Time slowly passed as Zeke delved into technological research.
Unlike the scientists of the Imperium of Man, who could only research technology by excavating ruins, Zeke could enhance existing technological capabilities by studying the degradation techniques of the technology within his STC template .
After four months of research, Zeke successfully developed an improved Lance technology.
This technology was, naturally, to be first implemented on his own warships.
As the high king's eldest son, he naturally possessed a Void warship; it was a birthday gift from his father on his fifth birthday.
The power of the Yaeger House exceeded Zeke's expectations; normally, knight houses would not possess Imperial warships.
However, the Yaeger House once again surpassed his expectations, as they actually possessed their own knight fleet.
Yet, this was not structured like the Imperial Navy; it could be considered a merchant fleet, but its models were the Imperial Navy's active, regular warships.
The powerful and numerous merchant fleet was the primary reason why the Yaeger House was so wealthy.
The powerful knight house continued to bring Zeke more shock, and at the same time, more benefits.
If the family hadn't been wealthy and powerful enough, he wouldn't have possessed his own Void warship at such an early age.
Of course, no matter how powerful the family, it was still merely a knight house.
Under this fundamental premise, it was destined not to possess an oversized fleet of warships, let alone one given to Zeke when he was just a child.
The warship belonging to Zeke was not a top-tier vessel; it was merely an Endeavour-class light cruiser.
The Endeavour-class light cruiser is one of the oldest and most common types among the many light cruiser classes widely in service throughout the Imperium of Man's territory.
This model of light cruiser was nothing more than an ordinary frigate.
Although the Yaeger House was indeed wealthy and powerful, a gift for a child should not be an overly powerful warship, so this model of warship was just right.
This warship, by the time it reached Zeke's hands, had already undergone dozens of modifications; it was now entirely different from when it first entered service.
Originally, when first acquired, this model of light cruiser was equipped with a large array of heavy ship cannons.
It was equipped with two torpedo tubes; two bow torpedo tubes could launch two rounds of conventional torpedoes and two rounds of meltaguns.
It was also equipped with light macro cannon arrays, with four light macro cannon arrays on each broadside, offering a 90-degree firing arc.
Additionally, there were two single-barreled light macro cannon turrets on the deck, with a 270-degree firing arc.
This was the combat capability of this light cruiser when it first came into Zeke's possession.
But over the past few years, Zeke had modified it dozens of times, leading to earth-shattering changes.
Its size might not have changed much, but its internal structure underwent a dramatic transformation, the most significant being the change in its reactor.
Originally, this model of light cruiser used only an ordinary nuclear fusion reactor.
But under Zeke's modifications, the reactors they now used were replaced with plasma reactors that would fundamentally not overheat and had an almost 100% energy utilization rate.
At the same time, the engines on this warship, including the Warp engine, were directly removed by Zeke.
He directly replaced the Warp engine with a hyperspace engine.
And the thrusters were directly converted by him into plasma thrusters.
As for the sensors, they were changed to Warp sensors to facilitate Warp travel.
Warp sensors can detect the Warp fluctuations left behind after a traveling vessel activates.
They can also help the warship, once it enters the Warp, to more easily discern direction and its intended destination, so it doesn't have to rely solely on Navigators.
It can detect fluctuations in the Warp to determine the direction towards its designated destination.
Of course, since this was merely an engine used by a small cruiser, its Warp sensor capabilities were limited.
It could only perform short-range directional discernment, meaning it could operate within a distance of 1,000 light-years.
As for destinations beyond this distance, there was no solution; either you advanced segment by segment, or you still had to equip yourself with Navigators.
As for the combat computer, which should be a standard component of a warship, Zeke did not install one.
Because AI is explicitly forbidden by the Imperium of Man.
He did not want to oppose the Adeptus Arbites of the Imperium of Man right now, so he preferred not to risk installing AI on his ship.
Although this meant that his small cruiser required a larger crew, Zeke could still accept it at this time.
As for the weapon system, he completely removed the macro cannons and other miscellaneous items.
Instead, he equipped his light cruiser with Whirlwind missiles and Gauss cannons, while for Lance weapons, he installed small Lances and plasma cannons.
The ship's armor on this warship also underwent some changes, being replaced with ceramite armor.
This was the only suitable warship armor that Zeke could find throughout the entire STC template that could be produced with current technological capabilities.
Although this armor was marked as long obsolete in the STC template, Zeke still used it, and moreover, he used its most backward production plan.
That is, the armor production plan without any circular technology bonuses.
This was the only armor suitable for his current technological level to produce.
As for the shields?
Zeke made no changes, still using the Imperium of Man's Void Shield.
In terms of shields, the Imperium of Man's shields were still very effective.
The Void Shield was still a relatively powerful existence, and because Zeke was now using a plasma reactor, its energy reserves completely surpassed those of Imperial warships of the same class.
His plasma reactor, let alone being used for a cruiser, could even be installed on an Imperial battleship and ensure the battleship's combat operations.
However, in his STC template , this model of reactor should have been used to support frigate operations.
It even explicitly stated that it had been obsolete for a long time and its use was not recommended.
But this statement likely referred to the nation that created this STC template .
It had no relation to the Imperium of Man; from the perspective of the Imperium of Man's technological level, this item was already very advanced.
Its energy supply was also very sufficient.
Through such modifications, the combat power of his cruiser could be said to have greatly increased.
Engaging an Imperial cruiser of the same class would not require any boarding actions.
He could tear an Imperial cruiser of the same class to shreds within a few hours, and even if heavy patrol cruisers encountered him, he could still shatter them in a fleet battle.
And he would suffer no losses!
The powerful reactor provided enough energy for his Void Shield, so much so that his Void Shield even had the capability to withstand fire from an ordinary battleship.
Of course, Zeke entrusted the maintenance of the entire warship to his Navy.
As for the existing machine spirit within this warship?
Although Zeke was still young, he was aware of the instability of these machine spirit.
So, when he was eight years old, he had already completely eradicated the machine spirit on this cruiser through his STC template .
Humanity did not need such unstable things to affect its combat.
War was a serious matter, and he did not want problems to arise due to an unhappy machine spirit, an overjoyed machine spirit, or a corrupted machine spirit.
Uncontrollable factors must be eliminated.