To prevent any mishaps, Senior General Tura specifically arranged for an elite squad to remain in the Throne Room, fearing a diversionary tactic.
Yet, an accident still occurred; the entire Imperial Guard squad was wiped out by the opponent.
"A simple little piece of technology, made from nanite active metal," Adrance said, extending his hand and retrieving the metal constructs from the Imperial Guardsmen's bodies.
Those unique metal constructs flowed like water from the controlled Imperial Guardsmen, returning to Adrance's hand and converging into a smooth cube.
"It possesses extreme shapeshifting abilities and controls the servo-articulation system of the power armor, turning the armor into a prison for you."
"The material, Phlogopite, is incredibly strong, and coupled with the blessings bestowed upon you by the Emperor, this power armor's defense is astonishingly high; even a Primarch would struggle to destroy it in one blow."
"But any powerful thing, once its weakness is found, can be easily defeated, or even turned to one's own use."
"Why didn't you use this in the previous battle?" Senior General Tura looked at the Warmaster.
"This thing is the Dora Workshop's latest development; it's expensive, has a short effective range, and is slow-moving," the Warmaster explained.
"This thing works wonders the first time it's used, but if used too often, allowing you to be on guard, it definitely won't be effective."
After hearing the explanation, Senior General Tura sighed.
"Ultimately, we couldn't keep up with the times."
"It seems the result of the Blood Game is out," Alex walked in from outside the Throne Room.
The Imperial Guardsmen all bowed to Alex.
Senior General Tura was unwilling, but he still suppressed his emotions and bowed.
After all, the Saint represents the Emperor.
"You allowed the God Chosen to enter the Throne Room," Alex stood before Senior General Tura.
Senior General Tura nodded, "Yes, we have once again failed the Emperor."
"From the beginning, I said that once the God Chosen entered the Throne Room, you would have to guard the pond."
Alex looked at Senior General Tura, his tone serious, clearly intending to make good on that statement.
"There are no ponds on Terra worth guarding," Senior General Tura said, "Are you planning to excavate a new lake on Terra, just to humiliate the Imperial Guard's pride?"
Alex laughed when he heard this.
"Making you guard a pond on Terra, can that even be considered a punishment?"
"As for humiliating your pride? That's purely your overthinking; I'm not that bored."
These words made Senior General Tura and the other Imperial Guardsmen show expressions of surprise.
They had always thought that the Saint's instruction to guard the pond was literal, purely to suppress their arrogance and make them realize the rapid changes of the times.
Now it seemed that was not the case.
"The pond I spoke of is the Eye of Terror; after Cadia shattered, some fragments remained, and some Imperial troops are stationed there. You must go there to monitor the movements of the Chaos Gods."
Alex surveyed the many Imperial Guardsmen, his smile growing brighter.
Don't even think about staying on Terra.
All of you, get out and work.
"What about the security of the Imperial Palace?" Senior General Tura asked.
"Do you think an existence capable of confronting the Chaos Gods would need your protection?!"
"As an Imperial Guard Commander, how could you ask such a question!"
Alex's rhetorical question left Senior General Tura and the other Imperial Guardsmen momentarily speechless.
The Emperor's power was evident; why would they need to protect Him?
Even while paralyzed on the Golden Throne, He could still control vast psychic power and summon the Daemon Engines.
Demonic entities, and the like, simply could not approach Him.
Furthermore, as the residents of Terra gradually migrated into space, and with the widespread adoption of various advanced detection devices, the security pressure on the Imperial Palace had plummeted, making it completely unnecessary for so many Imperial Guardsmen to remain in the Imperial Palace.
"Only a portion of the Imperial Guard is needed to protect the Imperial Palace, and besides, the Astronomican is not far from the Imperial Palace, allowing all God Chosen to reach Terra via the Astronomican at the first opportunity."
"The Imperial Palace and Terra are the safest places in the entire galaxy."
"We will obey your arrangements," Senior General Tura had nothing to say and could only accept Alex's arrangements.
"That's for the best. I will coordinate with the Departmento Administratum and the Departmento Munitorum to prepare your logistical supplies and ships, ensuring you can safely reach the shattered regions of Cadia."
After speaking with Senior General Tura, Alex walked over to the Warmaster and the other Players.
"You did very well in this Blood Game. Go find Cortana; she has already prepared your rewards for this time."
"The official website will also publicize this, and you will once again receive an eagle medal as a reward for being the first to defeat the Imperial Guard in the Blood Game."
Hearing these words, the Warmaster and the other Players stood up straight, their faces filled with excitement and pride.
"For the Emperor!"
The Players shouted various slogans and joyfully went to Cortana to redeem their rewards.
After they went offline, they discovered that the Warhammer OL official website, as the Guide had said, had posted the details of this Blood Game.
In the article, their names were specifically highlighted.
For the Players of the Emperor Niuma Battle Group, this move was simply overflowing with emotional value.
