6: Chapter 6 Green-skinned Tribes

"Click."

Lin Li expressionlessly crunched the low-quality strawberry-flavored lollipop in his mouth; the cloyingly sweet artificial flavor spread through his oral cavity.

This pathetic amount of sugar couldn't soothe his frantically secreting stomach acid at all; instead, catalyzed by the powerful metabolism after his genetic awakening, it made his hunger even more unbearable.

But this was the last thing in the Shelter that could be called food.

"New problem..."

Lin Li rubbed his brow, flicked the lollipop, now just a plastic stick, precisely into the waste bin in the corner.

"Every time I open my eyes now, it's all new problems."

He looked up at the STC-73 floating in mid-air.

"73, pull up the data from the last few seconds before Why Panic When I Have Flash died."

"That area is at most two kilometers from the Shelter. What exactly killed him instantly? It couldn't have been a meteorite falling out of thin air, could it?"

STC-73's red optical lens flickered unhurriedly twice, and an emotionless mechanical voice echoed in the empty main control room:

"Creator, most of the Shelter's external surveillance arrays have been damaged over the long years. Relying on the few remaining surface sensors, I cannot provide you with high-definition visual playback."

"Get to the point."

Lin Li interrupted impatiently.

"But based on the neural pain feedback transmitted by that carbon-based lifeform before disconnection, as well as the tear-shaped stress model instantly generated by the wound, combined with the large black shadow jumping out of the thick fog described in his communication channel..."

STC-73 paused for half a second, seemingly accessing its database, "I have a 98% probability of concluding that it was an adult Orc Boyz."

Lin Li's heart skipped a beat.

"Orc?!"

"Yes, commonly known as Green Skins."

STC-73 continued in that infuriatingly calm tone,

"Furthermore, through long-term calculation of surface vibration frequencies nearby and analysis of the trace spore concentration brought by the wind, that Orc is not a lone wanderer. Their base is very likely located in a ruin about twenty kilometers west of the Shelter."

"There is a small Orc tribe there."

"Holy crap!"

Lin Li couldn't help but curse, cold sweat instantly breaking out.

Dozens of kilometers to the west, there was actually an Orc tribe lurking?!

As a veteran Warhammer cloud player, Lin Li knew exactly what this meant.

In this most desperate sea of stars in the universe, Green Skins were simply an ineradicable green plague!

These guys were walking fungi, not only relying on photosynthesis and eating meat for survival, but their breeding method was also absurd to the extreme.

They would spray spores when they died or when they were happy. As long as one Green Skin landed on this planet, even if you blew it into slag, a large patch of fresh Green Skins could grow on this land a few years later.

What was even more terrifying was their unreasonable Orky logic.

A pile of broken scrap metal, as long as the Green Skin thinks it can fire, it can really shoot bullets;

If they think painting it red makes it go faster, the broken car can race fast enough to leave an afterimage.

Once that Orc tribe, only twenty kilometers from the Shelter, discovered this place and triggered a Waaagh frenzy, even if just a few hundred disorganized Orc Boyzs rushed over, the Fire Seed Shelter, which didn't even have decent firearms yet, would absolutely be flattened instantly!

"It's over. Hell difficulty hasn't even been cleared yet, and the Grim Reaper is already knocking at the door."

Lin Li leaned decadently against the cold metal chair back, feeling that the lollipop in his mouth was no longer sweet.

Seeming to perceive the drastic fluctuation in the Creator's emotions leading to an irregular heart rate, STC-73 kindly released a faint, soothing blue light.

"Please do not be overly anxious, Creator; your emotional threshold is too fragile."

"How can I not be anxious! That's a Green Skin! The most illogical war weapon in the Warhammer universe!" Lin Li retorted, eyes wide.

"My database shows that due to this planet's harsh Aether environment and lack of resources, the scale of that Orc tribe is currently very small, and the time since they crashed or migrated here is not long; they may not have formed a structured war Warlord system yet."

STC-73 explained patiently, "Most importantly, Creator, please shift your narrow carbon-based thinking."

"What do you mean?"

