Armor plating formed its mountain-like silhouette, with the Holy Aquila emblem carved onto the hull, reflecting a cold light.
Macro-cannons and lasers were deployed on the ship's broadside, accompanied by combat escort wings.
It even had a health bar!
Units, tens, hundreds, thousands... David counted them; there were three zeros.
From the distance came Hans's excited shout:
"It's the Voskani mark!"
Voskani, the regiment that betrayed and joined Chaos? David snapped back to reality.
The Voskani Ironclad Regiment was a regiment famous in the Cadian war zone for its tenacity and unwavering loyalty, fighting on the front lines year-round, but few knew that this legion had actually long been corrupted.
High in the sky, the Poppy, swept up by the air currents, drifted toward the towering giant ship.
As it approached, the petals curled and blackened, withering and wilting into a handful of ashes that dissipated in the gale.
No matter how beautiful and brilliant it was at birth, once fallen, only its ugly and decayed essence would ultimately be revealed.
David withdrew his gaze and walked back quickly; he knew that the time left for him was running out.
Everything was foreshadowing the imminent 13th Black Crusade.
Inside the Ironclad Regiment's giant ship.
Soldiers wearing Artificer Armor and holding specialized model laser guns stood in neat ranks, solemn and silent.
They looked at each other, a hint of fanaticism in their eyes.
At the front of the line, a soldier raised his hand and spoke slowly: "For Chaos."
Immediately after, a second voice joined in: "For Chaos."
A third, a tenth, a hundredth... more and more voices repeated the same phrase.
"For Chaos!"
"For Cadia! May you have a safe journey." Hans wanted to chase the giant ship, but his newly recovered body still couldn't support such strenuous activity.
He could only salute, watching the giant ship sail into the distance, and then offer his most sincere blessings to his "comrade-in-arms."
David, who had rushed back, saw this and stopped in his tracks, opening his mouth but ultimately making no sound.
Should he tell this young man that the reinforcements he saw had actually been corrupted long ago?
No, never mind. Some truths are too cruel; it's better to let this illusory hope linger a moment longer.
"The reinforcements you just mentioned, you mean...?" David feigned confusion.
"It's an order from High Command." Hans withdrew his gaze.
"To deal with the increasingly complex combat situation in the surrounding area, all regiments that can be mobilized will return to defend Cadia and assemble near Tyrok Bastion."
While explaining, Hans laboriously dragged a corpse half-buried under rubble and placed it on a relatively flat patch of open ground nearby.
Only then did David notice that during the time he was away looking for wood, Hans had been doing this work.
Several bodies were already neatly laid out on the open ground.
"I was going to burn them." Hans wiped the sweat from his brow. "Otherwise, the plague might spread again through the corpses, but unfortunately, no fuel can be found nearby."
David fell silent; he had forgotten that the plague could still spread.
After all, the monsters he killed left nothing behind except experience and some drops, let alone any issues like a plague.
While Hans was busy with his own task, David turned and walked to the side, selecting a relatively flat patch of ground.
He dug a 2x2 pit, one block deep, with his bare hands and took out two buckets of water.
He poured the first bucket of water into one corner of the pit; the water gushed out, filling that block and flowing to the surrounding area.
Immediately after, David poured the second bucket of water into the opposite corner.
When the second stream of water was released, the other two empty blocks in the pit simultaneously filled with clear water.
The four blocks of water reached equilibrium, forming an infinite water source.
David picked up a bucket, scooped water out of the pit, and splashed it outside, repeating this dozens of times; the water in the pit remained just as full.
After concluding that infinite water was possible, David placed down the crafting table.
He had enough wood and coal now, so he first crafted sixteen more torches and finished making the remaining stone tools: a shovel and a hoe.
He tilled a small patch of land next to the infinite water source, planted wheat seeds, and took out bonemeal to start force-growing them.
"Moo."
On the wooden boat, a listless Otis raised its head, its eyes fixed on that clump of golden wheat.
David picked up a few stalks of freshly harvested wheat and moved them slowly in front of its eyes.
With an attraction comparable to Slaanesh, Otis's eyes followed the wheat, turning from left to right, up and down.
After teasing it for a while, David fed the wheat to Otis.
Many hearts popped up over Otis's body, and its critical health bar began to slowly recover.
David patted its head and continued with his production.
After consuming nearly half of his bonemeal reserves, he harvested a total of sixteen units of wheat and potatoes.
And, with particularly good luck, he also got a useless poisonous potato.
Having gathered the ingredients for a sandwich, David rubbed his hands together and arranged the wheat, eggs, and Grox jerky according to the recipe.
Golden light erupted; with an excited heart and trembling hands, after going through untold hardships, David finally crafted a [Grox Sandwich].
It was as large as a palm, with two slices of perfectly toasted bread sandwiching a golden, glistening fried egg and crispy jerky that had undergone the Maillard reaction.
[What a unique taste. Mod: Spice of Life unlocked.]
[You can now increase your maximum health by eating different types of food (for every five varieties consumed).]
David put the precious sandwich into his backpack and placed one piece of charcoal and eight potatoes into the furnace.
"May your souls return to The Emperor's Throne and enjoy eternal peace."
On the other side, Hans managed to build a burial mound using rubble from the ruins; he knelt before it, hands clasped to his chest, praying in a low voice.
That probably won't work; the old Emperor is currently sitting on a Golden Toilet, half-dead, David grumbled inwardly while roasting the potatoes.
A scent wafted over, and Hans looked up.
He saw David holding a potato with a charred, cracked skin, tossing it between his hands while hissing from the heat.
"Want one too?" Noticing Hans's gaze, David took another one out of the furnace and handed it over.
Hans hesitated for a moment before taking it.
He blew on it and took a bite; the simple, pure sweetness of the starch melted in his mouth.
On the wooden boat, Otis's eyes widened as it watched the two humans feasting cruelly in front of it; the wheat in its mouth didn't seem quite as tasty anymore.
"So good," Hans said indistinctly after taking another large bite. "I haven't eaten anything this delicious since I left home to join the army."
"Indeed," David agreed; this was much better than rotten flesh.
"Yeah." Hans swallowed his food and stared at the campfire. "The night before I joined up, my father prepared a bottle of wine, some pork and cabbage stew, and Grox steaks at that old round table in the house."
He paused. "I don't know if you've ever had it, but I have to say, that was the best meat I've ever eaten in my life."
Grox meat, David felt the sandwich in his backpack.
"Father got dead drunk." Hans's voice became airy. "He pointed at me, pointing with the wine bottle."
Hans looked up, his gaze directed toward the eternally leering Eye of Terror in the sky.
"'You are my pride, son!'" The hint of a smile on the corner of his mouth slowly faded. "That was the last time I saw him."