Imperial Tithe

Deep within the Rock,

In a dimly lit hall that few people visit,

There was a huge, ancient machine on the table.

It was placed in the center of the hall, resembling a prisoner locked in jail.

Strange energy flowed within the machine's core, radiating a hazy glow.

A rotting human corpse stands beside the machine, connected to it by a thick cable.

The doll looked at the invading Red Dragon with an expression of great interest.

"Humans are really interesting."

"I can't see your lifeline or the brilliance of your soul. You don't seem to exist in this universe, but rather from another, higher level of the universe."

Red Dragon looked surprised when he saw the doll speak.

"As expected of Old Ones's creation, it has even broken the fourth wall."

The doll looked on with curiosity.

"The fourth wall? Does it refer to different levels of the universe? So you are indeed from a higher dimension. I'm curious, how do you view us?" The puppet tilted its head, looking at Red Dragon.

"Are they little figures in a game, or stories on paper?"

"Or is this a grand stage, and we natives are all actors on it?"

Red Dragon immediately activated the recording function.

Record the doll's words.

Warhammer Online is such a great game, I want to share it with those guys who hang out on the forums all the time.

Of course, he won't use his own ID when sharing.

Otherwise, those guys would know that the Tuchulcha Engine was in his hands.

"I have to admire your wisdom," Red Dragon said sincerely. "You saw through my secret at a glance. You know, many people don't know that we come from a higher-dimensional universe."

"You, this is not my wisdom, but the wisdom of my creator," said the Tuchulcha Engine. "My creator has also tried to peer into higher dimensions. They sent probes out of the universe and received some strange messages."

Upon hearing Tuchulcha Engine's words, Red Dragon gasped.

Is this a hidden storyline?

Similar to Stellaris of Vultaum, a story about breaking the fourth wall.

Goodness, how many stitches did the game developers sew up?

It's unlikely that everything available on the market has been sewn up.

Let's hope that in the end, some old Orion coin of light appears, leaving corpses scattered everywhere.

Speaking of which, is it possible that some Old Ones are still alive?

They were simply stuck in certain special spaces while trying to explore other universes or higher dimensions.

It's like a shrunken Ant-Man trapped in the quantum realm.

Red Dragon had many guesses in his mind. Then, he looked at the puppet controlled by the Tuchulcha Engine and asked curiously.

What else do you know?

"What do you want to know?" the puppet asked, tilting its head. "I know most of the secrets of this universe."

"Can I ask you anything?" Red Dragon asked, intrigued.

"Anything is fine." The doll showed a confident expression.

"I want to pursue a few girlfriends who are fair-skinned, beautiful, and have long legs. They are just over eighteen, dote on me, are arrogant and aloof in public, can get whatever they want from me, and can even give me tons of gold coins. I want to ask how to achieve this."

The puppet controlled by the Tuchulcha Engine stared wide-eyed, its expression one of disbelief.

He even wondered if he had misheard.

But after careful reflection and review, he was certain he hadn't misheard.

The doll's body began to convulse.

The many metal components of the Tuchulcha Engine also roared.

I represent the wisdom and knowledge of the Old Ones.

Even if you ask me how to conquer the Warp or how to conquer fate, I can talk about it.

You're asking me how to pick up girls and live off women?!

How many more are we going to chase?

Depend on!!

The doll's face twitched slightly, and it took a lot of effort to hold back the swear words.

"Is your face twitching?" Red Dragon stared intently at the doll whose veins were bulging and whose face was twitching slightly. "If you can't do it, you can't do it. Why are you reacting so strongly?"

Tuchulcha: "..."

Meeting someone like you is truly my blessing!!

"Okay, let's change the question." Red Dragon shook his head.

The doll's expression softened slightly as it waited for the human in front of it to ask a question.

"I want several fair-skinned, beautiful, and rich second-generation heirs to pursue me, to be completely obedient to me, to be arrogant and aloof in public, to give me whatever I want, and to shower me with gold coins. How can I do that?"

The doll laughed, and it looked quite ferocious!

As long as intelligent beings exist, they will laugh when faced with extremely absurd situations.

Even if it's a creation of Old Ones, a cold creation engine,

At this moment, he also laughed through his vocal component (the puppet).

You're determined to live off this woman, aren't you?!

"Can't answer this, can't answer that, and yet he's so good at pretending!!"

