"Shadow of Order" Gene-seed Inventory Status

"My lord," the Chief Apothecary reported, "The growth of Gene-seed in each Chapter is sufficient to train new recruits."

"The only exception, aside from a large-scale transformation of your Vostonia followers, is when you conduct the world's first recruit training to find the most suitable conscripts for each Chapter."

"Based on the previous four similar situations— Mordian of the Third Legion, Catachan of the 7th Legion, Kasai of the 8th Legion, and Thalassa of the Ninth Chapter —I conducted a statistical analysis and made preparations accordingly."

Mikel, completely concealed within black armor, spoke methodically:

"The genetic material obtained from your sacred body, plus an additional 8,150 Gene-seed, is sufficient to support the discovery of two new recruiting worlds."

"Based on the current situation, I believe there are only two possibilities for the lack of Gene-seed."

"One possibility, at most theoretical, is that when you rejoin the Legion, the demand for Gene-seed will surge due to the massive number of genetic modification surgeries performed by the followers of Vostonia and the Cradle of the Sea."

Nimrod nodded slightly; this was the moment when most Primarch needed their genetic material extracted.

Each legion typically experiences two periods of rapid population growth.

The previous instance was when the Imperium conquered the Luna and used the Selena Gene Cult " gene laboratory to mass-produce Astartes.

The next instance involved the Primarch's followers before his return to the Imperium, who underwent large-scale modifications.

Nimrod was a special case; all forty-four of his regiments of Warrior chose to undergo reform and join the legion.

The Legion's numbers surged as a result, reaching 85,000, thanks to the Shadow of Order and the continuous influx of Terran-born.

"Another possibility, which I discovered from the Third and Fifteenth Legion, is that their Gene-seed are malfunctioning, causing the legions to be unable to replenish their ranks and resulting in a sharp drop in numbers."

Although Mikel and the others were unaware of this, Nimrod knew that the "Emperor's Children's " Gene-seed bank had been poisoned by the "Selena Gene Cult" and that a batch of it had been stolen by the Collector.

At its smallest, the entire legion consisted of only about three hundred Emperor's Children.

Only after Fulgrim's return were the Apothecary able to extract the pure Gene-seed from him again.

The Third Legion, which is slowly recovering, now has fewer than 30,000 men.

The Fifteenth Legion, due to Flesh Mutation, had withdrawn from the "Great Crusade" seventeen years prior.

"To ensure the Legion's Gene-seed remains unaffected, I have strengthened the security and inspection of the Legion's Gene-seed stockpile."

"In addition to the Gene-seed stockpiles of each Chapter, the extra Gene-seed stockpiles are stored in three locations."

"In order of the number of genes in stock, they are, in order: Shadow of the Throne, Triken, and Catachan."

Nimrod was pleased with the Chief Apothecary's prudence and planned reserves, he thought to himself.

In other words, barring any unforeseen circumstances, the legion can develop steadily without needing to extract my genetic material.

In the event of an accident, or if a new world of conscription causes a surge in numbers, I, being in the Mid-Sequence stage, will need to drink extra potions to replenish the Beyonder Characteristic I have lost.

After advancing to promotion Sequence 4, you won't need to take any more medicine... well... maybe not even before that.

Nimrod immediately thought of the Primogenitor on the Luna, which he was determined to obtain.

[We will receive the Primogenitor during the Great Birthday Celebration.]

Nimrod knew that the Primogenitor contained the genetic material collected by the Old Man in Yellow from all the Primarch genes he created.

The genetic material in the Primogenitor is even more effective and purer than the Gene-seed produced by extracting them directly from the gene Primarch, and naturally surpasses that produced by various methods such as Astartes glands.

Or rather, the Apothecary's methods are technically inferior to those of the Old Man in Yellow and his research team, especially in extraction techniques.

[It was thanks to this that Belisarius Cawl was able to cultivate even larger and stronger Primaris through independent research, without the assistance of the Space Marine Chapter.]

Nimrod thought of Belisarius Cawl: [Hmm, I'll bring Belisarius Cawl under my wing and "corrupt" him into a loyal follower, letting him be in charge of developing the Primaris and the equipment that works with it.]

Nimrod gathered his thoughts and gave the Chief Apothecary the order, "Well done. Transfer one-third of the Shadow of the Throne's inventory to the Shadow Keep's underground."

"The Apothecarion has established Gene-seed bank, as well as operating rooms, hospitals, research facilities, and biological laboratories."

He then looked at Thomas: "The Librarian tank will set up an archive to store legion data, and a library to collect knowledge."

"The Tech Sergeant took over the Foundry and established an armory..."

Nimrod spoke quickly, Arsena Dunn took notes.

"Each department of the Legion may choose a suitable location within and around Shadow Keep Spire to establish its own facilities."

After receiving their orders, Thomas and Mikel were the first to leave. They selected a suitable location in Shadow Keep and began constructing the department's buildings.

"Let Lewis in," Nimrod instructed the Primarch's Attendants.

"I'll bring him to an audience right away."

A moment later, Lewis von Valancius, Rogue Trader dressed in a long black silk robe, curiously entered the Primarch's Palace.

After scanning the area with her azure eyes, she discovered that this place was quite different from the Primarch's Palace of Paragon City.

