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Chapter 160: This is Too Much Power!
🕑 Added 2025-09-20 11:54:45 +0000 UTCChapter 160: This is Too Much Power!
Tigrus Forge World.
After a brief negotiation between the Dawnbreakers and the Blades of Obsidian, the crusade fleet was led to this Forge World, located in the central region of the Ultima Segmentum.
Within the star system, massive orbital stations hung in the void like steel behemoths. Countless mechanical arms waved in the starry expanse. In the starports, hundreds of shuttles moved between the ships, transporting personnel.
The crusade fleet's flagship, the Emperor-class battleship Dawnlight, was docked at the main starport. The ship's crew, who had arrived in the cabin ahead of time, looked out through the thick observation windows at the busy starship manufactorums.
In the void, massive forges spewed scorching flames, dyeing the starport a dark red. Countless tech-priests moved between the factories, their robes fluttering in the hot wind, mechanical arms clutching data-slates, busy at their posts.
Next, the fleet would take on the equipment and supplies prepared for the coming crusade, and the Dawnbreakers would also receive their first fleet here.
The other factions of the crusade fleet also received their own ships. The numbers were not large, but they were all the most advanced models currently available in the Imperium, especially for the Black Templars and the Inquisition. This was their payment for assisting Cawl in entering Pierdra. A Dark Age of Technology geothermal planetary computer had been completely preserved. Even after completing the necessary calculations, Cawl dared not excessively utilize the AI within it, but it was still a harvest that would make countless Magos Dominus green with envy. The reward was naturally generous.
The only surprising thing was where Cawl had gotten so many warships, completing the allocation in just two years.
According to High Marshal Helbrecht's past experience, when dealing with these Adeptus Mechanicus, if it was various vehicles and equipment, it was one thing—starships, especially large starships, if they could deliver the payment within fifty years, it would be considered fast.
And Archmagos Cawl, one could only say, was very powerful.
Helbrecht looked at the receiving report in his hand. His gaze fell on the last page, where the origin of these warships was recorded in detail.
Archmagos Cawl had clearly stated that these warships had nothing to do with him. They were all the honor-debts of the various Chapters. As for the accounts, they had already been properly handled under the coordination of various parties.
If anyone came to investigate, then they could only wish them good luck.
The accounts were fake, but the warships were real.
An endless line of warships accumulated at the starport. The small shuttles of the various factions sped through the void.
Beside the space-forge, the entire bridge section of the Dawnlight was being carefully cut away. A massive mechanical arm, precise and stable, separated the bridge from the Dawnlight's hull. At the same time, a breach was opened in the bridge section of an Emperor-class battleship, as if awaiting the arrival of its new master.
K-CHUNK~
The bridge of the Dawnlight was slowly embedded within it. The binary canticles of the Adeptus Mechanicus were broadcasted at a specific frequency as the light flickered. The entire process was like a precise ritual, filled with solemnity.
The combat doctrine of the Dawnbreakers relied on elite breakthroughs, and Romulus's command and control were breathtaking. Therefore, although the Emperor-class battleship was more cumbersome than other models of Imperial battleships, its massive hangar capacity and advanced sensor instruments were sufficient to maximize the capabilities of the Dawnbreakers' battlefield control unit, making it the undisputed choice for a command ship.
This behemoth would become the core of the Dawnbreakers in the coming crusade.
As for embedding the bridge, to be honest, this method was usually only used for starships in a ship graveyard, to quickly restore a warship's combat capability.
And the Dawnbreakers' request was exceptionally bold.
To open a breach in the bridge of an Emperor-class, and then directly cut off the Machine Spirit of the Dawnlight and place it on top. As for the original body of the Dawnlight, it would be recycled by this Forge World to pay for the various modifications.
When the Magos Dominus of Tigrus had received this news, he had almost jumped up and given the guy who had made such an absurd request a Mechanicus-style execution.
But the four lords had all insisted on doing so, and Archmagos Cawl had no objection. No one could stop them.
