46: Technological progress

The desecrated, pale silhouette of the "scarlet regret" Chaos cruiser was like a cold, heavy brand, searing itself into Han Zhe's retinas and deeper into the hearts of everyone in the base who knew of its presence. Fear, like a chill seeping from a Warp rift, spread silently. Yet, simultaneously, a sense of resolve and urgency, refined by being backed into a corner, was rapidly germinating.

The enemy was no longer just an unknown environment, dangerous wreckage, or distant speculation. It had become a concrete, massive, evil entity in close proximity. A cruiser capable of Warp jumps, even if its full attention was currently on that eerie dark-red fragment, meant the sword of Damocles hanging over the base had changed from "might fall" to "could fall at any moment."

Concealment had to be absolute. Power had to be accumulated at an accelerated pace.

"keystone, what is the impact of the 'scarlet regret's' appearance on the priority of all our long-term plans? Assess the exposure risk of our current concealment measures under its conventional detection methods." Han Zhe's voice echoed in the silent command center, kept very low, as if fearing his voice would be captured by the distant Chaos warship.

"After the upgrade of the 'Wide-Area Intelligent Shield Array,' its concealment effectiveness against conventional electromagnetic, particle, and psychic scanning has reached expectations. However, as the opponent is a Chaos warship, it may be equipped with unconventional detection equipment (such as 'sorcery' divination based on direct Warp perception, or some unknown desecrated technology). The risk of complete shielding: unquantifiable. Current exposure risk: low, but non-zero. Recommendation: Maintain the highest level of silence while the opponent remains, and avoid any activities that could generate regular signals or energy fluctuations (such as large-scale construction or high-power experiments)." keystone's electronic voice was also lowered in volume, its analysis calm yet not optimistic.

"The purpose and estimated time of the opponent's stay near the fragment?"

"Judging by its deployment of landing units and scanning behavior, the goal is to research or attempt to recover the fragment. Estimated stay duration: difficult to determine, ranging from several days to several weeks, depending on the complexity of the fragment and the risks they are willing to take. The fragment itself has high energy activity and is dangerous, which may delay their progress."

Several days to several weeks... During this time, the base must be like a hibernating animal, hiding itself away completely. But hiding alone was not enough; this time had to be used to frantically accumulate the capital for the next metamorphosis.

"Can the 'Taotie' protocol continue to operate under the premise of maintaining low energy fluctuations?" Han Zhe asked the key question. Resources were the lifeblood of development.

"The core processing stages of the 'Taotie' protocol have high energy consumption; running at full capacity would generate detectable energy peaks. Recommendation: Switch to 'Low-Speed Digestion' mode: reduce SCV collection frequency, and have the refining core process the collected 'junk blocks' at minimum power. Resource acquisition efficiency will drop to 20%-30% of normal levels."

Efficiency would be greatly reduced, but it was better than nothing. It was better than stopping completely and exhausting their reserves.

"Approved. Initiate 'Low-Speed Digestion' mode. Simultaneously, suspend all non-essential R&D and construction projects. Prioritize energy for the 'Wide-Area Shield Array,' basic life support in the 'Hive' center, and command center operations." Han Zhe made the difficult but necessary trade-off. External threats overrode everything else.

"Command confirmed. Entering 'Silent Hibernation' protocol."

The base's pulse instantly weakened. The roaring "Blaze" reactors lowered their output, the "chewing" sound of the refining core became nearly inaudible, and the SCVs stopped their frantic "gulping" in the debris belt. Like beasts retracting their claws, they lay dormant in the shadows of the platforms. Only within the Hive center did the life indicator lights of the gamma batch clones continue to blink in a steady rhythm, representing the seeds of future hope growing tenaciously in the silence.

Alpha Squad and Beta Squad had all returned, bringing first-hand visual data of the Chaos warship (though they dared not get too close) and more terrifying details about the dark-red fragment. All soldiers were informed of the extreme severity of the current situation. Training shifted to completely silent indoor simulations and tactical deductions; the atmosphere was heavy and focused.

Han Zhe spent most of his time deep within the command center, working with keystone to repeatedly analyze every detail of the "scarlet regret," attempting to deduce more information from its hull scars, livery style, and behavioral patterns—its affiliation (which Chaos warband or Legion), its status (intact or damaged), its possible armament, and... its behavioral logic.

"Multiple scars on the hull indicate it has experienced intense combat, and some repair marks are crude, suggesting a lack of sophisticated logistics. The style of the desecrated Aquila insignia leans toward extreme hatred and distortion of Imperial symbols, consistent with the characteristics of certain Legions that fell to Chaos early on, such as the Word Bearers or World Eaters. Its attempt to contact the dangerous fragment shows a strong tendency for risk-taking and a thirst for forbidden knowledge; it may also mean they are in dire need of some form of power or resource..." keystone integrated the limited observation data to provide conjectures.

