Chapter 439: Taking Stock of the Harvest:

The regiment fleet is on its way back.

After resolving the captain's privacy issues, Qingshan Khan began to formally review the gains from this battle.

Not to mention the large amount of industrial raw materials, the batch of refined gold ore is the most valuable. The Iron Pagoda Regiment continued its usual fine style, all the Titans killed by the "Pojun Jinjia", no matter how big or small, were dismantled and packed away. Even if Xiao Fei no longer liked the design structure of these Titans, it would still be a considerable fortune to dismantle the refined gold forged body frame and armor shell and recast them.

Adamantium is the best natural metal in the Warhammer 40K universe in all aspects. It has very high strength, hardness, plasticity and toughness. It is rare for a metal material to have all four indicators without any shortcomings. For example, synthetic metal ceramic steel has high strength and hardness but poor toughness and plasticity. Unless using extremely high energy density heat and plasma, Adamantium armor can only be torn apart by Adamantium weapons.

In contrast, refined gold is extremely expensive.

In the entire human empire, there are only a limited number of mining worlds with adamantium veins that can produce adamantium.

In addition to industrial raw materials, there is also valuable STC.

The STC for the Vulture-type intelligent robot is already in the bag.

After studying several other STCs, Fu Qinghai also figured out their specific production uses.

The four STCs are:

1. Siren Assault Claw Drop Pod.

2. Sikaran battle tank.

3. Kratos Assault Tank.

4. Space Marine landing craft.

The Khan was very pleased with the fruitful harvest.

Among them, Fu Qinghai's favorite is the Siren Raid Claw airborne capsule. As we all know, ordinary airborne capsules are disposable items and cannot be recycled immediately after being smashed, but some special models can. The Siren Raid Claw airborne capsule is a special type of airborne capsule that can be recycled. Not only can it be recycled, but it also has a larger transportation space. The missile launcher and hot-melt cutter on the bulkhead can also conduct a wave of firepower coverage and clearing of the selected landing area in advance. In addition, the Siren Raid Claw airborne capsule can be used for naval boarding in addition to orbital airdrops, which is completely sufficient to replace boarding torpedoes.

The Siren Raiding Claw drop pod was only developed at the end of the Great Crusade. As the Warmaster always did, it was naturally given to the Traitor Legions first. In the 41st Millennium, due to the loss of technology, the Astartes did not use it. Only the Chaos Space Marines had a shoddily cut version of the Siren Raiding Claw drop pod - the Dread Claw drop pod. Although the Dread Claw also has a recycling function and can be used for naval boarding, its space, armor and firepower cannot be compared with the Siren Raiding Claw. The two drop pods have obvious similarities in appearance. The so-called "lost technology" is self-evident where it was lost.

At least for the Imperial camp.

The Kraken Raid Claw drop pod is unique.

The latter two tanks, which are dedicated to the Astartes armored forces, are both veritable holy relics in the 41K era, but there are still some differences between the two tanks.

The Sikaran Battle Tank was born at the end of the Great Crusade. It was a main battle tank jointly developed by Fainus Manus, Roboute Guilliman and the Adeptus Mechanicus. With two Primarchs and a Adeptus Mechanicus, it had a very high technical content. The later human empire was unable to manufacture the Sikaran Battle Tank, more because the technology had been lost rather than because they were unwilling to make it.

The Kratos Assault Tank was born in the early days of the Great Crusade and is the main battle tank that has been replaced by the Predator Tank. The reason why the Predator Tank replaced the Kratos Assault Tank is the same as the reason why the Thunderhawk Gunboat replaced the Stormbird Gunboat - although the former has weaker firepower, thinner armor and smaller size, the former is cheaper. After comprehensive calculations, it is more cost-effective to manufacture small tanks and small gunboats, so the former replaced the latter.

The Sikaran Battle Tanks are all Chapter Relics that are kept in the Astartes stasis field. The Kratos Assault Tank was eliminated because of its low cost-performance ratio.

The Human Empire can still manufacture Kratos assault tanks, but the Astartes Chapter is no longer the Astartes Legion and no longer carries out the main attack mission on the front battlefield. Instead, it has become an elite special infiltration force. It does not have the financial resources and is not necessary to continue using this frontal assault main battle tank with thick armor, strong firepower and high cost. For a Space Marine, the latter reason may be more unacceptable than the loss of technology.

If we simply compare firepower, the tank ranking in the Space Marine armor sequence should be: Scimitar> Flying Glaive> Sicaran> Kratos> Predator. Scimitar and Flying Glaive and their various variants are all super-heavy tanks, and all indicators are slightly stronger than the three main battle tanks behind them. As for Spartan and Mastodon, they are called "tanks" but are actually armored personnel carriers, so they are not included in the comparison between tanks.

