Warhammer: Starting as a Planetary Governor-Chapter 230 - 231 – Kaul: Treating Our Brothers from Other Worlds to Fuel Drinks

Roar—

A hoarse roar echoed in the distance.

It seemed that the survey ship really had been attacked by some kind of creature.

Eden was not overly worried about this.

For the purpose of this survey mission, the ship had been temporarily refitted. It carried thick alloy armor plating and dozens of small macro cannons.

Unless they encountered a swarm of monsters, there was no cause for concern. A few scattered creatures wouldn't even break through the ship's firepower net.

After a while, the macro-cannon volleys ceased, presumably having neutralized the threat.

"Let's go. We should head down and take a look,"

Eden said, striding toward the hatch. He could sense the ship was steadily descending.

"Yes, sir!"

Carter received the order and led ten Thunder Guardians forward, surrounding the Savior on all sides.

This was a necessary security measure.

After all, Eden's current clone body was not a combat type; it had virtually no combat capacity. If he encountered monsters, it would be a real headache.

The survey ship gave a slight shudder, then settled onto the ground. The hatch opened, and the boarding ramp extended downward.

Carter sealed his helmet first and went down with a few of the Thunder Guardians to assess the situation outside.

After they surveyed the surrounding area, Carter signaled that it was safe.

Receiving that confirmation, Eden descended the ramp without taking any personal protective measures.

This particular clone body of his had been developed by the bio-savant Moss specifically to handle extreme environments.

Even if it were exposed to conditions with no oxygen and severe radioactive contamination, it could survive for a time.

The body could even slightly adjust its organs and hormones according to the environment so as to adapt to new conditions.

Eden and his group were the first to disembark. The survey team members would have to wait for test data to confirm that the surrounding environment was suitable for human habitation before they could come out.

If the environment were unsuitable, they would have to don full sealed suits to go outside and work.

"Hiss~"

Eden took a deep breath and discovered that the air here was sufficient for human survival and did not contain any immediately harmful substances.

The only drawback was a relatively low oxygen level.

Yet his skin faintly sensed some kind of erosive presence, and his mind also felt a slight disturbance.

That was the pollution of Warp energy.

Humans who stayed too long without protection in such an environment would inevitably suffer corruption, causing physical and mental mutations.

Fortunately, the Warp-energy content was not high; it could be slowly purified.

Eden raised his head, scanning his surroundings. Everywhere he looked, the walls were inky black.

These walls were covered with intricate runes. One could see faint dark pink energies flowing through them, providing a basic source of light for the Webway.

That was likely the outer wall of the passage itself.

A majestic and ancient aura emanated from everything around them.

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This main passage near the entrance was extremely wide—so wide it was nearly impossible to see the end at a single glance.

It could easily accommodate the passage of large warships. Even parking the Dreamland here would leave plenty of room.

If the Webway's functionality were fully intact, this grand main artery could teleport a fleet to any point in the galaxy in a short span of time.

What an extraordinary feat of engineering.

It was beyond imagination what advanced technology could possibly transport building materials into the Warp and forge such an enormous network of passages.

And that's not even mentioning how much raw material—certainly no ordinary metal—was needed to build them.

The walls forged from those materials possessed both physical and psychic properties, with solid structure on the inside and a phantom-like psychic shield on the outside.

This dual nature blocked the invasion of Warp energies.

In today's galaxy, no race could build something so vast anymore.

Even the Emperor, with the entire Imperium at His disposal, had only managed to build a tiny stretch of Webway at a damaged section, reconnecting it to the ancient structure—only for it to be destroyed in the end.

Eden couldn't hold back his excitement:

"This is going to be fantastic. Even back then, the Emperor never owned such a massive Webway system..."

Just these passages alone could make him one of the wealthiest individuals in the galaxy—

The kind of wealth that money couldn't buy.

"Praise the Omnissiah...this is such marvelous technology! Damn it, when will a genius like me ever manage to create such a masterpiece?!"

A short distance away, Kaul floated on an anti-grav platform, arms outstretched in awe like someone gawking at a big city for the first time. He actually looked more excited than Eden.

Survey-ship personnel dressed in protective suits were now disembarking, offloading various engineering machines. They would explore parts of the Webway entrance, gathering preliminary data.

After the survey ship returned home, a large engineering corps would move in, constructing a massive fortress, heavy artillery emplacements, and force fields at the entry to secure it.

"You're here as well?"

Kaul spotted His Savior, looking quite surprised as he cheerfully hovered over to greet him.

