306: Chapter 307 The Golden Man!

He immediately clicked on the post.

The body of the post did not have much text description, consisting entirely of high-definition in-game screenshots and a video lasting several dozen seconds.

The first image was the square metal pod that had been blasted with a breach in the vacuum.

Seeing the appearance of this metal pod, Lin Li furrowed his brows slightly.

This strictly regular geometric construction style did not look like the Empire's current flamboyant Gothic aesthetics, and it was even less likely to be the cobbled-together scrap metal of the Greenskins.

This was pure pragmatism, a manifestation of returning to simplicity after technology had developed to its absolute limit, very much resembling the style of the underground Shelter.

He scrolled the screen and looked at the next photo.

This photo was a selfie of three players wearing tattered Power Armor flashing V-signs in front of the cryo-pod.

However, Lin Li's gaze completely bypassed these three mischievous players of The Fourth Calamity, pinning itself fiercely onto the suspended man inside the cryo-pod.

"This is…"

Lin Li zoomed in on the image.

The high-resolution screenshot clearly displayed the man's facial contours and muscle texture before his eyes.

No tubes, no cybernetics, no traces of genetic mutation.

Perfect.

This was the first word that popped into Lin Li's mind.

Lin Li could see the terrifying gold content behind this image much better than those players could.

In the Warhammer Universe, in order to adapt to various extreme astral environments or to pursue pure slaughtering power, humanity's genes had long since been modified beyond recognition.

Whether it was a Space Marine or a mutated Navigator, they were no longer true humans in the traditional sense.

And the man in the picture not only retained the purest human form but had also pushed it to the pinnacle of biological concepts.

This kind of technology definitely did not belong to the current Empire.

"73, come here for a moment!" Lin Li spoke in a deep voice.

After a short while, 73's synthesized electronic voice echoed in the room:

"Creator, if you want me to admire the latest self-destructive behavior of those clones whose intelligence levels are comparable to a Squig, then I suggest you…"

"Cut the crap and come analyze this image." Lin Li interrupted it.

73 walked over to the main control console, and the red light in its eye sockets swept toward the screen.

The next second.

The red light in its eye sockets flickered violently.

"This is…"

In 73's voice was a sense of disorder bordering on system overload.

"Creator, please immediately enlarge the detail resolution of the image by three hundred percent. I need to confirm the biological imprint below his right collarbone!"

Lin Li followed suit.

The image rapidly enlarged on the screen, and the pixels were refilled and clarified by the algorithm.

Below the man's perfect right collarbone, a pale golden miniature symbol smaller than a coin faintly appeared on his skin.

That was an emblem composed of complex geometric lines, with a Roman numeral engraved in the center—IX.

Afterwards, Lin Li received an answer he completely did not expect.

"These are… true Golden Men."

73's voice lowered, carrying a trace of awe.

Such awe was simply unimaginable for a Men of Iron.

"Golden Men?"

"Yes, Creator."

In the Warhammer Universe lore,

Golden Men possessed robust limbs and exceptional minds; their physical fitness, intelligence levels, and emotional stability far exceeded ordinary humans, representing the advanced evolutionary form of humanity at that time.

They mastered humanity's early cutting-edge technology and were the formulators of humanity's interstellar expansion strategy.

73 pointed at the pale golden symbol.

"Furthermore, even among the Golden Men, this existence is at the very top. This symbol represents that he is the Doctor code name possessing the most knowledge in the Golden Age."

"Every Golden Men referred to as a Doctor has reached the end of the universe in a specific scientific field. They possess terrifying abilities that subvert the common sense of reality."

"For example, Doctor III mastered cross-space gravitational collapse technology."

"For example, Dr. Z, the Creator of the Shelter, mastered cross-latitude matter overlapping technology."

"And this one…"

73's voice paused for a moment,

"Doctor IX, if my core memory banks are not damaged, should be the highest authority of space and Warp physics in the Golden Age."

Lin Li leaned back against the chair and took a deep breath.

The highest authority of space physics.

No wonder he would appear in that ancient battlefield dense with spatial rifts.

Lin Li's gaze gradually transitioned from astonishment to fanaticism.

A living entity had already made the Shelter's biotechnology advance by leaps and bounds.

Now, the players actually dropped a Golden Men Doctor for him?

And it was even a super big shot who controlled spatial technology!

If he could get this big shot back to the Shelter, awaken him, and make him join his faction,

the Shelter's technology tree would probably soar on the spot, directly bypassing the current tattered imperial defense line, and might even return to the peak of the Golden Age!

"73."

"Reward Nobi Dahniao with one hundred thousand contribution points, and give him basic information about this Golden Men. Update their tasks and make them rescue the person back at all costs!"

...

Above the ancient ruins, inside the shuttle.

Da Heibi sat on an ammunition box, holding an oil brush in his hand, listlessly cleaning the debris in the gear gaps of a power sword.

Dragon Strike lay sprawled flat on his back on the floor.

He had a cigarette clamped in his mouth without lighting it, purely to satisfy his craving in vain.

"Daniao."

