Choosing a Faction

[Heavens War Instance Countdown: 12 Hours]

The hive shipyard was a hive of activity, dense footsteps serving as its background music.

Servitors trotted, soldiers sprinted, every face taut with tension, a heavy killing intent thickly permeating the entire dock.

Ronan hoisted a heavy equipment crate and jogged with effort, a spark of unwillingness burning in his eyes.

He wasn't alone—plenty of others, pushed to the brink by nobles, were gambling everything on this.

Yesterday's explosion had shattered Ronan's illusions.

He'd thought life would improve, but he was wrong. Those vermin-like nobles couldn't tolerate them.

To hold onto that fragile happiness, they had no choice but to gamble alongside the Governor.

He quickened his pace and ducked into the ship's hold.

Wade, clutching a data slate, jogged up to Fu Haoran:

"Sir, 20,000 troops, 12 Leman Russ Tanks, 28 Chimera Armored Vehicles, 15 Bison Troop Carriers, 60 artillery pieces of various calibers, 6 Valkyries, and all ammunition and batteries have been loaded."

Wade hesitated. "But... the ship's capacity is only 15,000. Cramming in this many people—won't that be a problem?"

Fu Haoran didn't look up, his tone calm but carrying an unyielding finality: "Make do. Clear out my quarters for supplies, toss all the furniture. Don't worry about my living arrangements."

"Sir, this is everything we have. Take it all?"

"Take it all."

"What if—"

"There is no 'what if.'" Fu Haoran cut him off flatly. "If we lose, we have no retreat in the hive city. The nobles won't show us an ounce of mercy."

"Only by winning the coming war will we have the leverage to flip the table."

"In the next move, we can only win. We cannot lose."

Though Fu Haoran hadn't revealed the Reincarnator World's secrets, Wade—who had visited the 2K World a few times—had pieced together enough to know his Governor possessed special abilities.

After all, conjuring a Mobile Space Capsule and massive amounts of food out of thin air... short of one explanation, he couldn't think of another.

Wade was silent for two seconds, then snapped to attention and executed the Aquila Salute: "Yes, sir!"

To Fu Haoran's slight surprise, Lucifer also boarded the ship, taking her seat in the bridge's first officer position as if it were only natural.

Fu Haoran asked her solemnly, "Are you sure you want to come with me? I'm going to war. If I die, I'm really dead—not even you can bring me back."

Lucifer lifted her chin, utterly composed: "Why do you think I would fear? My existence is for war, to oppose barbarism and chaos."

"Hurry up and go, my lover. I don't want to miss any game."

Right. This Necron was seriously unhinged, way too deep in character.

As the countdown ended, the system's voice rang out again.

[Ding! Heavens War matchmaking successful!]

[Faction: Independent Conqueror (Lord Class Exclusive)]

[Forced teleport initiated! Lord-exclusive authority activated. Select the units you wish to teleport.]

Fu Haoran didn't hesitate—he chose to teleport the entire ship.

[Selection complete. 10,453 Universal Points consumed.]

Staring at the Universal Points that had nearly drained his entire savings, Fu Haoran felt like he was back to square one.

Though it stung, he didn't waver for a second.

[Teleport commencing. War points being tallied in real-time!]

The hull shuddered violently. The engines screamed a piercing shriek as they tore through space. White light wrapped around the steel behemoth as it shattered dimensional barriers.

Fu Haoran gripped the armrest of his command throne, feeling his organs being yanked upward.

Three seconds later, the tremor stopped abruptly.

The white light faded.

Outside the window wasn't the hive city's starry sky, but an endless expanse of azure ocean.

The blaring alarms cut off. The Tech-Acolyte hurried forward, mechanical fingers dancing across the console: "Governor, teleport complete! No hull damage, all personnel in normal condition!"

[Main War Quest Updated: 1. Kill opposing faction Reincarnators/opposing NPCs to earn War Points; 2. Seize key story nodes to increase World Line Divergence Rate; 3. Complete faction-issued quests to earn Faction Reputation.]

