Starting from the Planetary Governor - Chapter 907

Chapter 900, Blood Angels’ Request for Help

. The training program of the Blessed Son can directly utilize 5,000 Glory Seeds to create 5,000 elite warriors, whose average strength is slightly weaker than that of a Company Champion.

Then, they can be layered with the standard Space Marine training program. Just one Sergeant-level training will truly reach the level of a Company Champion; a Master Sergeant-level, or what is known as Exemplar-level training, will put them in the upper echelons of the Company Champion class. Adding

the training program of a Company Champion will definitely make them top-tier Company Champions, perhaps not far from Chapter Champions.

Glory-level gene-seed can achieve a 20% Company Champion ratio.

That’s about 1,000 Company Champions at full strength? Or perhaps even a half-step Chapter Champion?

But beyond these, Gu Hang has two other means of strengthening.

Gu Hang has decided to utilize the Primaris Space Marine technology—secretly to build a Chapter.

So, Gu Hang planned to train these five thousand Glory Seeds and the Blessed Sons, transforming them all with Primaris technology and then secretly forming a chapter.

This new chapter wouldn’t have to be conducted at the training center on the Saints’ homeworld, Word of Truth.

With Primaris technology, the thousand already close to Chapter Champion would likely be even closer, right?

Even if they weren’t quite there, Gu Hang had another means of strengthening them: Heroic Inspiration.

With more Inspiration and a slight increase in their level, a mere one or two, at most three or four, would surely bring them to Chapter Champion level, right?

Although the Blessed Sons project had only just begun, Gu Hang could still make some estimates based on his previous thinking.

The weakest of these five thousand Blessed Sons would be nearing Company Champion status; they could produce over three thousand mid-to-high Company Champion warriors; one thousand could reach the ultimate level of Chapter Champion, and of those, 300 could easily become Chapter Champions.

Furthermore, if some individuals possess relatively rare heroes and, with time and experience, are able to raise their levels to LV7 or higher, they might even achieve the level of a God-Chosen Champion.

Optimistically, there might be ten or twenty such individuals.

A comparison reveals a terrifying number.

During the Omgeria campaign, while they didn’t represent the entire Alliance’s combat power, they represented the elite of the Western Expeditionary Force. Gu Hang personally led the charge, racking his brains and assembling a team of four God-Chosen and over twenty Chapter Champions to siege the Bonebreaker King.

They succeeded.

Once the Legion page is opened, combined with the Glory Seeds and the special training of the Blessed Son, ten to twenty God-Chosen and three hundred Chapter Champions can be produced!

This would instantly elevate the peak combat power significantly!

Gu Hang believes this is the greatest benefit of opening the Legion system page.

However, while this benefit is significant, it also comes at a considerable cost.

The cost of conventional resources is not low.

After all, they were such elite troops, so surely their equipment couldn’t be shoddy? Should

n’t they use not just the imposing type of Power Armor, but also the refined version? That would require the handcrafting of high-ranking Mechanicum members or engineers, with low production and slow production.

The Alliance’s current best Terminator Power Armor was the Iron Cavalry type, so shouldn’t they be deployed in greater numbers? Shouldn’t they also have refined versions ? Shouldn’t they

also have supporting mortal troops, warships, and vehicles?

The Blessed Sons built in this way would likely cost several times more than an equivalent number of conventional Chapters.

But that was only the beginning.

The main cost was reflected in the expenditure of Grace Points.

Gu Hang estimated that if he were to build all five thousand Blessed Sons to the highest standards he had envisioned, it would cost around 55 million Grace Points!

On average, each Blessed Son would cost him 11,000 points.

The Space Marines’ new blood is screened from tens of thousands of mortal youths, progressing from Tier 5 to Tier 1 in a round-by-round process. This leaves a handful of candidates. The vast majority of those unable to train to Tier 1, remaining at Tier 2, inevitably lose additional grace points—though they can be added to various units as elite soldiers, and are therefore welcome.

Then there are the implants and the exchange for accelerated growth.

The training path for these regular Space Marines is one thousand grace points each.

Glory Seeds cost two thousand each.

Then, through the Space Marine-specific training, from Veteran to Sergeant, Paragon, and Company Champion, three thousand points are lost.

The special training for the Blessed Son costs five thousand each.

One Blessed Son Space Marine costs ten thousand grace points, and that’s how it’s spent.

This figure made Gu Hang hesitate slightly—if it were only to create five elite Chapters, it would be far too extravagant and expensive.

So many grace points could be used to cultivate talent, stabilize society, strengthen political rule, exchange for factories and schools, develop the economy… everything.

But if the improvement of cutting-edge combat power was also taken into account, Gu Hang would instantly hesitate.

Build! Build hard!

When we encounter a single enemy that’s formidable, the Blessed Sons can be dispatched and effectively resolve the problem!

…

The Saints aren’t the only founding group whose homeworld is on the Dark Side of the Empire.

Oh, actually, strictly speaking, the Saints aren’t on the Dark Side of the Empire.

