The Sound of Cannons is Worth a Thousand Gold Pieces

Rostov II is a desertified planet, discovered and initially developed by a Rogue Trader Dynasty over a hundred years ago.

However, the Rogue Trader Dynasty didn't hold Rostov II for long. Approximately thirty years later, a retiring Astra Militarum Regiment was collectively resettled on the planet.

From then on, the planet became an Imperial World, and the Rogue Trader Dynasty lost the sub-sector it had pioneered.

The specifics of what happened are unknown, but from that point onward, the planet was removed from the Rogue Trader Dynasty's control and became an Imperial World directly administered by the Departmento Munitorum.

This deviated from the usual practice where planets developed by Rogue Trader Dynasties remained their property.

The Departmento Munitorum invested significant resources into the planet, allocating funds for its initial construction and covering Rostov II's food procurement costs for a century.

Although the Departmento Munitorum could have met Rostov II's needs by simply offsetting a portion of an agricultural world's Tithes, it was still an unimaginable sum.

It was enough to feed billions of people on a planet for a hundred years! Even though seventy years' worth had already been consumed, the remaining portion would ensure Chen Xi didn't have to worry about Rostov II's food supply for the next thirty years.

"In other words, we need to achieve food self-sufficiency for Rostov II within thirty years or find a source of income sufficient to support food procurement," Chen Xi summarized the key information, without any sign of worry on his face.

At first glance, it seemed like a difficult task, as thirty years could pass in the blink of an eye.

But for Chen Xi, it wasn't an impossible goal.

However, he didn't offer any rash opinions at the moment, as he hadn't yet understood the specific situation of Rostov II. Blindly offering suggestions might only lead to blowing up the planet for mining or selling the population to the Adeptus Mechanicus.

"This isn't really a problem. The previous governor partnered with Magos Ovilia of the Adeptus Mechanicus, who agreed to assist Rostov II in building a protein processing plant sufficient to feed everyone. Construction is already halfway complete," Rachel explained to Chen Xi, her face filled with confidence and pride.

Hearing Rachel's words, Chen Xi looked surprised and confirmed with her, "You're saying a Magos is on this planet? And agreed to help you build a protein factory? Have the tech-priests changed their ways? Or is there something on this planet that attracts them?"

Tech-priests were stingy, and not just ordinarily stingy.

For ten thousand years, the Imperium had been in constant turmoil, humanity struggling for survival in a dark, apocalyptic age. All the Imperium's citizens were maintaining its existence and everyone's survival through their sacrifices and dedication.

But what about the Adeptus Mechanicus?

The Adeptus Mechanicus hoarded advanced technology and immense productivity that could save the Imperium, simply standing by and watching.

In the eyes of these tech-priests, how could the precious technology and technological creations bestowed by the Omnissiah be used on those primitive, lowly, and worthless ordinary humans?

Although not all tech-priests were like that, it was undeniable that the higher the rank and power of a Magos within the Adeptus Mechanicus, the less humane they were in this regard.

Yet now Rachel was saying what? That a Bio-Magos was actually helping build a protein factory on this remote planet that was practically in the middle of nowhere? Had the tech-priests changed their ways and started doing charity?

Or was there something on this planet that attracted the tech-priests?

"I'm not too sure about that. If you're interested, you can ask Magos Ovilia yourself," Rachel replied. As Chamberlain, it was hard to say whether she knew or not, but clearly, some things were best left unsaid even if she did know.

Hearing Rachel's response, the expression on Chen Xi's face became playful.

Clearly, faced with an Adeptus Mechanicus Magos who could solve the planet's food problem, the Chamberlain would keep her mouth shut, even if she knew something.

But considering it was an Adeptus Mechanicus Magos, Chen Xi figured that even the original planetary governor would obediently keep their mouth shut and not investigate what this big shot was stirring up on the planet.

After all, what if they really found something out?

So Chen Xi didn't ask any further questions and instead inquired about the planet's military strength.

"Currently, the Rostov Planetary Defense Force has ten regiments, all trained according to Astra Militarum standards, but they lack in weaponry and equipment. They're only equipped with light weapons and lack heavy equipment such as Hydras, Basilisks, and Leman Russ tanks." Perhaps because the planet had an Astra Militarum background, Rachel seemed quite excited when mentioning this, "If you plan to expand the Planetary Defense Force or improve its equipment level, you can consider starting from this aspect."

"Perhaps, but there's no funding to do that right now," Chen Xi didn't want to try to get rich overnight, and these things were too expensive anyway.

Based on his experience from reading Warhammer official novels and playing tabletop games, an Astra Militarum soldier's salary was about fifty Throne Gelt a month, and his full set of equipment, including bulletproof armor, lasgun, combat knife, and other gear, cost about four hundred and fifty Throne Gelt.

A qualified Astra Militarum soldier also required an additional thousand Throne Gelt for training, while training for officers and administrative personnel cost as much as two thousand Throne Gelt.

A standard Cadian infantry regiment had five thousand people, with three thousand five hundred being frontline soldiers and the remaining one thousand five hundred being command and logistics personnel.

Just training such a standard infantry regiment would cost six million five hundred thousand Throne Gelt, with a monthly salary of at least three hundred thousand Throne Gelt.

And if such a standard infantry regiment was only equipped with heavy weapons such as Heavy Bolters, Rocket Launchers, Meltaguns, and Plasma Guns, omitting vehicles like Goddesses, Tauruses, and Leman Russ tanks, it would still cost an additional four million one hundred thousand Throne Gelt.

This didn't even include the consumption of such a regiment during wartime. A soldier would consume thirty Throne Gelt worth of food and water a day, with ammunition consumption of about one hundred and fifty Throne Gelt a day. Just the basic food and ammunition would cost six hundred thousand Throne Gelt a day.

Ten regiments, roughly fifty thousand people, would cost hundreds of millions of Throne Gelt just to train and arm them, and that didn't even include the financial black hole of military expenses once they were mobilized.

Chen Xi didn't even know how much money the planet could earn in a year, so how could he consider expanding the army?