Warhammer, I really didn't intend to form a second empire!

In the sky above, the Qin fleet's formation had filled the entire near-Earth orbit, enveloping the planet in a metal shell composed of cannon muzzles and ship hulls.

All orbital defense facilities have been cleared out. The green turrets and monitoring stations that once hovered in orbit are now just floating debris, reflecting tiny silver flashes under the starlight.

The scorched earth beneath Zhao Zheng's feet was still releasing the residual heat from the shockwave, and a continuous warm sensation could be felt through the soles of his boots in his armor.

This mining planet will henceforth belong to the Qin Empire, but it still needs to be purified to prevent these green-skinned creatures from rising from the ashes.

The smoke columns in the distance were thinning out, and the frequency of explosions coming from all directions was decreasing. This orcish empire, ruled by the Skullbreakers, had collapsed into hundreds of unconnected pieces of debris in less than a day and was being gradually cleared out.

Kongming's communication request was received at this time.

"Your Majesty, debris removal has begun. The ground subsidence has stabilized, and we expect to complete the surface clearing of the entire planet within 36 hours. We have also begun clearing the remaining planets in the system, and we expect to complete that within 48 hours."

"Okay, let's proceed according to the original plan."

Zhao Zheng said, then disconnected the communication, looked up at the starry sky above again, and saw the ships of the Great Qin Empire standing silently in formation on the orbit, blotting out the sun.

No greens can survive on this planet any longer.

Chapter Nineteen: The First "Contact" with the Emperor

Within forty-seven minutes of Zhao Zheng losing communication, the fleet in orbit completed a complete blockade of the D-7 system.

The main guns of the Great Wall-class battleships used precise low-power mode to cleanse the planet's surface of all remaining green-skinned settlements one by one.

Those green hideouts embedded deep in the rift valleys, inside caves, and beneath the ruins of welded buildings had nowhere to hide under continuous rounds of thermal scanning and structural detection. The beams of light precisely penetrated every underground space where living beings might be hiding, melting the rock layers and scrap iron together into a dense, glassy substance.

The Banshee fighter squadrons were released in batches from the fleet's hangar, skimming low over the planet's surface and completing a final, thorough search using their onboard terrain-scanning radar and biosignal detectors.

Qin Qiong and Yuchi Gong each led their assault squads to complete the cleanup of the remaining Greenskin soldiers on the two continents. Those Greenskins who managed to escape from the collapse of the main lair had nowhere to hide in the open area and were wiped out piece by piece by the armored squads and raider armor of the Red Guards.

Flamethrower soldiers and special SCV armor have also begun the "purification" process on the surface and underground in various regions.

The fire on the ground began to gradually weaken in the eighth hour, and the density of the smoke columns decreased sharply from thousands at its peak to less than twenty. The remaining metal structures cooled slowly in the high temperature, emitting a faint contraction sound.

Zhao Zheng stood at the edge of a pile of scrap metal overturned by the explosion, his gaze sweeping over the still-smoking scorched earth in front of him, his hand still clutching the powered rifle emitting a blue arc of light.

His psionic energy had already devoured the extremely dense waaaaagh power of the D-7 star system, and he could feel the black mass within his body becoming excited due to the infusion of this energy.

The excitement intensified after slaying the skullcrusher.

Zhao Zheng could sense that his offspring were also showing signs of getting more and more excited as the fight went on. The green-skinned Waaaagh force field was almost being devoured by them, as if they were on stimulants.

Zhao Zheng could sense that as long as he continued to absorb the spiritual energy of these green-skinned creatures, his strength would steadily increase.

He took one last look at the planet's surface, then turned and walked toward the Stormbird. The scorched earth beneath his feet was flattened, and the glass-like patterns on the surface gleamed with a dark red luster in the firelight, like a solidified river of lava stretching into the distance.

The Stormbird's engines roared at full power, the fuselage vibrated slightly, and then it broke free from the pull of gravity, soaring into the clouds at an almost vertical angle.

Looking out of the Stormbird's side window, Zhao Zheng saw the outline of the third planet in the D-7 system gradually narrowing in his field of vision. Hundreds of molten patches were scattered on the dark red surface, traces left by orbital bombardment, which shone with a sickly luster under the starlight.

There are no longer any large-scale biological thermal signals on the surface of the planet. The wounds burned by the laser are like huge branding marks, distributed in the areas that were originally green-skinned nests and industrial areas. The burn marks at the edges are still clearly visible at orbital altitude.

This is a planet that has experienced war. Although this is because of the existence of the Greenskins, Zhao Zheng still thought of his brothers.

