Chapter 53: Nurgle Worshiper

Chapter 53: The Nurgle Worshippers

The aftershock of spatial teleportation, like an invisible giant hand, brutally seized the innards of every person.

Dizziness, nausea, weightlessness… the familiar side effects surged in like a tide.

The dazzling white light faded, and beneath their feet was no longer the solid alloy floor of the martial arts room, but soft, rust-scented dark red soil.

“Hum——”

The power armor’s life support system emitted a faint hum, rapidly filtering the thin, metallic-sweet gas that permeated the air.

Even so, the side effects of the Warp jump caused many students to involuntarily bend over, letting out painful dry heaves.

“Stand up straight!”

Wu Shangfeng’s icy voice rang out in everyone’s communication channel, like a sudden blow to the head. “Regulate your breathing, circulate your psychic energy, adapt to the gravity! On the battlefield, no one gives you a minute to adjust!”

Qin Feng planted his feet firmly on the ground; the power armor’s amplification allowed him to resist the teleportation discomfort better than last time.

He took a deep breath, and the psychic energy within him swiftly flowed along the paths of the *Imperial Body-Tempering Art*, dispelling the lingering dizziness.

He raised his head and observed his surroundings.

They were on the edge of a massive, open-pit mine.

The sky was a murky gray-yellow, with three dim stars of varying sizes hanging in it, casting light devoid of warmth.

The air was thick with the smell of heavy dust and industrial exhaust.

As far as the eye could see, there were only exposed, ocher-red rock layers violently excavated by giant machinery, and abandoned, rust-covered mining equipment.

The entire world presented a desolate, bleak apocalyptic scene.

Yet, what drew the most attention was not this hellish mine.

It was that, along the edge of the pit, every few hundred meters, stood a colossal, disproportionately massive statue.

These statues, without exception, were all images of the Emperor.

Clad in golden power armor, wielding a golden greatsword, ruling the world, overlooking all beings.

But here, these statues, which should have been solemn and sacred, appeared utterly eerie.

They were eroded by wind and sand into mottled patches, the golden paint flaking off in large swaths, revealing the gray-white stone beneath.

On the faces of some statues, dark red, tear-like rust stains were frozen.

They stood silently on this dead mine, bringing not a shred of sanctity, but instead an indescribable gloom and desolation.

“What the… hell is this place?”

Qian Duoduo, supporting his giant shield, had caught his breath. His voice came through the comm channel, tinged with shock and confusion. “Putting so many Emperor statues by the mine? For whom? For the ore underground?”

Shi Potian said nothing, only gripping his battle blade tighter. His T-shaped visor turned toward the depths of the mine, where a faint, nauseating stench of decay wafted.

“Beep——”

Everyone’s tactical HUD interface lit up simultaneously.

[Task map download complete…]

[C-3 mine internal structure map loaded…]

[Life signals detected… Conducting friend-or-foe identification…]

[Identification complete. 19 “Nurgle” contamination sources marked.]

A three-dimensional map appeared in their field of vision.

On the map, at the bottom of the mine and the entrances to several main tunnels, nineteen scarlet dots flickered.

One of those dots was brighter and more glaring than all the others.

“Mission objective: kill all Nurgle worshippers.”

Wu Shangfeng’s voice sounded again, devoid of emotion.

“Among them, the strongest is a former Astra Militarum veteran, codename ‘Kro’, current life force index assessed at 14.5. The remaining eighteen worshippers are all contaminated miners, with life force indices below 10.0.” “Time limit: two hours. Timer starts now.”

As the words fell, a blood-red countdown appeared in the upper right corner of the HUD.

02:00:00.

Two hours—less than half the time of the last greenskin purge.

This meant no probing, no maneuvering—only the most efficient, most direct slaughter.

Everyone’s gaze turned to their temporary commander, Chu Lan.

Chu Lan, clad in power armor, wielded a long-handled glaive—after the last live combat, he had switched to the glaive, finding the sword too weak in chaotic melee.

He quickly scanned the 3D map, his voice cold and decisive as he gave orders over the public channel:

“All attention, this mission is an annihilation battle. The terrain is open; there’s no room for tactical tricks. We will descend directly to the mine bottom and launch a frontal assault.”

His finger traced across the virtual map.

“Total enemy count: nineteen. We will operate by dormitory units, free to engage targets. Prioritize eliminating the weaker peripheral ones, then converge to take down the leader, ‘Kro’.”

“Dorm 402, you’re responsible for the three targets at nine o’clock. Dorm 101, you take the twelve o’clock direction…”

Chu Lan’s instructions were clear and swift; within a dozen seconds, he had assigned initial attack zones to each group.

“Remember, the enemy are Nurgle worshippers. Prioritize destroying their heads and torso cores! Avoid unnecessary close-quarters combat! Now, move out!”

“Yes!”

With a unified response, the steel warriors of Class 1-3, like tigers descending a mountain, charged down the steep mine slope toward that abyss filled with decay and death.

The slope inside the mine was steep and rugged, littered with rubble and discarded metal parts.

But with the power armor’s assistance, the students moved as if on flat ground. Their alloy boots sank deep into the red soil, kicking up clouds of dust, as they descended toward the bottom at astonishing speed.

Battle was imminent.

Wu Shangfeng, as before, deployed drones to record the entire scene while scanning the battlefield with full attention, preventing student deaths while evaluating their progress.

——

Qin Feng’s trio formed a standard assault formation.

Qian Duoduo took the lead, his massive tower shield nearly covering all three of them.

The shield’s edges glowed with faint energy, indicating its force field generator was active.

Shi Potian followed closely on the left flank, his standard-issue long blade already drawn, the edge reflecting a cold gleam under the gray-yellow sky.

Qin Feng was on the right flank, carrying the three-meter alloy spear in one hand, its tip angled toward the ground, carving a straight line in the soil as he ran.

His steps were steady and rhythmic, always maintaining the optimal support distance from his teammates.

Their target was the three Nurgle worshippers at the northwest corner of the mine.

As the distance closed, the stench of decay, mixed with death and a sickly sweetness, grew stronger.

Soon, they saw the enemy.

They had once been three human miners.

But now, they could no longer be called "human."

Their bodies had undergone a horrifying mutation.

Their skin took on an unhealthy waxy yellow, covered in swellings and sores that oozed murky pus.

Their torsos, like inflated balls, were bloated and obese; the original miner uniforms were torn and tattered, stretched tight over rotting flesh.

His eyes were murky and lifeless, a strange, contented smile on his lips, as if savoring some ultimate pleasure.

Several flies, from nowhere, buzzed around the wounds on their bodies, emitting a droning sound.

(End of this chapter)