Regardless of which Chaos faction it was, none were benevolent. Their presence here was the greatest factor of instability for the base.

Passively waiting for them to leave? That was too passive. And who knew if they would perform a more detailed regional scan before departing? Or if the research on the fragment itself would trigger some catastrophic energy burst that would affect the base?

Something had to be done to increase their survival chips, or in extreme cases... to possess a tiny bit of resistance or interference capability.

Under the premise of maintaining silence, two things could be quietly advanced.

First, population. More soldiers meant more operational possibilities in the future, whether for defense, evacuation, or executing special missions. Although the Hive center could not be expanded on a large scale (too much noise), its internal processes could undergo "silent optimization." Within the existing sixty slots, by optimizing the nutrient solution formula and neural stimulation waveforms, they could attempt to compress the gamma batch's cultivation cycle from seventy-five days by just a little bit, even if only by a few days. Meanwhile, they began secretly designing the gene templates for the next batch (codename: delta), incorporating adaptive optimization parameters extracted from the physiological data of Alpha and Beta Squads.

Second, technology. While large-scale experimentation or manufacturing was impossible, they could engage in pure "paper exercises"—the deep optimization of blueprints.

"tao steel." Han Zhe pulled up all data fragments regarding this legendary alloy, including sample analysis reports obtained from wreckage, the reverse-engineered "Simulated tao steel" process, and material information on trace rare elements required for tao steel extracted from various low-value debris after the Taotie protocol was run. "Our current 'Simulated Tao Steel-II' only has about half the performance of true tao steel. Facing the heavy bolter weapons, plasma cannons, or even Daemon Engines that Chaos might possess, this level of protection is far from enough. We must find a way to achieve a theoretical breakthrough in the synthesis process of 'True tao steel' without conducting large-scale smelting experiments."

"Objective: Utilize existing data, keystone's simulation capabilities, and the higher-level material synthesis principles potentially contained within the stc fragments we've acquired to construct a complete molecular dynamics model and catalytic reaction path for 'tao steel.' Find an alternative for the missing 'psychic resonance fine-tuning' step, or at least, increase the performance of simulated tao steel to over 70% of the real thing." Han Zhe assigned this arduous "mental" task to keystone.

"Task accepted. Initiating full theoretical deduction of the ultimate 'tao steel' synthesis plan. Allocating all idle computing power and combining STC material science fragments for ultra-deep simulation. Estimated time: long, with uncertain results."

"The Gauss Weaponry system also needs an upgrade." Han Zhe turned his attention to the weapon blueprints. "The 'ripper' rapid-fire cannon only solved the rate of fire issue; its power and range are still limited. We need more powerful Gauss Weaponry capable of posing a threat to light vehicles and even shipboard external equipment. Based on existing principles, design conceptual plans for the 'long nail' heavy Gauss sniper rifle (ultra-long range, high armor penetration) and the 'downpour' Gauss machine gun (continuous suppression, for dealing with clustered light-armored targets). Again, pure theoretical design, no physical testing required."

"Command confirmed. Conceptual design for 'long nail' and 'downpour' Gauss Weaponry initiated."

Thus, under the immense pressure brought by the Chaos warship outside, the base entered a strange state of "internalized explosion." On the surface, it was silent as death. Internally, however, it was undergoing high-intensity mental labor and subtle optimizations of life cultivation.

Time passed day by day in suffocating silence.

The "Listen" network (with some nodes actively set to sleep mode by keystone due to their proximity to the Chaos warship) sent back intermittent information showing that the landing units deployed by the "scarlet regret" seemed to have established a temporary research station on the surface of the dark-red fragment. Small shuttles constantly traveled between the fragment and the warship. The fragment's own energy activity seemed to become more unstable due to the outsiders' intervention, occasionally bursting with small-scale energy jets, which were somehow deflected or absorbed by the Chaos warship.

The tolerance of Chaos forces for danger and the forbidden far exceeded that of ordinary people.

The seventh day.

keystone reported the first major breakthrough: "Key progress has been made in the theoretical deduction of the ultimate 'tao steel' synthesis plan. By simulating a principle called 'Conceptual Matter Anchoring' found in the stc fragments, we have designed an alternative method using an 'Information Turbulence Field' to temporarily 'solidify' the ideal structure of the alloy lattice at a microscopic level. This can partially replace the missing 'psychic resonance fine-tuning.' Simulation results show that, combined with an optimized catalytic plasma sintering process, the 'Simulated tao steel' synthesized by the new plan is estimated to reach 78%-82% of the performance of true tao steel! The theoretical process route has been generated, but physical synthesis verification is required."

78%-82%! This was almost a qualitative leap! It was enough to raise the defensive power of future cmc armor by an entire level!

"Record and encrypt the full set of theoretical plans. Once it's safe, immediately conduct small-scale verification synthesis." Han Zhe's spirits lifted.

The tenth day.

