They set off again in the early morning.
Following the direction where the Warship parts were scattered, Fei Yi no longer needed to frequently correct her direction, and her speed increased significantly. Fei Yi, a skilled driver, deftly maneuvered the motorcycle to avoid obstacles on the ground, appearing completely at ease.
The strong wind whipped against Fu Qinghai's face, making his face mask flap loudly. He held Fei Yi tightly around her waist, using the travel time to consider the situations he might face later—
The Space Marine on the Warship.
When the Space Marine Legion was first established, there were 20 Legions. Two of them had all their records deleted by the Human Empire and their whereabouts were unknown. Of the remaining 18 Legions, Fu Qinghai knew that half of them participated in the rebellion.
Fu Qinghai didn't know which Legion of Space Marines he would face, but since he had time now, he might as well let his thoughts wander.
Fu Qinghai ranked all the Space Marine Legions, from best-case to worst-case scenarios.
The best-case scenario: the XIII Legion Ultramarines and the XVIII Legion Salamanders.
These two Legions were known for their friendly attitude towards mortals. The XVIII Legion Salamanders, due to their Gene-Seed Father's genetic inheritance, had dark skin and were jokingly referred to as "Black Uncles" by warhammer 40k enthusiasts. Salamanders Space Marines were compassionate and very concerned about civilian casualties during battles.
The XIII Legion Ultramarines were also Fu Qinghai's favorite Legion. They were known for their excellent governance and operation of the planets under their control. Unlike other Legions, after conquering and reclaiming a former human colony, the Ultramarines would quickly establish a strict and efficient administrative mechanism locally to restore post-war production and life as soon as possible. Thanks to the meticulous governance of their controlled worlds, which brought a vast source of soldiers, their warrior numbers were the largest among all Legions.
Once you learn the Ultramarines' operations, all that's left is to F2 A and it's over?
It's not that simple. The Ultramarines' combat style emphasized battle plans and tactical coordination, focusing on information gathering before battle and information exchange during battle. This also aligned with Fu Qinghai's definition of a modern army, which made the Ultramarines one of the two most efficient Legions in terms of conquest during the Great Crusade.
Recalling Lazor's last words, he mentioned a white demon... Unfortunately, the armor colors of the above two Legions were not white. The Ultramarines wore blue armor with some gold trim, and the Salamanders wore dark green armor.
The next best, second tier: the I Legion Dark Angels, the V Legion White Scars, the VI Legion Space Wolves, the VII Legion Imperial Fists, the IX Legion Blood Angels, the X Legion Iron Hands, and the XIX Legion Raven Guard.
These Space Marine Legions had a lukewarm attitude towards mortals. After all, they considered themselves super-humans superior to ordinary humans, and the idea of despising and looking down on mortals appeared among quite a few Legion warriors. But fortunately, these Legions were all loyalist Legions during the Horus Heresy, and their faction was the same as the one randomly given to Fu Qinghai by the Reincarnation World.
If the surviving Space Marines on the Warship belonged to the loyalist faction, then Fu Qinghai wouldn't have to devise some convoluted plan of infiltrating the traitors to achieve loyalty, increasing his hope of obtaining Reincarnation World points.
Among them, the IX Legion Blood Angels were actually a Legion that was fairly friendly to mortals, but according to Fu Qinghai's understanding, the gene-seed of Space Marines in this Legion had defects. Their genes, contaminated by radiation from their home world, had mutated, and there was a certain probability of developing a disease called "Blood Thirst." Blood Angels in this state would be filled with a bloodthirsty and murderous rage, even attacking indiscriminately. During a sensitive period like the Horus Heresy, it was best to avoid them, which is why Fu Qinghai categorized the IX Legion into the second tier.
The not-so-good third tier: the III Legion Emperor's Children, the IV Legion Iron Warriors, the XIV Legion Death Guard, the XV Legion Thousand Sons, the XVII Legion Word Bearers, the XX Legion Alpha, and the XVI Legion—the infamous Shadow Wolves, later renamed Horus' Sons during the late Great Crusade, Warmaster Horus' direct Legion, the most famous Space Marine Legion in the Human Empire, also numerous, and slightly more efficient in conquest than the Ultramarines during the Great Crusade.
The Legions in the third tier were all Legions that chose the Warmaster's side and rebelled during the Horus Heresy. If the survivors were them, it would be very disadvantageous for Fu Qinghai. But at least in the early stages of the rebellion, the Space Marines of these Legions were still normal people. The Warmaster, Gene-Seed Father, or Chaos Gods they supported were justice in their eyes. Although called traitors, they also considered themselves to be fighting for truth.
It was only in the mid-to-late stages of the Horus Heresy, when they were completely corrupted by Chaos forces, that Space Marines would transform into Enchanted Warriors with horns on their heads, limbs under their armpits, and minds filled only with torment and a desire for slaughter.
However, there was also the worst, fourth tier: the VIII Legion Night Lords and the XII Legion World Eaters.
If the rebellious Legions in the third tier at least offered the possibility of Fu Qinghai negotiating, communicating, and humbling himself to infiltrate them, then the two Legions in the fourth tier were absolutely entities Fu Qinghai would turn and run from the moment he saw them. These were two Legions infamous for being insane during the Great Crusade.
The Night Lords Legion was known for spreading fear, torture, assassination, and oppressive rule.
