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

Zhao Zheng stood behind the railing of the observation platform, holding a cup of tea at just the right temperature, a gentle breeze ruffling his black hair that fell over his shoulders.

Seeing that Chi You and his men below were already armored and ready, Zhao Zheng nodded to the researchers behind him.

"Give them clothes."

"Yes."

Zhao Zheng was already eager to know the power of the CMC armor he had designed.

Chapter Six: Astartes Modification Surgery

A year and a half is only enough time in the history of Chiyang City for a few more layers of moss to grow in the cracks of the city walls, but it is enough for Zhao Zheng to push a feudal agricultural world to a point that even he himself finds somewhat unfamiliar.

Chiyang City is no longer the industrial metropolis that once stood out with its blast furnaces and railway tracks.

The city today seems to have been uprooted and reshaped by an invisible giant hand. Chimneys stretch densely from the horizon into the sky, emitting gray-black and gray-white plumes of smoke day and night. But Zhao Zheng has already begun installing the first batch of filtration devices at the outlets of these chimneys.

Since we already have some resources, we still need to pay attention to this pollution.

An underground pipeline network covers every corner of the main urban area, and a dual-track energy system of oil and electricity provides the city with a continuous source of power.

Small transport vehicles shuttled back and forth along fixed tracks on the streets, carrying goods and passengers through the neighborhoods crowded with factories and artisans.

Zhao Zheng reorganized the entire planet, concentrating all agriculture in the Southern Hemisphere, where soil yields increased more than fivefold after being treated with biological amendments.

The Northern Hemisphere was thoroughly industrialized, with seven large industrial clusters spread along the continent's folds, interconnected by high-speed rail and wired networks.

The coastal tidal power stations have completed their third phase of expansion, with an installed capacity sufficient to support the continuous operation of cities across the entire continent day and night.

The blueprints that Zhao Zheng initially drew and handed over to the craftsmen have now become workshops and assembly lines all over the mainland. Every day, tens of thousands of standardized parts are produced from these workshops, loaded onto trains and ocean freighters, and transported to distribution centers for the next stage of the process.

Zhao Zheng has less and less time for political affairs because his administrative system has already taken shape.

He personally selected a group of officials to be in charge of daily operations. Most of these people were talents that Zhao Zheng had discovered during the process of unifying the continent. Zhao Zheng gave them enough power and trust, and they did not disappoint him.

It can be said that the Qin Empire is now on the right track. Apart from the fact that Zhao Zheng, the backbone, cannot be harmed, the Qin Empire can still function without him.

So he devoted more of his time to the underground laboratory.

Directly beneath Chiyang City, Zhao Zheng dug down twelve levels. Each level was separated by thick alloy partitions and sealed gates, and the air filtration system and independent ventilation ducts made the air quality here even cleaner than on the surface.

Zhao Zheng allocated most of the space to his research team specializing in biology and genetic engineering.

We can't rush into conquering the stars. After all, the Qin Empire is not like the current human empires, which have the technological foundation to support it. Right now, we should focus on developing all the technologies that can be developed before thinking about space.

Of course, Zhao Zheng has not neglected aerospace development, but relatively speaking, his investment in it is not as significant as in biological and genetic engineering, or in the technology related to ground warfare.

The core members of these bio-gene teams are young people who have distinguished themselves in medical and military academies in recent years.

Hua Tuo was already the chief expert of the entire research series. He led more than 30 researchers selected from various places, working day and night in shifts to operate the precision instruments that Zhao Zheng had personally designed and guided in manufacturing.

Petri dishes, centrifuges, gene sequencers, low-temperature storage tanks—Zhao Zheng wrote down the names and operating methods of these items clearly in a thick manual of operating procedures, and Hua Tuo and his team mastered them all in less than six months.

The number of talented people here is so high that even Zhao Zheng was quite surprised.

Zhang Zhongjing, Li Shizhen, Song Ci... and Bian Que, who was even more experienced and qualified than Hua Tuo.

Honestly, it was something Zhao Zheng never dared to imagine before that these people could get together.