The other defeated Battle Groups were filled with regret, especially the Scythe and Hammer Battle Group, who were only tens of meters away from rushing into the Throne Room.
Little Fatty: "The mecha's performance is still not comprehensive enough. If there were stealth mechas, we would definitely be the first to enter the Throne Room."
Dora: "Patron, I understand. I'll immediately initiate the stealth mecha project."
"......"
Not long after the Blood Game ended, the twelfth batch of Players came online, totaling two hundred thousand Players.
Upon logging in, they immediately filled the cathedral district of the Planet Atoma.
It's worth noting that the Planet Atoma is now the capital planet of the Calixis Sector.
With a developed economy, every inch of land is precious.
The cathedral, due to its special status, could occupy such a large area, but now it was packed to the brim, a sea of heads as far as the eye could see.
One by one, they excitedly shouted and screamed, reaching out to touch the decorations and statues in the cathedral, a blasphemous scene that made the priests watching want to cry out "heresy."
Feng, as the Sector Lord, had no choice but to dispatch the Planetary Defense Force to maintain order, Guide the God Chosen to accept missions, and disperse them one by one.
The newly arrived Players were similar to the previous ones.
First, they were all shocked, and then they began to explore how realistic Warhammer OL truly was.
Many who attempted to make indecent gestures were met with a series of lightning warnings and then became well-behaved.
Following that, it was Cortana's turn to appear and Guide these new Players through the beginner's storyline.
Next, various Battle Groups took turns recruiting new members to replenish their ranks.
After completing the beginner training courses, learning how to shoot and use various technological constructs, the Players began their journey of doing quests to level up.
Cortana received and integrated demands from military units and special departments like the Inquisition, then issued missions.
These included, but were not limited to, escorting cargo, purging demons, and sweeping alien threats.
Besides this, the channels were also filled with squad recruitment messages.
"Anyone want to join the new Space Hulk dungeon?"
"Need a new psyker for the Menagerie, fast run, come quickly."
"Anyone going to Landing Port? Tickets are cheap now."
"Brothers, let's do some escort missions, guaranteed 20 credits per run."
"Battle Sisters dungeon, anyone? Clearing corrupted churches."
"Need a brother who wants to go the mechanic route, missing a decoder."
"......"
And as the twelfth wave of Players came online, causing chaos throughout the Calixis Sector and bringing a storm of blood and gore to the neighboring Koronus Expanse, the Imperial Guardsmen on Terra, led by Senior General Tura, embarked on their journey to the Eye of Terror.
A small fleet of five warships departed from Terra's orbit, heading to the Mandeville Point in the Sol System, where they would enter the Warp and begin faster-than-light travel.
On the Bridge of one of the warships, an Imperial Guardsman standing beside Senior General Tura said, "I feel like the Saint did this on purpose. He just wants us to monitor Chaos."
Senior General Tura looked at the gradually shrinking Earth, feeling a sense of loss, yet also a subtle sense of relief.
He had never complained about guarding the Imperial Palace and had always firmly believed that dedicating everything to protecting the Emperor was his inherent duty.
But his departure today gave him a feeling of being unburdened, as if a shackles he had carried since he could remember had been completely removed at this moment.
A new life awaited him.
"Then what can we do?" Senior General Tura retracted his gaze and asked in return, "The rules of the Blood Game were set from the beginning; we lost."
"If the opponents weren't God Chosen, the Golden Throne would have been destroyed."
The Imperial Guardsman's tone was somewhat displeased, "This isn't fair; they used technology we had never seen before."
Senior General Tura shook his head, not agreeing with the other's words.
"This is the drawback of our lack of progress over the past ten thousand years; we are too slow to accept new things."
"Put away your displeasure. Going to monitor the Eye of Terror is our chance to atone for our mistakes."
......
The vanguard diplomatic mission of the First Indomitus Crusade Fleet arrived at Fenris, the home world of the Space Wolves.
The Space Husky Battle Group, as representatives, boarded this ice planet with the Primaris gifts given by the Primarch to various Battle Groups.
Bald Donkey, as the leader of the Space Husky, possessed the gene-seed of the Space Wolves and had a good impression of the wolf cubs.
He had originally planned to appeal to their emotions and reason, persuading the Space Wolves to accept Primaris enhancement.
But he found that he had thought too simply.
As an envoy, he couldn't even enter the gates of The Fang; he was directly rejected by the Wolves, left to brave the wind and snow outside, not even offered a hot drink.
Furthermore, he was severely humiliated.
The Wolves regarded him as Guilliman's minion, believing he was unworthy of Leman Russ's noble bloodline, and told him to go back where he came from.
As a Player, being treated with such disdain, Bald Donkey immediately broke down and started shouting in front of The Fang's gate.
"No wonder the Wolf Lord didn't want you! The way you are, no Primarch would want you!"
"You are all abandoned! Leman Russ threw you all away!"
"You are a bunch of unwanted wolf cubs!"
Then, the tightly shut gates of The Fang opened.