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

The legendary imperial prime minister gave him an overwhelming feeling; his psychic energy was far stronger than his own. No wonder he was the emperor's most trusted friend.

Without pausing, Zhao Zheng walked straight to the door and stood there, his fingers resting on the sensor panel on the side of the door, waiting for Makado to come forward and open the door for him.

A moment later, he turned his head and looked in the direction of Macado.

"Open the door, I'm in a hurry."

Makado didn't move immediately. He just stood there and looked at Zhao Zheng for a moment. His eyes, weathered by time, blinked slowly, and then he pressed his finger on another sensor panel on the side of the door.

The mechanical structure inside the door panel began to operate, emitting a heavy and gentle low-frequency rumble. The reliefs were illuminated by the light as the door panel opened inward, revealing more detailed textures in the field of vision.

A very faint smell of ozone mixed with metal wafted out from the crack in the door. Zhao Zheng turned to the side and waited for the door to open completely before going inside, with Kong Ming following behind him.

The interior space of the treasure vault was larger than Zhao Zheng estimated from the dimensions outside the door.

It was a rectangular space with a very high dome, about a hundred meters above the ground. The walls on both sides extended from the ground to the dome, and the surface was covered with rows and rows of storage compartments. Light seeped out from the gaps between the storage compartments, enveloping the entire space in a uniform and soft glow.

Zhao Zheng's gaze swept over the storage compartments, and then he walked to the outermost row of storage compartments.

The items displayed in those storage compartments were of various shapes and sizes, including sophisticated metal devices, well-sealed data storage units, and some irregular geometric shapes whose purpose could not be determined at a glance.

Zhao Zheng picked up several items, held them briefly in his hands, and then put them back.

Kongming walked to another row of storage compartments. His gaze lingered for a moment on a metal plate encased in a transparent shell, carefully observing the markings on its surface and the interface specifications on its edges.

"Your Majesty, most of these are civilian technologies, but there are also quite a few military technologies. However, some of their specifications and markings are similar to some of the templates in the ancestral core, which may be products of different branches under the same technological system."

Zhao Zheng walked over and glanced at the metal plate. After confirming that Kongming's judgment was correct, he nodded, took it out of the storage compartment, and placed it on the trolley next to him.

Deeper within the treasure vault are even more layers of storage areas.

The artifacts stored in those areas exhibit higher technological density and more complex structural features, with some stored separately in independent sealed chambers covered with multiple layers of protective shells.

Zhao Zheng stopped in front of one of the sealed chambers. His gaze fell on a small crystal structure encapsulated in a transparent cylindrical container. The core of the crystal gleamed with an extremely faint luster under the light.

He turned his head and looked at Makado.

What is this?

"An early prototype of a high-density energy storage medium, which had a brief history of use before the Dark Ages, was replaced by more efficient storage technologies. Its energy density is several times that of the current Imperial standard energy storage unit."

After listening, Zhao Zheng didn't pause for long. He gestured to Kong Ming, and when Kong Ming nodded, he told him to add the crystal to the retrieval list. Then he continued to walk deeper into the area.

The treasure vault also contained many warp-related and psionic artifacts, as well as some highly sophisticated and advanced products. Unfortunately, Zhao Zheng had no interest in psionic and warp weapons, so he didn't take any of those items.

His gaze lingered on an object for a moment.

It was a metal sphere encased in an alloy frame, its surface covered with a fine grid pattern, gleaming with a dark silver luster under the light.

Makado walked to his side and behind him, followed his gaze to the sphere, and gave an explanation in a calm tone.

"This is a wide-area spatial folding positioning system, a product of the mid-era of dark technology. It can achieve directional travel within a certain range, but with the current technological conditions of the Empire, it is not possible to reproduce its core functions for the time being."

Zhao Zheng's gaze lingered on the sphere for a moment, but he did not reach out to take it.

He shook his head and continued deeper into the treasure vault, finally stopping in the deepest part of the vault.

His gaze fell on a row of display shelves in front of him, which held some older artifacts covered in fine dust. Some still bore the marks of their original packaging, suggesting they had been taken out and put back in their place.

Zhao Zheng walked to the second-to-last row, his gaze sweeping over the old shelves, and saw a metal plate engraved with ancient Terran script. The characters on the plate were severely worn, but some ancient traces could still be discerned.

Makado stopped a few meters behind him, without approaching.

Zhao Zheng took the metal plate off, gently ran his fingertip along the writing, carefully felt its material and edge structure, and confirmed that it should be a data carrier based on some kind of optical information storage principle, but he didn't know how to read it.

"I'll take this with me. If any valuable information is extracted, I'll have Kongming send a copy of the results to the Empire for safekeeping."

Makado didn't speak, but simply nodded slightly in agreement.

