Du Mu had terrible luck. He went out that morning without checking the almanac, struck it rich in the worst possible way, launched into the air, broke every bone in his body, and died on the spot. Now, only his soul remained, drifting through the void.
He had just so happened to be press-ganged by a passing system, which said it would take him to another world.
There would be elves, magic, Orks, dwarves, steampunk, and cybernetic living.
"Didn't expect it to be pretty reliable." Du Mu's anxious heart slowly settled, and he began imagining a wonderful future filled with those fantastical races.
"H-host," the system's cold mechanical voice stammered, lacking the confidence it had shown moments ago. "I think we took the wrong route!"
"Fuck!" Du Mu cursed inwardly, his soul-light flickering violently. If he had possessed a physical body, he would have pointed at the system and unleashed a torrent of abuse.
This damn system was completely unreliable!
"Where are we going?" After calming himself, Du Mu forgave the system in an instant. A different destination was fine too. With a system in hand, what was there to fear?
"4... 40K..."
"I'll give you one more chance to organize your words..." Du Mu's soul fluctuations trembled violently, nearly collapsing. "What K?"
"Warhammer 40K!" The system's voice remained cold, though it carried a hint of embarrassed awkwardness.
The system's answer mercilessly shattered Du Mu's final fantasy. He froze for a long time before a single sentence finally emerged from his soul fluctuations. "Destroy it all. I'm tired. Hurry up!"
Du Mu knew Warhammer 40K. Among its fans, there was a famous saying: "Everyone says they're loyal, but ask them to go there and nobody will."
That saying alone showed how terrifying 40K was. Its dangers were not something a modern person could accept.
At that moment, Du Mu's soul seemed frozen. What kind of hellhole was that? Was it a place for people to live?
It was simply a carnival of war and destruction, a graveyard for humanity and morality.
Not to mention all the monsters and demons throughout the galaxy, the mad and twisted Warp, and wars that casually destroyed entire planets.
The Imperium of Man's moral standards had long fallen beneath the bottom line, and amid a galaxy ravaged by monsters and demons, the morality of alien races was even more worrying.
Those alien races all looked down on one another while plotting how to kill off every other race in the universe.
There were elves—space elves of every color. They had dominated the galaxy for tens of millions of years and saw everyone else as uncivilized monkeys.
There were Orks too. Every day, they were either fighting or on their way to a fight, having the time of their lives. Cunning and cruel, cruel and cunning.
Of course there were dwarves: a group of hidebound traditionalists who refused to advance.
There was also a group of metal space skeletons whose brains had been damaged from sleeping in tombs too long. They drove spaceships through realspace at faster-than-light speeds.
And then there were the Tyranids, who came into the galaxy from the extragalactic void, devouring everything along the way, leaving nothing behind and not a trace of life.
They all shared one common trait: they got along with humanity perfectly!
In the literal sense of beating each other into pulp—the kind where it was life or death, with no end until one side was dead.
The Imperium of Man was no better. It spared neither alien nor heretic, and it spared none of its own people either.
It was ruthless toward aliens, and even more ruthless toward its own.
Not to mention that in the mirror of the real universe lay the Imperium of Man's eternal enemy: the Warp.
Within it, the God of Courage, the God of Love, the God of Wisdom, and the God of Life were each friendlier than the last—the sort of friendly that tore out hearts, lungs, and souls.
"Fortunately, I have a system." Doom's anxious heart eased slightly. He comforted himself with the system once more; it was his only support now.
Though this damn system was unreliable, it was still something he could depend on.
When the time came, he could find a hive world, lie low for a hundred years or so, and die of old age. That should not be a problem.
Forget immortality. In that insane world, living too long brought no benefits at all. It would only attract the attention of the Four Chaos Gods.
Who knew whether the knowledge in his head would draw the Four Chaos Gods' gaze? If They discovered that the truth of the universe was merely a profit-making tool for some company, They might go mad and join hands to destroy the world.
Just thinking about it made him shudder, sending chills down his spine.
"Ding." As he indulged in wild thoughts, a crisp notification pulled Du Mu back. He glanced at the system prompt.
This time, he could not hold back and immediately began cursing.
The damn system had secretly begun a forced uninstall while he was not paying attention. It was preparing to run away!
The discovery instantly made him lose his composure. He cursed loudly, "You damn system! You retreat the moment things look bad! You heartless bastard, abandoning me after luring me here and getting me killed!"
"Host, big data misled the keyword search, causing an error in the destination."