"On a wasteland lacking pure protein and carbohydrates, Orcs and their associated Squigs are actually very high-quality biomass sources."

STC-73's mechanical voice actually revealed a rare hint of explanation,

"They have firm muscles and are rich in high-energy fungal protein. As long as they are processed properly, removing excess toxins and acid, they are extremely excellent raw materials for synthetic meat patties."

Lin Li was stunned.

Green Skins... are a high-quality protein source?

In his mind, a bizarre scene instantly appeared of four members of The Fourth Calamity yelling as they hacked an Orc into pieces, then throwing them into a meat grinder to make starch sausages.

"Good guy... others treat Green Skins as a disaster, you treat Green Skins as a free meat chicken farm?"

Lin Li took a cold breath, "Are the people of the Golden Age this wild?"

"Everything for survival." STC-73 responded coldly.

"Since you mentioned the environment of this planet, where exactly is this?" Lin Li asked, following the thread. He still didn't know where he was, "Don't tell me this is the sewer of Holy Terra; I don't believe it."

"In the star map coordinates of the Golden Age, this is marked as Edge World - Outpost 586."

The holographic projection unfolded a dim star map in mid-air, with countless glaring red spots representing danger flickering on it.

"If we follow the sector division system of that deformed Imperium of Man, our current location is the Imperium Nihilus after the Great Rift erupted, one of the most remote and desolate corners of the Ultima Segmentum."

"This place is full of violent and extremely unstable Warp turbulence. Even those genetically modified mutants known as Space Marines find it difficult to organize a fleet to penetrate the storm and arrive here. The Imperium of Man's control over this place is infinitely close to zero."

"Imperium Nihilus... the remote corner of the Ultima Segmentum..."

Lin Li muttered to himself.

This meant he couldn't wait for a rescue team from the Astra Militarum.

But at the same time, if he did something bad, the Inquisition wouldn't come to check the water meter.

This was a good thing!

"Forget it, don't think that far ahead. If the sky falls, there are taller people to hold it up, besides, the sky hasn't fallen yet."

Lin Li rubbed his cheeks vigorously, forcing himself to throw the grand crisis of the Orc tribe and the Imperium Nihilus to the back of his mind,

"The most urgent thing now is food."

There wasn't a grain of rice left in the Shelter, and there were more than a dozen people in the settlement outside waiting for him to bring rations back.

Lin Li wanted to summon the players immediately to sweep the wasteland.

But he glanced at Room No. 2.

In the No. 1 incubation pod, the body of Why Panic When I Have Flash, which had just been reshaped, was still sleeping in the nutrient solution.

The clone's regeneration requires a full twenty-four hours.

If he let the other three players go online now, missing one operator, the team's combat effectiveness would be greatly reduced.

"Sharpening the knife won't delay the woodcutting, let's just survive one more day with the last bit of sugar."

Lin Li gritted his teeth, "Endure tonight, and early the day after tomorrow, all out!"

Lin Li turned his attention back to the computer screen, opened the now lively official forum of "warhammer 40,000 Online", and then switched to the QQ group [I Also Want To Be Happy].

It was time to give these Fourth Calamity members a pep talk.

Lin Li cleared his throat, his hands typing rapidly on the keyboard, and a group announcement full of "big pie" style was fresh out of the oven:

["warhammer 40,000 Online" First Internal Test (Alpha 0.1 Stage) Balance Adjustment and Maintenance Announcement]

"Salute to all respected core pioneers!

Thank you for the outstanding contributions of the first batch of four test players!

In the past time, you used your lives and sweat to show us the extreme hardcore and cruelty of the wasteland ecology.

Based on the valuable actual combat data you provided, after our development team experienced a sleepless night and gloriously sacrificed the hair of three lead programmers, we decided to perform the following preliminary optimizations on the game:

1. Optimized the dismemberment and pain feedback system: We did not lower the pain sensation (hardcore is our bottom line), but we fixed a physics engine bug that could cause players to experience slight neurological tension in reality under extreme death states.

