Hello everyone, I hope you are doing fine and well. I truly mean that.
I'm writing to explain exactly what happened over the past half year and why updates were so long, random, and frustratingly slow.
You see, my father was diagnosed with tuberculosis (TB). The unfortunate part was that we did not have enough money to get all the required medical tests and treatment. It was discovered that his lungs were filled with water, almost half a liter. He had severe coughing fits that lasted for minutes, constant fever, extreme exhaustion, and he was unable to work. He was so tired that he couldn't even sleep properly. Many nights, he had to sit on a chair just to breathe, drifting in and out of sleep from sheer exhaustion.
That was our reality for nearly six months.
Even after family support and help with the operation, I can say honestly that without that help, handling it alone would have been a death sentence for us.
Naturally, most of my focus during this time was on fear, constant fear that I might lose him. My friend had lost his father similarly just in December. The mental and emotional strain was overwhelming.
I started working on Webnovel not only because I had this vision for a long time, but also because I saw others there using Patreon, and I had hope, just a small hope, that maybe I could reduce the burden on his shoulders. And it did. I cannot express how much it meant to me, mentally and physically. Even a few hundred dollars makes a huge difference when you are running a household under medical stress.
Now, after the operation, there is a lot of relief. The TB treatment is still ongoing, but his breathing has improved a bit, and things are finally stabilizing a bit. He still can't work on anything and has coughs that pain him, but the treatment is going well.
For the first time in months, I have some time for myself again, a good thing, I can sleep at night, not just from exhaustion every day.
From now on, I can finally commit seriously. I will post regularly, work harder, and begin writing my own original fiction. I also have some good ideas planned. If you read my TWD fanfic, I hope you liked it. Sadly, it's only 5 chapters so far, but I will continue it, so don't worry.
...
Some of you have been here for a very long time. I completely understand and do not blame anyone who just quit due to my lack of updates. Your time should never feel wasted.
But some of you stayed. Some of you came back. You were here, and you didn't know my thing, and I didn't want to say at that time, and come off as some guilt-tripping guy, that was not me, I guess.
Still, you like the work to come here on Webnovel or paid, I truly cannot thank you enough.
Yes, this is fanfiction, but in these times, your support on Webnovel work meant everything. It reminded me that I can still do something meaningful, that my life is not as hopeless as it felt for years.
So yes, going forward, there will be original fiction, along with carefully edited and translated fanfiction.
Thank you, everyone.
I won't disappoint you any further.
......
Chapter 105: The Ratman's Underground City
Looking at the countless coordinates on the planetary model before him, Omegon observed the network of cities.
There was a distance between the cities, and he realized that precise measurements and predictions were needed to locate most of the Hrud's underground cities.
"Bright, send word down: wherever a location with a large number of underground fault lines is drilled into, directly drop a hydrogen bomb inside!"
"Also, find a company of volunteers to form a Data Repository, and then find a large group of Mechanicum cogitators to help collect data. We need a massive amount of computation to find the Hrud's underground city locations!"
"Primarch, my company is willing to form the Data Repository!"
"Cough, cough, becoming a member of the Data Repository might lead to other Space Marines looking at you differently, similar to the Tech-Priests in the legion. This is data processing work, not the passionate act of personally killing enemies on the battlefield!"
Company Commander Bright, upon hearing this and considering the treatment of Tech-Priests, still firmly stated, "My company is still willing. We don't care about others' opinions!"
"Alright, gather everyone needed, and let's start working to find the underground Hrud's locations!"
Company Commander Bright nodded.
He already knew that Primarch Omegon possessed extremely high intelligence, and even Mechanicum Magi praised him endlessly. This was the first time he had heard of an organization like the Data Repository.
Not long after, a large group of people arrived at the fortress hall.
Omegon calmly directed the crowd, who seemed unsure of what to do.
As for the so-called Data Repository, through Omegon's bombing tactics, his subordinates had come to understand it somewhat.
Previously, it was about reconnaissance, uploading data, and then marking it. Now, they needed to make predictions based on known data.
Omegon handed some program codes to Company Commander Bright's company for review and analysis.
He wasn't worried about the Alpha Legion warriors not learning, as they were very talented with data intelligence.
A large group of cogitators from the Mechanicum compiled all data on the Hrud across the entire planet, including cities, terrain, and even the recently discovered underground Hrud locations.
He then returned to the Space Battleship, rapidly writing relevant program codes through the cogitator array and assigning related sub-tasks to the Data Repository personnel.
Company Commander Bright's group initially didn't understand the program codes and didn't dare to be careless with the Primarch's tasks.
They could still handle some simple sub-tasks themselves, and the cogitators from the Mechanicum remained silent as they saw them making mistakes everywhere.
In the mountains several hundred miles from a war base, Captain Skorr led a group of people, looking at a dozen large holes in the ground.
There was excavated soil and Hrud architectural debris, and he waved his hand, instructing someone to throw a hydrogen bomb into one of the large holes.
A warrior asked in surprise, "Company Commander, will this hydrogen bomb exploding underground affect the war base?"
"Not sure, let's bomb it first!"
Captain Skorr estimated that a distance of several hundred miles should be safe.
Everyone quickly evacuated in a Thunderhawk Gunship.
The hydrogen bomb, falling 2,000 meters underground, had a constantly flashing, decreasing countdown timer.
In the dark underground space, dense Hrud, one meter tall, wearing armor and holding lasguns, approached.
Lasers continuously swept the hydrogen bomb's casing.
In the space two thousand meters underground, a large number of Hrud surrounded the hydrogen bomb.
