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

So Zhao Zheng contacted Xiang Ji and Chi You. The two had recently conquered some worlds, and their fleets were currently in a period of rest and recuperation. They even complained to him that the star systems they had just conquered were not interesting and the front lines were too quiet.

Then let them take a few companies over to take a look, test the capabilities of this living planet, and finalize the location for the first batch of training camps.

After the communication request was connected, Zhao Zheng gave them orders.

“I’ve discovered a dead world here, a jungle environment, extremely dangerous. I’m thinking of setting up a training camp there to train new recruits. You two take a few companies to explore it out. Don’t rush to land. First, complete a full scan on the orbit, and then send the Ironborn down to clear the way.”

Xiang Ji's usual deep and rough voice came from the other end of the communication channel.

"Understood, Father. We'll take care of it."

After the communication was lost, Zhao Zheng updated the coordinates of that planet on the Qin star map, marking it as "Katachan - to be developed", then turned off the panel and stood up from the command chair.

He walked to the porthole on the bridge, his gaze falling on the deep starry sky.

The distant starlight twinkled silently in the darkness, each one representing an unconquered or unexplored star system.

Zhao Zheng didn't know if there were any undiscovered relics from the old era, like the ancestral core, hidden deep within the jungle of that dead world, but at least he had found a decent assault soldier training camp.

As always, Katachon remained cautiously silent after the arrival of Xiang Ji and Chi You's fleet.

The iron-gray warships with dark green stripes formed a loose blockade line in their synchronous orbit, all their sensor arrays operating at maximum power downwards, bringing every inch of the planet's jungle under constant surveillance.

Xiang Ji stood on the bridge of the command ship, his arms crossed in front of his chest, his gaze fixed on the constantly rolling dark green image on the holographic screen.

He has been observing from orbit for three days, during which time he has neither ordered any ships to enter the atmosphere nor sent any ground troops.

Since Father said it was very dangerous, then this planet must be very dangerous. They were just reckless. They tested the enemy and made sure they could handle it before rushing to the front line to boost morale. It doesn't mean they were stupid or foolishly putting themselves in danger.

In his previous campaigns leading his troops to attack those dwarven fortress planets, he had developed a set of experiences regarding planetary surface assessment: landing rashly before fully understanding the distribution of threats on the surface often resulted in unnecessary costs.

Zhao Zheng had already told them about the dangers of Katachon in his report, so Xiang Ji was well aware of what he was facing.

However, the data in the report alone cannot replace the judgment gained from firsthand observation.

"Any news from the Ironborn's unmanned probes?"

Xiang Ji turned his head and asked the communications officer standing to the side of the main control console.

"Commander, nine of the first twelve probes sent out have lost contact after entering the atmosphere."

The communications officer quickly retrieved the relevant data, his expression somewhat grave.

"The last footage transmitted back showed that they were attacked by a variety of creatures... One of the footage showed a vine-like creature that secreted a slime that could corrode through the drone's adamantite shell within minutes."

Xiang Ji's eyebrows twitched slightly.

Are things on this planet really that dangerous?

"What about the other three?"

"Now it's gone too. The last footage transmitted back was of it being eaten up by the trees after it approached a jungle."

Xiang Ji's eye twitched slightly; this planet was no ordinary place.

Chi You walked in, his massive body making a dull thud as he stepped onto the metal floor.

"Finished watching? What did you think?"

Chi You walked to the other side of the holographic screen, placed his hands on the edge of the table, and looked at the image.

"The first batch of probes have all lost contact. My situation is similar to yours. The last images of the twelve probes show them being destroyed from various angles by some creatures, and their attack methods are all different."

"Some were launched from the ground to attack, some were entangled by branches extending from the tree canopy, some suddenly emerged from underground and dragged the entire detector down, and one was destroyed by a toad that suddenly self-destructed."

Xiang Ji nodded, straightened up from in front of the holographic screen, and turned to the communications officer standing to the side of the main control panel.

"Send out a second batch of probes, this time using heavy Ironborn, equipped with standard combat modules and reinforced armor, three in each group, maintaining visual distance from each other, and advancing under crossfire cover."

"If we encounter a threat that we cannot handle, we should prioritize ensuring the data is transmitted back to the source, rather than insisting on the survival of the organism."

The second batch of heavy armored warriors set off within half an hour of receiving the order.

Their weapon racks are equipped with heavy explosive guns and thermal flamethrowers as standard, and they are also equipped with miniature missile systems on their backs.