2. Expanded the wasteland interactive material library: More trash brings more surprises, true trash lovers rejoice.

3. Added weapon blueprint pre-loading: After meeting the conditions, you will see what a man's romance really is.

Finally, in order to perform deep underlying data restructuring for the server, the game will undergo a mandatory 24-hour maintenance. Dear test players, see you the day after tomorrow!"

Click, send.

Less than three seconds after the message was sent, the QQ group, which had been slightly quiet due to the late night, exploded instantly.

[Liver Emperor]: "Holy crap! 24-hour maintenance?! Planner! Brother Lin! I beg you! This game is just getting interesting! Let me go online and swing the hammer for an hour!"

[Why Panic When I Have Flash]: "Protest! Strong protest! The death penalty is actually a mandatory 24-hour reality confinement? This is even more perverted than Souls-like games! Are there no resurrection coins to buy? Am I short of that money? Open the store! I want to buy points cards! I want to open a monthly card! Request 24-hour online VIP privileges!"

[Miracle Walker]: "Seconded!"

Looking at the full-screen scrolling, almost begging messages, Lin Li's mouth curled into a cold sneer that looked just like a black-hearted capitalist.

Sure enough, the more you can't get, the more you stir.

Hardcore and hunger marketing are always the strongest weapons to manipulate high-end players.

Lin Li replied indifferently:

"Core mechanics will not be changed for now. The game is currently in a loss-making test stage, and the store function is not yet open. Please look forward to it. Besides, I am just a miserable planner, please don't make things difficult for me."

After sending this sentence, Lin Li hid his merit and fame, and directly turned off the QQ notification sound.

Let them vent their emotions in the group; this desire for the game will all be transformed into their productivity for crazy hunting in the wasteland the day after tomorrow.

...

Meanwhile, Earth time, 8:00 AM.

In a well-known biopharmaceutical research institute in Magic City.

"Beep —"

With the sound of the punch-in machine, Li Yiming walked into the laboratory, refreshed and wearing a clean white coat.

His colleague, Old Wang, who had a pair of huge dark circles under his eyes, looked at him like he was seeing a ghost:

"Old Li, did you take stimulants? I saw your WeChat Moments last night, didn't you stay up late to review that VR game until 4 AM? Why is your complexion better than mine today, not even a trace of bloodshot eyes?"

Li Yiming stopped what he was doing and was suddenly stunned.

Yeah.

Usually, to catch up with progress, he would work overtime until 12 o'clock and be as sleepy as a dog the next day.

But today... last night in that so-called 100% immersive Warhammer hardcore game, he was scared by Squigs and Gretchins to the point of frantically secreting adrenaline, chased and hacked by blood-sucking vines, his spirit was extremely tense, and after logging off, he wrote a three-thousand-word review post.

Logically speaking, he should be at risk of sudden death at any time.

But now, not only is he not sleepy, but he feels clear-headed, full of strength, and the neck pain caused by long-term desk work has completely disappeared!

It's like... having a high-quality, twelve-hour natural sleep.

"Something's wrong... this is too wrong."

Li Yiming excused himself to go to the bathroom, quickly took out his phone, and opened the QQ group [I Also Want To Be Happy].

[Praise Ming Shen]: "Brothers! I discovered something terrifying! I played that game for so long yesterday, and today at work, not only am I not sleepy, but my physical state is surprisingly good! How do you guys feel?"

[Liver Emperor]: "Holy crap, Ming Shen, you discovered it too? I was just about to say! I'm working on the construction site now. Usually, I get out of breath after moving a cart of things, but today I feel like I can swing a heavy hammer with one hand! Does this game have any hypnotic effect?"

[Miracle Walker]: "Same feeling! I went for a morning run today and broke my own 10-kilometer record!"

The three of them checked and felt even more shocked.

Lin Li, who was silently peeking at the screen in the background, saw this and typed a line of text to send:

[Immortal Lin]: "That goes without saying. Do you think our VR connector is just a helmet?"

"The latest neural dive technology, while you are accessing the game, will allow your physical body to enter the deepest restorative sleep mode in reality. Simply put, while you are killing monsters in the game, your body is not only resting, but can even gain slight neuron activation stimulation."

