Warhammer: The Time Traveler

Chapter 399 Third Stage of Transformation (Fifth Update)

During the glorious years of the Great Crusade, the predecessor of the Holy Blood Angels Legion, the Ninth Legion known as the "Ghouls," was famous for absorbing all kinds of marginalized people.

While other legions strictly adhered to standards of genetic purity, they opened their doors to mutants struggling to survive in the dead world and the irradiated wasteland.

These recruits, whose bodies bore the marks of environmental adaptation, were seen as objects to be purified by other judicial institutions of the Empire, but they found a home in the Blood Angels' reformation system.

The perfect and powerful genetic seed of Saint Gillespie exhibits amazing inclusivity.

Unlike a brutal carving knife that flattens out all heterogeneity, it acts like a skilled sculptor, wisely identifying, guiding, and integrating the valuable parts of these variations, while gently correcting any flaws that might cause problems.

Ultimately, these individuals, who had been rejected by the mainstream, were molded into powerful and loyal Astartes who met the Legion's standards.

This unique inclusiveness not only provides the Blood Angels with a wider range of troop sources, but also allows them to draw strength from population pools that other legions cannot access.

This not only highlights the exceptional characteristics of the Blood Angel Geneseed, but also embodies the inclusive and perfect ideal represented by its Primarch, Saint Gilles, which transcends the narrow definition of human form.

After analyzing these cases in depth, Chen Yu realized that the success of the Holy Blood Angels Legion went far beyond its superficial advantages in transformation.

Their very existence is the most powerful testament to Ms. Astartes' original design concept.

The true value of that first-generation technology, which was based on the direct implantation of gene seeds and the guidance of the body to generate organs autonomously, lay in preserving a crucial possibility for the evolution of the Space Marines: access to the third stage of modification that had been forgotten by the world due to technological interruption.

In Lady Astartes' complete plan, the ascension of a Space Marine follows three distinct stages.

The first stage requires the successful implantation of the gene seed and the guidance of the body to autonomously generate all necessary organs; the second stage is when these organ systems are fully mature and achieve precise coordination, enabling the warrior to reach a stable peak combat state—this stage was mistakenly regarded by later generations as the end point of the modification.

Her real innovation lies in the third phase, which was never implemented.

This is not a random mutation based on luck, but a complete and controllable enhancement program.

According to her design, after completing the first two stages of modification, the gene seed can be directly induced to enter a second developmental cycle through specific biotechnology, systematically unlocking all the potential hidden deep within the gene.

This profound awakening can unleash physiological functions and psionic talents far exceeding conventional designs, enabling warriors to break through their inherent life forms and achieve a qualitative leap towards a direction closer to the essence of the Primitive.

Ten thousand years later, Mephisto's unexpected breakthrough at the Holy Blood Angels' intelligence corps proved the feasibility of this design.

His secondary development triggered in dire straits was a fleeting glimpse into the third phase of transformation that Ms. Astartes had planned to achieve in a controlled manner.

This sublimation is far more than a simple increase in power; it is a transformation of the very essence of life.

Other legions' modification technologies, due to their "piecemeal" surgical implantation methods and the use of pre-grown organs, fundamentally restrict the activity and integrity of their genetic seeds in the early stages of modification, thus losing the basis for deep evolution.

This is precisely why, for millennia, only the Blood Angels have been able to access this realm; the technological path they inherited has most completely preserved the activity and potential of the genetic seed. Chen Yu clearly recognized that Mephisto's case was by no means an accidental genetic mutation, but rather conclusive proof in reality of Ms. Astartes's third-stage transformation plan.

This long-forgotten design blueprint is by no means a pipe dream. Given the right conditions, the true power dormant within the genetic seed can be fully awakened. The Holy Blood Angels Legion, having inherited the technological path closest to the original design, has become the only warband to have even unconsciously touched the threshold of this ultimate evolution.

This profound understanding greatly strengthened Chen Yu's resolve.

He realized that what he held in his hands was far more than just a tool to fix existing defects; it was a key that could unlock a new path of evolution for the Space Marines.

The swift conquest of the Imperial Fist was merely the first step in his verification and practice of this ancient wisdom.

His longer-term vision is to give more Astartes warriors the opportunity to access the more complete life form that should belong to them, and to realize the unfulfilled ideals of Lady Astartes.
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However, Chen Yu knew that this secret, which concerned the future evolutionary path of the Space Marines, must not be revealed in the slightest, not even to Roger Dorn.

The reason is that, after the evolution of the Great Crusade, especially after the trauma caused by the Horus Rebellion, the "Gene Seed" is not only the biological foundation of every Astartes Chapter, but also the most sacred and inviolable relic for their bloodline inheritance, historical glory and chapter identity.

Any attempt to "improve," "optimize," or even merely "in-depth study" the Geneseed is considered by most Warbands to be the most heinous act of blasphemy, a disrespect and betrayal of their Primarch bloodline and Warband traditions.

The case of the Space Wolves in later generations serves as the most vivid warning.

When its offspring were suffering from severe mutations because they could not obtain the blessing of the mother chapter's unique ritual—the "Wolf Grail"—to stabilize the "Wolf Spiral" genetic code, the then-space wolf alpha secretly instructed the chapter's apothecary to study the gene seed itself in order to find a way to eliminate the mutations.

Although the research itself may have been done in good intentions to save offspring, and its laboratory was later unfortunately attacked by Chaos traitors, resulting in the destruction of all research results, the nature of this event was characterized as "blasphemy" when it was learned by later generations.

Even more alarming is that when the first Chapter Master, "Bjorn the One-Handed," awoke from his slumber and heard of this, the highly respected ancient hero bluntly stated that if the forces of Chaos had not destroyed the laboratory first, he himself would have personally "purified" the apothecaries who conducted this research.

While this may involve deeper, unspeakable secrets about the Space Wolf and Fenris, Bjorn's attitude undoubtedly declares the Chapter's absolute stance on the Geneseed issue—sacred, unquestionable, and inviolable.

This case stands like an invisible giant wall in front of Chen Yu.

The core of the original blueprint and pure gene template of the Lady Astartes that he possessed was to intervene and guide the expression and potential of the gene seed at the deepest level, which touched the most sensitive and inviolable nerve of all the chapters.

Once his intentions are exposed, he will immediately transform from a respected sage into the public enemy of the entire Astartes Order.

Therefore, Chen Yu had to hide his true purpose under layers of disguise.

His treatment of the Imperial Fist Conquest Army must, on the surface, completely conform to the framework of "repair" and "return to the standard template," and must not reveal any signs of "transcending" or "improving" the existing genetic seed design.

He needs to be like the most skilled cryptographer, cleverly weaving the fragments of Lady Astartes' wisdom into the logic acceptable to the current technological system, quietly sowing the seeds of the future without alerting anyone.

This is a dance on a tightrope, where every step must be precise and secretive. Any mistake will lead to irreversible consequences and completely bury the ancient light of hope that could have illuminated the future of humanity.

(End of this chapter)