And during the modification process, the tech-priests who were trying to appease the Machine Spirits of the two ships also looked as if their worldviews had collapsed.
Why could they coexist harmoniously without any appeasement?
Why could they accept the existence of two empresses in one palace?
BEEP—
A verification instrument, under the harassment of the Magi, went to a blue screen.
Several tech-priests were hunched over, holding incense, and muttering to the instrument, trying to appease the Machine Spirit through a Mechanicus ritual. However, their efforts clearly had no effect, and instead made the Machine Spirit even more impatient.
THUMP!
A dull impact echoed in the cabin. Ramesses's fist slammed on the protective casing.
The instrument's Machine Spirit, which had gone on strike due to the continuous verification calculations of the several tech-priests, seemed to be jolted awake by this punch and returned to its working state.
The hum of the instrument sounded again. Data-streams began to scroll across the screen, a silent protest.
'I told you I asked the Machine Spirit. These grease-monkeys just wouldn't believe me.'
Under the horrified gazes of the several tech-priests, who were stooped from their incense-offering ceremony, Ramesses walked towards the welding bridge and threw down a sentence. "Use her to calculate something serious. Otherwise, she'll go on strike again."
BEEP—BEEP-BEEP—
The moment his voice fell, the instrument's indicator light suddenly flickered, emitting a regular beeping sound. The most prominent button flashed at a binary frequency, as if in approval of Ramesses's words.
The cursing was extremely foul.
The tech-priests were thrown into another panic and quickly began to check its Machine Spirit.
This kind of Machine Spirit that could directly communicate was unacceptable!
Due to the existence of the Martian Accords, highly intelligent Machine Spirits were not allowed. The vast majority of Machine Spirits had a bestial-like mind and usually served as an insurance against corruption. So, the Machine Spirits on the Imperial side, compared to the Chaos side, actually lacked a lot of subjective initiative. After all, those Knight mechs without pilots could run on the battlefield like dogs and use their faces, which had really grown into dog-muzzles, to bite people.
But Ramesses had no pressure in this regard. When they had discovered that the creations of psycho-materialization possessed Machine Spirits, the research in this area had already begun.
Except for Arthur, who was like a "ghost" in the eyes of the Machine Spirits and was not well-liked, the other three had no barriers in communicating with the Machine Spirits. Ramesses could even customize the requirements, making the Machine Spirits present themselves in an ideal state in their perception.
One could say that ever since the Machine Spirits had learned that the four could create Machine Spirits, they had all been very polite to the four, even with a hint of reverence.
Ramesses walked to a welding mechanical arm, reached out, and gently patted its casing. The hum of the mechanical arm immediately became much softer, as if in response to his touch. Ramesses could even, to a certain extent, enhance the intelligence of the Machine Spirit. One could only say that for him, anything related to the Warp had a great deal of operational flexibility.
"Sigh, I should get back to the nest and continue the decryption. Isn't the soul circuit a creation of the Eldar themselves? Even these Craftworld Eldar can't understand it."
After a simple tour of the manufactorum and satisfying his own curiosity, Ramesses simply chose to leave.
After boarding the Emperor-class battleship Dawnlight, Ramesses noticed Archmagos Cawl and High Marshal Helbrecht, who had also boarded. They were arranging the personnel to control the warship. Although this warship was still a Mechanicus product, it was, after all, a battleship. The original crew of the Dawnlight was insufficient, and additional recruitment was needed.
And within the crusade fleet, the work positions on the Dawnlight were always in high demand.
After a distant greeting, Ramesses slipped into the "transmigrator's hut" that Arthur had already set up for them. It was a good location. Under Ramesses's spell-concealment, as long as you opened the viewport, you could see a 270° area with the warship as the center.
He simply set up a few pre-set daemon summoning rituals and glanced out the window.
Besides one Emperor-class battleship as the command ship, Cawl had also provided the Dawnbreakers with six Lunar-class cruisers, a dozen or so cobbled-together escort frigates, and three cruiser-class industrial ships.