Once this message appeared, the group fell into a brief, dead silence.

A moment later, Li Yiming let out an incredulous exclamation.

[Praise Ming Shen]: "This is impossible! How could I have not heard even a whisper about such cross-era brain-computer interface black technology!"

"If this technology is real, it's not just a miracle for the gaming world; it's a miracle in the history of human medicine! Does your studio have military backing?!"

Li Yiming's occupational habit kicked in, and his hands trembled slightly with excitement.

The other armchair gamers in the group who didn't get a spot were completely stunned.

[Devil Muscle Thor] jumped out again, posting an extremely scornful emoji:

"Keep blowing smoke! I think you guys are all in on a pyramid scheme, right? Yesterday it was 100% pain synchronization, today it's gaming replacing sleep, and tomorrow, will playing this game cure all illnesses and grant immortality?"

"I'll put it this way: if such technology actually exists on Earth, I'll livestream myself eating a ton of monitors!"

[Big Black Pen], however, remained completely skeptical of the skepticism, maintaining his humble simp persona:

"Brother Lin! Immortal Lin! Living Buddha! Suo might not believe it, but I do! Even if you're actually taking us to harvest our kidneys, I'm willing! Please give me a test spot! I only sleep two hours a day; I'll work off-the-books for you for the remaining twenty-two hours, okay?"

In the Shelter, Lin Li watched the frantic mockery from [Devil Muscle Thor] and the desperate pleading from [Big Black Pen], then turned his head to look at the hovering STC-73.

"73, can we add a module to our official website?"

"What kind of module?"

"A reservation qualification review and screening system."

A sly smile curled at the corners of Lin Li's mouth,

"The The Fourth Calamity we're recruiting needs to have some quality; we can't just let any Tom, Dick, or Harry in to ruin our great wasteland infrastructure project."

"Specific logic?"

"Issue an extremely detailed, hardcore questionnaire to every player who wants to join."

"Don't worry about privacy—ask whatever! For example, have they played any high-difficulty single-player masterpieces for over five hundred hours? What do they do for work in reality? Do they understand mechanical repair? Can they smelt iron using traditional methods or mix gunpowder? Are they medical students? How is their ability to handle stress?"

The more Lin Li spoke, the brighter his eyes became:

"The more detailed the information filled out, the more hardcore their real-world identity, and the more special practical skills they possess, the higher the hidden reservation weight score they get! We aren't recruiting players; we're recruiting cross-disciplinary infrastructure maniacs!"

"Your thinking is astonishing, Creator. This method of luring low-level labor through virtual entertainment is very consistent with the exploitative aesthetics of the Golden Age capital conglomerates."

STC-73's red-glowing head bobbed up and down. Immediately after, the forum interface on the computer screen in front of Lin Li began to refresh with code at lightning speed.

In less than ten minutes, a huge pop-up window titled [Second Batch of Fire Seed Shelter Top-Secret File Login] appeared on the gritty-styled official website of "warhammer 40,000 Online."

The announcement was short but extremely arrogant:

Due to the extremely high hardcore level of this game, those with fragile mental states are strictly prohibited from participating.

Please fill out your real-world profile and virtual gaming history in detail; we will conduct a strict screening using a special algorithm.

Only true warriors and explorers deserve to open their eyes here.

"Perfect." Lin Li clapped his hands in satisfaction.

He threw the reservation link into the QQ group.

"If you want a spot in the second beta test, go fill out the form; it's all up to fate."

This sentence was like a bomb thrown into the deep sea, instantly stirring up a thousand layers of waves.

Not long after, reservation data began popping up one after another on the backend of the Shelter's main control computer.

A dozen people, dozens of people...

Lin Li casually clicked on a few to take a look.

[ID: Night Rain Listening to Wind, Occupation: University student. Specialization: President of the E-sports Club, LOL China Server Challenger, can be online 18 hours a day.]

[ID: Old Wang Who Drives an Excavator, Occupation: Lanxiang graduate, retired combat engineer. Specialization: Proficient in operating various heavy machinery, extremely strong hands-on ability, can repair all kinds of engines.]

