Warhammer 40: Starting as a Rogue Trader

Chapter 270 The Heavenly Secrets Project
Gao Yi looked at the ascension talents coming from all the stars.

The ability to select one Ascension talent for free, plus the requirement of only 1000 points to unlock the next Ascension talent, makes Gao Yi seem less cautious about choosing Ascension talents.

With the current level of cohesion, it will only take a month to unlock the next Ascension Talent.

Genetic remodeling, flesh and blood, synthetic evolution, and mind over matter are still unavailable for selection, and some of the original Ascension talents in the game have also undergone some changes to adapt to the Warhammer world.

Options such as fleet capacity, diplomatic weight, empire size, and increasing the number of envoys and scientists are not available; Gao Yi is not subject to the same limitations in reality as he is in the game.

There will be no additional maintenance costs due to too many warships or too many scientists, nor will there be any penalties from the injury mechanism due to the size of the empire.

This can be considered a benefit, but at the same time, benefits such as reducing construction costs cannot be applied to the Warhammer world.

Before making his choice of ascending talent, Gao Yi first checked the other interfaces. The first one was the leader interface, where the candidate for chief science officer was Pavian.

Besides Pavian, Gao Yi also saw that many of his important subordinates were among them.

Rebecca, Vell, Ian, Damon, Artanis, and Kerrigan.

Artanis and Kerrigan are both listed as famous heroes in the system, but surprisingly, Rebecca is also a hero, which surprised Gao Yi.

It seems there's some truth to the claim that Rebecca single-handedly shouldered the political burden of the entire Montgomery dynasty.

Although Gao Yi enhanced her with divine machinery, Rebecca's ability to manage the affairs of the Montgomery Dynasty so well, despite the increasing territory of the Montgomery Dynasty, is still remarkable.

In contrast, Will was undoubtedly an excellent steward, but managing the entire dynasty was indeed a bit of a challenge for him.

Fortunately, Will knew his own capabilities. There was no infighting at the top of the Montgomery dynasty's power structure, so he focused on doing his job within his abilities.

As Gao Yi continued scrolling down, he also saw Caul, Guilliman, and Firus.

These three are all legendary characters with maxed-out character levels, but their character panels are still unselectable.

Furthermore, Kaul possesses a series of beneficial traits. His Engineering, Physics, and Social Sciences research directions all grant a 15% research speed bonus.

The guy who lived for ten thousand years was indeed not wasting his life. In those ten thousand years, Kaul accumulated unimaginable knowledge in all aspects. If Kaul could serve as the dynasty's chief scientist, he could save Gao Yi a lot of resources and time.

The cooperation agreement previously reached with Kaur also led to Gao Yi establishing an employment relationship with him.

As Gao Yi checked the science panel, he was pleasantly surprised to find that it no longer only contained a few starting technologies like in the game, but also displayed later technology options.

However, the relevant prerequisite technologies still need to be developed before unlocking can be performed.

However, Gao Yi also discovered that some of the advanced technologies were already unlocked, such as the cold fusion core.

The interstellar combat suits incorporate cold fusion core technology, and the servo systems built into the combat suits and other interstellar vehicles can also serve as alternatives to intelligent computer technology.

This is also a rudimentary form of artificial intelligence. With continued technological breakthroughs, true artificial intelligence can be developed. Kaul himself is also secretly researching artificial intelligence. Gao Yi feels that after establishing a true employment relationship with Kaul, he can save some technology points by developing fewer technologies.

This essentially the same or similar technology directly filled the gap in the existing technology tree of the StarCraft.

The same applies to some of the fundamental technologies in the Warhammer world. For example, the cloning pods that Gao Yi currently possesses for cloning soldiers can also be found in the technology tree.

Moreover, it's not just that specific technologies in the Stars can be unlocked using research points; technologies in the Dynasty that haven't yet been reverse-engineered can also be forcibly unlocked using research points without encountering research barriers.

Just like in the game, you can steal relevant technologies by investigating the wreckage of enemy warships.

[Interstellar Warp Engine] [Physics Technology Points: 30000]

[Eldar Warship Holographic Phantom Force Field] [Physics Technology Points: 30000]

[Antimatter Matrix] [Physics Points: 40000]

"The interstellar warp drive can now be researched by directly consuming technology points?! Blackrock Technology is included in that too?!"

