57: Chapter 57 The Time for Harvest Has Arrived

The two-month cooperation period flew by, and the inspection day arrived as scheduled.

The engineering team from the Chinese Academy of Sciences drove dozens of heavy trucks in a grand procession into Canglan Military Port.

The truck beds were loaded with a complete production line.

Father Karen stood on the pier, his bionic eye flashing with red light as he stared at the equipment being hoisted down, binary code flowing frantically.

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He strode to the production line, leaned over, and ran his mechanical hand over every interface and guide rail of the assembly line.

His data processing core whirred frantically, comparing the equipment against the records of STCs in his database.

"No, it's still a bit off," Karen muttered to himself. "Some stages still require manual intervention; it hasn't reached the standard of full automation..."

"But even so..." his voice trembled, "it's enough to make the Tech-Priests of a Forge World green with envy."

Father Karen turned to look at Fu Haoran, the binary code flowing even faster. "Lord Governor, do you know what this means?"

"Many people think an STC is just a small manufacturing machine, but a true STC is an entire full-category production system!"

"The production line before us has already reached the threshold of an STC. The only shortcoming is likely that it's not yet precise enough."

While Fu Haoran was still racking his brain for an explanation, something even more shocking arrived.

Three thousand sets of powered exoskeleton armor were tightly wrapped in tricolor cloth, their outlines only vaguely visible.

Although Karen looked down on such low-end and backward anti-peeping methods, he had to admit they were the simplest and most effective.

Of course, these armors integrated Tony's Mark 3 suit with Warhammer's force-feedback power armor, covered in hydraulic shock-absorbing nodes with seamless fly-by-wire systems at the joints.

On the back was a Coalax modular tactical backpack, with hexagonal honeycomb interfaces neatly arranged. It came with an independent power supply and an exoskeleton support system, capable of powering both the exoskeleton and providing stable energy for hellgun laser weapons.

Father Karen reported to Fu Haoran:

"My Lord, I have completed the inspection."

"All powered exoskeleton armors utilize second-generation arc reactors. Base strength is increased by 20 times, allowing them to lift 2-ton weights with ease."

"The load capacity is 900 kilograms, with interfaces reserved for future add-on armor."

"They possess short-range flight capabilities, with a top speed of 180 km/h and an endurance of 8 hours."

"The front can withstand direct hits from 12.7mm anti-materiel rifles and is immune to small arms, shell fragments, nuclear radiation, and biochemical gases. Following your orders, a large amount of ceramite will be added later to enhance defensive capabilities."

"Currently, the cost is only one-fiftieth of Tony Stark's Mark 3 suit, making mass production possible."

Fu Haoran was very satisfied with this batch of Powered Armor; the most crucial aspect was its mass-producibility.

Unlike the force-feedback power armor of the Warhammer World, these products of the 2K era featured built-in tactical computers, assisted aiming, fly-by-wire systems, and respiratory circulation systems.

Wearing this, an ordinary soldier could become a junior Astartes warrior.

The military personnel gathered around, tapping and prodding the armor while discussing amongst themselves.

Zheng Xian was silent for a moment before slowly speaking, "A sharp tool for street fighting, a divine weapon for urban sieges."

He then changed the subject: "But on a high-intensity battlefield, this level of protection is still insufficient."

"Without thick enough armor, it won't withstand saturation strikes on a frontal battlefield."

The Old Commander nodded.

In his eyes, war still relied on a torrent of steel.

This kind of individual equipment was merely the icing on the cake.

Neither of them noticed Fu Haoran looking at the armor on the testing field, a faint, imperceptible smile playing on his lips.

"These are just semi-finished products. Once I use that STC to print the ceramite outer plating, what looks like a white elephant now will no longer be one!"

Even less noticed was Father Karen staring at the power armors, the red light of his bionic eye almost solidifying.

He knew all too well what this design meant.

Force-feedback systems, hydraulic assistance, second-generation reactors, plus the reserved interfaces for ceramite add-on armor...

This was entirely a scaled-down version of Space Marine power armor!

If an ordinary person wore it, their strength could directly rival an Astartes!

Three thousand finished sets meant being able to instantly deploy three thousand super-soldiers comparable to Space Marines!

Karen's mechanical fingers trembled slightly.

In a Forge World, only the most devout Tech-Priests and the most elite Space Marines are worthy of touching power armor technology.

Yet here, even mortals could don these machines of war.

"Has the Governor been preparing all this from the very beginning?" Karen looked deeply at Fu Haoran.

The largest modification project was inside the torpedo bay of the cobra-class destroyer.

This project was proposed by Fu Haoran a month ago: the military engineering team and the technical team led by Father Karen went into the torpedo bay of the cobra-class destroyer together to replace the idle and dismantled torpedo launchers with brand-new missile rails.

It wasn't vertical launch—that would have required too many changes and taken too long—but rather laid flat, utilizing the destroyer's long enough bays to create a horizontal launch array.

The Old Academician and his colleagues were very supportive of this, seeing it as a rare opportunity for learning and exchange.

Fu Haoran, on the other hand, capitalized on the fact that these people were not bound by dogma and could leverage the entire nation's resources to implement technology. He used the modification as an opportunity to have them upgrade the ship's firepower and perform reverse engineering on the blueprints for free.

