Apocalypse King

Hilling Star, Big House.

Hua Wei sprawled on his nerd's happy bed like a sun-dried salted fish, staring blankly at the system interface.

[Mission: Face the Emperor (requires a unit summoned by the host to personally arrive on Terra and make contact with the human Emperor)—Completed!]

[Mission reward issued: Six-Star unit summoning permission unlocked.]

[Emotion Points obtained: 3,623,440]

"Three million..." Hua Wei muttered weakly, too lazy to even move a finger. "Six-Star units are unlocked... and then what? A single Six-Star unit costs ten million?! I can't even scrape together the change right now! What dreams does a broke loser deserve!"

He irritably scratched his hair. He remembered that after Guilliman returned to Terra, there had been a battle for Terra. He had forgotten whether it involved Khorne or Nurgle.

Then Guilliman carried out sweeping reforms, cutting into the interests of countless High Lords and entrenched beneficiaries, triggering another rebellion. Forget it—none of that was something he could solve.

"How about... having Obi-Wan make some prophecy on Terra, put on a show, and harvest another wave of Emotion Points? Hmm... that could work. Even mosquito legs are meat..."

Just as he was figuring out how to use Obi-Wan to squeeze out a little more profit, a glittering golden prompt box suddenly popped up on the system interface, complete with festive BGM—at least in Hua Wei's imagination:

[Congratulations, host, for completing a key milestone mission! You have received 1 "Face the Emperor" achievement gift pack!]

[Gift pack contents: One random upgradeable Six-Star unit (including its exclusive matching warship)! Open immediately?]

Hua Wei: "!!!"

A second ago, he had been lying there like a salted fish. The next, he shot upright from the bed!

"Holy shit?! A gift pack?! It includes a Six-Star unit and a matching warship?!" Hua Wei's eyes went wide, and his breathing quickened. "System bro! You finally decided to act human! This has to be worth at least twenty million Emotion Points, right?!"

The enormous surprise instantly went to his head. Three million being nowhere near enough, the Second Siege of Terra—all of it was thrown to the back of his mind! With trembling hands, he viciously tapped the glowing "Open" button!

Buzz—!

The system interface was instantly filled by a brilliant nebula vortex. Countless names representing powerful beings flashed and flowed within it at such speed that the naked eye could not catch them; all he could see was a dazzling blur of light!

Hua Wei's heart rose into his throat. His eyes remained locked on the center of the vortex as he unconsciously muttered, "Hilling Apostles... Hilling Apostles... Give me a Hilling Apostle! If not, then at least give me Raven..."

The vortex began to slow, and the flashing names gradually became clear.

[Starfield Pioneer]... passed by...

[Void Inspector]... passed by...

[Abyss Suppressor]... passed by...

[...Hilling... Apostles...!!!]

When the four words "Hilling Apostles" became incomparably clear at the center of the vortex, seeming as though they would freeze in place the next second, Hua Wei's mouth stretched uncontrollably from ear to ear. He was just about to cheer!

"I hit the jackpot, jackpot, jackpot! System bro, I love you!!" He danced around in excitement.

However, at the very last instant before the name completely settled!

It was as though the system had played a small joke on him. The brilliant vortex suddenly "lagged," and the name at its center blurred like a poor signal. Then...

[Congratulations, host! You have obtained the Six-Star unit: Apocalypse King · Liang Bing (Upgradeable)!]

[Exclusive matching warship obtained: Apocalypse One!]

"Huh?" The wild joy on Hua Wei's face froze instantly. His mouth remained in an O-shape, while his gaze shifted from extreme excitement to bewilderment, followed by a trace of... indescribable disappointment and helpless amusement.

"Liang... Liang Bing?" He blinked as he looked at the image that appeared on the interface: a mature beauty with an outrageously curvaceous figure, waterfall-like black hair, and a stunning face carrying both languid charm and deadly seduction. She was exactly the angel-form queen from his memories.

"Not a Hilling Apostle..." Hua Wei felt a little disappointed, as if he had missed out on a five-million grand prize. But then he reconsidered. "Still... Liang Bing! Hehehe..." His eyes involuntarily swept over the proud curves of Liang Bing's system projection, and his lips curled up again. "Big and round... Fine, fine, I'm not losing out! Better than drawing some toe-picking brute! Good thing it isn't that smoky-eyed Morgana. Otherwise, I'd summon her right in front of me and personally give her a makeover!"

He quickly checked the supplementary information provided by the system:

[Unit: Apocalypse King · Liang Bing]

[Identity: One of the commanders of the Holy Judgment Legion (memory setting)]

[Status: Upgradeable (requires a massive amount of Emotion Points to unlock higher forms/abilities)]

[Exclusive warship: Apocalypse One (celestial warship; possesses spacetime manipulation, conceptual shields, and other abilities)]

Hua Wei rubbed his chin, then curiously opened the option beside "Upgradeable."

Whoosh—!

A dizzyingly long list of numbers appeared, each followed by a string of zeros.

[Unlock "Wings of Time and Space" form: Requires 50,000,000 Emotion Points]

[Unlock "Psionic Fusion": Requires 80,000,000 Emotion Points]

[Unlock "Abyss Knowledge Base" access: Requires 100,000,000 Emotion Points]

[Unlock "Ultimate Fear" conceptual strike (prototype): Requires 500,000,000 Emotion Points]

[...]

"Hiss—!" Hua Wei sucked in a sharp breath, feeling as if those zeros had stomped on his poor little heart several times. "Forget it, forget it! A Six-Star is enough for now! I'll talk about those zeros after I've harvested the entire Milky Way like leeks!"

He decisively closed the despair-inducing upgrade list and turned his gaze back to the tempting Six-Star summon button, along with the angelic warship icon representing Apocalypse One beside it.

"Hehe, Apocalypse King Liang Bing... and Apocalypse One..." Hua Wei rubbed his hands together, his eyes gleaming with excitement and anticipation. "The Battle for Terra? I can already see countless Emotion Points waving at me!"

[Six-Star unit and exclusive warship deployment (pending)! Target: Low Terra orbit! Physical forms being generated, memories synchronizing... deployment synchronized with warship!]

Hua Wei's eyes gleamed with shrewd calculation. "Deploying them now is too early. The effect won't be explosive enough. I need to wait! Wait until Guilliman and the High Lords tear off all pretense, until the armies of the Chaos gods reach the city walls, until Terra falls into its most desperate hour..."

He leaned comfortably back against the headboard, grabbed a bag of potato chips, and crunched down on one, an expectant smile appearing on his face.

"Let the bullets fly a little longer. Queen Liang Bing, when the time comes... hehe, Emotion Points? Won't they just fall right into my hands?"

A storm was brewing on Terra, while the "director" behind the scenes had already prepared a trump card capable of overturning everyone's understanding for the coming ultimate battle that would decide the Imperium's fate.