Warhammer Survival Guide

Chapter 5 Special Technical Advisor

Luo Wei walked straight over.

"Who gave you permission to enter this holy site?"

A technical priest whirled around, his red prosthetic eye flashing a chilling alarm light in the shadows.

"This is a classified area. Get out, mortal! Your breath is polluting the sacred with the smell of engine oil."

"I heard it crying," Rowe said softly, stopping a few steps away.

The priest paused for a moment, and the servo arm froze in mid-air for a split second.

"What did you say?"

"The machine spirit is crying." Luo Wei raised his hand and pointed to the exhaust pipe that was being filled with incense.

"It says it can't breathe. Its lungs are filled with black poison, and no amount of incense you offer can help a suffocating person breathe."

The priests exchanged glances, the halos in their eyes rapidly expanding and contracting.

"Nonsense! This is blasphemy against Om Messiah! We have already performed three purification rituals and applied the most expensive holy oil!"

"The ritual soothes the soul, but the pain remains in the body."

As he spoke, Luo Wei boldly approached the enormous machine.

Press your hand against the cold, oily metal casing.

He closed his eyes, pretending to be engaging in some kind of profound intuition.

Actually, he was listening.

It is not about listening to the whispers of an ethereal soul.

It's about listening to the sounds at the physical level.

Intermittent, faint valve knocking sounds.

That was the mournful cry of metal struggling in carbon deposits.

"Give me a wrench. A size 4, standard range." Rowe opened his eyes and calmly extended his hand.

"How dare you touch the sacred relic with your filthy hands?!" The leading priest was furious, raising his power axe high, its serrated teeth whirring.

"If I can't be fixed, you can stuff me into the furnace as fuel."

Luo Wei looked at the axe, his tone completely calm.

"But if this machine still won't work tomorrow, who will Manager Case blame?"

The priest froze.

Luo Wei continued to increase the stakes, like a devil tempting him, and said in a deep voice:

"He'll say your prayers weren't devout enough, your techniques weren't good enough, leading to a decrease in production. Do you want to be stripped of your cardinals and sent to the front lines as cannon fodder for the Christian apostles?"

The technical priests fell silent.

Case is definitely capable of doing something like that.

On this planet, human life is fuel.

The bureaucrats' shirking of responsibility is the spark that ignites the fire.

"Ten minutes."

After some logical deduction, the leading priest put down the axe.

He took a heavy wrench from the tool rack and shoved it into Rowe's hand:

"If you dare to leave a scratch on the Holy Shell, I'll skin you alive and stuff you into the exhaust pipe."

Luo Wei took the wrench.

It's heavy and has a slippery feel from engine oil.

He took a deep breath and then, like a mouse, scurried into the maintenance port at the bottom of the machine.

It was pitch black inside, reeking of stale engine oil and the metallic stench of corrosion.

Rowe groped around in the dark.

found it.

The mounting bolts for the intake manifold.

It rusted to death, just as expected.

Luo Wei gritted his teeth and used all his strength to turn it.

The muscles are protesting, and the bones are cracking.

"Click."

With a metallic scraping sound, the bolt loosened.

He quickly removed the manifold cover.

"Splash!"

A large chunk of black, stone-like carbon deposit fell down.

That's the "tumor" left by substandard fuel over the years.

Ignoring the dirt, Luo Wei used his hands to carefully remove the remaining carbon deposits bit by bit.

The rough metal edge cut his fingertip, and blood mixed with black oil dripped down, but he seemed to feel no pain.

After cleaning the carbon deposits, he made a slight adjustment to the angle of the intake valve by feel.

"Give me a bottle of holy oil."

He shouted from below the machine, his voice echoing in the metal cavity.

The priest handed in a bottle of high-purity lubricating oil.

Lowe took it and precisely poured the oil into the dry piston gaps.

After doing all this, he tightened the bolts again, each movement like a surgeon stitching up a wound.

He climbed out.

His face was covered in oil and his hands were bloody and mangled.

"Start it." Rowe threw the wrench on the ground with a crisp sound.

The priest looked at him suspiciously and pressed the activation rune.

"boom."

The machine suddenly vibrated.

Then came a deep, powerful, and continuous roar.

The gears began to mesh and rotate, and the tracks kicked up dust from the ground.

The exhaust pipe no longer spews out black smoke, but instead emits a clear, powerful wave of heat.

"It moved..." The priest was stunned, nearly dropping the incense burner in his hands. "The machine spirit... it's awakened! Its anger has subsided!"

The priests' gazes toward Lowell changed.

It's no longer about looking at an insect.

Instead, they were witnessing a miracle.

A "chosen one" who can communicate with the machine spirit.

"You...you know binary prayer?" the leading priest asked, trembling.

"I don't understand." Lowe casually wiped the blood from his hands on his clothes. "I only know how to listen to pain."

