Invincible after death, but in Warhammer 40K

Once the surrounding environment was confirmed to be safe, a large number of troops began to disembark from the vessels, constructing a defensive line around the ring-shaped "wall" composed of massive hulls.

While it would normally be very unlikely to encounter enemies in such an expansive sea of sand for just a little while, how many abnormal things have happened by now?

It is worth mentioning that under the strong insistence of the Adeptus Mechanicus, apart from the 1st Mechanized Infantry who had no choice but to accept this, all other Astra Militarum troops and PDF were placed on the outer defensive line, while the area close to the Titan's core was entirely defended by Skitarii.

The reason was to minimize the possibility of that saboteur getting closer to the Titan.

It wasn't that the other two factions didn't want to resist; it was primarily because the Adeptus Mechanicus-controlled ships accounted for the highest proportion.

This resulted in them being able to use more carrying capacity to transport heavy equipment, and with sufficient heavy weaponry, the Skitarii had effectively become the most powerful fighting force, increasing the Tech-priests' influence.

However, Zhang Ge was not aware of any of this at the moment, as he immediately headed out on a mission, taking a group with him to drive into the boundless sea of sand.

This was a reconnaissance mission.

In prolonged space battles, frail orbital satellites had little chance of survival, leading to the failure of most navigation and positioning systems—unless a warship happened to be overhead to relay signals.

And if one was not so fortunate and did not want to involve aircraft flying in and out, making such a noise, they had no choice but to return to the most primal form of flesh-and-blood scouting.

Of course, while the task might seem boring, for Zhang Ge, a little danger was better than staying behind the defensive line.

What if they didn't encounter an enemy? What if they got lost? What if?

With one hand gripping the steering wheel, Zhang Ge held a yellow, disc-shaped food item in the other and examined it.

This was a characteristic delicacy made by the 1st Mechanized Infantry; it was said to have been tasted during the Emperor's Great Crusade... and became famous in folklore... subsequently becoming a local specialty.

Leaving aside the legend, the truth was that a bunch of bored former gangsters in the regiment had caught quite a few yellow little bugs in the sand, roasted them, and found them to be pretty tasty. Thus, they began to wrestle for the ecological niche of the food ants, catching a bunch and forming them into patties after baking.

If one looked closely, they could still see the heads of the bugs in the "meat" patties.

Although they had been tested safe, Zhang Ge looked at it for a while and still couldn't get over the mental hurdle.

Hearing the crunching sounds of Isis in the back happily eating, he passed the item back and said:

"Isis, how about this? You can have it."

"? It's delicious, aren't you eating? But thank you."

With a lightness of his hand, Zhang Ge sighed, realizing he was also contributing to saving food today.

However, this leisurely moment did not last long as Amilia suddenly said:

"Stop."

Although he wanted to buy a little more time, actions did not allow for such indulgence, so Zhang Ge could only decisively respond:

"Stop."

The light armored vehicle came to a halt.

They were at the top of a sand dune, and looking around, there seemed to be nothing unusual.

Amilia did not explain why but jumped off the vehicle and squatted down on the ground, placing her palm against the sandy surface, her eyes closed as if she were sensing something.

After confirming she wasn't seeing things, she stood up with a grave expression and said:

"There are slight vibrations in the sand; something is approaching."

Vibrations? In this kind of place?

Zhang Ge asked:

"Can you gauge how far away it is?"

"I can't, because I don't know the scale of what is getting closer."

After pondering for a moment, a thought flashed through Zhang Ge's mind.

The desert.

Abnormally dense small bugs.

But no predators.

If, hypothetically...

Would there be such a creature?

The top predator of the entire ecosystem, lurking beneath the sands, with no creature able to threaten its ecological niche. And according to this universe's tendency for larger creatures to be stronger, it could be extremely massive, possibly even hundreds of meters long and several meters in diameter.

Thus, it could boldly produce its larvae densely in one location without worrying about their safety, and it wouldn't need to guard them, able to hunt freely without anything daring to disturb these larvae.

Until today.

That tremor was gradually expanding.

Until the fine sand was visibly jumping.

But now there was no need to rely on this tremor to determine whether something was approaching.

On the horizon, a huge sand-colored cylindrical form erupted from beneath the sand, sending cascading waves of sand spreading outward. Its massive body then drew an arc downward and plunged back into the sands. The circular orifice exposed to the air was hollow and dark, lined with rows of serrated teeth, resembling some kind of biological shredder.

With its immense mass, once it surfaced, it could easily dive back into the dunes.

During the time its body was exposed above ground, they had enough time to gauge its length.

The two who had just gotten out of the vehicle hurriedly dove back inside, the sound of the engine pushed to its limits echoed among the dunes as the light armored vehicle almost flew close to the ground, racing through the endless desert along the path they had come.

Five hundred meters long.

As Zhang Ge turned the vehicle around, he calculated this absurd number for a normal creature in his mind.

And although the four wheels were almost sparking, behind them, a sound echoed as something broke through the dunes and dove back in, each sound closer than the last.

After several turns while being pursued in the same direction, Zhang Ge and his companions finally confirmed that this creature was coming after them... or rather, coming after them, the intruders.

The identities of the giant and the bug had reversed at this moment. Despite desperately fleeing, there seemed to be no chance of escaping its grasp.

At this rate, they would be swallowed before reaching the defensive line of the fleet.

Listening to the sounds drawing ever closer, Zhang Ge felt a surge of excitement.

Could this be his day of doom? Unexpectedly, all this effort could end in such a simple mission. Had he known, he wouldn't have worked so hard.

However, just as he was thinking this, Amilia flung open the car door, looked back, and after a while turned to Zhang Ge and said:

"Keep driving at this speed, then come over here."

Her face showed no additional expression, as if she were not among the ones being chased.

Although common sense told him that two small bugs could not shake a five-hundred-meter giant, seeing her expression made Zhang Ge feel like something he didn't want to happen was about to occur.

PS.: A homage to the legendary heat-resistant sandworm.

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