35: As long as we don't give up, there are always more solutions than problems.

[Survival].

When these two ancient characters, burning with pale flames, seared onto his retina like a brand of divine punishment, Li Cang's first reaction wasn't fear, but a sense of absurdity—a weary feeling of not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

"I just escaped poverty and I'm already hitting a financial crisis? Are you playing with me?"

He leaned back into the cold ergonomic chair, his fingers unconsciously pinching the bridge of his nose.

He looked at the cold explanation of the new season's rules on the light screen—"Global Suppression of Resource Output," "Frequent Extreme Environmental Events," "Unknown Threats from the Void."

"Isn't this just a 'Hell Enhanced Edition' package tailor-made for me?"

For those "wealthy civilizations" who played as Elves or High-Tech Federations, accustomed to developing step-by-step on rich planets, this might be a sudden catastrophe.

But for the Imperium of Man, which had crawled out of the mountains of corpses and seas of blood in the Radiation Wasteland of Terra, this just meant... life was going to be a little harder than before.

"Unknown threats..." Li Cang's fingers lightly tapped on the cold metal armrest, making a rhythmic thudding sound. "I just hope it's not some things that look like bugs and particularly love eating biomass."

He shook his head, forcibly expelling this ominous thought from his mind.

Unnecessary worrying solved nothing.

The urgent task was to take stock of his meager belongings and see if he still had the capital to survive this sudden "financial crisis."

He pulled up his civilization panel.

What was listed there wasn't a glorious record of battle, but a heart-wrenching deficit report.

GP: 200.

This number wasn't even enough to give D-01's already scarred mk ii power armor a single deep maintenance session.

Bolter Stock: 10.

This was the first batch of ammunition that had just come off the line, and the only batch. One of them was even a confirmed dud from testing. What was this stock good for? Fighting a low-intensity gang war?

Thunder Warriors Status: Severely damaged, Genetic Collapse Warning highlighted.

"No money, no ammo, and the troops are almost finished."

Li Cang looked at the list and summarized with self-deprecation.

Just then, on the giant virtual star map representing Terra and its surrounding areas, a brand new icon, shimmering with a ghostly blue aura, emerged without warning.

[World Event: The Sunken Hive City]

[Location: Pan-Pacific Toxic Swamps]

[Description: The ancient 'archimedes' giant colonial Hive City has resurfaced from the silt of the ten-thousand-meter deep sea due to crustal movements. Its core area's [Geothermal Energy Core] is still operating at low power. Rumor has it that a large number of undiscovered Dark Age Technology Relics are still sealed within the Hive City.]

[Participation Method: Dispatch troops to enter and compete for core control.]

[Warning: The environment in this area is complex, the internal ecology is unknown, and multiple reconnaissance units are already approaching.]

Li Cang's eyes narrowed instantly, and his body subconsciously leaned forward.

Geothermal Energy Core!

This was practically a gift delivered right when he needed it. His [Gene-Seed Laboratory], which had just been built but couldn't be started due to the lack of stable high-power energy, needed exactly such a "big gift"!

More importantly, "multiple civilizations are approaching"—what did that mean?

It meant that there weren't just the resources he urgently needed, but also... more "mobile ATMs."

"Risk is high." Li Cang's brain worked rapidly, his fingers zooming in and rotating the 3D structure of the Hive City in the air. "The interior of the Hive City is narrow, vertical, and filled with pipes and compartments—a paradise for urban warfare and CQB."

"My Bolters can't be fully utilized in this environment, and ammunition is severely lacking."

"But the returns... are massive."

He stared at the flashing blue icon like a lone wolf that hadn't eaten for three days spotting a stray fat sheep under the moonlight.

To gamble or not?

This question existed in his mind for only 0.1 seconds.

Gamble! He had to gamble! Not gambling was just waiting to die!

But how to gamble was a matter of skill. The cards in his hand right now were as bad as they could be.

He pulled up his unit list.

[Thunder Warriors First Company (Battle Damaged)]: Only 12 warriors remain capable of combat, every one of them injured, and their power armor is in dire need of repair. They are the final trump card, the breakthrough blades capable of deciding a battle, but every time they are deployed, they burn through their already short lifespans. They cannot be used lightly.

[Mortal Auxiliary Army]: Large in number, and after several bloody battles, their faith has become fanatical. But their equipment is crude; against the elite units of other civilizations armed to the teeth, they are pure cannon fodder.

Li Cang fell into deep thought. He needed a unit that had decent combat power, could adapt to the complex terrain inside the Hive City, and most importantly—one that wouldn't bankrupt him even if they were all wiped out.

His gaze slowly fell upon a card blueprint that had been unlocked not long ago, radiating an iron-gray light.

[First Legion Prototype Company]

This was the product of "cross-breeding" ur-khasis gene primordial liquid with Arik Taranis's combat data.

They didn't have the world-shattering power of the Thunder Warriors, but their genes were more stable, and most importantly, they possessed the [Gene Recovery] trait.

If they died, the "seeds" implanted in their bodies could be retrieved. When creating new soldiers next time, a huge amount of resources could be saved.

For the current Li Cang, this was practically a god-tier skill!

"It's decided." Li Cang made up his mind. He was going to bet all the remaining resources he had on this new unit that hadn't even been born yet.

"System, open the [civilization forge]."

"Purchase [Terra Wasteland Refugees (Base Card)] x 200 units. Cost: 200 GP."

