On the Warhammer OL official website forum,
People drawn from various websites kept pouring in, and the number of forum comments surged to 999+ in a second.
"My goodness, do Warhammer Players nowadays really eat this fine stuff?"
"What the hell is this fine stuff? This is clearly a feast of delicacies!"
"The graphics, the texture, it's absolutely groundbreaking."
"Undoubtedly, this is a new round of technological revolution."
"Kind souls, please Guide me, how do I play? How do I download?"
"This is too awesome! Pre-order, pre-order immediately."
"It's decided. From today onwards, I will be utterly loyal to the Emperor."
"What a waste! Why make Warhammer with such good technology? If they made Star Wars or American comics, the developers would have made a fortune long ago."
"......"
With the influx of a large number of Players, the number of pre-orders surged, and the popularity soared like a rocket.
In the chat group, it was also very lively, with group members who hadn't pre-ordered lamenting repeatedly.
Guilliman is the Sun: "I went to get a drink of water, and the pre-orders already exceeded three million. Damn it. It seems there's no hope for internal testing in this lifetime. I hope for an open beta soon."
Chosen Llama: "It's really terrifying. This game has broken through."
A Bowl of Lobster Soup: "Hehe, I was the first to repost it."
Guilliman is the Sun: "@A Bowl of Lobster Soup, I'll kill you."
Second Empire Warmaster: "With the quality of Warhammer OL, it's bound to be popular, it's only a matter of time. The Warhammer IP might receive a lot of attention, and many game companies will likely try to get involved, but I wonder what GW's reaction will be!"
Pinocchio vs. Snow White: "According to informed sources, GW's editors and senior management are still traveling. Domestic companies have tried to contact them to obtain agency rights, but have not received any reply. Currently, companies have already sent people to GW headquarters to negotiate."
One Night Output Slaanesh Ten Times: "Why talk about things outside of the game? Let's talk about this update instead. Let's discuss it in the group first, and then post it on the forum later."
"Group administrator One Night Output Slaanesh Ten Times has enabled group mute."
"This time, the update adjusted the time flow rate. The official must have realized that the span of various events in the Warhammer Universe is too large. If they continued with the previous time flow rate, by the time Guilliman finished the Indomitus Crusade, only our grandchildren would be burning paper money to tell us about it."
Second Empire Warmaster: "When the King's army pacifies the galaxy, don't forget to tell your father at his ancestral sacrifice??"
One Night Output Slaanesh Ten Times: "This adjustment ratio is 1:2, meaning one day is equivalent to two days. There's hope of seeing Guilliman fight the Plague War in our lifetime."
"Of course, this is tentative, meaning it will be modified later, and it's very likely to reach 1:5, or even 1:10."
"The larger the time adjustment ratio, the greater the gap between professional Players and casual Players. Casual Players will be distanced by professional Players, which is very likely to lead to most casual Players giving up or quitting the game."
"Because most Warhammer fans have their own jobs and cannot give up everything for the game. Professional Players earn money from the game and can be online twenty-four hours a day."
"Professional Players earn money from casual Players. If the number of casual Players decreases, they will abandon the game without hesitation. So, the time flow rate is a delicate balance: how to increase the enjoyment of casual Players without making them feel repulsed."
"The second key update is the Faith Value missions. At the beginning of the game, Faith Value could only be obtained by killing enemies, but as the game developed, monsters became fewer and fewer, making it difficult for farming-type Players to accumulate enough Faith Value to change professions."
"This mission is very likely to open a loophole, allowing Players to obtain Faith Value through various daily missions, thereby satisfying the needs for changing professions, equipment binding, teleportation, and so on."
"In addition, the updated loot distribution and war score models are all improvements to the original system, aiming to maintain fairness as much as possible. There's no need to say much more about this."
"There's one more thing to remind everyone: be honest and dutiful. Report everything to the NPC Guide and Cortana first. Don't try to exploit game bugs to cause trouble, or else the official will get angry, and a permanent blacklist would be a shame."
'Crazy Kisses Nurgle's Chubby Face': "Old Eleven is as capable as ever, so clear-headed."
'Warhammer Most Courageous Bro': "War MVP, give you a thumbs up?"
Second Empire Warmaster: "...Damn it."
Blood Pigeon: "Address, duel tonight."
'Crazy Kisses Nurgle's Chubby Face': "Today, either you die, or you die."
'Warhammer Most Courageous Bro': "You lost and aren't convinced, want to practice?"
"......"
Alex was lurking in the chat group, watching the group administrators bicker while planning the reconstruction of Syntilla.
The planet Syntilla suffered extensive damage, with Hive City reduced to ruins.
However, the foundation of basic industry remained, and with many skilled workers surviving, it only needed reconstruction to revive and serve the war effort.
Alex quickly drafted a "Syntilla Reconstruction Plan" and then sent it to Governor Feng of Atoma, asking him to organize human and material resources to support the planet Syntilla.
