Chapter 436 – Deep Cooperation: Entrusting the Empire! Building the Navigation System!
The current Imperium of Man is far from perfect. Its bloated and sluggish administrative apparatus has led to painfully low governmental efficiency.
Years of prolonged Great Crusades have also left many worlds' human populations impoverished and struggling to survive, with living, breathing people reduced to cheap expendables in the machinery of war.
Behind the brilliance of glorious battle honors lies an ocean of blood and mountains of bones—without the countless fallen human warriors, the Imperium would never have reached its current scale.
Yet the Emperor, by paying this price, has carved out a broader living space for mankind—a feat unprecedented in history. In truth, he could be called a heaven-sent hero.
Even Li Ang himself wouldn't dare claim he could do better than the Emperor.
The Emperor fixed his gaze on Paul. Normally, it would take him but a glance to see into a person's mind, enabling him to quickly discern loyalty from treachery.
But this was, in itself, a kind of shortcut. Over time, it became difficult to read a person's intentions without resorting to psychic powers.
Now, with Paul shrouded in an extradimensional purification field, the Emperor found that whenever he looked at him, there was always that faint, hazy sense—like peering at flowers through a fog.
He simply couldn't be sure what Paul was truly thinking, nor whether his words were genuine.
"Envoy," the Emperor said suddenly, "the Imperial Palace on Terra is the safest place in the Imperium. You may remove your extradimensional purification device, so that I may sense your state of mind."
The unexpected request caught Paul off guard, his mind racing.
If he refused, would it make him seem guilty? But if he agreed, it would violate the corporate principles of the Universal Megacorp.
A psyker of the Emperor's caliber could easily use the power of the Warp to influence another's mind.
With just the slightest suggestion, he could alter a person's consciousness without leaving a trace.
And the Emperor, as the most powerful psyker in the entire material galaxy, possessed strength so great that—should he abandon his physical form—he could "cut the three corpses" and ascend to godhood within the Warp.
For someone like him, planting a subtle "adjustment" would be child's play.
After a moment's thought, Paul gave his answer. As the Megacorp's envoy, he could not—under any circumstances—allow himself to be placed in a dangerous situation.
Not even in the slightest.
"No. I cannot do that."
Paul rejected him outright. When it came to matters of principle, one had to stand firm—otherwise the other party might think you were trying to flirt coyly with them.
"I am the envoy of the Universal Megacorp. My position does not permit me to take any such risks. From a procedural standpoint, it would also be unlawful."
Paul's refusal was well-founded. This wasn't something he could decide alone; even if he agreed to disable the purification device, the Megacorp's upper management would never approve.
"Your Majesty, we have an old saying: judge a gentleman by his deeds, not his thoughts. What one thinks or says is unimportant—what matters is what one does."
Paul smiled slightly. In the past days, the Megacorp had indeed taken quite a few STC modules from the Imperium, but the decrypted technological results had also been shared with them.
Not to mention, they had provided the Emperor with what he needed most: faster-than-light navigation technology.
Such tangible contributions spoke far more loudly of goodwill and cooperation than ten thousand flowery promises ever could.
"Mm, well said."
The Emperor nodded and did not press him further.
He hadn't truly expected the envoy to agree to let him read his mind anyway. Refusal was fine—so long as the Megacorp could provide actual benefits and resources, that was what mattered.
"Your Majesty, now that we've finished these preliminaries, we can move on to serious business. Your invitation to the palace was surely to discuss deeper cooperation, was it not?"
Paul knew the Emperor wanted to negotiate, but wasn't sure which aspect he would prioritize—would it be forming joint forces to strike the AI Iron Men fleets, or something in the realm of technological development?
At present, the FTL navigation project was proceeding at full steam. On Mars, the Mechanicus tech-priests were chanting praises to the Omnissiah while hammering away at bolts.
It had the makings of a brand-new industrial and technological age.
If the Emperor wanted development and improved productivity, the Megacorp would have to dispatch large numbers of engineers to help build factories.
If he wanted to continue the Great Crusade, sweeping the galaxy clean, then Jack Wells could lead an expeditionary legion to remain in the Warhammer universe, assisting Imperial forces in battle.
