The vast council chamber held only Guilliman and Cawl; everyone else had left.
As a sage of the Adeptus Mechanicus, Cawl possessed a mechanical body and stood no shorter than Guilliman, a Primarch.
Over the past ten thousand years, Cawl had undergone multiple rounds of technological modification, leaving little flesh anywhere on his body.
A massive shell-like metal construct sat on his back, topped with Force Field Generators and extending several active mechanical arms, along with several floating metal skulls linked by neural cables.
Besides those, numerous high-energy weapons collected from across the Milky Way had been embedded into it, connected to his brain and spine.
His lower body had also been fully mechanized. Every step produced a mechanical hum and the sound of pistons cycling back and forth.
Light radiated from Cawl's chest. Clearly, the madman had stuffed Nuclear Fusion Energy into his chest to power his many weapons.
Even though this was not his first close encounter with someone from the Adeptus Mechanicus, Guilliman was still astonished by the appearance.
It truly embodied that saying: flesh was weak, Machine Ascension was the way.
The Adeptus Mechanicus truly hated women—they had completely cast them aside.
"Cawl, come before me," Guilliman said, his tone gentle.
Cawl was the key to his resurrection and one of the people Guilliman trusted most at present.
At least for now, Cawl would not betray him.
For a single promise, he had labored for more than ten thousand years, wandering through countless star systems for Guilliman's resurrection.
He had sought technology lost in the river of history and buried within ancient ruins.
If a man like that could not be trusted, then what loyalty remained in this world?
Of course, in this fucked-up universe, everything changed with the passage of time. Guilliman also had to prepare for the possibility that everyone might betray him.
"Regent, what are your orders?" Cawl stepped forward. His heavy metal body left marks across the marble floor. Mechanical light gleamed in his eyes, and if one stared closely, one could vaguely see gears turning within them.
A Tech-Priest's eyes were no longer mere flesh. They were electronic eyes combining machinery and flesh, equipped with various scanning functions.
Guilliman fell silent for a moment, then took out a data storage device. "The contents of this device are knowledge I secretly gathered ten thousand years ago. This knowledge can help us create a brand-new army, one that will help us regain the initiative across the Milky Way."
Naturally, the contents of the data storage device were not knowledge from ten thousand years ago.
They had been compiled by Guilliman from the Database.
Claiming they were knowledge from ten thousand years ago was simply a legitimate excuse, one meant to fool any obstacles the Adeptus Mechanicus might raise in the future.
If they did not believe him, the Adeptus Mechanicus could go back ten thousand years and verify it.
What, they could not verify it?
That was not his problem. This was technology from ten thousand years ago.
Avoiding the Adeptus Mechanicus and building a brand-new force was also one of the most important reasons Guilliman intended to remain in Ultramar's Five Hundred Worlds.
As one of the Imperium's major allies and its primary provider of mechanical equipment, the Adeptus Mechanicus had grown increasingly closed-minded and rigid over the past ten thousand years. A new product took centuries to go from testing to establishing a production line.
Guilliman did not have that much time to wait for the Adeptus Mechanicus to verify the technology he provided.
By the time they finished verifying it, the Imperium would already be doomed, and he would likely have become a plaything of the Chaos Gods.
It was better to remain in Ultramar. This was his home territory, where the Adeptus Mechanicus's influence was not so severe.
With the support of Calgar, Celestine, and the others, he had more room to maneuver. He could use the strength of the Five Hundred Worlds to swiftly build a powerful new army.
That powerful army would help pull the Imperium back from the abyss.
Given the Imperium's current complicated situation, this was Guilliman's best choice.
The Imperium was too vast. Its various factions were intricately entangled and mutually dependent.
Terra's High Lords, Planetary Governors across countless worlds, noble classes everywhere, the Astra Militarum, Imperial Navy, Adeptus Custodes, Inquisition, other Space Marine Chapters, and more—all these forces had fierce internal struggles.
Meanwhile, the Adeptus Mechanicus considered itself an ally of the Imperium and carried itself with the air of obeying orders while disregarding commands.
