The moment the announcement refreshed, the entire ruin base fell into absolute silence.
Only the whimpering of the wind through the jungle and the distant screech of some unknown mutated creature could be heard.
And then.
"HOOOOOOOLY SHIT!!!"
A wave of sound nearly took the dilapidated roof off!
Every single player—whether crouching, standing, or leaning against a wall—jumped to their feet. Their eyes were wide, looking like Hive lower-city dregs witnessing a free nutrient paste distribution!
The regional channel was instantly drowned in a flood of information!
[Soul of Cadia]: "A Chapter! A Chapter system! I'm founding a Chapter! The name will be 'Cadia's Last Real Men'! Any brothers joining me?!"
[Did the White Scars Speed Today?]: "Physical augmentations! Neural interfaces! I'm getting cybernetics! I'm going to be a Cybertronian... uh, wait, a Tech-Priest... that doesn't sound right either. Anyway, I'm getting stronger!"
[T'au-Kun, You're Right, But the Bolter is Righter]: "Psychic Awakening! 1,000 coins! I'm scraping together everything I have to try it!"
"What if I have S-tier talent?!"
"From now on, I'll be a living, walking Psychic Artillery Platform!"
[Fugitive Cogboy of the Mechanicus]: "The new shop categories are extremely valuable." "Xenos-style technology. Though risks are noted, their design philosophy differs vastly from Imperial Standard Templates and could provide tactical asymmetrical advantages. The Unknown Tech Tree is high risk, but potential returns are immeasurable. I advise Chapters to concentrate resources and invest cautiously."
[Want a Crown of Serenity But Can't Afford It]: "I only care about... why is this stuff so fucking expensive!!! My entire net worth is 928 coins. Just enough for Basic Enhancement Type I and II! The shop is tempting me! Solar Power Armor! Rail Rifles! I can see them, but I can't buy them!!"
[Slaanesh Chosen Reserve]: "Vessel Resculpting! Appearance adjustment! Finally, I don't have to bear this miserable face given by the system! I'm adjusting to peerless beauty! Even in the Warhammer universe, beauty is a type of power!"
[Schrödinger's Loyalist]: "Right now, I want to found a Chapter, save money to awaken psychic powers, and buy a new gun... I've got choice paralysis."
"I WANT THEM ALL!!!"
[Emperor's Taxes Must Be Paid Even If The World Ends]: "If we consider Chapters, buying gear, and base construction... brothers, we have Imperial Coin inflation! We need to quickly find a new way to make coins!"
The players were boiling over.
The new features and items were like presenting a treasure trove filled with advanced toys, weapons, superpower manuals, and Chapter-building handbooks to a group of children who had just learned to walk.
Even if most of them couldn't afford it right now, the difference between it existing and not existing was fundamental!
Hope had materialized like never before.
–
Zeke looked at the insanely fast-scrolling channel, then at the flushed, excited faces of his companions around him, and felt his own heart pounding wildly.
But he quickly forced himself to calm down.
He was [Eternally Loyal to the Emperor], the default leader of this loose group. He had to look further ahead.
"Everyone quiet down! Listen to me!" he spoke in the regional channel.
The scrolling speed slowed slightly.
"Updates are a good thing! But don't let them go to your head!"
"Take things one step at a time, eat one bite at a time," Zeke spoke quickly. "The system made it clear: everything requires Imperial Coins!"
"Where are we right now? In a godforsaken abandoned base!"
"That bit of money in your pockets was earned by risking our lives in the industrial zone!"
"If we just sit around and spend, it'll be gone in a few days!"
"Therefore, current Priority One is not discussing what enhancement modifications to buy or what psychic powers to awaken!"
He raised his volume: "It's making this piece-of-shit base of ours livable first!"
"Turning it into a place that can be defended, that can develop, serving as our first foothold to gain a standing on Aurelian IV!"
He pointed around them: "Look! The buildings have collapsed! There are no perimeter walls! The watchtower is crooked!"
"If a mutated beast or a wandering Ork boy (though we don't know for sure if this planet has Orks) shows up tonight, we'll all be seeing each other again at the respawn point!"