The industrial ships of the Adeptus Mechanicus came in various models. Because of the different designers, there were too many subdivisions. And these, which were designated as Hestia-class, were the cornerstone of Cawl's own forces, used to maintain the operation of his various explorator fleets.
These ships could mine, refine, and process the vast majority of raw materials. At the same time, they could also enter a star's orbit and collect the high-energy particles emitted by the star to obtain energy. They had massive empty areas inside, which could be used to place various production lines for production, from the parts of various models of warships to the basic domestic products of the Imperium.
Even with ample time, these industrial ships also had the ability to produce most models of starships, could complete the infrastructure processing of a Forge World, and the various technologies pre-set inside were vastly different depending on the owner, but they were all, without exception, absurdly numerous.
If every fleet in the Imperium could be equipped with these...
"..."
The Adeptus Mechanicus were truly beasts, like vampires, clinging to the Imperium, sucking its population and resources, and giving nothing back.
Ramesses clicked his tongue to himself. At the same time, he pointed at a few daemons and activated a prophecy ritual, forcibly deciphering the fragmented information within the soul circuit.
Even Cawl was cautious about the proliferation of industrial ships. Out of fear of trouble, he had for now only given them to the Dawnbreakers. But the Dawnbreakers actually didn't have much use for these things. The four of them were all humanoid STCs. Leaving aside other things, they were definitely fast at laying infrastructure. And these industrial ships were very conspicuous. A knowledgeable Magos could identify them at a glance.
"So what do you need us to do?"
Inside the council chamber, Romulus, who was still dealing with various official business, accepted the Archmagos's meeting request.
"In fact, it's not what you need to do. These ships can follow you, provide supplies for the fleets that are far from you, and can establish the industrial foundation a civilization needs on a planet."
"And when they have a need to fulfill their duties, I hope you can accommodate their actions."
Rustle~
Romulus looked at the Archmagos, mused for a moment, his fingers still like a precise machine, writing a document along the parchment. The Imperium, in its handling of many administrative affairs, would also use a kind of device similar to the computers of the M2 era. But in the transmission of important information, it still needed to use various materials that were unrelated to the Warp, or had a mystical connection with a certain creation of the Warp.
During the Great Crusade era, the influence of Chaos on reality was still limited. And with the "Sigillite," Malcador, a super-psyker, connecting all the planets, information could be transmitted directly through astropaths, and then the administrative team on Terra would handle the overall situation. The degree of local autonomy was much higher. As long as it didn't involve AI, computational assistance could be used.
And in the M41 era, the preservation of important information relied more on creations that had a mystical connection with the Emperor. Otherwise, this information would very likely be twisted by the foul things of the Warp.
Fortunately, the transmigrators could directly generate text. The ink was a saint's blood, the skin was a skin soaked in holy oil. Skipping a large number of processes, Romulus only needed to appropriately review the text and add annotations.
"...I will."
After first dealing with some emergencies in his mind and simulating a series of contingency plans for taking on this hot potato, Romulus finally nodded.
Take it. If I don't dare to take these three ships, will I dare to take the shipyard the Archmagos will build for you in a sector in the future?
"I understand. The explorator fleet under my command will concentrate in the Red Scar system, and will only await your selection of a Legion homeworld," Cawl nodded.
Having received his answer, he was about to leave directly.
The two sides, during their technological exchange, had also communicated about future plans. The future pocket empire of the Dawnbreakers would choose the large Imperial sector between the Red Scar system and the Ghoul Stars. The specifics would still require an on-site investigation.
"Please wait, Archmagos." Romulus stopped the Archmagos. "I need to conduct a technical consultation here."
"Please speak." Cawl returned to his original position, waiting for the other's question. For the Dawnbreakers, this Archmagos had a great deal of patience.
Leaving aside the fact that their respective traits and personalities made the Archmagos feel a sense of closeness, this willingness to take on responsibility had won the Archmagos's approval. The Astartes' surgery, the new armor, the various vehicles—these "Primarchs" had never hidden their origins, and had also cooperated with the Archmagos in dealing with his redundant combat power, such as the Primaris Space Marines and the warships.