The countdown light disappeared, leaving only the dull sound of countless Hrud striking the hydrogen bomb.
An elite Hrud even gnawed at it with its sharp fangs.
Soon, the hydrogen bomb's countdown reached zero.
The timer light flashed, causing countless Hrud to look on in surprise, then violently threatening the hydrogen bomb.
Boom!
The hydrogen bomb responded to the anger of countless Hrud, exploding directly into a violently flashing light.
Thousands of Hrud surrounding it were instantly reduced to ashes by the light.
The incredibly powerful explosion shockwave affected the geological layers.
The hollowed-out underground stone pillars directly collapsed, and the endless hydrogen bomb light, after traveling thousands of meters and countless turns through tunnels, illuminated the dark underground space.
In an underground Hrud city spanning tens of kilometers, hundreds of thousands of Hrud had already assembled and were ready for battle.
Led by a two-meter-tall, giant Hrud general, they were cheering loudly.
Next to him was a Hrud priest with a massive head connected to the brains of six other Hrud.
This oath-taking ceremony of the underground Hrud army was dazzling under the light of the hydrogen bomb.
The Hrud general and priest watched in shock as the light and heat surged towards them.
Rumble!
The entire underground space, including tunnels and the city, was directly destroyed by the hydrogen bomb.
Endless dust and rubble engulfed everything, and the collapsing geological layers once again crushed nearly a million Hrud, bringing them into endless darkness.
Due to the underground hydrogen bomb explosion, the surface was affected and shook violently.
The Thunderhawk Gunship squadron in the sky watched the earthquake-like ground with great curiosity.
With a loud boom, large sections of the ground were directly blown upwards.
Countless rubble and smoke shot into the sky.
Unexpectedly, the hydrogen bomb's power wasn't as terrifying as an explosion on the surface. It all transformed into the energy of a massive earthquake.
Captain Skorr watched from the sky for a while, seeing only rubble and smoke.
He had no idea if it was effective or how many Hrud were killed.
None of that mattered anymore. They would strictly follow the Primarch's orders.
As long as there were large fault lines underground, hydrogen bombs would be dropped to destroy them.
Such demolitions were being carried out extensively across all three continents.
The endless bombing in the sky continued, with missile contrails always visible when one looked up.
Now, even the underground was being heavily bombed with hydrogen bombs, which, to some extent, caused widespread earthquakes across the three continents.
The time for Alpharius and Perturabo to breach the cities had also arrived.
Although Primarch Omegon used crude methods of drilling and hydrogen bombing to destroy Hrud tunnels, a large number of underground Hrud armies still burst out onto the surface, counterattacking the human forces.
Primarch Omegon, who was coding on the Space Battleship, stopped his work upon seeing this.
He focused on the data model, watching tens of millions of underground Hrud armies emerge from across Shadowtooth Star.
Then, a large number of nuclear warheads were deployed from the sky, and intense explosions directly turned millions upon millions of Hrud armies into ashes.
Countless missiles then bombarded the remaining Hrud armies.
When it was deemed sufficient, Space Marines and the Astra Militarum were deployed from the air to mop up the remnants.
Over the next twenty days, tens of millions of missiles and a large number of nuclear bombs were dropped.
Additionally, Primarch Omegon led the Data Repository in calculating and drilling to locate some of the Hrud's underground cities for demolition.
After a whole month of high-intensity bombing, there were basically no Hrud armies exceeding a million in size seen on Shadowtooth Star's surface.
During this month, Alpharius led his troops to infiltrate the Hrud's super-cities.
Silently, they killed a large number of high-ranking Hrud, breaking through the powerful energy shields, after which several waves of orbital bombardment took out the cities.
Perturabo, after much effort, also breached the last Hrud super-city.
As he personally led heavy troops to break through from the front, there were considerable casualties.
But the existence of the underground Hrud army still caused damage to both sides.
In a rugged mountain path surrounded by countless trees, a large group of mechanized armored units passed through.
Alpharius, in his Terminator power armor, sat on an assault APC, while Company Commander Ingpeck reported recent battle intelligence.
Even though the Alpha Legion operated covertly, they still fought several battles against residual Hrud forces, and many parts of the force were damaged.
Alpharius heard that Captain Skorr had easily destroyed a Hrud super-city by dropping an antimatter bomb in just one day, and he continued to listen.
Upon hearing the reason for the frequent earthquakes on the continent recently, he said with a laugh, "Drilling holes and throwing hydrogen bombs to blow up rat holes. Only my brother could think of that!"
The other company commanders in the vehicle also chuckled upon hearing this.
Their other Gene-Seed Primarch always made them happy, inadvertently. His ideas were vastly different from those of Primarch Alpharius.
Ingpeck smiled and said, "But Captain Skorr and his men just throw hydrogen bombs without even knowing if there are Hrud underground. Isn't that too reckless and wasteful of ammunition?"
"Look at the missiles flying everywhere in the sky. Omegon's dedication to bombing tactics is evident!"
Alpharius looked up at the hundreds of missiles flying by and said nothing, having no intention of persuading Omegon to return to traditional tactics of infiltration behind enemy lines.
Everyone looked at the missile barrage in the sky in silence.
Ingpeck continued, "Primarch Omegon recently formed the Data Repository with new recruits from the First Company of the Eleventh Legion. What they do is similar to Pritchard Sage of the Mechanicum. They say they want to predict the location of underground Hrud through known data!"
Alpharius nodded. Casually, he suddenly saw movement behind a nearby rock.
"After this, have Pritchard Sage analyze it. There are enemies!"
[End of Chapter]