"That's what you get for monologuing."
Daniel sheathed the Holy Blade with a stone-cold expression. Seeing Fulgrim banished, Guilliman cracked a smile. He knew Fulgrim's temper well; his brother was probably seeing red right now.
"The Guide's composure is truly next level!" Guilliman decided. He resolved to learn from Daniel: why be miserable when you can make someone else miserable?
Fulgrim's avatar appearance caused a brief moment of public panic, but Daniel's swift, decisive strike instantly restored calm. The cheers grew even louder, with voices praising Daniel through the roof. Daniel watched as his EXP points balance soared like a rocket.
The celebration had been a monumental success, with troops from across the Imperium participating. Despite the brief hiccup with Fulgrim, the overall event was perfect.
The despair and frustration in people's hearts had been swept away, replaced by confidence and hope. They firmly believed that with Guilliman's return, Humanity would surely drive out the powerful enemy and restore its former glory.
After the celebration, Arale quickly uploaded the relevant videos and photos to the official forum. Seeing the players who followed the Guide to Macragge participate in the ceremony and even snag some screen time made everyone envious. The "cloud players" and even the players stuck on Planet Atomal were kicking themselves.
Doraemon is the Omnissiah: I'm kicking myself. Why didn't anyone tell me we could catch this plot point during the parade?
Don't be a dog and declare war: I just snagged a spot in the eighth closed beta wave, what a bummer—I missed it just like that.
Peerless Lion: Give me a break! I'm not even online yet, and you guys are already making waves?
MC Epic: I'm so furious. When can we finally start warp-jumping?
MC Legend: I need to build a ship, stat! I'm not going to miss any major plot points ever again.
Master Warmaster: Why so excited? It's just a plot point! Young people should take a chill pill.
Doraemon is the Omnissiah: You're not excited?? Then why do you wear a helmet and use hair wax, you damn pretentious bastard. When you return to Atomal, I'll take you directly to Light Spear for at least twenty minutes of execution.
Director: That's not right, aren't you a new guy? Why are you still calling others "young people"?
Master Warmaster: Age is just a number when you're an old man, got it?
Colonel Dutch: I know every word you're saying, but that combination is Greek to me. Why in the hell do you call someone an old man regardless of age??
Peach: [gritting teeth.jpg]
Pinocchio vs. Snow White: [Kill them all.jpg]
GuillimanRules: Guilliman is resurrected, and I still haven't gotten a spot in the internal beta. This world is truly cold and heartless. I can't feel any love at all.
The Fierce Sex: @GuillimanRules. Love can only be felt through doing. Why don't you buy a orc skin and pray every day.
(The Fierce Sex was banned for 1 hour.)
GuillimanRules: @Fierce you deserved that. You're always driving the struggle bus.
Daniel, who had been secretly peeping at the screen, quickly silenced The Fierce Sex before checking the official website's reservation count. It had surged past a million.
The list contained plenty of new IDs, a clear sign that after the last official response from GW, Warhammer OL had gone mainstream and attracted a global following.
"They'll all be working like dogs for us," Daniel murmured. "Recruitment efficiency is through the roof! We have a record number of new recruits."
His next priority was to whip the players into shape and boost their combat readiness!
"The only fly in the ointment is that the territory has expanded, communication is inefficient, and the players are a pain to manage."
Daniel frowned in frustration. Being stuck on Macragge, he was completely in the dark about the situation on Atomal. Arale had to scour the forums just to track developments there. If the Fourth Calamity were allowed to run wild, the Galaxy was toast.
"These guys are straight-up darker than the Dark Mechanicus! Each one could become Horus and shout, 'If you can't save humanity, then let me do it...'"
The more Daniel thought about it, the worse his headache got. This whole fiasco was making him feel utterly helpless. The speed of light was snail mail on a galactic scale, and information transfer could take decades.
Astropathic communication was too unstable and easily compromised. Arale was his only hope. He resolved to ask her if she could whip up some Tyranid-style clones—one for Atomal and one for Macragge.
Daniel closed the chat group and the Warhammer OL official website interface. A golden light curtain suddenly materialized, giving him a new objective.
Mission: Build a New Lighthouse
The Great Rift has expanded, half of the Imperium has fallen into darkness, and Warp storms are frequent. The Astronomican is no longer stable, and the Imperium desperately needs a new means to guide ships through the Warp.
Planet Sotha retains a navigation beacon once used by an ancient race for faster-than-light travel. Please retrieve it and have Arale analyze it to obtain the underlying technology.
Rewards: A large amount of EXP, unlocks Super-Light-Speed Fixed-Point Transmission Version 1.0.
After building a lighthouse, players can teleport between lighthouses.
Arale can communicate regardless of space and distance with the help of lighthouses and psyker energy.
"Just what the doctor ordered!" Daniel couldn't hide his excitement. He had just been wrestling with the problem of superluminal communication with the players, and the Emperor had already provided a blueprint. No time like the present; he had to get this done. He would head to the Sotha Lighthouse when he had a window.
"The mission reward is Version 1.0? That means there's a Version 2.0 coming."
He mused. "Version 1.0 allows individual players to teleport. Version 2.0 will allow group teleportation, and Version 3.0 will allow fleet teleportation."