[It seems that because the Monarch has only recently moved here, there is less decoration, making it appear more spacious.]

"Lewis, what do you want?" Nimrod's words interrupted Lewis's thoughts.

"My lord, I am following your orders to explore the starry sea."

"After discovering the Cydonia System, I followed the Galaxy star map and explored northwards towards Vostonia. During my voyage, I unexpectedly arrived at an area that had just come into the Imperium's view."

That area is now known as the Coronid Abyss.

Nimrod hearing the Colonid, Nimrod naturally recalled the star map and related memories of that sector.

[Yes, although the Colonid sector is located on the northeastern edge of the Segmentum Obscurus, it has abundant resources and strategic significance.]

During his Great Birthday Celebration, Horus Lupercal, facing a time crunch, personally led six legions in the three-year-long "Manache War" in order to acquire industrial bases.

As Nimrod pondered, Lewis's eyes blazed with fury.

"My lord, the Mitu United Empire occupies this territory. Although it is called a union, the dominant alien Xenos tyrannically rule over countless vassal tribes."

"The Mitu strictly forbid them from engaging in space travel and carry out absolute psionic purges. They also regularly massacre various races, including humans, to control the population."

"The humans who survived by sheer luck also needed to be offered flesh and blood to power the Mitu's filthy and evil arcane technology; they were the livestock fueled by flesh and blood."

Nimrod knew that most of the Mitu's weapons were made of organic matter and needed to be activated by Psionic Energy, which was why they levied Tithe flesh and blood and hunted down Psyker in large numbers.

"My lord, we beg you to wipe out the Xenos and save hundreds of millions of our fellow humans."

"How strong are the Mitu?" Nimrod remained noncommittal, tapping his fingers lightly on the back of his chair.

Lewis dared not conceal anything and honestly stated, "Mitu is an evil and powerful Xenos kingdom."

"They control dozens of worlds, with billions of humans enslaved in their core world, Manache."

"The House Veroni are struggling to survive, and Dametus could be overrun by the Xenos at any moment. The Forge World, Mezoa, can only swallow its anger and endure Mitu's periodic purges."

Nimrod nodded and fell into deep thought.

He knew that the Mitu United Empire was a powerful Xenos force before the outbreak of the Total War with Rangdan.

Its strength not only surpasses the outpost of Spiral- Morse, but also exceeds the Ork Empire of the "Wheel of Fire" and the Forge World of Incaladion.

Mezoa is a large Forge World, and in the grand scheme of the future Imperium, its size is only smaller than eight super-large Forge World.

Of the eight super-large Forge World, four have allied with him: Lucius, Huangquan VIII, Graia, and Gryphonne IV. Mezoa is one of the Forge World outside the eight that is closest in size to them.

Nimrod then recalled the military force that the Imperium had deployed to resolve the Mitu United Empire.

The Imperium has committed a tremendous amount to this war, with Rogal Dorn Dorn personally leading three Legiones Astartes, including his "Imperial Fists," the First Legion, and another legion he does not know.

In addition, there are hundreds of Solar Auxilia.

[Yes, this war may still be the one in Dorn issued the most Exterminatus.]

In order to completely eradicate the evil Xenos, he issued Exterminatus multiple times.

Nimrod considered the troop strength the Imperium had mobilized from his memory. The original First Legion, after participating in the "First Rangdan War," should have had a strength of over 40,000 men.

The Imperial Fists should have numbered 30,000 before Dorn's return, and its maximum strength was 100,000 before the Great Birthday Celebration.

Dorn returned in 835, and the Imperial Fists now numbers no more than 50,000.

[As for the legion I don't know about, it must be one of the legions whose Primarch has not yet returned, which is why it is led by Dorn.]

Nimrod knew that, apart from the special First Legion, most other legions had between 10,000 and 30,000 members before the Primarch returned.

[Well, that means the Imperium will deploy no more than 120,000 Astartes.]

Although the "Shadow of Order" had just experienced the Incaladion and the "First Rangdan War," it still numbered over 140,000 and was capable of single-handedly destroying the Mitu United Empire, but it would still suffer at least 10,000 to 20,000 losses.

While he could defeat Mitu alone, it would significantly impact the expansion of all current Chapter.

After understanding the potential costs, Nimrod then weighed the value of the matter.

The Colonid sector is rich in mineral resources and has trade value; after the Imperium occupied it, it developed numerous trade routes.

I can gain the allegiance of the House Veroni and at least bring Mezoa under their control.

He finally spoke, saying, "I will lead the army into battle to Purification the Mitu Xenos."

"My lord, on behalf of the hundreds of billions of human brethren in the Coronid Abyss, I extend my gratitude to you."

After Lewis left, Nimrod thought to himself.

Although the decision has been made to conquer the Colonid Sector, there's no need to fight alone.

In addition to the "Dusk Raiders" under my command, I can also request the First Legion to fight alongside me. Ulian Bendregg has been looking for a major opportunity to get the First Legion back on track.

Hmm... the First and XIV Legion won't occupy territory, and we can assign them the dirty work, which they're happy to do, and they're doing it quite well.

With this in mind, Nimrod immediately set off back to the Shadow of the Throne to attend the War Council.