The Natural Selection crew and ground personnel immediately kicked into high gear.
The technicians responsible for the force field stabilization were calibrating the energy matrix that locked down the hull, fine-tuning the parameters for the massive acceleration ahead. In the engine room, the Mechanicus Priests meticulously monitored energy readings and reactor output.
"Reactor status is green," reported Metal Face, a technical expert.
"Engine room is a go," yelled a man in a navy uniform.
"Gravity field calibration complete. Correction nominal," a Tech-Priest in red robes responded in a mechanical monotone.
A loud, resonant bell suddenly chimed, echoing through the cruiser's compartments.
"Praise be to the Omnissiah, praise be to the gears and pistons!" the Tech-Priests chanted in unison.
A slight, sweeping tremor, like a ripple, pulsed across the Natural Selection's hull. The tail thrusters ignited, bathing the dock in blue light as the massive ship slowly—but surely—pulled out of port.
"It actually set sail!"
"Awesome, kudos!"
"Doraemon Workshop is the GOAT."
"Leave it to the guiding Doraemon; they can build anything and everything."
The players watching from the port were cheering and using recording equipment to document this historic moment. In the real world, the dream of interstellar travel remained distant, but in Warhammer Online, they had made it happen. The first player-built ship had successfully launched. Even if it blew up spectacularly the next second, the Natural Selection was already a success story.
The Natural Selection quickly accelerated after leaving the port, flying toward the Mandeville Point to prepare for the Warp navigation test.
The players onboard were buzzing with excitement. This wasn't the feeling of riding on the Imperial Glory or another Imperial ship; this was the confidence and excitement that comes from looking toward a future they built.
The Natural Selection was their first starship. While it was just a light cruiser—a ship that wouldn't even cause a blip on the radar in a real void war between the Imperium and Chaos—it was the first navigable vessel built by the players, for the players.
"Collect all data streams and check the operational status of every system," Legendary MC ordered, maintaining a calm, authoritative—and slightly theatrical—tone.
The truth was, he was sweating bullets. Even in a game, this was his first time commanding a battleship. This ship was the result of months of effort from the entire player base. If he messed this up, his reputation would be trashed forever—worse than the guy who tipped over the communion wine in church.
Even if he quit the game, people would never let him live it down. To ensure everything went smoothly, Legendary MC had meticulously studied naval commands from various sci-fi games, determined not to be the one to fail.
"Engine room data is nominal."
"Minor error in gravity field parameters corrected."
"Auspice scanner deployed. Range increased from 300km to 20km."
"Life support is functioning perfectly. Temperature, humidity, and oxygen content are within acceptable human ranges."
Every department reported back to Legendary MC. Despite some minor flaws, the maiden voyage of the Natural Selection was undeniably a success.
Legendary MC's mood transitioned from nervous anxiety to pure elation. He decided to seize the moment to brainwash the rest of the players with his optimism.
"The success of the Natural Selection means we now have the industrial capacity to mass-produce starships!"
"Modular design and fully automated factory lines—all sound concepts! We will soon command fleets so vast they will blot out the sun and crush all our enemies!"
"But we shouldn't get ahead of ourselves. We must focus on an even more serious problem."
The players leaned in, waiting for him to continue.
"In this massive galaxy, there isn't a single Wonder of the Universe! This is a disgrace to us humans, a disgrace to Stellaris players, to MC players, to Civilization players, and a disgrace to the Wonders Dynasty!"
"Guys, we absolutely cannot stand for this humiliation! Remember the oath we swore!" Legendary MC roared.
"From this day forward, we all swear an oath: We will not pursue leisure, socialize, or seek romance. We will not compete for honor or rank. We will be loyal to the Emperor, and live and die by him!"
"We are the Emperor's artisans, the builders of Wonders! We are the great wall against ignorance, the wielders of megastructures! We dedicate our lives and our passion to the Emperor and to his Wonders, today and forever!"
After the passionate speech, the players on the bridge were pumped up, their faces flushed with excitement.
"What are we going to do?" Legendary MC shouted.
"Create a Wonder!"
"Louder! What are we going to do?"
"CREATE A WONDER!"
"DOING WHAT?"
"CREATE A WONDER!"
The players shouted in unison, the sound deafening, like they were at a revival meeting.
Legendary MC nodded with satisfaction. This is the way. They would work 24/7 until Wonders were scattered across the galaxy.
After flying for a full day and night, the Natural Selection arrived at the Mandeville Point. Players logged in and out several times during the journey, but thanks to the presence of Naval Techs, there were no hitches.
They were long accustomed to the sudden logging off of players ("Saints"), and had even developed a set of replacement protocols: when a Saint in a critical role leaves, their lieutenant immediately steps up and takes over.
News of the successful launch spread quickly on forums and social channels, causing the Cloud Gamers to erupt in a mixture of jealousy and envy.
"No way, you guys actually built a ship already?!"
"Why, why, why are you doing this to me?"
"When is the ninth batch of closed beta keys dropping?"
"I'm losing my mind over here. Please give out keys soon. This addiction is eating me alive!"
While the Cloud Gamers were venting their frustrations in forums and chat groups, the Natural Selection reached Mandeville Point.
"We are about to enter the Warp. Activate the Geller Field and lower the blast shields!" Legendary MC yelled.
