Battlefield camp, late night.
Li Feng was currently tinkering with his abilities in his tent. He found that he could now carry several cannon shells on his back without even breathing heavily.
Then, Li Feng opened his backpack and checked the new items inside. Li Feng pulled out each item one by one, concluding that the gift bag was somewhat useless, not worth keeping but also a waste to discard.
It contained an AVS bulletproof vest with groin, shoulder, and neck protection; a Type 56 assault rifle; six fully loaded magazines; and three 120-round iron boxes of 7.62 rifle ammunition.
A classic army-green engineer's shovel with a wooden grip, a close-quarters combat artifact from Laosan.
An AK bayonet, a matching product that could be used with its scabbard to cut wire.
Two boxes of compressed dry rations, five bags of emergency water, a metal canteen, a watch with a compass... and also a toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, towel... Good heavens, almost all camping products, right?
Then, Li Feng began to test his new ability, the Survival stc template ability, which seemed to require knowing the principle of an object. With this thought, Li Feng began to conceive the principle of an item in his mind... the appearance of a double-barreled shotgun... Soon, a light began to emerge from nothingness in front of him, gradually forming an object... Li Feng was very curious at this moment, because the official warhammer lore had never stated what an stc template looked like, though most people speculated it was a "disk" or a vast blueprint and manufacturing instruction library... Soon, an M2 SSD drive appeared before Li Feng. "Ah, this..."
Li Feng picked up the M2 interface SSD and examined it carefully. He saw a small display screen on the surface of the hard drive, showing the double-barreled shotgun from Li Feng's mind.
Li Feng swiped his hand, and it was actually a touchscreen! Li Feng began looking at the small screen, searching for usage instructions... Found them!
"This product is the stc template for a 'Standard 12GA Double-Barreled Shotgun,' containing blueprints and a manufacturing instruction library, requiring use with relevant production facilities."
"Damn it!" Li Feng immediately tossed the SSD onto his sleeping bag. No wonder Forge Worlds were so important; it turned out an stc template was just a blueprint and a designer! (The above speculation about stc templates adopts the more widely accepted theory in the foreign warhammer community, as GW (the warhammer company) has not yet clearly explained how stc templates actually work.)
Li Feng lay on his sleeping bag, feeling homesick... missing his bed... missing Sanguinius... As the image of his beautiful girlfriend from his memories appeared in his mind, Li Feng smiled... and then closed his eyes... But suddenly, the image of his girlfriend transformed into a large, golden male figure, who said to Li Feng in a sweet voice:
"You're stepping on my hair~"
Li Feng suddenly jumped up: "Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah!"
At this moment, a Soldier on patrol outside immediately pulled open the tent flap and asked, "What's wrong! What happened!"
Li Feng lowered his head and waved his hand: "Nothing, just a nightmare..."
Hearing Li Feng's words, the Soldier nodded. Li Feng's identity as a young master from Terra had already spread throughout the camp, and he was expected to be picked up by his family soon, so having a nightmare on his first time on the battlefield was normal; everyone had experienced it.
However, the Soldier respectfully closed the curtain. Because, in addition to his possible "young master" status... the story of Li Feng single-handedly eliminating two Ork Boyz and a minor Boss had also spread.
Such a combat record, if it were in the Astra Militarum, would definitely be something to boast about, and might even earn a medal. Even the most elite Kasrkin soldiers would be unlikely to single-handedly kill a minor Boss with just a screwdriver and a crowbar... Inside the command tent,
Cain, drinking tanna tea, used its bitterness to stay alert late into the night. Colonel Lao Mo and his Lieutenant, Divas, were discussing the recent command post arrangements, and the entire command table was surrounded by officers.
(Regarding tanna tea, GW officially explained its taste as several times stronger than Argentinian yerba mate, which indeed sharpens the mind, but its taste is indescribable.)
Colonel Lao Mo said: "The Ork retreat is faster than we imagined. The 6th Armored Regiment has annihilated the enemy in the last encirclement. They should be able to clear the entire world before midnight."
Cain looked at the army's deployment map with some interest. The main forces on this hemisphere were all in the east, and there was only a small dot between their current position and the nearby huge mine.