In fact, Ironborn can be equipped with a miniature nuclear bomb, but this is usually only necessary when it is necessary to break through some strong fortresses or take a line of defense that requires a huge cost. Otherwise, the cost of an Ironborn is not worth just blowing it up like a firecracker.

When the parachute hit the ground, some trees even ran away as soon as they saw the "meteor" falling from the sky, and the vines and jungle even slowly "writhed" to maintain a safe distance.

That's some serious demonic possession!

Xiang Ji and Chi You couldn't help but curse inwardly when they saw this bizarre sight.

After landing, the heavy armored Ironborn did not disperse but instead maintained close coordination in a triangular formation, with twelve towering armored Ironborn slowly advancing through the perilous jungle.

In the first batch of returned images, the entire landscape of the Katachan jungle was revealed in more detail in the field of view of the Ironborn sensors.

The trees were much larger than the orbital scans showed, and the intertwined vines between their canopies formed a dense, impenetrable green network, completely obscuring the forest floor.

The ferns grew exceptionally lushly, their enormous leaves swaying slowly in the breeze, creating an eerie sense of rhythm.

They had only traveled less than 300 meters when the Ironborn were attacked in the first wave.

A flying creature, about six meters long, swooped down from the side of the treetop. Its body structure was similar to that of a giant lizard, but its wingspan alone exceeded fifteen meters, and its swooping speed was extremely fast.

From the moment it appeared at the edge of the sensor to the moment it struck the outer shell of the first Ironborn, only a few seconds elapsed.

The heavy iron-blooded machine swayed slightly upon impact, leaving a shallow dent on its outer armor, but it suffered no obvious damage. It simply finished off the strange lizard with a casual cannon shot.

Immediately, hundreds of dark green vines, thicker than a human, shot out from the trunks of the giant trees beside them, moving at great speed, heading straight for the Ironborn machine in the middle.

The Ironborn could easily dodge the vines' attacks with a simple dodge, but a few vines still managed to hit them. However, the Ironborn easily cut them off and then used their heat to force them back.

Heavy armored Ironborn warriors continued to land on the ground and then advanced into the jungle.

Their data was transmitted back to the command ship in orbit via relay satellites and displayed line by line on the holographic screens of Xiang Ji and Chi You.

After reviewing the summary and analysis of the data, Chi You nodded to Xiang Ji.

"This environment is indeed suitable for training new recruits. As long as the training camp is located on the edge of the safe zone that the Ironborn have already cleared, and we gradually expand outwards and explore step by step, we should be able to figure out the whole area slowly."

The advance of the heavy iron race continued for four full days in the jungles of Katachon.

Those tall mechanical figures moved slowly beneath the dense canopy, facing attacks from all directions with every step they took.

Flying lizards lurking in the canopy can spew corrosive slime, and giant-jawed creatures that can suddenly spring out of the soil lie buried beneath the ground. Even seemingly still vines can entangle and shred an Ironborn in seconds.

But the Ironborn are still making steady progress.

Xiang Ji and Chi You stood on the track, observing the progress of the ground troops through real-time images and recording the frequency and method of each type of attack.

The data was categorized, organized, and archived, forming a preliminary assessment report on the characteristics of the threats posed by the Katachan jungle.

On the fifth day, Xiang Ji made a decision after reviewing the last set of data.

He invited Pu Yuan from Qiankun Star and brought a group of engineering iron descendants to the surface of Katachon.

The engineering iron race that landed from the transport ship quickly set out and began clearing an area with a radius of about ten kilometers as the initial site for the training camp.

The cleaning process took longer than expected.

The vines regenerate quite quickly; the branches that were just cut will grow new branches within hours, closing up the edges of the cleared area again.

The Ironborn engineers must immediately establish a barrier consisting of adamantite plates and energy shields after the clearing is complete to prevent the jungle from encroaching into the camp.

The first training camp was barely completed on the fifteenth day.

The ground was paved with standard alloy precast slabs, and a 100-meter-high composite armored wall was erected around it. An automatic turret was installed at intervals on the wall to deal with large creatures that tried to approach from the edge of the jungle.

Inside the camp, several rows of standardized dormitories, a small training ground, and a functional cabin equipped with a full range of medical and logistical facilities were built.

The Qin's iron-blooded descendants and engineering machinery fleet began landing on the planet's surface, radiating outwards from the training camp and gradually clearing away the vegetation in the surrounding area.

Both Xiang Ji and Chi Youqi were quite interested in the environment of Katachang.

That endless, deadly battle gave both Xiang Yu and Chi You a long-lost sense of excitement and exhilaration.

