Five percent—this seemingly insignificant proportion—was shockingly large when applied to the behemoth that was the Hive City.
It's important to note that the corpse guild collected thousands of bodies daily.
Over a year, millions, even tens of millions, of bodies flowed through the processing lines.
A 5% deficit meant that tens, or even hundreds, of thousands of bodies vanished without a trace each year—a quantity sufficient for certain malevolent individuals to perform a terrifying Chaos sacrificial ritual, potentially even summoning entities powerful enough to destroy the entire Hive City.
Upon realizing the gravity of the problem, 32 immediately reported this anomaly to the Hive City's Adeptus Arbites, demanding an immediate and comprehensive investigation.
Concurrently, she quickly rendezvoused with Gutierrez, deciding to personally delve into the Bottom Nest to investigate and uncover the truth behind the mysterious disappearance of the bodies.
The Adeptus Arbites dared not delay in the slightest, immediately dispatching an elite Marshal Squad to the Bottom Nest to commence the investigation.
These black-armored enforcers, armed with Bolters, swiftly disappeared into the lift platform leading to the Lower Hive, prepared to uncover the truth through violence and ironclad law.
While the Adeptus Arbites was in action, the Inquisition's informants had already detected this anomaly.
An Inquisitor from the Pursuit Ordo, accompanied by his meticulously trained acolyte squad, also quietly set out.
They chose a different route from the Adeptus Arbites to infiltrate the Bottom Nest, intending to thoroughly investigate the matter in the Inquisition's unique manner.
If necessary, they would not hesitate to purify the entire area.
Two investigation teams, one overt and one covert, simultaneously advanced into the darkest depths of the Hive City.
As 32 and Gutierrez, leading their respective Kill Teams, stepped into the rust-pitted transport elevator, four Kasrkin Automaton Sentinels and ten Primaris Astartes in Phobos Power Armor packed the secret elevator, hidden within the building's inter-layers, to capacity.
The Legal Department Special Agent nervously wiped cold sweat from his forehead, his fingers rapidly manipulating the control panel.
The metallic bodies of the four fully armed Automaton Sentinels occupied most of the elevator's space; their weight far exceeded expectations.
Coupled with the heavy Power Armor and weapons of the ten Astartes Monks, this elevator, originally designed to carry fifty ordinary people, was now emitting dangerous metallic groans.
The Special Agent uneasily glanced at the flashing red light of the overload alarm, praying that this perilous journey would end safely.
This was a secret passage meticulously designed by the Adeptus Arbites, deeply hidden within the intricate structural inter-layers of the Hive City. Normally, this route was used to secretly transport high-priority criminals from the Lower Hive or to convey certain unsavory "special goods."
This time, it was only due to 32 and Gutierrez's special identities that the Adeptus Arbites granted them access to this secret route.
With a piercing metallic screech, the elevator began its high-speed descent.
Outside the elevator shaft, a chilling sound of twisting metal emanated, as if the entire passage was under immense pressure.
This steel behemoth, buried deep within the Hive City's armored layers, was plummeting downwards at an astonishing speed of eighty kilometers per hour, the violent vibrations causing the elevator's lights to flicker on and off.
Through the reinforced glass of the observation window, one could see that the specially treated alloy walls were covered in grotesque claw marks and dense bullet holes, with suspicious organic residue even congealing in certain areas.
Clearly, the Adeptus Arbites transported far more than just ordinary prisoners through this passage.
When the elevator finally stopped at the lowest level of the Lower Hive's abandoned loading bay, accompanied by a piercing braking sound, the gate slowly opened, propelled by the hydraulic system.
This sudden noise startled the creatures dwelling in the darkness, and swarms of glowing bats flapped their wings, scattering and fleeing.
The eerie green light emitted by these mutated creatures traced chaotic paths in the darkness before vanishing into the endless blackness.
This place had clearly been abandoned for many years; a deathly silence permeated the surroundings, and even the most basic lighting facilities had failed.
32 immediately signaled the nearby Automaton Artisan to activate the lighting system, and the searchlights on the chests of the four Automaton Sentinels simultaneously illuminated, their blinding beams tearing through the heavy darkness.
In the pallid light, the scene before them was nauseating: fifteen-centimeter-thick black grease covered every inch of the walls like a living thing, and rotting oil pipes continuously seeped viscous liquid, accumulating in the corners to form puddles with an eerie sheen.
Lethal mixed gases hung in the air; the pungent odor, a cross between hydrogen sulfide and decaying flesh, could be faintly detected even through the filtration system.
"The Bloodfinger Gang controls the nearest secret passage; they have some cooperation with our Adeptus Arbites." No sooner had the accompanying Legal Department Special Agent finished speaking than six tattooed brutes, armed with makeshift Lasguns, leaped down from a ventilation shaft.
But their ambush formation instantly collapsed.
The weapon in the hand of the leading gang member clattered to the ground; this thug, who had fought in the Lower Hive for years, was now staring intently at the Astartes before him, his knees trembling uncontrollably.
"Demi… demigods…" another gang member mumbled, slumping into the grease.
To these ants living in the darkness, the Astartes were sacred beings existing only in the Ecclesiarchy's murals.
For these gang members living in the lower echelons of the Hive City, they usually only engaged in acts of violence.
Perhaps they could kill a Mutant without batting an eye, but a fully armed Hive City Marshal could make them wet their pants.
Not to mention the Astartes, who, in their perception, only existed in fairy tales.
Especially now, the Primaris Astartes appearing before them were even larger than regular Astartes, further increasing the sense of oppression and the feeling of a myth descending, causing these gang members to lose all hope.
The Legal Department Special Agent took out his shock baton and struck the gang members, explaining their purpose, and thirty minutes later, the Bloodfinger Gang leader was summoned before everyone.
This was a man with a low-quality prosthetic eye in his right socket, wearing clothes made from the hides of mutated rats, but one arm had been replaced with a prosthesis.
32 merely glanced at it and determined that the thing was likely something someone had crudely made themselves; it was truly shoddily constructed.
"We're going to the Bottom Nest; don't play any tricks, Grosse." The Legal Department Special Agent naturally knew this gang leader, briefly explained their purpose to him, and then threw him a credit voucher.
That was a currency issued by the Hive City itself, circulating fairly well in the Mariupol Sector Capital, and its purchasing power remained strong.
For entities like the Lower Hive gangs, this was absolute hard currency.
"Please rest assured, noble sirs, the Bloodfinger Gang controls three smuggling routes to the Bottom Nest and can safely deliver all of you noble sirs to the Bottom Nest!" The gang leader named Grosse bowed deeply, looking utterly obsequious.
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