Gao Yi still remembered that the warp drive required a lot of preliminary technology research in the Starships. Because the Starship possessed this technology, Gao Yi was able to use technology points to forcibly overcome the technical difficulties.

Beyond those cutting-edge technologies.

This means that Gao Yi possessing the technology to manufacture the warp drive is now a certainty. There's no need to worry about the reverse engineering failing; all Gao Yi needs is time.

In Stellaris, warp drives are also a rare technology.

Not only human technology, but also Eldar and Necromancer technology can be reverse engineered.

Looking at the tech points required for the warp drive's stealth field, Gao Yi calculated that it would take another six years to break through.

The exorcism of the dead zone will take even longer.
Four years is a very short time in the Warhammer universe; in fact, being able to crack these technologies in four years is incredibly fast.

After all, Gao Yi himself has been in this world for quite some time, and even with all the power of the Holy Machine Cult, he has only managed to migrate the warp drive; he has no clue how to manufacture it.

But Gao Yi couldn't wait. He was only 20 years old before he transmigrated, and four years was a long time in his mind. It was different from those old guys in Warhammer who had lived for hundreds or thousands of years.

This made Gao Yi increasingly eager to expand his influence, as only more research points would allow him to achieve technological breakthroughs more quickly.

Looking at the dazzling array of technologies in the technology interface, each of which required a large number of technology points, Gao Yi was itching to get started but could only look at them because he didn't have enough points.

Gao Yi temporarily closed the technology page, needing time to carefully study how to choose the unlocking order for the technologies.

Looking at the group of ascending talents, Gao Yi did not directly rely on being the first to unlock the Cosmic Creation or Star Sea Heavenly Punishment for free.

The former requires spending tech points to research the Synapse Condenser, which costs just as many tech points as the Warp Engine. After researching it, it takes time to build. The latter doesn't allow you to build the Ether Engine directly.

Gao Yi isn't short of a month, so he might as well choose an Ascension talent that will have an immediate effect as his first Ascension talent.

After some deliberation, Gao Yi finally focused his attention on the two Ascension Talents.

These two ascension talents have the most direct effects, and Gao Yi believes they are the most helpful to him right now.

The first.

[Technology First: Those cutting-edge technologies that were once considered magic are now within reach; a new technological era has arrived.]

Research speed increased by 10%, and the probability of rare technologies appearing increased by 1.5 times.

The description is very simple and straightforward; it seems like only a 10% improvement, but it's not a small amount.

The points saved are enough for Gao Yi to invest in another technology. Cutting-edge technology research takes a long time, and the longer it takes, the more significant the 10% reduction becomes, saving Gao Yi a large number of science points and time.

Technology is very important to Gao Yi, but it's not so important at the moment. Even after saving 10%, it still takes years.

The fact that it already required a lot of time made Gao Yi's need for it less urgent. Moreover, with Kaul coming to work for him, his research acceleration ability allowed Gao Yi to temporarily put aside this ascension talent.

Furthermore, the next step will inevitably involve the development of a synaptic condenser, which creates a conflict between the two. The synaptic condenser can provide a much faster speed boost for technological research and development.

Given the system's past behavior, the amount of cohesion required to unlock more and more ascension talents will definitely increase. The second one thousand, the next one ten thousand, and the one after that one hundred thousand.

Using a precious upgrade quota to choose Technology First seems like a waste.

Instead of spending a lot of time struggling with technology now while still loading results, it's more practical to wait until we have greater power and more technology points before conducting research.

Finally, Gao Yi looked at another talent he had his eye on, the Ascension Talent.

[The Celestial Engineering Project: Science and technology are not rigid, one-way knowledge; rather, they are products of our extraordinary nature, and ordinary people simply cannot comprehend our progress!]

The attempt to steal our technology will automatically fail.

The wreckage of our destroyed warships cannot be studied by other hostile forces.

[Low probability of obtaining Lost Empire building technology]

The introduction to the Tianji Project is also full of high-class flair.

Looking at the effects of the Heavenly Secrets Project, Gao Yi felt that this was the kind of Ascension Talent that could immediately grant him benefits.