If they were placed in the position of the Cult of Mechanics, these people would at least become great sages in the field of bioengineering, holding a place on Mars, and in the future, they might even be able to create a giant forging world on their own.

Surprisingly, the most successful development in these biotechnologies is in the preliminary research on the Astartes modification surgery.

That's right, it's the Astartes modification surgery.

Zhao Zheng isolated a stable prototype gene seed from his own genetic material and then spent nearly half a year constantly adjusting its expression mode and activation conditions.

In the end, Zhao Zheng succeeded, developing gene seeds that were almost identical to the original, and using these gene seeds to cultivate those superhuman organs one by one.

Even more ruthless, Zhao Zheng directly created the three original casting surgeries that were originally supposed to be further improved by the mechanical sage Kaul ten thousand years later.

Zhao Zheng pushed open the alloy gate on the sixth basement level. The heavy, sealed door silently slid open to both sides along the sliding track, revealing a corridor illuminated by cold white lights.

Transparent observation windows are embedded in the walls on both sides of the corridor. Behind the windows are rows of neatly arranged sterile operating rooms and recovery pods. Each pod is connected to a dense network of monitoring cables. Real-time data on heart rate, blood pressure, brain waves, and hormone levels are constantly updated on the main control screen at the end of the corridor.

This is the renovation center he named Lungmen.

In just six months, his biotechnology team has completed four rounds of preliminary research experiments, from the most basic gene drug injection to complete organ implantation simulation, leaving behind a thick record of data at each step.

However, those previous enhancements were merely at the level of mortals, using diluted genetic material and exogenous stimulation. No matter how significant the effects were, they never broke through the limits of human beings themselves.

The Astartes are different; strictly speaking, they are no longer human.

They are war creations designed by the Emperor himself. From gene seed to organ implantation, from bone enhancement to nervous system reconstruction, every surgery attempts to completely dismantle and reassemble a mortal body, stuffing in a superhuman organ, and then they gain ultimate strength, speed, endurance and reaction.

This is a threshold between man and superman; cross it and you become a demigod; fail to cross it and you die.

Zhao Zheng stood in front of the main control screen and quickly scanned the candidate list that popped up above.

The graduation assessment for the third term of the military academy has just ended, and out of 300,000 students, only 5,678 have met his pre-selection criteria.

That's already a lot; Zhao Zheng set very high standards for becoming an Astartes.

His sons and soldiers could only be selected from the best of these good families, so as to ensure that his legion would not become like the other legions in the future.

To be honest, there aren't many legions in the empire that Zhao Zheng truly respects.

If the Dark Angels weren't so obsessed, they would count as one; the Warhounds before Angron's return would count as one; the Legions of Perturabo, Felus, Sangilius, and Guilliman after their return would count as one; the rest either had major flaws that they couldn't overcome, or the Primarch's own problems made the entire Legion unqualified.

Why is a legion called a legion? It's because a legion is itself a terrifying weapon of war with extreme force and military prowess.

But for his brothers, most of whom had unhappy childhoods, it was far too difficult to make them into qualified legion commanders.

Because they weren't that kind of people before.

But Zhao Zheng wouldn't do that. He was all too aware of the future importance of his legion, so he was determined to do everything in his power to train his offspring well, so that they would follow him on the Great Expedition until it was a success, and then he would retire in perfect harmony.

This should be the fate of all the Primarchs and Astartes who fought and bled for the Empire, instead of continuing down the path of a cesspool-like tragedy of war.

The first name on the candidate list was Xiang Ji, and Zhao Zheng was not surprised by this result.

From the first day of school, Xiang Ji displayed talent and resilience far exceeding his peers. He achieved full marks in all subjects of the physical fitness test, and his performance in the tactical simulation course earned frequent nods of approval from the most experienced instructors.

Li Cunxiao followed closely behind, and the two names were almost always tied for the top three, while Chi You was also prominently listed.

These three individuals were not only among the first to undergo genetic modification, but are now also among the first to undergo Astartes modification surgery.

