Hearing these words, the eight surviving Space Marines silently nodded. Out of their more than a hundred battle brothers, only eight of them remained. Their company had been effectively annihilated.
Before their unit was completely wiped out, they had one last meaningful task to accomplish for the Imperium—to prove themselves worthy as the genetic descendants of Roboute Guilliman and as members of the Ultramarines' successor chapter.
"Let's take a short rest. The Tyranids' attack won't stop. They will do everything they can to exhaust that behemoth's strength before delivering a final, fatal blow."
The Tyranids would send wave after wave of expendable troops to drain the giant's energy, waiting for the moment it showed signs of fatigue before launching their decisive strike.
"Also, gather all the gene seeds of our fallen brothers and load them into the last escape pod."
There was no chance they could escape this planet, but preserving the gene seeds of their fallen battle brothers was their sacred tradition.
The last escape pod could only hold two people. No matter what, someone had to ensure these gene-seeds made it back to the Chapter.
The remaining eight Space Marines nodded silently, took out their tools, and began collecting the remains of their fallen brothers, carefully extracting their gene seeds.
"Forgive us, brothers! We are sorry for retrieving your gene seeds in such a crude manner, but we know you would understand." A Space Marine knelt before his fallen comrades, solemnly extracting their gene seeds.
The remaining Astra Militarum soldiers, Sisters of Battle, and a few non-combatant Hospitallers assisted by transporting ammunition and gathering all the Melta bombs together.
"Captain, have you noticed? The corpses of the slain Tyranids… they seem to have vanished!" one of the Space Marines, who had just finished collecting gene seeds, approached the captain with a frown.
Only then did they realize that the eight massive Tyranid Hive Tyrants had disappeared, and even the other Tyranid corpses seemed to have mysteriously vanished.
"It's likely the Tyranids dispatched a swarm of Rippers to recover the biomass. These bugs always work fast," the Space Marine captain remarked.
Rippers were small Tyranid organisms, about the size of a rat or a small dog, tasked with reclaiming battlefield biomass.
They transported the organic matter back to the hive ships' digestion pools, where it was broken down into pure biological material to produce more Tyranid warriors.
But… could the Tyranids recycle biomass this quickly? It seemed like the corpses of the Tyranids slain by that monstrous creature disappeared instantly!
Rhodes, who had been hiding in secret, was overwhelmed with joy—so much so that he nearly lost his composure.
He had discovered a way to acquire Top-up, and the source of these items was the essence of slain Tyranids.
Every Tyranid killed by Red King had its corpse vanish, with all its biomass converted into Rhodes's Top-up currency.
Each of the eight slain Hive Tyrants had provided Rhodes with 100 system coins, and the slaughter of the other Tyranids had granted him a total of 1,000 points. Now, Rhodes had over 2,000 system coins in his possession.
System coins had many uses:
[They could enhance and strengthen monsters.]
[They could be used to purchase monster abilities.]
[They could be spent in the basic store to buy random monster fragments (1,000 coins per fragment).]
If he collected 10 identical monster fragments, he could synthesize a new monster and add it to his summoning list.
In other words… if he kept fighting the Tyranids, wouldn't he continuously grow stronger?
Damn! I just transmigrated into the Warhammer universe, and you're already making me fight the most terrifying species in the galaxy?!
Rhodes now had over 2,100 system coins, and with each kill by the Red King, his coin balance continued to grow.
However, 2,000 coins were only enough to buy two monster fragments, which was far from enough to summon a powerful creature.
Not to mention, the fragments were random, meaning he would likely need tens of thousands of coins before he could obtain 10 matching fragments to summon a proper monster.
But aside from buying monster fragments, he could also enhance his existing monster.
Rhodes opened Red King's stats panel:
[Weight: 20,000 tons]
[Energy-based abilities: None]
[Ranged attack: Spits out and launches boulders]
One option allowed Rhodes, as the monster host, to strengthen himself by selecting a summoned monster and copying its physical attributes, abilities, lifespan, or special traits.
Fully enhancing his body would greatly increase his lifespan and physical abilities while granting him some monster traits.
The enhancement factor was 1/10,000th of the monster's original power—meaning Rhodes would gain one ten-thousandth of the monster's abilities.
Currently, one enhancement opportunity remains.
Future physical enhancements would cost:
[First enhancement: 10,000 system coins]
[Second enhancement: 20,000 system coins]
[Third enhancement: 50,000 system coins]
Rhodes had a decision to make.
The fourth enhancement requires 100,000 gold coins, the fifth requires 200,000 gold coins, the sixth requires 500,000 gold coins, and the seventh requires 1 million gold coins.
