Weather Control Device

As the mobile base unfolded, Lox's heart surged with excitement.

"I order the construction of a power plant."

"I order the construction of an ore refining center."

"I order the construction of a planetary control tower."

Command after command left Lox's mouth, and the newly activated war base immediately began operating at full capacity.

Efficiency was productivity, and productivity was everything. The war base, working at full speed, left even Imperials accustomed to the Adeptus Mechanicus's efficiency deeply shaken.

The stored initial nanobots swiftly constructed an antimatter power plant under the AI's control. Boundless energy was transmitted through thick cables and wireless power transmission facilities.

Elsewhere, another group of nanobots formed a refining center. Once mining vehicles as large as Leman Russ tanks rolled off the line, they drilled underground under scanner guidance, heading straight for the liquid minerals of the mantle.

Neither solid rock nor scorching magma posed any obstacle before the mining vehicles' disintegration-field drills.

After boring underground, these massive machines would preliminarily separate impurities from the deposits. The processed minerals would then be teleported directly from their cargo holds back to the refining center for further smelting.

In just a few hours, the force-field-covered area before them had become a forest of steel. Towering vehicle factories spewed black smoke, which was immediately collected for secondary material recovery by floating automated machines overhead.

No material would be wasted. All waste generated during one production cycle would be recycled and fed into the next.

Lox arrived at the expanding surface complex. The air carried the scent of steel, while the air purification systems ran continuously, cleansing the poisonous atmosphere into fresh air fit for human breathing.

"Everything's starting to run," Lox said.

A single simple command had changed the entire world.

"It's incredible. The Mechanicus needs at least fifty years to transform a death world, along with immense investments of manpower and resources. Only a handful of important worlds qualify for such reconstruction."

Hill removed his helmet, bent down, and knelt on one knee to feel the temperature of the ground.

The Iron Hands looked even more fervent. The Iron Father muttered mysterious prayers, seemingly worshipping the Omnissiah.

"What exactly is this Omnissiah you worship? This is the crystallization of human wisdom. What does it have to do with gods?" Lox looked at Iron Father Wayland and asked in confusion.

"Th-this, my lord... the Omnissiah is the faith of the Adeptus Mechanicus of Mars. The Adeptus Mechanicus believes that all technological knowledge and mechanical creations embody the Omnissiah's divine might. One head of the Imperial double-headed eagle belongs to the Adeptus Mechanicus."

Wayland's tone was grave as he mentioned the Adeptus Mechanicus with extreme caution.

"I know you do not believe that machines possess souls, but please do not make such remarks before outsiders, especially members of the Adeptus Mechanicus. Those people possess extraordinary power and influence. Your words may bring needless trouble."

Lox had never seen the Iron Father act so cautiously. It seemed the Adeptus Mechanicus was even more powerful than he had imagined.

Lox felt a pang of melancholy. In his time, Mars had been a symbol of knowledge and progress.

Countless scientific advances and theoretical innovations had been proposed by Martian scientists, yet this sanctuary of knowledge now seemed to have become a temple of superstition.

"Also, Mars strictly prohibits the use of Abominable Intelligence. This is a red line. Once Mars discovers it, they will send punitive forces to destroy the Abominable Intelligence." Wayland's meaning was not difficult for Lox to understand. He was referring to the shipboard Cogitator Lox used.

"Can you answer me this? What is the difference between AI and a Machine Spirit? You firmly believe that machines possess souls, yet strictly forbid the existence of AI. Isn't that contradictory?"

Wayland fell silent. It was not something that could be answered in a few words.

"Iron Father, there is no need to hesitate. This is Macragge, not Mars. Those technological lunatics cannot extend their hands into the Five Hundred Worlds."

Hill stepped in to smooth things over. "My lord has already sworn an oath that he will protect Lox. As long as he remains in the Five Hundred Worlds, no one can harm him."