"Not bad, not bad. We've got esports pros and people who understand heavy machinery." Lin Li remarked as he read.

The talent pool on Earth was still quite impressive.

Suddenly, an extremely detailed profile popped up on the backend, detailed to an outrageous degree.

Lin Li clicked on it and nearly burst out laughing.

[Game ID Verification: Devil Muscle Thor.]

[Real Name: Zhao Gang, ID Number: 310115xxxxxxxxxxxx.]

[Real-world Occupation: Retired SWAT officer / Currently operates a private high-end fighting club.]

[Professional Specialization: Proficient in Sanda, cold weapon combat (formerly won runner-up in the national long-handled weapon category), knows a bit about extreme wilderness survival tracking.]

[Gaming Experience: Platinum in all Souls-like games, veteran hardcore survival gamer.]

[Additional Comment: I'm just going to see how you guys manage to patch up this crappy scam. If the game isn't as awesome as you're blowing it up to be, I'll find a hacker on the spot, reverse-track your IP, follow the network cable over there, and use a halberd to slash you all!]

Looking at this profile, Lin Li could feel Zhao Gang's tsundere attitude even through the cold screen.

He was shouting every day that it was a pyramid scheme and he didn't believe it, yet his body was extremely honest, filling in all his information down to his ancestors!

And this was a retired SWAT officer and cold weapon combat runner-up!

If he were recruited, he would definitely be a candidate for the second-generation God of War!

"Hahaha..." Lin Li laughed out loud, which was a rare occurrence.

He took a screenshot in the QQ group, only censoring the sensitive information, showing the [Devil Muscle Thor] ID and the frighteningly long length of the filled-out text.

[Immortal Lin]: "That big boss who claimed that if I had this technology, he would eat a monitor—the speed at which he filled out the form and the level of detail provided is truly moving."

[Praise Ming Shen]: "Holy crap! Brother Suo! Even you, with your thick eyebrows and big eyes, have defected? What happened to resisting the pyramid scheme until the end!"

[Why Panic When I Have Flash]: "Brother Suo, take a piece of advice from your little brother: cut the monitor into small pieces and dip it in Lao Gan Ma, it's easier to swallow, hahahaha!"

[Liver Emperor]: "The highest realm of 'saying no but acting yes'—I'm impressed, Brother Suo is a ruthless man!"

[Devil Muscle Thor] in the group instantly went silent.

I am silent, and you don't have much to say either...

But this awkward silence actually made the atmosphere in the group even more lively.

"A boring performance woven from the vanity and lies of low-level carbon-based organisms; it is truly ridiculous."

STC-73's cold electronic voice drifted over at the right moment.

"What the hell do you know? This is the most charming and vivid complexity of humanity."

Lin Li retorted unceremoniously.

Explaining tsundere behavior to a Men of Iron with only zero-and-one logical code was like playing the lute to a cow.

"Beep—!!"

Just as Lin Li was preparing to relax his nerves a bit more, the originally dim lights of the main control room suddenly flashed rapidly.

Immediately after, a huge mission prompt box popped up on the computer screen! The glaring red light made Lin Li's face look grave.

[Forced Main Quest Triggered: Restart the Base Module!]

[Mission Description: The current energy in the No. 1 Cultivation Area (Room No. 2) can only maintain the minimum soul drainage and clone hibernation. To welcome more Seed, the Shelter must unlock the wider underground second-floor facility. However, the heavy physical armored gate leading to the underground second floor has been locked, and the Shelter's current backup energy module is severely damaged, unable to provide the peak energy required to unlock access.]

[Mission Objective: Find a high-purity micro plasma energy battery, or an equivalent high-compression energy source, and connect it to the backup slot at the bottom of the No. 1 Main Control Room.]

[Mission Reward: Unlock the underground second floor of the Fire Seed Shelter (including dozens of brand-new cultivation pods and partial access to the primary medical/industrial refining room), and reward the manager with 500 core authority points.]

[Mission Guidance: No coordinate data available. Pray; only the wasteland knows its whereabouts.]

The smile on Lin Li's face completely vanished.