The GP instantly dropped to zero. Li Cang didn't even blink, as if he had just spent his last two copper coins.

"Load [Gene-Seed Laboratory (Prototype)]."

"Target: 200 refugee subjects."

"Execute [proto-gene-seed] implantation surgery."

On the light screen, a simulation unfolded.

It was an underground operating room filled with the smell of disinfectant and heavy blood.

The newly recruited, selected "materials" were naked, fixed to operating tables by cold metal shackles.

Their eyes were filled with fear of the unknown, but also a morbid fanaticism at being "chosen."

Because the recruiters told them this was the Emperor's gift, the only ritual that would allow them to transcend from Mortal to demigod.

The surgical process was much "gentler" than creating Thunder Warriors, lacking that violent tearing and restructuring of muscles.

Several Servitors wearing blood-stained gloves used cold, shimmering scalpels to make a small incision at their cervical spines.

Then, they carefully implanted that purple-red "proto-gene-seed," which was still slightly pulsating like a living thing.

Even so, the success rate was frighteningly low.

[Implantation beginning...]

[Warning: Rejection reaction: Violent. Subject 001 cardiac arrest.]

[Warning: Nerve scorching: Severe. Subject 002 brain tissue liquefied and necrotic.]

[Warning: Gene sequence collapse. Subject 003 transformed into Chaos Spawn. Executing physical purging...]

A series of death reports kept popping up. In the end, out of the 200 selected refugees, fewer than 80 survived.

They endured the intense pain brought by genetic modification, and their bodies underwent significant changes—their bones became sturdier, their muscle density increased dramatically, and blue veins bulged under skin that was originally sallow from malnutrition.

Their nervous systems were reshaped, their sense of pain suppressed, and the emotion of fear was chemically castrated.

Although they were still far from being as tall and mighty as Thunder Warriors, they had completely transcended the scope of Mortals.

Next was the equipment phase.

Li Cang wasn't extravagant enough to equip them with brand new mk ii power armor—that was too expensive; he couldn't afford to build it, let alone maintain it.

He chose a more economical solution.

He took the broken parts of Mk I and Mk II armor that had been completely scrapped in previous battles and stripped from the corpses of Thunder Warriors, and threw them all into the maintenance workshop.

After the Mortal craftsmen hammered and welded them together, they became sets of "beggar version" power armor, covered in patches, scratches, and signs of splicing.

The performance of these cobbled-together suits was uneven; some had the thick, brute-force piston of a Mk I on the left arm, while the right arm used the relatively flexible joint of a Mk-II.

They looked like assembly-line artworks put together by a group of crazed scavengers from a battlefield junk pile.

But they worked.

And they were cheap.

Finally, the weapons.

Li Cang equipped half of the warriors with Chainswords, letting them serve as the spearhead of the assault.

The other half were equipped with that batch of "simplified" Bolters that had just come off the line and had unstable ballistics, acting as fire support.

[Card construction complete.]

A brand new card was generated in front of Li Cang.

On the card face was a group of warriors wearing mismatched power armor and holding various weapons.

They stood silently in the shadows, their faces obscured, each radiating a cold aura that warned others to stay away.

[Card Name: First Legion "Dark Ravens" Assault Squad]

[Energy Level: T1.5 (Elite)]

[Quantity: 80 men]

[Traits: [Mixed Unit], [Urban Combat Specialization], [Gene Recovery], [Purge Protocol], [Unreliable Weaponry (Negative)]]

"Dark Ravens," the new codename Li Cang gave them.

Because they were like a flock of carrion-eating ravens, born on the corpse piles of the battlefield, living by scavenging the legacy left by their predecessors.

"Though they're a bit shabby, at least I've cobbled together a unit that can fight." Li Cang looked at this fresh card like he was looking at his newborn child—a bit malnourished, but alive nonetheless.

Now, he had the troops.

He zoomed in on the map of the [Sunken Hive City], and the incredibly complex 3D structure instantly appeared before his eyes.

The interior of the Hive City was like a giant ant nest, with countless intricate passages, vertical layers, and blind spots everywhere.

"A frontal assault is suicide." Li Cang's finger slid across the map. "The reconnaissance units of other civilizations will definitely try to seize the main entrance and the upper-level energy control center first. That place will turn into a bloody meat grinder."

"And we... are ravens."

His finger stopped at the very bottom of the map, at an area marked as "High Risk/Abandoned."

That was the Hive City's [Undersea Sewage Pipe System].

An entrance completely submerged in toxic industrial wastewater and eons of silt, regarded as a forbidden zone by all normal civilizations.

"D-01." Li Cang connected to the channel.

"Lead your men and launch a feint from the front. Make as much noise as possible. Keep everyone's attention pinned firmly on the main entrance."

He then switched to the "Dark Ravens" Assault Squad's channel.

"You lot, follow the 3D route map I'm providing and enter through the sewage outlet."

"I've already analyzed the internal structure of the Hive City. Your objective isn't to fight others for that bullshit geothermal core."

A crazy and greedy light flickered in Li Cang's eyes.

"I want you to be like a group of well-trained grave robbers, bypassing all possible engagement zones and heading straight for the 'archimedes' main bridge and the Ancient Technology Archives."

"They can fight over the geothermal core, they can snatch it, they can beat each other bloody for that bit of energy."

"But the treasures of history must belong to the Empire."