In order to make the Great Crusade more efficient, the Primarchs and the Emperor probably destroyed so many worlds that even they themselves could not count them.

The plight of those planets is probably not much better than here.

Zhao Zheng thought of Angron, the brother who had been driven mad by the Butcher's Nail. Would he still be as ferocious and terrifying as in the official history? And the Midnight Ghost, would his values, already distorted by prophecy and his home planet, still lead him to commit such despicable acts?

Maybe Guilliman, Fire Dragon, and Corax aren't like that? But what about the other brothers?

Zhao Zheng suddenly felt that this human empire was even more of a failure than he had imagined.

The ships of the Qin fleet maintained a tight formation in orbit. Hundreds of Great Wall-class battleships were arranged in precise geometric patterns in the synchronous orbit of the planet, and the relative positions of the ships were kept within a small margin of error.

The transport ships and engineering vessels have begun to move forward from the rear of the formation, slowly descending towards the designated landing point on the planet's surface. After being "hollowed out," this planet will be completely transformed into a dead, useless wasteland.

The D-7 star system actually has only two habitable planets—not just habitable, but habitable after maintenance.

The real gain from this war was this mining planet. After all, if the Orks could occupy it and develop it to such a scale, then the planet's resources must be quite abundant.

Zhao Zheng withdrew his gaze, leaned back in the Stormbird's seat, his fingers unconsciously tapping the edge of the armrest, his eyes fixed on the metallic patterns on the cabin wall in front of him.

The threat from the Greenskins has been temporarily averted, but Zhao Zheng is somewhat worried about what will happen to his descendants and subordinates once he returns to the Empire. If his actions are inconsistent with the Emperor and the Empire, can he truly remain unscathed?

Zhao Zheng wasn't just being sentimental, because the original body's existence had been erased from official records, and its memories had been sealed away by the Emperor and Macardo.

Horus tried to interrogate Macardo, but was firmly suppressed. After Dorne learned the truth, he angrily questioned Macardo. After Macardo unlocked his memories, he silently asked to continue sealing them away.

Even when the angels fought alongside Horus, they had to beg Horus not to report the Ninth Legion's thirst for blood breaking out on a large scale again, because they did not want their legion to be wiped out like their other two brothers.

As Zhao Zheng stepped off the Stormbird's gangway, Kong Ming was standing at the edge of the hangar platform.

He held the electronic data tablet in his hand, and his dark gray uniform showed a few deliberately smoothed wrinkles under the cold white lights of the hangar, but there was a hint of fatigue in his eyes.

"Your Majesty, the ground clearing is 98% complete, and the density of residual heat signals has been reduced to below the safe threshold. The engineering corps has begun laying orbital synchronization beacons and planetary surface camps. General Wei Qing has sent back a follow-up clearing report, adding that there are large mineral veins on the surface of other satellites and planets in the D-7 system, enough to make up for all the losses we have made this time."

Zhao Zheng nodded, not surprised by the result. The planets chosen by the Greenskins were almost all among the richest in mineral resources in the Milky Way.

"Kongming, after you go back, discuss with Wang Jian and other senior generals that any planets found to have large-scale greenskin settlements should be listed as the Empire's highest priority for development. There's no need to wait for assessment and confirmation; start infrastructure planning immediately. We've wasted too much time on the greenskin problem. It would be best if we could find mineral veins, but if not, we should at least occupy the land first to prevent the greenskin spores from spreading everywhere again."

"I have noted it down."

Zhao Zheng and Kongming walked one after the other on the bridge.

"Also, have Hua Tuo expedite the Astartes modification surgery schedule. In the next ten to twenty years, I need more Space Marines and genetically modified soldiers, just follow my previous plan and standards."

"Do you remember the human empire I mentioned to you before? If nothing unexpected happens, in about twenty years, our Great Qin should be incorporated into it. I need more power."

Kongming did not respond immediately this time, but bowed slightly, a subtle hint of seriousness flashing in his calm eyes.

"Your subject understands."

When Zhao Zheng walked onto the bridge, the D-7 star field was marked entirely in green, and five green dots flashed at the edge of the star map, indicating that the purification markers had been lit.

He walked to the control panel, picked up some data from the post-war assessment report sent by Wei Qing, flipped through it casually, and put it down after confirming that nothing was missing.

The Qin Empire is now large enough to support large-scale expeditions on five or even more fronts simultaneously. If it weren't for the limitations on manpower, the Qin Empire would have already been able to reclaim a star sector.

What Zhao Zheng currently lacks is still the advancement of the technology tree and a high-quality population. The cyclical nature of the academy's teaching still requires time, and the worlds that have been reclaimed also need Zhao Zheng's descendants and officials to guard them, which in itself will tie down a lot of Qin's manpower.

