Warhammer: Black Emperor

Chapter 333 "Shadow of Order" Gene Seed Inventory Status

“My lord,” the chief apothecary reported, “the growth of gene seeds in each warband is sufficient to meet the needs of training new recruits.”

"The only exceptions to this situation, aside from the large-scale transformation of your Vostorian followers, are when you find the most suitable recruits for each chapter during the world's first recruit training."

"Based on the previous four similar situations, I made preparations after compiling statistics on Modian of the Third Regiment, Katachán of the Seventh Regiment, Kasai of the Eighth Regiment, and Tarasa of the Ninth Regiment."

Mikel, completely concealed within black armor, spoke methodically:
"The genetic material obtained from your sacred body, along with an additional 8,150 gene seeds, is sufficient to meet the needs of two new recruiting worlds."

"Based on the current situation, I believe there are only two possibilities for the lack of genetically modified seeds."

"One possibility is purely theoretical: when you return to the Legion, the demand for Geneseeds will surge due to the massive number of genetic modification surgeries performed by the followers of Vostoria and the Cradle of the Sea."

Ning Lu nodded slightly; this was the moment when most progenitors needed to have their genetic material extracted.

Each legion typically experiences two periods of rapid population growth.

The previous instance was when the Empire conquered the moon and used the gene labs of the "Selena Genetic Order" to mass-produce Astartes.

The next time was when the Primarch's followers returned to the Empire and underwent large-scale modifications.

Ninglu was a special case; all forty-four of his regiments of soldiers chose to undergo reform and join the legion.

The Legion's numbers surged as a result, reaching 85,000, including those under the shadow of the existing order and the continuous influx of Terrans.

"Another possibility I discovered from the Third and Fifteenth Legions is that their genetic seeds have problems, causing the legions to be unable to replenish their ranks and resulting in a sharp drop in numbers."

Although Mikel and the others were unaware of this, Nimrod knew that the "Son of the Emperor's" gene seed bank had been poisoned by the "Selena Gene Cult" and that a batch of it had been stolen by the Figurine King.

At its smallest, the entire legion consisted of only about three hundred sons of the emperor.

Only after Forgrim returned were the apothecaries able to extract the pure gene seed from him again.

The Third Army Corps, which is slowly recovering, now has fewer than 30,000 men.

The Fifteenth Legion, due to a mutation in its flesh and blood, had withdrawn from the "Great Expedition" seventeen years prior.

"To ensure that there are no problems with the Legion's gene seeds, I have strengthened the protection and inspection of the Legion's gene seed inventory."

"In addition to the gene seed stockpiles of each battle group, the extra gene seed stockpiles are stored in three locations."

"In order of the number of genes in stock, they are, in order, Shadow of the Throne, Triken, and Katachon."

Ninglu was pleased with the chief pharmacist's prudence and planned reserves, he thought to himself.

In other words, barring any unforeseen circumstances, the legion can develop steadily without extracting my genetic material.

In the event of an accident, or if a new world of conscription causes a surge in numbers, I, being in the middle sequence, will need to drink extra potions to replenish the extraordinary traits I have lost.

After advancing to promotion rank 4, you won't need to take any more medicine. Well... maybe you won't need it before then.
Ninglu immediately thought of the primordial mother on the moon, which he was determined to obtain.

[The original mother copy will be obtained during the grand birthday celebration.]
Ninglu knew that the original mother contained the genetic material collected by Huang Laohan to create all the original genes.

The genetic material in the original mother plant is even more effective and purer than the genetic seeds produced by extracting them directly from the gene source, and naturally surpasses that produced by various methods such as Astartes glands.

Or rather, the pharmacists' methods are technically inferior to those of Old Huang and his research team, and their extraction techniques are far behind.

[It was thanks to this that Doracaur was able to cultivate higher and stronger Primal Forged beings through independent research without the assistance of the Astartes Chapter.]
Nimrod thought of Dorakoll: [Hmm, I'll bring Dorakoll under my wing, "corrupt" him into a loyal follower, and have him responsible for developing the original forging and the equipment that works with it.]
Ninglu gathered his thoughts and gave the order to the chief pharmacist: "Well done. Transfer one-third of the inventory of the Shadow of the Royal Power to the underground of Shadow Keep."

"The pharmacy department has established a gene seed bank and set up operating rooms, hospitals, research and biological laboratories."

He then looked at Thomas: "The think tank department has set up an archive to store Legion data, and a library to collect knowledge."

"The technical sergeant takes over the foundry and establishes an armory..."

Ning Lu spoke quickly, and Arcena Dunn took notes.

"Each department of the Legion may choose a suitable location within and around Shadow Keep to establish its own facilities."

After receiving their orders, Thomas and Mikel left first. They selected a suitable location in Shadow Keep and began constructing the department's buildings.

"Let Lewis in," Nimrod instructed the Primarch's servant.

“I will bring him to an audience right away.”

A moment later, Lewis von Valancius, a traveling merchant dressed in a black silk robe, curiously entered the Primarch Palace.

After scanning the area with her azure eyes, she discovered that this place was quite different from the original palace in Exemplary City.

