Chapter 436: The Second Genesis Experiment
Ryo did not pay too much attention to the stationing of the Black Templars company.
His logic core quickly evaluated the matter: acquiring ownership of the star system while accepting the "protective" garrison of one of the Imperium's most elite Astartes Chapters was an inevitable exchange of rights and obligations.
As long as the other party did not interfere with his core research, there was no need to expend additional resources to monitor or deal with them.
On the Black Templars' side, from Sigismund down to the "Fortress" Company specifically executing the garrison mission, they clearly understood the dual nature of their mission: it was both protection and surveillance.
They had no intention, nor did they feel the need, to engage in overly close physical contact with a Magos of the Mechanicus and his base.
Therefore, after a brief and efficient coordination between the Company Commander, Brother Hector, and the Skitarii Marshal Anvil-7, the Black Templars chose a towering mountain peak on the outskirts of the base as their station.
The mountain's altitude was sufficient to overlook the entire base and the surrounding key areas. It had a wide field of vision, was easy to defend and hard to attack, meeting the Astartes Chapter's stringent requirements for a defensive position, while maintaining an appropriate distance from the main body of the base.
Once the site was selected, the Black Templars' engineering commenced with astonishing efficiency.
Transport craft shuttled between the orbital vessels and the mountain peak, delivering pre-cast armor plating, heavy weapon platforms, and building materials.
With the Space Marines' own formidable strength working in tandem with engineering machinery, the foundation was rapidly leveled, and the outline of the fortifications rose from the ground at a speed visible to the naked eye.
In just a few standard days, a minimalist architectural complex in the style of the Black Templars, serving the functions of both a military fortress and a monastery, took shape on the mountain peak.
Its dark gray armored outer walls almost blended into the rock of the mountain. Several protruding gun emplacements and observation posts pointed distinctly towards the sky and the main paths leading to the base.
It sat like a silent giant eagle perched on high, its cold gaze enveloping the base below, maintaining a posture of majestic detachment.
Ryo would occasionally observe the construction progress of that mountain peak fortress through the base's sensors.
He noticed that the defensive system they constructed was outward-facing, primarily aimed at potential threats from the outside rather than targeting the base itself.
This confirmed his judgment: the Black Templars were executing orders, maintaining a nominal surveillance and a substantive regional joint defense.
He made no comments on this, nor did he adjust the base's own defensive deployments.
He merely updated the relevant records in his internal logs and added the coordinates and communication codes of the Black Templars fortress to the "Limited Cooperation Units" list.
The landscape of the Death World quietly changed as a result.
Ryo's base continued to operate as the core, carrying out various public or covert research and construction; while not far away on the mountain peak, there was an additional pair of unblinking eyes belonging to the Imperium.
The two sides maintained a distance, not interfering with each other, yet invisibly forming a new balance.
Ryo was able to continue his planned endeavors, while the Imperium ensured that this newly delineated territory and its key figure remained within controllable sight.
With that letter of appointment officially taking effect on a legal level, Ryo's understanding and planning for this star sector also underwent a fundamental shift.
His database stored the complete star map of the star system. In addition to the Death World which he had already made his core base, there were three other planets in the system.
One was a mining planet with passable mineral resources but harsh environments; one was a dead, frozen planet covered by thick ice layers with almost no atmosphere; and one was a typical barren planet whose surface was covered in rocks, lacking liquid water, and with a thin atmosphere.
Before acquiring ownership, all of Ryo's actions required careful consideration of potential external observation and the boundaries of Imperial law.
Even for a discovery with immense potential like the Genesis Particles, its research was strictly confined to the relatively hidden canyon experimental zone on the Death World. Its scale and area of influence were strictly controlled, let alone replicating a feat on the level of the "Genesis Device" from the Star Trek universe, which was capable of instantly reshaping an entire planet's topography.
That would be tantamount to igniting an uncontrolled supernova right under the Imperium's nose.
But now, the situation was completely different.
According to the appointment signed by Rogal Dorn, the entire star system, including all celestial bodies and resources within it, now belonged to him privately.
This meant that, within the limits permitted by law, he possessed an immense degree of freedom to conduct any form of experiment on his own property, as long as it did not endanger the overall interests of the Imperium (the interpretation of this clause largely depended on his own strength and value).
His gaze naturally fell upon that barren planet.
This planet was moderately sized, its geological structure was relatively stable, and it showed no signs of native life. Its orbital position from the Death World base also made it convenient for observation.
It was like a natural, gigantic petri dish belonging entirely to him.
"Initiate the preliminary planning for the 'Genesis Restructuring Protocol'," Ryo issued the command in the core laboratory.
Data streams began to orbit around that barren planet.
He retrieved the historical probe data of the planet: surface composition, atmospheric makeup (extremely thin, primarily carbon dioxide and noble gases), gravitational parameters, stellar radiation reception... All the information was integrated and input into a new simulation program.
This time, the experimental objective was no longer to catalyze life in a localized area or to enhance existing species.
His vision was much grander—to test the Genesis Particles' ability to reshape geological structures, atmospheric composition, and even fundamental ecological systems on a planetary scale.
The first step of the plan was to conduct a controlled release of Genesis Particles in a selected vast basin on the planet, but with an energy level far exceeding any previous experiment, to observe its restructuring patterns on surface matter.
And to see whether a self-sustaining, albeit extremely primitive, closed matter-energy circulation system could be established within a short period.
Risks naturally existed.
A massive energy release might trigger unpredictable geological shifts, or even cause minor effects on the planet's orbit.
But compared to conducting such tests in densely populated or strategically valuable sectors, doing it on a completely barren planet that belonged entirely to him and was inherently worthless meant the cost was almost negligible.
He commanded the monitoring probes in orbit to adjust their trajectories and begin higher-precision comprehensive scans of the target barren planet, establishing a foundational environmental model prior to the experiment.
At the same time, he began calculating the optimal plan for transporting the necessary equipment (including an enhanced Genesis Particle generator and supplementary energy supply units) to the planet's orbit or surface.
An unprecedented sense of experimental freedom circulated within his processing core.
The authority granted by Imperial law had opened a door for him to a much grander experimental stage.
That lonely, barren planet was about to undergo a heaven-and-earth-turning change, guided by pure rationality and the thirst for knowledge.
(End of Chapter)