This Must Be Tzeentch's Scheme (Seeking Follow-up Reads)

"This must be a scheme by Tzeentch."

"He is seducing me into becoming a Chaos heretic."

Lu Sheng touched his own featureless face as he drifted through the Warp—if this constantly shifting mass of energy could even be called a face.

"Oh, wait..."

"I have already fallen into the path of evil."

Lu Sheng looked down at his newly birthed body of a Dark God.

It looked like an overturned palette, or perhaps the nightmare of an abstract painter on drugs, swaying unsteadily amidst the never-ending energy storms of the Warp.

"Good news: I transmigrated."

"Bad news: It's the Warhammer universe."

"Better news: I've become a Dark God."

"Worse news: I'm still very weak—weak enough that a fart from any random mushroom in Nurgle's garden next door could blow me away."

"What kind of sins did I commit in my past life?"

Lu Sheng attempted to cover his face with his hands, but the gesture only caused the energy ripples on his surface to become even more chaotic.

"I've never even touched a Warhammer game; I've only watched a tiny bit of fan-made content. I know the Emperor has a Golden Throne, the Four Gods each have their own brand of madness, and the Tyranids devour everything..."

In his past life, he was an ordinary corporate slave, struggling to survive in the 'blessing' of a 996 work schedule. His only entertainment was scrolling through his phone before bed, watching novels and short videos.

That day, he was watching a pop-science video titled "Watch Warhammer 40k in One Go: Two-Hour Pure Enjoyment Edition—Perfect City, Primarch Rebellion," where the creator narrated everything in a cheerful tone.

He had finally finished watching both parts, totaling nearly four hours.

Then, his vision went black.

When he opened his eyes again, he was already in this bizarre and surreal Warp.

And he was starving to death.

Not hunger in the physiological sense, but a deep, fundamental craving.

Lu Sheng could feel that he needed to feed, to absorb some kind of energy to maintain his existence and to grow stronger.

He knew instinctively what that was: emotional energy.

Uh... he seemed to be a bit gluttonous, indiscriminate, and not opposed to any kind of emotion.

Joy, anger, sorrow, fear, love, hate, greed... every intense emotion generated by sentient beings left ripples in the Warp.

And Dark Gods lived off exactly that.

So the question arose: how to solve the problem of emotional energy.

Lu Sheng cautiously sensed the surrounding Warp environment, and was nearly scared out of his wits.

To his left in the distance lay an endless, rotting garden, permeated with a morbid obsession for the cycle of life and a bizarre satisfaction in accepting all decay.

Nurgle's domain.

To his front right were countless labyrinths and towers that constantly shifted, reorganized, and defied all logic, filled with endless schemes and a greedy thirst for knowledge.

Tzeentch's realm.

Further away, he could sense pure, unceasing bloodlust, and... well, certain very lewd and violent primal urges.

No need to guess: Khorne and Slaanesh.

The concentration and purity of the emotional energy radiating from these four titans were like a grand banquet laid out before a beggar who hadn't eaten in three days.

But Lu Sheng dared not touch it.

He didn't dare to even touch a single shred of it.

"If I eat their food, I'll truly become their lackey."

Lu Sheng tried to shrink his energy form even smaller. "In this universe, the free stuff is the most expensive."

"Especially a treat from the Four, that is absolutely the Hongmen Banquet of all Hongmen Banquets."

But he was hungry.

Really, so hungry.

Great Emperor, although I am a Dark God, I bow to you with my head held high and offer my loyalty—could you spare me a bite to eat?

Lu Sheng felt like an unlucky soul dumped at the entrance of an all-you-can-eat buffet.

The place was filled with delicacies, but every dish was laced with slow-acting poison; take one bite, and you'd have to sign away your soul.

Just as he felt he was surely going to dissipate from hunger:

[Suitable host detected, soul wave matching rate 99.7%. Binding in progress...]

A voice devoid of emotion rang directly within his consciousness.

It was not the seductive whispers of the Warp, nor the oppressive presence of the Four Gods.

This voice... it was mechanical, systematic.

[Binding successful. Super Calamity System activated.]

[Welcome, Host. This system is designed to assist newborn Warp entities in growing safely, stably, and sustainably.]

Lu Sheng froze.

A system?