Cortana quickly completed the task and said, "Master, there are thirty-two messages sent to you, all from the old aristocrats of Xi Bei Liu Si Nest World and Tarsus Hive City. They hope to reclaim their family's property and restore their former positions so they can continue to serve the Empire."
"Tell them to scram," Alex said without a second's hesitation. "Also, tell those guys not to provoke me. Those rebels will make a move, and so will I."
If those fools were allowed to hold power again, everything Alex had done would be in vain.
Supporting the lower classes and the newly emerging military aristocracy was the most important thing.
As for those who clung to the past glory of their families, constantly shouting about bloodlines and heritage, he wanted them to die as far away as possible.
"Understood, Master," Cortana said.
Cortana departed, and Alex sat down at his work desk, contemplating what he needed to do next.
The reform of the Ecclesiarchy had to be pushed forward quickly, using his identity as a Living Saint to restrict and abolish factions that advocated for humanity to suffer and endure torment.
Faith was humanity's weapon against the Warp, but being overly fanatical was not a good thing.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs also needed to be reorganized, cutting redundant personnel, streamlining the structure as much as possible, and accelerating administrative processes.
The operating speed of the Cogitator needed to be improved to meet more work demands.
The results of the Syntilla War would soon spread.
The rebel forces led by the Colin Family would surely view him as a thorn in their side, and continuous major battles might erupt then.
Welfare for the lower classes needed to be strengthened to enhance their loyalty to the Empire and the Emperor.
Alex listed out all the tasks he needed to do, prioritizing them, and then planned to tackle them one by one.
......
The Warp Storm raged endlessly.
A three-kilometer-long cargo ship was traversing the Warp.
"This war is a crisis, but also an opportunity. With this reconstruction, the family's business will soon expand to Syntilla."
"When I return from this trade trip, my eldest daughter should have finished her exams. She said last time she wanted a beautiful dress, it's time to fulfill her wish. My second child, that mischievous monkey, wants a model ship, that needs to be arranged too."
"Our tenth wedding anniversary is also approaching, I need to prepare a gift for my wife."
Hargren, a trade merchant, was full of anticipation for the future. Thinking of his wife and children, his mouth curved upwards, revealing undisguised happiness.
He had a gentle and beautiful wife, and a pair of lively and adorable twins.
When the Colin Family first stirred up unrest, Hargren felt like the sky was falling.
After the Great Rift opened, the light of the Astronomican could not constantly cover the Calixis Sector.
The dark storm enveloped everything, and the Astronomican was intermittent, which made Warp navigation very dangerous.
Not to mention how difficult business was, now there was also a rebellion.
A slight misstep, and the entire family would be annihilated.
Hargren abandoned his business, taking his wife and children to Atoma, a place rumored to be protected by a Saint. He was anxious, constantly worrying that enemies would suddenly appear.
Those days of despair vanished with the return of the Saint.
When the Syntilla campaign ended, the news was relayed back immediately.
Countless merchants flocked, eager to get a piece of the pie.
As for the problem of getting lost in the Warp, that had already been resolved.
The Saint brought back a special navigation lighthouse, illuminating the Warp.
Just by following that light, one could reach Syntilla.
"Sir, our Aetheric Resonator has received strong fluctuations, and the Geller Field is under impact."
The merchant ship exited the Warp and returned to Holy Terra (Earth/Reality).
However, Hargren and his party quickly realized this was a foolish decision.
Immediately after exiting, the Geller Field closed, and they hadn't even had time to confirm their position.
An alarm sounded inside the ship, indicating a large warship was nearby.
Immediately after, a psychic beam of light ignited, and a terrifying aura spread with it.
Several warriors in power armor walked out of the light.
Hargren's eyes widened as he looked at the Warp symbols on their bodies, revealing fear.
He had heard some stories about Cadia and the Despoiler, and in those stories, 'fallen angels who betrayed the God-Emperor' was the most frequently appearing phrase.
Clearly, these guys were those who had abandoned the Emperor.
"Fire," Hargren used all his strength to order the armed crew to open fire.
But in the next second, the staff in the hand of the leader glowed, and all the crew members who intended to attack them exploded into fragments.
"Resistance will only bring more death."
A majestic voice echoed in Hargren's mind.
He also learned the other party's name, Ahriman.
"You have the information I need."
The voice said again.
"No!" Hargren started to cry. He was powerless against the other party's mental will. "I will never tell you anything, never!"
"You don't need to give it to me."
The voice sounded again, followed by a shriek.
Hargren felt his thoughts being torn apart.
How could an ordinary person resist a legendary psychic master?
Ahriman broke through Hargren's mental defenses, freely plundering the information he needed from the other party's memories.
"So many Astartes? Did I travel back to the Great Crusade era?"
"And, is this Sanguinius?"
Seeing the memories and images in the merchant's mind, Ahriman's eyes widened, revealing a look of shock.