Either way, the Megacorp would have to receive some form of return—some benefit.
Even among brothers, accounts must be kept clear.
"I want to entrust the Imperium of Man to the Universal Megacorp."
The Emperor's words struck like a thunderclap, leaving Paul momentarily frozen. He had imagined many possibilities, but had never expected the Emperor to be so direct.
Going straight for such a monumental "cooperation" from the start!
"Your Majesty, I don't quite understand what you mean by 'entrust.' Do you want us to resolve the AI Iron Men threat for you, or is there something else?"
Paul remained cautious. Could it be that the supreme ruler of mankind was thinking of throwing in the towel? That seemed far too rash.
Was the Megacorp about to unify the Warhammer galaxy already? It had only been a matter of days!
"Not just the AI Iron Men."
The Emperor shook his head. "The FTL navigation construction project, and the Great Crusade to purge the galaxy's alien races—both require the Megacorp's assistance!"
The recent mission to apprehend Magnus had shown the Emperor, once and for all, the massive gap between the Imperium and the Megacorp.
The Warp's Chaos Gods guiding temporal storms, the remnants of alien species, the ever-present threat of AI Iron Men fleets, the need to rebuild human worlds, the FTL navigation project—
Each of these maddening, headache-inducing problems required the Megacorp's resources and technical support.
If the Imperium could not resolve them alone, then why not dump the mess on the Megacorp?
After all, hadn't they come to the Warhammer universe to unify it anyway, expanding their own domain? Since both sides were interested, why pretend otherwise?
Once you've found the right partner, there's no need to keep playing hard-to-get.
So that's what you mean by 'entrust'… you really are just looking to pass the buck!
Paul felt his head buzzing. Still, for these particular issues, it seemed unlikely the Emperor would truly hand over the entire Imperium…
Or was this just his inner recluse surfacing again?
"Such an entrustment isn't impossible, but it does require careful consideration," Paul said, unsure what else to offer except urging the Emperor to be cautious.
The Megacorp's vision of unifying all universes had never changed. According to the leadership's plan, the first step was to secure a foothold in the Imperium, then gradually eliminate all alien forces.
Providing the Imperium with FTL technology was merely part of that plan—it benefited the Primarch legions as much as it benefited the Megacorp itself.
In short, neither Li Ang nor the other executives had intended to unify the Warhammer universe so soon—they had planned to take their time.
But now, it seemed that timeline might be moving up.
From the Emperor's attitude, Paul realized this was a golden opportunity for the Megacorp and the Imperium to form a truly deep partnership.
If Universal Megacorp can use this cooperation to carry out a series of joint construction projects and military operations with the Empire, it would also help lower the cost of maintaining stability in the future.
Whether on the scale of an individual human or an entire civilization, a solid foundation of trust comes from every shared moment of hardship and growth.
"If you can guarantee the construction and maintenance of the faster-than-light navigation system, ensure its stability, and eliminate the AI Ironman fleets in the Warp…"
"…then whatever you want, I can allow it—including accepting your system of governance."
With those words, the Emperor had essentially declared his willingness to bow to Universal Megacorp. After all, the Megacorp operated under a system of private capital ownership—everything ultimately belonged to Li Ang personally.
The Megacorp's Chief Executive stood above all else; even the Emperor himself would have to follow Li Ang's orders.
But the Emperor didn't care about that. He had never become the Emperor of Mankind for the sake of power. Born among humanity, it was his destiny to one day return to them.
As long as Universal Megacorp could make human civilization great again, he was willing to give them everything he had.
Upon understanding the Emperor's intentions, Paul's spirits rose. It seemed he really did have a chance to clock out early—and the unification of the Warhammer universe wasn't far off!
"This is an important matter. I need to report it to headquarters and have the leadership make the decision."
After saying this, Paul also gave the Emperor his word: "From my judgment, this will likely have a good outcome, but the specifics of the cooperation will take some time."
There was no reason to refuse territory that was being handed over for free.
Although the human Empire was indeed plagued by both internal and external troubles, all of these problems ultimately pointed to the same cause—
Technological and industrial backwardness!
