Chapter 79: The Second Game Program
Lucan closed his eyes, and the System interface once again appeared in his mind.
Lucan was torn over which game to load for his second program.
At this moment, he hated that he had so few games installed on his computer.
However, with the unlocking of the second game slot, the potential states that many games would manifest were now annotated on the game list.
Lucan's first reaction was to load Stellaris. After all, its various powerful technologies, Ascension Perks, or even the Aetherophasic Engine and Synaptic Lathe from the Endgame Crises could give Lucan a terrifying boost.
But the System actually prompted Lucan to choose with caution!
"What the hell? Why, am I not worthy?"
But when Lucan checked the details, his whole face fell.
"Damn, it's me who's not worthy…"
This blasted system was truly faithful to the source material!
It directly and clearly displayed the resources he could convert after loading Stellaris.
The basic resources weren't detailed.
But Cohesion was only 40 per month… and Research Points – Physics, Society, Engineering – the monthly output for all three was a mere 20 points each. With these research points, researching even an early-game technology would take years! Just relying on this research output, he'd be waiting forever.
And Cohesion was the key to unlocking Ascension Perks; it was directly related to the population under his control. Considering he had billions of people on his planets, the monthly output of 40 Cohesion was probably only that high because of the favorable policies he had implemented.
Thinking it over, Lucan temporarily dismissed the idea of loading Stellaris. The goal of 10 habitable planets wasn't too far off. Once Pavian's "Holy Machine" cult attracted more Mechanicus personnel to join, the output of research points should see a qualitative leap. And the population of ten habitable planets would surely be able to produce more Cohesion.
Lucan felt it was better to first choose something that could boost his immediate combat power.
He'd deal with Stellaris once his foundational base was larger.
And speaking of combat power, Lucan's first thought was of that man.
The Doom Slayer, who had driven Hell to extinction.
Everyone said the game was still conservative; the true Doom was only unleashed after activating the Fling trainer.
The in-game version was actually weaker than the lore suggested.
Thinking of this, Lucan immediately checked the Doom game program.
[Game Program Loadable: DOOM]
[Gain Divinity Machine after loading]
[Can craft Praetor Suit]
[Can consume 300,000 Psy-crystals to summon the Doom Slayer from another dimension to fight in this universe for 5 minutes]
"Divinity Machine? Praetor Suit? It's not just giving me the Doom Slayer directly? Summon him to fight for 5 minutes? 300,000 is way too damn expensive!"
The Psy-crystals gained from quelling the Chaos rebellion on an entire planet were only about that much, right?
Lucan recalled the settings from the game. The Praetor Suit allowed DOOM to absorb the power of daemons to strengthen himself, and the Divinity Machine was what transformed the Doomguy into the true Doom Slayer. It was a machine used by the Creator God to create worlds.
And just now, when Lucan had warped in his StarCraft soldiers, hadn't they called him "Creator"?
Could it be that he could use his own power to enhance his warriors?
However, Lucan was actually relieved to see he couldn't just get the Doom Slayer directly. The lore for DOOM was simply too absurd.
If it were just a summon, Lucan could accept it a little more easily.
If it were the real DOOM's personality, it would be impossible for him to be controlled by any individual. Lucan suspected he would tear apart anything related to the Warp without distinguishing friend from foe.
Perhaps even the Emperor, in his eyes, would just be a very large daemon…
A hundred years ago, the Doom Slayer had charged into the Warp. A hundred years later, he emerged. In his hand, he held the Blade of Khorne; under his foot, he stepped on the tail of Slaanesh; the head of Tzeentch was slung over his back. And Nurgle? Nurgle had been glory-killed by him and turned into a health pack and ammo drop. Not only that, but the cold sun in the Warp had also been completely extinguished.
But while DOOM could perhaps kill the Chaos Gods, he couldn't destroy the Warp itself. As long as life in the material universe could still sense psychic energy, negative emotions would sooner or later create a few new Chaos Gods. But if DOOM were to make a move on the Emperor, that would be tantamount to taking on the entire Imperium of Man.
At that point, Chaos would want to kill Lucan, and the Imperium would have no place for him either. Was he supposed to go and join the T'au and their so-called Greater Good?!
