248: Chapter 249 Victory Day

Lin Li slapped his thigh, in an exceptionally good mood.

“Once I complete this quest, I can pull an infinite number of players from Earth or parallel universes as The Fourth Calamity to do cheap labor, letting them truly feel the warmth and healing of the Warhammer Universe!”

Anyway, the summoning mechanism filtered through the internet of the multiverse, so there would never be a shortage of players—creatures whose minds were filled with nothing but grinding mobs and leveling up.

But after the excitement faded, Lin Li's intuition as a shady game developer keenly picked up on an issue arising from this technology.

The player base was notoriously fond of seeking out bizarre and novelty things.

If this [Gene Assembly Machine] could really customize clones directly, wouldn't that be equivalent to opening up a character creation system in the game?

In that instant, a picture of a chaotic masquerade of demons danced through Lin Li's mind.

If this system were truly opened up, what kind of crazy stunts would these lawless players pull?

Beast girls running all over the place? Muscular brutes with eight legs? Or mutants with the heads of Old Gods?

Lin Li rubbed his chin.

“If these guys create designs that are too outrageous, they'll definitely be deemed heretics by the Ecclesiarchy and burned at the stake on the spot. It seems I'll have to add some restrictive code in the backend so they don't look too inhuman.”

After looking over the rewards, Lin Li moved on to the quest objective: Fully explore a star system outside of the Yuanwang Star System.

This put him in a bit of a dilemma.

Although the entire Yuanwang Star System was rich in resources, the nearest neighboring star system was still over a dozen light-years away.

Right now, the fleets controlled by the Spark Alliance itself were all conventional-engine ships that could only operate within the star system.

To fly out of this star system, they had to conduct Warp travel.

That meant they had to get their hands on a Warp jump engine!

But embarrassingly, with the Yuanwang Star System's current shabby industrial foundation, they had absolutely no capability to manufacture a Warp engine.

It was a dead end!

Lin Li knit his brows, lost in thought.

“Wait, that's not right!”

A sudden flash of inspiration struck Lin Li's mind.

“Who says we have to build it ourselves? Aren't those outsiders floating in orbit right now all from outside the star system?!”

The Tyranids have those special living bio-ships that can Warp gravity and travel faster than light—Narwhals!

And on those few Strike Cruisers of the Space Marines, there are ready-made, high-performance Imperial-standard Warp engines!

Lin Li's eyes lit up, his train of thought instantly widening.

“Those ruthless players from Bear Ridge even managed to build the golden armor. With just a little guidance, they can definitely secure a controllable Narwhal!”

“Worst comes to worst, I can see if we can strike a deal with those two Space Marine Chapters. Have the players pay some fare to hitch a ride on their ships, drop a few players off in another star system to act as beacons, and wouldn't the quest be considered complete?”

With his path clear, Lin Li was no longer anxious.

“Once the bugs on the surface are cleared out, I'll launch a new expansion pack for these players immediately! I'll post high-value bounties, giving them plenty of points and gear. As long as they're brave enough, I can directly grant them ownership of planets in the new star system as fiefs! Throw in some random titles for the players, and won't they get that sweet, sweet hit of online bragging rights?”

There are always brave souls lured by the chance to flex; Lin Li knew exactly how to mobilize the motivation of The Fourth Calamity.

Looking back at the quests issued by the System's Will, they all shared a very distinct characteristic.

Namely, using a mix of threats and inducements to encourage Lin Li to actively go out and expand, rather than huddling like a gopher in Shelter waiting to die.

But thinking about it, that was only normal.

This system, after all, was the trump card created by those peak human pioneers of the Golden Age.

Those great beings still yearned for the glorious era when humanity spanned across the galaxy.

The anchor they chose naturally could not be a coward who only sought self-preservation.

...

Over a dozen days later.

This massive Tyranid invasion that decided the fate of the Yuanwang Star System had come quickly and gone just as fast.

Following the death of the Norn Queen, the massive biological structure of the Hive Mother Ship completely lost control and disintegrated.

The entire Hive Fleet, having lost its brain, was like a headless chicken in space.

With the cooperation of the players, the weapons platforms of the fortress, The Guardian, steadily pushed forward.

Using the Mass-Energy Conversion Cannons, they precisely harvested those chaotic Tyranid cruisers and frigates.

The Tyranid fleet was beaten to the point of being unable to fight back, with their daily losses mounting higher by the day.

Due to the lack of coordination from the Norn Queen,

driven by the most primitive instincts of hunger and hunting, the remaining less than one-fifth of the Tyranid fleet chose to flee.

They scattered and fled, escaping into deep space, planning to hunt in other undefended star systems to make up for their massive biomass deficit.

Meanwhile, on the ground battlefields,

without the orbital fire suppression from the Tyranid fleet, the Spark Alliance's warships quickly secured absolute air superiority in low orbit.

Under the cover of precise orbital strikes, the ground Defense Forces on various planets launched a full-scale counteroffensive.

From the decapitation of the Norn Queen to the complete eradication of the remaining bugs everywhere, only a dozen or so days had passed.

This marked the near-official conclusion of this grand campaign.

Lin Li made a prompt decision, declaring that rewards would be handed out according to merit, and officially announced the end of the war to the entire star system!

Meanwhile, on Mobius Prime,

the sky, usually shrouded in industrial exhaust year-round, rarely let a few rays of bright sunlight pierce through, spilling over this metropolis that resembled a steel jungle.

On the wide streets of the capital Hive City, a sea of people was already surging.

Right in the center of the grand Central Square, a massive and solemn metal platform had been temporarily erected.

