I summoned the Fourth Scourge in Warhammer

Chapter 46 This is enough to open a bottle of champagne.
"And didn't you pay attention to what he said?"

"Did he say that?" Assassin paused for a moment, then recalled, "Uh, did he mean the route he just mentioned? The main maintenance route, the three-way intersection, the gear-Alpha symbol... I remember it."

“No,” Ruan Wenbo shook his head, his voice tinged with seriousness, “it’s that sentence—[I’ve turned off most of the security systems on the road; you only need to be wary of the Genestealer Cult].”

"What's wrong with this sentence?" Assassin was a little confused. He thought it was just a normal NPC quest prompt.
“This statement proves at least two things,” Ruan Wenbo said, holding up two fingers as he began his analysis. “First, we are highly unlikely to receive any response from the Trinity foundry on the road. They will simply stay inside and hold their ground. Clearly, attacking from both inside and outside is the most likely way to defeat the enemy and retreat quickly.”

He then raised his second finger: "Secondly, the enemies we encounter next will probably not be those fanatical but chaotic cultists, but 'cunning'—gene stealers. Their organization, tactical skills, and individual combat abilities are far superior to those of the cultists."

“It feels normal,” Assassin said, his mindset still heavily influenced by gamers. “Isn’t that how rescue missions are? The rescued personnel only start to act once they reach the destination, even if in many games the personnel protecting the target have much more firepower than the players… As for the second thing, it’s normal for the monsters to be upgraded when the map changes.”

“Perhaps in a normal game, it could be explained by ‘game design,’ but I firmly believe that this game is abnormal.” Ruan Wenbo’s eyes sharpened. “This friars’ army is not using more efficient tactics, which is not in line with the consistent style of the Mechanicus. There must be a reasonable logic behind it that fits this worldview. I think there are two possibilities.”

"The first possibility is that they have suffered heavy losses and their remaining forces are too few to attempt to coordinate our offensive from within."

Assassin thought for a moment and retorted, "The priest's attitude just now didn't seem right. If the situation were really that critical, would he be so frivolous? Would he still be concerned about whether the production line would be hurt?"

“I don’t think so either,” Ruan Wenbo nodded in agreement with Assassin’s assessment. “Then it’s the second possibility: there’s something in the Trinity foundry that’s so important that it can’t withstand even the slightest risk. Even if rescue is imminent, they must keep a tight grip on the inside and not send any troops out to provide support, so that absolutely no cunning person can infiltrate.”

He paused, then added, "I deduce that this thing is most likely what he said when we first accidentally connected to the channel: 'We are protecting a sacred relic.'"

"What could that be?" Assassin had clearly abandoned his own thinking and completely followed Ruan Wenbo's line of thought. "A classic plot from the Mechanicus, a standard STC template component?"

“Very likely,” Nguyen Van Bo said, “and there’s something else that concerns me: he said he shut down ‘most’ of the security systems along the way. What about the remaining few? Could they still be operational and be treating us as intruders?”

"There are still trap elements... Why does this game suddenly feel normal?" Assassin muttered.

JK, who had been silently following beside them, suddenly interjected: "That's because you weren't familiar with the rules of this world when you first entered. Although it is indeed incredibly realistic, players can avoid some predicaments by making reasonable use of the 'game mechanics'—for example, you don't necessarily have to eat human flesh when you're hungry; you can also reset your status by committing suicide."

"After all, the existence of immortal players like us in this incredibly realistic world is itself a kind of bug." Just as JK finished summarizing, subtle data ripples appeared in the air as the team moved through the passage.

Immediately afterward, under the watchful eyes of the veteran players, twenty slightly blurry figures appeared out of thin air behind their ranks, as if they were projections with poor signal. In just a second or two, they solidified into players wearing ordinary Astral Army uniforms, without even bulletproof armor.

This sudden reinforcement drew everyone's attention. Nguyen Van Bo turned around almost immediately and strode forward.

As expected, it was just as he had predicted.
After these newcomers got used to the atmosphere in Zhongchao, one of them asked excitedly, "Are you veteran players? I've been waiting on the forum for the qualification to be distributed, and I activated my qualification and came in as soon as I saw the little red dot!"

Nguyen Van Bo's reaction to this was, of course, genuine joy.

Against those cultists in the underbelly who know nothing about warfare, the player's invincibility is enough to crush them. The Death Squad can now easily defeat them with just big blades and entrenching tools.

But dealing with Genestealers is a completely different story. According to the Warhammer lore, the enemy possesses a high degree of organization and cunning intelligence; mere immortality is clearly insufficient. Once their lines are breached, they will be in grave danger. They need sufficient firepower and a robust defensive line to contain the enemy's well-organized offensive. And now, the arrival of these twenty new players has instantly increased the firepower of the Deathbringer Company, which numbers no more than a hundred, by a fifth!
With a gentle and convincing smile, Nguyen Van Bo addressed the twenty new players in a manner that sought their opinions rather than issuing orders: “Comrades, welcome to the Death Squad. I am Company Commander Nguyen Van Bo. The situation is urgent, and I have an arrangement to make, and I would like to hear your opinions.”

He cleared his throat and laid out his plan: "I'll break you up and assign you to our existing squads. The veterans in your squads will familiarize you with the game's controls and pace, and in the upcoming battles, they'll prioritize helping you eliminate enemies. You just need to search for usable weapons and equipment on the enemy corpses. If you really can't find any..."

He patted his chest, his tone resolute: "I'll use my merits to buy you new goods from the mall!"

These words had an immediate effect. For newcomers, where else could they find such a great opportunity—free guidance and tutorials from experienced players, and even promises to provide all their equipment? Naturally, they were overjoyed, nodding in agreement with faces beaming with the delight of "getting on a powerful backer."

For the veterans, having more people in their squads to help fill the gaps in the battle line and share the damage meant they had no reason to refuse. They immediately and warmly greeted the newcomers assigned to their groups and began teaching them basic tactical positioning and weapon usage tips.

Looking at the harmonious scene before him, with new and old players quickly blending together without any barriers or rejection, Ruan Wenbo couldn't help but feel secretly pleased. The worst-case scenario he had anticipated—new players forming cliques and refusing to integrate, while old players acted arrogantly and resisted newcomers—did not happen at all.

He felt that this unity alone was enough for him to celebrate with a glass of champagne. The only pity was that he didn't have any on hand right now.

(End of this chapter)