"If you can't do something in the future, don't make so many big promises. It's really speechless."

Red Dragon shook his head in disappointment.

The doll twitched again, barely suppressing the urge to curse.

"Alright, let's get serious." Red Dragon was no longer the carefree person he used to be. "Do you want to leave here?"

"What do you want to do?" the doll asked.

"Of course I'm taking you to find the Plague Heart and the Ouroboros!" Red Dragon said.

"You can take me away from here? Just by yourself?" The doll looked doubtful.

"I have a way," Red Dragon said confidently.

"As long as you can take me away, it's up to you. Whether it's here or there, it doesn't matter to me."

Upon receiving this reply from the Tuchulcha Engine, Red Dragon immediately opened the Dimensional Space and took the other party inside.

The puppet controlled by the Tuchulcha Engine looked around in shock.

The space here isn't large; it's just big enough to hold it.

At the edge of space lies nothingness.

Clearly, this is a Dimensional Space created using special forces.

"Humans really have a lot of tricks up their sleeves!!"

The doll talking to itself

My opinion of the human race has improved considerably.

Previously, he thought that humans were a hopeless race, crazy, paranoid, short-lived, and short-sighted, destined to be destroyed before long.

In retrospect, it still has some merits.

As the Tuchulcha Engine disappeared, a piercing alarm sounded.

Red Dragon smiled slightly, then turned and disappeared into the darkness.

The Tuchulcha Engine is in hand; next up are Plague Heart and Ouroboros.

The Plague Heart is somewhere on the edge of the Milky Way; we'll have to find it eventually.

The Ouroboros is easy to find; it's located in a fragment of Caliban's world.

If you go and look for it, you will find it.

"The Aquila Medal belongs to me now."

As Red Dragon darted through the darkness, he muttered to himself.

Once you collect Three Artifacts, you can obtain the Golden Aquila Medal and become a member of the Hall of Fame.

When Azrael, the Supreme Grand Master, and the guards in charge of watching over the place arrived, the hall was already empty.

"Tuchulcha Engine!!"

Azrael immediately suspected a Chaos invasion.

Last time, when investigating the Space Wolves in Fenris, the Changeling used shapeshifting to fool the inspection and enter the depths of the Rock.

Lion El'Jonson glanced around, catching a glimpse of the robed figure flash by, and then he remembered the God Chosen hadn't been caught.

They immediately figured out the whole story.

"There's no need to investigate this matter further," Lion El'Jonson said.

Azrael's eyes widened. "The Tuchulcha Engine is an extremely strange creation, possessing all sorts of mysterious knowledge. Are we really just going to let it go like this?"

Lion El'Jonson nodded. "Don't investigate any further."

After dismissing Azrael and his heirs, Lion El'Jonson walked to the edge of the hall. "Come out."

As soon as he finished speaking, several small figures, shrouded in long robes, emerged.

"It's been a long time, the Lion."

The little man in the robe who was in the lead spoke, his voice hoarse.

"It has been a long time indeed. Why didn't you stop that God Chosen?" Lion El'Jonson asked. "You couldn't possibly have been unaware of his presence."

"We saw him, and we watched him take the Tuchulcha Engine." The leading robed dwarf spoke frankly, without any concealment or deception.

"Why?" Lion El'Jonson repeated his question again, "Why let him take that thing?"

"Hopefully there will be more variables," the robed little man said. "The End Times has come. The more variables there are, the more uncertain the future will be, and the greater our chances of victory will be."

"Do you think humanity will lose?" Lion El'Jonson understood the unspoken meaning in the other party's words.

"Most Prescience and deductions point to the destruction of humanity, the complete enslavement of the Milky Way by the gods, or its being devoured by the Great Devourer."

The little figure in the robe raised its head, and a pair of glowing eyes appeared inside the dark robe.

Lion El'Jonson looked into the sporelings' eyes. "I hope you've made the right decision."

The robed figure bowed to Lion El'Jonson, then retreated into the darkness.

Lion El'Jonson stood in the darkness, gazing for a long time at the spot where the robed figure had disappeared, before turning and leaving as well.

The disappearance of the Tuchulcha Engine caused quite a stir.

The players, including Damo, looked heartbroken. They were counting on finding the three artifacts, combining them to create the Unholy Engine, and exchanging it with the Guide for the Aquila Medal!

And just like that, all that freshness and beauty vanished!

