A Chapter?

The commotion on the [Hero] screen had been something Gu Hang anticipated.

After a battle this brutal, he had to be due for an upgrade, right?

Sure enough, when he opened it to take a look, he found that among the Heroes, he was the only one who had met the requirements for an upgrade.

But the cost made him frown.

50 points.

Upgrading to Level 2 was far too expensive.

Still, after what he had just been through, he was eager to become stronger.

An upgrade would improve his personal safety, of course, but a powerful Psyker could also have a tremendous impact on battles below a certain scale.

Even at that price, he was prepared to grit his teeth and upgrade himself.

But there was no need to rush.

The [Hero] panel had changed in other ways, too.

He saw that two more people could now be activated as Heroes.

One was Pobov.

After this battle, the miner captain from the Waste Mine Society seemed to have been recognized by the system as a man of talent, eligible for activation as a Hero.

The other was named Osana Chenko.

Who was she?

Gu Hang was completely baffled.

Did he have someone like that under his command?

Oh, right. He thought he did.

He remembered the refugee census records from the group that had recently migrated from Revival City. He had skimmed the list of literate people, and her name seemed to have been on it.

What had she done to convince the system she was capable?

Gu Hang grew curious.

He wasn't planning to promote her to Hero right away, but if the system had recognized her potential, then even without upgrading her, he could bring her forward and entrust her with important work.

Gu Hang thought he had discovered another use for the [Hero] feature.

It could help him find talent, even without an upgrade.

Satisfied, he closed the [Hero] panel and opened the newly appeared [Event] panel.

[An unknown event is unfolding. You may direct the event toward an outcome related to you.]

[Activating this event will cost 50 Grace.]

[Time remaining until the event ends: 1 day, 6 hours]

That was it?

No information at all, and it still wanted to swindle him out of 50 Grace?

Gu Hang closed the [Event] feature without a second thought.

Then he really did think about it for a moment, and opened it again.

He couldn't resist the temptation!

The unknown was just too enticing.

"Generally speaking, the quality of what the system offers is closely tied to the Grace Point cost. The more you pay, the better what you get. Apart from those two times I drew tech cards—with a 40% chance, and still missed twice in a row—it hasn't really let me down... Wait, could this unknown event card be a trap too? What if there's some hidden probability involved?"

In the space of a moment, Gu Hang's mind had gone back and forth, producing all sorts of thoughts.

He wasn't usually the indecisive type, but what could he do?

He was too broke!

Every problem came down to being broke.

If he had enough Grace Points, Gu Hang would have activated the event immediately just to see what it was.

But if he activated the unknown event, the 36 Grace he had left wouldn't be enough for an upgrade.

After considering it carefully for a long while, Gu Hang decided to trust the system.

It was a gamble, but he still believed that "the system delivers value for what you pay," and made his choice.

Of course, more importantly, he had a fallback plan.

In a couple of days, the month would be up. Then his fixed monthly income would come in. Given the pace at which his forces were developing, he should get thirty or forty points. If he pooled them together, he ought to have enough to reach Level 3.

The unknown event, on the other hand, might be harder to come by. After all, it had a countdown. Once the time ran out, the event would disappear.

It was a limited-time draw. Surely he'd win this one?

With that in mind, Gu Hang made his final choice.

Just like that, 50 Grace vanished. In its place, new information appeared in his field of vision:

[Event activated: The Phoenix Is Dying]

[A Space Marine Chapter on the verge of destruction has ended a century-long Penitent Crusade and is now approaching Nuxiao Planet. It seems they are searching for redemption and hope here.]

[Choose your actions carefully. Your decisions will determine how the event develops.]

[Event branch: Unknown.]

When Gu Hang saw the new event prompt mention a Space Marine Chapter approaching Nuxiao Planet, he almost couldn't keep his expression under control.

If a Space Marine Chapter came to help him, what would he have to worry about? Nothing on Nuxiao Planet could stand in the way of an entire Chapter.

The term "Space Marine" symbolized glory and greatness within The Empire... and death.

They were The Emperor's Angels of Death.

It was said that tens of thousands of years ago, the God-Emperor had created many different kinds of Gene-seed using himself as the template. He had chosen the finest people and implanted them with Gene-seed, creating the first Space Marines.

Each one was a superhuman being, with a body many times stronger than an ordinary person's. They wore specially made Power Armour linked to their nervous systems, and their individual combat prowess was terrifying. Taking on a hundred enemies was routine for them.

A handful of Space Marines could often carve through an army of tens of thousands and cut down its commanding general. And that was just an ordinary mission for them.

They were true killing machines. The name Angel of Death suited them perfectly.

During the founding era, the great Space Marine Legions had been the sharpest blades in The Emperor's hands, earning immense credit for forging The Empire's vast territories.

Then, about ten thousand years ago, after The Emperor ascended to godhood, all the Space Marine Legions were broken up into smaller Chapters. Under the Codex, a Space Marine Chapter could have no more than a thousand members.

A Chapter usually had a homeworld. Its homeworld owed no taxes to The Empire, and the Chapter controlled all its people and resources. A Chapter could form an Imperialis Militia and a fleet, and enjoyed immense autonomy. It would answer The Empire's highest-priority calls to arms and deploy to the most terrifying battlefields. Apart from that, however, its actions were largely its own to decide, and it had a great deal of freedom.

As Gu Hang understood it, they were a combination of warlords and feudal lords.

A Chapter like that was coming to Nuxiao Planet?

Gu Hang quickly calmed down.

As he'd said, the system offered value for what you paid. Fifty Grace wouldn't be enough to buy even one Space Marine, let alone an entire Chapter.

There was no way he'd get that lucky.

He also noticed what the event panel said: this was a Chapter on the brink of death.

That was good.

If it were a flourishing Chapter, he wouldn't have a say in anything. A Chapter Master might well outrank even a sector governor.

Gu Hang had realized that the event could bring either fortune or disaster. He really did need to act as cautiously as the system advised. Otherwise, the consequences would be impossible to predict.

But all in all, it also meant an opportunity.

If the Space Marines could help him, he would have an absolute guarantee of military superiority on Nuxiao Planet.