69: Chapter 69 Subspace Technology Research Institute

Cheng Yu was not just out for a stroll; there was a top-secret project he wanted to check the progress of in person.

It was not the Tyranids / Tyranid breeding program; with the launch of various Tyranids / Tyranid products, that project was considered semi-public, and keeping it under tight wraps no longer had any meaning.

The most critical scientific research currently being conducted by the Cheng Yu Empire was the study of Warp technology.

For instance, the scientist Cheng Yus discovered through research that the essence of psychic communication was the energy fluctuations of Warp.

Whether it was the intense emotions of living beings in the galaxy, the activation of a Geller Field, or the various activities of Chaos creatures, all would cause the conduction of energy waves within Warp.

However, most of the time, these fluctuations were weak and noisy; being exposed to these fluctuations for a long time would only lead to madness, and no effective information could be read.

But there were some special psykers who could not only acutely extract valid information from this noisy Warp background noise but also use their own psychic powers to create fluctuations in Warp to reply to the originators of the characteristic information.

These psykers were known as "Astropaths" in the Corpse Emperor Empire.

However, the Cheng Yu Empire distinguished Astropaths a bit more meticulously.

Those Cheng Yus Clones who were good at listening to the sounds of Warp were called "Listeners".

Those Cheng Yus Clones who were good at creating Warp fluctuations were called "Speakers".

And those Cheng Yus Clones responsible for distinguishing, decrypting, researching, drafting replies, and archiving the various whispers of Warp were called "Thinkers".

Listeners and Speakers had to be psykers with the Astropath talent, but Thinkers were best served by non-psyker clones, because the less one was affected by Warp, the more calmly one could think about the characteristics of Warp fluctuations.

The three above formed an "Astropath Team," and multiple Astropath Teams complementing each other could maintain the operation of an Astropath communication tower, communicating with star systems light-years or even tens of light-years away.

Main Body and Veronica walked to the psychic communication tower closest to the imperial palace; the Hive City where this communication tower was located was actually the current Warp technology center of the Cheng Yu Empire.

Therefore, those coming and going in this Hive City were basically scientist Cheng Yus wearing white coats.

"Halt, please state your identity."

The Security Officer Cheng Yu guarding the classified area blocked Cheng Yu; due to permission issues, he could only tell that the person opposite was a high-level clone, but couldn't tell exactly who it was.

"It is this one." Main Body replaced his identification code in the shared thought network with that of Palace Attendant Cheng Yu.

"Greetings, My Lord. Welcome to oversee the work."

The pneumatic valves dropped, and the nuclear-hardened doors swung open.

Inside the Hive City, it was a world of its own.

For some reason, at the entrance of the research institute, besides the statue of the Emperor, there was also a portrait of the Crimson King Magnus; perhaps it was a sign of respect from these scientist Cheng Yus toward a predecessor explorer.

"Please, two My Lords, put on your protective gear."

This special helmet and anti-warp suit, which could partially resist the erosion of Warp energy, were also unique achievements of the Cheng Yu Empire.

At the "Water Extraction Point," that Warp stronghold of the Empire, the Cheng Yus Clones discovered an interesting fact.

If an iron plate stayed in Warp for too long, it would "come alive," but if this iron plate that had already come alive was returned to the real universe, it would slowly lose its biological activity and turn back into an ordinary iron plate.

Bored, the Cheng Yu garrison troops would repeatedly move the metal plates back and forth, observing this phenomenon of coming to life and dying, just like raising some kind of exotic pet.

Eventually, they accidentally invented this special material called "Psychic-Blocking Alloy."

As long as a little bit of this alloy was mixed into tools or clothing, one could obtain an item with quite high Warp resistance.

The downside was that some users with high Warp sensitivity would not adapt to the properties of this alloy at first, experiencing a phenomenon called "tool sickness."

Veronica didn't adapt very well; as soon as she put on the helmet, she felt dizzy.

However, in order to keep up with Main Body, she gritted her teeth and overcame this dizzy reaction.

"My Lord, I am the person in charge of the research institute. Which part would you like to inspect today?"

"The information technology section. Lead the way."

"Yes!"

The research institute head, Cheng Yu, and Main Body walked in front, while Veronica followed with slightly slower steps.

Through the bulletproof glass windows, she could tell roughly what kind of Warp research was being conducted in each laboratory.

In the "Human Potential" research lab, a giant Cheng Yu, nearly four meters tall, was trying to pull apart Magdeburg hemispheres with his bare hands; he had exerted himself until his face was red and veins were popping, but he still couldn't succeed.

"The power of mortals has its limits after all." The researcher Cheng Yu stamped a blue "Failure" seal on the experiment record.

In the "Grandmaster of Flight" research lab, some Cheng Yus Clones had actually grown wings like angels and chests like birds; they flew back and forth happily in a huge iron cage, diving repeatedly.

Other Cheng Yus Clones didn't grow wings; they awakened psychic powers that allowed them to levitate in mid-air, though their flight speed obviously couldn't compare to the bird-man Cheng Yus.

In the "High-Pressure Environment" research lab, fish-man Cheng Yus, who had grown gills and special bone structures, were swimming and floating freely in a deep-sea environment.

One of the angler-fish Cheng Yus even looked at Veronica curiously through the glass; in fact, the angler-fish Cheng Yu's vision was very weak, and he had only sensed the heat source in front of him.

"Ugh..." Veronica finally couldn't hold it in; she was terrified and trembling like a sieve.

"Take her to the lounge." Main Body said.

"No, I want to keep watching." Veronica said, clenching her fists.

In the "Pure Energy Organism" research lab, Veronica even saw a ghost-like Cheng Yu, drifting back and forth in the room like some kind of black mist, only occasionally manifesting a physical form.

Veronica rolled her eyes and passed out anyway. Main Body had no choice but to send her to the lounge to recover first, and then he went to the information technology room... the core department of this research institute.

The information technology room was very large, occupying almost half of the Mid-Hive, because only such a large, empty area was sufficient to form a cavity effect, allowing the "Listeners" to hear the whispers of Warp more clearly.

Every Warp message, once received, had to go through a sequence: master copy archiving, fluctuation characteristic analysis and energy signature archiving, information decoding, transcription, judgment and analysis, deciding whether to reply, and finally, archiving the master copy of the reply.

For some unknown or even threatening Warp messages, they needed to be handed over to the Security Office for special tracking to see if they could do some "doxing" and eliminate the sender.