"Shadow of Order", The Most Numerous Legion

Eleventh month of Terra, 861, Vostonia, Primarch Office of Shadow Keep.

Nimrod convened a meeting to understand the current situation of the legion.

Chief Apothecary Mikel was the first to speak and report.

"My lord, I have tested the five hundred Gene-seed you gave me before, and I found no differences."

"I used them to perform modification surgeries on candidates from five Chapter. The fastest among them has already completed three modification surgeries, and their physical condition and success rate are all within the normal range."

"Ms. Malena Scarla and her 'Physician' were also involved in the process, and nothing unusual occurred."

Malena noticed the Black Emperor's gaze directed at her and spoke up as well.

"My lord, I tracked down one hundred candidates. Eighty-nine of them underwent the modification surgery, six rejected the Secondary Heart implantation, and five did not complete the second and third modification surgeries."

"The entire transformation process proceeded without any abnormalities; all the candidates who failed the transformation survived and were trained as Auxilia."

Thanks to Mikel's research and the medicines he taught the "Apothecary" to create, the rejection reaction of the candidates was extremely low, and the success rate of the modification was even higher than that of legions such as the "Ultramarines".

Those who fail during surgery will survive with the help of "Physician" and join the Auxilia.

Because they underwent varying degrees of modification, they were generally stronger than other Auxilia soldiers.

Compared to other legions, most of the losers die on the spot, and the survivors are mostly transformed into Servitor, with the best outcome being that they become servants. They are much luckier.

Nimrod nodded slightly, indicating that they could try implementing the "Corrosion" Gene-seed project.

The impending "Second Rangdan War" was an opportunity. He remembered that in addition to the "Dark Angels," "Space Wolves," and an unknown legion as the main forces, nine other legions had sent special forces to participate in the war.

The final battle of the Thramas involved as many as 300,000 Astartes.

The opportunity for "Corrosion" is bound to exist.

"What is the progress in exploring Clone Tapestry Technology?"

Mikel looked ashamed.

"My lord, progress is slow."

"The technology used by the Emperor is completely different from that of the Squats, and there are many aspects of it that are incomprehensible."

"The only progress we've made so far is making the recruits physically tougher and improving their adaptability to extreme environments."

After a moment of contemplation, Nimrod Lu spoke.

"This is not your problem. The Emperor used Warp -related technologies in the creation of Astartes."

"The Clone Tapestry Technology of the Squats deliberately avoided the dangers of the Warp, except for the Grimnyr Magos was designed as Psyker."

"You continue your exploration; I will take action to uncover the secrets of Astartes' creation."

Nimrod's plan proceeded from both the human and material aspects. The human aspect was Belisarius Cawl, who inherited the memories of Ezekiel, the head of the biotechnology department, and possessed the secrets of the Emperor's creation of Astartes.

The object is the Primogenitor that records all the genetic secrets of the legions.

Nimrod looked at his Lord of the Forge, "How are Arkan Land Land's discoveries being applied?"

Arkan Land, now an "Archaeologist," completed his expedition to explore the Mars Great Library in just over two years.

Just as Nimrod remembered, he not only found the blueprints for the Land Raider main battle tank, the Land Crawler multi-purpose heavy engineering vehicle, and the Mars Land Crawler, as well as the rare anti-gravity plate technology data for the Land Speeder, but also discovered a ruin.

"The Land Raider main battle tank has already begun mass production with the establishment of a production line on Firestorm Star."

"The Land Crawler multi-purpose heavy-duty engineering vehicle and the Mars- Land Crawler have entered production on the newly completed Judang Star."

"With the assistance provided by the Adeptus Mechanicus, Ganyun completed the construction and was responsible for manufacturing the Land Speeder."

After a moment's thought, Nimrod decided to allow Arkan Land to publicly reveal the four discoveries in his memory that bore his name, as these widely applicable pieces of equipment would be difficult to keep secret once they appeared on the battlefield.

Other Legiones Astartes, and even the Adeptus Custodes, also have a need for it, and trying to monopolize it will inevitably face considerable pressure.

