40k: Midnight Blade

Chapter 228 53. New blood, new blade, new hope

Iago Severtarion awoke from his sleep.

Nowadays, a long-lasting sleep has become a luxury for him. He has never had a good night's sleep since the transformation was completed. This was true on Nostramo, and even more so after leaving it and boarding the Nightfall for Terra.

Training, meditation, studying, sparring...his life is occupied by these things. Although Sevatar did find a way for himself to enjoy them, he would still rather have a good night's sleep if he could truly take a break.

That's why he was so angry when he was woken up.

"Is it over?!" He stood up, waved his fist and shouted loudly at the corridor outside the door. “Can’t I have some quiet down time?!”

Someone outside the door answered him with a sneer: "Who told you to sleep with the door closed, Sevita?"

"Just because I don't close the door when I sleep doesn't mean you can wake me up!" Savita narrowed her eyes dangerously. "I think your skin is itchy, Nuang."

Cassati Nuang sneered and threw a combat dagger over. Sevita turned his head slightly, caught it with his left hand, and returned it with greater strength.

Nuang reached out to catch it, and not to be outdone, he pulled out another short knife and threw it over. Just like that, they started a dangerous throwing game - Sevita started to mentally capture Kasati Nuang's movements. He opened his mouth and asked a question.

"Are you so excited to be back in Nostramo? Why is everyone running in the aisles?"

"Are you sleepy, Sevita?" Cassati Nuang raised his chin mockingly, and at the same time pinched the spine of a short knife with his fingers. He rotated his wrist and threw the knife back at a tricky angle.

"Today is the selection day for new blood. You won't forget it, right?"

"Of course not," Sevita lied calmly, having slept soundly after returning from his daily patrol yesterday. "How could I forget such a thing? Where is Shen? Don't tell me that your captain has arrived at the venue to prepare for the selection."

"Of course he has arrived. He is not like some people who immediately became lazy after returning to their hometown." Nuang smiled lowly, raised both hands, and captured all the daggers in his hands.

They spun between his fingers several times as if they were alive before being sheathed. This is Shen's technique, and Shen's technique comes directly from Khalil Lohars.

Savita looked at Nuang's show off with disdain, curled her lips without envy at all, pulled up a shirt from his bedside and put it on.

It took him two minutes to find another suitable jacket, then heavy synthetic leather boots. Little by little he dressed himself up, not even forgetting to comb his hair back.

Nuang frowned and put his fingers on the short knife at his waist.

He whispered: "It was a mistake for me to stop and talk to you."

"Oh, come on, don't do that, bro." Sevatar smirked, walking towards him and wrapping her arms around Nuang's neck, and they started walking down the aisle. "Don't we always get along very well? You should stop and wait for me."

"Come on, I wish I could beat you to a disability during training."

"Too bad you can't."

"How do you know I can't do it?"

"Because you just can't--Okay, stop talking, just do it. Let's get to the venue quickly."

Eleven minutes later, they stepped on the escaping mist and ran to the training ground of the 'nest', where many people had already gathered densely.

Most of the new recruits mingled with the veterans, while some chose to stay in the corner and silently observe what was happening below. Savita watched for a while and soon found Shen in the crowd.

He was leaning against the railing, even holding a datapad in his hand.

Savita rolled her eyes involuntarily.

"You'd better not speak harshly of my captain," Kasati Nuang warned. "My patience has its limits, Sevatar."

"What do I have to say before you think it's nonsense?" Savita asked with a sideways glance. Although he was still struggling with Nuang, the movements of his feet were not slow at all, and he quickly walked to Shen's side.

The latter was not surprised by his arrival, but he was not very enthusiastic either. Shen just glanced at him and continued to lower his head and write and draw on the data pad.

"Is there any candidate?" Sevatar asked.

"Yes." Shen lowered his head and said. "But I won't share it with you."

"What?" Saiweita was shocked and stretched out his hand and snatched Shen's data tablet.

As he flipped through the pages, he sighed in an aria from Nostramo: "How could you do this, Shen? How could you do this?"

"."

