The rear section of the industrial ship.
Lu Jin stepped into Caul's laboratory.
The view beyond the porthole was no longer the Webway, but the Manros System.
Caul operated all the equipment in the laboratory at once through tentacle-like bionic limbs.
A screen in the corner of the laboratory displayed the research results Caul had achieved since joining the fleet.
[Knight Reverse-Engineering Blueprints and Improved Models] [Weapon and Equipment Adaptations for Firstborn Space Marines] [Automation of Shipboard Weapon Loading Systems]
"From the time you came to me until now, less than two days have passed!" Lu Jin stood before the screen, astonished.
Caul had noticed Lu Jin long ago, but only turned around after Lu Jin expressed his surprise.
"These are merely the smallest research projects. They're child's play to me." Caul's voice synthesizer precisely reproduced a hint of pride. "Why are you surprised by these little things? Don't you know the man in this laboratory is Belisarius Caul?"
Lu Jin really hadn't expected Caul's clone to possess the original's scientific prowess.
Caul's clones were generally called degraded Cauls, and they had all kinds of flaws.
But Lu Jin reconsidered. However degraded he might be, Caul was still Caul.
The original was practically Doraemon. He had secretly created vast numbers of Firstborn Space Marines and developed the Armor of Fate, which could help a Primarch return to life. Those two projects had probably taken up no more than ten percent of his working hours over his ten-thousand-year life.
The Armor of Fate existed because the Emperor had told Caul ten thousand years ago, "I want my sons to return to life ten thousand years from now," and Caul had made it happen.
"To be honest," Caul said, walking over to the screen, "none of this is anything special.