Outside the abandoned Pre-Processing Workshop, the massive bowl-shaped crater echoed with a chaotic symphony of clinks and clangs.
The players were grunting and panting as they mined.
Interspersed among the noise were howls of: "This thing is heavy!", "My arm is breaking!", and "For Imperial Coins!"
Zeke carried several warped metal plates pried from the wreckage of an old drill rig, along with a pile of screws, gears, and other parts, back to the metal platform inside the workshop marked as the 'Material Submission Point'.
The platform's surface was smooth and featured a clear indentation.
He dumped the items onto it all at once.
[Submission Complete]
[Material Evaluation: Low-quality alloy scrap (6.5 units), standard mechanical parts (0.5 units).]
[Earned: 0.7 Imperial Coins]
[Current Imperial Coins Held: 0.7]
[Today's Survival Tax: Unpaid (0/0.3)]
"0.7..."
Zeke panted heavily, wiping the sweat from his forehead as his muscles ached.
He looked at a burly man next to him with the ID [Pay the Tithe Even if the World Ends] (Tax Bro for short), who had also just submitted his haul. "Tax Bro, how much did you get?"
"0.9."
Tax Bro looked utterly tragic. "I feel like I'm working for some unscrupulous tax lord... No, this is darker than a sweatshop. At least a sweatshop gives you food and board!"
"I'm hungry, thirsty, and my stamina is down to 51%. This hunger sensation is way too real!"
"Tell me about it."
[Schrödinger's Loyalist] dragged a metal pipe he had dismantled from who-knows-where, weakly submitted it, and received 0.2 coins.
"I'm a Loyalist. I didn't die on the frontlines fighting Chaos. I didn't fall to a Greenskin's chopper. And now I'm going to starve to death in a game supposedly made by T'au spies?"
"If word of this gets out, how am I ever going to show my face in the Terra Underground Cyber Tavern again?"
"Give me a break with the T'au spy theory." Zeke retorted, "If the T'au had this level of technology, they would have blown up the Eye of Terror by now."
"I'm starting to suspect this is a human physical limit and resource exploitation simulation experiment run by some fringe Mechanicus Magos trying to escape Imperial control."
"In short: A wage-slave simulator," Tax Bro summarized perfectly.
"Brilliant."
The trio's complaining was just a small drop in the ocean of noise within the crater.
Similar complaints and gallows humor could be heard everywhere.
"The feedback when swinging this pickaxe... is incredible! It feels better than the real one at my grandpa's farm!"
"I dug up what looked like Adamantium... bah, just a really hard rock! The System only gave me 0.01 units for it!"
"Any brothers want to group up and check out over there? We might be able to dismantle those big vats!"
"Count me in! Count me in! Be careful not to fall into that glowing green puddle, it looks like Papa Nurgle's special soup..."
"Shut up! Do not mention that name! Bad luck!"
The players' adaptability was formidable.
The limited 5-slot inventory quickly became the biggest bottleneck to efficiency.
As a result, the players spontaneously formed assembly lines: one group dug and dismantled deep within the pit, while another group used crude ropes and wooden carts for short-distance transport.
They dragged the relatively valuable large items back to the submission point, piling them up to be stored by designated guards until they returned to turn them in.
Surprisingly, their efficiency actually increased significantly.
Of course, conflicts and friction were inevitable.
"I found that generator casing first!"
"I finks this fing ain't got yer name on it!"
"Holy shit, Ork speak already? Brother, you are way too immersed in the roleplay!"
"Stop arguing! Finders keepers, tear it apart and split the loot!"
"Hurry up, another squad is coming this way!"
–
Deep within the Warp.
"Tsk, tsk, look at that subjective initiative."
Lucian admired the System prompt that read: [Player coordination efficiency increased by 15%] as the trickle of absorbed energy grew slightly more abundant. "As expected, debt and survival pressure are the ultimate driving forces of productivity."
"All that talk of loyalty and faith is hollow in the face of a 0.3 coin breathing tax."
"Lil' Scourge," he summoned the System. "What can we list in the store right now? Give me a list."
"It needs to be appropriate for their current stage, but also give them something to hope for."
The cold, mechanical voice echoed directly in Lucian's consciousness, identical in tone to the one it used with the players:
[Based on the collected material energy and emotional energy conversion reserves, the following basic exchange items can be unlocked:]
I. Survival & Support:
Synthetic Nutrient Paste (Standard Ration): Alleviates hunger, slightly restores stamina. Price: 0.3 Imperial Coins.
Purified Water (1 Liter): Alleviates thirst. Price: 0.3 Imperial Coins.
Basic Medical Kit: Treats minor injuries, slows bleeding. Price: 1.5 Imperial Coins.
Crude Fiber Sleeping Bag: Use in safe zones to accelerate stamina recovery and slightly alleviate fatigue. Price: 3 Imperial Coins.
II. Tools & Weapons:
Forged Miner's Pick: Collection efficiency +10%. Price: 3 Imperial Coins.