Through this crusade, the Dawnbreakers were explaining one thing to the various factions in the fleet.
Do what you should do, get what you should get, take what you should take. Just focus on strengthening your own forces. If you have any problems, throw them on our heads. We'll carry them.
You only need to ensure your own loyalty, and then challenge those rules with me.
Otherwise, why do you think the entire crusade fleet was following the lead of these four?
Cawl liked this kind of existence that was willing to shoulder the burden. Only such a person had the potential to change the galaxy. He was also looking forward to the future of the Dawnbreakers, wanting to see if this new force could break through the shackles and fetters of the various Forge Worlds.
Romulus first pondered for a moment, then presented a document, which contained the theoretical framework of a certain type of engine. It hadn't been tested yet. After all, this kind of research was not something their small fleet could handle.
[By generating an anti-matter stasis bubble, to propel a ship across the physical universe, similar to a warp drive.]
The Archmagos quickly analyzed the concept of this type of engine, and then he said, "The Imperium has a similar technology. This mode of travel is safer than Warp travel, but its speed is slower, about one-tenth of an Imperial Warp engine. It is usually controlled by the local sectors and is responsible for short-distance transport between star systems."
"In other words, it is theoretically achievable?" Romulus asked, seemingly unconcerned with the Archmagos's assessment of this technology.
In fact, the safety and timeliness of Imperial Warp travel were still acceptable. There were stable routes between the various star systems that had been explored over ten thousand years. It was just that for an existence like them, who needed to strike everywhere in the galaxy, the probability of an accident was much higher. And the environment of the Warp would only worsen with the passage of time. This was also the reason the Emperor had always been trying to push the Webway project.
"This type of technology is not helpful to the Imperium, but for the construction of a pocket empire, it is indeed an option. If you need it, I will pay attention. The Hive Fleet's mode of travel also has reference value. I should be able to compress the travel speed to one-fifth of the existing Warp engine," the Archmagos replied.
"Then I will trouble you, Archmagos."
"Hmm. Then I will take my leave." The Archmagos took this theoretically feasible concept and then turned to leave.
Romulus's pen was still moving. One signed document after another was taken away and sent to where they should go by the Invictarus Suzerains.
His gaze, however, fell on the map of the sector, a savage region that the crusade fleet was about to cross.
The T'au. This was a race that had evolved from some kind of aquatic ancestor on a low-gravity planet. They were born in a star region that was surrounded by the Warp. These storms had become a barrier, blocking the Imperium's expansion, and thus laying a stable environment for their development.
In the process of their civilization's growth, they had, in a rare move, chosen a policy that was different from the isolationism of the vast majority of races in the current galaxy. They had actively communicated with the races in the surrounding star regions. With an "open" philosophy called the "Greater Good," they had absorbed a large number of xenos races and had begun to expand.
When their new generation of engines was completed, and they had crossed the Damocles Gulf to the south, making first contact with the human Imperium, this race had already become a xenos empire that was enough to make a mobile fleet led by a Lunar-class cruiser take them seriously.
But it was this very race that, in the first Damocles Gulf War that was about to happen in this era, had held off an attack by 15 battleships, 19 Astra Militarum regiments, and 500 Astartes.
In the future Second Damocles Gulf War, they had正面 suppressed the Astra Militarum and had at the same time killed the Chapter Master of the Raven Guard.
In the subsequent heavy blows from the Hive Fleet, the Orks, and Chaos, the T'au Empire had always been able to survive and had become increasingly powerful.
This race was as if blessed by heaven. Every time, they could find a way out under the encirclement of the Imperium. Every time, they could develop under the pressure of a heavy crisis.
Until after the opening of the Great Rift, this xenos race had already expanded into an interstellar empire that could rival the contemporary Ultramar sector.
The transmigrators did not care about the philosophy of these xenos, nor did they care about the controversies surrounding the existence of this race.
There was only one thing they cared about.
The Slipstream Module.
