The next day, dawn still did not arrive.
The sky over Cadia remained a canvas of gloom. Everyone in the camp suddenly was jolted awake by a deafening boom and a blinding flash of white light striking down from the heavens above.
No one knew what it was. Soldiers could only whisper amongst themselves, offering guesses.
Zeke saw more drop pods falling from the sky. They were scattering, landing across every corner of the planet.
Chaos Space Marines were joining the fray with increasing frequency.
The Word Bearers were plotting to destroy the Blackstone pylons on Cadia; the Iron Warriors were bringing their siege engines to assault other Bastions; and the Noise Marines of Slaanesh... Chaos was appearing more and more often on this land.
In the soldier rest area Zeke had built, two soldiers climbed on top of a "matchbox" house and sat side-by-side.
"Hey, did you see that thing this morning?"
"Yeah. The noise was massive. Half the camp got scared awake."
"The direction where the pillar of light appeared... seemed to be near Kasr Partox?"
"I heard it's some terrifying weapon from the Arch-Traitor's side..."
"Can they survive it?"
Neither answered, for they both knew the grim reality.
"At least we have good food. What's this called again? Baked Potato, right?"
One soldier picked up a Baked Potato he had received from Bela that morning.
"Right. And this milk." The other soldier took a large gulp of the beast milk to calm his nerves.
–
Five hundred meters below the camp.
Engineering was progressing smoothly. With the power of the Blueprint, such ease was only natural.
Zeke just had to build a small section of the massive tunnel according to the surveyors' requirements. Then, it was copy and paste, with only minor adjustments remaining.
Unfortunately, the space cleared by the Blueprint didn't drop any blocks, so Zeke's plan to use it for mining fell through.
"How many times do I have to say it? It won't collapse. It is absolutely impossible for it to collapse."
This was the 102nd time Zeke had said this to the surveying team since the morning.
The surveyors were relentless. Holding paper blueprints and rulers, they kept muttering professional terms about stress analysis and geological cross-sections.
Zeke rolled his eyes and pretended not to hear a thing. He paused his Blueprint usage, finally yielding to the surveyors' wishes.
This team was professional—almost too professional.
Every kilometer the tunnel extended, they would record every inch of data on their charts to ensure the direction didn't deviate in the slightest. According to them, this tunnel would play a huge role in future battles, so there was no room for error.
They also set up defensive positions every 500 meters inside the tunnel and assigned soldiers to stand guard.
This was to prevent enemies from seizing the tunnel, and if a retreat became necessary, the soldiers could mount a resistance to buy time.
Zeke felt they made a good point, so he didn't argue further.
Fine, if they want to check, let them check. It won't delay things much anyway.
It just so happened that Sergeant Victor mentioned the 23rd Regiment had arrived. Zeke decided to use this time to go see them.
"I'm going up first. You guys take your time drawing."
"Alright, Mr. Zeke." The surveyors didn't even look up, continuing their heated, chattering discussion.
"Look here, we can lay subway tracks, build a massive underground support network. Cadia's defense will truly become impregnable."
"That won't be necessary," Zeke retorted upon hearing this. "The Nether Express is way faster than any subway."
The surveyors wanted to ask what the "Nether Express" was, but Zeke had already walked to the side of the tunnel. His figure blurred as he flew straight forward.
–
"Your mission is to proceed fifteen hundred meters ahead. There is a newly established outpost there."
At the tunnel entrance, an officer was assigning tasks to soldiers who had just been transferred down.
A new recruit walked down the slope, his jaw dropping in shock at the tunnel before him.
The assigning officer patted his shoulder understandingly. "You'll get used to it."
"Wait, sir," the recruit stammered. "Those things placed every so often along the side of the tunnel... the ones that look like small boats. What are they for?"
Before he could finish his sentence, a figure flashed onto a small boat at the far end of the tunnel.
Then, the figure appeared on another boat a few meters ahead, then flashed again, moving further forward...
In just a few blinks, the figure flew through the long tunnel and headed straight for the entrance.
"What now? You look like you've seen a ghost." The officer, having just tied his shoelaces, looked up to see the recruit's dumbfounded expression.
"Nothing... I think I might have actually just seen a ghost."
That, of course, was not a ghost. It was Zeke. He had placed a boat at regular intervals in the tunnel.
This way, he only needed to constantly "fly" out of the tunnel quickly—a time-saving measure.
Soon, Zeke arrived at the start of the tunnel. Here, a massive slope led to the surface, designed to allow Leman Russ Battle Tanks to pass through.
People were scattered along the slope, walking up and down as they handed over work.
Zeke didn't take the slope. Instead, he walked to a wooden door on the side, pushed it open, and entered a small cubicle.
Looking up, there were several signs, and above them was water. It was a simple Water Elevator. (TL/N: A Minecraft water elevator uses bubble columns for fast vertical transport, created by building a water column in a tube (glass/solid blocks) and using kelp to turn all water into source blocks, then placing soul sand at the bottom for upward flow or magma blocks for downward flow, with signs or doors to contain the water)
Zeke bent his knees slightly and jumped up.
Buoyed by the water current, he shot upward. His vision brightened rapidly as he approached the surface.
Thump!
Zeke felt his head hit a furry, spherical object.
Caught off guard, the opposing force pushed Zeke downward. He choked on some water and flailed a bit before stabilizing himself.
Something is blocking the exit. Could there be trouble in the camp?
Zeke switched to his Shield and looked up.
The unidentified spherical object above was also startled. It shifted to the side, and a familiar sound drifted down:
"Moooo."
"Cow?" Zeke was stunned, lowering his shield. "How did you get fat enough to become a ball?"
Cow was twisting its head—its neck was barely visible.
Ever since the miraculous effects of the beast milk became known, Cow's status in the camp had skyrocketed.
Grateful for the life-saving milk, the soldiers couldn't resist feeding it any good food they had. Coupled with the fact that no one dared to work or disturb this "hero," Cow did nothing but eat and sleep all day.
The spherical Cow seemed to recognize Zeke. It moved its short legs, which were encased in fat, and rolled toward him.
Watching Cow rush toward him, Zeke resolutely raised his Shield.
Cow slammed into the shield. Its fat compressed, and then with a boing, it bounced away like a rubber ball, landing on the ground and bouncing a few times.
Then, because it was too fat, it couldn't flip back over. Its four limbs flailed wildly in the air, trying to right itself.
Time for a diet, Zeke thought as he looked at the ball-shaped Cow. I need to set up some high-intensity aerobic exercise for you.
He went around the camp asking until he found a Lead.
Then, he placed a wooden fence on a floating block and used the Lead to tie Cow up in the air.
That day, everyone in the camp saw a cow soaring in the sky.
--
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