Warhammer: The Time Traveler

Chapter 377 Roger Dorn's Way (Third Update)

Leaving behind the suffocating pressure of the Imperial Audience Hall, they moved to a relatively simple but equally heavily guarded conference room.

The thick stone walls isolated the outside world, and the interior contained only a huge stone table and a few chairs of the same material.

Roger Dorn sat in the main seat, his gaze once again focusing on Chen Yu.

“His Majesty’s will must be carried out,” Dorn said bluntly, his voice low. “But how to carry it out requires strategy. Chen Yu, you brought this technology, so you have the most direct understanding of its impact. Tell me your thoughts.”

Chen Yu's mechanical body adjusted to a more stable posture on the stone chair, and the crimson optical lens met the Primarch's gaze: "Primarch, the power of the warp drive lies in redefining distance and connection."

It could greatly alleviate the empire's territorial fragmentation and communication delays caused by warp instability. However, precisely because of this, its promotion must not be excessive.

He paused briefly, organizing his thoughts into clear and logical language: "It directly impacts the monopoly of the Navigator family and the Star Language Court, indirectly affects the Martian Mechanicus's absolute control over interstellar travel technology, and may even shake the power structure of the High Lords Council."

The Empire had just experienced the Horus Rebellion and lost several Primarchs; the entire system was like a giant who had not yet recovered from a serious injury.

At this moment, we cannot withstand the violent upheaval caused by technological change that would affect all existing interest groups.

Stability must be the primary consideration. Promotion requires time, steps, and, more importantly… a strong hand to balance all parties, preventing internal divisions and infighting before the technology has even become widespread.

Dorn listened in silence, his large fingers tapping unconsciously on the stone tabletop.

Chen Yu's analysis hit the nail on the head and coincided with his own concerns.

After a moment, he let out a barely audible sigh, a sound that was unusually weary and unlike his indomitable image.

“You’re right. Stability trumps everything.” He raised his eyes, his gaze seemingly piercing through the walls, looking towards a distant past or an unattainable future. “If Robert were still here…”

He understands better than I how to navigate these political quagmires, how to weave a web of rhetoric to maintain a superficial balance among those factions with their own agendas. He's good at it.

Chen Yu's optical lens flickered slightly.

He sensed in Dorn's words a subtle dependence on his brother and a sense of helplessness in the face of this complex situation alone.

He responded calmly, his tone carrying a hint of insight that seemed to come from a distant past: "According to His Majesty's original plan and design, His Highness Robert Guilliman was to be molded as a 'son of war'."

His ideal type leans more towards a pure military commander and strategist.

Chen Yu's voice was steady, as if stating an objective fact, "It can only be said that his adoptive parents in Otlama raised him...too well."

It was so good that it gave him political vision and managerial talent that far exceeded its original design goals.

These words, like a pebble thrown into calm water, stirred ripples in Dorn's heart.

His sharp gaze suddenly focused on Chen Yu's expressionless, mechanical face.

The information revealed in Chen Yu's words touched upon the long-buried secrets about the creation of the Primarchs.

Dorn remembered the ancient genetic cult that had long been purged, the Astartes lady who ultimately committed suicide in the laboratory, and the ancient origins that this sage might possess, far beyond what his current identity suggested.

A deeper silence fell over the meeting room. Dorn didn't press for answers, and Chen Yu offered no further explanation.

Some things are best left unsaid.

The ghosts of the past and the burdens of the future intertwine in this simple, secluded room.
-
After completing his audience, Chen Yu was placed in a heavily guarded technical laboratory deep within the palace. The equipment here far surpassed that of his base in the Death World, and a team of taciturn technical priests, directly loyal to the palace itself, were assigned to him as his assistants.

They were extremely efficient, but lacked the almost fanatical desire to explore technical details that Nexus or their Martian counterparts possessed; they were more like a group of precision tools that absolutely obeyed orders.

Roger Dorn gave him a clear and specific task: to design a solution to integrate warp drives into the Imperial Navy's existing Luna-class cruisers.

The key point is that this is not intended to completely replace existing subspace engines, but rather to serve as an additional propulsion system.

"We need it to be able to maneuver quickly in the physical universe, or maintain basic navigation capabilities during raging subspace storms, rather than immediately abandoning the system we've used for millennia," Dorn emphasized before leaving. "We need to come up with a viable integration plan and prove its practicality."

Chen Yu understands the considerations behind this.

This is a compromise that demonstrates the value of the warp drive without immediately overturning the existing order, giving the Empire a buffer and adaptation process.

He immediately got to work, pulling up the complete structural blueprints of the Lunar-class cruiser and comparing them with the warp drive core data stored in the Thinker Array.

The only sounds in the laboratory were the faint hum of data transmission, the whirring of the servo system, and the synthesized voice of Chen Yu giving concise instructions to the technical priests.
-
Meanwhile, Roger Dorn faced a completely different situation.

The emperor's will is like an irresistible divine decree, but in practice, it must navigate through a thorny thicket of entrenched bureaucratic institutions and various factions.

Although Chen Yu advised proceeding slowly and Dorne agreed that caution was necessary, this did not mean he would tolerate endless arguments and double-dealing.

He is not Robert Guilliman; he is neither good at nor interested in slowly maneuvering and seeking consensus in the quagmire of politics.

His approach was more direct and more in line with his identity as the master of the "Imperial Fist".

At a meeting that brought together members of the Highlord Council, Martian representatives, and the navigator family's spokespeople, Dorn made no opening remarks and went straight to announcing the Emperor's decree and the decision to first conduct technical integration tests on the Lunar-class cruisers.

As expected, dissenting voices immediately arose.

The Navigator representatives vehemently asserted the irreplaceable importance of their families; the Mars representatives questioned the source and reliability of the technology, as well as who would lead the integration efforts; and some High Lords worried about the ripple effects this would have on the Empire's economy and military structure.

Dorn listened, his face as expressionless as if carved from granite.

Only after the clamor of the debate subsided slightly did he speak, his voice not loud, but carrying a cold weight that overwhelmed the entire hall: "I have summoned you not to hear dissenting opinions. The Emperor's will has been given. This is not a discussion, but a notification."

He surveyed everyone present, his gaze sharp as a knife.

"The Empire can only have one will, and that is the Emperor's will. Any act that obstructs, delays, or attempts to distort this will be considered a betrayal of the Empire." He didn't raise his voice, but the chill in his words almost froze the air. "Understand it, accept it, and then think about how to execute it. This is the only choice I give you."

He left no room for negotiation.

The meeting ended in a tense and fearful atmosphere.

Dorn did not need political compromises; he used absolute power and unquestionable loyalty to force a unified approach.

He knew this would breed resentment in the shadows, but with the emperor asleep and the empire in ruins, he firmly believed that an iron-fisted order was far more valuable than endless infighting.

His task was to clear away the most direct political obstacles for Chen Yu's technical solutions, even if it meant resorting to brutal methods.

(End of this chapter)