Breathing, Paying Taxes

[Loyal to the Emperor Forever], his final consciousness turned into a brief void after confirming his ID.

Immediately following was a sensation of hardness, coldness, and indescribable constriction.

He snapped his eyes open.

What met his gaze was not the sci-fi mech cockpit he had expected, nor the star-filled landing lobby of his imagination.

Instead, it was a... jar?

A transparent, cylindrical container with an interior covered in rough biological textures, emitting a faint, organic, fishy odor.

Murky, pale green nutrient fluid was rapidly draining from a hole at the bottom, making a gurgling sound.

He could feel the discomfort of the viscous liquid sliding over his skin, as well as the chill of being stark naked.

"What the hell?!"

He instinctively tried to raise his hands to cover his private parts, but his arms struck the inner wall of the same texture, producing a dull thud.

The jar—or rather, the biological pod—had its curved hatch slide upward, accompanied by a teeth-grinding sound of pressure release.

Wang Zhong shivered, scrambling and tumbling out of the pod, his feet landing on a cold, rough metal grid floor.

He steadied himself and immediately looked down to check.

Fortunately, the system still had some bottom line; it applied a "holy light" effect, a layer of blurry but perfectly placed light obscuring his private parts, much like a low-tier censorship patch.

Shortly after, a set of drab, rough, wear-resistant coveralls appeared on his body, with dark patches on the elbows and knees.

On his feet were a pair of hard-soled boots that didn't look like they fit very well.

The tactile sensation was so realistic it made him want to curse.

Looking around, he found himself in a dim, low-ceilinged space.

It was about the size of half a basketball court, with walls made of exposed metal plates covered in thick pipes and valves of unknown purpose.

Dim, flickering fluorescent tubes were the only source of light.

The air was thick and murky, permeated with the smell of machine oil, ozone, and... some kind of stale, ancient odor.

Most importantly, thousands of identical biological pods were densely packed here.

At this moment, most of the hatches were opening, and players wearing coveralls with bewildered expressions were crawling out one by one.

"What kind of spawn point is this? Where's the promised mech hangar?"

A player with the ID [Schrodinger's Loyalist] rubbed his neck and complained, his voice echoing through the empty chamber.

"Where's my UI? Attribute panel? Skill tree? Map? Quest tracker? There isn't even a newbie guide fairy?"

[Mechanicus Oil-Lover on the Run] quickly made tactical visor gestures, though, of course, nothing happened.

"Level... no levels?"

"Inventory... oh, there seems to be something called an item slot?"

[Emperor's Sword but very dull] squinted, seemingly concentrating hard.

Wang Zhong also tried to focus his intent.

Sure enough, an extremely primitive interface appeared in the corner of his vision.

There were no flashy borders, no avatars, only a few lines of faintly glowing text:

[Individual ID: Loyal to the Emperor Forever]

[Imperial Coin Held: 0]

[Debt: 0]

[Today's Survival Tax: Unpaid (0/0.3)]

That was it.

That was all there was.

"What about attributes? Strength, Agility, Intelligence, Spirit? Attack, Defense, HP? Crit, Lifesteal, Armor Pen?"

Wang Zhong grumbled inwardly, "And what the hell is this 'Psyker Talent: Inactive'?"

"What's even more ridiculous is this 'Today's Survival Tax'."

"Do I have to pay just to breathe?"

"0.3 Imperial Coin?"

"I don't even know what this coin looks like yet!"

"Dog developers! This start is even worse than waking up in a lower-hive trash heap!" a player named [Soul of Cadia] cursed, stretching his limbs, "At least back then I knew where to find a piece of moldy bread!"

"Is this it?"

Beside Wang Zhong, a capable woman with short-cropped hair finished checking her own status and couldn't help but curse, "Hunger, thirst, stamina? Psionic power? Imperial Coin?"

"Which chaotic entity designed this UI? Even laziness has its limits!"

"Imperial Coin..."

Another tall, thin man chewed on the term, his expression turning peculiar. He lowered his voice, "Brothers, don't you think this setting... sounds a bit familiar?"

"The Empire, Promethium, psionic power, plus this getup and this environment..."

"Shut it!"

Wang Zhong barked the command almost instinctively, using the Common tongue he had just mastered, which still carried Cal's accent. "Watch your tongue! Don't make wild associations before we confirm the situation!"

His heart was pounding.