Shen silently shook his head, and there was a flash of silver light in the air, and a short knife with a bat-wing gauntlet was placed on Sevita's neck.

Shen then stretched out his left hand and took back his data pad from Savita's hand. Sevatar raised his hands, but his eyes still followed the data tablet.

He had memorized many names, but he wanted to remember more. Shen reluctantly took back the short knife, and it mysteriously disappeared between his wrists.

"There is no point in you remembering their names now, Sevita." Shen said. "The company will select the first batch of new blood."

"Why? Why didn't we join the company back then?"

"The first batch of experimental products will always be more restricted." Shen said expressionlessly. "Besides, fighting as a hunting team is indeed more in line with my wishes. And you"

He glanced up and down at Sevatar, said nothing, and just shook his head again. This single movement made the first reserve officer's expression become dangerous. Savita took a deep breath, turned around and left.

He spent a few more minutes wandering among the crowd, and responded to the recruits' greetings one by one - some were really greetings, and more were making some kind of gestures to him. Sevatar responded to the former with a smile, and to the latter with more complex gestures.

After dealing with them, Savita finally found the person he wanted to see in a corner.

"Siani!" Sevita greeted loudly.

The person whose name he called rolled his eyes visibly.

"It's Instructor Siani." He took the trouble to correct him.

"Hey, what's the difference? Aren't I just greeting you?"

Siani sneered and silently assumed an attack stance. Savita dodged his first three jabs as expected, but was knocked to the ground by a sinister leg sweep.

But Siani did not let him go. The Terran restricted his movement with his arms and began to put Savita into a dangerous situation of suffocation little by little.

"This is also my greeting." Siani whispered in his ear. "Learn to adapt, kid."

Savita clenched her teeth indifferently and began to silently search for the little oxygen left in her lungs. After a few seconds, he straightened up with all his strength and fell back heavily.

There was a violent collision, and people around him glanced at it as usual and then looked away. Siani sighed deeply, punched Savita under the left ribs, and then let go of him.

Half a minute later, they stood together neatly dressed.

"Can you please stop attacking me suddenly next time?" Savita complained with bared teeth. "I just came here to ask you something, why do you have to use boxing and joint skills to repay me?"

"Because you, a bastard, have no respect for me at all." Siani said while rubbing his back, while not forgetting to poke Sevita in the forehead. "Now, tell me, what do you want to ask?"

"What new blood are the First Company preparing to absorb?" Sevatar asked tentatively.

"Are you finally crazy?" Siani looked at him in surprise, and then suddenly started a tirade.

"This is really great news. Our number one problem has finally lost his mind - oh, no, this may not be good news either. Jairzinho will be sad about this, he is one of the few Your rest time is about to be squeezed again. Hello Terra, how are you, Sevita? Can you still do the arithmetic problem? ?”

"."

"Why don't you speak?"

"I'm just asking, isn't this okay?" Savita spread his hands and complained. "Is it possible that you can't even tell me the number of people? Captain Van Cleef gave a death order on this matter?"

"The company commander didn't say anything." Siani replied with a smile.

"Then why don't you reveal something to me?" Savita tried again. "You won't lose anything from this anyway, right?"

"Don't even think about it, kid."

Siani smiled lowly and gestured to him: "Why don't you observe for yourself what good prospects there are down there. In a few minutes, the selection will begin."

Savita sighed helplessly.

——

Conrad Coates felt his stomach twitching a little. He rubbed it and felt that it was probably because the sand eel he had just eaten had not completely lost its activity.

These delicious and terrifying creatures cannot be cooked completely if they are to be cooked well, and if you don't cook them completely, they trigger instinctive muscle activity in your stomach.

In other words, there was a long-dead sand eel tumbling in Curze's stomach.

I should have eaten dried sand eels earlier, he thought silently, while swiping the data pad.

The new document with the Mechanicus logo was revealed. Cozz continued to slide his finger and flipped through it twice, and his expression immediately became serious.

There is no personal identification code on this document, and the only identifiable crest is a white skull wrapped in a scarlet twelve-tooth gear.

