They should pay their debts too

"I can't hear it very clearly; it's intermittent."

Soul of Cadia recalled, "It seems they were talking about some kind of timing, that they couldn't wait any longer and needed external power... There was also another sentence: those strange newcomers might be useful."

"Strange newcomers?"

Xue Brother pointed at himself, "Meaning us?"

"Most likely."

Wang Zhong pondered, "External power... does that refer to us, a group of people with unknown identities who appeared out of nowhere?"

"They want to use us?" Tax Brother frowned.

"Or cooperate."

Wang Zhong's eyes flickered, "Regardless, they have noticed us, and they likely have a plan."

He looked toward the direction of the warehouse: "This is an opportunity, but it could also be a trap. We need more information."

"How do we get it?" Soul of Cadia asked.

"Wait."

Wang Zhong said, "Wait for them to contact us again."

"Until then, keep everything as usual, but stay vigilant—especially regarding Ren."

The next two days were calm and peaceful.

Ren did not approach Wang Zhong again, and even intentionally avoided areas where players were concentrated.

However, the players could feel that the atmosphere in the Refinery was changing in a subtle way.

The overseers' whips seemed to crack more frequently and with greater irritability.

When NPC workers were injured while carrying heavy loads, they were dragged away, leaving a trail of blood, and never returned.

The nutrient paste distributed in the cafeteria occasionally included entire batches of defective products with abnormal colors and even stranger tastes; those who ate them suffered from vomiting and diarrhea.

Of course, the players had the system status bar to warn them, and combined with the small amounts of synthetic nutrient paste and purified water they had secretly exchanged, they were relatively less affected.

Panic and oppression spread among the actual workers.

And the fact that these "strange newcomers didn't seem to fall so easily" appeared to have further attracted the attention of certain people.

On the ninth day, after work.

Wang Zhong was squatting in a corner, silently calculating the day's haul of stolen ore, when a shadow loomed over him.

He looked up; it was Ren.

The young man glanced left and right, quickly squatted down, and spoke in an extremely low voice:

"Brother, do you... want to leave this place?"

Wang Zhong's heart skipped a beat, but he remained calm on the surface:

"Who doesn't? But how?"

"On our own, we can't."

Ren stared into his eyes, "The overseers have guns, there are patrols outside, and Arlu City is full of the Corporation's eyes."

"Then what's the point of saying all this?"

Tax Brother muttered from the side, feigning impatience.

"But what if... there is a variable?"

Ren's gaze sharpened.

"A variable?"

"The opportunity is coming."

The young man's tone carried a suppressed excitement, "It's time for them to pay their debts."

Alarm bells rang in Wang Zhong's mind.

"I don't understand what you're talking about."

He said in a deep voice.

Ren smiled, a smile that was somewhat bitter and somewhat resolute: "It doesn't matter if you don't understand."

"You only need to know that the Purge Day in three days is when the Refinery's security is at its weakest."

"Purge Day?"

Xue Brother asked.

"Once a month."

Ren's tone was calm, as if he were speaking of a trivial matter, "Clearing out the unqualified consumables to make room for new ones."

"It used to be by drawing lots, but later it changed to... disposing of those who are injured, sick, or disobedient."

Wang Zhong felt a chill run down his spine.

This is the daily life of the bottom-tier populace in the Warhammer 40K world.

A monthly purge, disposing of those who have lost their utility just like taking out the trash.

"On that day, most of the overseers return to the city to attend the group's quarterly settlement banquet, leaving only a skeleton crew on duty."

Ren continued, "That is our only chance."

"Why are you telling us this?" Wang Zhong asked.

"Because I can tell that you are different from those who have resigned themselves to their fate."

The young man stood up, "There is still something in your eyes."

"It looks like... the gaze of those who refuse to be treated as expendable materials."

He paused, "Three days from now, at midnight. If you want to change something, meet at the warehouse back door."

"I'll be waiting."

Having said that, he vanished into the dim shadows as silently as he had arrived.

Wang Zhong immediately synced the information to the regional channel.

[Mechanicus Oil-Lover on the Run] quickly analyzed: "Purge Day, weak defenses, resistance organization planning an operation."

"Logic holds."

"Regardless of their schemes or what debts they need to settle, our strategy remains unchanged."

[Loyal to the Emperor Forever]: "The Oil-Lover is right!"

"Since Purge Day is an opportunity, we stay put for these next few days and keep stealing ore. For the final three days, steal like your lives depend on it! Take as much as you possibly can!"

"When that night comes, we go to meet them."

"The moment things kick off, we immediately exchange for gear and start the heist!"

[Soul of Cadia]: "Understood! Brothers, have you all memorized the targets?"

"The smelting machine in the northwest corner, eighty thousand Imperial Coins!"

"The conveyor belt control console on the east side, thirty thousand! And those transport vehicles, one is worth over ten thousand!"

[Did White Scars speed today]: "I've already figured out how to dismantle that smelting machine! I'll lead the charge when the time comes!"

[Tau-kun, you are right, but Bolter is righter]: "For Imperial Coins! For mechs! For... uh, for the Emperor?"

[Nurgle Loving Father Loves All]: "Accept this coming feast, whether it be flesh or metal."

The players recycled today's haul, once again splitting 8.9 Imperial Coins per person, and logged off in high spirits.

The night at the Refinery remained dim, noisy, and filled with the stench of metal and sulfur.

But within those thousands of seemingly sleeping bodies, four thousand nine hundred and sixty-one souls were rubbing their hands and glowing with excitement in the real world.

They discussed operational plans, drew factory maps, calculated the value of every piece of equipment, and some even began researching the weaknesses and dismantling methods for various devices from Warhammer 40K.

Deep within the Warp.

Lu Sheng felt the unusually surging emotional energy today; it was a mixture of tension, excitement, anticipation, glee, and a certain premonition that something big was coming.

"Not bad, truly not bad..."

He stretched his energy form with pleasure.

"Purge Day? A resistance organization? A robbery plan?"

"These players... they certainly didn't disappoint me."

"When that day arrives, when the overseers and the resistance are locked in a desperate struggle, when explosions and firelight tear through the night sky of the Refinery..."

"When this Fourth Calamity, armed with mining picks, newly exchanged kinetic pistols, and shoddy armor, screams 'For Imperial Coins!' and charges toward those expensive pieces of equipment..."

"That scene, that emotion..."

"It will surely be quite the spectacle."

Lu Sheng was already looking forward to it.

He even considered whether he should add a temporary special effect to the system on Purge Day, such as a cool "+10000 Imperial Coins!" pop-up text every time a player successfully recycled a large piece of equipment.

"Hmm, that could work."

"After all, employee morale needs encouragement."

He planned it out with satisfaction.

As for what would become of the Refinery?

How much the Alru Group would lose?

Whether Ren and his resistance would succeed?

None of my business.

I am merely a Newborn Chaos God who has finally had a full meal after being hungry for a long time.

As long as the players are happy, I have emotional energy to feed on.

A win-win.

Lu Sheng hummed a little tune happily, the melody twisting and deforming within the Warp.

It sounded somewhat like Nurgle's Hymn of Decay, a bit like Slaanesh's Psychedelic Electro, and was interspersed with the War Drum Rhythm of Khorne and the Whispers of Conspiracy of Tzeentch.

"Praise be to pleasure."

"Praise be to the Fourth Calamity."

"Praise be to... the coming day of chaos and harvest."