Zhao Zheng swiped a few times on the main control screen, bringing up Xiang Ji's detailed physical examination report and gene compatibility analysis results. His eyes quickly swept over the numbers, and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.

The fit is 92.7, which is the highest among all candidates.

Xiang Ji has always displayed an astonishingly strong physical talent.

Zhao Zheng stood in front of the screen, his fingers slowly sliding across the light screen, reviewing the files of the 5,678 people one by one.

The Astartes modification, along with the original casting surgery, involved a total of twenty-two procedures, starting with the first stage of bone reinforcement implantation, followed by the original casting of tendon coils, furnaces, and the Sacred Pituitary Gland, and finally finishing with the implantation of a black carapace.

Each surgery requires the patient to have sufficient tolerance and the compatibility between the gene seed and the patient to reach a safe threshold. Only in this way can the failure rate of the surgery be reduced and the survival rate of the patient be increased.

These children's lives are precious; each one represents the future of the Qin Empire. We cannot let them lose their lives on the operating table. Therefore, Zhao Zheng has been adjusting his genetic material and superhuman organs to make them as close as possible to the physical structure of these descendants of the Dragon Kingdoms, all in order to increase the success rate of the surgical modification.

Zhao Zheng has his own gene seeds, in ample quantities. He extracted original samples from the genetic material and replicated and amplified them on a large scale using petri dishes, with reserves large enough to support a million Astartes modifications.

The problem isn't the number of genetic seeds, but whether these children can withstand the pain of twenty-two surgeries stacked on top of each other.

The failure rate of Astartes modification during the Imperial period was extremely high. Even candidates with excellent genetic compatibility had a significant proportion of failures during the third or fourth surgery, or due to incompatibility with the black carapace.

Failure meant death, or, by sheer luck, being sent to the legion as a servant.

The Ultramarines and Salamanders are the ones who show the most humanity in this regard; most other legions show no mercy to the losers.

But Zhao Zheng had his own confidence. The previous gene-modification experiments had already made the physical condition of these candidates far superior to that of ordinary people. Their bone density, muscle strength, and nerve reflex speed had all been enhanced.

The gene seed he extracted from his own genetic material has a natural advantage in biocompatibility, which should be considered one of the few advantages he has among many progenitors. When his gene seed is implanted into the candidate's body, the compatibility is very high, the rejection rate is extremely low, and the stability is extremely strong.

Zhao Zheng can say with great confidence that the superiority of his genetic seed is absolutely number one among all the legions.

If he operates properly, he can minimize the failure rate, and even if he fails, he can save the situation and then join his good brother's side.

At this moment, all twelve sterile operating rooms have been disinfected and equipped with instruments, the monitoring system has been calibrated, and anesthetic drugs and anti-rejection drugs have been individually prepared according to each person's genetic compatibility.

The forty-seven researchers were divided into three shifts. Hua Tuo served as the chief commander, Bian Que was responsible for monitoring and feeding back the data during the operation, and Zhang Zhongjing and Li Shizhen each led two groups to be responsible for postoperative recovery.

Xiang Ji was the first to be wheeled into the operating room. He lay shirtless on the metal table, his physique robust, his muscles sharply defined.

The anesthetic was slowly injected into his vein, and his gaze remained clear and sharp as he stared at the shadowless lamp on the ceiling.

"The first step is bone strengthening implantation. We make holes in the tibia and femur and inject growth promoters that have been activated by gene seeds. The process is very painful, and the reaction of the deep bones cannot be completely suppressed."

Hua Tuo's voice came from behind the mask, his tone somewhat gentle.

Xiang Ji nodded slightly.

The moment the high-speed micro-drill bit pierced the tibial cortex, the heart rate curve on the monitor jumped sharply.

Xiang Ji clenched his fists tightly on the edge of the operating table, his knuckles turning white. He straightened his back instantly, his eyes widened, and he let out a loud groan, followed by violent panting and trembling.

……

Xiang Ji succeeded. The process was insignificant. Although it was painful and torturous, he succeeded in the end. His height increased from 2.5 meters to 3.1 meters, and his physique became more robust.