The eighth enhancement requires 2 million gold coins, the ninth requires 5 million gold coins, the tenth requires 10 million gold coins, and the eleventh requires 20 million gold coins.
And so on, with the price increasing layer by layer.
There is also a chance to obtain a free enhancement opportunity through the lottery in the store, though the probability is extremely low.
Alright! This... looks powerful!
Although its power has been reduced to one ten-thousandth, the original body is still a monster!
But just how strong is a monster's physical capability? Generally, they are terrifying beings weighing tens of thousands of tons, and many monsters possess immense strength that allows them to overpower Ultraman.
The most crucial factor is the lifespan of these giant monsters—some live for tens of millions of years, others for over a hundred million years, and some even have lifespans equal to the universe itself, essentially making them immortal. Even if I only gain one ten-thousandth of an infinite lifespan, it's still infinite!
Moreover, many monsters can survive in extreme environments, such as the vacuum of space, magma, extreme cold, and even dimensional rifts.
Quite a few cosmic monsters also can fly.
Additionally, the price of purchasing enhancements does not increase in a geometric progression. Rhodes estimates that after dozens of enhancements, he might become a true superhuman.
Right now, he only has one Red King. The most terrifying aspect of Red King is its raw physical strength—its arm strength exceeds 100,000 tons, as it is known for its monstrous power capable of overpowering Ultraman.
The original Ultraman's arm strength reached 120,000 tons, and that wasn't even its limit. Red King can temporarily suppress the original Ultraman, meaning its starting strength is at least 100,000 tons.
One ten-thousandth of that is 10 tons of strength, meaning I will gain at least 10 tons of arm strength.
At the same time, my overall physical fitness, organ durability, lifespan, and bodily resilience will increase as well. This is an all-around enhancement, even though it doesn't include energy attacks or special abilities.
However, for me right now, this is extremely important. Summoning monsters on this battlefield is a survival skill, but personal strength is the most crucial factor.
With 10 tons of arm strength, I can throw punches with at least 30 tons of force. If I enhance myself now, my combat power might even surpass that of an average Thunder Warrior.
However, Rhodes does not plan to enhance his own body just yet, as the enhancement affects everything comprehensively. Besides, this Red King has not yet reached its full potential.
Instead, he can use the 2,000 gold coins to first enhance Red King's physical abilities, and then transfer that power to himself.
This approach would yield better results.
Three Types of Monster Enhancements:
[Physical Ability Enhancement – This increases the monster's overall weight and height, improving its overall strength.]
[Energy and Special Ability Enhancement – This allows the monster to acquire special abilities or ranged energy attacks.]
These enhancements are usually expensive, costing tens of thousands of points, which Rhodes cannot afford for now.
[Evolution Option – Once a summoned monster reaches a certain threshold, it can evolve. For example, his Red King can evolve into its EX form.]
Rhodes cannot afford the last two options at all right now, as they cost tens or even hundreds of thousands of gold coins.
Abilities like teleportation, energy barriers, devastating cosmic energy beams, and elemental energy attacks are all incredibly expensive.
As for evolution, his Red King is still a beginner-tier monster. It needs to be trained to its limit before it can evolve into its EX form.
For now, the only available options are height enhancement and weight enhancement.
Rhodes opens the monster growth system. Enhancing height increases the monster's height by 2 meters per enhancement. Enhancing weight increases the monster's mass by 3,000 tons per enhancement.
[First enhancement: 1,000 gold coins]
[Second enhancement: 2,000 gold coins]
[Third enhancement: 3,000 gold coins]
Each subsequent enhancement increases by 1,000 gold coins, up to a total of 10 enhancements.
However, each monster has a potential limit. Once its potential is exhausted, it can no longer be enhanced.
His Red King has the potential for five height enhancements and four body strength enhancements, making it a highly potential monster.
If all enhancements are maxed out, Red King's height will increase by 10 meters, reaching 55 meters, and its weight will increase by 12,000 tons, reaching 32,000 tons.
Each enhancement also fully restores the monster's health and stamina.
Currently, Red King has been fighting for several hours. Its stamina is down by half, and its health bar is down by one-third, meaning it's in a lightly injured state. Rhodes believes it can keep fighting and earning more system coins.
Once it's on the verge of death, he plans to enhance it, fully restoring its health.
Then, Red King can continue battling the Tyranid swarm, maximizing its growth potential. Once Red King reaches its limit, Rhodes will then take the physical enhancement for himself, ensuring maximum efficiency.
So, keep fighting, Red King!