Even the Imperium's use of Warp drives, void shields, and everything else related to the Warp would become his target. After all, in the game, DOOM's goal was to destroy everything related to daemons, just like how the humans in Doom tried to utilize the Argent energy produced by daemons.
DOOM's tolerance for such actions was also zero.
Lucan's ultimate goal was not the destruction of the Imperium. If it really came to that, who knew how many would have to die.
Compared to having an uncontrollable top-tier combat asset, Lucan preferred things that were more controllable. The System was actually being quite considerate of him. He couldn't have DOOM, but Lucan could cultivate his own DOOMs.
Even if they couldn't be as strong as the original DOOM, they would have potential for growth! And the ability to permanently kill daemons was already an enviable power.
Alright, now after stealing the faith of the Mechanicus, it seemed he was about to skim a little of Khorne's authority as well.
[Please confirm whether to load the DOOM program]
"Yes!"
[DOOM has been loaded]
[Game Programs loadable 2/2]
As a stream of data flowed into Lucan's body, next to the StarCraft shop page, a new shop page for Doom appeared.
[Divinity Machine (Unique): Can be placed in a location of choice, or retracted back into the shop to be taken out when needed]
[The Divinity Machine created by the Father. It can elevate a lifeform's level and all-around attributes. Can consume Psy-crystals to enhance an individual.]
[Praetor Suit]
[Not the same suit worn by DOOM himself. Strength references actual game effects.]
[Armor blessed by the Maykrs and created using Hellforges. Can absorb daemonic and other souls and energies to strengthen itself. Cost: 20,000 Psy-crystals.]
Lucan couldn't guess the cost of the Divinity Machine, but the price of the Praetor Suit truly astonished him.
Lucan tried to retrieve the Divinity Machine from the shop page.
With a thought from Lucan, the Divinity Machine from Doom Eternal, looking exactly the same, appeared in his room.
It was composed of an unknown material, its white shell constantly coursing with energy.
Lucan himself tried lying inside, wanting to see if he could use Psy-crystals to enhance himself, but the machine had no reaction.
It seemed it was because the power of the Warp had already enhanced him when it was converted into Psy-crystals.
"Looks like I'll have to find someone to experiment on."
Lucan summoned Damon, who was currently organizing the Raider squads.
"My Lord, you summoned me for a matter?" Damon noticed the Divinity Machine in the room as soon as he entered.
"Damon, lie down in there."
"Lie down in here? What does this machine do?"
"It's something that can make you stronger!"
Damon unconditionally accepted Lucan's command, but at the same time, his heart was exceptionally apprehensive. As the hatch of the Divinity Machine closed, a prompt also appeared in Lucan's mind.
[Please select the amount of Psy-crystals to consume]
Absorbing the psychic energy of that Genestealer Patriarch had indeed yielded Lucan a considerable sum of Psy-crystals. Lucan looked at his balance, which was around 430,000. Gritting his teeth, he directly consumed 30,000 Psy-crystals. He wanted to see just how potent this Divinity Machine really was.
Lucan directly chose to consume the crystals. After half an hour, the hatch opened again.
And Damon emerged, his face ecstatic. His body had been sublimated! At this moment, he felt unbelievably good.
After the transformation, Damon's height had actually shot up to two point two meters, and his muscles had burgeoned all over his body.
"My Lord… I feel like I have an inexhaustible supply of strength right now! And my vitality is unbelievably abundant!"
Damon excitedly looked at his seemingly brand-new body.
"Try and punch me!" Lucan commanded. He wanted to know to what extent the enhancement could reach.
As Damon threw a punch with all his might, Lucan caught it.
Feeling the strength and speed, Lucan was truly taken aback.
This speed and power had already surpassed those gene-enhanced warriors within the Dynasty.
Lucan's own physical strength and reaction speed were already absurd, and Damon's current level was already close to a large part of the strength of a Possessed Word Bearer.
And the Word Bearer was wearing power armor and was daemonically possessed, while Damon was currently bare-handed.
It was known that just a minute ago, Damon had been an ordinary human without any enhancements.
(End of Chapter)