Bert Duffy should have been called to the rally like everyone else, but he was in no hurry.
He soaked in the water storage room, while others would only visit here when they had no other choice, but he liked it here. It reminded him of the place where he used to work, the not-so-warm but comfortable job in Attica. .
But with the invasion of Chaos, a thoughtless swing of a jackhammer and a snatched meal, he was forced to change the direction of his career.
He became a Chaos believer who just a few months ago would have screamed abuse.
"Burt, I know you can hear me, get to the meeting!"
A burst of sound broke the silence, and Bert clicked the communicator on his waist and turned it off.
Except for people who have long been accustomed to the worst living environment, no one is willing to break into the smelly water storage system and get contaminated with sewage in the water tank.
Human beings need water no matter where they go, just because they cannot survive without it. There are countless examples of fights for water resources in human history.
Bert didn't quite understand this, but he did know that without water, there would be no life.
Water has its own way out, and it is never easy to capture it. Water longs for freedom and hates being imprisoned. It always seizes every opportunity to escape from the cage. It corrodes the ancient pipes it flows through, and slips away from incomplete seals. . As always, the water flows downward until it reaches the bottom with nowhere to go.
That's why refugee camps need water storage tanks, not unlike the filthy sewage ditches on ancient sea ships, where every drop of condensation that spills, every drop of sewage that flows from a broken water pipe, every drop of rationed synthetic alcohol spilled by the crew, Into this ugly tank.
Fuel, gasoline, and whatever else only the Emperor knew, mixed together into a thick soup.
In a well-functioning water supply system, these liquids will be pumped out for processing and recycling, and the tanks will be cleaned from time to time to remove dirt.
But nothing in the refugee camp is functioning properly. Water tanks are overflowing and sewage is flowing everywhere.
In places invisible to humans, the wonderful magic of life takes root and grows, creating a small world.
A rusty lifting platform sat further away in the water room, but Burt never used it, and the sound of a roaring motor ruined the tranquility.
The sewage has already reached the edge of the square water tank. Under the water, algae is growing wildly.
In some places, these primitive plants are almost piled up, leaving little practical space for humans. In addition, the ceilings here are not high, the low-hanging cables are enough to strangle a reckless guy, and the hot light bulbs are likely to explode. risk.
The water tank wasn't built for life, humans, or anything else, but Burt found joy in this morass surrounded by metal.
It supports almost an entire ecosystem, and there are rats that live here - as many species as the stars that humans have explored, in addition to some mutated insects, luminous amphibians, and smooth-bodied, toothed animals. Predators like steel needles.
No one cared about the tangled biological populations in the water supply, and Burt kept it a secret, almost becoming an amateur naturalist.
Of course, he wouldn't care if someone got sick from drinking the water flowing out of here.
It seems that because he is in this key position, he has a middle-level position in the sect, which seems to be called the chief priest, but he doesn't care that much.
However, some people say that he got this position because everyone who got too close to him became sick and was regarded as being blessed by the dark power.
To be honest, he didn't care about that either.
The Emperor had been abandoned by him long ago, and now he believed in something that would allow him to survive - even though he couldn't name it.
Burt hummed as he groped in a tank filled with silt, thick organic gases rising from the bottom as he slid a pole through the sludge.
The smell gradually calmed down and was nowhere near as bad as imagined.
Suddenly, the rarely turned on speaker in the central aisle sounded.
"Everyone gather at once, including you, Bert!"
An angry roar came from the speaker accompanied by the sound of electricity, and it took a long time for the echo to completely disappear.
Then, the creatures in the water tank became active again.
Burt glared at the speaker.
"do not bother me!"
He complained, the communicator on his waist kept trembling, asking to be reconnected.
He looked toward the stairwell, where most of the water tank's light came from. Most of the lights inside were off or filled with water and slime, rendering them useless.
"Curse it all."
He regretfully put down the pole, wiped his knees, and then turned around, only to be bumped into a giant that he hadn't noticed at all.
He took a step back.
If he didn't, he wouldn't be able to see the thing's glowing eyes.
Eyes seemed inappropriate to describe him. A pair of eternally dark scarlet goggles was looking at him.
"Hello mortal, what's your name?"
If it weren't for the cold air emanating from it and the smell of the slaughterhouse on its breath, the voice would have seemed amiable.
Bert Duffy took a step back, ready to escape, but he stepped on the water and had to stay where he was.
"Bur-Bur-Burt Duffy."
The creature took another step closer, and Bert Duffy tensed and leaned back, teetering on the edge of the water.
The giant was covered in a blue robe, and the unshielded part leaked a silver-gray metallic luster, but it always exuded a unique smell similar to grease.
Suddenly, a fly buzzed over Bert Duffy's head. After he stood still for a while, they began to boldly harass him, but none of them dared to approach the giant.
"Tell me, now, where is your bishop?"
Bert Duffy frowned at the question.
"I-I-I-I-"
"Shh, be careful with your next words."
Bert Duffy swallowed.
"Now, I am preparing to go to the temple for a meeting. The bishop should be there too."
"Temple."
The giant said with satisfaction:
"Look, now you sound like a believer, right?"
"Are you - you - you, are you an Astartes?"
Bert Duffy wondered if there was something going on in his head when he suddenly blurted out an obvious question.
The giant let out a deep laugh.
"Yes, it's me."
He stretched out his hand and poked the man's chest. The force caused the man to let out a painful cry.
"I suspect this is common sense. I guess you'd like to know what I believe in. Guess what?"
Bert Duffy shook his head.
"Oh, I bet you know, name the beings I believe in."
Burt swallowed, reality numbing his tongue.
The giant came closer.
"I'll tell you the answer, as long as you promise to keep this secret, you will, won't you? Say yes right now, come on, I know you're scared, I smell it."
The man nodded, he was too frightened to say a word.
"I am the Emperor's Angel of Death, I am the Throne's Final Punishment."
The giant carefully grasped Burt's neck and raised him to the height of his face.
Suddenly, the cult leader made a wet sound, followed by the warm, surrounding smell of defecation.
"Looks like you know what I mean, and that's good, that's great."
The scarlet eyepiece stared at him horribly.
"Do you know what I'm thinking?"
Cold hands moved on Bert Duffy's neck, and the man cried.
"Is the price of this betrayal too high for you?"
"W-what-"
Perhaps the man himself was confused, but in Sablin's sight, what he was struggling with was a poor man covered in blisters and with ulcerated skin.
Flies surrounded the man's head, light green gas surged from his features with every breath he took, and maggots came in and out of the holes in his skin.
With disgust, Sablin exerted a sudden force.
With a pop, the opponent exploded like a ball.
"Fallen——"
Sabourin looked at the large water tank that had almost turned into a viscous green swamp and the disgusting subspace creatures wandering inside, feeling that the situation was getting more and more serious.
He didn't know how many people drank the water or how many people were infected.
"The leader of this sect must be dealt with first."