"It's nothing in particular. I just wanted to look around. You guys go on with your work; don't mind me."

Eden waved him off.

Many of the high-level personnel knew he could remotely control clone bodies.

Moreover, controlling a double wasn't even that unusual in the Imperium. If he wanted to, Kaul himself could control multiple mechanical bodies at once.

Of course, Eden's long-distance control—across the Warp—was rather special, but not wholly outrageous.

After all, this galaxy had plenty of extraordinary powers. Some individuals even had insane abilities like infinite resurrection—such as the Twelfth Primarch, the Red Angel Angron.

Once he ascended to daemonhood, he completely lost his mind and transformed into an eternal, regenerating berserker. Even if his body was fully obliterated, he would eventually reemerge from the Eye of Terror to slay everything in his path.

Angron once led fifty thousand World Eaters Berserkers on a century-long rampage that ravaged the Imperium, destroying over seventy sector-scale regions. In the end, it took two Titan Legions, four Space Marine Chapters, and more than thirty regiments of the Imperial Guard to force him back.

But soon after, he returned again—truly a walking catastrophe.

With a flash of thought, Eden gave a sigh. The galaxy was filled with nightmarish terrors.

He needed to harness the Webway as soon as possible to rapidly develop his territory.

Otherwise, if a swarm of these maniacs came knocking one day, it'd be disastrous!

"What are you thinking about, my lord?"

Eden snapped out of his trance to see Kaul's mechanical face unexpectedly close, almost prompting Eden to punch him.

Thankfully, he stopped himself in time, avoiding a direct blow to Kaul's face.

Eden sighed. "Kaul , is there something else you need?"

"Not really. I'm just surprised that you can still control a clone while on the Throne."

Kaul pinched his chin thoughtfully. "It seems the Throne's psychic-extraction power is a bit underpowered. I just recalculated it, and if the Blackstone Gate had some kind of emergency issue, the extraction power would increase drastically—perhaps by about 3.5 times. At that point, you'd no longer be able to control a clone. The massive draw might even prevent you from leaving the Throne..."

Eden's face darkened upon hearing this.

Why did that make the Blackstone Throne sound even more dangerous than the Emperor's "toilet?" At least the Emperor's "toilet" (the Golden Throne) allowed one to leave occasionally. This was more like being forcibly locked in place!

Seeing the Savior looking worried, Kaul quickly added, "You needn't be too concerned. It's not guaranteed to happen. The chance of your being permanently trapped on the Throne is less than 10%."

In Kaul's view, 10% was already pretty low. During his experimentation with new technologies, mechanical explosions had an 80%-plus probability.

But Eden's face only grew more grim at such "reassurance." He even wondered if getting off the Throne right now might still be possible.

Eden placed a hand on Kaul's shoulder and said with a sigh, "Maintain the Blackstone Gate well. Under no circumstance can there be any accidents. If I ever truly get stuck inside, you can come keep me company."

Kaul froze. He was about to say something when an unexpected incident interrupted them.

Buzz—

Not far away, the snarl of a chainsword resounded.

Eden and Kaul immediately rushed to the scene, where they found a massive Chaos beast sprawled on the ground.

Carter yanked his chainsword from its head, the power armor splattered with vile blood. He turned and reported, "It just tried to attack our people. Luckily, I stopped it in time. No casualties."

Eden eyed the dead creature, then cast a glance at the distance, where a larger winged beast lay. That one had obviously been felled by the ship's macro cannons earlier.

Frowning, he said, "Seems there are more monsters inside the Webway. Have the warriors fan out and clear them."

Eden had been prepared for this. The Webway was in the Warp, so it was normal for some Chaos creatures to spawn. Just clean them out.

As long as the passage itself wasn't ruptured—letting daemons stream in—there was no big worry.

At Eden's command, twenty Thunder Guardians and three hundred Void Angels spread out to hunt down and eliminate any hidden beasts.

Carter remained by Eden and Kaul's side to guard them.

Eden, meanwhile, observed from the sidelines as he followed Kaul's team on an exploratory run around the Webway.

Just now, they had been standing in a wide main artery. Dozens upon dozens of smaller side passages branched out in all directions, spreading like a spider web around it.

Before long, Eden's group arrived at a relatively narrow corridor that allowed only a few people walking abreast. They proceeded down it until they reached its end—a faintly glowing, illusory doorway.

"This should be a portal leading out of the Webway," Eden thought, eyeing the gate.

Back in an introductory course on the Webway, he had learned that within the Webway were innumerable portal gates connecting to various points in the galaxy.

