Several Chapter leaders looked at one another, but none voiced any opposition.
The success rate of transforming recruits had genuinely increased, and Huron could even produce brand-new weapons and equipment out of thin air. No one dared claim that he was falsely invoking the Emperor's name.
If Huron truly was the Emperor's Chosen, then opposing Huron meant opposing the Emperor, did it not?
Besides, everyone had unanimously agreed to Huron's public claim that he was the Badab Sector Governor.
Seeing that no one objected, Huron nodded in satisfaction.
"Since no one has any objections, Galien, have the Apothecarion begin cultivating all the Superhuman Organs needed for every Gene-seed, then begin transforming the recruits. The Emperor has revealed to me that, for the next twenty-nine Terran days, our recruit transformations will receive His blessing. Tell me if you encounter any difficulties."
Chief Apothecary Galien nodded. "I will complete the organ cultivation as quickly as possible. But Chapter Master, where should we draw the reserves from first?"
With a one hundred percent success rate, genetic compatibility was no longer the most important criterion. The pool from which they could select reserves had suddenly expanded enormously.
"First, select former failed transformation subjects among the Chapter Serfs. Then choose captains, serf commanders, Breacher Team personnel, and so on. If there are people skilled in administrative management, they may also be selected first."
Huron had already decided how to select the recruits. Although he would have preferred to wait until the first batch of Chapter Auxiliary had completed training, then pick the best among them.
But considering the feelings of the others in the Chapter, he still needed to carry out a large-scale successful transformation first and give everyone confidence before he could advance the subsequent work.
"Next is the Armoury. Armenius, arrange a warehouse for me. From now on, I'll place the equipment newly granted by the Emperor there every day. You can simply collect it directly."
"Yes, Chapter Master." Chief Techmarine Armenius's eyes gleamed with curiosity.
He believed that the recruit transformation surgeries were blessed by the Emperor, but he did not believe that these brand-new factory-fresh pieces of equipment had also been granted by the Emperor.
Rather than believing that the Emperor had bestowed equipment upon them, he believed that the Emperor had bestowed several powerful STC Templates upon the Chapter Master.
Certain powerful STC Templates could produce goods without consuming matter or energy. They were practically electricity meters running backward, which perfectly matched the Chapter Master's performance.
Armenius could not help feeling excited.
As a Techmarine who had studied on Mars and received official certification from the Adeptus Mechanicus, his enthusiasm for researching STCs was no less than that of any Tech-priest.
But perhaps the Chapter Master did not openly state that he possessed STCs because he wished to prevent those people from the Adeptus Mechanicus from using threats and inducements to seize them.
In any case, the meat was already in the pot. Once the Chapter grew stronger, the Chapter Master surely would not mind taking out some STCs for the Armoury to study, just as the Iron Hands and Salamanders did.
"One more matter." Having arranged the recruitment issue, Huron continued, "Brother Odinson will govern Badab on my behalf. Ask around your respective Companies and see whether anyone is willing to assist him in governing it."
Everyone exchanged uneasy glances. The Astral Claws were also a Chapter that glorified combat. Asking them to govern Mortels was little different from exile or punishment.
Corian, Captain of the 2nd Company, reacted most fiercely. "Chapter Master, why are we doing this?! Why punish Battle-Brothers who have committed no wrongdoing?!"
Seeing his eyes blazing with anger, Huron sighed. "Fine. Your Tiger Claws Chapter does not need to concern itself with this."
The Tiger Claws had secretly been sheltered by the Astral Claws for a long time, and Huron knew that the Chapter's culture was one where every member was warlike and knew nothing but battle.
As the nominal Captain of the 2nd Company and the actual Chapter Master of the Tiger Claws, Corian was naturally both the strongest fighter and the most loyal among them.
Thus, the moment he heard of a punishment akin to being slowly carved apart, he immediately jumped out to oppose it.
Huron explained, "I am not exiling or punishing them. Governing Mortels is meant to better fulfill the Emperor's great undertaking. Handing Badab over to those Mortel nobles and allowing them to ravage the Emperor's people is a disgrace."
"Most importantly, if we do not properly develop Badab, we will have no quality recruits, no sufficient logistics, and no great fleet. We cannot simply wait for the Emperor to grant us equipment forever, can we? Making Badab prosperous is the true practice of the Emperor's way."
Seeing Huron invoke the Emperor's name, the others all fell into thoughtful silence.
Of course, what mattered most was that Huron's words truly made sense. With only two thousand men, they could only rely on the Emperor to grant them equipment. But what would happen when they expanded the Chapter later? They could not possibly make everyone wait around for equipment then, could they?
Therefore, properly governing Badab was necessary.
Master of Sanctity Damien voiced his support. "Indeed. There should be some Chaplains in the Reclusiam interested in enlightening Mortels."
The Chief Librarian followed at once. "There are quite a few Psykers on Badab now. Since the recruit transformation success rate is so high, expanding and training the Librarian must become our highest priority."
Although neither the Chaplains nor the Librarians were professional administrators, they were sufficient for Huron.
He was not some extreme Astartes supremacist. Even if he were, the Chapter only numbered around two thousand men including the recruits about to be transformed. How could they possibly govern a Badab with a recorded population of fifty billion?
These people were actually meant to lend Odinson authority. The true backbone of administration would be the Chapter Auxiliary Huron planned to train through the system.
The system could now train two million troops at once. As long as he appropriately raised the training standards, it could produce two million junior clerks in a few months.
With this group, Huron could wipe out Badab's nobles, centralize power, and turn a puppet state into territory under his actual control.
With everything arranged, the meeting adjourned, and everyone went off to attend to their own business.
Galien included all the surviving "Half-Astartes" who had previously failed transformation in the reserves, along with many commanders among the Chapter Serfs.
Of course, at the Chapter Master's request, Galien also selected several clerical administrators as reserves. Like Odinson, their primary mission would be governing Badab.
Once the reserves were in place, Galien led the Apothecaries in beginning the transformation surgeries.
At first, everyone proceeded carefully, afraid that something might go wrong. But with the double blessing of the system and the Emperor, the Apothecaries soon discovered that the transformation process had become somewhat boring.
They cut open an incision, inserted the Gene-seed and Superhuman Organs, and then did nothing else. The transformed subject's own body completed everything remaining.
At that level of difficulty, it was not merely easy for full Apothecaries. It was overly simple even for apprentice Apothecaries.
To improve efficiency, Galien directly handed the transformation surgeries over to the apprentices for practice, assigning only one Apothecary to supervise them. He and the other Apothecaries focused on cultivating Superhuman Organs.
In this way, more than a thousand Gene-seeds were fully implanted in less than ten days, without a single failure.
At such a terrifying pace, even with Huron's additional support, the Armoury could not possibly cobble together one thousand sets of Power Armour. Armenius was sweating profusely with anxiety over it.
Fortunately, these recruits still needed time to train and grow before receiving their armour. For now, they only needed to take turns using training armour.
Huron looked at the summary on the data panel:
Current total Battle-Brothers: 2,026, Bolter shortfall: 219, Power Armour shortfall: 633, ...
Back when my force had just been formed, I had only some two thousand men and barely over a thousand guns...
As for what kind of men they were and what kind of guns they carried, do not ask.
But now that the recruit transformations were complete, it was time to develop Badab and train the Chapter Auxiliary as well. His Civilian Factory had long been itching to get started.
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