Post-operative recovery training is all arranged in the physical training area on the first floor of the Longmen Center, which is comparable in size to twenty golf courses and has built-in compound training equipment with adjustable gravity and resistance.

Zhao Zheng set a clear goal for the first batch of successfully transformed offspring: to adapt to their new bodies within two weeks and learn to control their own power.

Five thousand six hundred and seventy-eight people underwent surgery one after another.

This is the second major advantage of using Zhao Zheng's gene seed: the surgical modification can be completed in one day, without the need for a long, gradual process.

Its unparalleled adaptability and stability, along with an almost superhuman recovery ability, allowed Zhao Zheng's offspring to perform exceptionally well in their subsequent recovery training.

Almost every day, more than fifty people are training at the Longmen Center, and Zhao Zheng's gaze has gradually shifted from the ground of the planet he named Qiankun to the starry sky.

The keels of the first batch of warships are taking shape in a giant dry dock on the coast of the Northern Hemisphere, the steel frame extending section by section in the blue light of the welding arc.

In the near future, he will step onto the battlefield of space and begin his path of conquest.

Chapter Seven: The Rapidly Developing Qin Dynasty

Zhao Zheng stood on the observation platform at the highest point of the giant dry dock three hundred miles north of Chiyang City. The sea breeze, carrying the smell of salt and welding fumes, rushed towards him, blowing his black hair that was scattered on his shoulders.

Within a 200-kilometer radius of the dock, hundreds of interstellar warship skeletons, each over 400 meters long, are extending section by section amidst the arc welding light. The main beams of the keel have been joined together, and the transverse ribs and longitudinal girder are advancing towards the bow at a visible speed.

But his gaze was not on these gradually taking shape steel behemoths.

On the east side of the dock, there was a more densely packed construction area. It lacked the scale and grandeur of warships, but possessed a breathtaking precision and compactness.

That was the first powered armor production line of his Great Qin Empire.

Of course, it's not Space Marine armor. He hasn't found the correct formula to synthesize the alloy, taurine, yet. If he wants to create the stronger Space Marine power armor he envisions, he'll have to wait until he returns and makes improvements himself.

But it doesn't matter, he has alternatives.

He was too hasty a while ago. Although he eventually produced the CMC series, it was just a prototype that was hastily manufactured and far from being ready for mass production.

Now, more than a year has passed. On the one hand, he has put his gene seed and modification surgery on the agenda, and on the other hand, he has carried out a complete industrial reconstruction of the mass production process of power armor, which has now reached the point where it can be mass-produced.

This is a true StarCraft-style powered armor, not the prototype pieced together by hammering and tinkering in the Sun City workshop. This is a complete set of standardized war equipment that can be mass-produced.

Zhao Zheng walked down the observation platform and down the spiral steel ladder to the assembly hall on the east side of the dock.

Six rows of high-powered arc lamps hung high from the dome of the hall, illuminating the entire space with a bright, blinding light. The air was filled with the smell of coolant and lubricating oil mixed with the burnt smell of metal cutting.

Four parallel assembly lines are lined up in a ten-kilometer-long workshop. Each line is divided into hundreds of workstations. From the initial skeleton assembly to the final system integration, every step is precise to the second.

Automated equipment on the front line is installing a power unit on a powered armor that has just had its frame welded.

As Zhao Zheng walked over, the workers operating the machinery all looked up, a fleeting look of excitement and awe in their eyes, but their hands did not stop moving.

They had grown accustomed to the sight of His Majesty the Emperor moving about in the workshop. Sometimes Zhao Zheng would stop in front of a workstation, offer some pointers, and even occasionally take over the tools to demonstrate in person.

Zhao Zheng stood in front of the semi-finished armor and reached out to lightly touch the power core base reserved on the inside of the chest armor.

The general design of the CMC series has been restructured four times in his hands, and the current version is named "Red Guardian-I".

The overall height is 3.2 meters and the total weight is 2.5 tons. The cold fusion reactors are located on both sides of the chest armor, each with its own independent power supply. Even if a single core is damaged, it can still maintain 40% of the power output.