Warhammer: The Time Traveler

Chapter 394 First Flight Test (Ten Updates)
The Eternal Seeker's first warp jump did not pursue extreme speed or long distance. Chen Yu set its core mission as long-term continuous operation to comprehensively test the overall stability and coordination of various subsystems of this new ship that integrates multiple technologies in a real faster-than-light environment.

The destination of this voyage is an insignificant, desolate star system, but the journey itself is of paramount importance.

The transition state lasted for approximately one standard Terra month.

During this period, the interior of the "Eternal Seeker" resembled a high-speed, precision clock.

Chen Yu's massive body was directly connected to the ship's main Thinker array most of the time, and behind the scarlet optical lenses, massive amounts of data flowed like a waterfall.

He monitors every subtle change in every key parameter.

The logic core and autonomous decision-making system provided by Neksam have performed excellently in continuous operation, and its intelligence level has indeed stabilized within a safe threshold that is both efficient and does not cross the red line of "anti-intelligence".

Even in the event of a tiny disturbance in the spatial particle flow, it adjusted the shield parameter distribution faster than the preset program.

GREA's energy system withstood the test of prolonged high-load operation.

The energy distribution network acts like strong blood vessels, precisely delivering the surging power to every part of the ship.

The redundancy design ensures that even if a secondary energy channel experiences a one ten-thousandth decrease in efficiency, a backup line will immediately and seamlessly take over.

Lucius’s sensor array continuously collects peculiar physical readings between the physical universe and the warp bubble interface, and its high precision provides Chen Yu with a wealth of valuable first-hand data.

Meanwhile, its optimized command link ensures absolute clarity and stability of internal ship communication at warp speed, without any delay or distortion.

The various facilities provided by Mars have also undergone initial testing.

The small furnace successfully manufactured some spare parts during the voyage, demonstrating the reliability of its basic manufacturing capabilities.

The biological laboratory's environmental maintenance system is operating smoothly, laying the foundation for potential future research tasks.

The data provided by those ancient navigation instruments in warp drive mode forms an interesting complement and validation with the new system.

The Black Stone Psionic Isolation Chamber built by Huangquan No. 8 has been in a state of silent standby. Its unique dead silence is like a "void" in the core of the ship. No one can feel its existence on the psionic level, which in itself proves the success of its design.

Of course, not everything is perfect.

During the third week of continuous operation, a non-critical servo motor assembly located in the third zone on the starboard side began to emit periodic high-frequency vibrations. Although it did not affect its core functions, the vibration amplitude slightly exceeded the design tolerance.

Meanwhile, a secondary heat exchanger in the backup environmental control system located on the lower deck experienced a slow decline in heat dissipation efficiency of about three percent. Although this is currently entirely within the redundancy capacity of the backup system, the trend warrants attention.

Furthermore, during continuous stress monitoring of the ship's structure, a specific stress sensor located at the connection between the engine room and the main hull transmitted data showing an inexplicable and extremely weak periodic fluctuation.

Its magnitude is not even enough to trigger the lowest level of alarm threshold, but because its pattern does not conform to any known theoretical model, it is specially marked by the system as an "observable item".

These problems are insignificant from an engineering perspective, far from affecting navigation safety, and may not even attract the attention of regular crew members.

However, they were all accurately captured by Chen Yu's highly sensitive diagnostic system and recorded one by one, marking them as potential nodes that require further in-depth analysis, optimization, or preventative maintenance.

Throughout the test, Chen Yu acted more like a calm observer and recorder. He rarely intervened directly in the system's automatic operation unless certain parameters approached preset safety boundaries. What he needed to see was the ship's true, unadulterated operational state.

A month later, as planned, the "Eternal Seeker" precisely broke out of warp drive at the edge of the target star system, and its slender hull appeared in an exciting manner near the orbit of an Imperial Nest world in that star system.

All core systems, including the warp drive itself, did not experience any malfunctions that could affect the mission or safety throughout the long and smooth voyage.

Chen Yu disconnected the direct connection with the Master Thinker, and the mechanical body emitted a faint hum of servo motors running on the silent bridge.

The test data from the first long-duration voyage has been collected, and the results meet or even exceed his expectations in some aspects.

The Eternal Seeker and its onboard technologies have initially demonstrated their value and reliability.

This laid a solid technical foundation for Chen Yu's next plan—whether it was to continue in-depth testing or to go to more distant star systems for real exploration.

This newly built ship is ready to carry him on his journey of seeking knowledge, sailing towards a wider unknown.
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Despite the satisfactory results of the first long-distance voyage test, and the fact that the data from the "Eternal Seeker" largely met or even exceeded expectations in some aspects, Chen Yu did not immediately embark on more in-depth explorations.

After careful consideration, his core logic issued a new command: set a course and return to Holy Terra.

In Chen Yu's view, the successful verification of the warp drive and the initial establishment of the new order are not the end of the matter. On the contrary, they are merely the beginning of a more complex situation.

The technical feasibility has been proven, but the challenges of truly integrating this technology into the empire's vast and rigid body are only just beginning to emerge.

The Eternal Seeker has once again entered warp drive mode, and this time, its target is clear—the central hub of the human empire.

Chen Yu did not relax during the voyage.

While analyzing the massive amount of data accumulated from the first test, he began to remotely diagnose and perform preliminary software-level optimizations on the minor issues that were recorded.

Meanwhile, he was also organizing his thoughts, preparing to report the test results to Roger Dorn, and discussing the next steps in the promotion strategy.

He knew perfectly well that returning to Terra meant stepping back into the vortex of power and interests.

The success of the Crescent-class destroyers and the existence of the Eternal Seeker are both powerful assets and potential targets of criticism.

Those forces that were already suspicious or hostile to change—whether they were conservatives in the Highlord Council, members of the Star Court and the Navigator families who felt threatened, or other enemies lurking in the shadows—would never stand idly by and watch the warp drive completely alter the course of the Empire.

This return is no longer accompanied by an unproven "hope," but rather by tangible technological achievements and navigation records.

This will give supporters more confidence, but at the same time, it will inevitably make opponents more anxious and their actions may become more radical.

The Eternal Seeker sailed steadily at a stable warp speed, heading towards that ancient world shrouded in starlight.

Chen Yu's mechanical body stood still on the bridge, his optical lens watching the changing stream of light ahead.

He knew that what awaited him in Terra would not be a simple celebration and praise, but a new round of storms, perhaps even more subtle and dangerous.

(End of this chapter)