Daniel looked at the task and laughed. The future was looking bright. The Webway Project failed, and the Emperor was stuck on the Golden Throne for ten thousand years.
Now, He was launching a backup plan, aiming to bypass the Webway and the Warp entirely to achieve instant spatial jumps—just like the mass relays in Mass Effect: point-to-point teleportation.
If this could be achieved, the military capabilities of the Imperium of Mankind would skyrocket. After all, the biggest drag on the Empire had always been inefficient communications and the sheer uncertainty of the Warp. At that point, it would be game over for their enemies. Thousands of ships could converge instantly and beat King Tai senseless.
A few days after the celebration, Voldus and his companions headed for the planet Chrysis. News had been relayed that Lucius had resurrected himself in the body of an archival clerk.
The Grey Knights' library had always kept extensive records on Lucius. Voldus knew the demon would typically resurrect in the body of the one who killed him. The twist this time was that the Chosen Warmaster who killed Lucius was still alive and kicking.
Instead, an ordinary person with no connection to Lucius's death had been possessed. This whole situation was way off and needed a thorough investigation.
Voldus and his team were lightning-fast. Upon arriving on Chrysis, they immediately launched their inquiry. The Grey Knights' authority was absolute; the various planetary departments dared not interfere, giving them full access to databases and archives.
Voldus and his team quickly pieced together the whole story.
"All it took was flipping through the book that records the Lucius incident to get possessed?" Voldus frowned. "The Chosen Warmaster was shouting his feat from the rooftops back on Macragge, but nobody who listened was affected?"
"Is it possible that the Saint carries the God-Emperor's blessing, blocking Lucius's resurrection mechanism?" suggested one of the Grey Knights. "So anyone within earshot of the Saint's bragging is in the clear. But the clerk, who died after discovering the allusion in a book, was not within the Saint's protective chain."
"In other words, as long as you establish some kind of relationship with Lucius, you will immediately be used as a sacrifice for resurrection."
What his fellow Grey Knight said made a lot of sense to Voldus.
"In other words, the Saint's greatest role is actually to prevent the Gods of the Warp from contaminating humanity."
The other Grey Knights exchanged bewildered glances. If this was the case, they'd be dead in the water on future missions without them. They'd have to drag those clowns along with them to handle key tasks that required blocking the expansion and pollution of Chaos.
"Don't tell anyone about this for now," Voldus instructed his companions. "I need to run a few experiments. If this hypothesis is confirmed, I will inform the other Grand Masters and invite them to discuss this matter together."
The other Grey Knights nodded.
Planet Atomal, the Cathedral of Hive Tyrian.
The place was packed to the gills with people. The eighth batch of players logging in for the first time were just like the previous waves. They repeatedly rubbed their eyes and yelled their heads off at the sight of the vivid world before them. Some even knelt before the God-Emperor's statue, shouting that the Omnissiah's power made this kind of immersive game possible.
"Is this seriously virtual reality?"
"It's unbelievable! Damn, look at that girl, wow, her skin is so delicate, just like the real thing."
SMACK!
"Pervert!"
"The feeling of being beaten is so real! I love it!"
"Hey, why are you arresting me? Oh, no, don't games usually have obscenity laws?"
A player who crossed the line was promptly hauled away by the guards.
"That guy was looking for trouble."
"Why is there no logout button?"
The church was loud and bustling. However, the veterans were unfazed. Every new batch of players was the same. After all, the official videos were just scratching the surface; only by actually logging into Warhammer OL could one feel the shock brought by 100% realism.
Arale's pre-recorded projection materialized on Atomal. "Welcome to hell." After the players completed the initial guided story, the projection disappeared.
"That's it? No newbie gift pack?"
"No interface, no gift packs, just leaving us high and dry?"
"Where is the Kryptonite Mall? I want to buy the Dragon-Slaying Sword, one sword for $999+."
Each battle group entered the scene and began to recruit. With the Guide off to Macragge to participate in the Primarch's resurrection, many players speculated about the next wave of updates.
The word on the street was that the devs would let players purchase assets like battleships and barges for interstellar exploration and conquest. They needed to recruit more people and collaborate to gain an advantage in the upcoming exploration phase.
"Over here! The Doraemon Guild is hiring! Got any engineering or science hotshots?
"Interested in becoming an Astartes?"
"Flesh is weak, the Machine is eternal. Come on, everyone, let us embrace the glorious evolution together!"
In the Spire District of Tyrian Hive, Fax, Hydrak, Theresa, and other high-level officials observed the Saints through drones. They coordinated communications to assign tasks to the new Saints, such as training, challenges, or delivering goods to other Hives. This was the protocol the Guide had established before he left.
After the regiments were staffed and the remaining Saints were organized, the senior leaders finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"I don't know when the Guide will return! The Colin family's rebellion is getting out of hand. They've taken over more than half of the Calixis Sector territory," Fax said, his tone heavy with worry.
The Colin family has deep pockets and their influence is off the charts. They were masters of disguise before the rebellion. Families that were clearly their allies were playing both sides, throwing everyone off.
After the rebellion kicked off, the sector government discovered that Colin family loyalists were everywhere. Traitors were popping up like weeds, and information was leaking left and right. The Loyalists have been getting their clocks cleaned and losing ground. If this keeps up, the Calixis sector will be gone for good—it'll be the Colin family's turf.