"The entire galaxy is in chaos right now. Desperate times call for desperate measures; this is not the time to pursue the matter. So..." Hill revealed a faintly amused smile. "There are only Machine Spirits aboard the ship. No AI."

"The Five Hundred Worlds are forever loyal!"

The Ultramarines truly were among the most unusual of the Astartes. They excelled at the political arts that most Astartes did not understand. Hill had also made Guilliman's position clear: the Five Hundred Worlds had only Machine Spirits, no AI.

Everything within the Five Hundred Worlds was loyal. It required neither doubt nor recognition from anyone else.

As for whether Mars believed it, they were welcome to come to the Five Hundred Worlds and question Guilliman himself—then see whether the primarch's honest blade was sharp enough.

When the Warmaster launched his rebellion, without Mars's involvement, the traitors would likely have run out of supplies before long. It was certain that some people on Mars had chosen Warmaster Horus.

The discussion of AI was quickly set aside. The most important matter now was to rapidly build up production on this planet and help Guilliman assemble a new armed force.

Before the vehicle factories began mass production, Lox decided to transform the planet's terrible environment.

If the toxic substances in the atmosphere could be utilized, they too would become extremely valuable resources.

At the center of the war base, atop the hundred-meter-tall technological center, a hemispherical structure swiftly took shape under the nanobots' construction, surrounded by regularly arranged spherical generators.

The gigantic spherical generator at its center let out an electromagnetic hum. At the same time, energy was rapidly drawn from the antimatter power plants within the base.

It was enough terrifying energy to level the planet's surface, yet once it was channeled into the core of the weather control device, masses of dark clouds swiftly gathered in the sky.

The cloud cover nearly blanketed the sky over the entire region. Even viewed from space, it spanned hundreds of thousands of square kilometers.

The violently churning atmosphere generated lightning storms beyond nature's limits. Lightning spreading across the horizon could be seen with the naked eye even hundreds of kilometers away.

The toxic substances in the air were ionized and broken down by lightning amid this planetary-scale storm, then washed out and absorbed by the rain before falling to the ground.

Humanity held nature's power in its hands. Through the weather control device, Lox was changing the composition of this planet's atmosphere at an unbelievable speed.

The radioactive substances dispersed through the air were thoroughly collected, then stored by the mining vehicles in a nuclear materials depot. The acidic substances that had poisoned the air were sent directly into the production lines.

Nothing was waste; it was merely a resource placed in the wrong location.

Oxygen factories were absorbing greenhouse gases and releasing oxygen. The entire planet's atmospheric composition would be adjusted into the state most suitable for human habitation.

In just one more week, the humans walking on Mustafar would cast aside their old breathing masks and enjoy air sweeter than that of a garden world.

"So this is Dark Age of Technology technology? A death world can be revived in only a few days?" Hill exclaimed in admiration.

Although this world lay within the Macragge system, considering the costs and benefits of terraforming, the primarch had not intended to turn it into a garden world.

"It isn't that simple. Next, I need to build magnetic generators at the planet's poles. This planet needs an altered magnetic field to hold its improved atmosphere in place."

With sufficient energy, chemically producing water was nothing more than combining two hydrogen atoms with one oxygen atom.

Outside, a torrential rain unlike anything in the planet's history had begun. The rain washed over the world, soaking its parched flesh.

Lakes and rivers began to form in low-lying areas. Though the water still contained harmful substances, once the filtration systems began operating, clean water would replace these polluted sources.

"This basin will become an ocean. It will regulate the planet's atmospheric circulation and become the cradle of countless lives."

As Lox spoke, land covering one-sixth of the planet's surface was designated as an oceanic region.

The colossal engineering machines produced by the vehicle factories would dredge the waterways, and all rivers would eventually flow into this ocean.

Mustafar's dramatic changes naturally could not escape the airtight surveillance network of the Macragge system. The lightning storm sweeping across the planet could be seen with the naked eye even from neighboring worlds.