"500 points, unlocking a large batch of brand-new cultivation pods and the underground second floor?!"

This reward was so generous that Lin Li's heart began to pound wildly.

If he could unlock dozens more cultivation pods, not only would he have a massive army of The Fourth Calamity under his command, but he would also have the primary industrial room on the lower level, which meant he could finally mass-produce standard weapons for the players!

However, Lin Li stared fixedly at the guidance on the screen.

"No coordinate data available? Where the hell am I supposed to get this damn plasma battery?"

He couldn't help but curse, then turned to look at STC-73, "Batteries from the Golden Age—are there any left on this wasteland?"

"Creator, in the Golden Age, this kind of energy storage device was as common as dust."

STC-73 ruthlessly crushed his hope,

"But in this barbaric 41st millennium, it might exist in the center of any ancient ruin, or it might be worshipped as a totem by some ignorant local native, or it might have long been dismantled by Orks and used as kindling in a suicide truck. In short, relying on the Shelter's current computing power, I cannot provide you with precise positioning."

"In the end, it's like looking for a needle in a haystack."

Lin Li took a deep breath and lifted his back from the cold seat.

The food crisis was imminent; the settlement could run out of food at any time.

Finding the energy battery was even more critical for whether the Shelter could truly make a giant leap forward after the starting phase.

Hiding in this underground bunker like a coward, surviving on two lollipops a day, would only lead to a dead end.

...

Time passed.

Under the torment of strawberry-flavored lollipops, 24 long hours passed in the real world.

The next day, when the wind and sand swept through the gaps of the ruined watchtower again, a slight exhaust sound came simultaneously from the four cultivation pods in Room No. 2 of the Shelter.

"Hiss—"

The pale green nutrient solution receded like a tide, and the four members of The Fourth Calamity, who had been waiting on Earth until they were going crazy, feeling as if a whole century had passed, couldn't wait to open their eyes!

"I, Hu Hansan, have returned! Wasteland! Daddy is here!"

[Why Panic When I Have Flash] kicked open the pod door first.

Ignoring the wet liquid on his body, he excitedly bounced on the floor twice, frantically stretching his muscles and bones, feeling the real sense of power brought by this perfect, undamaged clone body.

"The feeling of being alive is so damn good!"

The other three also nimbly put on the rough gray work uniforms.

Although only one day had passed in reality, in their eyes, this game world, which could bring deep sleep and allow them to experience extreme pleasure, had become a second life they could not give up.

When they pushed open the metal door leading to the first-floor hall, all four of them froze.

At the wide entrance of the elevator.

Lin Li, draped in a tattered black trench coat, was standing quietly like an ancient statue.

With his back to the crowd, his right hand was casually leaning on a two-meter-long metal war halberd that was dark gray all over!

That figure full of oppression completely maxed out the coolness of a legendary NPC!

"Holy crap..."

Miracle Walker gasped, pointing at the war halberd in Lin Li's hand, his eyes wide:

"Look at Boss Dawn's new weapon! This modeling! This texture! This is absolutely artifact-level equipment!"

"Is that a kinetic acceleration valve? This cold weapon actually has such hardcore high-tech components?!"

Ming Shen, who had always considered himself calm, couldn't help but swallow his saliva.

[Why Panic When I Have Flash] even slid to his knees directly, shouting shamelessly:

"Boss Dawn! Is this weapon for sale? I'll offer five thousand RMB! No, ten thousand! Just let me touch it!"

Lin Li slowly turned around, his deep and cold gaze sweeping over the four immortal maniacs with glowing eyes in front of him.

He ignored Flash's craziness without leaving a trace, and didn't explain where the weapon came from.

As a high-level NPC issuing quests, he had to maintain absolute coldness and mystery.

"Seeds, tidy up your rough equipment and pick up your crude weapons."

Lin Li's voice was low and full of majesty, as if metal clashing against stone.

He slammed the war halberd heavily on the ground, making a heart-stopping dull sound, and the floor of the entire hall trembled along with it.

"The Shelter's reserves have bottomed out, and endless combat and retro construction require massive supplies. Today, I will personally lead you into that cursed wilderness."