The key was that they still provided the canned food as promised.

Now, the time for inspection had come.

"A range of 18,000 kilometers at Mach 20, guaranteed to deliver." The military representative's tone was calm, yet it exuded confidence.

The cobra-class destroyer's original armament consisted only of a single-barrel light Macro Cannon turret at the bow and two short-range lance defense towers at the prow, which could only handle small aircraft and missile interceptions, making them virtually useless in a confrontation with capital ships.

Now, it could launch four intercontinental supersonic missiles at once, with automatic reloading for sustained strike capabilities.

Do not underestimate this small change!

This modification instantly gave the destroyer top-tier strategic strike capabilities on the Blue Star—no, even in space combat, it wouldn't be at a disadvantage!

An absurd thought flashed through Karen's mind.

He had reason to suspect this, as these changes were not without basis.

Fu Haoran had him make adjustments based on the Viper-class missile destroyer.

However, Karen's thoughts were soon replaced by something else.

He suddenly remembered two hundred years ago, on the plaza of a Forge World, when conservative Tech-Priests publicly threw his life's research manuscripts into a melta furnace.

"You should not question dogma." The Archmagos's voice was as cold as a report on scrapped equipment. "The Adeptus Mechanicus does not need thinkers, only executors."

Karen's bionic eye flickered violently. He remembered clearly that not long ago, a group of people were arguing over the mounting scheme for the missile rails when a young engineer, who had graduated less than two years ago, proposed his own idea.

And it was actually adopted!

No scolding, no punishment, no "you should not question authority."

Karen had watched the young man run excitedly to the console, watched the chief engineer continue directing construction as if nothing had happened, and watched everyone perform their duties, with no one thinking anything was amiss.

Questioning authority, speaking with data, and being accepted.

It was that simple.

The very thing he had pursued his whole life, which was strictly forbidden by the Adeptus Mechanicus, had become the most commonplace occurrence here.

Karen bowed his head, his mechanical hand stroking the cold metal surface of the missile launcher.

"omnissiah..."

His voice was hoarse, carrying two hundred years of suppression and trembling.

"Is this the place you wanted me to find?"

A world that allowed thinking, questioning, and let unbridled imagination take root.

Karen raised his mechanical hand and slowly performed an Adeptus Mechanicus pilgrimage salute toward the fully automated production line.

He whispered a prayer to the omnissiah.

This time, it was not out of dogmatic blind following, but out of reverence for technical truth.

...

That evening, the cooperation officially concluded.

The researchers who had spent two months inspecting the ship walked off reluctantly, yet not one of them kept any data for themselves.

Everyone compiled the technical data and reverse engineering blueprints recorded over the two months into volumes, sharing them with the state and leaving a complete backup for Fu Haoran.

The Old Commander stood by the gangway, looking at Fu Haoran with a solemn tone:

"It's been a pleasure cooperating. I hope that one day, we can work together again."

He paused. "Of course, if you encounter trouble out there, as long as it's within our territorial waters, we will certainly not stand idly by."

Fu Haoran nodded and smiled.

Once everyone had disembarked, he returned to the bridge and opened the system panel.

[Obtained: Laser weapon battery production line × 1]

[Obtained: powered exoskeleton armor production line x 1, powered exoskeleton armor × 3000 sets]

[Obtained: Tactical backpack × 3000 sets]

[Obtained: Intercontinental missile technology (including production line)]

[Current worldline divergence rate: 62.7%]

[Obtained Title "Empty-Handed White Wolf": Universal Points +6666, Free Attribute Points +6]

[PS: Host, this "Empty-Handed White Wolf" move was truly artful! Using someone else's tech and common tech, you got a full set of reverse engineering data for free, along with several automated production lines, and even got the warship upgraded for free!]

Fu Haoran flipped through the data, his smile never fading.

From the first day of cooperation, what he wanted was not just a simple technical observation, but the complete industrial data to replicate a cobra-class destroyer in the Hive City.

The Hive Noble fleet was always the biggest trouble; relying on just one cobra-class ship was far from enough.

As the simplest warship in the Warhammer World capable of Warp travel, its simplicity was only relative to the Adeptus Mechanicus and various Industrial Hive Worlds.

For a Planetary Governor like him, who was dirt poor, it was still an astronomical sum.

Not wanting to beg others, he had to find a way himself.

Now that he had the blueprints, the rest was just a matter of time.

As night fell, the lights of Canglan Military Port gradually dimmed.

Inside the bridge of the cobra-class destroyer, Fu Haoran looked at the coordinates on the nautical chart, his fingertips lightly tapping the console.

"Wade, start the engines."

"Father Karen, perform a full ship system self-check, activate the Void Shield at full power, and jam all radar signals."

"By your command, Lord Governor!"

The warship's engines emitted a low roar as it slowly sailed out of Canglan Military Port.

The moment they crossed the territorial waters line, Fu Haoran looked at the coordinates for Murmansk Military Port on the screen, a playful smile curving his lips.

Through two months of cooperation, he had obtained everything he wanted.

Now, it was time for the second stop—to find the Russians and talk about a big deal.

"This time, there's no need to give a heads-up."