Metal Cutter: Dramatically increases efficiency when dismantling metal structures. Price: 6 Imperial Coins.
Makeshift Steel Pipe/Metal Bar: A melee weapon better than bare hands. Price: 1-3 Imperial Coins (varies by quality).
Crude Pistol (Black Powder): Short range, poor accuracy, slow reload, but it goes bang. Comes with 10 crude lead balls. Price: 20 Imperial Coins.
Hunting Knife: A relatively reliable melee weapon and cutting tool. Price: 5 Imperial Coins.
III. Basic Enhancements (Requires Gene-Sequence Development Progress > 1% to unlock preview):
Basic Physique Enhancement (Type I): Slightly increases maximum strength and endurance. Price: 100 Imperial Coins.
Neural Reflex Optimization (Type I): Slightly increases reaction speed and coordination. Price: 100 Imperial Coins.
Sensory Acuity (Type I): Slightly increases visual, auditory, and other sensory capabilities. Price: 100 Imperial Coins.
(Note: Enhancements modify the physical vessel but still require training and adaptation. May cause minor aesthetic changes to the vessel.)
IV. Knowledge/Skills (Memory Fragment Transfer, Extremely Simplified Edition):
"Wilderness Survival Basics (Aurelian IV Edition)" - Price: 10 Imperial Coins.
"Basic Mechanical Identification and Dismantling" - Price: 30 Imperial Coins.
"Makeshift Trap Construction and Deployment" - Price: 15 Imperial Coins.
[The above is the content for the Phase I Store. Additional items require more material energy to unlock blueprints.]
Lucian scanned the list and was fairly satisfied.
"All Warhammer 40k abilities, talents, weapons, armor, potions, gene-seed... theoretically, they can buy all of it, right?"
[Calculating... Correct. However, the energy required is astronomically vast. For example: A complete set of Space Marine gene-seed implantation and modification requires energy equivalent to the direct absorption and conversion of a small city. Primarch-tier gene templates demand energy on an exponential scale.]
"Then... how about helping me become… the Emperor?"
Lucian asked half-jokingly, his energy body rippling with curiosity.
The System fell silent for a moment, as if performing calculations on an unprecedented scale.
[Target: Master of Mankind (The Emperor). Energy requirement estimation... Requires the absorption and conversion of approximately 63.8% of the total energy in this universe (Physical and Warp combined). Furthermore, requires complete comprehension, analysis, and replication of His unique psychic essence, genetic structure, and the accumulated wisdom and soul strength of ten millennia.]
[Feasibility: A theoretical path exists. Practical probability is lower than the universe naturally rebooting after heat death.]
"Wait, WHAT?!"
Lucian's energy body fluctuated violently. "It takes more than half the energy in the entire universe?!"
He finally had a visceral understanding of exactly how much weight the entity sitting on the Golden Throne... no, the entity acting as humanity's beacon... truly carried.
"Looks like I've got a long way to go if I want to get stronger. I absolutely cannot get cocky. One misstep and I'm dead meat."
Lucian quickly accepted reality. "Then I'll just let the players be cocky! These basic weapons and enhancements in the store will keep them busy for a long time."
"Setup complete. Unlock it once they finish the quest."
[Store Exchange List (Phase I) prepared. Will unlock upon triggering condition.]
–
In the lower levels of the mine, behind a relatively concealed pile of mechanical wreckage.
Zeke had formed a three-man exploration squad with [Pay the Tithe Even if the World Ends] (Tax Bro) and [Schrödinger's Loyalist] (Schrödinger Bro).
Each of them was carrying a rusted steel pipe salvaged from the ruins, with a few decently sharp metal shards tucked into their waistbands as secondary weapons.
"Doesn't look like anyone's come this way."
Tax Bro warily surveyed the surrounding mountains of metallic trash and collapsed scaffolding.
"The ore veins around here seem pretty picked clean too. It's mostly just slag." Schrödinger Bro poked the ground with his steel pipe.
"Keep an eye out for anything big that's buried, or... anything else we can sell for cash."
Zeke's eyes swept the area. Suddenly, he stopped and pointed toward the base of a pile of twisted pipes. "Over there. Does that look like an opening? It doesn't look man-made."
The three exchanged glances and cautiously approached.
It was an irregular hole dug into the junction between the metal and the rock wall. Its edges were lined with stiff fur and deep scratch marks, emitting a foul, musky stench.
"A beast's lair?" Schrödinger Bro lowered his voice.
"Possible."
"The System said we could do anything. It didn't say we only have to mine."
Zeke tightened his grip on the steel pipe. "Maybe there's something shiny the beast hoarded inside?"
The thought made the trio's hearts race.
But the danger was also glaringly obvious.
Just as they were hesitating over whether to go inside and investigate or mark the spot and go back for reinforcements...
Roar!
A low, threatening growl echoed from within the cave, accompanied by the sound of heavy, sticky footsteps.
A massive figure blocked the entrance.
It was a creature that looked like a scaled-up mastiff, but far uglier and more terrifying.