The doors to the meeting room opened.
Talon and Company Captain Vulkan walked in.
By then, both of them had collected themselves.
But when they saw Gamma World surrounded on the star map, they still felt the pressure.
Talon had already told Vulkan that they hadn't ended up here by chance. This had to be the Emperor's will.
It was all to strengthen Cisrain's Far East Frontier.
What shocked Vulkan even more was the powerful research and development capability of Gamma World that Talon had revealed to him.
The item Brown had obtained was called the Warp Distortion Detector Prototype.
It was a machine that could detect warp distortions and mutations in Psionics.
That meant that if this thing were mass-produced,
more than ninety percent of the Chaos forces hidden within the Imperium would have nowhere to hide. There would be no more traitors or secrets in the legions.
And Cisrain's team was researching even more terrifying weapons.
Their captain, Cyrus, suspected that Cisrain had access to a wealth of Golden Age technology given to him by the Emperor. Otherwise, none of this made sense.
If things really were as Talon had said,
then perhaps Cisrain was a spark chosen by the Emperor.
Of course, Talon wasn't foolish enough to tell the honest Vulkan what he was thinking: We're all sick of those High Lords. How about backing Cisrain for the throne? At least the Emperor chose him, right?
In fact, Cyrus had never brought it up with Talon, and Talon didn't dare suggest it to Cyrus either. He was afraid his captain would make him prove his loyalty first.
"Governor, population isn't the only thing limiting our growth. We've also acquired plenty of technology this time, but we have too few Synapse Condensers and batteries. We can only focus on developing a few key technologies."
"Then let's start with dark matter. Replace all our existing Heavy Nuclear Engines with Dark Matter Engines to improve speed and efficiency. Direct our resources toward building naval ports and equipment and weapons that will improve the legion's combat strength. For our next expedition, I need at least one fleet truly capable of going on a long-range campaign."
With the Necron Technology we had now, and the Warp Distortion Detector keeping the army pure,
my troops were far more capable in combat than the Astra Militarum.
But I didn't have the Imperium's terrifying population numbers.
Now, Gamma World, Ozrax, and newly conquered Tangle had a combined population of just seven population units.
One population unit represented one billion people.
Compared with any other faction, that wasn't even enough to whet their appetite.
And turning those people into soldiers or workers would take far more than the Synapse Condensers we had. We also had to work hard on their basic education.
Governing a region or a country wasn't as simple as issuing a government order and expecting everyone to obey.
You had to tell your people who their enemies were, and you had to stand before them and give them hope at every turn. You had to establish a rigorous system of oversight and create clear paths for advancement. You had to build up every aspect of society—politics, the economy, the military, and culture. That took immense wisdom.
[Unexpected Event: Tau Empire Invasion Complete]
[You thwarted the Tau Empire's invasion plan. Thanks to the Salamanders' friendly relations with the local forces, you have earned their loyalty. Population increased by one unit. Morale boosted. Construction efficiency increased by ten percent.]
[Daily Event Triggered: Population Burden]
[Your world has reached a bottleneck in its development. After your technological boom, you need more outstanding soldiers to join your Expeditionary Force. You must solve your most urgent population problem. Cloning is the most convenient technology available to you, but scientists are concerned about the series of social problems that mass cloning could cause. Reach a population burden of 100 units to obtain 'Civilization Will'.]
Civilization Will?
Just don't let it be something weird.
[Unexpected Event Triggered: Salamanders' Favor]
[Gain additional favor with the Salamanders to earn their loyalty and obtain the Salamanders' Astartes gene-enhancement technology (upgradeable).]
"?"
It seemed the Emperor really had given me a great gift.
Gain additional favor with the Salamanders.
And in return, I'd get their gene-enhancement technology.
A force of genetically enhanced Salamander Space Marines could help make up for our population shortage.
"By the way, Governor, our scientists discovered that the Warp Distortion Detector came from a Xenos artifact. These artifacts can only be found on the Lost Tomb World we explored earlier. We can't produce this raw material for the time being, so..."
"..."
"Everything is for the sake of development."
"Understood."
It seemed that if I wanted to make more Warp Distortion Detectors, I'd have to go grave-robbing.
As for making enemies, that didn't matter anymore. I already had plenty of debts; one more wouldn't make a difference.
Cisrain stood up.
Brown followed suit, even though he might not have been as tall as the meeting room table.
"Send out one science ship to explore more territory. I need more planets that can be brought under Gamma World's administration. Strip the other two science ships of everything unnecessary and turn them into transport ships."
Cisrain didn't know how much time he'd have to develop, but he knew it wouldn't be much.
So he would use that time to improve every technology he could.
Population, technology, and resources.
"I want you to build space stations, war fortresses, and naval ports on Tangle Planet. Even if you have to hollow out the entire planet, build me a fleet and fortresses—especially a Gravity Slingshot."
"We can't just wait for Chaos to attack us." The eleven Chaos Beacons on the central star map were impossible to ignore. Cisrain spoke calmly. "We have to take the initiative and break through the blockade. It cuts us off from the other regions, using distance to drag us into a tomb of time. But we'll strike back with time on our side."
"I'm going back to my homeworld. You'll all come with me. Brown, I'm leaving everything on Ozrax in your hands. Before I return, I need you to rebuild everything there. Also, watch out for mutations on Ozrax. If necessary, you can abandon the planet!"
"Yes, Governor."
"This is Gamma World's Great Crusade!"
"Trapped here, any hesitation will let the surrounding forces devour us. We have to break through their all-out blockade. We must use every resource we have, and employ whatever strategies are necessary. We need to unite all our people, even those currently colonized by Xenos. We must reclaim our glory as victors."
"Humanity first!"
The transport ships on Ozrax loaded up with vast quantities of resources and set off for Tangle Planet.
Countless Skyships rose into the sky and entered another vessel.
Many factories had been damaged, but the production plants from Gamma Utopia were churning out new factory components nonstop.
The enormous Synapse Condenser hovered in the sky.
It ran at full power, straining to keep up.
In the dark universe, the sparks of civilization blazed.
The silent universe rang with the bells of the stars.
Before you continue