Zhao Zheng glanced at the pile of items that had been picked out on the cart, estimated the number in his mind, and confirmed that it was close to the limit of seventeen items. He then stopped taking any new items and turned to walk towards the entrance of the treasure vault.

Kongming followed behind him, carrying a data board that recorded the preliminary classification of those artifacts.

……

Inside the treasury of Terra Palace, a large group of Black Corns, lying unconscious on the ground, were unaware of what had happened.

All they knew was that when they woke up, they saw the Imperial Chancellor with a bruise on his left cheek and an extremely pale face, and the Emperor with a face full of anger.

After Zhao Zheng and his descendants hurriedly used their spiritual energy to escape back to the Lishan Ship, they handed over the artifacts they had brought out from the Imperial Treasury to the accompanying technical officer for registration. Then, Zhao Zheng leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes for a while.

This time, they netted seventeen technological products, which, together with the seventeen promised by the Emperor last time, make a total of thirty-four.

They've made a fortune!

Before anyone on Terra could react, Zhao Zheng's powerful psionic energy tore open a warp rift, carrying the Lishan directly inside.

Kids, let's run away!

Chapter 72: One Legion, one Glorious Queen, and you secretly gave me two more? What do you mean by that?

As the Lishan emerged from the subspace rift, the stellar halo of the Qiankun Galaxy slowly unfolded in front of the porthole.

Zhao Zheng sat in the command chair, listening to the hum of the subspace engine gradually decreasing from high power to cruise power. He tapped his fingertips lightly on the armrest twice and turned to look at the main control panel to his side and rear.

Thankfully, I had already marked the space with psionic energy on Qiankun Star. Otherwise, if I had forced my way into the subspace and lost my way, I would have been doomed.

But this time it was really worth it.

Zhao Zheng's psionic energy swept over the advanced technology lying quietly in the Lishan's equipment depot, and the corners of his mouth couldn't help but curve upwards.

The Emperor's Treasury is full of amazing things, it's just a pity I didn't dare take too much, otherwise I don't know if I could have escaped from Terra Shipyard back then.

That sneak attack on Old Ma was worth it, Kongming's spiritual power is also quite good, and these little brats weren't raised in vain. Not bad, a dozen or so black corns were taken down so quickly, otherwise these treasures wouldn't have been so easy to bring out.

It's best not to go back to Terra for the next few years. There's nothing to see there anyway, and going back might only bring more suffering. It's better to stay on Qiankun Star from now on.

The Great Expedition should be carried out by his sons; he's not good at that kind of thing.

……

"Your Majesty, the artifacts obtained from the Terra Treasury have all been handed over to the receiving team of the Academia Sinica. Zhang Heng is organizing people to conduct preliminary classification, registration, and functional assessment."

“The ancient Terra metal plate has been marked with a separate priority, and Zu Chongzhi is adjusting the scanning parameters to prepare for non-contact structural imaging of it.”

Zhao Zheng nodded.

"What is the level of secrecy surrounding those artifacts?"

"All of them are set to the highest level, with access controlled between you and your brothers at the level of marshal or above. Zhang Heng and Zu Chongzhi's teams have also signed corresponding confidentiality agreements."

"And those artifacts have been moved to a newly built, independent storage facility underground, managed separately from the research areas for the Ancestral Core and Necromantic Technology."

Zhao Zheng paused at the exit of the elevator shaft of the research institute, and asked another question before walking out of the shaft.

"What about Ferrus? Is he still fighting in the Medusa region?"

"According to the latest contact, Marshal Li Jing is accompanying Lord Felus to an automated factory that appears to be a remnant of the Dark Ages to deal with a problem. However, it is quite far away, and it will take the Empire some time to resupply."

After hearing this, Zhao Zheng suddenly felt a sense of crisis.

Ferrus had already begun preparing for the final stages of the Medusa Sector, yet they were still fighting after all this time without seeking logistical support from me. Could it be that they've starved my offspring but are too embarrassed to tell me?

To be honest, Zhao Zheng, as a father, was extremely worried about letting the people of Qin go hungry, as they were all his precious children.

Not to mention that if Ferrus was really in an automated factory from the dark age of technology with Li Jing, given the level of logistics within the Empire, it would probably be impossible to provide enough supplies and food for so many fleets.

"Send a message to Li Jing, telling him not to be afraid to spend Qin's money, even if it means supporting Felus's army as well. Just buy, buy, buy, don't worry about spending resources. Qin has no shortage of these things."

"Also, make him remember to bring back some of the technological creations and relics from Ferrus. It would be better if he owed us a favor; that would be more effective than giving him anything."

"Understood, Your Majesty."

After Kongming finished speaking, he turned and walked to the communications station, transmitting the instructions in encrypted format to the location of Li Jing's fleet.

