Underhive Scavenger

Alvin's vision went dark, as if sinking into an icy abyss, his entire body numb and stiff.

In a daze, it was as if a cold, pale sun, emitting dazzling radiance like a brilliant ring of stars, was fixed in the pitch-black void.

His eyelids felt as heavy as if they were weighed down by locks, and his head was groggy, throbbing with pain as if from a hangover.

It took him a long time before he finally managed to open his eyes.

"Where… is this?" he asked, looking around in a daze.

The dark, damp alley was piled high with foul-smelling garbage.

Above, a dense network of pipes crisscrossed like a spiderweb, completely blocking out the sunlight. The oppressive air was filled with a pungent, rotten odor!

Massive amounts of dust and smog floated in the hazy air; just one breath felt like his lungs were coated in mud and grime.

"Cough… cough…"

Alvin was extremely unaccustomed to such a harsh environment and coughed violently.

"I'm talking to you, you deaf bastard?!"

The brutal voice, like thunder, made his head buzz, instantly pulling his thoughts back.

He looked up, and what greeted him was a terrifying face. A hideous scar slashed diagonally across his entire face, cutting through his brow bone and lip. Coupled with the angry expression on his face, it twisted like a worm, his cold eyes glinting with a scarlet, brutal light.

"Answer me!"

The scarred man raised his foot without warning, kicking him in the chest like a cannonball.

Bang!

The immense force nearly made Alvin suffocate.

He was kicked flying backward, crashing heavily onto a drainage pipe.

The pipe broke upon impact, spewing out nauseating sewage, and an even more pungent smell spread.

The scarred man stepped forward, placing a foot on Alvin, and then casually pressed a chipped knife against his throat.

"If you don't hand over three units of supplies tomorrow, I won't hesitate to kill you!" The scarred man bent down, his fierce and greedy eyes looking at him like he was an animal. "Did you hear me, brat? Don't make me repeat myself a third time!"

Looking at the chipped blade at his neck, stained with dark brown clots of dried blood.

There was no doubt that this man was a ruthless killer, someone who had taken countless lives!

Adhering to the principle of "when you're under someone else's roof, you have to bow your head," Alvin took a deep breath and said decisively, "I'm sorry, I was wrong. I'll hand over the supplies on time tomorrow!"

The scarred man put away his knife, his eyes fiercely scanning him before spitting a glob of phlegm to the side. "If it weren't for those bastards in the Iron Hammer Gang causing a manpower shortage, I'd have chopped you down with this knife."

After leaving the threat, the scarred man turned and walked away, leaving Alvin alone in the dark, damp alley.

Returning from the brink of death, Alvin's muddled and stiff thoughts instantly became clear.

Immediately after, fragmented memories surged into his brain like a tide, forcefully shoved in without any preamble!

The explosive pain was as if someone had driven a chisel into his pituitary gland and stirred it violently. Alvin gritted his teeth tightly, veins bulging in his temples, struggling to suppress any sound.

Deep breaths, deep breaths. Fortunately, the intense pain came as quickly as it left.

Once he recovered, Alvin removed the cheap gas mask from his face and looked at the densely packed pipes overhead. The last sliver of hope in his eyes vanished!

Good news: he had transmigrated. It was Terra.

Bad news: it was Holy Terra.

This was the Warhammer universe!

A universe where all races went completely insane, desperately fighting just to survive!

Here, there was extreme militarism, lunatics, fanatics, extreme xenophobia, and more – a terrifying universe that would make even the most seasoned transmigration protagonists hesitate.

War was the eternal theme of this universe.

Every life surviving in this universe was like swimming in a cesspool; it wasn't about who could swim further, but who would drown first.

Although he couldn't see his own face, Alvin was certain.

His current expression, to use internet slang, was probably like a sissy whose toe had been stepped on!

And the original owner of this body was named Alvin. He was a scavenger in the Underhive of a Hive City within the Imperium of Man's territory.

To put it in simple terms, he was a bottom-tier trash collector.

"Are you kidding me?"

