Warhammer: The Time Traveler

Chapter 390 Framework Established (Sixth Update)
Just as the World Forging Alliance believed victory was assured and was preparing to finalize the terms of the new order in one fell swoop, a new order from the "Eternal Expedition" changed the course of the negotiations.

This directive, originating directly from Roger Dorn, with its characteristic conciseness and clarity, cast a crucial weight on the already unbalanced scales.

Dorn's plan reflects his consistent pragmatic style: uncompromising on matters of principle, while maintaining necessary checks and balances at the implementation level.

He explicitly demanded that Mars relinquish its absolute monopoly on production licenses and technology patents, a decision that fully satisfied the alliance's core demands.

However, at the implementation level, the Prototype retained a key function for Mars—technical security review.

Under the new framework, each foundry world enjoys full patent ownership of its independently developed technologies, without needing Mars certification.

However, when these technologies need to be promoted within the Empire or produced by other forging worlds, they must undergo security review by an agency under the Martian Council.

Mars' new role will focus on technology risk assessment, including reviewing potential security vulnerabilities, compatibility with existing technology systems, and whether it touches on technological taboos such as hateful intelligence.

This arrangement not only broke Mars' long-standing technological monopoly but also ensured the stability and security of the Empire's overall technological development.

While Mars has lost absolute control, it has retained a voice in the areas of technological ethics and security.

For the Alliance, it gained long-awaited technological autonomy, while also establishing necessary technological security mechanisms within the framework of the Empire.

Dorne's decision demonstrates his foresight as the ruler of the empire.

We must not only promote technological progress, but also ensure order and stability during the process of change.

Under this new technological order, Mars will transform from a technological monopolist to a technological gatekeeper, while the various casting worlds will gain greater space for innovation and development.

In short, the "ownership" of the patents has been delegated to each casting world, but the "passport" for large-scale application still retains the right to review and approve them in the hands of Mars.

Mars can no longer easily kill a new technology on the grounds of "not meeting standards," but it still holds the veto power based on "safety and stability."

This plan was like a bucket of cold water, slightly dampening the overly high morale of the alliance, but it also injected a shot in the arm into the Martian Council, which was on the verge of despair.

For Mars, this was undoubtedly a huge concession. They lost their monopoly on doing whatever they wanted, but they did retain their core function as "censors" and maintained their status as the ultimate arbiter of technological ethics and safety as the orthodox Mechanics. They managed to barely hold onto their last and most important dignity and authority.

Although he has gone from being the supreme ruler to a powerful "gatekeeper," his status is different, but it is still much better than being completely marginalized.

While this is not the most ideal outcome for the Forging World Alliance, it is nonetheless a crucial breakthrough—autonomy in technological patents.

Moreover, Dorn's will cannot be defied, and this plan did indeed provide a working framework, avoiding a complete break with Mars and the endless continuation of internal strife.

After receiving the instructions, Great Sage Vox engaged in a brief but efficient data exchange with the representatives of the alliance.

Ultimately, he responded on behalf of the Alliance: "We accept the Primarch's decision. This plan can usher in a new era for the Cult of Mechanics and the Empire."

Chen Yu had no objection to this. His primary goal was to promote technological development and break the rigid monopoly.

Dorn's plan, while breaking the monopoly, also set up a necessary safety valve. Although this valve, controlled by Mars, may not be perfect, it is the optimal solution to maximize the promotion of change and maintain the stability of the Empire under the current circumstances.

The balance of the negotiations has finally found a new and relatively stable equilibrium.

Mars was able to "kneel less horribly," retaining some dignity and key power; the alliance, on the other hand, achieved its core objective, winning unprecedented development space for each of them to forge their own worlds.

A storm that could have torn apart the Cult of Mechanics was temporarily quelled by Roger Dorn's forceful intervention, and a new framework for the technological order was thus established.
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With the establishment of the new technological order framework, the promotion plan for the warp drive has also been officially put on the agenda.

Taking advantage of the rare opportunity for representatives from major casting worlds to gather on Mars, Chen Yu presented his preliminary design blueprint, which was based on the Lunar Cruiser structure and integrated with a warp drive.

He proposed that a temporary technical committee be formed, composed of all the representatives of the foundry world present and experts from Mars, to brainstorm and optimize the design, making it the first standardized example for the future Empire to promote warp drive technology.

The proposal immediately received a positive response from all parties.

Both the Forging World Alliance, which has just gained more autonomy, and Mars, which is trying to reposition its value in the new order, are keenly aware that this joint design project for the "first warp drive ship" will be a highly symbolic event.

It can demonstrate to the entire Empire that, despite internal turmoil, the Mechanicus remains (at least superficially) a united whole, capable of cooperating for the future of the Empire.

Therefore, all parties have shown extraordinary enthusiasm and are determined to make this demonstration project the best it can be.

However, this "dedication" soon manifested itself in a way that was very characteristic of mechanical education—namely, "nitpicking" Chen Yu's original design.

Chen Yu's design focused on the integration of the warp drive and the adaptation of the basic structure, and it was not comprehensive in many details of the starship design.

This immediately gave the representatives room to make their own contributions.

“Insufficient redundancy in the energy transmission pipeline! According to Gridia’s standards, at least three backup circuits are needed to cope with wartime overload!” Gridia’s Sage Vladimir waved his thick arm, which was equipped with welding tools, and the data stream was filled with the heat of a forge.

"Absurd!" a Martian naval sage immediately retorted, his megaphone spewing out a few drops of cooling steam. "Excessive redundancy adds unnecessary weight and complexity, affecting the ship's balance! Seventeen classic cases in the Martian database prove this..."

“Your databases are ancient relics from ten thousand years ago!” Lucius’s Sage Thorne coldly interjected, his optical lens sweeping across the control system section of the design. “The interface between the navigation array and the control system is too rudimentary. We must use Lucius’s latest psionic-data conversion bridge, which can improve accuracy by at least twelve percent.”

“Cost! Have you considered the cost?” Another sage, representing economic considerations, uttered a sharp code, “The cost of your Lucius’s sophisticated contraption is enough to rebuild half a macro cannon!”

Chen Yu's mechanical body stood still in a corner of the conference room, his scarlet optical lens calmly watching the rapidly escalating "technical discussion".

He offered no rebuttal to the criticisms raised by various parties.

He knew that his experience in starship systems engineering was indeed inferior to that of these veteran sages who had been immersed in the field for hundreds of years or even longer. His goal was to come up with a feasible solution, and he was happy to see the experts contribute their wisdom on how to optimize it to the extreme.

(End of this chapter)