Zhao Zheng stood at the entrance of the elevator shaft, watching Kong Ming's figure walk away, then turned and walked towards the corridor in the opposite direction of the bridge.

He was going to go underground to see the newly acquired treasures.

……

The underground area of ​​Qiankun Star expanded further downwards during the time Zhao Zheng was away.

The newly built independent storage facility is located approximately four thousand meters underground, separated from the Ancestral Core and the research areas of necromancy technology by several meters-thick adamantite partitions and several separate airtight gates.

As Zhao Zheng passed through the fifth gate, the air still carried the slightly cool smell of the newly laid alloy plates.

Lights streamed evenly from the ceiling, illuminating the row of newly installed temperature-controlled storage cabinets, their metallic sheen forming a neat array in the field of vision.

Zhang Heng stood in front of the storage cabinet at the very front, holding a data board in his hand, looking down at the temperature and humidity readings inside the cabinet.

He looked up when he heard footsteps, and bowed slightly when he saw that it was Zhao Zheng.

"Your Majesty, you're back."

"How is the condition of this batch of treasures?"

"Most of them are in good condition. A few pieces have slight wear on their outer shells, but the internal structure should not have been substantially damaged. The preliminary classification has been completed."

"Most of them belong to civilian and industrial technologies, a dozen or so are related to military technology, and the uses of a few others are currently uncertain and require more time for analysis and testing."

Zhao Zheng walked to his side and looked inside through the transparent panel of the storage cabinet.

The objects were placed in different storage compartments according to their size and shape, and each compartment was equipped with an independent number label and status record.

His gaze lingered for a moment on a few of the smaller objects before turning to Zhang Heng.

"What about that ancient Terra metal plate? Any results from Zu Chongzhi's side?"

“Structural imaging has been completed, but data analysis is still underway.”

"The metal plate is made of an alloy that mixes multiple elements. The depth and spacing of the engraved patterns on the surface are not very uniform, which differs from the standard data storage format."

"Zu Chongzhi is trying to adjust the analytical parameters, and it is expected that it will take one to two weeks to reach a preliminary conclusion."

After listening, Zhao Zheng did not ask any further questions.

He stood quietly in front of the row of storage cabinets for a moment, then turned and walked out of the storage warehouse.

……

In the third week after returning to Qiankun from Terra, an unexpected formation appeared in Qiankun's orbit.

Zhao Zheng was in the ancestral core laboratory underground in Chiyang City, standing beside Zhang Heng, examining the preliminary analysis results of the ancient Terra metal plate, when the communications officer's voice came from the direction of the corridor.

"Your Majesty, the orbital control center has sent a message: a transport fleet of the Martian Mechanicus has arrived at the outer edge of Qiankun Star. The lead ship has sent a docking request, and the attached supply list includes three Glory Queen-class battleships."

Zhao Zheng straightened up from in front of the data panel, paused at the door, and turned his head to confirm that the communications officer had not made a mistake.

Three?

"Yes, Your Majesty, three ships are listed on the manifest, all delivered in standard configuration, and are currently awaiting port entry guidance."

Zhao Zheng paused for a moment, then turned and walked out of the laboratory, heading towards the elevator shaft.

He didn't say much, but his pace quickened a bit.

As the Martian Mechanicus's transport fleet anchored in orbit around the Qiankun Star, the silhouettes of those Glory Queen-class battleships came into his view through the portholes.

Their lines are smooth and exquisite, and their surfaces are covered with a layer of dark silver armor. The outlines of each ship are almost exactly the same, and there is no difference between them.

Zhao Zheng looked at the three ships, turned his head and whispered to Kongming beside him.

"When did these tech enthusiasts become so generous? They actually sent three Glory Queens at once, and they're fully equipped."

"Your Majesty, there is a private note on the boarding application: General Kebohar, the Martian Forging General, has also arrived with the transport fleet and hopes to discuss some matters concerning technical exchange with you in person."

Zhao Zheng stood at the porthole of the Lishan, watching the three Glory Queen ships enter the orbit of Qiankun Star one after another. He was somewhat surprised when he heard Kongming's words.

Kebohar actually came in person?

His main body should be stationed on Mars right now. Although his clone does not have the same complete autonomous consciousness as his main body, the fact that he was able to mobilize a clone to travel such a long distance to Qiankun Star shows that the Mechanicus has developed a strong interest in the intelligence and technology of the Qin Dynasty.

Moreover, given the miserly nature of those Martian Church officials, the fact that they would hand over all three Glory Queen ships at once means they definitely have their eyes on something from the Great Qin.

Where is he located?

"Currently docked on the bridge of the third ship, the Glory Queen, awaiting your audience."

Zhao Zheng did not refuse; he turned and walked towards the hangar.

"Let him come over. I'll wait for him in the meeting room."