Is There a Fellow Brother of Earth and Wood?

The moment the announcement refreshed, the entire ruined base fell into silence.

Only the whimpering of the wind through the jungle and the hissing of unknown mutant creatures in the distance remained.

Then.

"Holy—sh*t!!!"

The wave of sound nearly tore the dilapidated roof off!

All the players, whether crouching, standing, or leaning against the walls, jumped up.

Their eyes widened as if they had just seen free nutrient paste being distributed in the depths of a Hive City!

The regional channel was instantly flooded with a massive amount of information!

[Soul of Cadia]: "Chapters! Chapter systems! I'm going to build a Chapter! I'll name it Last Men of Cadia! Any brothers joining me?!"

[Did White Scars speed today]: "Body modification! Neural interfaces! I'm getting cybernetic limbs!"

"I want to be a Cybertronian... wait, no, a member of the Mechanicus... that doesn't sound right either, but I want to get stronger!"

[Tau-kun, you are right, but Bolter is righter]: "Psyker awakening! 1000 coins! I'll smash my pots and sell my iron to try it!"

"What if I have an S-rank talent?!"

"I'll be a walking human psyker cannon!"

[Mechanicus Oil-Lover on the Run]: "The new store categories are of extreme value."

"The xenos-tech style equipment, while marked as risky, follows design philosophies vastly different from Imperial Standard Templates and may offer tactical asymmetric advantages."

"The unknown tech tree carries high risk, but the potential gains are immeasurable."

"I suggest the Chapter concentrates resources and invests cautiously."

[Want Silent King's Crown but cannot afford]: "I only care about one thing... this stuff is so f*cking expensive!!!"

"I have 928 Imperial Coins to my name, just enough to buy a Basic Enhancement Type I or II!"

"And the store is tempting me! Solar-powered power armor! Rail rifles! I can see them, but I can't afford them!!"

[Slaanesh Chosen Reserve]: "Loadout remodeling! Adjusting appearance! Finally, I don't have to walk around with this bitter-melon face the system gave me!"

"I'm going to adjust it to a peerless visage! Even in the Warhammer world, beauty is a form of power!"

[Schrodinger's Loyalist]: "I want to start a Chapter, but I also want to save up to awaken my psyker powers, and I want a new gun... my decision paralysis is kicking in."

"I want it all!!!"

[Loyal to the Emperor even if the world ends]:

"If we consider the Chapter, purchasing equipment, and base construction... brothers, our Imperial Coin is inflating! We need to find new ways to earn money immediately!"

The players were boiling over.

New features and new goods were like showing a group of children who had just learned to walk a treasure vault filled with high-end toys, weapons, superpower manuals, and team-building guides.

Even if most of them couldn't afford anything yet, the difference between having and not having was fundamental!

Hope had become concrete, as never before.

Wang Zhong watched the frantically scrolling channel and the flushed, excited faces of his companions, his own heart pounding in his chest.

But he quickly forced himself to calm down.

He was [Loyal to the Emperor Forever], the default leader of this loose collective.

He had to look further ahead.

"Quiet down! Listen to me!"

He spoke in the regional channel.

The scrolling speed slowed down slightly.

"The update is a good thing! But don't let it go to your heads!"

"You have to walk the path one step at a time, and eat your meals one bite at a time."

Wang Zhong said quickly, "The system made it clear: everything costs Imperial Coins!"

"Where are we right now? In a godforsaken abandoned base!"

"The little bit of money in our pockets is what we traded our lives for back in the industrial zone!"

"If we just sit around and eat our savings, it'll be gone in a few days!"

"So, the current top priority isn't discussing what enhancements to buy or what psyker powers to awaken!"

He raised his voice: "It's turning this broken base of ours into a place where we can actually live!"

"Turning it into a place that can defend and develop, serving as our first stronghold to gain a firm footing on Aurelian!"

He pointed around: "Look! The houses are collapsed! There are no perimeter walls! The watchtowers are crooked!"

"If a mutant beast or some wandering Ork boy (though there might not be Orks on this planet) shows up tonight, we'll be seeing each other back at the respawn point!"

