133: Chapter 133 Warspace Lockdown

A tall, thin man wearing a thick monocle, tightly clutching a large stack of parchment, walked in quickly.

He walked up to Lin Li and bowed deeply, maintaining a very low posture.

"My Lord, my name is Kolom. I was the chief secretary to the former governor. He usually ignored administrative affairs, so most of this city's administrative approvals and daily tasks were handled by me."

Lin Li leaned back in his chair and sized him up.

"Oh? The Governor's confidant?"

Lin Li raised an eyebrow.

"When the former governor fled, he even took the gold bars from the safe. As his personal secretary, why didn't you flee with him like the other retainers?"

Kolom gave a bitter laugh and pushed up the glasses on the bridge of his nose.

"Your Lordship is wise. I come from the bottom of the refugee camps and only climbed to this position thanks to my talent for arithmetic. If I had followed him back to the noble core of the Sector Capital, as a commoner without family background, I would have been executed once accountability was sought. At best, I would have been turned into a Servitor."

Lin Li sat up straight. "So, why have you come to see me?"

"To surrender my loyalty."

Kolom answered without hesitation, patting the data slate in his arms.

"I know every sewer in this city, every account entry, and the background of every faction. Since you've just arrived, My Lord, you will need a guide like me."

Smart, pragmatic, and with no way back.

Lin Li liked dealing with smart people like this.

He turned his head, glanced at Ushtan standing behind him like a steel tower, and then said to Kolom:

"I accept your loyalty. In a few days, once the situation here has completely stabilized, I will hand over the affairs of Coastal City to him."

Lin Li pointed at Ushtan.

"From today on, you will temporarily serve as his deputy, helping him handle the city's administrative trifles."

Then, Lin Li skillfully dangled a carrot:

"He is a pure warrior, only stationed here temporarily to keep order. When the time is right in the future, he will be transferred. At that time, as for who will lead the city's daily operations... you should understand what I mean?"

A flash of irrepressible excitement crossed Kolom's eyes, and he immediately knelt on one knee.

"Understood! I will do my utmost to serve you, My Lord!"

"Alright, stand up and let's talk business."

Lin Li tapped the table. "Give me the truth—what is the current state of this city's assets?"

Kolom stood up, handed the thick briefing in his hand to Lin Li, and began to speak methodically.

Lin Li opened the report and took a look.

Good heavens, it was densely packed with text and data summaries that looked like gibberish.

Population distributions, details of various family industries, major economic types, light and heavy industrial capacity... it gave him a headache.

He simply tossed the report back into Ushtan's hands and closed his eyes to listen to Kolom's concise summary.

In short.

This planet, due to its remote location, was essentially a junkyard for the surrounding prosperous worlds.

Coastal City's main economic pillar was recycling waste from the giant garbage factories on the northern radiation barrens.

A large portion of the population spent their days refining various rare metals, residual fuel, and polymers from mountains of starship wreckage and industrial waste.

These were then resold to other planets via merchant ships in exchange for supplies.

Of course, due to the recent siege by ten million Greenskins, the garbage factories to the north had long since ground to a halt.

Besides scavenging, Coastal City also possessed some basic munitions factories and light industrial assembly lines, barely managing to achieve partial self-sufficiency for consumer goods.

As for food rations, they were a miserable sight.

What bottom-tier laborers ate every day were "starch blocks" and "nutrient paste" synthesized from unspeakable corpses and industrial waste.

Only the upper-class nobles could afford natural food flown in from Agri-Worlds.

As for the Tithe the Empire collected annually from Coastal City, it mainly consisted of a massive population for Astra Militarum recruits, low-quality ammunition, and refined cesium fuel.

At this point, Kolom's expression suddenly became very serious.

"My Lord, there is one more fatal matter."

Kolom lowered his voice.

"Just an hour ago, the head of the Astropathic Array on the top floor of the Governors Mansion reported to me. They haven't received any astropathic messages from distant worlds for a long time. The distress signals we sent out also seem to have vanished like a stone in the ocean."

"They say the Warp seems to have become a dead wall. Currently, the only means we have to communicate with other regions are traditional electromagnetic wave signals."

Hearing this news, Lin Li's brow furrowed sharply.

Astropaths unable to communicate?

The Warp is blockaded?

This was no small matter.

There were quite a few factions in the Warhammer universe capable of large-scale Warp blockades and cutting off planetary communications, but none of them were friendly!

The Shadow in the Warp of the Tyranids, the Blackstone Matrix of the Necrons, or a massive Chaos fleet could all achieve this.

"It seems the weather is about to change in this sector," Lin Li calculated privately.

Three days later.

The situation in Coastal City had basically stabilized.

Lin Li prepared to leave and return to his loyal and safe underground Shelter.

With Kolom's assistance, Ushtan took over the military and administrative defenses of Coastal City with swift and decisive action.

During this period, a few stubborn nobles tried to incite gangs to cause trouble.

Consequently, Ushtan didn't waste any words; he directly led a group of players and hung those nobles' entire families on the city walls to whistle in the sea breeze.

From then on, there were no more voices of opposition in the city.

Although Lin Li had cut off the nobles' privileges in one fell swoop, the city's underlying structure remained much the same as before.

Lin Li knew very well that carrying out drastic reforms in a massive Hive City with a population of two hundred million was not something that could be accomplished overnight.

Taking too big a step is easy to overextend oneself; it had to be done step by step.

Once the commoners at the bottom truly felt the benefits of eliminating noble privileges, they would naturally become the protagonist's firm power base.

When that time came, he would issue a few daily construction quests.