Dragon Strike spat out the cigarette residue in his mouth,

"What do they say on the forum? What kind of level is that old popsicle we dug out? I saw that the posts we made yesterday had skyrocketing popularity."

Nobi Dahniao was standing in front of the weapon rack on the side.

He carefully inspected the fuse of the melta bomb and said without turning his head:

"I don't know. The forum is full of people drooling over the screen, and there's a bunch of guild leaders private messaging me wanting to buy coordinates with cash. I blocked all of them."

Da Heibi threw the oil brush into the toolbox and sighed.

"We are currently lacking points. Brother Kun's high-interest loan has interest changing by the day. Just by digging those crystal lizards, we'll have to dig until next year to fill the gap."

The atmosphere became somewhat gloomy for a moment.

Right at this moment.

"Beep—"

A crisp system prompt tone rang out simultaneously.

Nobi Dahniao immediately put down the bomb in his hand and brought up the system panel.

"The quest has been updated!" He let out a low cry.

Da Heibi and Dragon Strike instantly sprang up from the ground and huddled close to Nobi Dahniao.

On the panel, lines of gilded font rapidly scrolled, revealing brand-new quest descriptions.

[Special Operation Quest: Lost Gold]

[Quest Issuer: Dawn]

[Quest Description: In the cryo-pod discovered by you in the core area of the ruins, an ancient existence is dormant.

He is a true perfect human—Golden Men. Within the sequence of the Golden Men, he possesses the highest-ranking Doctor title.

This existence masters knowledge and mighty power that transcend the era, serving as the key cornerstone for the Shelter to reshape humanity's glory.]

[Quest Objective: At all costs, use all available means to protect, crack, and recover the cryo-pod. Bring the Golden Men Doctor back to the Shelter intact.]

The quest description was very brief.

But the amount of information revealed was astonishingly large.

"Holy shit…"

Dragon Strike widened his eyes,

"Golden Men? Top-tier human? Super divine existence? Is this NPC's background setting so explosive? I thought he was at most a popsicle from ancient times, but it turns out he is an ancestor-level deity?"

Nobi Dahniao did not speak.

His gaze was fixed on the very bottom of the quest panel.

There lay the reward details of the quest's phased settlement.

[The preliminary exploration phase has been confirmed complete, and phase rewards have been issued.]

[The team has obtained contribution points: 100,000 points.]

One hundred thousand! A full one hundred thousand points!

Da Heibi sucked in a mouthful of the turbid cold air in the cabin.

Under the dim light, his eyes were almost glowing with a greenish light.

This was just the phase reward for confirming the target's existence.

If they could transport this Golden Men back intact, or successfully open the cryo-pod, how terrifying would the subsequent rewards be?

Not to mention paying off Brother Kun's high-interest loan, after finishing this job, the three of them could even buy three sets of luxury standalone villas in prime locations of the Shelter with full cash, casually hire two local maids, and live a shameless life!

"Let's do it."

Da Heibi snatched up the power sword from the ground and reversed it onto the magnetic suspension rack on his back.

The metal collision produced a crisp explosion-like sound.

"Then what are we waiting for? Get to work!"

All the blood in Da Heibi's body was boiling,

"Brothers, how is this an NPC? What's lying in this cryo-pod is clearly the key to our financial freedom! Today, even if I have to bite it with my teeth, I'm going to bite that glass cover to pieces!"

Dragon Strike also snatched up the adamantium riot shield and roared:

"Let's go, let's go! For one hundred thousand points!"

The three of them were like berserkers pumped with adrenaline.

Three minutes later.

The shuttle's airlock door blasted open.

Three figures, like arrows shot from a bowstring, carrying heavy equipment, plunged headfirst into the space ruins below.

...

Core area.

Square metal pod.

Here, it still maintained the exact same state as when they logged off yesterday.

The surrounding spatial rifts silently cut and wandered in the vacuum.

At the edges of the blown-open breach in the metal outer wall, traces of melting still remained.

The three of them familiarly passed through the breach and stood once again in front of that cylindrical transparent cryo-pod.

Amidst the pale blue gel liquid.

That perfect Golden Men Doctor still had his eyes closed, suspended in the center.

But at this moment, the three players no longer had any appreciation for the perfect character modeling in their eyes.

In their eyes, right above this Golden Men's head was a huge, golden-glowing super treasure chest icon.

"Do it!" Nobi Dahniao gave the order.

The quest requirement was to recover it at all costs.

Since the system did not provide clear interaction buttons, they would follow yesterday's physical pioneering approach.

Directly dismantle it with brute force.

Da Heibi took the lead.

He directly overloaded the power of the plasma cutting gun to its limit.

The deep blue plasma beam instantly turned into a dazzling incandescent white.

The terrifying high-temperature beam fiercely bombarded the transparent outer shell of the cryo-pod.

"Sizzle sizzle sizzle—!"

Sparks flew in all directions.

The moment the beam came into contact with the transparent material, a violent refraction phenomenon occurred.

Da Heibi maintained his shooting posture and burned it for a full five minutes.