The last one is the Space Marine Landing Craft, a more common cross-orbital landing vehicle. The appearance is like an elongated fishbone-shaped Thunderhawk gunship, and the technical principle is not much different from the Thunderhawk gunship. The only difference is that the former is larger and longer, and can carry six main battle tanks or six armored personnel carriers to and from the orbit and the surface at a time, while the Thunderhawk gunship can only carry one armored vehicle at a time. It is more efficient to use the Space Marine Landing Craft to deploy armored forces, that's all.

There are four standard construction templates, some are unique, some are rare, some have been eliminated, and some are relatively common. But for Phaeton Casting World, there is nothing to be picky about, as long as it is an STC, we welcome it with open arms.

The Iron Pagoda came to the Iron Belt this time with nine Imperial transport ships, and not only that, they also seized five transport ships belonging to the Dark Mechanicus. Fourteen transport ships kept going back and forth between the surface and orbit, scraping the ground three feet deep, and finally transported all the supplies into space.

There was a small episode during this period.

The planetary governor who had fled from the battlefield had been arrested and detained by Grand Marshal Hexu Luo. The planetary governor and his family, accompanied by the political commissar of the Imperial Guard, took a shuttle to the cruiser. When they passed the landing site, the planetary governor pointed to the clean blank area and asked the political commissar in confusion:

"Was there a war here?"

Several political commissars were speechless.

They are only Commissars of the Guard, not Chapter Chaplains.

They have no right to interfere with the actions of the Iron Pagoda Regiment.

The remains of the traitor Titan can be recycled, and even the body of the black oil man has been collected and taken away. Qingshan Khan believes that if the data storage components in the black oil man's body are removed for analysis and reading, there may be new discoveries.

This is similar to the vendors selling bulk USB flash drives under the overpass. What they sell is not the USB flash drive, but a blind box. Who knows what is in the USB flash drive, prison design drawings or more than 100G of learning materials? They strive to squeeze out the last bit of value.

Based on this principle, the two battlefields outside the hive city looked very clean, as if they had been licked.

It's shockingly clean.

......

The mighty battle group fleet was sailing in the void.

Prepare to return to the Forge World of Atar Median.

The Iron Pagoda Regiment captured a lot of transport ships and cruisers this time, and the number of crew members was a bit stretched. A lot of crew members were drawn from each warship to barely allow the fleet to sail.

Fortunately, the characteristic of the Adeptus Mechanicus' ships is that the number of mortal crew members is very small. For example, the Goliath-class factory ship and the Goliath-class forge ship brought by Master Quinto from Mars, the former is the size of a battleship, and the latter is the size of a cruiser, but the number of crew members is only a few thousand and a few hundred respectively, and the remaining positions use a large number of mechanical slaves and automatic equipment.

If we compare the degree of automation of ships of the major forces in the Human Empire, it is probably:

Mechanicus > Space Marines > Imperial Navy.

The Adeptus Mechanicus dislikes uncontrollable human crews and prefers rigid servitors. Space Marines often use servitors simply because they are scarce in number. After all, Chapter Servants are also valuable and are potential candidates for recruits.

The Imperial Navy was the most exaggerated, with a small ship often having tens of thousands of crew members and a very low level of automation. The reasons were complicated, including considerations of preventing enemy electronic attacks and some factors of the Imperial Navy itself: the engine family, torpedo family, artillery family, etc. within the naval warships formed a bunch of technology monopoly groups with intertwined interests, occupying the corresponding compartments for generations, making it difficult for the navy to promote the iteration of warship technology.

The Imperial Navy was a large but conservative force.

There are so many internal rules and regulations.

In science fiction IPs like Halo, Dune, and Star Wars, a few hundred people can control a giant spaceship. It's not impossible for the Human Empire to do it, and the Mechanicus can do it, but they didn't do it for various reasons.

…

After the Iron Pagoda fleet jumped out of the warp, it sent a transport cruiser into the galaxy alone, and the rest of the fleet re-entered the warp to continue their voyage.

Orestes Knight World.

The transport cruiser hovered in orbit.

On the boarding deck, huge inter-orbital landers were neatly arranged. These were landing devices specially used to transport the knight mechas. Now they were empty, and no knight mechas of the Draconis family survived.

Zofia, Janiko, and a tall Space Marine in black-gold power armor stood side by side, silently waiting for the inter-orbital lander to start.