Good news also came from the Gauss Weaponry conceptual design: "Design for the 'long nail' heavy Gauss sniper rifle is complete. It uses a three-stage acceleration coil to fire a specialized ultra-density tungsten alloy long-rod projectile. Its theoretical armor penetration is sufficient to pierce the frontal armor of most light vehicles within effective range and pose a threat to cruiser-class external sensor arrays and weak points. The 'downpour' Gauss machine gun uses a rotating barrel and parallel belt-fed ammunition, with an extremely high theoretical rate of fire for area suppression. Both have demanding requirements for energy and ammunition supply, necessitating matching reinforced cmc armor or vehicle-mounted platforms."

Long-range sniping and short-range storms—the tactical framework of the Gauss Weaponry system was beginning to take shape.

The thirteenth day.

The Hive center reported: through continuous fine-tuning of the gamma batch's cultivation parameters, the estimated maturation time could be moved forward by three to five standard days. Simultaneously, the gene template optimization for the delta batch (forty units) was complete, waiting only for the gamma batch to exit their vats to immediately start a new round of cultivation.

The engine of population growth was also quietly accelerating.

However, just as the base had achieved a series of breakthroughs in silence and Han Zhe's tense nerves had relaxed slightly, a new anomaly occurred on the fifteenth day!

The previously relatively "quiet" "scarlet regret" suddenly made a major move!

Through the blurred images sent back by "Shade-07" (a distant node that remained active), it could be seen that the Chaos cruiser's broadside macro-cannon arrays began to rotate, aiming at the dark-red fragment! Simultaneously, all landing units and shuttles were urgently recalled!

"What are they doing? Destroying the fragment? Or..." Han Zhe's heart tightened.

The next second, a blinding torrent of energy erupted from the muzzles of the "scarlet regret." It did not directly strike the main body of the fragment, but precisely bombarded several specific nodes on its surface where energy veins converged!

Violent explosions and energy turbulence erupted on the fragment's surface! The entire fragment shuddered violently, and the dark-red light on its surface instantly became wild and unstable, like an infuriated beast!

"They are... forcibly activating or extracting the fragment's energy?!" keystone's warning sounded. "Detecting a sharp surge in the fragment's energy reaction! Danger level skyrocketing!"

The Chaos warship was doing something extremely dangerous—attempting to use violent means to wring what they wanted from that unstable, hazardous fragment!

The fragment's light grew brighter and brighter. The spatial distortion and gravitational anomalies emanating from within even affected the distant "Shade-07," causing the images it sent back to shake and distort violently.

Just as Han Zhe thought the fragment was about to lose control and explode, perhaps even triggering a spatial collapse, another phenomenon occurred!

In the center of the fragment, at the densest part of the dark-red energy core, space distorted eerily once more! But this time, it was not being torn apart by external force; it was more like a "resonance" or "summons" spontaneously generated after the fragment's internal energy reached a certain critical point!

A deeper, more unsettling dark-purple rift, seemingly connected to infinite darkness and whispers, quietly bloomed at the core of the fragment!

"High-intensity Warp corridor opening detected! Corridor nature... extremely foul and chaotic! Something is coming through!" keystone's voice carried a rare sense of urgency.

Han Zhe held his breath, staring intently at the distorted screen.

From that dark-purple rift, the first thing to emerge was a massive claw covered in rusted bronze and writhing flesh! Following it, a gargantuan, deformed silhouette pieced together from metal, flesh, and desecrated runes struggled to "crawl" out of the rift! It looked like an out-of-control Daemon Engine, yet also like the wreckage of a War Titan completely corrupted by Chaos, radiating nauseating Chaos light and pure destructive desire!

The Chaos warship "scarlet regret" seemed to hesitate for a moment, its bombardment ceasing briefly. Clearly, the appearance of this unexpected "thing" had also exceeded their expectations.

But in the next second, the Chaos warship's fire turned without hesitation toward this newly emerged monster radiating a thick daemonic aura! And the daemonic monster let out a silent roar (conducted through spatial vibrations), waving its massive claws and the twisted weapons upon its body as it lunged toward the "scarlet regret"!

Dog eat dog! Chaos infighting? Or had the fragment summoned a guardian (or rather, something worse)?

Regardless, for the base, this might be... an opportunity? Or rather, a crisis within a crisis?

"All units, maintain absolute silence! 'Listen' network, record all data! Especially the energy fluctuations and spatial disturbances generated by their crossfire, and any possible communication signal fragments!" Han Zhe suppressed the turmoil in his heart and quickly issued orders.

In the distant starry sky, a desecrated battle between Chaos and daemon suddenly erupted. Energy beams crisscrossed, the firelight of explosions constantly lit up, and the mournful cry of space seemed to travel through the cold void.

The base remained in the darkness, silently watching, recording, and analyzing.

And within the Hive center, the life indicator lights continued to blink rhythmically.

The cradle of steel, beside the shadows and war-fires of higher-level existences, continued its silent and stubborn... evolution.