Regardless of the series of interstellar technologies that Gao Yi currently possesses, this Ascension Talent can also ensure that after developing the Star Technology, it will not be reverse-engineered and researched by other forces.

Especially those space undead, their technology and research capabilities are not low. Once the war starts, there will always be weapons and equipment falling into their hands. If they are cracked, it is not something Gao Yi wants to see.

The main reason why Gao Yi was so determined to choose this ascension talent was due to some special circumstances within the expanded region.

That is, the orc pirates roaming around the expanded area also began to show some abnormalities, and the orcs' waaagh stance began to exert its absurd idealistic effects again.

The inherent characteristics of the orc race make it impossible to completely eradicate them from the entire expansion area.

Even with increasing efforts to combat these space pirates, they always seem to appear from unexpected places.

With the current strength of the Orcs in the expanded region, they cannot pose a real threat to the dynasty. It has been a long time since the Orks have breached a planet or destroyed a fleet within the High Will Alliance. However, in some peripheral star systems and under the premise that the warp engines built in the starports have not yet allowed the main fleets to relocate to cargo ships or caravans.

Trade ships traveling between star systems and between dynasties are still occasionally plundered by these greenskins.

Furthermore, the expansion area is not limited to Gao Yi's merchant ronin alliance; the trade in combat suits and other interstellar equipment has spread to various combat units of the expansion empire's official forces.

While the Greenskins rarely won battles against trade ships or the Imperial forces, they could still achieve small-scale victories by stripping combat suits from fallen human soldiers during their retreats and relying on their numbers.

This was almost inevitable, but no one took it seriously at first. The warships in the void couldn't guarantee that every combat suit would be recovered after the war.

After some time, orc troops wearing combat suits pieced together from various scraps began to appear in the expanded area.

Despite its seemingly tattered appearance, the armor performed just as well as the combat suit from the Gao Yi Trade version.

It's obvious that these greens have replicated the combat suits in their own way, which greatly increases their threat to the expansion area.

There have even been instances of large-scale attacks on some peripheral planets by Orcish-style combat suits.

The poorly defended peripheral planets are even beginning to crumble against these special orcs.

Meanwhile, the orc clan that first devised combat suits has begun to consolidate its orc forces in the expanding territory.

The gathering of more and more skilled young men has made my thinking power increasingly stronger, seemingly threatening to coalesce into a massive waaagh.

It's not just the combat suits; other interstellar technologies are also showing signs of being hacked, such as the Orcs' dilapidated Thor or their rudimentary Orc fighters with stealth force fields.

If these greenskins destroy or take away a Gorgon, or somehow acquire a warp drive, they might gain the ability to actually create mechanical artifacts before Gao Yi does.

When Gao Yi acquired the Star Pioneer, wasn't it only through the combined efforts of those orc technicians that he was able to successfully bring the Star Pioneer back to the dynasty?

Gao Yi certainly didn't want everything he had done to benefit these green-skinned people.

Given Warhammer's inherently idealistic nature, who knows what kind of trouble these greenskins might cause.

If we consider the system's consistent priority in terms of rules, Gao Yi believes that the effects of the Heavenly Secrets Project will definitely have a restraining effect on the Greenskin.

If you're into idealism, then I'll just use a cheat code instead!

Gao Yi knew he could no longer allow these orcs to grow stronger. He didn't want to face such a large orcish force, as there was absolutely no benefit to be gained from a war with them.

Cleaning up the spores they scattered is also a huge undertaking.

The last building of the Lost Empire can also provide some help to Gao Yi.

Some of these specific buildings can even generate resources out of thin air once unlocked.

However, this bonus is somewhat underwhelming compared to other effects.

"You're the one! Next up is the Cataclysm! A month will go by quickly, it should be done after our Terra trip!"

Having made his decision, Gao Yi immediately chose the Heavenly Secrets Project.

[Ascension Talent Selected]

[Successfully loaded the Heavenly Secrets Project]

[Effect has taken effect]

Soon, a higher-dimensional force, originating from Gao Yi, began to spread throughout the entire Milky Way.

All races are unaware of its existence, yet are all genuinely affected by it.

(End of this chapter)