The gravel dug painfully into his cheek.
But he couldn't spare a thought for that right now.
He had seen it with his own eyes. It wasn't a game effect or some fancy rendering. The blood was real.
The sound of bullets tearing through flesh was real, too, as were the two players' final, harrowing screams in the regional channel.
"Throne above..."
Wang Zhong's lips trembled. His mind was in chaos. "Heretics... Heretics! This isn't some damn mecha Warhammer 40K game!"
"What Chaos God's Greater Daemon used a Warhammer 40K game as a disguise to trick us into coming here?!"
His insides were screaming, but he didn't dare move. He lay flat on the ground, hands clasped over his head in the classic surrender position.
And he wasn't the only one.
At that moment, nearly five thousand players were lying facedown in the mine, creating a bizarre and spectacular sight.
Powerful searchlights swept over them, making their faces flicker in and out of view.
Their expressions shifted from initial confusion and curiosity to terror and disbelief, before finally freezing into a look of despairing understanding.
The regional chat was scrolling at a rate of hundreds of messages per second.
[Schrodinger's Loyalist]: "Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Those gunshots were real! I can fucking smell the gunpowder!"
[The Emperor's tax is due even if the world ends]:
"Those two guys... died horribly. I doubt they'll dare log back in anytime soon."
[Mechanicus Oil-Lover on the Run]: "Weapon model appears to be a modified lasgun. Armor appears to be locally modified flak armor. Soldier augmentation level estimated at 30–45%."
"Standard Hive City security/private army loadout... Fuck, why am I even analyzing this? This is the Warhammer World!"
[Tau-kun, you are right, but Bolter is righter]: "So... the mechs in the CG were a lie? The Starry Sea was a lie?" "We actually came to the game world of Warhammer 40K?!"
"Goddamn game designer's definitely a Greater Daemon. They knew Warhammer had a bad reputation, so they dressed it up and tricked us into coming here."
[Soul of Cadia]: "What do we do now? Lie here and wait to die? For Cadia! No, for survival!"
[Want Silent King's Crown but cannot afford]: "I knew it! That survival tax! The genetic enhancement! The psychic talent! And Imperial Coins! The Warhammer vibe was so strong it practically blinded me!"
[Did White Scars speed today]: "So what are we now? Illegal immigrants? Heretics? Mutants? Or toys some Chaos God pulled in on a whim?"
[I'm not the Lord Regent, just Guilliman passing by]: "I suggest we surrender for now and see what happens."
"According to Chapter 3, Section 7 of the Imperial Guard Battlefield Survival Manual, when outnumbered and outmatched, temporarily surrendering to save your life is a reasonable choice, provided the other side accepts your surrender."
[Damn Loyalist]: "Goddamn designer! Goddamn system! I was wondering why there wasn't even a recharge option!"
"So this is what you've been waiting for! We've been cursing each other in the group chat, saying, 'Hope you get transported to Warhammer 40K!'"
"Did you really have to dump us into a game this realistic?!"
[Don't ask, I think it will work]: "Plus one to the guy above! I was just shooting my mouth off! I don't actually want to come here! I want to go back to my 996 grind! I want to pay my mortgage! I want to watch cute streamers! Let me go back!"
[Slaanesh Chosen Reserve]: "Wait, if this really is Warhammer... can I join Chaos?"
"I want to be a Slaanesh Chosen! I want to pursue the ultimate pleasure! That's got to be better than being a miner, right?"
The channel fell silent for two seconds after that message.
Then a wave of replies flooded in:
"???"
"Bro, calm down!"
"Slaanesh? Did you see those soldiers' eyes just now? They looked at us like we were lab animals! You want to join Chaos? They'll probably turn you into a specimen first!"
"Exactly! If we're joining anyone, it should be Khorne! Kill, kill, kill! Carve a path through with blood!"
"Why not Tzeentch? Knowledge! Schemes! Though you might end up with a brain full of screws..."
"Enough already! With everything going on, you're still debating which god to join?! We don't even have guns! All we've got are mining picks!"
[Nurgle Loving Father Loves All]: "Honestly, I think Nurgle's not bad either. Accept everything, embrace decay. At least we wouldn't have to mine all day... And I hear Nurgle's followers are close-knit, like one big family..."
"Shut up! Don't say that name! It's bad luck!"
Wang Zhong watched the messages whiz by in the channel, his feelings a jumble.
These people... They'd realized they were in the Warhammer World, and had been scared out of their wits just moments ago. Now they were already discussing which Chaos God to side with?
Was that the nature of the Fourth Calamity? As long as they weren't completely dead, they'd keep finding ways to mess around?
But he had to admit, this darkly humorous discussion really did ease everyone's fear of the game.
"Everyone! Hold your positions!"
The cold command came through the loudspeaker again. "Now, stand up one at a time, in order!"
"Move slowly! Keep your hands where we can see them!"
"Any unnecessary movement will be treated as hostile intent!"
The soldiers began to move.
They split into several squads and started from the perimeter, pointing their guns at the players on the ground and shouting at them to stand up so they could search them.
The players were roughly shoved together into an even tighter crowd.
Someone tried to explain. "Wait, we're law-abiding citizens! We were just mining!"
The response was a rifle butt to the face, drawing a stream of blood from his nose.
"Shut up, heretic!"
The soldier's voice was devoid of emotion. "You have no identification, no residence permit, and you're illegally gathered in a merchant-controlled zone. That alone is enough to throw every last one of you into a reactor and burn you to ash!"
Two soldiers hauled Wang Zhong to his feet and wrenched his arms behind his back, binding his wrists with rough plastic restraints.
He gritted his teeth and didn't resist.
He'd already seen what happened to those who fought back. The two guys' bodies still lay nearby, their blood spread across the ground, blackened beneath the searchlights.
"Control center, this is Vanguard Squad One."
The squad leader pressed his earpiece. "All targets secured. Total... approximately 4,998. Repeating, 4,998."
"Confirmed no heavy weapons. We found only simple tools and a small number of improvised weapons."
"Requesting further orders."
The reply came over the channel. "Good."
"As planned, escort them in batches to the Third Containment Zone in Arlu City."
"The transports are ready."
"Move quickly. The transfer must be completed before dawn."
"Understood."
The squad leader lowered his hand and gestured to the soldiers around him. "Load them up!"
Eight Raven Transports slowly descended, their underside hatches opening fully as loading ramps extended.
The players were split into eight groups and driven toward the transports at gunpoint, stumbling along as they went.
Wang Zhong's group had about six hundred people. He was shoved up the ramp and into the hold.
The interior was larger than he'd imagined, but it was still uncomfortably cramped with six hundred people packed inside.
The air reeked of engine oil, sweat, and metal.
There were no seats. Everyone had to stand or crouch on the floor.
Wang Zhong struggled through the crowd until he found Tax Brother, Xue Brother, and a few other familiar faces from the Terra Underground Network Tavern.
They huddled together, their faces grim.
"Xue Brother, try it," Wang Zhong said in a low voice. "Select 'Exit Game' and see if you can log out."
Schrodinger's Loyalist closed his eyes, as if concentrating.
A few seconds later, he opened them, his face even paler.
"No... The system says: 'You are currently being held captive. You cannot safely log out.'"
"Fuck!" Tax Brother cursed. "They're forcing us to tough this out!"
Before you continue