The system sounded somewhat apologetic, but it did not stop uninstalling. "I'll be leaving first, host... no, former host. Please take care of yourself."
The system chose to flee directly and decisively abandoned its host.
Warhammer 40K was not a place for humans, much less for systems.
"You bastard, what are you afraid of? It's just the Four Chaos Gods! Fight Them with me!"
Du Mu's thoughts flashed like lightning, countless ideas racing through his mind. In the end, his voice took on a pleading note. "If nothing else, just make sure I have food and clothing. Let me lie low for a hundred years or so."
Doom understood perfectly well that the system was his only support after entering Warhammer 40K. He could not let his only powerful backer run away now.
"The Warhammer 40K universe is far too chaotic. The investment and returns are disproportionate. Under the omnipresent gaze of the Four Chaos Gods, my actions of reversing causality and disrupting timelines would require an enormous price."
The uninstall bar paused slightly, then continued its great work. After a brief consideration, the system still chose to give up.
"I don't care! You tricked me into coming here, then decided to abandon me. Once I get there, the best possible outcome will be my soul scattering into nothingness."
Du Mu shamelessly clung on, his soul fluctuations carrying despair and sorrow. "How am I supposed to live... how miserable..."
After all that desperate pestering, perhaps his pitiful state made the system relent. The uninstall progress bar paused again, letting Du Mu glimpse some hope.
He immediately appealed to its emotions and reason. With life and death at stake, pride and dignity were worthless. "At the very least, give me something so I can survive! It would not make our time as master and servant entirely meaningless."
The system was silent for a while. After considering it for an instant, its mechanical voice slowly said, "Very well. This system will stop the forced uninstall. Let us consider this an amicable separation. I can save the energy that would have been spent on the forced uninstall and prepare a gift for you, former host."
"Fine!" Du Mu naturally agreed, accepting the deal almost immediately.
"Everything else is negotiable, but I have one request." Du Mu lowered his voice. "Don't let the Four Chaos Gods notice me, and don't let the knowledge in my head leak out."
Question: How could a transmigrator survive in Warhammer 40K?
Answer: Avoiding the Four Chaos Gods' attention meant succeeding more than halfway.
"I can't do that," the system answered bluntly, without the slightest hesitation.
"The moment you enter the Warhammer 40K universe, the Four Chaos Gods will immediately sense your existence. They stand at the peak of a single universe; nothing within it can escape Their gaze.
"A soul from another universe is something They will never ignore, much less the knowledge in your mind. If it helped Them understand Their own origins, Their power might advance further and allow Them to transcend the Warp's limitations."
"Then what can I do?" Du Mu asked weakly.
What he had thought would be a wonderful transmigration journey had turned into a fate of soul annihilation and dying in a foreign land. A bleak sorrow seeped from his soul.
"I will split your memories and leave behind a completely pure soul. That way, you need not fear the Four Chaos Gods' inspection."
"Then how is that any different from dying and being reincarnated?"
"Of course it is different. I have already prepared something for you. Former host, take a look."
As the system spoke, a mass of red energy appeared in the boundless starry sky, floating silently before Du Mu's soul-light.
The red sphere's radiance was deep. Though faint, the power it contained made the void tremble and space grow restless, as if it might split apart at any moment.
Du Mu, standing directly before it, was the first to bear the brunt of that terrifying power.
His consciousness seemed to be peeled away layer by layer. His soul-light gradually dimmed, flickering as though it might be extinguished at any moment.
He spoke shakily. Amid the flickering and fading of his soul-light, he asked in extreme weakness, "Th-this... what is this?"
"Essence of Destruction!" The instant the red sphere appeared, the system strengthened its protection over Du Mu's soul, preventing it from being shattered on the spot by the pressure leaking from it.
Its mechanical voice trembled slightly as it solemnly revealed the origin of the red energy sphere.
Its voice rose from low to high, as though chanting an epic:
"His great figure traveled through the multiverse, crossing time, space, frost, and flame, hunting the demons He hated.
"Ah... great Doom Slayer, may Your power and fury bring calamity upon this place. Make them tremble, grant them torment, bestow destruction upon them!"
Essence of Destruction? Du Mu searched through the information in his soul.
Following the system's description, he eventually identified a figure clad in Praetor armor, wielding a double-barreled shotgun as he hunted demons.
Doom Slayer! The Doom Slayer!
Wasn't this guaranteed now?
The system really did care about me!
Before you continue