Inside the ship, the psykers—who served as living batteries—screamed in their sleep as the Geller device was engaged. The Geller Field works by drawing on the psykers' dreams, using them as anchor points in reality to repel the Warp and form a "reality bubble."
To protect the psykers from being completely drained dry by maintaining the Geller Field, the players had designed a rotation mechanism for the psyker battery pack. This ensures the psykers only suffer a splitting headache after their journey, rather than having their heads explode outright.
With the Geller Field active and the blast shields dropped, the Warp drive tore apart the veil between reality and the Empyrean, opening a rift. The Natural Selection plunged in and emerged from the Warp a few minutes later, successfully arriving at an uninhabited galaxy twelve light-years from Atomal.
"Success!"
"Warp jump complete!"
Upon learning that the Natural Selection had successfully returned to the real universe, the players onboard erupted in cheers.
"Return to base," Legendary MC ordered. "Let's go home like heroes."
After the Warp test, the Natural Selection conducted a round of firepower system tests, which also went off without a hitch. It then returned to the Lycard Space Station port, where the waiting players once again greeted it with cheering.
At the Doraemon Workshop, Doraemon and the others were thrilled. The Natural Selection had completed multiple test rounds and was good to go for large-scale production.
"Let's start small and build 10,000 of them," Doraemon announced, full of ambition.
"Are you out of your mind?! Ten thousand light cruisers? That's an absurd scale. We'd be operating in the red from day one," Graywolfe exclaimed, widening his eyes in disbelief. "Haven't you played Stellaris? Just maintaining that many ships would be a huge expense!"
"Maintenance? Get real. We're building them to sell, not to use ourselves," Doraemon rolled his eyes. "Did you really think I was raising a fleet of 10,000 warships to conquer the stars?"
"I thought you were going to raise a fleet to offer free trade to the worlds, by force if necessary."
"That's actually a pretty good idea. Doraemon Workshop's production capacity is skyrocketing. We're definitely going to have a surplus. We need to plan ahead and muscle our way into the market," Doraemon said, thinking seriously about Graywolfe's suggestion.
"Wait, why don't we skip raising our own fleet and just spend our contribution points on hiring players to take the market for us? That way, we can save on military maintenance and buy more machines."
"Alright, let's start with 10,000 light cruisers," Doraemon decided. "Boost the production! It's time to make this universe feel the horror of the Fourth Calamity."
Watch Star, the base of the Hux family, was currently consumed by war. After the Colin family's rebellion and the Sintira hive world was reduced to ruins, Sector Lord Marius Hux retreated here with his confidants and family, continuing to lead the loyalists against the Colin-led rebels.
The Colin family won several key battles in quick succession, driving the loyalists into a corner. They then set their sights on Watch Star, intending to kill Marius Hux first to break the morale of the loyalists.
After more than a month of fierce fighting, the Hux family's trusted troops were almost completely wiped out. Sector Lord Marius Hux was dragged out of the palace like a common criminal by the rebels and brought before Urs Colin, the commander leading the battle.
Urs Colin was an outstanding naval commander from the Colin family, widely known as a military genius. At this moment, he was wearing a navy uniform with gold trim, looking down at the severely battered Marius Hux. A mocking smile played on the corners of his mouth. Behind him stood several Chaos Sorcerers with cold, calculating eyes.
Since the rebellion, the Colin family no longer bothered to hide their collusion with Chaos. They had even used the power of Chaos several times to turn the tide and secure victory.
"You trash who betrayed the Emperor," Marius Hux spat, mustering all his strength.
"Hahaha, that disgusting Corpse King?" Urs Colin smirked. "So what if I betrayed him? The Age of the Imperium is over. The Great Despoiler has breached the Eye of Terror. The Great Rift has ripped the galaxy wide open. The Age of Gods has arrived."
"You are delusional. The Living Saint has descended on Atomal. The Imperium will eventually win this war," Marius Hux said, coughing up blood.
"A Living Saint?" Urs Colin said sarcastically. "What's his fleet count? He's just one guy trying to win a war."
"Once we've dealt with the rest of the Corpse King's lackeys, the Valancius family will be served up and devoured. The Living Saint you're talking about won't change a thing."
At that moment, a soldier rushed in, looking anxious. "General, the captured servants said the Governor's wife and children were sent away long ago."
Urs Colin laughed as he looked at Marius Hux, who was barely breathing at his feet. "I can't believe our Governor loves his family so much that he used himself as bait to give them a chance to escape. What a pity, none of them are going anywhere. Immediately lock down the orbit and do not allow any ships to leave. We need the Hux family in its entirety."
Soon, news arrived that the blockade was too slow, and several cargo ships had escaped.
"Haha, looks like you won't get your wish, traitor!" Upon learning that his wife and children had escaped safely, Marius Hux laughed, coughing up blood. "My child will live and return with the Imperium's armies for revenge!"
Urs Colin was annoyed. He picked up a heavy war hammer. He swung it up and hit Marius Hux's head. Again and again.
At first, Marius Hux could still let out a few muffled screams, but after a few more hits, the sound stopped. When Urs Colin finally vented his rage, the former Sector Lord was a pulped corpse at his feet. His head was smashed to pieces, the bright red blood and brain matter staining the Imperial double-headed eagle uniform crimson.