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Chapter 348: The Warp Drive and the Battleship Standard Construction Template
🕑 Added 2025-10-08 12:31:00 +0000 UTCChapter 348: The Warp Drive and the Battleship Standard Construction Template
The internal wars of the Imperium continued to expand, but Guilliman knew this was just the pain of reform. Many innocents would die, but if he succeeded, he would save many more. Compared to the gains, these losses were small.
With the Segmentum Solar as its core, one crusade fleet after another radiated outwards, cleansing not only the traitors but also a large number of xenos. As the unification process continued, countless resources and troops were integrated. It could be said that the number of forces and supplies mobilized by the human Imperium in this short period was unprecedentedly vast. The advantage began to snowball.
In particular, the Imperial Tithe for each planet, which was now assessed using the new system, became more reasonable in both quantity and type. This made the cohesion of the Imperium stronger than ever.
Lucan, in turn, was gaining an ever-increasing research speed bonus from the ever-increasing number of Greenskin wetware. However, the scale of the Ork farm had stagnated. The top-secret nature of the project meant there was a shortage of management personnel, so for the time being, they could only maintain its current state.
With Cawl's 15% research bonus, combined with the research points generated by the Synaptic Lathe, his total research speed had now exceeded 50%.
And the StarCraft warp drive, which Lucan had been trying to reverse-engineer for so long, had finally been cracked, thanks to the research bonus and his monthly research output. The Mongorte Dynasty now possessed the ability to manufacture its own warp drives.
In addition to this breakthrough in Physics research, Lucan had also been making simultaneous breakthroughs in Engineering technology, which also benefited from the research speed bonus. Two key technologies were completed within this year: the Battleship technology from Stellaris, and the Standard Construction Template for battleship construction.
The StarCraft Gorgons were too small, and the construction time for native Warhammer capital ships was too long. But with these two new technologies unlocked, Lucan now possessed the ability to rapidly construct his own large warships. The entire production line could also be coordinated with the warp drive production line.
Now, Lucan could spam not just troops, but warships as well. Otherwise, with only the Stellar Pioneer and the Spear of Adun, he could often only fight on a single front.
And the production technology brought by these two unlocks, just like the construction tech for the Synaptic Lathe, could be imported into the SCVs. This allowed Lucan to greatly reduce the time required to build the production lines.
These production lines also required a large amount of resources, but that problem had also been solved. With the promotion of the trading platform, the beneficiary was not just Guilliman; the true biggest winner was Lucan. He didn't need to wage war and expend resources to promote it. All he needed to do was maintain the core main server on Agathos.
Guilliman also had not secretly skimmed any of the profits. Although his own plans also required a massive amount of resources, he knew that compared to spending it on his own troops, giving it to Lucan was the true way to maximize the benefits.
Lucan could now sit at home and collect a massive amount of transaction fees, and these fees were more than enough to sustain his needs for spamming troops, warships, and construction. Although he was now a High Lord and a Sector Lord, the area he had to manage was far too small compared to the entire Imperium that Guilliman had to worry about. With the foundational work already done, the stable society and situation had also shrunk his administrative costs to the extreme. And as long as Guilliman continued to promote this system, this resource income would only continue to rise.
And this Standard Construction Template, obtained through the System, was almost equivalent to an STC in the Warhammer universe. The entire construction process was standardized and scalable. The time required for a single shipyard to build one battleship was only three months. Compared to the time it took to build a battleship in the Warhammer universe, this was as fast as it could possibly be.
Although its volume was not as great as a Warhammer battleship, bigger was not always better. The massive size of a Warhammer battleship was due to its relatively primitive and cumbersome control systems, which required a huge crew and redundant structures to function properly. The warships built from the Stellaris STC, just like the Gorgon, had an intelligent control servo-system to assist the crew in its operation.
Unfortunately, the Stellaris shipboard weapons and shield systems were still under research. But it wouldn't be long before these battleships could be equipped with powerful arc emitters similar to those on Necron warships, as well as even more powerful energy beam weapons.
As the production lines were gradually completed, Lucan sent the news of the warp drive breakthrough to Guilliman.
Upon receiving the message, Guilliman, almost without a moment's hesitation, headed directly for Agathos, even putting his ongoing crusade on hold. A fleet from Terra was also on its way.
If you were to look from the void, the space around Agathos was almost completely filled with giant facilities. The Blackstone Fortress that had been captured from the pirates had also been transported here.
The production lines for the warp drive and the battleships had all been chosen to be built here, in the core region of the Dynasty, Agathos. These warships and warp drives were all related to future sales or provisions to the entire human Imperium. Although building them near the Synaptic Lathe would be safe enough, it was not the most suitable location. The Synaptic Lathe remained the greatest secret.
After a long wait of two months, a massive fleet led by Guilliman arrived in the Agathos system via the warp. Lucan was already waiting in the starport for his arrival. The personnel in the landing bay of the starport had all been cleared out.
Arriving on this trip was not just Guilliman himself, but also the Captain-General of the Custodes, Trajann Valoris. Even this man, who almost never left the Imperial Palace, had come to Agathos.
The technological breakthrough of the warp drive was more important than anything else in the Imperium right now.
"Lord Lucan, do you truly possess the technology to manufacture warp drives?" Guilliman had lost his usual composure and seemed somewhat agitated.
"Of course," Lucan replied with a smile. "The first batch of warp drives has already been completed. Perhaps your Macragge's Honour can be the first to use it!"
Hearing this, Guilliman glanced at Trajann at his side. Then, squad after squad of Custodes began to march out from the transport.
"Trajann? Why have you left the Palace? Shouldn't you be in the Palace protecting the Emperor?" Lucan looked at Trajann in surprise. He had not expected him to not only leave the Palace but also to bring such a large number of Custodes with him. Lucan even saw several Custodian Dreadnoughts among them.
One had to know that the total number of Custodes in the entire Imperium was only about ten thousand. And this time, Trajann had brought a tenth of their total number.
"Lord Lucan," Trajann said, his face serious, "these Custodes will assist you in protecting the warp drive manufacturing facilities here."
It was clear that the Emperor had also given these Custodes his blessing. Otherwise, not even Guilliman could have commanded so many of them to leave the Palace. In the Emperor's eyes, perhaps the safety of the warp drive was more important than his own.