Lin Li wore a sharp leader's military uniform, without his Power Armor.

Standing on the high platform with a manuscript in hand, he calmly read the victory declaration into the microphone.

Over a dozen servo-skull vox-casters floating in mid-air amplified Lin Li's voice countless times, echoing across the entire square.

Among the crowd, many players with press badges hanging from their chests were controlling portable high-definition camera drones to capture the scene.

They broadcasted this historic moment in real-time, transmitting it to every corner of the Yuanwang Star System.

Lin Li looked down at the endless sea of citizens, his voice powerful and resonant:

“Under the gaze of the God-Emperor, we are invincible!”

“United under the banner of the Alliance, we are invincible!”

“Through the labor of all the people in the star system, we are invincible!”

The moment these three inspiring sentences fell,

thunderous applause and a tsunami of cheers instantly erupted below the platform!

“Long live the Emperor!”

“Long live the Leader!”

“Long live the Spark Alliance!”

The fanatical cheers and applause lasted for a very long time. Many citizens who had lived through the flames of war and lost loved ones even wept openly, trembling with excitement.

Lin Li raised his hands and pressed down slightly, signaling for silence.

“To commemorate this great victory!”

Lin Li loudly announced a decision,

“The Archons and I have jointly decided: today will officially be designated as the Yuanwang Star System's Victory Day every year! And starting today, all citizens across the star system will enjoy a fifteen-day paid statutory holiday to celebrate and commemorate our victory today!”

As soon as these words were spoken, the citizens froze for a second, then erupted into wild applause ten times more enthusiastic than before!

In this universe where human life was as cheap as grass and people worked sixteen hours a day,

a fifteen-day paid vacation was simply a grace that only a god could bestow!

After the speech concluded,

Lin Li stepped down from the podium and began the next tedious process:

which included mourning the fallen soldiers before the monument, and presenting physical medals to the officers, soldiers, and players who had achieved outstanding military merits.

Although these tasks were tedious and dry, as the leader, he had to do them in person.

At this moment,

on the terrace of a towering spire far off in the Central Square,

Death Spectres Captain Roshiam and Lucas stood like two cold statues, silently looking down at the grand celebration below.

The sons of the Raven Lord had always been reclusive and cold, rarely taking the initiative to contact the outside world.

The Death Spectres Chapter also perfectly inherited this trait.

Normally, they would never appear in such noisy and clamorous secular settings.

But today was different.

They had to figure out why the warriors in this remote star system were so outrageously powerful.

Roshiam crossed his arms and spoke coldly:

“Now, after this period of covert observation, the results are very clear.”

“There are three completely different military structures in this star system.”

“The weakest is the conventional Defense Force of each region; next are the elite warriors they call the Central Army, who are a group of genetically modified cyborgs; and the strongest...”

Roshiam paused, his eyes narrowing slightly.

“The strongest is that batch of warriors who seem to have severe mental illnesses! They are suspected to be some kind of clones. And all three of these forces absolutely obey the orders of that leader named Liming.”

Lucas nodded beside him.

“Such multi-layered military structures are also very common in other sectors of the Imperium; there's nothing unusual about it.”

Lucas pointed out the core issue with pinpoint accuracy:

“But what is truly incomprehensible are two things! First, why is the weapon production capability of this desolate star system so terrifying? Those sophisticated plasma weapons seem to appear out of thin air. Second, why is the individual combat capability of those clones so strong?”

“As for the second point, does Chapter Master Tyberos have any test results on his end?” Lucas asked.

A few days ago, Chapter Master Chapter Master Tyberos of the Carcharodons had taken a few players for some friendly physical sparring.

Roshiam let out a cold snort:

“The data came out last night. Chapter Master Tyberos said that if we're talking purely about raw muscle strength and physical stats, even he would find it hard to establish absolute dominance in a short amount of time.”

“However,”

Roshiam's tone carried a hint of absurdity,

“those clones' combat skills are an absolute mess! They don't have any concept of defense at all; it's purely a shameless, life-trading fighting style! As long as they can land a hit on you, they don't care even if their own heads are blown apart by bolt shells. They're completely a bunch of madmen who do not fear death!”

The two fell into a long silence.

After a moment, Lucas spoke with some concern:

“The anomalies here are too obvious. Do those guys from the Inquisition and the Adeptus Mechanicus know what's happening here?”

“Not for the time being.”

Roshiam shook his head.

“But with such a massive commotion, news will definitely leak out sooner or later. Once those Inquisitors set their eyes on this place, there will be big trouble.”

“Then what should we do?” Lucas looked at the Captain. “Should we report to Terra, or call in the main force of the Chapter to suppress them?”

Roshiam did not answer directly, but asked a question in return:

“Lucas, tell me, what is the supreme duty of the Death Spectres Chapter?”

Lucas loudly recited the Chapter's creed almost subconsciously:

“To stand as the high wall of the Imperium's borders! Guard the Ghoul Stars to the death, and repel all alien threats from beyond!”

Roshiam glanced down at Lin Li, who was currently presenting medals to the soldiers, a barely perceptible curve forming at the corner of his mouth.

“Then, what do you think this faction called the Spark Alliance is doing right now?”

Lucas froze for a moment.

He looked at those players who had just slaughtered the bugs without leaving a single one behind, and seemed to understand something.

“Captain, you mean...”

“I mean,”

Roshiam turned around,

“since they are doing the job we are supposed to do, and doing it even better than us, there is no need for us to be meddlesome informants.”

“In this dark universe, having one more high wall capable of withstanding pressure is not a bad thing for humanity.”

“What's more, that man has even received the Emperor's blessing!”