Agricultural World 496b, near the equatorial Hive City, the Planetary Defense Force (PDF) ground troops were engaged in battle with the rebels on the great plains.
Because the neighboring Industrial World was infested with Orks, the Departmento Munitorum required Agricultural World 496b to provide support, and the Planetary Governor ordered the collection of heavy taxes.
Taxes on Agricultural World 496b were already burdensome, and the populace struggled to survive, often going hungry; the new heavy taxes drove half the farmers to furious rebellion!
Initially, the rebels breached numerous farms, converting the agricultural machinery inside into weapons, and launched an attack against the Planetary Defense Force.
The rebels successfully overran several troop garrisons, acquiring a large cache of weapons, rapidly developing their strength, and then launched an assault on the Hive City.
Millions of rebels charged across the agricultural plains outside the Hive City, only to be routed by the Planetary Defense Force positioned on the outskirts; the two sides fought fiercely on the plains for several years, leaving the ground scarred with shell craters and trenches.
Both sides knew they could not decisively defeat the other, and the war settled into a prolonged stalemate, creating room for war scavengers to operate.
Eighty kilometers north of the Hive City, a dozen rebel soldiers were resting in a trench when suddenly, a large-caliber shell fell and obliterated them all.
A rebel-modified automatic rifle spun through the air and landed in the cultivated field, drawing the attention of Li Qinwu, who had been crawling low in the dirt for a long time.
"This automatic rifle looks to be in good condition, and it probably fires Tier 2 rounds. I bet I can get at least 1,500 credits for it from the black market contact!"
He muttered to himself, crawling toward the automatic rifle.
Li Qinwu hailed from the 3rd Millennium era. While playing Escape from Tarkov at home, he was instantly killed by a buckshot headshot from a crude shotgun 200 meters away, prompting the AI to scream "Turbo Suka!"
Enraged, he uninstalled Escape from Tarkov and switched to Arena Breakout, heading to the Northridge Hotel, only to be repeatedly devastated by players using Tier 6 armor and HK416s firing 995 rounds for ten raids straight.
Furious, he uninstalled Arena Breakout and switched to Delta Force, only to run into the notorious, globally shocking incident where mass shared-account bans were issued and extraction points were limited by player count!
In a fit of pique, he decided to turn off his computer and scroll through his phone. He stumbled upon a gender-bent fanart of the Emperor, which bore the caption: "By viewing this image, you willingly volunteer to serve the Emperor in Warhammer 40K." And just like that, Old Li arrived, dumped onto this Imperial Agricultural World.
There's no need to elaborate on how miserable life is for humanity in Warhammer 40K. Fortunately, the Scavenge, Shoot, and Retreat system came along with Li Qinwu.
This system digitized Li Qinwu's body, allowing him to gain experience and increase his attributes, and it also provided a secure Hideout, an absolutely safe space located beneath the Hive City.
Most importantly, he could resurrect infinitely!
No matter the cause of his death, he would respawn in the Hideout, his condition restored to peak health, though he would lose all his gear.
Without the fear of death, Li Qinwu began living according to the mindset of the Scavenge, Shoot, and Retreat game: he ran 'knife-only' raids on the battlefield every day, searching for valuable items, bringing them back to the underhive, and selling them to various gang contacts to acquire materials for upgrading his Hideout.
Returning to the present, Li Qinwu, armed only with a combat knife, had crawled up to the automatic rifle and was cradling it in his hands for inspection.
It was a rectangular automatic rifle, crudely assembled by the rebels from various parts. Its ergonomics were terrible, and it was extremely heavy, weighing 7 kilograms.
Li Qinwu glanced at the barrel and saw rifling; his heart lifted, as rifled guns fetched a higher price.
He opened the magazine—20 rounds—containing ammunition hand-loaded by the rebels. He estimated the caliber to be 9×65, which was quite large and difficult for an ordinary person to handle.
This was unavoidable; the Warhammer 40K universe was filled with too many horrors and monsters, and the 5.56 and 7.62 rounds prevalent in the 3rd Millennium simply couldn't hold their own.
Confirming the rifle hadn't been damaged by the explosion, Li Qinwu opened the Scavenge, Shoot, and Retreat system in his mind and used it to check the weapon's attributes.
Name: Rebel Homemade Automatic Rifle
Estimated Value: Approximately 2,000 Fertilizer Vouchers
Weight: 7.2 kg
Vertical Recoil Control: 54
Horizontal Recoil Control: 42
Ergonomics: 41
Stability (Aimed): 42
Accuracy: 50
Hip-fire Stability: 61
Effective Range: 500 meters
Muzzle Velocity: 950
Fire Mode: Full Auto
Rate of Fire: 550
Ammunition Caliber
Firing Power: Medium
Li Qinwu was very satisfied. This rifle was worth 2,000. As far as he knew, a low-level farmer on this agricultural world had a monthly expenditure of 150 Fertilizer Vouchers, meaning this single rifle was worth a farmer's entire annual living expenses!
He slung the rifle onto his back and lay prone in the cultivated field for 10 minutes. Only after confirming no one else was approaching did he carefully jump into the rebel trench and move toward the location of the recent shell explosion.
The dozen or so rebels had been completely shredded by the shell; the ground was littered with mangled remains.
Li Qinwu spat, endured the stench of blood, and began looting the bodies. After a flurry of activity, he obtained the following items:
One 20-round automatic rifle magazine containing 60 rounds total, one dagger, one axe, one wrench, four packs of biscuits, and one full canteen, totaling 120 Fertilizer Vouchers in value.
He tossed all these items into the synthetic leather backpack on his back, his eyes scanning the trench.
This trench was dug right into the cultivated field. It was currently occupied by rebels, but the trench had originally been dug by the Planetary Defense Force. When the rebels advanced this far, the PDF retreated to other defensive lines.
Perhaps in a few days, the Planetary Defense Force would launch a raid and reclaim the trench. Li Qinwu's job was to emerge during the lulls between fighting to scrape the battlefield clean.
He explored along the trench for a while. This wasn't part of a continuous trench network but a skirmish trench, housing only the ten rebels who had just been killed by the shell. Since there was no one else here, he could enjoy a thorough scavenging session.
After some searching, he found nothing else of high value. The total value of his backpack was now only about 2,300, with the bulk of the worth still tied up in the automatic rifle.
"Damn it, this is a poor haul!"
Li Qinwu spat again. His backpack was full of junk, mostly food. Without any 'blue' or 'purple' rarity items, it was boring.
He figured it was time to extract. Just as he prepared to leave, the sound of footsteps reached him. His heart tightened, and he quickly gripped the automatic rifle.
The sound was coming from the direction of the Hive City. He cautiously poked his head out of the trench, then swiftly pulled it back in.
"Holy crap! A Planetary Defense Force squad!"
The approaching force was a Planetary Defense Force squad of ten men, all equipped with flak armor, helmets, and standard-issue automatic rifles. The squad leader carried a laspistol and grenades—the most basic armed force of the Imperium.
Li Qinwu immediately turned and ran toward the other end of the trench. Although he wasn't a rebel, he was currently inside a rebel trench. The Planetary Defense Force wouldn't give him a chance to explain; if he showed his head, he would be instantly killed.
He planned to sneak out the far side of the trench and take a long detour back to his Hideout in the underhive.
But just as he reached the other end of the trench and peered out, he saw more than fifty rebels creeping up.
"Crap! I'm sandwiched!"