42: Chapter 42 Lottery

"How large is the protection range of this damn stone?" Lin Li asked impatiently.

"Given that there are only 12 pieces, a preliminary estimate suggests that the effective radius of the silent field will exactly cover the entire underground structure of the Fire Seed Shelter, as well as a five-kilometer area around the surface camp."

"Hahahaha! Enough! That's perfectly enough!"

Lin Li laughed up at the sky.

This was exactly what he needed!

In this fucked-up Warhammer universe, the biggest threat isn't some Greenskins or Tyranids, but that massive Warp cesspool that can seep into people's hearts at any time!

The Greenskins are just pure idiots, nothing but bones in a grave; even the Tyranids can be seduced and impregnated by transmigrator peers, so what's there to be afraid of?

With this set of black stone matrices, the Fire Seed Shelter is essentially wearing an absolutely safe bulletproof vest!

Even if that player called Flame Fist messes up in the camp later, there's no need to worry about him turning into a bloodthirsty Bloodletter Greater Daemon!

Besides that precious set of black stones, the other two items on the list also piqued Lin Li's interest.

They were two silver metal blocks, only the size of a lunchbox.

[Solid Hydrogen High-Energy Battery Pack].

"Good stuff."

Lin Li picked one up and weighed it in his hand.

The energy density of this thing far exceeds the polymer batteries currently available in the Shelter.

If used on vehicles or to power certain large energy equipment, it would definitely be a qualitative leap.

But he thought to himself, he didn't have time to figure out how to wire it up if he kept it.

"Might as well hang it directly in the Armament Store and let those players deal with the headache."

Lin Li skillfully opened the backend permissions, entered the four medical exoskeletons and two solid hydrogen batteries into the product list, and then pressed the publish button.

...

Surface camp.

On a hot afternoon, the players who were drinking juice and chatting in the shade suddenly felt their wrist-mounted pv terminals vibrate in unison.

[System Prompt: Armament Store has been updated.]

A few idle players casually opened the list, and the next second, gasps of shock rose one after another throughout the camp.

"Holy crap, new stock. Four exoskeletons, priced at 2000 points."

"And this solid hydrogen battery, also 2000 points. What kind of godly battery is this? It sells for more than a gun."

A civil engineering bro named [Happy to Freeload] looked at the pitiful 900 points in his account and rubbed his reddened eyes:

"Brothers, with my 900 points, can I grit my teeth and get on the exoskeleton train? A loan would work too."

The person next to him hit him with merciless truth:

"Stop dreaming. Even if you break your molars, you won't have enough for the down payment. That's high-end gear worth 2000 points."

Just as the players were drooling over the store.

On the wasteland outside the camp, there was a harsh sound of tracks grinding and the roar of an engine.

The squad that went to raid the Ork camp had returned.

The two crude tracked vehicles were piled high with scrap metal scavenged from the Greenskin lair.

There were rusted armor plates, rough gears, and even a few broken Ork-logic guns.

The tracked vehicles came to a stop in the center of the camp, and Liver Emperor, Ming Shen, and a few others jumped off, starting to direct people to unload the cargo.

But what attracted everyone's attention wasn't the scrap metal.

It was the other two things brought back in the cargo bed.

A bizarre-looking operating table and a strong man covered in blood.

"What is this thing? Looks like an instrument of torture." A few players gathered around the operating table to inspect it.

The main body of the instrument was a cold metal bed, surrounded by a dozen mechanical arms covered in grime and dried blood, with various saws, drills, and laser cutters hanging from them.

It was creepy just to look at.

Lin Li and 73 just happened to walk out of the elevator and noticed the commotion.

73 lowered its altitude, its red optical lens scanning the operating table.

"An Imperial mass-produced Servitor conversion bed."

73's mechanical voice was filled with undisguised disdain,

"A very low-end and crude physical modification device. Those Mechanicus cultists on Mars always like to forcibly excise human prefrontal lobes, turning living people into mindless cyborg slaves. This is absolutely the greatest insult and failure to the potential of carbon-based life."

Lin Li felt a stir in his heart after hearing this.

Servitor conversion bed.

He stepped forward and tapped the cold mechanical arm:

"73, if the underlying logic of excising the prefrontal lobe is erased, can you rewrite the machine's program to make it a pure operating table capable of custom limb modification or cybernetic implantation?"

73 snorted:

"Modifying code simpler than a paramecium is just a minor issue for me. As long as you can provide the appropriate mechanical prosthetic blueprints, I can make it the most precise cybernetic implantation terminal."

"Very good." Lin Li nodded with satisfaction.

In Warhammer, mechanical ascension is considered a man's romance.

Once this machine is repaired, players will be able to spend points to install cool mechanical arms for themselves.

This is another bottomless pit to drain players' points.

After dealing with the machine, Lin Li turned to look at the man brought back by the players.

The NPC was very burly, and even though his body was covered in scars of all sizes, his eyes still revealed a stubbornness.

"We found this guy in an iron cage at the Ork camp; he was still headbutting the iron bars at the time," Liver Emperor explained from the side.

Lin Li walked up to him, looked at the man's knotted muscles, and asked:

"What is your name? Why were you captured by the Ork tribe?"

The man raised his head, his eyes a bit dull, and replied in a muffled voice: "Ironhead. I ran into Greenskins while scavenging in the wasteland and got captured. They locked me in a cage and let Greenskins in every day to fight me; I only get food if I win."