Let that group from the The Fourth Calamity, who were frantically competing for points, run to Coastal City to establish new factories and farms.

Introduce super high-yield crops like [Jinkela No. 1] and provide better jobs.

As long as the living standards of the common people—food, clothing, housing, and transportation—were improved, their hearts and minds would be completely secured.

...

Daytime.

Fire Seed Shelter.

Lin Li took the underground military train and bumped his way back to the base.

When he sat back down in the familiar leather swivel chair of Main Control Room No. 1, his mind suddenly went into a daze.

"Damn."

Lin Li rubbed his temples and couldn't help but complain with lingering fear.

"This trip out, although I managed to swallow the fat prize of Coastal City, I was forced to take out a high-interest loan from that old man in yellow sitting on the toilet just to deal with Wa Banxian."

"That's a debt of gratitude to the Emperor of Mankind! This is no small matter. Who knows how big a storm I'll be swept into in the future!"

Lin Li slapped the table and made up his mind:

"From now on, even if the sky falls, I won't take a single step out of this Shelter! I'll just stay in this basement and comfortably be the mastermind behind the scenes issuing quests!"

After calming down, Lin Li opened the system panel.

This expedition, though perilous, had yielded rich rewards.

The two hidden challenge quests were now marked as complete.

Lin Li not only received a huge sum of ten thousand Core Points but also obtained a complete [Geller Field Generator]!

This was definitely good stuff!

It was the core component that kept human starships from being torn apart by demons during Warp travel.

With this thing, the Shelter's defense system would achieve a qualitative leap.

Moreover, having taken Coastal City, sending players to subdue the scattered warlords and small settlements in the surrounding areas would only be a matter of days.

Once the unification of this continent was complete, the main quest could be settled.

At that time, when underground floor B6 opened, the Shelter would have more incubation pods to accommodate even more player beasts of burden!

Just as Lin Li was happily planning for the future and preparing to get some good sleep.

The pv terminal on the table lit up.

Iron Man 73's cold mechanical voice echoed in the main control room:

"Creator, orbital radar has detected a small shuttle landing. The target is heading straight for our Shelter's surface camp. After data comparison of engine frequencies, it has been confirmed as the Leagues of Votann exploration ship that visited here over a month ago."

"Exploration ship?"

Lin Li was stunned for a moment.

"It couldn't be that dwarf Vaughn, could it? Didn't he say he was going back to the galactic core to find his main fleet when he left? Why did he circle back?"

Helplessly, Lin Li could only force himself to perk up and take the elevator back to the surface to meet him.

On the camp square.

The shuttle's hatch opened.

The dwarf Vaughn hurried down on his short legs.

Upon seeing Lin Li, Vaughn's bearded face was filled with anxiety.

"My friend! I have some very bad news for you!"

Vaughn didn't waste time on pleasantries and said directly,

"The Warp in this sector has been completely blockaded! My ship simply cannot perform a Warp jump! Based on the gravitational waves and psychic echoes I've detected... I strongly suspect this is the Shadow in the Warp generated before a massive Tyranid invasion!"

"The bugs are coming?"

Hearing this news, Lin Li didn't show much surprise on his face.

Because long ago, when he was on the third underground floor, he already knew that bugs would appear.

Lin Li rubbed his chin and suddenly thought of a question:

"Then was your separation from your main fleet last time also because of this Shadow in the Warp?"

The dwarf Vaughn shook his head, his expression becoming even more solemn:

"No, it wasn't because of that. Last time, we were at the edge of the system and had already actively exited the Warp lanes. We suddenly lost contact with each other in the physical universe, about five hundred light-years from here!"

Vaughn swallowed. "That feeling was even more eerie than a Warp blockade. It was as if... an invisible void had swallowed our fleet whole."

Hearing this.

It was as if a bolt of lightning flashed through Lin Li's mind.

He suddenly realized a blind spot!

The Warp in this system was now completely blockaded.

In other words, it was hard for people outside to get in, and people inside couldn't escape through the Warp!

Not a single shred of information from the Astropaths could get out!

What did this represent?!

It meant that on this physically isolated island, no matter how much Lin Li stirred things up, the high-level leadership of the Imperium of Man outside would have no idea!

He no longer had to live in fear; he didn't have to worry about the Inquisition checking his heretical status, the Mars-men of the Adeptus Mechanicus coming to steal his tech, or the Astra Militarum coming to collect that damned Tithe!

As long as he survived the bug attack.

During this vacuum period, he could unrestrainedly spam troops, climb the tech tree, and develop like crazy!

"Wait."

Lin Li calmed down and corrected his train of thought.

"This planet's Tithe is paid to the Sector Capital. The capital is nearby; even without Warp travel, they can fly over in a few months using conventional engines to cause trouble. I killed the former governor, so the House Rofis will definitely come for revenge."

"It seems I need to find an opportunity to mess with that so-called capital planet as soon as possible. Nip the danger in the bud!"

Having worked through this logic.

Lin Li felt the heavy stone pressing on his chest instantly lifted.

He straightened his back, and his whole being became radiant with spirit.

Lin Li stepped forward and patted the dwarf Vaughn's thick shoulder.

"Who cares if it's bugs or demons outside! Since you can't go back, just settle down here with us!"

Lin Li said grandly,

"There's plenty to eat and drink in the Shelter, and everyone is very friendly. Your mechanical skills will come in handy. You can go back whenever this broken network is restored!"

Looking at Lin Li's confident eyes, Vaughn's anxious heart gradually settled down.

He nodded vigorously and shook Lin Li's hand: "Thank you, my friend."