The Orks were routed much faster than Cain had anticipated. Cain began to realize that these Valhallans, who grew up in an ice world, truly deserved the title of "elite assault troops."
Even in the scorching desert climate of the Gobi, which was as threatening as the Orks themselves, they annihilated a dangerous and stubborn Ork force in less than a few weeks, with most of the injuries being heatstroke.
"So, what's our next step?" Cain asked, but immediately regretted it.
At this moment, Colonel Lao Mo's expression was like that of a high school homeroom teacher who discovered a student lighting a cigarette for the principal in the restroom.
"First step, the airfield." Colonel Lao Mo looked at Lieutenant Divas.
"We need to load the earthshaker cannons onto the transport ships."
"I'll do it immediately." Divas quickly walked out of the tent.
"Then, we will join the Kofaya Fleet to suppress a rebellion on a nearby Agricultural Planet."
The Colonel continued, simultaneously changing the interface on the tabletop combat display. The Kofaya Fleet, a fleet of a thousand warships, was approaching the Dislathia system.
Cain showed a very surprised expression, because the news of the rebellion on the distant Agricultural Planet, Kofia, had only just reached the Department of Military Affairs when Cain was sent here. The Navy had clearly been very busy in the past few months.
"It's overkill for a few rebels," Colonel Lao Mo commented with a smile.
Seeing an opportunity to speak, Cain immediately said: "Let's hope so..."
Colonel Lao Mo looked at Cain again, clearly somewhat surprised. He had no particular liking for this new Commissar.
"Do you know something we don't, Commissar?"
Colonel Lao Mo addressed Cain in a tone as if speaking to a lower fungal species, but Cain was relieved that at least he was beginning to pretend to acknowledge Cain as a Commissar.
Cain, feigning great difficulty, said: "According to an aide of mine who works with the Naval Marshal..."
This opening line silenced the entire tent. Everyone held their breath, waiting for Cain's next words.
However, what Cain didn't say was that his so-called "friend" was just a minor clerk whose main job was organizing files and making coffee.
Cain pretended not to notice the gasps around him and continued: "Kofia might be infected by Genestealers."
Cain finished speaking, and the entire tent fell silent. Everyone knew what this meant: a long, bloody crusade, purifying that world meter by meter, and finally, orbital bombardment with gas bombs as the "final solution" to the Agricultural Planet's problem, though this would destroy the planet's ecosystem and render it worthless to the Imperium.
In other words, a long crusade on a temperate world, dropping weapons of mass destruction on the enemy's heads without fear of retaliation, was something everyone couldn't wait for.
Instantly, smiles broke out on everyone's faces in the tent; after all, this was a good assignment! Colonel Lao Mo immediately said:
"How far is the Fleet from us?"
At this point, a Lieutenant in charge of the communications department reluctantly stated: "The Legion command's Astropath lost contact with them last night."
Colonel Lao Mo immediately asked: "With the entire Fleet?"
The Lieutenant nodded reluctantly, and this news made Cain's palms hurt again. Commissars usually knew far more about Chaos than the average Soldier.
He knew that very few things could cast a shadow large enough in the Warp to sever contact with an entire Fleet, and none of those things were something Cain wanted to approach. What Li Feng had said before setting up the tent sent a chill down Cain's spine.
"Colonel, I strongly advise you to rescind the order to break camp."
Cain's voice boomed like thunder in the tent. Everyone was ready to pack up and leave, and now he was telling them not to go. What did this mean?
Colonel Lao Mo looked at Cain with an expression of disbelief and said: "We don't have time for jokes, Comrade Commissar."
"I wish I were joking. I wish the troops would set up all anti-aircraft weapons now, and also inform all troops on this planet to immediately prepare for battle."
Colonel Lao Mo, at this moment, looked at the young Commissar, who was like a pale scholar, with a teasing tone: "You want me to have everyone set up anti-aircraft weapons now, and have all the troops on the entire planet do the same as us... Fine, I'm curious, what else do you plan to do?"
Cain looked at the Colonel Lao Mo in front of him and whispered: "Then pray to the Emperor that I'm wrong."