This is absolutely ridiculous!!

However, their attention was quickly drawn to other things.

That is, Lion El'Jonson announced his intention to attack the Night Lord, led by Talos.

I learned from the Living Saint that these guys were trying to establish their own kingdom in the Imperium Nihilus, something that was naturally intolerable.

Lion El'Jonson decided to strike first at this troublemaker as a warning to the Chaos traitors that the Imperium was not a dough to be kneaded at will.

Upon hearing that war was imminent, the players cheered excitedly.

The Dark Angels, including Azrael, were stunned and exclaimed that these God Chosen were incomprehensible.

They saved up their own money to buy equipment, and they were determined to be loyal to the Emperor. Their loyalty was something even they couldn't match!

Zabriel even started complaining to the other Fallen Angels.

Even the Orks certainly don't love war as much as the God Chosen.

These guys treat war like a game and have absolutely no fear of death.

Under Lion El'Jonson's will, the fleet began preparations in earnest.

A week later, with all supplies gathered, Lion El'Jonson set out with half the fleet he had obtained from Dante.

They've gone to fight the Night Lord, led by Talos.

He was prepared to let these traitors know why he, the Primarch of the First Legion, was called the Lion.

Let these guys experience what it felt like when those destroyed human civilizations faced the Imperium of Man during the Great Crusade!

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Milky Way,

Qin Yun is also leading the Imperial Fleet supporting Signus to fight and suppress traitors and Xenos.

Considering there were no formidable enemies, he dismantled the fleet.

Let them perform different tasks.

Even the players are given full autonomy.

The God Chosen Little Alpaca, along with its own Chapter, responded to the plea for help from a world plagued by Orks.

Upon arrival, they encountered something truly bizarre.

"You mean, not only did you not bring them the supplies they wanted, but you also confiscated all their supplies, simply because they needed to pay Imperial Tithe??"

The Little Alpaca looked at the Kasrkin team in front of it, who were in charge of collecting taxes, and asked the question repeatedly, word by word.

The planet's industrial infrastructure has been largely destroyed due to the invasion of the Orks.

Even the defensive cannons on the city walls have ceased firing due to a lack of ammunition.

Aside from necessary artillery fire, the ground troops did not fire at other times, relying solely on human lives to fill the trenches.

Now, a bunch of guys suddenly come along and say they want to collect Imperial Tithe.

"Yes, Sisters." Sergeant Pia, the captain, felt a little uneasy looking at the well-equipped, heavily armed Sisters of Battle in front of him, but he still insisted on his duty.

"No, this planet will not hand over a single bullet until the Ork are Knockback and production is restored," the Little Alpaca said firmly.

"This is the rule: if Damiton II refuses to pay its Imperial Tithe, it will be considered a betrayal of the Imperium," Sergeant Pia said. "This is no joke."

And behind this captain,

The well-trained Kasrkin soldiers placed their hands on the buttocks of their rifles.

Their weaponry and tactical skills far surpass those of ordinary troops, making them a rare elite force for the Imperium.

"No wonder you sent your elite troops to collect taxes. It turns out your superiors knew about the situation on Damiton II and were afraid of local resistance, so they sent you here."

"You people above have no regard for the soldiers and people of this planet. You are letting innocent people be slaughtered by Xenos."

The Little Alpaca smiled as soon as it saw the reactions of the Kasrkin soldiers.

"This is not something you should be thinking about," Sergeant Pia said.

"Then what should I consider?" the Little Alpaca retorted. "You let the Emperor's people die, and you don't allow others to question it?"

"This war is more important than this planet." A man dressed as Commissar stepped forward and faced the Little Alpaca directly. "We have no choice but to choose loyalty or be regarded as traitors."

"The Emperor will not allow others to squander the lives of His people." The Little Alpaca looked at the man. "If we can't even protect a planet, how can we talk about winning this war?"

"If you lose a planet today and another tomorrow, even if you win, what have you gained?"

"Achieve final victory and carry out orders, or you will spend the rest of your lives as traitors before the Emperor," the Commissar said.

Upon hearing this, the Little Alpaca immediately burst into laughter.

"Are you saying I'll become a traitor??"

P. S.: Chapter Two. Hope you all enjoy it.

I went back to review the Imperial Tithe again.

I've already started writing fanfiction, so how can I sleep well without taking down those administrative staff?