Alvin, who had absorbed the memories, collapsed onto the ground like a puddle of mud, his eyes devoid of life. "I just went to get a wisdom tooth pulled, and how did I wake up in this hellhole!"

What heinous or universally hated deeds had he committed in his past life?

What kind of bullshit tooth extraction could send him to the Warhammer universe?

But complaints were complaints. After venting, and once his emotions had slightly stabilized, Alvin ultimately had to face reality.

The scarred man from earlier was a member of a gang in the Underhive called the "Blood Axe Gang," who were responsible for collecting protection fees from them.

In the Warhammer universe, even if you were a bottom-tier trash collector, you still had to pay "protection fees."

But recently, he'd heard that the Blood Axe Gang and the Iron Hammer Gang were practically at each other's throats for some unknown reason.

The Blood Axe Gang suffered heavy casualties, which led them to triple the protection fees on top of the original amount!

Was there any resistance?

Naturally, there was, but the outcome for all of them was the same: their heads were chopped off by the Blood Axe Gang as a warning to others.

However, it was obvious that Alvin, as a bottom-tier scavenger, often went hungry for days and couldn't even afford to eat. Where would he get any extra "supplies" to hand over?

But if he couldn't pay, Alvin's fate would be either to be dragged away and fed to the Genestealers the Blood Axe Gang kept, or to become the next warning.

Driven to desperation, Alvin finally decided to risk going to the junkyard in the southeast of the Underhive, which was under the Iron Hammer Gang's territory, intending to steal something.

Unfortunately, his luck was terrible. Just as he picked up something that seemed valuable, Alvin stumbled upon members of the Iron Hammer Gang talking to someone covered in a black robe. He couldn't hear clearly because he was too far away, but he vaguely heard words like "skull" and "sacrifice."

Then, Alvin was discovered!

The person in the black robe merely glanced at him, and Alvin felt an unbearable headache, as if twisted, evil, chaotic whispers were echoing.

It felt like a thousand red-hot steel needles were being forcefully driven into his brain and stirred violently.

In agony, Alvin clung to a sliver of sanity and fled the junkyard, until he reached this alleyway, where his soul was utterly crushed.

When Alvin woke up again, his soul had been replaced by a young man from the 2K era.

"From now on, I am Alvin," he whispered.

Alvin murmured, the memories of both individuals merging, no longer distinguishing between them.

He lowered his head and looked at the tattered bag at his waist.

Inside was the "thing" his predecessor had risked his life for. He opened the dirty, torn bag and saw a wristwatch.

The metal of the strap was covered in rust due to environmental corrosion, and the connecting parts were almost broken. The watch face was smeared with a layer of filthy black grime.

"Can this thing cover the protection fee?"

Alvin's forehead creased. This thing probably wouldn't be wanted even if thrown on the ground. If he tried to use it as payment, he'd likely be chopped up and fed to the dogs on the spot.

However, since it was something his predecessor had risked his life for, it would be a shame to just throw it away.

"May the heavens protect me—no, it should be the Emperor Lord's protection!"

Alvin held onto his last shred of hope, wet his sleeve with some dirty water, and carefully, gently wiped the grime off the watch face.

After the black grime was wiped away, the exquisite watch face was revealed.

Alvin stared at the watch face, immediately shocked by its intricate and complex internal structure. Countless gears of various sizes nested into each other, the mechanics filled with artistic beauty. The bezel on the outside didn't have time numbers, but rather some engravings he couldn't understand at all.

"What in the world is this thing?"

As Alvin was lost in thought, staring at the intricate watch face, it suddenly changed!

Click, clack.

The previously still watch face suddenly began to turn.

With a crisp yet sluggish mechanical sound, the numerous gears in the center of the watch face rotated one after another, and then it suddenly flipped to the other side.

The central watch face was dark and deep, as if inscribed with some kind of text, which lit up in sequence.

A mechanical voice sounded in Alvin's mind.

[Esteemed Navigator, would you like to travel to a new world?]

[Beep beep beep, Warning! Insufficient Energy!]

[Current reserves: 0.1 Standard Units]

[Interdimensional Device activation requires 100 Standard Units of Energy!]