Starting from the Planetary Governor - Chapter 918

Chapter 910: Building the Imperial Guard

. There’s no doubt the Imperial Guards are formidable.

During his several visits to the Holy Terra Palace, Gu Hang was deeply impressed by every Imperial Guards soldier he met.

He was particularly impressed by Grand Marshal Yan Xinzhen, whom he had met. This Imperial Guards commander, the Imperial Palace’s chief steward, left a lasting impression on Gu Hang. Although he was already quite formidable at the time, Yan Xinzhen still seemed incredibly threatening.

Looking back now, Gu Hang believes Yan Xinzhen’s individual strength surpassed that of any Space Marine he’d ever encountered, though he likely wouldn’t reach the level of a Child of God.

At this level, he currently has a particularly good match—the Bonebreaker King.

This enemy would require the assistance of three or five Chosen Champions, supported by dozens of Chapter Champions, and Gu Hang’s skillful use of cheats to siege and defeat.

At this level, Yan Xinzhen could easily tear apart multiple Great Demons and even single-handedly challenge a Divine Great Demon.

Beyond his cutting-edge prowess, the individual strength of the Imperial Guards is also quite formidable.

Compare this to the Space Marines; a company champion might not even be able to defeat an ‘ordinary’ Guardian of the Custodes. And of course, the Custodes can also grow and improve. Reaching the so-called ‘champion’ level would guarantee victory over the Chapter Champion of the Space Marines.

The ‘tribunes’ beneath the Grand Marshal of the Custodes are undeniably the chosen champions.

This clearly demonstrates the strength of the Custodes.

Gu Hang was naturally delighted by the Custodes’ formidable strength.

If he could cultivate a large number of Custodes, especially cultivating a few of the most advanced fighters, his future would be more stable.

Yet, he remained calm.

If the Custodes were so powerful, why were the protagonists of the entire Empire either Space Marines or trillions of mortal warriors during the Great Crusade, the subsequent Imperial Civil War, and the next ten thousand years?

The reason was simple: the Custodes were too few in number.

Now, having mastered the Custodes’ cultivation technology, Gu Hang understood why these Golden Guards were so few in number.

Their production was too difficult and expensive.

The Custodians’ transformation process doesn’t require gene-seed, and upon completion, they are significantly larger than Space Marines.

The Custodians’ transformation process begins in infancy and continues throughout their growth, with many candidates going insane or dying along the way. Their transformation also doesn’t require gene-seed, and their bodies are significantly larger than Space Marines.

Unlike the Space Marines’, the Custodians’ transformation program isn’t standardized. Each Custodian candidate receives customized services, creating or enhancing specific traits based on their unique genetic potential, yielding an incomparable and unique Golden Guard.

In other words, the Custodians’ development process isn’t so much a standardized procedure as a set of transformation strategies and the technical capabilities required to support it.

This very customization means they aren’t mass-produced, and their role is clear: bodyguards, emissaries, and commanders, but not soldiers.

To date, the Custodians can still be considered advanced products of genetic engineering, but they aren’t born for conquest. Whether when the Emperor was still on earth or now, thousands of years after the Emperor ascended to heaven, his main job is to serve as the Emperor’s bodyguard.

Their duties and mindsets differed from those of the Space Marines, who formed the backbone of the Great Crusade. While there was a certain camaraderie among the Custodes, they did not view their comrades as genetic brothers, as the Space Marines did—they held no true “blood” or “genetic” ties.

The Custodes primarily fought alone, never relying on support from other Custodes. While they often operated in scattered formations, each individual could instinctively predict their comrades’ next moves and coordinate whenever necessary. This meant that when multiple, even entire groups, of Custodes worked together, they remained formidable, never diminishing their effectiveness in group battles.

However, Gu Hang lamented that such powerful warriors had such a low profile within the Imperium. They spent their days secluded within the Imperial Palace of Holy Terra, claiming to defend it and the Golden Throne. But what was there to protect?

In the millennia since the Imperial Civil War, the number of direct threats to the Terran Palace could be counted on one hand.

Terra’s defenses were so comprehensive that the Custodes had no need to act. Even if something truly happened on Terra, it seemed they would simply ignore it as long as it didn’t threaten the Imperial Palace.

From the perspective of the Imperium as a whole, they were deeply isolated. They had always believed they were solely responsible to the Emperor, not the entire Imperium.

This was definitely not the approach Gu Hang would take when he later considered building the Custodians.

Such precious warriors, used as bodyguards and messengers of orders, would be a waste.

Besides their exceptional combat prowess, they also excelled in arts, science, and other fields.

No wonder they were called “perfect humans.”

Even with the technology to cultivate Custodians, the prohibitive cost and time involved meant that even with Gu Hang’s ingenuity, mass-producing the Custodians would be impossible. Gu Hang intended to place each custom-made Custodian in its proper place.

They would contribute to the Dark Side Crusade and the Alliance.

However, the process and methods of manufacturing the Custodians were among the Imperium’s most secrets, beyond even the High Lords of Terra’s purview. Production was entirely carried out in the Golden Laboratory within the Imperial Palace.

Like many highly classified and sensitive technologies, this presented a problem: What would the reaction be if Gu Hang created the Custodians and the Golden Corns at the Holy Terra Imperial Palace learned of their creation?

Despite a relatively friendly exchange with Marshal Yan Xinzhen, Gu Hang doubted that the Marshal would condone his unauthorized creation of Custodians.

They might even come from across half the Empire to cause trouble.

As previously mentioned, Custodians were not soldiers. While they served as bodyguards, they also had to be proficient in assassination and sabotage.

Gu Hang didn’t consider himself a threat, but it would be a bit of a hassle. Furthermore

, if the Custodians couldn’t kill him, could they kill others?

Gu Hang couldn’t reveal this until he had a proper solution.

Even if he created the Custodians, he would equip them with purely crafted, non-standard armor and weapons. They certainly wouldn’t be painted in a dazzling gold color, nor would their appearance resemble the Custodians. He would try to differentiate them as distinct from the rest of the world, publicly claiming them to be a Space Marine Chapter—after all, Primaris were taller and stronger than the older versions. While not quite at the level of the Imperial Guards, it’s still manageable, as Primaris is a new technology after all.

Even if we start training the Imperial Guards now, it’ll take decades to reach a scale of dozens or even hundreds, so there’s no need to rush.

(End of this chapter)