Lin Li raised an eyebrow, interested.

Greenskins are a race that treats combat as entertainment.

Being able to survive in their fighting cages definitely makes him a tough guy.

"How many Greenskins did you win against?"

Ironhead counted with his thick fingers: "Five short ones, and one big one."

Five Gretchins and Squigs, plus one Orc Boyz. To achieve such a record with bare-handed combat, this kind of quality is absolutely one in a hundred among wasteland civilians.

Lin Li nodded and asked straightforwardly: "Are you willing to stay and work for me?"

Ironhead looked at the heavy weapons behind Lin Li, then glanced at the large camp pot distributing meat paste nearby, swallowed, and nodded heavily:

"Willing. As long as I'm fed, I'll sell my life to you."

Lin Li patted his shoulder and signaled for Rhine to come over to arrange a separate living space and double rations for this new fierce warrior.

...

5:00 PM.

In the revival area in the center of the camp, rows of hibernation pods emitted low hums of pressure release one after another.

The sixteen players who died in the brutal positional warfare last night crawled out of the nutrient solution one after another after 24 hours of reconstruction.

"Phew... finally revived. The air here still smells comfortable."

The 2.3-meter-tall Tauren [Makabazi] stretched and stepped out of the largest special hibernation pod.

He immediately opened his pv terminal, took a look at the attribute panel, and let out a wail.

"My experience. The experience I worked so hard to save is all wiped out. Dropped back to level four again."

Makabazi was on the verge of tears and turned to look at [Why Panic When I Have Flash], who was sitting nearby maintaining his weapon:

"Flash, you survived until the end last night, what level are you now?"

Hearing this, Flash immediately put on an annoying expression and chuckled.

"Not much, not much. After that battle, I happened to level up three times."

Flash proudly brought up his panel,

"Average attributes are 12 now, and Strength and Agility have broken the 15-point mark. I feel like I can punch a cow to death now, of course, not you, Cow-boy."

Makabazi widened his cow eyes: "15 Agility. Aren't you becoming a little superman now?"

"You bet."

Flash stood up, turned around, and dragged a ridiculously shaped giant black sword from the wooden cart behind him.

This sword was over a person's height, with a blade as wide as a door panel.

"Look at the Dragon-Slaying Sword I just crafted on the constructor today."

Flash lifted the giant sword over his head with one hand; although the blade was hollow, it still weighed a full 50 jin.

He swung it twice in the air, creating a dull sound of wind, "It's like playing with it; this Strength check is insane."

Makabazi looked at the absurdly large black sword and curled his lips, retorting:

"You should just chop off your left hand, install a mechanical prosthetic, and just Cosplay Guts."

While the two were bickering.

The pv terminals hanging around all the players' necks suddenly popped up with an eye-catching golden window.

[System Announcement: Battle settlement lottery event is about to begin. Players, please be prepared.]

[Countdown: 5... 4... 3...]

"It's here, it's here. The lottery has started."

Flash hurriedly dropped the giant sword, sat on the ground, rubbed his hands, and stared intently at the golden blind box on the screen.

The moment the countdown hit zero, all the players who participated in the battle in the camp pressed the "Open" button on their screens almost simultaneously.

The blind box burst open, and a Flash of virtual light passed.

Flash looked at the text on the screen with anticipation, then his face fell.

[Congratulations on obtaining: Heavy Stubber * 1]

"Sigh. Why is it a gun?"

Flash was a bit depressed.

He was a pure melee tough guy, originally aiming for that powered exoskeleton, but ended up drawing a fire support weapon.

Although this gun is valuable, in his hands, it's just a fire poker.

"Bazi, what did you draw?" Flash turned to look at the Tauren.

Makabazi was staring blankly at the screen; hearing the voice, he jumped up suddenly and let out a deafening cow roar.

"Exoskeleton. It's an exoskeleton."

Makabazi held up his wrist and showed it off crazily in front of Flash.

The screen clearly displayed a projection of a streamlined medical exoskeleton.

"Unfair. Can you even fit into that thing with your size? This is definitely the system sending the wrong item." Flash was so sour his teeth almost fell out.

Just when some players were happy and others were sad.

A near-maniacal burst of laughter suddenly came from the other side of the camp.

"Hahahaha. I'm rich. I drew a top-tier item."

Everyone turned to look.

They saw [Wang Shouyi 13-Spice] standing there laughing up at the sky.

On his terminal projection, a giant mechanical device with a ferocious shape and bloodstains on the edges was displayed.

[Congratulations on obtaining: Orc Warboss's Giant Claw]

"The Boss's weapon."

The whole camp was in an uproar. That giant claw was a terrifying weapon that insta-killed many players on the battlefield last night; it was actually put into the prize pool as loot.

"Old Wang, are you selling this claw? I'll offer 30,000." A wealthy player immediately stepped forward to ask for the price.

The camp instantly turned into a lively flea market, with players trading the extra equipment they had drawn.

Lin Li, standing in the distance, watched this scene with a smile on his lips.

This post-battle material digestion could greatly promote the internal economic circulation of the players.

But he quickly restrained his smile.

With these dozens of players and the newly arrived local residents, the scale of the camp was getting larger and larger.

Everyone was trading with points, but points were just a string of numbers in the pv terminal and couldn't circulate between reality and NPCs.

There was no stable currency system in the camp, no written management rules, and those rescued slaves could only rely on distributed food to survive every day; this was not a long-term solution.