Zhao Zheng was already expanding very quickly, but since the Emperor launched the Great Expedition, the Qin Empire has expanded even faster, to the point that it has become somewhat bloated.

Kongming was so exhausted because he was now overwhelmed with other matters.

Perhaps I should slow down. Being a tyrant is fine, but it would be bad if the Qin Dynasty fell into chaos.

As Zhao Zheng sat on the throne at the ship's base and leaned back, he felt the muscles in his shoulders relax slightly inside his armor.

Just as he was about to close his eyes and rest for a moment, a psionic wave came from the depths of the subspace without warning, piercing through the material barrier of the real universe and finding him along the faint mark left when he first met the Emperor's gaze.

When the golden spiritual energy encountered Zhao Zheng's black mass, it did not collide violently; it simply stopped precisely at the boundary line, demonstrating remarkable restraint.

Then Zhao Zheng sensed a gaze upon him. At that moment, he realized that the Emperor's spiritual energy was looking at him again, but this time the spiritual energy seemed to be slightly calmer than before.

Zhao Zheng sat silently in the command chair, not actively extending his spiritual energy to respond to the gaze. He was waiting for the other party to speak first. He wanted to know what the other party wanted to do? Was he trying to communicate with him emotionally like he did with Xiao Ma?

A moment later, a flat, low-frequency psionic pulse was released from the golden psionic energy, like someone trying to send a sentence to another person's ear from a distance through a lot of noise.

"Your efficiency is quite fast, which surprises me."

Psychic energy doesn't use language to convey information, but rather transmits it through a more direct essence. Zhao Zheng's psychic perception deconstructed and restored that information to its meaning, which is this sentence.

Zhao Zheng's psionic energy paused for a moment at the boundary of that golden pulse, and then released a psionic message of equal intensity and frequency.

"It was slower than expected; the green train wasted a lot of my time."

"But you're not at a loss either. Although they are troublesome, the resources after taking them down are plentiful. I've noticed your development speed and the size of your fleet. Your strength is growing rapidly. Perhaps your brothers are not as strong as you right now."

"Aren't you afraid that I'll seize power from you after I return to the empire?"

“You are my offspring, not my enemy. I need you to have power, and you need to become strong enough. The Great Expedition has begun, and we don’t have much time. Although you are fast enough, you need to be even faster.”

"The Great Crusade is longer and more brutal than you can imagine. I have seen enemies gathering in every direction of the galaxy, and the Greenskins are just one of the troublesome aliens among them."

The emperor's answer dashed Zhao Zheng's hopes that he would exert pressure.

It seems the Empire is in a bad situation. The network under the Star Torch should have already started to be laid simultaneously. I wonder if it will be successful this time.

"You can continue expanding here. I will come to pick you up in person at the right time. Until then, just continue doing what you are doing now. Remember, never delay your current progress. Don't hesitate to improve efficiency whenever possible. You can deal with some issues after the Great Expedition is over."

The golden psionic energy receded without waiting for Zhao Zheng's response.

After the Emperor's spiritual energy dissipated, Zhao Zheng also recovered from his spiritual vision state. The data stream returned to its normal refresh rate, and the subtle oppressive feeling of being covered by the golden gaze disappeared completely.

Zhao Zheng leaned back in his chair, confirming that the Emperor's psychic energy had completely vanished into the torrent of the subspace.

Not long after the Great Crusade began, the Emperor was also searching for the scattered Primarchs. According to official history, the Emperor would gradually recover all the Primarchs in the near future, and it seemed that he, as the Second Primarch, had already been tacitly accepted by the Emperor as part of the Empire.

"Send orders to all expeditionary fleet commanders, including Li Jing, Sun Wu, and Wang Jian, that all subsequent actions should prioritize 'stabilizing the existing territory'."

"We will continue to explore new star systems, but at a slower pace. We will no longer pursue time efficiency and will shift our focus to resource development, infrastructure construction, and population assimilation to ensure that every star system included in our territory has the ability to operate independently."

Thirteen days after the order was issued, the Qin Empire's expanded empire halted for the first time at the edge of its explored star system.

Those expeditionary fleets that once stretched forward at a rate of light-years per day are now evenly distributed in all directions along the map's boundaries. Apart from retaining a small number of outpost reconnaissance units to maintain continuous observation of the new star system, the main fleet has switched to garrison mode, working with the engineering fleet to systematically industrialize each newly incorporated planet.