This means that this document comes from Mars - from the core world of the Mechanicus.

finally come? The Lord of the Night narrowed his eyes unsurprisingly, put down the data tablet for the time being, and did not continue reading. The few swipes just now were enough for him to get enough information. Mars mentioned three things in this document.

First, they have a fleet "full of all kinds of weapons and equipment" heading towards Nostramo.

Second, they wanted ‘any form’ of trade with Nostramo.

Third, if possible, they would like to acquire a planet next to Nostramo and transform it into a forge world to provide services to Nostramo 'until the end of time'.

Although the words used in these three messages are brief, they reveal enough information. The sincerity provided by Mars cannot be underestimated.

"I thought you had no shortage of adamantine," Curze muttered.

A mechanical priest can provide some services to Nostramo in his personal name, but Mars, the birthplace of the Mechanicus, has been reluctant to do so, even though the Nightfall has passed Mars several times and has not sent any messages.

This matter itself is quite strange. Coze almost thought that Mars did not lack adamantium at all and looked down on Nostramo's production.

Now it seems that they are probably just holding back to make a big move.

This is good. Coze thought. Comprehensive cooperation has only benefits and no disadvantages for Nostramo. What disadvantages can cooperation with the Mechanicus bring?

There are more mechanical monsters in red robes on Nostramo, or there are more channels for local jobs to directly apply to join the Mechanicus' factories and the Skitarii? These two things sound like they have nothing to do with bad things.

The Lord of the Night tapped the table with his fingers happily and stood up with satisfaction.

He smiled and opened the door, and arrived at a training room that was not open to the public from the fast-moving device inside the "nest". He even entered the stealth mode before entering the room.

At this moment, there are eight people fighting with real swords. They are not fighting one-on-one, but fighting in a melee. You can tell that this scene will not be very good without me saying it. Conrad Curz sighed, and the good mood that he had just gained soon disappeared quickly.

He walked quietly into the darkness along the wall, trying to find a better angle to observe the battle situation of the captains, but met another person in the darkness.

".How long have you been here, Khalil?" The Lord of the Night asked in a low voice like a whisper.

"What do you think?" The instructor of the Eighth Legion answered without looking away.

"I asked the question first!" Curz said with a little annoyance. "Why are you answering questions with questions again?"

"Hush, don't talk in a hurry, Conrad." Khalil said. "They will soon decide the winner."

What he said was true. There were only two people left standing on the ring. They were the captain of the first company, Van Cleef, and the captain of the eighth company, Enric Barbatos.

The two captains fought fiercely, without giving in. The chainswords in their hands kept roaring, and the monomolecular saw blades roared endlessly. They seemed to be almost evenly matched until Van Cleef tripped Enrique with his right leg, and the battle ended.

"You are cheating again!" Enrique Barbatos roared while lying on the ground. "Where is the pure sword fight we agreed on?!"

"I won." Van Cleef said lightly. "What else do you have to say, loser?"

"I wish you a complete loss!"

"Oh, I bet on both sides." Van Cleef smiled rarely. "I think the Primarch is either ten or twelve years old, how can I lose?"

In the dark, Conrad Curze slowly turned his head and glanced at Khalil.

The latter nodded to him without changing his expression, and said softly: "Now you know why I am waiting here, right?"

"Impossible, the Primarch is at least sixteen years old!" Fer Zalost, lying on the ground, shouted loudly. "You idiots who think he's young, and you, Van Cleef, you're a fence-sitter who's betting on both sides, you'll all lose!"

Fell's words caused a ripple, and the captains began to refute each other quickly. The people who fell earlier also stood up from the ground. Most of them had several minor wounds on their bodies. The bleeding had stopped long ago, but it still made the scene look a little scary.

This argument soon turned into an opportunity for another battle to begin - in fact, if there was no sudden voice next to the ring, they would probably really have a second round of sword fighting.

"I'm five years old." Conrad Coze said with a smile.

There was silence on the ring for a moment, and suddenly there was a uniform suffocation sound. In the dark, Khalil calmly looked away and held back his laughter.

This chapter is 4.5k, and there is still one chapter.