the Ogryn, the Psyker's frail body resembled a mere stick, easily grasped around the waist. He made no effort to resist, as if expecting this treatment, his expression even growing more excited.
"Glory, glory! I suffer so that my soul may return to the realms of the living!"
He was flung toward the outer wall of the Mansion in a graceful arc, and the guards naturally noticed this scene. However, before they could react, the Psyker suddenly seemed to lose all momentum, hanging suspended in mid-air.
His robes fluttered as if there were a wind, and arcs of brilliant blue lightning began to dance around him. The psychic energy spilling from his pale body took the form of a dazzling, white sphere.
In an instant, a torrent of brilliant psychic lightning gushed from his outstretched hand. Though there was no thunderous noise, the chilling screams of each Heretic consumed by the energy echoed like thunderclaps.
This unrestrained use of psychic power allowed the excess energy to obliterate the counterattacks from the Heretics. Bullets and lasers aimed at the Psyker were effortlessly consumed by the radiant glow.
Yet this reckless casting came at a cost. While the Psyker cackled in a frenzy, his body rapidly withered, soon resembling a mere skeleton.
The symbolic, albeit brief explosion robbed him of his life essence, and simultaneously, the daemonic entities drawn to the radiant spectacle from the Warp began to funnel into the area.
But this was precisely the last part of the Psyker's plan. After feeling his body and soul pierce through one, and then into multiple distorted existences, he ignited his essence using his final psychic reserve, employing the daemons as fuel.
With a surge of unrestrained psychic energy far stronger than before, a star-like white sphere appeared on the ground and rapidly expanded, accompanied by the wails of the daemons drawn into the inferno. The sphere transformed into a storm that indiscriminately devoured and shredded everything within its influence.
Eventually, it began to fade. To those who had withdrawn a safe distance away, a massive circular breach had emerged, centered around the Psyker, with cracks in the ground stretching outward. The Psyker had brutally torn the final gap for the Decapitation Squad's infiltration.
"Do not waste anyone's sacrifice. Now it's our turn to extend our formal compliments to them."