This was Eden's first ti in the Underhive.
Even in the mories of the original Eden Grant, there was little about the Underhive.
Most of his activities had been confined to the paradise of the Spire Mansion.
His impression of the Underhive was vague at best.
Looking at the scenery of the Underhive, Eden couldn't help but feel a sense of awe.
The structures in the Underhive were built layer upon layer with quick-setting concrete and tal, with countless residential zones and industrial districts connected to each other.
Newer communities were built atop older ones, continuously stacking upward to heights of several kiloters.
Looking up, he could only see an endless mass of dense buildings, faint artificial lights, and a dark sky.
But Eden knew that at the very top lay the Spire Mansion, the "paradise" of this planet, blessed with sunlight and fresh air.
In contrast, the Underhive, forever devoid of sunlight, was dark, damp, and chaotic, its air filled with the stench of chemicals, and even the puddles on the streets gave off a faint odor.
After all, the air and water here had gone through millions of cycles of filtration—barely suitable to sustain life.
Eden steadied himself against a wall, forcing himself to stand.
Days of intense psychic power usage had brought this body close to its limits.
His vision was affected, and he was even experiencing hallucinations.
The calmness of this street surprised him, but also gave him a sense of relief.
This was good news.
Initially, he had thought the Underhive would be a blood-soaked battlefield, ravaged by the heretical rebels.
He had assud all its residents had been corrupted, transford into terrifying chaos creatures.
But the reality was much better than he had anticipated.
There was a basic order here, with no apparent signs of large-scale warfare.
There were no cultists visible, nor was there any sound of gunfire.
People, although thin from hunger, walked by without overwhelming fear—so even with faint smiles.
In general, the entire district felt... peaceful.
So peaceful, it was almost strange.
Could there be sothing even more terrifying lurking here?
Eden shook his head, quickly dismissing the thought.
The atmosphere here was pleasant, giving him a strange sense of comfort.
It was likely he had wandered into a zone under the control of the Underhive Defense Force.
And probably into its core area.
That would explain the good order.
Before the closure of the Hive, the Defense Force had been stationed throughout the Underhive.
They guarded their respective zones.
As for why the heretical rebels had been able to breach the Hive's defenses so easily—
There were many possible reasons.
Perhaps the rebel forces had corrupted and gathered too quickly, catching the Defense Force off guard.
Or maybe the Defense Force had been infiltrated, leading to mass betrayal.
This was also one of the reasons why the palace district had resolutely sealed off the Hive.
To Eden, whether or not the Defense Force had betrayed them was not crucial.
As long as the Defense Force remained, protecting the people and preventing them from becoming heretical cultists or chaos creatures, it was good news.
Because what Eden needed most was population.
And defeating rebels was far simpler than dealing with the disgusting chaos entities.
Eden squinted his pale eyes, controlling his breathing, and pulled his tattered cloak tightly around himself.
He was prepared to blend into the crowd to gather information.
According to data from before the rebellion, the total area of the Underhive was nearly one-tenth of a continent, with a population close to two billion.
As for how many had survived, no one knew.
In this situation, gathering intelligence on the factions in the various regions of the Underhive wasn't easy.
Only mid- to high-level officers and officials of each faction would know such information.
So the imdiate task was to figure out who was in control here and find soone suitable to gather intelligence from.
For a psychic like Eden, manipulating the minds of ordinary people to make them reveal information was a simple matter.
Eden entered the district, but after only a few steps, he encountered a problem.
His psychic senses instinctively detected danger.
"Damn, it's the aura of a chaos heretic!"
He forced his eyes open, looking towards a pipe above the street—it was coming from there!
He quickly shouted to the people around him:
"Scatter! Heretic attack!"
Upon hearing about the heretic attack, the crowd panicked, scattering in every direction in search of shelter.
But it was already too late. Dozens of cultists, marked with blood-red symbols and adorned with various bones, fell from the pipes onto the ground.
They quickly scrambled to their feet, screaming as they wielded their weapons, attacking the crowd.
In an instant, axes swung, bullets flew.
"Kill! Kill! Let the blood flow!"
"A great blood sacrifice!"
Many civilians who couldn't escape in ti were brutally murdered and dismbered.
The crowd fled in chaos, and the scene descended into utter bedlam.
Eden mustered his strength to form a psychic orb, blowing off the head of the nearest heretic and seizing his firearm to counterattack.
He fired a few rounds, killing several heretics.
The cultists, realizing soone was fighting back, directed heavy firepower at him, making it difficult for Eden to hold his ground.
In his weakened state, he couldn't withstand a direct confrontation.
Fortunately, nearby patrols arrived.
They quickly engaged the cultists, easing the pressure on Eden.
Ratatatatatatata!
At that mont, a massive figure tumbled from a distant pipe, landing with a thud on the ground.
He struggled to rise and roared at the crowd:
"Wrath Descends!"
As Eden caught sight of the massive cultist, his scalp went numb.
The hulking cultist was nearly two ters tall, sared in blood, with human bones embedded in his flesh.
Even worse, his body was covered in various wires, and a bomb was embedded in his swollen belly.
Now the bomb in his belly was flashing red, the beeping growing faster.
Damn!
If that thing exploded, it could take out half the street.
And his psychic projection would be obliterated instantly.
The hulking heretic steadied himself, taking heavy steps towards the crowd.
"For the Emperor!"
The soldiers leapt out of their cover, charging forward without hesitation to try to stop the heretic with their own bodies.
But they hadn't reached him before other cultists gunned them down.
"Never retreat!"
"For the Emperor!"
More soldiers shouted as they charged.
Their determination was unwavering—they were the Emperor's most loyal warriors.
For him, they were willing to give everything.
Eden was deeply moved by this display, overwheld with admiration.
Such loyalty!
For these people, he had to take a risk.
The hulking heretic was halfway through the crowd now.
Eden braced himself against the wall, enduring the blinding pain in his head, gathering all his psychic power.
He raised his hand, focusing on the hulking heretic.
The charging heretic froze suddenly, clutching his head and wailing in agony.
Eden's psychic energy surged within his brain, pushing it to the breaking point.
"Die, heretic!"
Eden clenched his fist.
Pop!
The heretic's head exploded like a waterlon, blood spurting from his neck.
His corpse dropped with a heavy thud, landing right among the cultists.
Beep, beep, beep.
The cultists hesitated at the sound of the rapid beeping.
They glanced at the flashing red light of the bomb inside the fallen giant, cursing aloud:
"Damn it!"
Boom—
A massive explosion of fire engulfed the cultists.
"Wake up..."
Eden's eyes fluttered open, his head throbbing with pain.
What happened—did he just pass out?
In his blurred vision, a gentle woman in a veil was looking at him with concern.
"The Emperor be praised, he's alive!"
Seeing Eden awake, the woman called out excitedly to soone nearby.
Soon, a man who appeared to be an officer approached.
He looked at Eden intently, his gaze sharp!
(End of Chapter)
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