After tightening the final screw, the Salamander picked up the autocannon he had reforged with his own hands.
Thanks to the use of a brand-new alloy, its heat resistance and structural strength far surpassed the original version. By his own estimates, its service life should hold up for roughly five thousand rounds of Dragon's Breath Canister Shells. Considering the extreme thermal output of secondary converted ether fuel, that figure was already more than satisfactory. According to Markus, this alloy would soon be released to the market as a material intended for specialized operations.
Since it was something crafted personally by a Son of Vulkan, the autocannon naturally carried no small amount of ornamentation. Ignis coated it in a black base layer, then added large amounts of brass forged dragon-scale plating along the upper receiver. Paired with a dragon-head-shaped muzzle brake, the whole thing looked outrageously flashy. To be honest, the Salamander hadn't wanted to go this far at first—gold everywhere, dragon scales, dragon heads—it felt suspiciously like some over-the-top in-game cosmetic. But once he actually got his hands on it, this damned look somehow became damnablyhard to put down.
To ease the awkwardness, he added several seals of loyalty onto the receiver. Though these seals were purely decorative and lacked any real function, once they were affixed, the weapon suddenly carried that unmistakable Warhammer feel. Even the full set of golden dragon scales looked far more natural after that.
After all, when Space Marines of the Salamanders Chapter prepared their own weapons, it wasn't as though no one ever did this sort of thing. The Sons of Vulkan had always loved scale-based ornamentation. His own power fist bore dragon-scale patterns, and many veterans even decorated their armor and weapons with the hides of beasts from Nocturne—creatures with scales as the primary measure of defense.
As it happened, Ignis himself possessed such a hide, stored within the cargo compartment of his power pack. He simply wasn't willing to use such a precious material to decorate his weapons or armor. Though the old Sergeant Volkanic had once mentioned that Ignis was already qualified to add personal ornamentation to his armor, Ignis didn't agree.
That hide wasn't something he had hunted himself; it was a trophy acquired by the body's original owner before Ignis ever arrived in it. He felt he hadn't yet become a truly outstanding Space Marine, and therefore lacked the right to adorn his armor with such a valuable relic.
Perhaps one day, when he fully acknowledged himself, he would use that precious scaled hide to fashion decorations for his armor and weapons.
"Finally done?" Nicole walked into the garage. She had just heard the Salamander's work noises stop and came over to take a look.
"Wow, that design is so tacky." The boss of the Cunning Hares offered her critique without mercy. "I thought only old people liked flashy gold stuff. Didn't expect you to be into it too."
Judging by his experiences, calling Ignis an old man wasn't exactly inaccurate.
"I like it. Gold is the color of loyalty. Dragon scales and dragon heads are the symbols of my Chapter." Ignis ignored her commentary and continued checking the autocannon's systems.
"What's going on? What's so good?" Billy, ever the busybody, came over as well.
"Oh!" After seeing the autocannon in the Salamander's hands, the robot let out an exclamation. "This! This is insanely cool!"
Seeing someone appreciate his work, the Salamander proudly raised an eyebrow at Nicole. See? I told you the color scheme was classic and the design looked good.
"Isn't this inspired by the latest episodes of Starlight Knight?" Billy carefully ran a hand over the brass scales on the receiver. "These scales, this dragon head—it's super accurate!"
Seeing the defeated look on Ignis's face, Nicole burst into laughter, bending over until she could barely straighten up.
Honestly, none of them have any sense of appreciation. Equipment like this should be big, loud, and ugly—the tackier it looked, the higher the combat effectiveness. If it could draw the enemy's attention for even half a second, that was an absolute tactical advantage for a Space Marine.
That excuse was far too flimsy to ever say out loud, of course. Still, the weapons used by Space Marines—especially those carried by veterans—often bore all kinds of decorations that displayed their achievements or personal traits. The one in the Salamander's hands wasn't even particularly excessive by comparison.
After all, who would refuse a cool weapon full of personal flair? Naturally, units tasked with deep infiltration behind enemy lines wouldn't use something like this, but most Space Marines loved extravagant and ornate decorations—especially the so-called Space Romans, who were practically covered in embellishments from head to toe.
After coaxing and shooing Billy out of the workshop, the Salamander finally got a chance to rest. After meeting Jane Doe, he had come straight home and thrown himself into this project—or rather, he'd been at it for several days, finally finishing today.
"I didn't expect you to be out for so long today, and you didn't even answer our calls. Then you came home and dove straight into the workshop to build your cannon, not saying a word to us." Nicole walked up to the Salamander with a mysterious smile.