The Saints’ homeworld is actually on the Holy Border of the Empire. It’s only because of the Seven Star Corridor that they’ve come here to fight and maintain the corridor’s stability.

On the Dark Side of the Empire, particularly in the Eastern Universe, there are actually two founding groups’ homeworlds.

One is the Phoenix Chapter.

They’re old acquaintances. Not only are they the original chapter of the Alliance, the parent group of the Phoenix, but they also fought alongside the Alliance during the Iron Armor War. Gu Hang had saved the lives of Phoenix Lord Su Lie, and indeed his entire Chapter.

Their relationship was quite good. After Su Lie was promoted to represent the Space Marines and become a High Lord, he had provided Gu Hang with considerable political support within the Imperial Supreme Council.

However, his Chapter suffered heavy losses during the Ironclad Wars. Phoenix, on the other hand, had significant recruitment issues.

Its gene-seed compatibility was among the worst, and its operational skills were mediocre. While Phoenix had always had reliable leaders who valued the lives of their warriors, the Ironclad Wars had left them with only a few hundred men.

This situation made it extremely difficult for them to replenish their forces.

While the Queen of Glory battleships were saved, the Chapter had lost a significant number of its conventional warships.

Such losses were beyond the capacity of their homeworld, Divine Bird.

Hoping to leverage the power of the Imperium to more quickly restore the Chapter’s strength, Su Lie diligently engaged in networking with other Chapters, securing a position as a Space Marine representative.

Before the Cataclysm, Su Lie and the main force of the Chapter were stationed near Holy Terra, recuperating and nursing their wounds with supplies he had managed to secure and the assistance of the Mechanicus.

Fifty Phoenix Warriors remained on Divine Bird to defend their homeworld.

The Phoenix homeworld, located in the Ningshou region, had been recaptured by the Alliance. While those fifty Phoenix Warriors held no aversion to the Alliance, they clearly could not represent the Chapter, much less earn recognition from the system.

Gu Hang didn’t bother assigning these fifty warriors anything else; they should just continue defending their home planet…

Meanwhile, in the eastern border of the Empire, there was another founding group, and they had just encountered them.

Shortly after the Battle of the Seven Star Corridor, as the Alliance gradually took over the Mursiphat Sector, the Southern Expeditionary Force, while reaching the Hades Sector in the Hexiang Realm, received a request for assistance from the Blood Angels.

The Blood Angels’ home planet, birthplace of the Archangel, the Son of God, is Tianzhu, located in the Hexiang Realm and Hades Sector.

The name “Tianzhu” suggests a religious world—and indeed it is. Faith in the Emperor, the State Religion, and the former Archangel is indeed widespread on this planet, making it a relatively religious world.

However, the planet’s greatest characteristic is its harsh natural environment.

Red sand blankets the sky, and the toxic sunlight carries deadly radiation. The inhabitants of the planet must regularly take anti-radiation injections and wear radiation-resistant clothing to survive.

The land on the planet is also extremely barren and water-scarce.

Various mutated wild monsters are rampant in the desert.

Yet, it was in this harsh environment that Saint Gerard, the son of God known throughout Imperial history and legend as the most virtuous of all, was born. He

subsequently nurtured generations of Blood Angels.

However, a powerful Hive Fleet invaded the Hades System and headed straight for the Blood Angels’ homeworld.

While the Void Zerg are generally considered formidable and highly intelligent, their intelligence primarily lies in their ability to rapidly learn from their prey, evolve appropriate tactics, and possess a powerful hive mind. Generally speaking, they are primarily driven by the instinct to feed, and logically, lack overt strategic thinking.

They simply eat whatever they can.

However, this Hive Fleet was different.

Upon their appearance, their target was crystal clear: the Blood Angels.

Even in their quest for rapid advancement and swift capture, even when they conquered a planet, their plunder and devouring of the planets themselves were unlike their normal practice of devouring them completely. They simply replenished themselves, plundering whatever they could quickly consume and digest, and then hurried on.

There was a whiff of revenge.

The Blood Angels had once triumphed gloriously over the Zerg.

This newly emerged horde seemed to be out for revenge.

Realizing this, the Blood Angels launched a grueling blocking campaign, engaging the Zerg in numerous battles across multiple sectors.

Overall, they were essentially defeated.

The Hive Fleet was too vast. Even with the Blood Angels summoning several Successor Chapters and integrating the local Imperial Astra Militarum, Navy, and Planetary Defense Forces, they were unable to withstand it.

But they hadn’t originally planned for an instant victory.

The primary goal of their interception efforts was to slow the Hive Fleet’s speed and buy time for their rearguard.

From this perspective, their goal had been achieved.

With the time they had gained, the Blood Angels did two things.

First, through evacuation, or even direct extermination without evacuation, they created a void of desolate wasteland.

As the Zerg swarms passed through the desolate wastelands of dozens of worlds, they received no supplies or biomass to eat.

Even on those planets tasked with stopping the Zerg, if the battle proved unsuccessful, the Extermination Order weapons, already deployed to the surface, would be activated by humans.