As for the World Eaters, this Legion with Butcher's Nails nailed into their heads, from their Gene-Seed Father down to the ordinary Space Marine, were a group of bloodthirsty, paranoid psychopaths who often carried out senseless massacres and planetary exterminations during the Great Crusade.
Fu Qinghai didn't have the courage to become a double agent in these two Legions.
Among all these Legions, quite a few wore armor coatings similar to white, and Fu Qinghai couldn't determine it for a while.
"Tsk..." Fu Qinghai narrowed his eyes. Although he had thought a lot, he would still have to judge the situation when the time came.
Fu Qinghai had just taken a gulp of clear water from his flask.
"Screech—" Scraping against the gravel on the ground, Fei Yi performed a drift and slid the motorcycle to a stop.
Fei Yi pointed to a small black mountain in the distance, "A Luo, look!"
Fu Qinghai wiped away the water that had splashed out and gazed into the distance. The Warship wreckage, like a small mountain, stood silently in the distance. Although it was too far to see clearly, its straight, strong lines indicated that it was definitely an artificial creation and not a naturally formed hill.
Fu Qinghai picked up his binoculars and looked closely. A massive Warship lay horizontally in the middle of the flat ground. The dark, thick gun barrels on its side indicated that this was definitely a Warship, or at least an armed merchant ship. A huge crack split the hull in the middle, and the scattered hull wreckage from the crack formed a ramp of ruins.
The bridge had toppled to one side, and the massive sub-light engine nozzles at the Warship's stern were scattered on the ground.
Fu Qinghai estimated the Warship to be about two kilometers long. According to the Human Empire expeditionary fleet's organization, this should be a medium-sized frigate.
Model unknown.
With the Warship disintegrated to this extent, he didn't know whether to consider it a forced landing or a crash.
"The motorcycle engine is too loud, let's walk." Fu Qinghai and Fei Yi parked the bike behind a half-man-high rock, and the man and woman stealthily made their way towards the Warship wreckage.
As they got closer to the Warship, the imagined sounds of fierce combat did not appear. The Warship, along with the surrounding scattered broken hull, was completely silent. Besides the whooshing sound of the wind blowing through the steel structure, there was no other sound.
The two reached the bottom of the ruined ramp. With other hatches either suspended in mid-air or buried underground, this massive crack seemed to be the only way to enter the Warship.
With Sidrick's small group completely wiped out as a precedent, the two cautiously moved to one side of the ruined ramp, leaning against the tall steel hull.
Fei Yi whispered into Fu Qinghai's ear, "Still no one in sight. What do we do, A Luo, do we go in?"
Fu Qinghai glanced at the dark, gaping crack, surrounded by broken cables and twisted steel beams, like a man-eating maw.
"No, Fei Yi, you wait for me outside, I'll go in." Fu Qinghai said softly.
"I don't want to..." Before she could finish speaking, Fu Qinghai covered her mouth.
He looked at the girl with firm eyes, "Listen to me."
The girl softened under his gaze. She nodded, letting go of Fu Qinghai's clothes.
Fu Qinghai untied the cumbersome veil and headscarf, and using both hands and feet, slowly climbed up the ruins.
Under the girl's concerned gaze, Fu Qinghai was careful, trying not to make any sound. He gripped a protrusion with his hand and stepped on a beautifully carved piece of marble with his toes.
"Clatter!" The loose marble, along with a piece of debris, slid down.
This... Fu Qinghai froze, staying put, not daring to move.
The Warship remained quiet, with no reaction.
Fu Qinghai took a breath and continued to climb upwards.
Soon, Fu Qinghai climbed into the crack. Once his eyes adjusted to the dim environment, Fu Qinghai began to observe his surroundings.
The Warship's tall dome appeared very spacious. Broken thick cables, collapsed steel walkways, and occasional electric sparks flickering in the corners, along with the light shining in from outside, illuminated the dim environment.
There were large patches of dried blood on the floor, and charred bullet marks on the walls. Traces of battle were everywhere.
Then, Fu Qinghai saw a body.
A body missing its lower half. He maintained a painfully twisted expression from before his death, his body facing outside the crack, hands pressed on the ground, seemingly trying to crawl out. His lower body trailed shriveled organs and intestines, leaving a thick, semi-coagulated trail of blood.
He recognized this body.
Peibo, a member of Sidrick's small gang of thugs, and one of the thugs most enthusiastic about bullying Luo Ke.
Seeing his wide eyes and frozen expression of terror now, Fu Qinghai didn't know whether to be happy or afraid.
The stench in the air lingered. Fu Qinghai carefully stepped over Peibo's body, trying not to step on the sticky blood on the ground.
In any case, Fu Qinghai would definitely not explore in the direction Peibo had crawled from. He decided to go the other way.
Just as Fu Qinghai held his breath and tiptoed towards a half-open hatch.
A cold voice suddenly echoed in the empty interior of the Warship:
"I see you, kid."
In an instant, Fu Qinghai's hair stood on end.
He stood frozen on the spot, his neck stiffly, inch by inch, turning to the right.
In a pile of broken glass shards in the corner of the floor, Fu Qinghai saw an eye, staring coldly at him.
..........
PS: There are so many Astartes Legions, if you can't remember them all, you can simply remember them by their appearance and style: Space Romans: Ultramarines; Space Egyptians: Thousand Sons; Space Vikings: Space Wolves; Space Mongols: White Scars; Space Gay Guys: Emperor's Children (not really).