After meeting with the representatives of the armies and refugees who had retreated to the Sintilla Hive World, Alex sent Cortana to find "Midnight Lord, do you want a scalp massage?" and have Scalp come to see him.
Upon learning that the Guide had summoned him, Scalp was very excited.
He believed that he must have maxed out the Guide's favorability, triggering a special quest that would grant him an eagle medal.
The eagle medal was currently the highest honor in the game.
To date, only Warmaster had received it.
Warmaster had obtained it because, while serving as a diplomatic envoy in Tirien Hive City, he had unexpectedly discovered information about a Star God fragment.
Thus, he had received the game's highest honor medal—the golden eagle medal.
Scalp strode in and stood ramrod straight before Alex.
"Guide, you called for me?"
Alex coughed a few times before speaking.
"I have a mission for you."
As soon as he finished speaking, Scalp immediately shouted, his voice loud, as if if he was too slow or too quiet, the mission would disappear.
"Drive me as you wish, esteemed Guide, my life and soul belong to you, and I would brave any danger without hesitation."
"As long as you give the command, even if it means raising my blade against the gods, I will not hesitate in the slightest."
Alex: "..."
These Players are getting better and better at flattery!
Damn it, at this moment, he should have righteously said that such flattery was unacceptable.
But the words wouldn't come out.
Being praised by the Players like this was inexplicably enjoyable!
All of this must be Slaanesh's fault!
Alex opened a data projection, displaying the Las Forge World.
"Las is the most important Forge World in the Calixis Sector, and it is our next strategic objective."
"We have already gathered our forces and are preparing to firmly seize control of it for the Imperium."
"However, this world has a large number of rebels and various powerful armaments. If we attack rashly, we will suffer heavy casualties."
"I need someone to infiltrate, gather intelligence on the enemy, and create panic and chaos when the main army launches its attack. Can you complete this mission?"
"In the name of the Emperor, I can complete any mission you assign," Scalp said with a firm tone.
A man who had become an Astartes could never say no.
"Very good. You can choose a few suitable teammates to form a squad."
"Cortana will issue missions to each of you, and then you can depart."
Alex reached out and patted Scalp's shoulder, "Don't disappoint me."
"Never."
Scalp promised solemnly and then went to find teammates.
He quickly found a few suitable teammates.
They were Hawkeye (Raven Guard), Batman (Midnight Lord), Ling Lingqi (Alpha), and Joker (Alpha).
Each of them excelled at disguise, infiltration, and penetration.
Cortana, following Alex's instructions, issued their respective missions.
[Mission: Infiltrate Las Forge World,
Mission 1: The loyalist faction on Malz World has lost orbital control and is scattered across various planets on Las World. Work to understand their situation and inform them that aid is coming.
Mission 2: Investigate the movements of the enemy rebels and contact the loyalist faction.
Mission 3: When the Imperial army arrives, destroy important areas controlled by the enemy. The more destruction, the more rewards.
Basic Mission Reward: 50,000 Contribution Points, 15,000 Honor Points, 3,000 Faith Points.
Bonus rewards will be distributed based on performance.
]
This was the reward that ordinary team members could receive.
As the captain, Scalp would receive an additional 15% on top of this base.
The five Players who received the mission wasted no time and immediately set off.
They first took a merchant ship, disguised as refugees, and arrived at Malz World.
There, they were captured by rebel soldiers and enslaved onto a slave ship transporting indentured laborers to Las Forge World.
Ultimately, they were sent to Las Forge World.
The infiltration mission went very smoothly.
Due to the war, Las Forge World had a great demand for labor.
Although Scalp and the others were Astartes, their height without their power armor was only a little over two meters.
Many gang members in Hive City, or fanatics who liked to use bio-enhancement drugs, were also that large, or even larger.
Therefore, their presence did not seem out of place and did not attract too much attention.
The rebels didn't care about the slaves' past or where they came from.
They simply needed batch after batch of consumables.
...
With the issuance of the war mobilization order, a large number of refugees were sent to factories for production work.
Those factories were like ravenous beasts, swallowing up however many refugees there were.
Mining guilds established multiple mining areas in the void to extract resources from the asteroid belt.
Farming-type Players also contracted many factories in the Sintilla Hive World.
MC Myth, on a public expense business trip, along with his companions, pooled a sum of Contribution Points and also contracted several Forge World factories.
After integration, they named it MC Dynasty and began accumulating resources for their grand wonder project.
He had joined Dora Workshop merely as a last resort to get his first pot of gold and did not plan to stay long.
Once he completed the mission to modify the Exemplar Saint Fist battleship, he would leave and manage his own factory.
As soon as the factories began operations, MC Legend, MC Epic, and other Dynasty Players successively took up their posts.
They launched new military products at the fastest speed.
Dora Workshop had already started producing exoskeleton armor and mechs.
So, they avoided competition and chose the drone field.
Members of MC Dynasty were spread across various industries, including many top talents in their respective fields.
They were committed to building wonders in various game worlds, which is why they gathered together.
As soon as MC Dynasty was established, these top talents began to take action in Holy Terra (Earth/Reality), offering advice and providing technical support.
Soon, relying on existing technology and materials, they designed a unique swarm of drones.