A golden finger?

In the Warhammer universe?

"Wait, you aren't Tzeentch in disguise, are you?"

Lu Sheng asked warily, "Are you going to give me a little treat, then swallow me whole the moment I let my guard down?"

"Let me tell you, I've read enough novels to know that trope!"

[This system is manufactured by the Alliance of High-Dimensional Entities of the Outer Races and is bound by the Newborn Transmigrator Protection Act. System operation logs are available for review at any time, with no record of tampering.]

"It even sounds official..."

Lu Sheng was half-convinced, "Then what functions do you have?"

"Let's get this straight: if you want me to sacrifice my soul or sign some contract, I'd rather starve to death."

[Core Function 1: Fourth Calamity Summoning Module. Can connect to a lower-dimensional universe (Host's native universe) to recruit player consciousness projections into entities within this universe.]

[Players will receive a reinforced body generated by the system, with their consciousness safely isolated from their original physical forms.]

[Core Function 2: Safe Emotional Energy Harvesting. Any emotional fluctuations generated by players during their activities—including but not limited to anger, greed, excitement, nervousness, a sense of achievement, or frustration—will be filtered and purified by the system before being transmitted to the Host.]

[The harvesting process employs multiple layers of encryption and camouflage to avoid detection by existing Warp entities in this universe.]

[Core Function 3: Reality-Matter-to-Energy Conversion. System operation requires the consumption of matter and energy from the reality universe. The Host must guide players to collect material resources, which the system will convert into the base energy required to maintain operations. Initial energy: 10,000 units.]

Lu Sheng digested this information.

Players...

The Fourth Calamity...

Safe emotional absorption...

"So, you're saying I don't have to touch the dirty, corrupted emotions of the Four Gods, but can instead produce clean emotions through players?"

"I can feed on their joy while gaming, their anger, even their resentment when they curse the developers, all without being discovered by the Four Gods?"

[Correct. The system utilizes micro-harvesting and emotional signature camouflage technology. The emotional fluctuations generated by a single player are negligible to the Warp of this universe, and the system masks them as naturally dissipating background noise. Only when the number of players reaches the millions will an upgrade to the concealment be required.]

"What about reality-matter energy? What exactly do you need? How is it converted?"

[Any matter containing mass and energy will suffice. It is recommended to collect high-density materials, energy minerals, technological artifacts, etc.]

[The conversion ratio depends on the usable energy level contained within the matter. Examples: 1kg of pure Promethium ≈ 10 units of energy; 1 intact Leman Russ Tank ≈ 110,000 units of energy; 1 standard Void Shield Generator ≈ 3,000,000 units of energy.]

Lu Sheng looked at his own ethereal hands.

Then he thought about what the reality of the Warhammer universe looked like.

"So, you want me, a newborn Chaos God, to go into the reality universe and steal... ah, no, collect tanks and void shields?"

He grumbled, "If an energy entity like me runs into the reality universe, won't that trigger a Warp storm, and then the Emperor, the Primarchs, the Astartes Legions, the Custodes, and the Sisters of Silence will all come running to have a 'heart-to-heart' with me?"

[The Host does not need to go in person. Players can assist in collection while active in the reality universe. The system provides a basic material recovery protocol, and players will receive in-game rewards as incentives.]

Understood.

Make the players do the labor.

Make the players move the bricks.

Make the players... scavenge for trash.

"Very good, very spirited."

Lu Sheng suddenly felt this system was tailor-made for him, "So, what can 10,000 units of initial energy do? How many players can I recruit?"

[Recommended startup plan: Consume 3,000 units of energy to establish a stable connection with the target planet in this universe, Aurelian IV.]

[Consume 5,000 units of energy to generate the first batch of 5,000 player consciousness reception anchors (i.e., game character generation).]

[The remaining 2,000 units will be used to maintain basic system operations (estimated to last 60 standard days).]

"Aurelian IV..."

Lu Sheng pulled up the planetary data provided by the system and scanned it quickly, "Rediscovered by the Empire at the end of the Great Crusade, nominally submissive but with weak actual control, local factions fighting for power... Perfect!"

"This kind of lawless zone is perfect for a newbie to develop in!"

He noted the time: approximately 976.M30.

"Thirty years before Horus is wounded..."