The Celestial Orrery was a special device created by the Necrons.
Every point of light displayed in the device's holographic projection represented a star in the galaxy.
If someone manipulated one of those points in the hologram and extinguished it, that was equivalent to destroying the corresponding star in the real universe, triggering a supernova that would annihilate everything around it.
It was one of the Necrons' treasures—a true weapon of mass destruction.
And the technology Kain had just obtained was related to the Celestial Orrery, drawn from the contents of that box.
If humanity could fully understand this technology, it could likewise build a Celestial Orrery of its own.
However, judging by the Imperium's current state, accomplishing that would probably be difficult.
Still, the technology could be used to guard against the possibility that the Necrons might one day lose their minds and use the Orrery against humanity.
With this technology, they could create something similar to a neutron jammer's interference against nuclear warheads, preventing the Celestial Orrery from detonating a star whose signal had been shielded.
As for that box, beyond the hard drives containing those technologies, it also held one actual product: a super-miniature version of the Celestial Orrery.
In reality, it was more accurate to call the thing a hacking program.
As long as one arrived in a star system and activated it, the device could connect to the Celestial Orrery's network and detonate that star.
And now, while this alternate version of Cawl was downloading data, Kain was also downloading data.
He was taking whatever useful information Cawl had on hand, though most of it was agricultural data.
However, one file was the true prize of this trip—the manufacturing process for Lunar-class cruisers.
A Lunar-class cruiser, averaging roughly five kilometers in length, was among the easiest warships for the Imperium to manufacture.
Even on a feral world, if things went smoothly, one could be successfully built in just over a decade.
The Lunar-class cruiser manufacturing technology he obtained came in two sets.
One set involved Warp-related systems and used a Warp engine to drive the Lunar-class cruiser.
The other was a purely technological version of the Lunar-class cruiser. It could not use void shields or Warp jumps, and it lacked any Warp-related functions. Its operational endurance was also shorter.
This backup purely technological version existed as a precaution, meant for situations where warships had to be built in special regions where, for various reasons, they could not make contact with the Warp, or where Warp energy was disrupted and difficult to use. They would first build this kind of warship, then later modify it to gain Warp navigation capabilities.
And this was exactly the set of technology Kain wanted.
The so-called "short endurance" was more than enough in other worlds.
Because it had no Warp engine and could not activate void shields, its defensive shielding had been replaced with ion shield technology, which looked fairly similar to what the T'au Empire used.
However, its endurance was already limited, and these ion shields consumed even more power. Once activated under attack, they would drain the warship's energy even faster.
So if the T'au Empire's nova reactor could be obtained and installed, that would be rather useful.
For that reason, Kain also took out the XV104 Riptide Battlesuit he had obtained and handed it to Cawl to reverse-engineer, extracting the nova reactor technology from it.
"Hm?"
Kain raised an eyebrow as he looked at the object that had appeared in his hand out of thin air. It was a metal safe, not the metal box he had found in the Necron tomb world.
This box had actually just been sent over by a member of the Hyperdimensional Channel.
Since he was bored while the data downloaded, he had started chatting with the other party and asked for one of that world's local specialties—Mako.
That member was Tifa.
Mako was an important energy substance in her world. The Shinra Electric Power Company had used its exploitation of this substance to dominate the world.
As for Mako, based on Kain's understanding of Final Fantasy's setting, it could also be considered a form of psychic energy, otherwise known as the Lifestream.
According to the view of life on Tifa's planet, when people died, their spirits entered a place called the Lifestream.
The Lifestream flowed around the planet, carrying the essence of lives whose bodies and souls had faded away.
The Lifestream processed by the Shinra Electric Power Company was what became Mako.
Recklessly extracting the Lifestream was equivalent to strangling the life of the planet itself, like dragging souls out of heaven and burning them as firewood.
Because of that large-scale extraction, fewer and fewer lives were being born in Tifa's world—not just humans, but all kinds of animals and plants as well.
Mako could be used to generate electricity, becoming a primary energy source.
And after a person's body was immersed in Mako, they would be strengthened. Shinra used this to develop super soldiers, though it could also cause the body to mutate into a monster.
If Mako was further compressed and crystallized, it became Materia, which could be used to cast magic.
However, when Tifa sent the Mako over, a small problem occurred.
Some of the Mako could be transferred. Some could not.
The reason was that some Mako still contained lingering spirits that had not yet dispersed, while others had already lost them and were no longer recognized as living beings.
Now, before he even opened the box, Kain sensed a familiar fluctuation.
It really did seem like this might be similar to psychic energy on this side.
After opening the box, he saw three crystals. Two were almost transparent, their power nearly depleted.
Aside from the three stones, there was also a small bottle of liquid Mako.
Kain picked up one of the nearly transparent crystals and briefly activated his Untouchable field. His expression shifted with faint surprise.
The Untouchable field worked on it.
"What is that? Materialized psychic energy?"
A voice that sounded slightly metallic and grating rang out. Looking over, Kain saw Cawl staring fixedly at the object in his hand.
"Take it and study—"
Before Kain could even finish speaking, his vision blurred, and the object was snatched away. Cawl then rushed off toward the laboratory at incredible speed.
Roughly half an hour later, Kain heard crazed laughter and muttering from inside, like some kind of mad scientist.
The next second, Cawl came charging back out in a frantic hurry.
"I need to conduct an experiment. I require your cooperation."
An experiment?
What kind of experiment could make this Archmagos look like his eyes were so bloodshot they were about to explode?
It seemed Mako had led to an extraordinary discovery.
Kain followed him down into a vast underground experimental space.
Judging by the facilities, the place felt like some kind of accelerator, with something resembling an engine in the center.
"That is a Warp engine."
As Cawl spoke, he placed one of the nearly transparent crystals—no, it seemed less transparent now—into the engine.
"I will activate this engine and make it jump into the Warp. It will attract daemons. Afterward, it will be teleported back. If it fails, you handle the cleanup."
So that was why he needed Kain's help. He wanted Kain to activate his Untouchable field if anything went wrong and prevent the situation from getting out of hand.
In that case, Kain also found himself looking forward to seeing what effect Mako would have on this side.
(End of Chapter)
[Get +30 Extra Chapters On — P@tr3on "Zaelum"]
[Every 300 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter Drop]
[Thanks for Reading!]