The gears of re-industrialization are turning on an unprecedented scale, shifting resources from horizontal expansion to vertical in-depth development. Infrastructure, production capacity, population quality, and the sophistication of the administrative system are the true foundations supporting the continued expansion of the Qin Empire in the future.

Zhao Zheng doesn't need to rush too far ahead of the Great Expedition. He only needs to ensure that when he joins forces with the Human Empire, he has enough cards in his hand to have ample options no matter what happens.

As for those brothers who risked their lives to gain the emperor's attention and stand out in the Great Expedition, Zhao Zheng felt that he should distance himself from some of them in the future.

He hates overgrown children.

Chapter Twenty Zhao Zheng's Plan

Three months after the order was issued, the borders of the Qin Empire finally stabilized on a relatively complete arc.

Radiating outwards from Qiankun Star, 167 star systems have been brought under its direct jurisdiction. Among them, 49 are "core worlds" that have undergone comprehensive planetary terraforming and population resettlement, 68 are "development worlds" under construction, and the remaining 50 have been designated as mining worlds or military outposts.

This number is still insignificant on the scale of human empires, but for a regime that has completed interstellar expansion in less than ten years starting from scratch, it is nothing short of a miracle.

However, Zhao Zheng was well aware that the internal structural problems caused by this rapid expansion were gradually surfacing.

The tactical panel on the bridge of the Lishan ship unfolded before Zhao Zheng, with massive amounts of data scrolling across the screen, displaying the production capacity, population, administrative personnel shortages, number of people who had completed Astartes modification surgeries, and the number of applications for military industrial nobility ranks in various star systems...

Kongming stood to the side of the main control panel, flipping through the data panel page after page. This time, he didn't look tired at all, because Zhao Zheng had added two more surgeries to the Astartes, making these offspring even stronger. Even their brains, which had been working non-stop, were now noticeably better.

It has to be said that they were already huge when they were already cast, and now Zhao Zheng has added two more surgeries, so each of them is at least three meters tall. Just looking at them is exaggerated.

CMC's custom armor has undergone another update, barely enough to fit the bodies of these offspring.

"The industrial output of Qiankun Star and Yuanshuo No. 1 has increased by 70%. The nine heavy industrial foundries in the B-2 star field have been fully put into production after renovation, and the monthly output of metal alloys and precision components has increased by 60%."

“The mineral veins in the D-7 system are currently being transported to the front-line bases in the vicinity, but the turnover rate of the transport fleet is lower than expected, with 30% of the capacity stuck at various transit stations waiting to be unloaded.”

……

Zhao Zheng did not interrupt him and let Kongming finish reading the report.

"Also, the marshals recently submitted a recommendation."

"The military rank system is operating smoothly, but the promotion speed is slower than expected. The officers with outstanding military achievements are accumulating merits 30% faster than initially estimated. However, the land and resource quotas corresponding to the ranks have become insufficient due to the rapid expansion of the territory. Eighteen qualified officers have not yet been able to obtain the corresponding resource allocations as stipulated in the regulations. Xiao He and Han Fei are already discussing a revised plan."

"The population registration systems of Yuanshuo-1 and B-2 star systems show that nearly 40% of the newly incorporated human population is still in a state of 'passive obedience'. Their sense of identity with the empire is insufficient, and their autonomy and initiative in long-term production tasks are significantly lower than those of the first batch of immigrants from Qiankun Star."

Kongming stopped his report, looked calmly at Zhao Zheng, and waited for his response.

Zhao Zheng tapped the edge of the armrest twice with his fingertips, ignoring the last question.

"Xiao He and Han Fei should come up with a solution as soon as possible to address the shortage of military rank resources. They should relax the flexibility of resource allocation standards, prioritize the implementation of the actual interests of those who have made meritorious contributions, and ensure that soldiers who have risked their lives on the battlefield do not fail to receive the rights they deserve."

"Then, how do we solve the problem of the turnover rate of the transport fleet? I have discussed this matter with Marshal Wang Jian, and his suggestion is to add two medium-sized transshipment ports between B-2 and D-7, and to simplify the route in conjunction with the existing waterway to shorten the one-way time."

"Have him write up a plan. If an additional engineering fleet is needed, draw from the reserve forces of Qiankun Star."

"Yes."

As for the issue of population identity, it will take decades to assimilate. As long as the cost of governance doesn't go up and a bottom line can be maintained, Zhao Zheng doesn't plan to bother with them.

Of course, if any rebellion occurs, or if anyone seeks special privileges or demands division, then don't blame Zhao Zheng for either cosplaying as Bat Boy or simply massacring them.

Zhao Zheng had a clear understanding of his own position: he was a tyrant of a feudal empire.