As a veteran fan of the Warhammer setting, he was all too familiar with those elements.

But he forced himself to stay calm.

The name was Era 40k: Mecha, the CG was sci-fi, and before him were work clothes and a construction site.

Don't panic. Maybe it's just a coincidence, or perhaps the developers have a twisted sense of humor...

At the same time, deep within the Warp.

Lu Sheng, that shifting mass of energy, was stretching with delight.

Strands of pure emotional energy were flowing into his body from the material universe through countless invisible threads.

Although the amount generated by each player was minuscule, the accumulation of five thousand people had already formed a considerable trickle.

Confusion, curiosity, mild annoyance, the genuine discomfort of hunger, and just a hint of the exploratory desire that this game might actually be interesting...

"Yes, just like that."

Lu Sheng felt the fulfillment brought by the energy circulating within him; it was a pleasure more fundamental than any physiological satisfaction.

"Be more confused, be more curious, go ahead and curse the system a few more times... after all, you're cursing the system, not me."

He observed the situation inside the outpost through the system interface.

The players walked out of the living quarters one after another, arriving before the small airlock of the outpost.

"Xiao Zai," Lu Sheng gave the system a nickname.

"List the most basic items in the shop first."

Lu Sheng thought for a moment, "Synthetic bread, filtered water, basic tools, simple weapons... set the prices high."

"After all, we are a frontier outpost; supplies are scarce, so high prices are perfectly reasonable."

"Once the language pack is unlocked, they'll be able to communicate with the locals in complex ways."

"However, filter out all words that might point to the specific names of the Four Gods... hmm, use obfuscation."

"For example, if they want to say Tzeentch, automatically replace it with 'Deep Void Anomaly' or something similar."

"As for them chatting privately in Chinese... whatever."

"Under the system's shielding, no one in the Warp can understand Mandarin anyway."

Lu Sheng was very satisfied with this design.

The players could vent, conspire, and curse in their native tongue to their heart's content without worrying about keywords being captured by Warp entities.

"But the most important thing is to get them moving."

Lu Sheng watched the surveillance footage, "Mining, scavenging, brawling, exploring the unknown... anything will do."

"As long as they generate emotional fluctuations and collect material from the real world, they are working for me."

"The daily breathing fee and resurrection loan settings are truly genius."

Lu Sheng didn't hesitate to praise himself, "Only with pressure is there motivation; only with debt will they work themselves to the bone."

"Isn't that how the grassroots people of the Warhammer universe live? We call this immersive restoration."

Inside the base, that cold voice resonated directly in everyone's consciousness once again:

[Welcome to Aurelian IV, outskirts of the City of Vodia, Abandoned Pre-processing Workshop No. 7]

[Novice tutorial mission released]

[Mission Name: The Laborer's First Step]

[Mission Content: Familiarize yourselves with your new identities and basic tools. Focus your intent to retrieve the tools issued to you from your personal storage space, then leave this facility and perform basic resource collection operations in the surrounding safe zones]

[Resources and Exchange: For every 1 unit of standard energy material submitted to the system (e.g., ore, metal scrap, organic fuel, etc.), you will receive 0.1 Imperial Coin as personal compensation. The system will provide basic material identification guidance]

[Mission Goal: Accumulate 1 Imperial Coin personally]

[Mission Reward: 10 Imperial Coins; unlock "Aurelian Language (Advanced)", unlock preview of shop material exchange list]

[Special Note: This game encourages exploration, creation, and survival. You may do anything you deem necessary and are capable of completing, but please be sure to assess the risks]

[Core Law Supplementary Note (All units must keep this in mind):]

[1. Life is precious; death is not the end, but it comes at a price. After an individual perishes, you may use Imperial Coins at designated facilities to reconstruct your vessel. Those lacking sufficient Imperial Coins may apply to the system for an emergency reconstruction loan. Interest rate: Nine-out-nineteen-return (Borrow 10 coins, receive 9 coins, must repay 19 coins upon return)]

[2. Survival has costs. A fixed daily tax for environmental maintenance and life support, referred to as the Survival Tax, will be levied. Initial tax rate: 0.3 Imperial Coins/day. The tax rate will be adjusted as the individual's comprehensive assessment index increases. Those who fail to pay will gradually suffer penalties of decaying physiological functions until the vessel fails]

[We wish all pilots a smooth expansion]