"Brothers!" Zeke's gaze swept across everyone. "This is our first base! It certainly won't be our last! But the first step must be taken wisely!"
"Are there any who did Civil Engineering?!"
"Anyone who did home renovation counts, too!"
"Anyone who played Cities: Skylines or Dyson Sphere Program also counts! Step forward!"
A commotion stirred in the crowd. Several dozen players stepped forward hesitantly.
Their IDs were varied: [Bricklaying on Site for Ten Years], [Design Institute Blueprint Dog], [I Reckon This Wall Can Be Built], [Dyson Sphere Chief Planner]...
"Good! It's you guys!"
"And the previous Tech Team members will cooperate!" Zeke waved his hand. "I'm granting you the highest temporary permissions!"
"Take everyone, survey the terrain, assess the ruin structures, and come up with a Phase One base renovation plan!"
"Requirements aren't high: shelter from wind and rain, basic defensive functions, divide into living, storage, and workshop areas, and clear a perimeter for security!"
"Everyone else, follow the orders of the Tech Team and Civil Engineering Team!"
"Moving bricks, clearing rubble, collecting usable materials! Right now, we have the people and the muscle, we just lack a plan!"
"Move out! Let's build our home first!"
–
Zeke's command was simple, crude, and effective.
The players' attention, which had been scattered by the excitement of the system update, was rapidly pulled back to the reality of this dilapidated base.
The Civil Engineering Team and the Tech Team, led by [Fugitive Cogboy of the Mechanicus], rapidly merged and began their busy work.
[Bricklaying on Site for Ten Years] took a few people, holding crude survey tools newly redeemed from the shop, and began surveying the foundations and remaining structures.
[Design Institute Blueprint Dog] picked up a relatively smooth metal plate and began sketching a rough draft with a pen redeemed from the shop.
[I Reckon This Wall Can Be Built] had already taken a group of people to begin clearing the largest collapsed prefabricated panel building, sorting the usable metal beams and panels into piles.
[Dyson Sphere Chief Planner] stood on a slightly higher dirt slope, pointing into the distance, talking continuously to the people beside him:
"...Looking at long-term planning, we should use the base as the core and gradually radiate outward. Using the strategy of surrounding the Hive cities from the wilderness, we establish resource collection points, watchtowers, and defensive nodes… Of course, the prerequisite is solving the immediate toilet and cafeteria issues..."
Other players went into the surrounding jungle to chop down trees that were still reasonably hard, some hauled rocks, and others tried to dig through the rubble for parts that might still be usable or left over from the old era.
The entire base instantly transformed into a large, bustling construction site.
Although the tools were crude, the professional talent limited, and the players' architectural knowledge varied...
Quantity had a quality all its own. Their enthusiasm was high, and they couldn't stand the thought of not building.
"Over there! Yes! Straighten that beam!"
"Be careful! That wall foundation looks loose!"
"Who's going to get some water? Mix it with mud... uh, no, I mean mixed adhesive!"
"Adhesive, my ass! The shop price is way too high. Find some vines and tie it secure first!"
–
Zeke, Tax Bro, and Schrödinger Bro weren't idle either. They took a small team and began patrolling the base perimeter, marking out a warning zone, and setting up simple early-warning devices.
"Zeke, look," Schrödinger Bro pointed toward the distant gray-green jungle. "The ecology of this place is very bizarre. The plants look half-dead, but some are aggressive. Just now, a player got entangled by a thorny vine; it took a lot of effort to get him loose."
"And mutated creatures," Tax Bro added. "We heard some noises, but they didn't get close. They didn't feel like normal wild beasts."
"Normal," Zeke nodded. "In the Warhammer world, especially on this kind of frontier wasteland, it wouldn't be normal without weird things. Tell everyone not to go too far from the base while working. Guarantee at least five people per group, and at least redeem a weapon."
He paused, looking back at the busy scene in the center of the base, a smile appearing on his face. "Still... this is pretty good."
"Yeah," Schrödinger Bro smiled too. "Feels much better than mining and getting whipped in the industrial zone."
"Although it's still work, this time, we're working for our own home."