What awaited them was being crammed into crowded transport ships, traversing countless light-years of Warp, and being dropped into the most dangerous battlefields of the galaxy.
It could be Death World overrun by Orks, a fortress world shrouded in Chaos, or the front line of the Tyranids invasion.
Most people don't even get a clear look at the enemy before they become a pile of mangled flesh on the battlefield.
Giant transport planes kept landing in the sky, their engines roaring so loudly it hurt people's eardrums.
After the first batch of one billion recruits was conscripted, the selection process in the Lower City never stopped.
Under the guise of "screening for epidemics," the Plague Cleansing Cult selected healthy eligible individuals from various districts and then had them escorted to the Uptown by the garrison, leaving no room for maneuver whatsoever.
"Hurry up, don't dawdle!"
The shouts of the security guards rose and fell, and the crackling blue light of stun batons flashed through the crowd.
A boy stumbled and fell onto the alloy floor. He was immediately grabbed by the collar and pulled up by a soldier next to him, who then shoved him forward.
The boy did not resist or cry out; he simply numbly dusted himself off and followed the group step by step toward the open hatch of the transport ship.
Inside the cabin was a dark and cramped dormitory-style room, with five bunk beds crammed together so tightly that there was barely any room to turn around.
Each transport ship carries more than five million people, who must eat, drink, and relieve themselves inside the ship until they reach their destination.
The cold, electronic eyes of the Servitor swept across the hatch, recording the biometric information of each person boarding the ship, signifying that they had forever lost their freedom.
The procession moved slowly forward; no one spoke, only the heavy footsteps and low coughs could be heard.
The bustling Uptown receded into the distance, while the cold, metallic interior of the transport ship drew ever closer, like a giant, closed coffin burying their freedom.
Standing at the observation window on the bridge of the Gemstone, Dominic stared blankly at the crowds pouring into the transport ship below.
"Reporting, sir, the first batch of one billion conscripts has assembled and is boarding the ship one after another," the adjutant stepped forward and reported respectfully.
"News has come from Governor Kerry that additional troops will be delivered in batches over the next two weeks."
"So fast?" Dominic raised an eyebrow, his tone tinged with surprise.
With the plague raging so fiercely in Lower City city in such chaos, he had thought that Lynn would need at least several months to gather the first wave of troops, or even abandon Lower City altogether.
Unexpectedly, in just over ten days, a billion people have already prepared and are gradually boarding the Star Harbor.
He had to admit that the young governor's handling of domestic affairs was indeed much better than he had expected.
Despite the surprise, they remained as cautious as ever.
Dominic pondered for a moment, then ordered in a deep voice, "Pass down the order: receive five million conscripts and transfer them to dedicated quarantine transport ships."
"The entire process will be monitored by our Servitor 24 hours a day. No one is allowed to have close contact with us. We will observe for a three-day incubation period and only proceed if we confirm there are no problems."
"Yes, sir." The adjutant responded and went to make the arrangements.
Dominic's gaze returned to the crowd below, his brow furrowed slightly.
It wasn't that he didn't trust Lynn, but the plague in the Lower City was no ordinary plague; it could even corrupt inorganic matter, so he couldn't afford to be careless.
If a few asymptomatic carriers were to infiltrate the confined transport ship and cause an outbreak, the entire fleet of millions of people could be wiped out.
This wait lasted for three days.
Three days later, when the adjutant returned with the test report, he looked noticeably relieved.
"Reporting, sir, everything is normal on the quarantine transport ship; not a single case of infection has been reported."
"The vital signs monitoring of the Servitor also showed that all conscripts were in stable physical condition."
"Oh?" Dominic took the report, glanced at it, and a hint of approval appeared in his eyes.
"This Kerry Von is really quite capable. The mess in Lower City would have been a complete disaster for anyone else, but he actually managed to screen out so many healthy people."
Even so, he did not immediately open up the receiving process.
Dominic stroked his chin, pondered for a moment, and then said, "Let's stick to the original plan and receive these one billion people in twenty batches."
"Each batch will be quarantined for 48 hours, and only those confirmed to be free of abnormalities will be integrated into the main force. Better safe than sorry; there can be no oversights."
"Understood, sir."
What Dominic didn't know was that his caution was exactly what Lynn had anticipated.
In the Governor's office, Lynn looked at the takeover progress report from Starport, a faint, almost imperceptible smile playing on his lips.
" Dominic did indeed receive them in batches." Rena stood beside him, a hint of doubt flashing in her purple eyes.
"We can provide perfectly healthy recruits, so why deliberately smuggle in a few infected individuals?"
"Isn't this increasing the losses?"
"Too much perfection is the biggest problem." Lynn shook his head slightly, his fingertips tracing across the holographic screen.
"What kind of place is Lower City? It's filthy, chaotic, and a plague-stricken area."
"If out of the billion people sent there, not a single one gets infected, with absolutely zero losses, do you think Dominic wouldn't become suspicious?"
He deliberately instructed the Butcher to mix in a tiny fraction (a few per ten thousand) of those in the early stages of infection with each batch of recruits.
These people are usually newly infected, with a relatively long incubation period, and will not develop symptoms in a short time.
The illnesses will only begin to appear as the transport ships leave Brevis and travel in the Warp, with the overall loss ultimately kept below one percent.
This ratio is in line with the expected attrition rate of a newly recruited team from an epidemic area, and may even be low.
It will neither affect the overall quality of conscription nor seem too abrupt.
In the Imperium's conscription records, it was perfectly normal for one or two percent of the conscripts from the lower ranks of the Hive City to die of illness on the way.
"No matter how suspicious Dominic is, he won't delve too deeply into a few isolated cases of death from illness," Lynn said calmly.
"On the contrary, it's the clean, zero-infection recruits that make him suspect something's amiss."
Rena nodded in sudden understanding, her eyes filled with even more admiration as she looked at Lynn.
She could never be as thoughtful as Lynn when it came to the complexities of people's minds.
Just as the handover was proceeding smoothly, dozens of figures wrapped in tattered black robes were quietly slipping away from the chaotic boarding queue under the cover of the crowd.
They had already infiltrated the Plague Cleansing Cult's screening team and were sent up to the Uptown along with the healthy people.
While the security detail was focused on maintaining order, they meandered along the cargo corridor of Star Harbor.
They quickly disappeared into the abandoned warehouse area filled with goods, vanishing among the intricate network of pipes and containers.
"Huff..." A man in a black robe took off his hood, revealing a pale face, and breathed heavily.
"Finally out. Shall we go straight to that noble major general? Tell him about the Plague Cleansing Cult and those monsters, and have the Imperial Army wipe out Kerry Von's stronghold."
"No." The leader shook his head, his voice hoarse.
"Lady Luna instructed us that we cannot directly report them."
"Why?" The person next to me looked puzzled.
"We have evidence. Wouldn't it be better to tell the Imperial Navy directly than to try and hide here?"
The leader was silent for a moment, recalling Luna's last words before they set off.
She stood in the shadows of the secret room, her voice cold and tinged with mockery:
"The truth is often what you discover for yourself, and that's when it's most authentic."