"So, tell me," she continued, nudging him with her elbow, "what's with the perfume smell on you? I'm the only one here who uses perfume, and that cheap scent on you definitely isn't mine. Went on a date? Who was it? Do we know her?"
What the hell is that cheap perfume made of? The Salamander had deliberately hidden in the workshop and worked hard, hoping the smell of machine oil would cover it up—yet it was still noticed. A sudden possibility crossed his mind. Don't tell me… Jane did this on purpose? Picked something sharp and long-lasting just to mess with me.
But now he had to figure out how to explain this to Nicole. Nothing improper had happened between him and Jane Doe.
Wait—why am I panicking?
"It was Jane Doe," Ignis chose to tell the truth. "Didn't Billy tell you? He drove me there."
"No," Nicole said blankly. Billy had gone out with the giant early that morning and returned alone. She had asked why only he came back, but the robot hadn't said a word.
"Jane Doe asked me to supply her with a batch of materials. She used the opportunity to meet with me and explain the Mountain Lion Gang's current situation," Ignis said, not trying to hide anything. "It's bad. The Mountain Lion Gang seized a shipment of Markus' weapons, including a considerable number of autonomous tactical mechs. Some of their members have also begun mutating. It's going to be troublesome."
Whether they were truly Bloodletters or not, treating them as Bloodletters would certainly be correct.
"Weapons? Mechs? This just got complicated." Nicole frowned. "Does New Eridu Public Security know about this?"
"No. But I doubt they'd act rashly anyway. She was being tailed today and had no chance to contact Public Security. Should I notify them?" Ignis thought of Zhu Yuan and the others—the firepower of the officers would struggle against autonomous tactical mechs.
"How would you explain the source and credibility of the intel?" Nicole's single question left the Salamander speechless.
Indeed. Even if he told Zhu Yuan and Qingyi, why would they believe him? He was a civilian, and these matters were officially classified from him. Jane Doe herself had said she didn't want Public Security involved—their equipment and training couldn't match military hardware. Even if the enemy were just bandits—no, cultists now, far more dangerous ones.
Seeing Ignis fall silent, Nicole patted his waist. "When Rain finishes decrypting the location of the Mountain Lion Gang's base, you'd better take us along."
"Wait, you're not afraid of those tactical mechs?" Ignis looked at the pink-haired woman.
"I am," she admitted bluntly. "Just thinking about facing those things makes my legs shake. But I'm even more afraid of you going alone. What if you don't come back? We may not be the strongest, but among Hollow Raiders, we're top-tier."
The Salamander wanted to dissuade her from such a dangerous operation, but in the eyes of the Cunning Hares' leader burned a will that allowed no refusal. Nicole genuinely cared about every friend—she didn't want to lose a single one.
But for an operation this dangerous, would it really be enough with just him, the Cunning Hares, and the Jaxcalibur Squad? The enemy had two or three dozen Bloodletters—or things similar to them—along with large numbers of tactical mechs. And it would be an assault operation; the enemy would certainly have fortifications and traps.
Just as he was thinking about how to refuse Nicole, his phone rang. It was a video call from the old veteran, Gotthardt.
"By the Emperor, this is fantastic!" The Son of Stone exclaimed the moment the call connected. "Take a look at this."
He switched to the rear camera, showing the left arm of the Leviathan Dreadnought, where a quad-mounted cannon array was installed.
"Look at this—Grace Howard is a genius!" Gotthardt praised loudly. "She studied my damaged Leviathan Storm Cannon array for a few days and actually found a suitable replacement. She said it was a Guardian mech's thermal ray cannon, and it can also be assembled into a quad array."
"I tested it in the Hollow today. The power's a bit lower and the rate of fire's slower, but at least it's a proper weapon now." The old veteran grinned from ear to ear. "Now she's working on repairing the power claw. By the Emperor, she's incredible!"
The camera shifted, showing Grace dismantling the removed power claw with the help of several Bangboo. The old veteran called out to her; the Steel Witch waved at the camera before returning her focus to the work.
Isn't that enough reliable combat power right there? Just imagining fighting alongside a veteran who had taken part in the Great Crusade and fought in the Siege of Terra filled Ignis with excitement.
Even a Sixth Company Captain—no, not even the current Chapter Master—had such an honor.
Grace Howard, you're even more impressive than the Archmagi of the Adeptus Mechanicus. Ignis couldn't help but wonder if this was the will of the Omnissiah manifesting through her.
===BREAK===
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