He picked up the wrench and respectfully handed it back to the priest with both hands.

"Tell Supervisor Case that the machine is fixed." Rowe paused, looking directly at the priest's electronic eyes.

"By the way, if anyone asks who fixed it, just say that your piety moved the machine spirit, and Om Messiah answered your prayers. I was just a mortal who handed you a wrench."

The priests were stunned again.

In this world, merit is more important than life.

How could someone possibly push away such a huge amount of credit?

"Why?" the priest asked, puzzled. The logic circuit seemed to be overloaded.

"Because I want to live," Rowe answered honestly.

"I saved your positions and your reputation. In exchange, I need a little protection."

He continued.

"If Director Case wants to transfer me to clean septic tanks, or maybe something worse, I hope the Cult of Mechanics can put in a word for me."

"Just tell them, my hand is steady, so I'm good at handing you wrenches. I'm a useful part, and I shouldn't be scrapped so easily."

The leading priest remained silent for a few seconds.

His electronic eyes flashed red light, indicating he was weighing the pros and cons.

Without paying any price, they gained the credit for repairing the sacred object, only needing to protect a mortal.

This is a good deal.

"make a deal."

The priest agreed.

"From today onwards, you are an unofficial member of the Seventh Repair Workshop. In the name of the Om Messiah, Case cannot touch you."

Luo Wei let out a soft breath.

I got the second amulet.

……

three days later.

Planetary Governor's Office.

Alicia sat at her desk, holding a report in her hand.

A copy submitted by tax official Márquez.

She turned to page fourteen.

"Compensation for the machine's soul..." she chuckled softly.

She picked up a finely crafted dagger from the side and gently scraped the bottom of the page.

A line of small print appeared.

"Fuel is food."

She understood.

She not only understood the words, but also the meaning behind them.

Someone told her that the so-called "comfort money" was actually stolen grain.

And this grain was turned into fuel.

But this is not all.

Alicia picked up another report.

This was just delivered by the Mechanics Institute.

"A Miraculous Report on the Repair of the M36 Harvester"

The report attributed the credit to the priest's piety, but a name appeared in the "Personnel Transfers" section of the appendix.

Lo Wei.

He was appointed as a special technical advisor for Workshop 7.

"Interesting." Alicia put down the report.

A low-level clerk not only fooled the tax officials, but also found a cult of mechanics to protect him right under Case's nose.

He did not go directly to the governor to inform on him.

Because he knew that informers would die quickly.

He demonstrated his value in this way.

He was saying—

I have brains, I have skills, and I am very cautious.

"Captain of the Guard," Alicia called out.

A woman wearing black armor walked in.

"Yes, sir."

"Go to the Seventh Grain Depot. Bring that guy named Luo Wei here."

Alicia paused.

"Don't make a big fuss. Wait until night. Use my private shuttle. Don't let that idiot Case know."

"Yes."

The head guard turned and left.

Alicia stood up and walked to the window.

The city outside the window was brightly lit.

The uncles and elders in the family are getting restless.

The Tribunal's black ship also anchored at the edge of the galaxy.

She was isolated and helpless.

Until now.

She saw a glimmer of light in the darkness.

"Don't let me down, Rowe."

She spoke to her reflection in the glass.

……

The seventh grain depot, staff dormitory.

Lowe was lying on the hard bed.

He didn't sleep.

He was staring blankly at the mold on the ceiling.

He was reviewing his actions over the past three days.

The ledger is fine.

The relationship with the Mechanicus is temporarily stable.

Case took the chip, and out of respect for the Mechanicus, he didn't cause any trouble for the time being.

It looks safe.

But Lowe knew this was just the calm before the storm.

Case was a greedy man.

Greedy people have no bottom line.

Once this storm passes, Case will still make his move.

He had to climb up, climb to a place that Case couldn't reach.

Suddenly, footsteps sounded outside the door.

It's very light.

Unlike the sound of patrol boots, these were soft-soled shoes.

Luo Wei quickly sat up, reaching under his pillow to find a sharpened, discarded screwdriver.

The door lock melted away silently.

The door opened.

A dark figure flashed in.

Just as Luo Wei was about to leap up, a cold, explosive pistol was pressed against his forehead.

"Don't move."

It was a woman's voice, as cold as ice.

With the help of the corridor lights, Luo Wei was able to see the other person clearly.

Black armor, with a breathing mask on its face.

That's the insignia of the Governor's personal guard.

Luo Wei loosened the screwdriver in his hand.

He raised his hands.

He felt no fear.

Instead, the corners of his mouth turned up slightly.

Bet right.

That female governor was even smarter than he had imagined.

She understood the code.

"Put on your clothes," the woman said. "The governor wants to see you."

"Now?" Rowe asked.

"Now."

Lo Wei got out of bed and put on the tattered robe.

"Go through the back door." The woman put away her gun. "Don't let anyone see."

"clear."