The Empire had long suffered from a chaotic transportation system, making troop movements, resource shipments, and administrative orders inconvenient. This led to costly military campaigns and inefficiency in governance.
Even just the problem of interstellar travel had brought the Empire untold suffering and hardship.
The lack of productive capacity also meant that the vast majority of the Empire's humans lived on the brink of subsistence.
A life of constant hunger and cold breeds vicious people, which in turn raises the cost of maintaining public order and intensifies internal conflict.
Poverty breeds vice; prosperity fosters virtue.
Without a strong foundation in productivity, there could be no talk of development, let alone the revival of the human Empire.
To change the Empire's situation, the help of Universal Megacorp was essential.
"Very well. But whether you agree or not, I still hope you can set up the faster-than-light travel system as soon as possible—the sooner the better!" the Emperor earnestly urged.
Building such a system was not as simple as installing a few engines. It required additional warp gates and the construction of dozens of colossal space structures to serve as relay stations and beacons.
This was an enormous undertaking.
For the Empire to accomplish it alone would take at least several centuries!
Even if the Adeptus Mechanicus worked around the clock, it would still take twenty years just to reach a barely usable preliminary stage.
But the Emperor had no patience to wait that long. The sooner the new travel system was completed, the sooner the Empire could begin its revival.
"Yes, I will explain all of the Empire's needs to headquarters!"
With Universal Megacorp's current productivity and technology, building a complete and reliable new navigation system would take at most half a year.
In just two months, they could have a preliminary network up and running for basic use.
But as everyone knew, the most expensive part of any megaproject wasn't the construction itself—it was the Infinity cost of maintenance!
In the Warhammer universe, there was only one faster-than-light route—the Warp.
Previously, the human Empire's warp travel was like trekking along ancient mountain trails, where running into tigers or leopards along the way was perfectly normal.
Now, Universal Megacorp had paved a highway through the Warp, optimized the routes, and built more and better "service stations" along the way.
It was faster and more convenient, but it still didn't completely solve the problem of daemonic incursions in the Warp.
Permanent garrisons were needed at key junctions to keep the system safe.
Between the garrisons and the massive construction effort, this was little different from directly controlling the Empire itself.
After all, once the new navigation network was finished, if Universal Megacorp suddenly pulled out one day, the human Empire would fall back into a dark age.
It was no wonder the Emperor said he hoped to entrust the Empire to Universal Megacorp.
All of the convenient new technology came from them. Without holding on tightly to that corporate lifeline, the Empire wouldn't even know where to find after-sales service!
"Then I leave it in your hands."
The Emperor spoke with deep sincerity.
He had, of course, suspected that Universal Megacorp might be some hidden evil force. But the technology brought by Jack's expeditionary legion and the Megacorp's engineers was real.
With the Megacorp's power, if they had even the slightest intent to annex the Empire, their leadership could have ordered it at any time.
But they had not.
Although they were fiercely protective of STC modules and relics from the Golden Age, that was simply prudent business.
There had been no forced seizures—everything had been fair trade.
Through all these events, the Emperor had come to the conclusion that Universal Megacorp was a trustworthy civilization.
For the sake of this rotting galaxy and the despairing human civilization, he had sacrificed too much. Now, finally, he had a chance to retire into seclusion, and he intended to cherish it.
"Your Majesty, I must remind you that the resources and garrison strength needed to maintain the new navigation system will far exceed the Empire's current expenditures.
"That's why we will have to build schools, factories, military camps, and a whole range of entertainment and production facilities here. This will inevitably bring some degree of cultural and social influence."
Paul had put it delicately, but his meaning was easy to grasp.
If Universal Megacorp took over maintaining the navigation network, the comparatively small human Empire would inevitably be impacted.
Citizens who once believed in materialism or the Imperial Cult would come into contact with the cultures and values of countless other worlds, and everything they once believed in would be dismantled and reshaped.
To put it bluntly—
From that point on, the Emperor would no longer have the authority to rule over humanity. The new supreme leader would be none other than Li Ang, the Chief Executive of Universal Megacorp.
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