At the same time, Arkan Land's status within the Adeptus Mechanicus should be elevated, Nimrod believed would bring greater benefits.

"Arsena, Arkan Land is not good at negotiating. You will organize a team composed of members of the Royal Court, such as 'Lawyer' and 'Deduction Cadets,' to provide him with support."

Arkan Land, who originally regarded the Emperor as Omnissiah, would unconditionally dedicate his discoveries to the Imperium.

Now that he has been "Corrosion," he naturally has to follow Nimrod's will.

Nimrod naturally wouldn't give it away to his Tech-priest for nothing; he would exchange it for sufficient resources.

Thinking of the impending great battle, he asked the Lord of the Forge.

"Any new developments in other weapons and equipment?"

"Following the previous experiments in Gardinal, the Hunt-Master Suit has made progress, and Malevolus and I are working on specific designs for the Viscount and Baron."

The Lord of the Forge felt that too many things were being pursued simultaneously lately, and that Malevolus, after becoming a "Mechanic Expert," had completely surpassed him in armor manufacturing, so he spoke up.

"Malevolus is now primarily in charge of this work."

"He crafted armor for Lord Horus Lupercal, assisted Ferrus Manus in completing his armor, and was a key member of the Cataphractii Terminator Armour development team. I believe he should lead the armor's manufacturing."

"Alright," Nimrod granted the Lord of the Forge's request, thinking to himself.

It's time for a more specialized division of labor.

He pondered for a few seconds before speaking.

"Gabriel, as the Master of Ordnance, is mainly responsible for armored vehicles and other equipment, Wojciech Berek serves as the chief supply officer, assisting Arsena in coordinating the production capacity of various territories to meet the needs of the legion."

"Rian Ramirez will serve as the Void Lord, responsible for the development of Artificial War Satellite, the improvement of Star Fortress, and the construction of Voidship. Malevolus will serve as the Armor Master. Arkan Land will not be in charge of affairs for the time being, but will be responsible for exploration and excavation on Mars."

"You will oversee all affairs, primarily responsible for the research and development of classified projects."

After noting down the Black Emperor's orders and assigning tasks, the Lord of the Forge continued his report:

"In terms of weaponry, the biggest progress is thanks to your information; we have mastered the Imperium's lost Seismic Technology."

"Regarding the Void Claws, I combined the structural diagrams with Arkan Land's data records to develop an experimental device, but its effective range is only twenty-five kilometers."

"Very well, the Void Claws would cause a galactic-scale Catastrophe and is not suitable as a conventional weapon."

The Void Claws was merely a last resort in his arsenal to deal with threats like Rangdan's; he certainly didn't want to reduce his territory to ruins.

"Manufacture five experimental pieces of equipment and record data after they are put into use."

Nimrod decided to use it on the battlefield later.

"As you wish."

After Rosicky finished his report, Nimrod turned his gaze to Arsena Dunn, the silver-haired Primarch's Attendants, and immediately spoke.

"In accordance with Your command, fifteen Ramillies-class Star Fortress have been assembled, five in the Caluhm Gate, and five each in the Cepra Mundi and Vostonia System."

Considering that Rangdan would deploy more than twelve Artificial War Satellite during the "Second Rangdan War," and that he had numerous strategic nodes to deploy but would not face Rangdan alone, he prepared fifteen Ramillies-class Star Fortress in advance to deal with the threat.

"As of October, the Legion had a total of 285,100 men."

"Among them, the 11th Chapter had the largest number of men, totaling 33,000."

"..."

The smallest unit was the 12th Chapter, with 17,200 men.

Nimrod listened to this and thought to himself.

[Yes, my "Shadow of Order" is the largest legion.]

The exact date I know of is 899, when the Ultramarines numbered 166,000, making them the largest legion at the time.

The "Dark Angels" numbered over 100,000 at that time. Having not yet experienced the three "Rangdan Xenocides," and subtracting the population growth over the next 37 years, their current number should be between 200,000 and 250,000.

After the meeting ended and the four left, Nimrod leaned back on his the Throne, contemplating which world to divine using the Dice of Prophecy.