If they could not stop the Zerg, they would perish alongside the swarm.

This would also incinerate all biomass on the planet, leaving the Zerg with nothing to eat.

Of course, Extermination Order weapons were actually quite rare, and the quantities the Blood Angels had hastily gathered were insufficient for use everywhere.

Therefore, they were confined to the most prosperous and populated worlds.

This decision was incredibly cold-blooded, yet it was a necessary and unavoidable act. On

those worlds where the Extermination Orders were activated, hundreds of millions, even billions, or even tens of billions, of people perished under the Blood Angels’ genocide. But in reality, with the Zerg invasion unstoppable, the people of these Imperial worlds had no chance of survival. The difference was simply whether they would be entombed in the Zerg’s belly, transformed into biomass to fuel the Zerg army, or be exterminated, resulting in a quicker and more complete death.

After buying time, the Blood Angels’ second effort was to summon as many reinforcements as possible.

The primary source of reinforcements came from the scattered Blood Angels Chapters.

Driven by their natural mission to defend their homeworld, numerous Chapters responded to the call of the Mother Chapter.

Some even had strained relations with the Mother Chapter.

Even some Chapters already condemned as traitors by the Imperium responded to the call.

The most notable of these was the Blood Knights—after being labeled traitors, they were labeled “Vampires” on wanted posters.

This involved a significant flaw within the Blood Angels’ gene-seed. All Blood Angels, influenced by their gene-seed, were typically handsome in appearance and possessed gentle yet noble personalities.

These qualities were inherited from their noble Son of God.

But in reality, the Blood Angels are inherently afflicted with a thirst for blood. In the heat of battle, their rage and bloodlust threaten to drive them out of control. They only soothe this madness by feasting on the blood of their enemies, or even their own, themselves.

This ethos led the Blood Angels to be known as the “Vampire Legion”—an unflattering term. However

, when the Son of God emerged and took command of the Legion, he reversed this trend. He led by example, teaching the Legion to endure and control its desires, and even changed the Legion’s name to bear the name of an angel.

Under his leadership, the Legion’s ethos underwent a profound transformation.

However, after the Son of God’s fall, the curse of bloodthirst descended once again.

Most of the Blood Angels’ descendants have always followed this path of restraint and endurance, drawing strength from it. Some Battle-Brothers within the Chapter, driven to utter madness by the uncontrollable thirst for blood, are assigned to Death Companies, where they are kept under strict observation. In crucial battles, they were treated as disposable, thrown into the most dangerous, least survivable engagements in the hope of a glorious end.

However, some Blood Angels Chapters lost their restraint and strayed into a darker path, indulging their thirst for blood.

The Blood Knights were one such Chapter.

In battle after battle, despite their remarkable achievements, they invariably feasted on the blood of mortals, both civilians and allies. This

invariably resulted in heavy casualties among allies, and this behavior was considered utterly evil and heretical. They ultimately incurred the wrath of Holy Terra and were declared traitors.

But even declared traitors, they remained true to their faith. They would often arrive uninvited to support the Imperium’s battles, crushing humanity’s enemies—and feasting on the flesh and blood of their allies afterward.

They accepted this with aplomb.

They believed that humanity was the Emperor’s lambs, and they, the Space Marines, were the sheepdogs who worked and governed the lambs. Was it a sin to eat a little “meat” while working diligently and defeating humanity’s enemies?

As the parent Chapter, the Blood Angels understand the entire story of the Blood Knights’ treason.

They are not on the same page. The Blood Angels have always called on all Chapters to uphold their Chapter traditions, adhere to the teachings of the Son of God, and practice self-denial and righteousness. Only those who can resist their inner desires are worthy descendants of the Angels. They are always willing to provide the utmost assistance to Chapters with particularly severe genetic flaws. However, the Blood Knights, who have completely strayed from the Son of God, are unacceptable.

This is why, as the parent Chapter, they also support the judgment of Chapters like the Blood Knights as traitors.

As Chapter Master and supreme commander of the Defense of Primus, Dante, a legendary hero of the Imperium, and with a recorded lifespan of 1,500 years, was a staunch pragmatist.

At this critical juncture, he no longer considered the differing paths taken by different Chapters, nor the morals or character of their respective factions.

The strength of one or two additional Chapters was crucial,

especially the Blood Angels, who had completely embarked on the path of madness. They possessed a combat power even more formidable than that of ordinary Blood Angels.

This was a force that needed support.

Before the final Defense of Primus began, the Blood Angels had mobilized over thirty Chapters, totaling 21,000 Blood Angels, to participate in the war.

The outcome was devastating.

Seven Chapters were completely destroyed, eleven were nearly annihilated, leaving only a few remaining. The remaining Chapters were generally reduced to a few companies of men.

Of the 21,000 Blood Angels, only about 5,000 remained.

Even the legendary hero Dante was severely wounded in the bloody battle and fell into a coma.

It was at this time that the Alliance arrived on the battlefield.

————

This chapter is a bit long, 5k

still owed 81

(end of this chapter)