The T'au's faster-than-light travel technology. The technical principle was the theoretical plan Romulus had given to the Archmagos. The speed was not fast, only one-fifth of an Imperial Warp engine, and it was very bulky, only able to be equipped on large ships.
At first glance, wasn't it garbage? Not even as good as the Webway?
In the future, during the T'au Empire's Fourth Sphere Expansion, a large number of Slipstream Modules were activated at the same time, causing the physical universe to be torn apart. The expansion fleet was sucked into an unknown dimension and was thrown to another corner of the galaxy.
This event left a stable wormhole. The T'au Empire, in its Fifth Sphere Expansion, successfully migrated to the other side of the Great Rift through this wormhole and developed further.
A stable wormhole.
"Heh heh."
Thinking of this, Romulus couldn't help but laugh out loud, which made the Invictarus Suzerains around him look at him with surprise.
Isn't it funny?
When the Great Rift tore the galaxy apart, and half of the Imperium's domain had fallen, and they could only rely on a corridor of Nachmund, which was connected by a large number of Blackstone ore-rich planets, to connect with the Imperium Nihilus.
When the Imperium, the Orks, and Chaos were in a chaotic battle in the Vigilus system.
There was this race, using a wormhole with no side effects, traveling back and forth on both sides of the Great Rift.
Before transmigrating, when arguing with people online, he would often just laugh it off as GW having another episode. Strengthening the T'au was not a one-day or two-day thing. Everyone just pretended not to see it.
But now they had transmigrated.
Romulus looked at the star-chart, his eyes narrowed.
If the T'au's wormhole technology could really create a faster-than-light travel method that could rival the Webway, then the importance of this technology would be self-evident. They had to get it in their hands, no matter the cost.
Because in the future, they would—
'What am I thinking now?'
Romulus shook his head slightly, shaking the thoughts of the future from his mind.
He took the coffee that Drakus had handed him. The steam from the cup slowly rose, with a rich aroma. He took a sip. The bitter taste spread on his tongue, allowing him to feel the reality more accurately.
The pie Arthur had fed him was indeed delicious. The trust of his partners was indeed gratifying.
But this did not mean that the various tasks would therefore be reduced.
On the contrary, as the various parties delegated authority and handed their forces over to Romulus's control, the various administrative tasks that needed to be handled began to increase exponentially.
Work, work...
Sometimes, he really couldn't imagine how much pressure the high-level officials of the Imperium who intended to do practical things were under.
After gradually taking over more and more administrative affairs, Romulus could understand why those High Lords either died early or went mad.
DONG! DONG!
The sound of a request came from the vox-system.
"Come in," Romulus said.
WHOOSH~
The isolation door slid open gently, with a faint sound.
A figure appeared at the door.
It was a majestic figure, but with a hint of undisguised weariness.
His steps were steady, but they exuded a heavy aura, as if he were carrying an invisible burden.
His face was ordinary, that of a middle-aged man, but his eyes were bright, as if they could see through everything.
He was shrouded in a golden light. The light was not dazzling, but it made people feel an irresistible authority.
His voice was low and powerful, as if from a distant time and space, "Good child, listen. You have done very well!"
The golden, shining figure continued, "Be careful of the liars, be wary of the traitors, and protect yourselves. You are the hope of humanity. You will become kings, become supreme, rule over a domain, control the cosmos, and hold high power."
Oh no, the Emperor!
The tip of Romulus's pen trembled slightly. A drop of ink spread on the paper, forming a small black dot.
It wasn't until he blinked again that he found that the person who had come was Arthur, who had just completed the Primaris Space Marine surgery for Sevastus and was now standing at the door.
"The Inquisitor has entrusted me to report her mission record to you."
Arthur came forward and handed over a roll of parchment. The Inquisition's actions involved too many secrets and could not be transmitted through the electronic system, only in the most primitive way.
"Let me see."
Romulus said in a low voice, with a hint of an imperceptible hoarseness.
He then unrolled the parchment, his eyes quickly scanning the words on it.
The fingers, which were hidden by the red ribbon, were still trembling slightly.
He was really a bit scared.