"Brothers!"

Wang Zhong swept his gaze over everyone. "This is our first base! It certainly won't be our last! But we must take this first step firmly!"

"Are there any brothers here who have worked in civil engineering?!"

"Those who have done renovation work are fine too!"

"Anyone who has played Cities: Skylines or Dyson Sphere Program counts as well! Step forward!"

A stir rippled through the crowd.

Dozens of players stood out, looking hesitant.

Their IDs were a motley collection: [Ten Years of Bricklaying], [Design Institute Draftsman], [I Reckon This Wall Can Be Built], [Chief Planner of Dyson Sphere]...

"Good! You're the ones!"

"The previous technical team will assist as well!"

Wang Zhong waved his hand. "I'm granting you the highest temporary permissions!"

"Take everyone, survey the terrain, evaluate the structure of the ruins, and come up with a Phase One base renovation plan!"

"The requirements aren't high: it must provide shelter from the wind and rain, have basic defensive capabilities, be divided into living, storage, and workshop areas, and have a cleared security perimeter!"

"Everyone else, follow the instructions of the technical and civil engineering teams!"

"Move bricks, clear ruins, and collect usable materials! We have the manpower and the strength; all we lack is a plan!"

"Get moving! Let's build our home first!"

Wang Zhong's command was simple, brutal, and effective.

The players' attention, which had been scattered by the system update, was quickly pulled back to the dilapidated base in reality.

The civil engineering team and the technical team led by [Mechanicus Oil-Lover on the Run] quickly merged and began to bustle about.

[Ten Years of Bricklaying] took a few people and, using crude measuring tools newly redeemed from the shop, began surveying the foundation and the remaining structures.

[Design Institute Draftsman] picked up a relatively flat metal plate and began sketching a draft with a pen redeemed from the shop.

[I Reckon This Wall Can Be Built] had already led a group to start clearing the ruins of the largest prefabricated building, sorting and stacking usable metal beams and panels.

[Chief Planner of Dyson Sphere] stood on a slightly higher mound, pointing into the distance and speaking incessantly to those around him:

"...From a long-term planning perspective, we should take the base as the core and gradually radiate outward. Using the strategy of surrounding the Hive City with the wilderness, we can establish resource collection points, watchtowers, and defensive nodes..."

"Of course, the prerequisite is to solve the immediate problems of the toilets and the canteen..."

Other players went to the surrounding jungle to chop down trees that were still hard enough, carried stones, or tried to dig out potentially usable parts or relics of the old era from the ruins.

The entire base instantly transformed into a bustling, large-scale construction site.

Although the tools were crude, the professional talent limited, and the players' architectural knowledge uneven.

But they had the numbers, they had the enthusiasm, and they had...

"Over there! Yes! Hold that beam steady!"

"Be careful! This wall foundation seems loose!"

"Who can go get some water? To mix the mud... ah, no, the adhesive!"

"Adhesive, my foot! The shop is way too expensive; just find some vines to tie it tight for now!"

The shouting, the clanging of metal, and the sound of trees being felled... all wove together.

Wang Zhong, Tax Brother, and Xue Brother were not idle either. They led a small squad to patrol the perimeter of the base, marking out a security zone and setting up simple early warning devices.

"Brother Loyalty, look," Xue Brother pointed toward the grey-green jungle in the distance, "the ecology here is very strange."

"The plants look half-dead, but some are aggressive. Just now, one of our brothers got tangled in a type of thorny vine and it took a lot of effort to break free."

"There are also mutant creatures," Tax Brother added, "we heard some movement, but didn't get close."

"It doesn't feel like ordinary beasts."

"Normal," Wang Zhong nodded. "In the Warhammer world, especially in frontier wastelands like this, it would be abnormal if there weren't some weird things."

"Tell everyone not to stray too far from the base while working, ensure at least five people are in a group, and at least redeem some weapons."

He paused, looking at the busy scene in the center of the base, a faint smile appearing on his face: "However... this is quite nice."

"Yeah," Xue Brother also smiled, "it feels much better than being whipped while mining in the industrial zone."

"Even though we're still working, this time we're working for our own home."