To make a name for their product, MC Dynasty cordially invited Alex, the Guide, along with military generals and Players, to witness the demonstration of MC Dynasty's first drone.
"This is our first drone swarm, named Tian Shu X1. It features a streamlined, teardrop-shaped design, with a surface covered by an adaptive color-changing nano-coating that allows it to blend with its surroundings for stealth."
"Its modular design allows for disassembly into multiple units, making maintenance simple and affordable. If one part breaks, you just replace that part."
"Equipped with an anti-gravity suspension system, it can detach from Earth's gravity using a quantum field, achieving silent hovering and instantaneous acceleration."
"It carries a Cogitator intelligent control module, which can synchronize with the operator's consciousness via a neural interface."
"Equipped with a phase pulse emitter, it can switch between a scanning mode that penetrates buildings or a destructive mode that pierces armor."
"Additionally, it can be fitted with multi-barreled boltguns, laser emitters, melta-beam emitters, and other weapons."
"Furthermore, the Tian Shu X1 also has a war swarm design. Through a wetware-equipped mother ship, the entire swarm network can be controlled, and it can carry bombs for suicide attacks."
"More importantly, its cost is very low. For mass production, a single unit can be purchased for only 2500 eagle medals."
MC Legend enthusiastically promoted the performance of the Tian Shu X1 drone to everyone.
"2500 eagle medals per unit, that price is indeed very low," Colonel Quintus said.
The Imperial Administratum pays Astra Militarum soldiers a monthly salary of around three to four thousand.
Including war allowances, it can go up to five thousand or more, with separate death benefits.
Whether it's actually paid or not is another matter.
According to the Administratum's regulations, this much salary must be paid to an Astra Militarum soldier.
"This is a blasphemy against the omnissiah," an Adeptus Mechanicus said, somewhat angrily. "These technologies have not been verified and carry the risk of blasphemy and heresy."
"The messenger of the omnissiah stands right there," someone next to him pointed to Alex in the crowd.
"Regardless, none of these technologies have been verified by the sacred cog," the Adeptus Mechanicus said. "Using them rashly may lead to unimaginable crises."
"Apologies, we are not members of the Adeptus Mechanicus," MC Legend responded to the Adeptus Mechanicus.
"According to Imperial law, you have no right to criticize us. Moreover, these drones are all equipped with wetware and possess immortal souls. I believe the flesh wetware they possess is far more than yours."
"The omnissiah never rejects truth, and rejecting progress has never been His true intention."
Alex spoke, supporting the Players' words.
"The Imperium's technology also needs some appropriate innovation."
Alex's words made several conservative Adeptus Mechanicus members show displeasure.
Clearly, they could not accept the God Chosen rashly altering the omnissiah's creations.
But with Alex's public support, they could do nothing.
Speaking of which, the rebellion initiated by the Colin Family indirectly helped Alex.
Otherwise, just the conservative forces of the Adeptus Mechanicus in Calixis Sector alone, attacking him simultaneously, would probably have given him a massive headache.
This rebellion weakened the Adeptus Mechanicus's control over the Calixis Sector.
Otherwise, Alex and these oil-riggers would have had to fight several battles to continue pushing for technological reform.
The oil-riggers of the Adeptus Mechanicus, who uphold the Martian dogma and prevent others from developing, often do so merely out of a need to protect their own interests.
The Adeptus Mechanicus themselves are secretly researching Xenos technology and various dark heretical things.
With Alex's endorsement, the Tian Shu X1 swarm drones researched by MC Dynasty received some military orders,
which was a good start.
As long as the product quality is verified, it will experience explosive growth.
....
"The enemy must have planted agents on the Syntilla Hive World to monitor our every move."
"They will certainly try to make us suffer a crushing defeat on the Las Forge World, depleting most of our effective forces."
"Strategically, we can disdain the enemy, publicizing their weaknesses and their vulnerability. But tactically, we must take the enemy seriously and fight every battle well."
"All units must make more use of various new equipment and develop new tactics; they cannot be as rigid and ossified as before."
"Every soldier is the Emperor's currency, and absolutely no waste is allowed. Of course, I'm not saying there can be no sacrifice, but rather that sacrifice must be valuable."
After watching MC Dynasty's drone demonstration,
Alex took Losa, Aying, and others back to the Strategic Room to give them a new round of war instructions.
He criticized the foolish tactics of mindlessly sacrificing lives for victory, emphasizing the need to arm themselves with the power of technology.
Quintus and the others dared not refute and could only listen obediently.
"Your current task is to quickly familiarize yourselves and integrate with the troops equipped with new gear. I do not want you to perform poorly when capturing the Las World."
No sooner had Alex finished speaking than a messenger walked to the door of the Strategic Room.
After receiving permission from the guards at the door, he entered from outside and performed an aquila salute.
"Report."
Alex said concisely,
"Speak."
The messenger said, "Saint, we have received communication from a battle barge. They claim to be from the Deathwatch and request our assistance."
Alex asked, "Did they report their names?"
"The other party claimed to be the captain of the Kill Team—Nurrus."
Alex's eyes widened, revealing a look of surprise.
Nurrus??
Isn't that the alias Titus used when he was in the Deathwatch Warband??