The Emperor’s Angel of Death

Chapter 3437: Gellan Speed

After completing the internal contours, the construction matrices on both sides switched to a hexagonal honeycomb pattern. Each grid point lit up with a verdant verification beam. Illyan watched as the engine section at the rear of the warship autonomously proliferated. The metal, like living vines, meandered along the preset topological structure, and various complex devices, even circuits measured in millimeters, formed autonomously throughout the process.

And whenever a functional section was completed, the covering armor belt would also begin to take shape. The liquid alloy, shaped under precise control, rippled as it rapidly cooled, distorting the incoming gamma rays into bizarre halos.

If not for the warship's shape, Illyan would have thought some kind of alien was manufacturing their ships. In his mind, warships should be built like stacking blocks or constructing a house, with materials gradually piled onto the main structure, and everywhere should be filled with the sparkling light of welding or the massive impact of stamping.

As the hovercar departed, Illyan turned around.

“Are these all Imperial warships?”

Looking around, Illyan noticed that most of the warships were small, with only a few, probably cruisers in size, appearing to be of the Lunar class based on their silhouettes.

“Currently under construction are 28 Viper-class missile destroyers, 72 Skirmisher gunboats, and 16 improved Lunar-class cruisers.”

“Why not build larger warships?”

“Gellan's dockyards are not yet fully complete. Only a small portion of the area is usable right now, and what the Orpheus Navy Fleet needs most urgently is to prioritize building a Skirmisher gunboat defense network and maintaining escort patrol squadrons in various star systems. Also, the Orpheus Sea battle resulted in too many losses of small ships, so they are being prioritized for manufacture.”

“So, in the future, could battleships be built here as well?”

“That would depend on the situation. Gellan actually has more important tasks, such as manufacturing transport ships. Orpheus is currently very short on transport ships, including for reclaiming lost territories, which also requires a large number of transport ships. Its production capacity is always limited.”

Illyan gazed at the busy manufacturing area, muttering to himself:

“How long does it take to manufacture a warship, like a Lunar-class?”

“It seems like a batch of warships produced 10 standard Terra months ago has already been put into trial voyages. Skirmisher gunboats are faster, about 47 standard Terra days. Of course, it could be faster, but there's no need, as it would take up the time of other ships. Like now, the main construction is actually small general-purpose cargo ships capable of carrying 100,000 people and 5 million tons of cargo, with the ability to warp. Their manufacturing cycle is 32 standard Terra days per ship. 370 have already been built, and 65 are under construction. The ultimate goal is 3,000 ships.”

In fact, the solution that Gellan provided to Soshian was for larger and faster transport ships, but it was still the same problem, useful and usable are not the same thing, especially for transport ships that require a large number of personnel to travel back and forth, they must conform to the operating habits of Imperial crew and captains, otherwise where would Soshian find crew? It can't all be autopilot, that would scare the passengers to death.

Illyan suddenly turned his head, looking at Soshian in disbelief. When he retracted his gaze, he whispered in a slightly trembling voice:

“This treasure will drive everyone mad, Chapter Master Soshian. Are you really that trusting of me?”

“Of course, and Gellan won't always be this secretive. Perhaps one day it will be exposed.”

Taking a deep breath, Illyan calmed his emotions and continued to ask:

“Why can it build so fast? Is the quality of the warships guaranteed?”

“If you ask me about other things, I can say something, but when it comes to technology... I'm not very good at this. The general principle seems to be to directly 'copy' the model structure of the warship in reality, allowing nanobots to carry encoded instructions and execute DNA-style self-organizing construction processes, and then directly arranging atoms through some kind of atomic laser capture technology, combined with superfluid metal in a magnetic field to maintain strength... My description may be a bit nonsensical, but you probably understand that it doesn't manufacture parts and then assemble them, but all equipment, weapons, and even decorations are manufactured simultaneously during the construction process, so its efficiency is very fast. Of course, this also relies on Gellan's super computing power and various advanced equipment.”

Illyan nodded thoughtfully.

“I can roughly understand.”

When he sat back on the sofa, he exclaimed to Soshian:

“You already possess the power to change the Imperium, Chapter Master Soshian.”

“Do I?”

Soshian shook his head with a smile.

“I don't think so.”

“I'm not talking about that, but about you.”

“Why?”

“If it were me, after obtaining it, I would definitely build weapons and warships at all costs to make up for the previous losses, but you have focused on those transport ships, indicating that in your mind, there is a grander perspective and vision. What you want to build is an efficient social system, not just a powerful army.”

“You overestimate me. It's just... I'm doing everything based on the actual situation. The Storm Region generally lacks transport ships, and the strength of the Imperial merchant fleet is difficult to radiate to this area, and transport capacity determines the region's resource allocation capacity, as well as the army's logistics supply capacity. I have no choice but to do this. In fact, Orpheus still lacks large merchant ships, and these small general-purpose cargo ships are only used within the sector.”

“By the way, why are you so fond of missile destroyers? I remember that this model seems to be a not-so-successful experimental type?”

“The current Viper-class has been improved and equipped with new missiles, and has proven its value in multiple conflicts. It can even be said to be the most cost-effective small warship in the fleet, even better than the Nova-class.”

Illyan fell into deep thought, not knowing whether he was thinking about Soshian's words or something else, and the hovercar returned to the star and sped all the way to the tower where they had first arrived.

Stepping out of the hovercar, Illyan finally spoke.

“You must have something to say to me, Chapter Master Soshian.”

Soshian also answered bluntly:

“Yes.”

“You hope I... do something, or provide something.”

“In this war against the Necrons, I realized that psykers are indispensable, and the Star Phantoms have long lacked a Librarius, or psykers, for various reasons. Plus, our gene-seed is a bit special and not very suitable for modifying psykers, so I hope you can organize a team of psykers to serve the Chapter to replace some of the functions of the Librarius.”

Illyan frowned.

“But I heard that the Chapter seems to have a Librarius?”

“Kayan? He's just one person and has a lot of things to do. Also, I want to establish a professional combat psyker training system for use by mortal forces, and he is not suitable.”

“Why me?”

“Because I don't have many psykers around me, and you are the most suitable person.”

Illyan thought for a moment, the expression on his face changed several times, and finally returned to composure.

“Chapter Master Soshian, I have one last question, what exactly is your goal?”

“Goal... The Imperium is facing a huge storm. You can call it a prediction, or a speculation, or a guess, but if I have to say it, it's survival, whether it's humanity, or the Imperium, or the Legion.”

“Legion?”

Looking at Illyan's astonished expression, a smile appeared on Soshian's face.

“Ah, that's another long story.”