Chapter 15: Think Bigger

"What just happened to me?"

Grey's voice crackled over the vox, laced with confusion. His breath was uneven, his body still tingling from whatever had taken hold of him moments ago.

A moment of lost control.

A force he couldn't see, couldn't fight.

Something… wrong.

"Just the usual warp trickery. What else?" Qin Mo replied dismissively, already turning back to engage the remaining heretics.

There were still heretics left to exterminate.

Regaining his composure, Grey jumped back into the fight, standing shoulder to shoulder with Qin Mo, bolter fire still echoing in his ears.

No time for doubts.

Together, the two annihilated the remaining thousand-strong heretic force stationed at the outpost.

It was not a battle.

It was a slaughter.

When the last enemy fell, Grey slumped onto the ground, catching his breath.

"You know…" He exhaled. "Compared to that firestorm you just unleashed… this power armor feels kind of weak."

Qin Mo didn't respond.

He simply stood there, unmoving, eyes fixed on the charred battlefield.

Grey frowned.

"What's wrong?"

Qin Mo lifted his head, his voice calm but firm.

"The heretics have marked me."

Grey immediately sat upright.

His tone turned serious. "That's bad."

By now, nearly ten thousand Imperial defenders across two key outposts had survived only because of Qin Mo's intervention.

And countless more were still struggling elsewhere, awaiting reinforcement.

If the heretics had singled him out, they would throw everything they had into eliminating him.

No cost too high.

No method too extreme.

Grey exhaled sharply.

For a moment, he said nothing.

"Qin Mo."

"What?"

Then, he removed his helmet.

And locked eyes with Qin Mo.

His expression was unwavering.

"I believe that every life has a different value. And yours is worth more than all of ours combined. If I have to lay down my life for you, just say the word."

Qin Mo chuckled softly.

Then, he turned away.

"You're already doing that."

Grey stood up, following.

"Shouldn't you hide? Find somewhere the heretics can't reach you?"

Qin Mo shook his head.

No hesitation.

"I don't need to hide, nor will I. Let them come. Every assassin, every warband, every sorcerer. The more they focus on me, the fewer enemies our allies have to face.

And that increases their chances of survival before we arrive to reinforce them."

Grey stared at Qin Mo's back, silent.

Then, Qin Mo turned—issuing their next order.

"We're regrouping with the other four, then heading back to the 47th Regiment's stronghold."

Grey's eyebrow arched. "We're not searching for more outposts?"

"That was my original plan," Qin Mo admitted. "Find them, establish communications, build up a resistance network. But now..."

Qin Mo shook his head.

"That approach is wrong."

They walked, boots crushing ash and bone as Qin Mo explaining his revised strategy.

"Our first priority is logistics. We need a stable supply chain and enough weapons before we do anything else.

Then, we need proper reconnaissance equipment.

We can't keep running around blind, picking directions at random.

We need an intelligence network, a map of every allied force in the hive, their locations, their status.

Only then can we move effectively.

And last, we need to upgrade our existing equipment."

Grey scratched his head.

Most of what Qin Mo said went over his head.

But one thing stood out.

"Wait. Our weapons… aren't strong enough?"

"Not even close."

Qin Mo glanced over his shoulder.

"You need to think bigger. What we have now? These toys? They're nothing."

Grey scoffed. "Toys? This power armor? This grav-shield? You designed this yourself! You're being too humble."

This armor was priceless.

The grav-shield alone could buy someone a noble title in some Imperial worlds.

Yet Qin Mo dismissed it like a child's plaything.

Qin Mo stopped.

He placed a hand on Grey's shoulder.

"Trust me, brother. When I complete my masterpiece—when you see what I'm truly capable of—

You'll realize just how weak and inefficient our current gear really is."

Grey chuckled.

Then he saw the look in Qin Mo's eyes.

A look without doubt. Without hesitation.

Not arrogance.

Certainty.

The laughter died.

"…You're not joking, are you?"

....

One Week Later

Qin Mo did not rush from outpost to outpost.

Instead, he returned to the 47th Regiment's fortress.

There, he dug deep into the ground, carving out an underground facility.

Then—he locked himself inside.

In his absence, the heretics did not attack.

But the moment he returned—

They launched a massive assault.

Fierce. Unrelenting.

The fortress held.

Qin Mo did not lift a finger.

He ignored the battle entirely.

He had more important things to do.

Step 1: Logistics

To save time and resources, Qin Mo designed a universal logistics drone.

A ten-meter-wide, black, spherical machine.

Anti-grav engines. Multiple articulated arms. Capable of operating in any environment.

Their function? To scavenge anything useful.

To gather resources, process materials, and repurpose themselves into mobile manufacturing units.

These logistics units would be governed by a central AI core that could:

Plan resource collection based on battlefield demand.Convert select units into mobile manufacturing stations.Adjust the number of logistics units as needed.

The Adeptus Mechanicus would call this an abomination.

The Imperium would call this heresy.

A violation of the highest order.

Heretek. Blasphemy. Damnation.

But Qin Mo did not care.

Not because he sought to defy the Imperium.

But because he knew his AI would never turn against him.

Its fundamental physics and logic were warped by Necron-tier technology.

Star God-derived laws of reality.

It would not function under normal conditions.

And if anyone tried to corrupt it—

Through warp sorcery. Through chaos code. Through any means…

The galaxy would learn a valuable lesson.

If you think you're the dumbest being in existence, and you enjoy making terrible decisions—

Just remember: Someone once tried to corrupt an AI powered by Star God technology.

It didn't end well.

Once these drones were deployed, Imperial logistics would be fully automated.

Once the first prototype was built, the system would self-sustain.

Step 2: Intelligence & Reconnaissance

The same AI wouldn't just handle logistics.

It would control reconnaissance operations.

Qin Mo designed an array of reconnaissance assets:

Stealth drones.Surveillance probes.Psyker detectors.

These tools would provide real-time Intelligence of:

Terrain.Enemy and allied troop positions.Supply caches and resource depots.

With this network in place, his forces would always be one step ahead.

Once the logistics and intelligence framework was complete, he moved on to his real passion.

Step 3: Weapons & Warfare

This was what truly excited him.

Not just new weapons.

But a whole new paradigm of war.

A new military doctrine, built from the ground up.

Something beyond the Imperium's rigid doctrines.

A vision of total battlefield dominance.

And when he was done—

The battlefield would never be the same again.