The Miner Rat's Harvest Day

Lightning flashed.

Even with the pain threshold dialed down to 30%, the player let out a miserable shriek, stumbling and collapsing to the ground. A charred mark appeared on his back, his work clothes torn to reveal the swollen, red skin beneath.

"Ah, f*ck," the player groaned in the area channel, "30% still hurts this much?!"

"This whip must have been blessed by Khorne, for f*ck's sake!"

"Speak! Did you lot steal the ore?!"

Handicapped Party Please Spare Me gave an Oscar-worthy performance this time, his face turning deathly pale as he stammered:

"M-m-my lord... w-w-we wouldn't dare... we get whipped every day... we can barely eat... where would we find the strength to steal ore..."

The overseer tossed him aside and randomly grabbed a few more players to search them.

Naturally, they found nothing.

"Damn it..." the one-eyed overseer cursed, turning to the bald man, "Look, nothing."

The bald man frowned: "Then what's going on? Could it be the suppliers..."

The one-eyed overseer's eyes lit up: "It must be those profiteers! Damn it, their asses must have been violated by Slaanesh!"

"To think they'd dare sell us inferior ore! Let's go, we're going to settle the score with them!"

The two of them left, cursing and swearing.

The players looked at each other, then went wild with laughter in the area channel.

Soul of Cadia: "Hahahaha! They shifted the blame onto the suppliers!"

Did White Scars speed today: "Violated by Slaanesh, are you kidding me! This way of cursing is very Warhammer!"

Tau-kun, you are right, but Bolter is righter: "So the ore we stole is being written off as a quality issue? Brilliant!"

Mechanicus Oil-Lover on the Run: "Ore quality naturally fluctuates; the overseer cannot verify the theft, so he naturally points the finger at the supply chain."

"I suggest continuing this operation, but be mindful of the frequency to avoid triggering a full-scale inspection."

Loyal to the Emperor Forever: "Brothers, keep it low-key, keep it low-key."

"Let's make our fortune in silence."

During a break, Wang Zhong squatted in the rest area, suddenly sensing someone approaching.

He looked up and saw a young NPC worker.

The man's work clothes were relatively clean, and although there was fatigue on his face, his eyes weren't as completely numb as the other workers'.

He squatted down next to Wang Zhong and lowered his voice: "Brother, new here?"

Wang Zhong's heart tightened, but he kept his expression calm, replying in the local dialect of the common tongue:

"Yeah, got dragged in a few days ago."

"How'd you get in?"

The young man asked, his gaze sweeping across Wang Zhong's face.

"Wandering, no identification, got caught in the Crimson Bright Wasteland."

Wang Zhong replied according to his pre-prepared story, "They called it illegal assembly, but we were just a bunch of refugees."

The young man nodded, seemingly unsurprised by the answer.

He was silent for a few seconds, then asked again:

"You lot... seem to have a lot of people? I heard they grabbed several thousand this time?"

Wang Zhong's vigilance hit its peak: "Not sure, I was in a cage when I woke up, surrounded by people."

"Oh."

The young man didn't press further, instead saying quite casually, "This place... isn't easy to stay in."

"The overseers are cruel, the work is heavy, and the food is poor."

"Many people don't last half a year."

He paused, his voice dropping even lower: "But it's not without opportunity."

"As long as... you find the right person."

With that, he patted Wang Zhong on the shoulder, stood up, and walked away as if nothing had happened.

Wang Zhong watched his retreating figure, his brows slightly furrowed.

This NPC... was a bit off.

He was too proactive, and the questions he asked carried a probing tone.

In the area channel, Xue Brother had already asked: "Brother Zhong, who was that guy just now?"

"Doesn't look like a regular worker."

"No idea."

Wang Zhong replied, "But there's definitely something wrong with him. He could be an informant for the overseers, or perhaps... something else entirely."

He did not continue, but a vague guess had already formed in his heart.

In the Warhammer world, within a Refinery as oppressive as this, there would always be those unwilling to spend their entire lives as expendable resources.

Resistance organizations, underground unions, or even Chaos cultists... all were possibilities.

Could this young man be a scout for some organization?

Wang Zhong kept this thought to himself, not making a scene.

It was not yet time for contact; they needed more capital.

At dusk, the whistle signaling the end of the shift sounded like a heavenly melody.

The players dragged their exhausted bodies to line up and collect today's wages: another tube of nutrient paste and a bag of water.

Then, they were driven back to that crowded, filthy collective sleeping quarter.

As soon as the overseer left, the players immediately became active.

Following the pre-arranged procedure, the players who had stolen ore began to pass it along.

Those near the door took the ore from their storage slots and handed it to the person next to them, who then passed it to the person further inside... like a relay race.

Layer by layer, the ore was concentrated toward the core area where Wang Zhong, Tax Brother, and Xue Brother were located.

Wang Zhong had already taken out the Portable Material Recycling Terminal.

The palm-sized metal plate glinted coldly in the dim light.

One piece of ore after another was absorbed and converted.

When the final piece of ore was passed into place, Wang Zhong activated the terminal.

A scanning beam flashed, and lines of data popped up on the screen.

