281: Chapter 282 (V 0.60 Update)

Lin Li pondered for a moment and immediately issued an order to 73:

"Old Seven, create a character customization interface in the game backend immediately. But! You must lock the core parameters for me!"

"Restrict male players to creating male characters only, and female players to creating female characters only! Cross-gender account creation is absolutely forbidden!"

Lin Li paused, "Also, set a threshold for the face customization sliders. Any grotesque models where the eyes are on the butt or the chin is sharp enough to kill someone should be rejected by the system review and forced to be redone!"

Iron Man 73 recorded the instruction: "Understood. How should I reply if players protest on the forums about the lack of freedom in character customization?"

"Just tell them there's a conflict in the underlying code, that alien gene screening is in progress, and the feature is not yet available. The final interpretation rights belong to GW."

Lin Li shamelessly adopted the typical scoundrel attitude of a game developer.

73 paused for a moment, appearing to hit a logical deadlock: "What if we encounter a rare player whose physiological characteristics in reality are hermaphroditic or involve genetic mutations? How should they create an account?"

Lin Li was taken aback.

He rubbed his chin and, adhering to the principle of not discriminating against any niche groups, thought about it seriously for a while.

"Such people should be very rare."

"If the backend actually detects this kind of extremely special genetic data input, do not automatically approve it. Send the file directly to me, and I will personally review the account creation!"

Lin Li believed this line of defense was absolutely necessary.

While The Fourth Calamity certainly possessed the greatest execution and destructive power in the universe, in terms of insanity, if not restricted, heaven knows what kind of bizarre monsters these players would create!

Having dealt with the potential hazards of the Gene Assembly Machine, Lin Li patted the black box's casing, in a great mood.

"Let's go, Old Seven."

Lin Li turned to look deeper into the B8 level.

"Let's keep exploring and see what other good things are on this level."

The two bypassed the Gene Assembly Machine and continued walking deeper into the B8 level.

The spatial layout here was somewhat similar to the previous level, still retaining a heavy style of industrial pragmatism.

At the end of the area, a massive cargo elevator capable of accommodating several heavy tanks was embedded.

The tracks were covered in black and yellow warning stripes, and the hydraulic rods were as thick as giant trees.

Beside the cargo elevator, a hexagonal metal console hovered.

Lin Li walked up to it.

He discovered that besides the standard elevator start buttons on the console, a small metal block was resting quietly in a recess in the very center.

The metal was dark silver and about the size of a fist.

The surface was mirror-smooth, without any ports, seams, or physical switches; it was seamless, as if it were some kind of ore naturally formed by nature.

"What is this?"

Lin Li reached out and picked up the metal block.

It felt slightly cool to the touch and was much heavier than he expected.

He searched it over and over for a long time but couldn't find any fingerprint lock or retinal scanner to activate it.

Iron Man 73 approached, and the optical sensors in its eyes shot out two crimson scanning beams again, sweeping back and forth over the metal block in Lin Li's hand.

A few seconds later.

In 73's typically calm, synthesized mechanical voice, there was an unprecedented stutter.

"Commander."

Iron Man 73's electronic eyes flickered.

"This... this is actually a complete STC data core!"

Lin Li's hand jerked violently, nearly dropping this priceless treasure on the ground.

"A complete STC?!"

Lin Li's eyes widened.

In the Warhammer Universe, even a single incomplete STC blueprint would be enough to make the Adeptus Mechanicus priests on Mars launch a crusade across the sector.

And what he was holding was actually a complete module!

"What technology is inside? Titan mechs? Or Gloriana-class battleships?" Lin Li asked impatiently.

"Neither."

Iron Man 73 quickly analyzed the surface data.

"Judging by the feature codes, this is a data core containing a climate modification module. As long as we connect it to the base's Matter Constructor, we can directly produce one of the greatest planetary engineering instruments of the Golden Age—a climate modification device."

Lin Li frowned, his enthusiasm cooling slightly:

"A climate modification device? Is that the kind of thing that can regulate a planet's temperature and create an atmosphere?"

"Not just that, Commander."

Iron Man 73 corrected him.