The Space Marine's face was serious and even full of hatred. His bald head was covered with dense black prayers. He held his helmet in his hand, and the helmet visor was in the shape of a skull. In his other hand, he held a power scepter, and the end of the scepter was decorated with metal spikes, skulls and eagle wings. If you are familiar with the Space Marines, you will know that this helmet and this weapon are the emblem of the Chapter Chaplain. There is also a personal emblem on the shoulder armor of this warrior - a golden relief of an open book.

Tristan, the hermit master of the Iron Pagoda Regiment.

"Captain Zofia, Mrs. Janiko."

Tristan broke the silence:

"The Khan sent me here this time to take away everything worth taking away from the Draconis family. This action itself is not authorized by Mars or Terra, so we need to act quickly and end it as soon as possible. I also know that Orestes is the place where the Draconis family has lived and multiplied for generations. You have a great bond with this land, but I hope you can be ruthless and cut off this bond, ma'am. There is a brighter future waiting for you in the Phaeton Forge World."

Zofia shrugged and said nothing.

She didn't care. Her biggest bond with this knight family was her mother, and she didn't know the others well. Besides, Zofia and Tristan were both reincarnations, and they had already agreed privately that the move must be done quickly.

"I understand, sir."

Mrs. Janiko nodded:

"I grew up in Orestes. This land is not only my hometown, but also a sad place. I don't want to see things that will bring back memories. Only by staying away from here can the family be reborn."

"I hope you understand."

Tristan nodded approvingly.

The civil war and conflict in the Knight World are still going on. The Ruling Sage forcibly withdrew a loyal Knight family, causing the situation in the region to become more unstable. The fleet of the Dark Mechanicus visits here from time to time, and encouraged by this, riots and uprisings by mutants and cultists are becoming more and more frequent. Other Knight families are working hard to suppress the riots and maintain local order.

But this is not the mission of the Iron Pagoda Regiment.

They just took the remaining members of the tribe along the way.

…

The fief of the Draconis family.

The familiar ebony fortress stood on the top of the mountain.

The inter-orbital lander lands on the Fortress platform.

The place was already crowded with people. The women and children of the Draconis family were eagerly waiting. The women held bouquets of flowers and the children waved clockwork knight toys. They were looking forward to seeing the castle knight leading the family knights out with their heads held high. They guessed that, as in the past, the armor of the imperial knights was covered with bloodstains and burnt bullet holes, but their flags were still bright, and the guns were hung with spoils and souvenirs captured from the enemy...

The hatch slowly opened.

A team of Space Marines in black-gold power armor walked out, escorting two women, one tall and one short, with guns.

The look in the women's eyes.

Slowly it turned from anticipation to shock.

Not a single knight mecha came out.

The inter-orbital lander was empty.

"Jia...Janiko, what's going on?"

An old woman rushed in front of the chief knight, tightly grasping the gilded cuffs of the chief knight's uniform with both hands. She stared at the woman in front of her with wide eyes and asked in a trembling voice:

"Tell me quickly, what's going on?"

Janiko closed her eyes and shook her head in pain.

The old woman understood all of a sudden, she collapsed to the ground, her face dull and gloomy. The people around her also knew what had happened, their guesses became reality, and it was as if the sky had fallen. The women in the family stared blankly at the empty hatch, some covered their mouths and sobbed, and some slowly collapsed to the ground.

Some children who didn't know what was going on, seeing their mothers like this, also raised their heads and cried loudly. There were also pregnant women holding their bellies and babies crying for food in the crowd, and the whole platform was in chaos.

"well."

Although he had expected this, the chief pastor couldn't help but sigh when he saw this scene.

Tristan suddenly remembered a conversation he had with Qingshan Khan not long ago.

The two were having dinner in a restaurant, and during the conversation they came to know the state religion of the empire. The Khan said:

"As far as I know, the State Religion is expanding its sphere of influence in the Solar Region, and has been tacitly approved by Terra. Perhaps soon, the State Religion priests will come to the Misty Region and the Marcus King Region. As the chief priest of the regiment, you must be prepared for how to deal with them."

"What kind of power is the Imperial Church?"

The hermit elder humbly asked the chapter leader for advice.

The Chapter Master put down his spoon, thought for

a moment and said, "The State Church has committed many evil deeds throughout its life, but we have to admit that they have also done some good deeds, which are very helpful to the Empire."

"for example?"

"For example, establishing Zhongsi College."

......

Orestes Knight World.

There is a city three hundred kilometers away from the Ebony Fortress.

