This is the bonus chapter for reaching 600 Powerstones.
Next goal = 750 Powerstones (Hope we complete it before the powerstones reset)
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Blood Angel turned back to the crowd. "Now, I will announce the Provisional Regulations of the Crimson Dawn Base!"
"Article One: All labor will be compensated according to contribution. More work means more reward, less work means less reward. Basic food and water rations are guaranteed daily!"
"Article Two: A communal mess hall, public medicae stations, and a childcare center will be established. Priority goes to the elderly, the weak, women, and children!"
"Article Three: A militia self-defense force will be formed. Anyone between the ages of sixteen and fifty in good physical health may volunteer for basic training to protect our home!"
"Article Four: The Aurelian Youth League will be established, with representatives elected by everyone to participate in base management and affairs. Any decisions must be discussed by the committee before being submitted to the Crimson Dawn Chapter! Final judgment and execution remain the sole responsibility of Crimson Dawn."
With every article announced, the crowd's cheers grew louder.
This wasn't charity; this was empowerment.
By the wall, a few players left behind on guard duty watched in sheer disbelief.
A player with the ID [I'll Just Rub It Don't Go In] swallowed hard and typed in the regional channel:
"Holy shit... Blood's speech... I'm so fucking hyped listening to this, I want to grab a gun and go blast the Aru Group right now..."
[Soul of Cadia]: "This vibe is too perfect... It's like watching a historical documentary..."
[Tau-kun You're Right But The Bolter Is More Right]: "With this combo of moves, the loyalty and cohesion of these workers are going to skyrocket to terrifying levels. And the Aurelian Youth League idea—it gives them a sense of participation while ensuring we maintain control... What does Bro Blood actually do for a living in the real world?"
[Grandfather Nurgle Loves All]: "Is Blood Angel the reincarnation of some guy with a funny mustache? This isn't a beer hall! And there's no beer!"
Meanwhile, the workers in the crowd had already begun organizing themselves spontaneously.
Aska was elected as the first temporary representative of the Aurelian Youth League. With red eyes, he began assigning tasks according to the list Blood Angel had given him:
The young and strong went to reinforce the walls and join the militia training; those with farming experience went to tend the potato fields.
The women were organized into groups to venture into the forest behind the base to gather any salvageable materials and resources.
The children... the children were organized under the guidance of a few players with educational backgrounds to learn basic reading, writing, and arithmetic.
At a speed visible to the naked eye, the base was transforming from a temporary shelter into a fully functional settlement.
Meanwhile, in a solitary tent in the corner of the base.
Helovia sat cross-legged on a crude straw mat, her hands resting flat on her knees, palms facing upward.
Her eyes were squeezed shut, her tender little face tense, and fine beads of sweat dotted her forehead.
Sitting across from her was Blood Angel, his hands forming a complex mudra—a basic meditation posture detailed in the Advanced Psychic Control Manual he had purchased from the shop for 5,000 Imperial Coins.
"Relax, Helovia," Blood Angel's voice was soft, carrying a strange rhythm. "Don't try to control it. Feel it, like you're breathing."
"Psychic energy is a part of you. Just like your hands, or your eyes."
"You don't actively think about how to move your hand, do you?"
"You just want to move it, and it moves."
Helovia tried her hardest to follow Blood Angel's instructions.
She could feel the warm energy inside her—like a restless little river flowing through her veins and bone marrow. With every breath, it rippled gently.
But whenever she tried to command it, it grew irritable, like a startled wild horse.
"Imagine it as a ray of sunlight," Blood Angel guided. "You're sitting in the sun, and the sunlight shines on you, warming you. But you don't try to grab the sunlight, right?"
"You just enjoy it."
An image surfaced in Helovia's mind: a winter morning, her mother holding her while sitting by the door of the workers' shed. Sunlight peeked through the cracks and fell on her face, warm and comforting.
She felt the power inside her gradually calm down. It stopped rushing around violently and began to flow slowly, in time with her breathing.
The air inside the tent began to warp slightly, the light refracting into rainbow-colored halos.
A flash of surprise crossed Blood Angel's eyes. This child's talent was even higher than he had anticipated.
This was only her second formal guidance session, yet she was already able to enter a deep meditative state and involuntarily affect her surroundings.
"Very good." Blood Angel lowered his voice. "Now, try to guide it to your palm. Don't force it. Let it gather naturally, like sunlight."
Helovia concentrated on the image.
Three minutes later, a faint crimson halo manifested just above her right palm—a flickering candlelight blooming from her hand.
Blood Angel's pupils constricted slightly.
Pyromancy.
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Fifty kilometers away to the northeast.
The convoy led by Zeke arrived at the mining pit area Tax Bro had scouted previously.
It was a massive open-pit mine, over two kilometers in diameter and seemingly bottomless.
The pit walls spiraled downward, with the entrances of abandoned mine shafts faintly visible along the descent.
Scattered around the edge of the pit were rusted mining rigs, overturned mine carts, and mountains of discarded slag and ore.
And right now, amid those slag heaps, dozens of pairs of crimson eyes were locked dead onto these uninvited guests.
"Heads up!" Zeke raised his fist.
The convoy slammed to a halt. The players rapidly disembarked, using the vehicles for cover as they trained their guns on the perimeter.
Tax Bro grinned, licking his lips.
"Dinner time, boys."
From the shadows at the edge of the pit, the first Razorhound stepped out.
Then the second, the third...
Within ten seconds, over a hundred Razorhounds poured out from all directions, forming an encirclement. They crouched low, baring their jagged, bone-white teeth.
From the depths of the pit, an even heavier, far more brutal roar echoed.
A massive silhouette slowly crawled out of the darkness.
Zeke tightened his grip on his lasgun. The power granted by his 67% Type-II Basic Physique surged through his veins.
He took a deep breath of the air—thick with dust and the stench of beasts—and the fire of battle ignited in his eyes.
"For Crimson Dawn—"
He pulled the trigger.
"Open fire!"
Laser beams tore through the silence of the wasteland. The battle had officially begun.
And deep within the distant Warp, Lucian's energy body watched all of this unfold.
He saw Blood Angel's impassioned speech, the reignited hope in the workers' eyes, the crimson psychic energy blooming in Helovia's palm, and Zeke's resolute pull of the trigger at the edge of the mining pit.
"Looks like there's quite a lot of talent in this batch of players..." Lucian muttered. The surface of his energy body began to ripple with increasingly complex, blazing patterns.
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