[Standard energy material detected... Estimated value: 43,187.5 Imperial Coins. Convert? (Handling fee: 2,159.375 coins)]

"Convert."

A faint shimmer passed, and the pile of ore vanished.

Wang Zhong's account balance jumped to: 41,028.125 Imperial Coins.

He immediately announced the figure in the regional channel.

The channel was silent for three seconds.

Then, it exploded.

[Soul of Cadia]: "How... how much?"

"Forty-three thousand?!"

"My math is bad, someone tell me how much money this is?!"

[Did White Scars speed today]: "On average, everyone gets over 8 Imperial Coins!"

"In one day! We stole this much in one day?!"

[Want Silent King's Crown but cannot afford]: "We're rich, we're rich! I have 11.8 coins now + 8 coins! That's almost 20."

[Tau-kun, you are right, but Bolter is righter]: "Can buy a crude pistol! Even if it's still black powder..."

[Slaanesh Chosen Reserve]: "I suddenly feel... being a mine rat isn't so bad?"

[Nurgle Loving Father Loves All]: "Accept this gift from the Loving Father... even if it is through theft."

Wang Zhong did a quick mental calculation and then said in the channel:

"There are 4,961 brothers who participated in today's operation. Each person gets 8.2 Imperial Coins, and the remainder will be split equally between me, Tax Brother, and Xue Brother."

"After all, we paid for the recycling terminal. Does anyone have any objections?"

A wave of "No objections," "It's only right," and "Loyal Brother is awesome" flooded the channel.

[Tax Brother]:

"Wait, let me calculate... 8.2 coins, minus tomorrow's breathing tax of 0.3, that leaves 7.9... keep saving for a few more days and I can buy a kinetic rifle!"

[Mechanicus Oil-Lover on the Run]: "According to the shop prices, hunting knife 5 coins, crude pistol 20 coins, kinetic rifle 60 coins, basic physical enhancement 100 coins."

"At the current efficiency, it is estimated to take another 4-7 standard days to reach the threshold for armament."

[Schrodinger's Loyalist]: "Why do I feel... the more we live this slave life, the more hopeful it seems? Have I been PUA'd?"

[Don't ask, I think it will work]: "I think if we keep stealing like this, they'll find out sooner or later, right?"

[Loyal to the Emperor Forever]: "Definitely."

"But we steal one day at a time."

"We must arm ourselves as much as possible before they react."

He paused, his tone becoming more serious:

"Also, there is something I need to tell everyone today."

"During the afternoon break, a younger-looking NPC worker approached me on his own, asking how I was captured and where I came from, and things like that."

The channel fell silent.

[Soul of Cadia]: "Holy crap? Could it be... a resistance organization?"

[Tau-kun, you are right, but Bolter is righter]: "It's possible! There must be dissatisfied people in a place like this!"

[Loyal to the Emperor Forever]: "My alertness is high; I'll just say I'm a drifter who accidentally stumbled into the Chamber of Commerce's territory and got caught."

"He nodded, didn't ask any more questions, and left."

"But I have a feeling... there's definitely something wrong with him."

"Maybe he's testing us, or maybe he's observing whether we have any rebellious intent."

Wang Zhong watched the messages scrolling in the channel and continued:

"My intuition tells me that the day we escape this hellhole isn't far off. Either we arm ourselves and fight our way out, or someone organizes a riot and we make a run for it in the chaos."

"But before that..."

He smiled.

"We must fleece the Alru Group for everything they're worth! Fleece them bald! Fleece them until they go bankrupt!"

"No problem!!"

The channel responded in unison.

The players looked at the extra Imperial Coin in their accounts, each grinning like a mouse that had stolen oil.

Even though their bodies were still in this hellish Refinery, even though they would still be whipped tomorrow, and even though the nutrient paste still tasted as foul as Nurgle's soup...

But, hope had arrived.

Money could buy weapons, upgrades, and freedom.

And they were best at saving money, leveling up, and then... beating the game.

[Soul of Cadia]: "For the Emperor! For Imperial Coin!"

[Did White Scars speed today]: "To pilot a mech sooner!"

[Slaanesh Chosen Reserve]: "For... well, for a better gaming experience!"

[Nurgle Loving Father Loves All]: "To receive more of the Loving Father's gifts..."

[Loyal to the Emperor Forever]: "Alright, everyone get some rest."

"Brothers on duty, keep a sharp eye out."

"Tomorrow we continue: be the best miners, be the sneakiest mining rats."

The players logged off one after another.

In the rest area, thousands of bodies lay slumped in deep sleep.

In the distance, the Refinery's furnaces continued to roar, the molten metal casting a glow over the unchanging backdrop of this steel hell.

But in that dim corner, two players on duty kept their eyes open, vigilantly observing their surroundings.

Meanwhile, deep within the Warp.

Lu Sheng felt the exceptionally abundant emotional energy of the day: excitement, anticipation, secret joy, the thrill of a successful prank, longing for the future...

"Not bad, truly not bad."

He stretched his energy form with pleasure.

He looked at the more than 400,000 units of energy added to his system.

"Stealing ore and managing to net 40,000 coins... these players are truly talented."

"When they finally start the real riot..."