[It seems that because the king has only recently moved here, there is less decoration, making it appear more spacious.]
"Lewis, what brings you here?" Ninglu's words interrupted Lewis's thoughts. "My lord, I am following your orders to explore the stars."

"After discovering the Westday system, I explored northwards from Vostonia along the Milky Way star map, and during my voyage I unexpectedly arrived at an area that had just come into the Empire's view."

That area is now known as the Collonid Abyss.

When Nimrod heard about Colonid, the star map and related memories of that sector naturally came to mind.

[Yes, although the Colonid sector is located on the northeastern edge of the Misty Starfield, it has abundant resources and strategic significance.]

During his grand birthday celebrations, Horus Lupecal, facing a time crunch, personally led six legions in the three-year-long "Manachian War" in order to acquire industrial bases.
As Ninglu pondered, Lewis's eyes blazed with fury.

"My lord, the Mitu United Empire is entrenched in the area. Although it is called a union, the dominant aliens tyrannically rule over countless vassal races."

“The Mitu strictly forbid them from engaging in space travel and carry out absolute psionic cleansing. They also regularly slaughter various races, including humans, to control the population.”

"The humans who survived by chance also needed to offer flesh and blood to power the filthy and evil arcane technology of the Mitu people. They were the flesh and blood fuel that were kept in captivity."

Ninglu knew that most of the Mitu people's weapons were made of organic matter and needed to be activated by psionic energy, which was why they levied a tithe on flesh and blood and hunted down psionicists in large numbers.

"My lord, I beg you to wipe out the aliens and save hundreds of millions of our fellow humans."

"How strong are the Mitu people?" Ning Lu remained noncommittal, tapping his fingers lightly on the back of his chair.

Lewis dared not hide anything and honestly said, "Mitu is an evil and powerful alien kingdom."

"They control dozens of worlds, and the core world of Manach alone enslaves billions of humans."

"The Vironi Knights are struggling to survive, and Dametus could be overrun by the aliens at any time. The Forging World Mezoa can only swallow its anger and endure the periodic purges by Mitu."

Ninglu nodded and fell into deep thought.

He knew that the Mitu United Empire was a powerful opposing force before the outbreak of the all-out war with Randan.

Its strength not only surpasses the outpost of Spiral-Morse, but also exceeds the Orcish Empire of the "Wheel of Flames" and the forging world of Incaladion.

Mezoa is a large casting world, and in the grand scheme of the future empire, its size is only smaller than seven super-large casting worlds.

Of the seven super-large forging worlds, three have allied with him: Lucius, Underworld VIII, and Gloria. Mezoa is one of the forging worlds outside the eight that is closest in size to them.

Ninglu then recalled the military force that the Empire had deployed to resolve the issue of the Mitu-United Empire.

The Empire has committed a tremendous amount to this war, with Roger Dorn personally leading three Astartes legions, including his "Imperial Fist," the First Legion, and another legion he does not know.

In addition, there are hundreds of Solar Auxiliary Legions.

[Yes, this war may still be the one in which Dorne issued the most extermination orders.]

In order to completely eradicate the evil aliens, he issued extermination orders multiple times.
Ninglu considered the troop strength the Empire had mobilized in his memory. The original First Legion, after participating in the "First Randan War," should have had more than 40,000 troops.

The Imperial Fist should have numbered 30,000 before Dorne's return, and its maximum strength was 100,000 before the Great Birthday Ceremony.

Dorne returned in 835, and the Imperial Fist force now numbers no more than 50,000.

[As for the legion I don't know about, it must be one of the legions whose Primarch has not yet returned, which is why it is led by Dorn.]
Ninglu knew that, apart from the special First Legion, most other legions had between 10,000 and 30,000 members before the Primarch returned.

[Well, that means the Empire will deploy no more than 120,000 Astartes.]

Although the "Shadow of Order" had just experienced the Incaladion and the "First Randan War," it still had more than 140,000 men and was capable of destroying the Mitu United Empire on its own, but it would still suffer at least 10,000 to 20,000 casualties.

While he could defeat Mitu alone, it would significantly impact the expansion of all current warbands.
After understanding the potential costs, Nimrod weighed the value of the matter.

The Colony sector is rich in mineral resources and has trade value. After the Empire occupied it, it developed many trade routes.

I can gain the allegiance of the Vironi Knights and at least bring Mezoa under their control.
He finally spoke, saying, "I will lead my army into battle to purify the Mitu aliens."

"My lord, on behalf of the hundreds of billions of human compatriots in the Abyss of Colony, I express my gratitude to you."

After Lewis left, Ning Lu thought to himself.

Although the decision was made to conquer the Colony Sector, there was no need to fight alone.

In addition to the "Twilight Raiders" under my command, I can also request the First Legion to fight alongside me. Urian Bendreg has been looking for a major opportunity to get the First Legion back on track.

Hmm... the First and Fourteenth Armies won't occupy any territory, and we can assign them the dirty work, which they're happy to do, and they're doing it quite well.
With this in mind, Ninglu immediately set off back to the Shadow of Kings to attend the War Council.

(End of this chapter)