"This is the cornerstone of humanity's true dominance of the galaxy during the Golden Age.

In that era, humans didn't need to search for naturally habitable planets.

Combined with gravity generation devices, this system could forcibly reverse and transform any dead, rocky planet—or even toxic gas giant—in the universe into a habitable world for human migration in an extremely short time."

Hearing this explanation.

The deadlock in Lin Li's mind regarding the 100 billion population KPI was instantly cleaved open by a sharp blade!

He gasped, finally realizing the terrifying value of the small metal block in his hand.

Lin Li gripped the metal block.

The strategic value of this thing was several dimensions higher than even the gene cloning machine from earlier!

With it, he could not only develop the barren planets around the Yuanwang Star System.

Even, he could restore the ecology of worlds like those that had been drained of biomass by the Tyranids and turned into dead stars!

Ecological restoration meant food production and the provision of living space.

As for the 100 billion population mission required by the system?

A capitalist's smile curled at the corner of Lin Li's mouth.

"The last thing the Imperium of Man lacks is population."

"Which of the Hive City worlds in the Imperium of Man isn't packed with tens of billions of bottom-tier refugees? Those lower-hive civilians eat corpse-starch every day and can't even get a sip of clean water."

"When the time comes, just have the players pilot Void Ships loaded with synthetic starch and purified water. Park in orbit over any Hive City of the Imperium and throw the cargo bay doors wide open."

"No need to rob, no need to fight. Just shout that we provide food and housing. With just some cheap supplies, we can trade for tens of millions, or even hundreds of millions, of cheap laborers in the lower hives!"

Trading food for population, and then using the climate modifier to provide living space.

This wasn't just a perfect commercial exploitation.

"Let's go."

Lin Li turned around decisively and headed toward the elevator.

"Old Seven, arrange a robot engineering team immediately. Integrate the Gene Assembly Machine and the climate modification module into the highest priority production sequence immediately!"

...

Meanwhile.

In the real world, on Earth.

In a remote but picturesque little mountain village in the south.

Dumpling was squatting under a big tree in his own courtyard, holding a large bowl and slurping down soybean paste noodles, sweating profusely.

Before coming into contact with the game warhammer 40,000 Online.

Dumpling was just an ordinary white-collar worker in a big city, squeezing into the subway during the morning rush hour every day, enduring the empty promises of his boss, and earning a meager salary.

But after successfully obtaining the game's closed beta qualification, everything changed.

As a leading representative of life-skill players, he earned massive amounts of points.

Then, he sold these points in reality at a high price to those wealthy combat players who were in urgent need of resources for war.

In just a few short months, the money he earned was already equal to the sum of his salary for the past ten years.

After achieving initial financial freedom, Dumpling didn't hesitate to fire his boss, gave up his expensive rental in the city, returned to his fresh-aired rural hometown, and settled down to become a full-time player.

"Slurp—"

Dumpling ate the noodles in big mouthfuls, freeing up one hand to scroll through his phone screen.

In his spare time, he was accustomed to checking the news to kill time.

But today, the headlines of major news portals made his eyebrows twitch.

[Shocking! The Chinese Academy of Sciences has made breakthrough progress in Solid-state Hydrogen Battery research, doubling energy density!]

[Nanjing University's nuclear fusion reactor successfully ignited! Stable operation time breaks the 900-second mark for the first time!]

[Harvard University physics team announces: Starting a new round of room-temperature superconductor implementation experiments; materials science is about to face a revolution!]

[Medical miracle: Living cell memory storage experiment successful; living hard drives may become a reality!]

A series of blockbuster news reports, as if rehearsed, flooded the screens on the same day.

"Good grief."

Dumpling swallowed the noodles in his mouth and couldn't help but exclaim,

"Is this a technological explosion? Why does it feel like all of humanity's IQ has suddenly collectively recharged in the last month or two?"

He continued to scroll down.

Suddenly, an agricultural news item tucked into the tech section caught his eye.

[New high-yield, cold-resistant wheat—Jinkela No. 1 seeds successfully cultivated! Yield per acre breaks historical records; experts say humanity is expected to completely get rid of hunger!]