The heavily armored Ironborn had actually discovered the humans on Catachan during their advance. Although Xiang Yu and Chi You were surprised that humans could live and survive in such a hellish environment, they did nothing about it.

Let's wait until the training camp is fully built before we relocate all the humans here.

These humans are obviously all highly skilled. If we genetically modify some of them and then select some children for further genetic and surgical modifications, we'll have a group of excellent reserve assault troops!

These "brutes" like them love these brothers the most.

At this moment, Xiang Ji and Chi You suddenly wanted to go down and take a look. After all, they had been watching from above for so long, so it would be better to go down and test it themselves.

Zhao Zheng received Xiang Yu's report on the completion of the camp three days after the main structure of the training camp was completed.

He was standing in front of the star map of the Lishan at that time, looking at the latest exploration progress of the space ruins, as well as the dismantling reports of the few Iron Men he had solved.

After reading the camp report, he put down the data panel, leaned back in his chair, and closed his eyes for a while.

This training camp is just the beginning, but Zhao Zheng himself is very clear that making Katachon a cradle of imperial elites is not something that can be achieved by simply building a few camps on the track. It requires continuous investment of resources and long-term cultivation of trust.

Moreover, if the overall environment of the human empire deteriorates in the future, even if Qatar is incredibly resilient, it will likely be unable to escape the fate of falling.

But he at least left a way out for those humans; the people of Qatar didn't necessarily have to live in that kind of environment.

……

"Oh my, what a wonderful day! I feel so refreshed."

Chi You and Xiang Ji walked through the jungle, leaving behind a scene of utter chaos.

"Hey Lao Xiang, do you know where we are?"

Chi You looked at the large pond in front of him. Apart from a few unremarkable toads, there was nothing there.

It's unclear whether the jungle trees were tamed by the two using their psionic energy, or whether they were made docile by the two's savage charge that uprooted hundreds of trees, but they dared not approach the two again.

In short, the two of them are now in a somewhat embarrassing situation: they seem to have gotten too engrossed in "playing" and have ended up getting lost.

"I don't know, let's take another detour, I feel like it should be nearby."

But looking at the almost identical scene around him, there was only a small, smelly pond in front of him, and apart from a few toads croaking around, there didn't seem to be anything special about it.

Xiang Ji walked over, casually kicked a toad away, and looked around. Just as he was wondering whether to fly into the sky to find his way, he suddenly stopped, as if he had thought of something.

What did he just kick?

boom!

He turned his head in a daze and found that Chi You had already taken off into the air using his spiritual energy, at a speed that even Xiang Ji was speechless.

"Damn it! You ungrateful bastard, wait for me!"

Xiang Ji was about to run away when the toads around him suddenly swelled up to several times their original size, and their shiny bellies expanded to almost ten times their original size like bubbles!

Boom boom boom!

On this day, both the people of Qatar and the engineers of the Qin Dynasty on the surface heard a rumbling sound coming from the distant jungle that lasted for almost a whole day.

Many people in Qatar shook their heads, wondering if it was those outsiders, a bunch of unlucky fools who didn't know their place and dared to provoke the Qatari barking toads. They also wondered if they could still find the bodies.

Chapter Fifty-Seven: I'll choose the short guy behind you! I've put up with him for too long!

The week after the completion of the Katachon training camp, Xiang Ji and Chi You finally emerged from the jungle, looking disheveled.

Their living metal and adamantite composite power armor was no longer recognizable as its original reddish-black color; the surface was covered with charred burn marks and viscous plant sap, and several severed limbs of unknown creatures hung from the edges of the shoulder armor.

The gleaming gold decorations and the iron halo representing honor, as well as the gleaming gold red mane braid on the helmet, were all gone.

Their appearance was as "miserable" as could be described.

Chi You walked ahead, his expression unchanged, as if everything that had happened before was a trivial matter, but there was a hint of stiffness in his movements.

He glanced back at the cratered edge of the jungle behind him, where pale blue smoke was still rising and the air was filled with a pungent smell of sulfur, coke, and some kind of rotting plant.

"That explosion just now... was even more powerful than the shockwave from an orbital bombardment."

Chi You muttered something to himself.

Xiang Ji followed behind him, trying to pry out a piece of broken bone stuck in the gap of his shoulder armor as he walked. His facial muscles were taut, and there was still a slight twitch at the corner of his mouth.

"I swear, that kick was just a random one. I don't know why, but I just felt something wasn't right if I didn't kick it..."

"So you just let us get bombed all night? Damn it, all those toads have flown into the sky..."

"Barking toad".

Xiang Ji corrected him.