[Current World Line Divergence Rate: 0%]

[Heavens War Points: 0]

[World Ranking: Unranked]

[Note: The higher the World Line Divergence Rate and the higher the rank of units killed, the richer the final settlement rewards.]

"Divergence rate... meaning if I don't stir up trouble, I won't score high?" Fu Haoran twitched the corner of his mouth. "This damn system still has no good intentions, as always."

Fu Haoran raised a hand and tapped the console, issuing his first command: "Activate the large-scale Auspex, full-power scan! Jam all signals across the region, and hack into every local database!"

The Tech-Acolyte's ten mechanical fingers plunged into the console, and the ship-grade Auspex activated instantly. The entire planet's terrain unfolded rapidly across the holographic projection.

The familiar rooster shape on the eastern side of the Asian continent, the jagged outline of the Americas' west coast...

"Blue Star?" Fu Haoran leaned forward. "A parallel world's Blue Star?"

His brow twitched slightly, but he didn't dwell on it. Going home didn't matter—what mattered was securing the capital to flip the table.

As the scan neared completion, a red dot suddenly popped up in the corner of the screen.

"Governor, anomalous energy signal detected. Its reaction pattern differs significantly from the surrounding area," the Tech-Acolyte reported. "Coordinates: the heart of the African continent, Kandahar mountain region."

Fu Haoran stared at that red dot, already understanding in his heart. This place likely held the surprise he wanted—either another Reincarnator or a special plot stronghold of this world.

"Mark it. Continue hacking the local databases."

The floating Servo-Skull projected core news, filling the screen.

The headlines were glaring and familiar:

<Shock! Stark Industries CEO Tony Stark Announces: Full Halt of Military Operations>

<Stark Industries Stock Plummets! Obadiah Stane Calls Emergency Board Meeting>

<Genius or Madman? Tony Stark Returns from Disappearance with Drastic Personality Change!>

<Military Enraged! Multiple Weapons Contracts Face Breach!>

The bridge fell silent for two seconds.

"Marvel universe, the timeline of Iron Man 1."

Fu Haoran tapped the screen with his fingertip, his eyes gleaming. "Tony just got back from Afghanistan. Obadiah's scrambling for power."

"Join Tony?"

"Besides gaining friendship, the return rate isn't impressive."

"Besides, if I just follow the plot, the timeline divergence rate won't climb, and the final rewards will inevitably be pitiful."

Fu Haoran dismissed that plan. His gaze locked onto the words "Stark Industries" and "Arc Reactor."

"Join the villain and win big?"

"The resistance would be huge, but that's probably still not enough!"

"What other factions can I choose?"

"S.H.I.E.L.D., Hydra, the Ten Rings... Wait, this faction is a solid choice!" Fu Haoran noticed a faction that was extremely easy to overlook.

Though this faction appeared rarely, it was definitely a major organization in the Marvel world.

"Compared to S.H.I.E.L.D., which is riddled with moles and has a massive foundation; Hydra, which is crazy, paranoid, and hunted by everyone; the street gangs that can't even show their faces; and Wakanda, which is extremely xenophobic and doesn't interact with the outside world—I have a natural advantage that others don't by joining this organization."

"System, I choose this faction."

[Received. Host has bound to faction. Cannot be modified.]

"Since the faction is chosen, next I need to prepare a gift to boost my favorability."

Fu Haoran immediately ordered: "Auspex, focus scan on the Kandahar region of Afghanistan. Filter conditions: small-scale armed gatherings, far from populated areas, with anomalous metal signals."

"Wade, take your most elite company and depart on the Valkyrie. No survivors needed in the target zone. I only want the set of power armor inside."

The moment Fu Haoran finished speaking, the Auspex suddenly let out a sharp alarm. Three fast-moving red dots popped up on the screen, racing toward the Kandahar region.

Fu Haoran's eyes sharpened, and he immediately added: "Speed it up. Someone's trying to steal the meal!"