During the infamous Beast Wars, they had repeatedly caused trouble and nearly allowed the Orks to overrun the Imperium.
Then there was the Ecclesiarchy, another massive pit. Their struggles for power were equally severe, and they had launched so-called Crusades several times, throwing more than a dozen Chapters into the Eye of Terror each time. It was nothing more than delivering lavish gifts to Chaos.
Those Chapters sent into the Eye of Terror were mostly loyal, yet because of the Ecclesiarchy's suspicions, they were forced to their deaths and became pawns of the Chaos Gods.
To maintain the Imperium's rule, successive rulers had constantly patched things up.
Now the entire Imperium was covered in patches, both ugly and unbearably bloated.
The Imperium was terminally ill. Patching and mending could no longer save it. Only thorough reform, a drastic transfusion of new blood, could restore its vitality.
And the prerequisite for doing all this was that he had to possess an absolutely formidable army.
Cawl looked at the data storage device Guilliman had given him, confusion on his face. He did not believe Guilliman possessed any extraordinary technology.
Out of respect for the Primarch, Cawl still accepted the device and inserted it into the data port at the back of his head.
The device's data instantly flooded into his processor, and his formerly puzzled face transformed into ecstatic delight.
This was knowledge he had never encountered before.
It contained genetic modification and construction blueprints for entirely new warships.
When he saw the construction plans for the Death Star, an excited flush appeared on Cawl's face.
This was...!
This was a world-destroying weapon!
A warship called the Death Star was definitely not technology possessed by the Adeptus Mechanicus.
The current Adeptus Mechanicus had already lost much knowledge. Worse still, that knowledge could not be replicated.
Once lost, it meant the Imperium had completely lost that technology.
Most of the Adeptus Mechanicus's technology had not been acquired through research and development, but through excavating STC Templates.
In other words, their technology relied entirely on archaeology. There was innovation as well, but those innovations were merely minor tinkering based on STC Template technology. They would not touch the fundamentals. Too much alteration could easily draw accusations from the Adeptus Mechanicus of desecrating the Omnissiah, resulting in execution.
"These technologies have no STC Templates?" After reviewing the information, Tech-Priest Cawl raised his head and looked at Guilliman.
"No. These were obtained through ten thousand years of study," Guilliman said frankly, without hiding anything.
If a technology did not originate from an STC Template, the Adeptus Mechanicus would never permit it to be applied.
Otherwise, they would wage war against the Industrial World using that technology in the name of desecrating the Omnissiah, erase it, and prevent it from applying those technologies.
Guilliman looked at Tech-Priest Cawl. If he remembered correctly, Cawl was part of the Radical Faction, the so-called Reformist Faction.
Now, another voice had emerged within the Adeptus Mechanicus: they should no longer blindly follow ancient dogma, but pursue reformist innovation in all kinds of technology. Only then could the Imperium's strength be enhanced.
The Conservative Faction stubbornly believed the Radical Faction were traitors who had desecrated the Omnissiah's glory, and the struggle between the two sides was intense.
"Then what do you need me to do, Regent?"
Hearing that, Guilliman revealed a faint smile. Just as he understood, Cawl was not one of those Conservative Faction figures from the Solar System.
When it came to technology, Cawl did not care whether it came from an STC Template.
"I need a brand-new army. From warships to individual equipment, everything needs to be upgraded, ensuring that we can overwhelmingly crush Chaos traitors and Xenos. I will grant you authority to mobilize every Industrial World in the Five Hundred Worlds and have them cooperate with you. Cawl, give me a confident answer. Tell me that you can easily handle all of this. After I finish clearing the remaining Chaos forces from Ultramar's Five Hundred Worlds, I will have an army capable of opening the road to Terra for me."
"I will fulfill your command, Regent, and upgrade your army's equipment as much as possible." Cawl bowed slightly. His mechanical body produced metallic clicking sounds with the movement.
"Good. Remember, this Thought Seal technology must be developed as a priority and kept strictly confidential. No related information is allowed to leak," Guilliman said quietly.
"Understood, Regent."
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