This one, evidently, was just a simple exit/entrance that opened from the Webway into realspace.

That was the magic of the Webway: it existed on a higher dimensional plane. Magnus once claimed the Webway merged time and space into a single point—that one step inside could instantly bring you to Holy Terra.

An exaggeration, perhaps, but close enough.

In simpler terms, from the moment Eden had entered this minor corridor, he was effectively engaged in a spatial crossing. Every step he took covered unfathomable distances.

Now, standing before the portal, he was literally at the threshold between realspace and the Warp. All he had to do was walk through the gate to appear in whichever place it led.

Such a concept defied words. It was unbelievably miraculous.

Eden tentatively raised a hand to the shimmering surface—and felt only the cold barrier of the wall behind it.

What was going on? Was the portal inactive?

Meanwhile, Kaul was busy scanning it, collecting its frequency data. The frequencies were crucial. They would be recorded so that they could distinguish among countless other portals in the future and locate them quickly.

Having recorded it, Kaul finally spoke, "I've sent this portal's frequency data to you. The key is in your hands—we need your authorization to open the gate."

Eden suddenly grasped the true purpose of the Blackstone Throne: it was the master key that controlled countless portals. Access required his approval.

He willed it, and his real body—seated on the Throne—took the frequency data Kaul had sent, located the portal, and commanded the Throne to open it.

Buzz—

The portal lit up, energy swirling slowly in its center.

Surely it would work now?

Eden reached in again, and at once felt his hand step into a different space. A breeze with dust and acidic pollutants blew across his palm.

Yes, the air was filled with sand and rather high acidity—a polluted environment. Eden's clone body was quite sensitive, basically a walking sensor, although not as precise as specialized instruments.

He had no idea which planet that might be.

Since it was only early exploration, Eden had no intention of venturing through. Getting stuck would be problematic.

"Let me see where it leads,"

Kaul muttered, sneaking a probe device through the portal. Soon enough, they had data. Using several of his mechanical arms, Kaul tapped away on a datapad, performing hundreds of operations within seconds.

"Found it. That planet is...over three hundred sectors away."

He was ecstatic. "We only took about thirty steps from the main passage to get here. In other words, each step spanned ten sectors. Wow, that's incredible!"

Kaul had even picked up Eden's habit of exclaiming "wow."

But there was more. After checking the planet's records, Kaul grew increasingly thrilled:

"Good grief, Omnissiah! That's Forge World Stygia-VIII! A famously important forge world known for producing some of the best gun barrels, recoil dampeners, and top-grade propellants in the Imperium. They can even build the Leman Russ Conqueror variant! It's also home to the Titan Legion 'Death Bomb' of the Honor Guard. That place is a big deal!"

Kaul very much wanted to pop over for a look, but was forbidden to do so.

"You know the rules of this survey mission. We can't just go off and contact other worlds..."

Eden stared pointedly at the eager Tech-Priest. If Kaul tried any nonsense, Eden would close the portal immediately.

After all, establishing contact with other Imperial worlds was a major matter. The Department of the Interior's diplomatic branch was still developing a plan. No surprises could be allowed to mess it up.

"Fine, I'll wait for another time," Kaul said listlessly, popping open a can of mechanical-fuel "beverage" to sip his frustration away. When unhappy, that was his go-to.

He pulled out another can. "Want one?"

Eden shook his head. He had no mechanical stomach; drinking that stuff would be detrimental.

At present, the Mechanicus of Urth had two brands of fuel drinks on the market, each from a different production line—"Kaul Authentic" and "Mos Improved." Both had their own fan bases. Quarrels over which brand tasted better were common. Their two creators, the Grand Savants Kaul and Mos themselves, would even personally join such scuffles. It was quite a sight.

Taking another gulp of his beverage, Kaul suddenly had an idea:"Okay, I won't go in person...but can I at least send a can of my authentic fuel drink over for our brothers out there to enjoy?"

"Sure, knock yourself out," Eden said with indifference. As long as he wasn't going over himself and risking the entire plan, a single can of beverage wouldn't reveal much. Eventually, they'd contact that forge world anyway.

If it helped Kaul's mood, so be it.

"Alright! Time to show them what the real stuff tastes like!" Kaul was delighted. He held up an unopened can of the drink and flung it through the portal.

Clang, clang!

It sounded like the can struck some piping, then dropped onto a hard surface.

A rasping, electronic voice roared from the other side: "Who dares attack me?!"

(End of Chapter)

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