Warhammer 40K in a box

Chapter 336 The Frugal Governor
"It's finally over. This war has left me completely exhausted!" Chen Xi sighed and dragged his weary body back to the Rostov Governor's Mansion.

He didn't even bother to take off his uniform. Instead, he pounced on the luxurious bed, which could accommodate ten people rolling around, in an extremely undignified manner, burying his face deep in the velvet pillows and letting out a satisfied sigh.

Although Chen Xi, as governor, considered himself to be quite frugal, in this extravagant imperial system, no amount of frugality could change the fact that he held a high position.

The bedroom has been completely renovated since his last visit.

Not only has the area been expanded considerably, but the building structure has also been adjusted, with the ceiling raised by two meters, making the entire space appear more open.

All the exquisite solid wood furniture has been replaced with top-quality ebony from a certain ecological world, and the paintings hanging on the walls are no longer simple decorative paintings, but oil paintings by famous artists with gold trim.

Even the carpets have been replaced with rare animal hair from the planet Paradia, so soft that it feels like walking on clouds.

Chen Xi had specifically asked the Chancellor Rachel about this, and the reply he received was: "This is a matter of the Governor's reputation, sir! If your mansion cannot be renovated every year, it will become a laughing stock for other imperial nobles."

This answer left Chen Xi feeling both helpless and amused.

Although the cost of renovating the governor's mansion was indeed negligible to him, he still felt that this extravagant practice of doing it every year was too wasteful.

However, within the imperial aristocratic circles, Chen Xi's "frugality" was considered quite unusual.

His bedroom contained neither exotic alien creatures nor priceless works of art.

The few decorative items they possessed were nothing more than ordinary wood carvings and a small number of precious metal products; they were even reluctant to use much gilding.

In a world as luxurious as Cintilla, nobles would regularly replace even the stone sculptures in their estates to keep up with the latest art trends.

Of course, in terms of the quality of his collection, Chen Xi's exquisitely crafted weapons and power armor displayed in his bedroom, as well as the various alien combat items he acquired on the battlefield, far surpassed those of the decadent nobles.

But Chen Xi had absolutely no interest in these frivolous things.

If Rachel hadn't insisted that this was a necessary expense to maintain the governor's authority, and that it was indeed not a large expense, he would have thought even this renovation was unnecessary.

After all, in his view, it would be more practical to buy more power armor sets than to spend money on these flashy decorations.

The cost of renovating the Governor's Mansion is barely enough to buy two standard power armor suits.

It's worth mentioning that Chen Xi's governor's mansion is incredibly simple compared to the luxurious palaces of other planetary governors, which are located atop hive cities and equipped with private spaceports and ecological domes.

Even though nearly half of the Rostov sub-sector had been incorporated into the Empire's territory as the expedition progressed, and Chen Xi had been promoted from planetary governor to de facto sub-sector governor, fully qualified to build a luxurious palace befitting his status, he remained uninterested in it.

"Even if you build me a palace like Terra Palace, so what?" Chen Xi turned over and looked at the exquisite relief on the ceiling, thinking to himself with a self-deprecating smile: "Sleeping still only requires a bed, and eating doesn't necessarily mean I can eat two more bowls of food than others."

These basic needs will not change because of a luxurious lifestyle.

Besides, if you really want to pursue the ultimate enjoyment, wouldn't it be better to go back to Earth in the 3K era?
Seeking pleasure in the dark and cruel universe of 40K is tantamount to inviting Slaanesh to a party.

Thinking this way, Chen Xi felt that she should take a break and go back to 3K Era to rest properly.

He was particularly concerned about the reaction to the rejuvenation potion he had given out last time. If they were hiding something, Chen Xi felt that they wouldn't consider them in the future when they had something good, and some collaborations could be severed.

But if it's an attitude that wants to be popularized among the general public, then Chen Xi feels he can bring back something even better to accelerate technological development and usher humanity into the space age.

After all, in the dark universe of the fortieth millennium, space travel has long been a commonplace occurrence.

Even the most basic shuttle technology, in the eyes of Earth's civilization in the third thousand years, is a dimensional attack akin to that of a supernatural being.

This technological gap spanning tens of thousands of years cannot be easily bridged by simple technological accumulation.

In this era of severe technological degradation, the Standard Construction Template (STC) system is arguably the greatest legacy of human empires.

This intelligent construction system, designed by the sages of the Golden Age, was originally intended to ensure that the flame of human civilization would never be extinguished.

It also allows users to build what is recorded on the STC, regardless of the circumstances, as long as they provide the raw materials.

Even on a primitive, barbaric planet, as long as it is built according to the requirements of the STC template, products can be produced.

Don't think it's an exaggeration. The governor of a planet in one of the Empire's barbaric worlds once did something similar, getting local barbaric tribes to supply him with minerals, and spending ten years creating a lunar-class spacecraft in near-Earth orbit.

Imagine if a STC template for a time machine were given to Earth civilization in the third millennium.

With the industrial foundation of the 21st century, humanity is fully capable of building a true spacecraft in a short period of time.

Even more frightening is that Earth scientists can also reverse engineer the STC template to uncover cutting-edge technologies such as anti-gravity principles and plasma propulsion, thereby triggering a series of technological revolutions.

The speed of this technological leap is probably unimaginable even to the most optimistic futurists.

So after checking that he had enough points to redeem the STC template for the Sword-class frigate, Chen Xi returned to 3k Era without hesitation.
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Back in the 3K era, Chen Xi rested for two days and even drove to a famous hot spring resort in Changbai Mountain to completely relax his tense nerves in the steamy heat.

He leaned back against the natural hot spring pool, letting the mineral-rich water wash over his body, as if the fatigue of the past few days had been carried away by the rising heat.

After soaking in the hot springs, he enjoyed a sumptuous dinner at a specialty restaurant in the resort before returning home satisfied.

However, when he turned on the TV to watch the news, the scene in front of him almost made him drop his teacup.

Almost every news channel was broadcasting the same major news story on a loop: "Chinese scientists have achieved a new breakthrough in the field of life genetics; a new drug can effectively slow down human aging! Longevity drugs may become a reality!"

In the footage, the head of a national-level laboratory is speaking eloquently to the camera, stating that this groundbreaking research has passed the animal testing phase and is about to enter clinical trials.

Chen Xi was surprised to find that the rejuvenation potion technology he brought back from the 40k era had been digested and absorbed to this extent by the domestic research team in just a few days.

The experimental data presented in the news clearly showed that the mice that received treatment were significantly younger in physiological age, and all indicators were better than those of the control group.

To his surprise, official media outlets have even begun discussing the potential social changes this technology may bring, including a range of forward-looking issues such as raising the retirement age and adjusting healthcare policies.

(End of this chapter)