The city had been through war, and most of the city had been reduced to ruins. As night fell, in the gaps between collapsed buildings and in the holes buried by wall panels, there were flickering fires, shadowy figures, wild laughter, fighting, and roars... It was as if a group of demons were dancing wildly, order had disappeared, and only chaos had descended.

Inside a large sunken pit.

There are piles of construction waste all around.

Two shirtless men were struggling in the pit, their bodies were covered in blood and sweat, punching and kicking each other, there were no rules in this fight, it was a real "unrestricted fight", teeth biting and tearing fingers, nails digging into eardrums and eyeballs. They didn't look like humans at all, but more like two wild dogs.

The pit was surrounded by people.

They waved swords, guns and torches in their hands, roared loudly, cheered for the players they bet on, and cursed their opponents loudly, with spit and dirty words flying everywhere.

A tall figure wearing a cloak and a hood, with his head down, hurried along the road. Passing by the sunken pit, he turned his head and looked. The firelight illuminated his face along the edge of his hood. It was a strange face, with a square face and a broad forehead. He looked majestic without anger, but there was no pupil in his eyes, only a white film. His skin was dark blue, and there were four fleshy tentacles of varying thickness hanging around his cheeks. There were golden rings on each tentacle as decoration. There were also protruding frontal bones on his forehead around his brow. Just looking at this face, he was not a human.

The mysterious passerby was wearing a brown and black cloak, but it still could not hide his tall and burly figure, strong shoulders, and bulging pectoral muscles. He looked like someone who was not someone to be trifled with.

At the edge of the pit, someone had set up a grill and was roasting food. The mysterious passerby's nose twitched, he stopped and looked up. It was a Chaos believer with horns on his head. He was flipping the grill with one hand and holding an iron skewer with the other. On the rough iron rod cut from steel bars... was the corpse of a baby.

The mysterious passerby frowned.

There was a flash of disgust in his eyes.

But he took a deep breath, ignored it, forced himself to turn around, and quickly left the place.

He quickly shuttled through the ruins of the city, entered a sewer, turned through an arched door, and came to a secret camp hidden deep in the ruins of the city. Just as he arrived here, a tall figure rushed towards him. The mysterious passerby quickly raised his hand to hold the other person, and then asked:

"What's wrong, Liv, why are you so reckless?"

"Brother, you took action some time ago, right?"

"Yes."

The mysterious passerby lifted his hood to reveal his face.

There is a pair of curved horns on the top of the head.

None other than a draenei.

Standing before him was Olivia Crofts, the Draenei mage of the Zero Realm Guild.

"Didn't I tell you not to act rashly? The fluctuations of magic will attract that person's attention. We haven't found the main thread of the plot line yet..."

Olivia said anxiously.

"But I had to take action."

The male Draenei said with a hint of annoyance,

"I encountered a Chaos Cultist gang on the outskirts of the city, and they intercepted me. I did as you taught me, saying that I was a follower of the Lord of Change, and then I lifted my hood to show them my face. As a result, they became even angrier, and they picked up their weapons to attack me, so I had no choice but to kill them."

"Well..."

Olivia was slightly stunned and asked:

"What do they look like?"

"They are ugly, with red facial skin and eyes, and some keratinous spikes growing on the edges of their heads. However, they are very strong, far stronger than ordinary humans... Oh, and they all wear a brass collar around their necks."

Brass collar...

Olivia covered her face:

"Alas, those are Khorne believers. You said you believe in the Lord of Change, they will definitely kill you."

"Then what should I do?"

The male Draenei spread his hands helplessly.

"What magic did you use?"

Olivia then asked.

"Firestorm, and Burning Touch."

The male Draenei said coldly,

"To prevent future troubles, I killed the entire Chaos gang. I am sure that no one survived."

"You're making too much noise."

Olivia shook her head.

"I've heard everything here. Now the Chaos Cultist gangs throughout the city are looking for you. Everyone is saying that a very powerful illegal psyker has come to the city. If this continues for a long time, we may all be exposed."

"It's time to expose it. It should have been exposed long ago."

The male Draenei curled his lips and said,

"There is nothing worth noting in this city. When will we kill all the enemies and leave here?"

"Wait a moment."

Olivia said in a deep voice:

"So far, we have only encountered a group of Chaos believers. The Space Marines, Imperial Knights, and local Mechanicus sects have not taken any action. I have to see the upper limit of the combat power of this planet and then decide on the follow-up actions."

The male Draenei nodded.

"You have experience. I will follow your lead."

......

　There are a lot of pictures in this chapter, wait for me to upload them.

(End of this chapter)