Chapter 105: Industrialization

"Because you will fulfill their hopes; I have seen it."

The Emperor spoke to Wang Ming, His voice filled with affirmation and recognition. Wang Ming had never considered himself a man of grand ambitions; before his transmigration, he was merely an ordinary office worker, and after it, he had simply stumbled upon a system by chance.

In truth, Wang Ming lacked any lofty aspirations. Even in the current situation, it was only the force of circumstance that drove him. Had he not obtained that system, he would likely have perished on Cadia long ago.

"I will take vengeance for them. All who have betrayed humanity shall pay the price."

Wang Ming looked at the Emperor before him and spoke silently. A resolve had hardened in his heart: he would fulfill the wishes of those who had fallen, avenge them, and slaughter the enemies of humanity for their sake.

"Very well. Now, go back."

As soon as the Emperor finished speaking, a massive psychic slap landed squarely on Wang Ming’s face. Feeling that all-too-familiar strike, Wang Ming lost consciousness. When he regained his senses, he felt a wave of dizziness wash over him.

He instinctively reached up to touch his neck, only to recoil as a sharp, stinging pain flared from the wound. There, a deep gash was slowly knitting itself shut.

"This feeling is truly unbearable."

Wang Ming winced at the pain in his body. Unlike his first death, his injuries this time were far more severe; he had been decapitated. He thought of this and subconsciously glanced at the spot where Angron had stood. As he expected, Angron had been banished back to the Warp.

Just then, a Khorne daemon lunged at the newly resurrected Wang Ming. It moved with incredible speed, yet to Wang Ming’s eyes, it was agonizingly slow. He snatched the daemon by the throat mid-air.

The moment he grasped it, he felt the golden flame within his soul surge into the daemon. Instantly, the creature erupted in golden fire. As it shrieked, the flames burned away its very essence, destroying it utterly at the level of the Warp. This was not a mere banishment; it was as if the daemon had been struck down by the Emperor’s own sword—it was completely annihilated.

Watching the daemon vanish into nothingness, Wang Ming understood the nature of his Warp-based power. It was the fire of rage born from all of humanity in a desperate universe, a flame capable of incinerating every enemy of mankind.

With this realization, he turned his attention to the other transmigrators, only to be stunned by the scene before him.

The transmigrators had been pushed beyond their limits; the Khorne daemons had truly ignited their fury. The slaughter of the one thousand mortal auxiliaries who had fought alongside them in the city, combined with Wang Ming’s latest death, had sent the transmigrators into a state of absolute, unbridled wrath.

They were now completely overwhelming the daemons. All tactics had been abandoned in favor of individual, primal combat. Some had even sheathed their power swords, opting to fight the daemons with their bare hands, as if only physical violence could vent the rage burning in their hearts.

Wang Ming spotted the most absurd case of all: Hu Jin. Bare-chested and wielding an adamantium brick he had somehow swiped from Wang Lei, he was busy pummeling a Greater Daemon of Khorne. Hu Jin was actually driving the Greater Daemon back, as if someone had cast a buff upon him. He had his Chaos blade hanging at his waist, but he showed no interest in using it, seemingly finding the adamantium brick far more convenient.

"Don't you run!"

A sudden shout echoed nearby. Wang Ming turned to see two familiar figures chasing one another.

He recognized them both: Wang Qing, the "slacker" Chosen of Khorne, and Feng Fan, the informal Legion Chaplain of the Star Transmigrators. By now, even Feng Fan had lost his mind to the slaughter. He carried the Aquila banner—to which a Greater Daemon was tied—while his backpack speakers blared *The Emperor’s Truth*. With one hand, he swung a power sword, relentlessly pursuing Wang Qing.

The Greater Daemon bound to the adamantium pole beneath the banner was screaming insults at both of them, berating Wang Qing for being a coward who wouldn't duel Feng Fan, and mocking Feng Fan for being too cowardly to kill it.

"Big Brother! I’m really not Chaos! Why are you chasing me? I just wanted to slack off! We even met back on Terra!" Wang Qing yelled as he fled.

"Who would believe that?! You’re covered in Khorne marks! Don't you run! Aren't you a Khorne worshiper? Let's duel!"

Feng Fan was beyond reason. He continued his pursuit, waving his power sword and even picking up his pace.

"Oh, crap!" Wang Qing saw Feng Fan accelerating and, with a sudden burst of speed, scrambled toward Wang Ming. "Oh, crap! Brother Wang, save me!"

Just as Wang Qing rushed toward Wang Ming, an adamantium brick flew through the air and struck him square on the head.

*Thwack!*

The crisp sound of brick meeting skull echoed through the air, strangely melodic. Wang Ming looked toward the source and saw Hu Jin, having finished off his own Greater Daemon, walking toward Wang Qing with murder in his eyes.