Seeing the five characters "Jinkela No. 1".

Dumpling's pupils contracted violently.

His chopsticks shook, and a noodle fell directly onto his big shorts.

"Jinkela No. 1? What the hell?!"

Dumpling quickly clicked on the news details.

It contained a picture. The wheat plants in the picture were exceptionally tall, and the ears of wheat were exaggeratedly full.

Isn't this the special high-yield crop genetically engineered by the Stone Men in the game!

Even the name is exactly the same!

Because when they were naming this thing back then, everyone in the guild had played with this old internet pun in the channel together!

"Same name? That's too much of a coincidence, right?"

Dumpling put down the large bowl and pulled out a tissue to wipe his mouth.

His eyebrows knitted into a knot.

"A coincidence? Absolutely impossible."

Dumpling's heart began to beat faster,

"Could it be that this thing was created in reality by some internal player? But... isn't warhammer 40,000 just a holographic virtual reality game?"

Although the sense of touch, pain, and even the taste of food in the game were disturbingly realistic.

But it was, after all, just a data world composed of code.

How could anyone bring genetically modified plant seed technology from the game into the real world?

Even those solid-state hydrogen batteries, room-temperature superconductors...

Linking this to the eerie explosion of global technology in the last month or two.

Dumpling felt a chill down his spine.

He felt as if he had touched an invisible web covering the entire world; there must be some unimaginable, earth-shattering conspiracy behind this.

"Forget it."

Dumpling shook his head, forcibly suppressing the shock in his heart,

"If the sky falls, the tall ones will hold it up. I'm just a gamer; why bother thinking about these big schemes."

If he couldn't figure it out, he wouldn't think about it anymore.

This was Dumpling's easygoing nature.

He finished the remaining noodles in a few bites, took the bowl and chopsticks to the sink to wash them.

Then changed into a pair of flip-flops, ready to go to the grocery store at the entrance of the village to buy a pack of cigarettes and take a stroll to digest.

Just as he walked out of the courtyard gate.

His phone in his pocket suddenly vibrated violently twice with a buzzing sound.

Dumpling immediately stopped, took out his phone, and opened it to check.

On the screen was a pinned announcement pushed by the official account [Developer: Immortal Lin].

[warhammer 40,000 Online V0.60 Version Update Announcement]

Dear players:

To provide a better interstellar conquest experience, the server will undergo an online hotfix tonight.

The content of this update is as follows:

1. Armory Expansion: Added more models and battle damage textures for equipment and vehicles.

2. AI Logic Upgrade: Opened more indigenous factions. Comprehensively optimized NPC behavior logic and diplomacy systems (Please note: NPCs will now be more cunning; insurance fraud and bug-exploiting trades will be detected).

3. Warp Optimization: Implemented more realistic Warp scene rendering, added environmental mental pollution value feedback.

4. Scene Fixes: Fixed a large number of known bugs, removed invisible walls in some peripheral sectors, and opened deep space exploration permissions.

[Important!]

5. New Recruit Recruitment Plan: As the faction scale expands, starting tomorrow, 2,000 to 5,000 new closed beta slots will be opened daily! Players who obtain qualifications will receive login devices via an exclusive link.

[Important!]

6. New Player Welfare: At long last! The server has officially implemented a high-freedom character customization system! Now, you can customize the appearance of your clone, and fight for the Alliance and the Emperor in your most perfect form!

Looking at this announcement, especially the last two items.

Dumpling stood in the middle of the dirt road at the village entrance and gasped.

"Five thousand slots a day?!"

Dumpling's eyes widened,

What did this mean?

It meant a large amount of fresh leeks... ah no, fresh blood was about to flood into the game!

For an old player like him, this meant massive amounts of potential customers and cheap laborers!

Moreover, the so-called high-freedom character customization system directly ignited the entire forum.

Within just a few minutes of its release, the comment section under the announcement had already exceeded ten thousand comments.

Those troll players in reality had already started sharing their character customization masterpieces in the replies, threatening that on their first day of logging in, they would create a muscular man with twin tails covered in tentacles to scare the Inquisitor to death.