Emperor: What is this guy talking about?

After finalizing the production blueprints, Armenius handed the data over to the nearby Techmarine, telling him to arrange personnel to build production lines and produce a few sets first to see the results.

Seeing that Huron was about to leave, he acted quickly and grabbed the Chapter Master by the arm: "Chapter Master, there's no one else here right now. Tell your brother honestly, did the Emperor grant you an STC template?"

Huron sighed helplessly: "Brother Armenius, the Emperor really didn't give me an STC template. Those pieces of equipment are given to me by the Emperor at regular intervals."

Huron had been getting a bit annoyed with Armenius lately. He didn't know which wire in Armenius's brain had crossed, but Armenius firmly believed that the Emperor had bestowed an STC template upon him, and that those pieces of equipment were manufactured using an STC.

Then he started nagging him every day, trying to get him to take out the STC for research.

If he actually had one, he wouldn't even need Armenius to ask; he would have taken it out directly. The problem was that he truly didn't have one.

Armenius obviously didn't believe it: "Don't bluff me, Chapter Master. The Emperor has a million things to do every day, when would He have time to tighten bolts for you every day? That's just too ridiculous."

Huron shrugged: "What if the Emperor has taken a fancy to me, and this is His way of currying favor with me?"

The Emperor, secretly monitoring the screen: "?"

What on earth is this guy talking about!

Armenius was stunned, then shocked: "Could it be that the Emperor is female? Really?"

He already completely believed that Huron was a divine favorite, and naturally wouldn't doubt Huron's understanding of the Emperor.

And the Imperium's information blockade on history was also reflected right here.

Even though the Astral Claws were an illustrious Chapter with a long history and distinguished combat achievements—having even split into three successor Chapters—the Chapter still remained completely ignorant of most historical information.

Especially the Emperor's specific image, and the events of the Heresy.

The entire Chapter only knew that some Legions had betrayed the Imperium, but which specific Legions and which individuals were involved was entirely unclear.

They even only knew that there were nine loyalist Primarchs, while having no idea how many traitor Primarchs there were.

"Of course it's fake." Taking advantage of Armenius's momentary daze, Huron quickly pulled back his grabbed arm and bolted out of the room in a flash.

Leaving only a string of words echoing in the room: "Don't rush, when there really is an STC I'll definitely let you study it. For now, first figure out how to calibrate the Tactical Dreadnought Armor; the blessing the Emperor gave me has been enhanced."

In the hallway outside the room, Huron opened the system panel as he walked toward Odinson's office.

After more than half a year of production, coupled with the Chapter's existing inventory, the Chapter already had over 3,500 sets of power armor. Moreover, most of them were the highly versatile Aquila pattern, so power armor was now completely in surplus.

Therefore, aside from keeping one military factory continuing to produce Mk7 Aquila Power Armor, Huron allocated the remaining nine military factories to produce Terminator armor.

There was no need to agonize over the model in this regard, because the Astral Claws Chapter only held the production blueprints for the "Cataphractii" Terminator, so Huron chose that one.

Cataphractii Terminator output: 0.9/day.

The production capacity for Cataphractii Terminators was only one-tenth of that for power armor, but it was truly worth it. The combat effectiveness of a single set of Terminator armor was simply incomparable to ten sets of power armor.

Don't think that the Astral Claws having only one type of Terminator production blueprint seemed weak, because in reality, most Chapters didn't even have a single production blueprint.

Since the Horus Heresy, the Terminator armor production capacity across the entire Imperium had been steadily declining, and the technology was constantly being lost.

Most Chapters wanting to acquire Terminators either relied on allocations when their parent Chapter divided, or relied on captured loot and piecing things together.

There was basically no other path to take, let alone personally holding the production blueprints—that was something only renowned Chapters could accomplish, such as Founding Chapters or the Black Templars.

Pondering these matters, Huron soon reached Odinson's office, closed the system panel, and knocked on the office door.

"Come in," Odinson's voice came from inside the office.

Huron pushed the door open and saw Odinson surrounded by a large pile of documents on his desk.

Lifting his head and seeing Huron, Odinson hurriedly stood up: "Chapter Master, why have you come?"

Huron waved his hand, signaling him to sit down: "I've come to ask how the census in the lower hive is going."

"We already have the rough data, though the specifics haven't been fully sorted out yet," Odinson recalled. "In the current lower hive areas, we can account for roughly 18 billion people. If we factor in the Ecclesiarchy's areas and some omitted locations, it's probably a bit over 20 billion."

He then added: "However, because all sorts of killings take place in the lower hive almost every single moment, the exact headcount will likely fluctuate."

"Over twenty billion..." Although Huron knew the lower hive's population was definitely more than anticipated, he never expected that the lower hive population alone would exceed the entire paper population.

This gave him a direct realization of the terrible administrative capabilities of the Imperium of Man, and also solidified his determination to strengthen administrative control. He could not let the lower hive remain as it was.

Thus, he looked at Odinson: "How are the preliminary plans for the lower hive's surveillance system and networked retrofitting coming along?"

"The preliminary plans are mostly done," a trace of difficulty flashed across Odinson's face. "But Chapter Master, our current personnel are already over-saturated. The three engineering projects have already consumed most of our manpower and resources, so the networked retrofitting of the lower hive can only be pushed back."

Whether it was the ultra-large starch factory, or the subsequent water recycling, air recycling, and plasma reactor projects, all of them required massive amounts of resources. The wages and bonuses of the seemingly numerous billions of laborers were merely the most negligible part of it.

The resources obtained from ransacking the rebellious nobles—all kinds of engineering equipment and related production equipment—had already been put to use. The useless luxury goods and artworks were used to exchange favors with the nobles, ensuring the smooth progress of the projects.

It was truly impossible to spare any more resources to carry out the construction of the lower hive's surveillance system and networked retrofitting.

"It's fine, no need to rush, just get the current projects done well first." Huron pondered for a moment, looking at the national strategies that had mostly been completed: "The Emperor has revealed to me that our work is going well. He is very satisfied and is about to bestow even more powerful blessings. By then, everything will be readily resolved."

Odinson breathed a sigh of relief and executed an Aquila salute: "Praise the Emperor, praise His mercy and benevolence."

Huron also executed an Aquila salute: "Praise the Emperor."

Emperor: What does that mean?

What is this guy talking about? I have no idea anything like that happened.

Still, this guy really is doing quite well. If it weren't for the involvement of that unknown force that made it impossible for Him to be completely at ease, He would have really wanted to manifest as a saint to endorse him.

Let's wait and see. Anyway, he hasn't run into any major problems right now, and he can solve everything on his own.

If he runs into some major problem he can't solve, He will manifest as a saint or send word to the Custodians to help endorse him then.