"Damn it... forget it, I accept my fate." Wang Qing collapsed to the ground, surrendering to whatever end awaited him.

Hu Jin and Feng Fan, driven by their frenzy, made short work of him. Wang Qing was finally sent back to the Warp to play with Khorne.

The transmigrators were unstoppable. Under their relentless assault, the remaining Khorne daemons in the city were soon banished back to the Warp. With their expulsion, the blood-red Warp storm in the sky finally dissipated.

It is worth noting that the Greater Daemon tied to the adamantium pole was also completely eradicated by Wang Ming’s golden flames after the battle. It was a final mercy, granting the creature's constant, screeching desire for death—though this time, it was permanent, leaving it no form to recover in the Warp.

After the battle, the transmigrators leveled the coastal city with nuclear weapons. It had been too thoroughly tainted by Chaos to be saved, and total destruction was the only way to ensure the corruption would not spread across the beautiful world of Barteko II.

With the primary Chaos stronghold eliminated, the remaining cultists were easily dealt with. Under the combined purges of the transmigrators and the mortal auxiliaries, the cultist presence on Barteko II was largely wiped out. While a few remnants hid in the shadows of various cities, it was only a matter of time before the local Planetary Defense Force finished them off.

With the Chaos threat resolved, Wang Ming went to the Governor’s palace to discuss the industrialization of Barteko II. The Governor made a plea to preserve the planet’s natural environment as much as possible, noting that a Garden World like Barteko II was a rare treasure. His ancestors had earned the right to rule this world through great service to the Imperium during the Great Crusade; one could only imagine the magnitude of the deeds required to be granted such a prize.

Wang Ming listened and agreed. The natural beauty of Barteko II—its vast oceans and lush, emerald plains—was indeed breathtaking. If not for the war, it would have been an unparalleled sanctuary for retirement in the 40K universe.

Truth be told, building industrial facilities without damaging the environment was difficult. The "Kaja" continent was only about the size of Asia; compared to the available land on Mours, it was quite limited. The only suitable location for factories without destroying the landscape was the Kaja desert, but its size was insufficient for large-scale production, limiting output to that of a single factory on a standard industrial world.

This fell short of Wang Ming’s expectations. Ultimately, the industrialization plan was forced to extend into the cities of the Kaja continent, though Wang Ming implemented measures to mitigate the environmental impact.

Planetary-grade byproduct processing plants were established to purify the atmosphere and treat the toxic waste produced by industrial factories. While not a perfect solution, it was effective enough. These facilities also converted waste into reusable resources, creating added value.

Once the plans were finalized, the industrialization of Barteko II began. The Tech-priests and the First Engineer Company of the *Imperial Truth* arrived from the starport with STC templates, beginning their work on the planet's surface. To accelerate the process, Captain Jiang Tao deployed industrial nanites from the *Imperial Truth* to assist in construction.

First, three weapons factories were established in the Kaja desert to produce the QBZM21 laser rifle, the standard-issue weapon for the Star Transmigrator mortal auxiliaries. Wang Ming envisioned these rifles gradually replacing the myriad of models currently equipped by the Imperial Guard, as their performance far exceeded the standard-issue lasguns of the Astra Militarum.

Once these factories were operational, the Tech-priests and engineers would expand to other cities to build facilities for power-feedback power armor, armored vehicles, and heavy weaponry.

In the plans devised by Wang Ming and Guilliman, the industrial capacity of a single planet should be able to produce equipment for the majority of mortal units, providing a steady stream of supplies for large numbers of Imperial Guard regiments. Their goal was to gradually replace the current equipment of the Guard, aiming to bring the mortal soldiers of this era closer to the level of the Solar Auxilia from the Great Crusade.

While they would never reach the true combat efficacy of the Solar Auxilia, their gear would at least be comparable. It was impossible for them to go head-to-head with the Astartes; the physical strength and neural reflexes of a Space Marine were beyond the reach of any unaugmented mortal. Power armor for mortals could only be of the feedback-assisted variety; without the implantation of the Black Carapace, mortals could never truly integrate the armor as an extension of their own bodies.

Ultimately, the plan was simply to enhance the combat power of mortal troops. The cost and time required to make them match the Astartes were luxuries the crumbling Imperium could no longer afford. They had to increase the lethality of the mortal forces as quickly as possible to face the increasingly dire state of the Imperium.

On the emerald plains outside the city of Neller, Colonel Budek and Aguer, who carried a power sword on his back, watched as the transmigrators constructed the factories. Under the Colonel’s guidance, Aguer walked toward the construction site. Earlier that morning, Budek had promised him an opportunity, and today, that opportunity had arrived.