Within a sprawling Adeptus Mechanicus facility on Hive World Avarax, deep within the Recidious Star System of the Warhammer Universe, Magos Halifus observed with keen interest. Before him, black, viscous Mycelium pulsed in a nutrient solution, continuously self-replicating.
"Truly a miraculous organism," Halifus's voice, imbued with mechanical tones, rumbled. Three days had passed since he received the Mycelium sample. As a Tech-Priest of the Adeptus Mechanicus, Halifus never lacked for living test subjects. After sacrificing the lives of hundreds of clones and slave laborers, he had already uncovered some of the Mycelium's truly unique properties. Creatures infected by the Mycelium gained an incredibly abnormal self-healing ability; even severed limbs would reattach in just over ten seconds. Moreover, certain individuals with unique physiologies would develop powerful, singular abilities after Mycelium infection, such as magnetic field manipulation or gigantism. In short, even without considering the "consciousness absorption" ability that Marcus had alluded to in the data, the Mycelium was still an exceptionally potent biological weapon.
For the Imperium of Man, a hundred specialized soldiers endowed with self-healing might prove more valuable than ten thousand expendable cannon fodder troops. After all, to the Imperium, human lives were merely a currency to be spent at will. As for ethical considerations, one only needed to look at the Flagellant Servitors and Cherubim routinely created by the Imperium.
"Expand the test subjects: Ogryns, Squats, T'au," Halifus commanded the Tech-Priests beside him. "It's a pity there are no Astartes as test subjects." Some Tech-Priests viewed the Emperor as the literal incarnation of the Omnissiah and considered the Astartes to be the Emperor's perfect creations. Clearly, Halifus was not among them. In fact, to some extent, he was cut from the same cloth as Archmagos Cawl, leaning heavily towards innovation.
After adjusting the myriad mechanical devices affixed to his body, Halifus proactively initiated contact with Marcus. "Where did you acquire the information you provided about the Mycelium's ability to absorb and store memories?" Halifus queried directly.
At this very moment, Marcus was in the lower levels of Central Hive, observing the Adeptus Mechanicus personnel and facilities sent by Halifus rapidly establishing a clone cultivation factory. "It was excavated from a remote planet in the Ghoul Stars, and the Mycelium was also discovered there," Marcus explained, clearly fabricating the details. "But I don't possess any further information."
"Ghoul Stars?" Halifus recognized this infamous, remote star system, situated in the northeast of the Ultima Segmentum, at the very edge of the Astronomican's light. Both the Imperium of Man and the Adeptus Mechanicus had explored the Ghoul Stars very little. "It's not too surprising for such a creature to appear in a place like that." Halifus was already beginning to formulate plans for his future exploration of the Ghoul Stars. After asking Marcus a few more questions about the construction progress of the clone cultivation factory, Halifus terminated the communication.
"This oil-guzzler probably won't realize I'm lying to him, will he?" Marcus muttered softly after confirming the communication was closed. "Forget it, if that guy has the ability, he can go to the Ghoul Stars and come back alive." Shaking his head, Marcus refocused his attention on the bustling construction site before him. Countless servitors and servo-facilities were rapidly erecting the clone cultivation factory under the meticulous guidance of the Tech-Priests. According to reports, the factory was expected to be completed in just another two or three days. Once operational, this single factory alone could produce tens of thousands of clone soldiers daily. Furthermore, thanks to the adjustments made by the Adeptus Mechanicus Biological Magos , these soldiers, both in terms of physical quality and intelligence, would be indistinguishable from naturally born humans, or even superior. Archmagos Cawl, who had been instrumental in Guilliman's recovery, himself originated from an Adeptus Mechanicus cloning factory.
"As for weapons and equipment," Marcus mused, "let's source some from the world of Resident Evil for now; anyway, they've formed a United Government over there, so their massive stockpiles of firearms will largely go unused." In truth, Marcus could continue to trade with the Adeptus Mechanicus for weaponry. However, he refused to allow his crucial supply lines to be controlled by the Adeptus Mechanicus. With an entire Earth as a backup base, Avarax would have a continuous, independent supply of weapons and equipment. Although ordinary rifles were inferior to laser guns in power and reliability, and carried higher maintenance costs, they would be sufficient for Avarax, which did not currently face high-intensity warfare.
After inspecting the construction site, Marcus prepared to depart the Underhive. Beside him, a contingent of private soldiers, dispatched by the Planetary Governor, followed dutifully. Had Marcus not intervened, those nobles, who valued aristocratic etiquette almost as much as their own lives, would likely have broadcast his presence to the entire Hive City.
As Marcus stepped onto a colossal elevator and began his ascent, he could look down and see countless shabbily dressed, numb-faced Underhive workers toiling below. Due to the recent war against the Tyranids, Avarax's population had been drastically reduced by more than half. Taking Central Hive as an example, the Underhive's original population of over twenty billion now stood at less than three billion. Because of the recently levied Tithes, these workers' shifts were expected to increase from the original 20 hours to 23 hours, according to the nobles' projections. Even with this increase, it might still be impossible to meet the next tax collection in fifty years.
In Marcus's eyes, this was not an insurmountable problem. Despite possessing such a large populace, the production efficiency of the Underhive factories was astonishingly low. Ordinary workers frequently died after little more than a decade of labor due to lung diseases caused by the severely polluted air, and the Hive City would simply lose a skilled worker. What the Hive City urgently needed was the establishment of a more advanced management system and a significant improvement in worker welfare. And as the de facto ruler of Avarax, Marcus certainly held the authority to implement these changes.
However, all of this would require a significant amount of time to establish. Upon returning to the top of the Hive City, Marcus quickly began to plan reforms for the Hive City's system. For the Upper Hive and the Top Underhive, he temporarily did not intend to make drastic changes, planning instead to start with the Underhive first. Of course, Marcus was also well aware that he couldn't simply implement radical reforms overnight. He wouldn't be so foolish as to impose an eight-hour workday; that was simply a pipe dream. If he did that, the workers in the Underhive might actually riot, fearing that their already meager incomes would decrease, leading to widespread starvation.
"I need to get some resources from these blood-sucking noble parasites first."