Chapter 386: Live Testing
The deadlock on the negotiation table was broken by an encrypted communication from Terra. Just as both sides were endlessly arguing over technology patents and production licenses, Ryo, during a pause in the negotiations, made public a message confirmed by Sigismund.
"Chief Archmagos, fellow Magi," Ryo's synthesized voice sounded exceptionally clear in the temporarily silent council hall. "I have just received the latest news from Terra."
He paused slightly to ensure everyone's attention was focused: "The Primarch, Lord Rogal Dorn, is highly concerned with the testing progress. He has decided to personally visit Martian orbit shortly to observe the first live demonstration of the warp engine."
As soon as these words were spoken, the background hum of all binary data streams within the entire council hall seemed to stall for an instant.
The personal arrival of the Primarch meant that the nature of this argument had already changed.
This was no longer a dispute over technical routes within the Adeptus Mechanicus, but had directly ascended to the level of the Imperium's supreme will, becoming a matter of principle regarding whether to follow the Emperor's explicit decree.
Any excuse attempting to delay or obstruct would become pale and powerless before a Primarch—especially Dorn, who was renowned for his pragmatism, toughness, and absolute loyalty.
On the metal face of the Chief Archmagos, covered with precise patterns and embedded with ancient processing units, still no emotional fluctuation could be seen.
However, his three-second silence, and the noticeably intensified ventilation noise coming from the processor cooling grilles inside his torso in response to the suddenly soaring computational load, had already revealed the violent fluctuations in his heart.
He could not refuse, at least not publicly refuse a Primarch, especially the "observation" request of a Primarch holding the Emperor's personal decree.
Any such attempt would be tantamount to directly challenging the authority of Terra.
"...Since that is the case," the Chief Archmagos's vox-caster finally emitted a piece of code that, although precisely modulated, still revealed the complex weighing within. "The preparatory work for the live test must indeed be put on the agenda immediately, without delay."
This was both an acknowledgment of reality and a concession forced by multiple pressures.
—
The test location was ultimately confirmed to be a strictly cleared area in high Martian orbit.
The test ship specially built for this purpose—its lines vastly different from traditional Imperial vessels, appearing unusually sleek and even somewhat peculiar—was suspended quietly in the void.
Inside its specially designed, noticeably enlarged, and reinforced engine compartment section at the rear, it was completely empty, like a chest cavity that had lost its heart, awaiting the implantation of a vital organ.
Countless high-precision observation probes, multi-function sensor arrays, and observation ships carrying Magi from all factions and their technical teams surrounded the test ship layer upon layer, like a school of metal fish attracted by a magnet, forming a near-perfect spherical observation network.
All optical lenses, energy detectors, and spatial fluctuation monitors were locked dead onto that empty engine compartment exposed to the vacuum.
Ryo's massive dark-red mechanical body entered the interior of the test ship directly through the docking tunnel, coming straight to that empty core cabin.
Through the high-resolution real-time footage transmitted by the observation ships, all the Magi and representatives of various factions in the council hall could clearly see every detail inside the cabin—apart from Ryo and the base structure beneath his feet used to secure the engine, it was completely empty, with no prefabricated engine components or complex assembly facilities whatsoever.
"Commencing installation of the warp engine core," Ryo announced calmly, his voice echoing across all observation channels through the internal vox system.
He did not summon the attending servitors, did not activate any form of mechanical arms or assembly platforms, and did not even take out any parts from his dimensional storage device.
He merely steadily raised a precisely structured mechanical arm, extending his hand and aiming it accurately at the center of the engine base.
The next second, a scene that made all observers suffocate occurred.
In front of Ryo's mechanical hand, space itself began to produce microscopic distortions visible to the naked eye, rippling like the surface of water after a stone is thrown in.
Countless infinitesimally small, bright white particles seemingly composed of pure energy surged out of thin air from the void. As if precisely pulled by some invisible force field, with the center point of the engine base as the origin, they began to rapidly converge, stack, and self-organize.
At first, it was only a hazy, shapeless ball of light, but it immediately outlined clear and extremely complex multi-dimensional geometric structures at an astonishing speed.
The cold luster unique to metal, the thick conduit outlines for transporting high-energy plasma, the intricate energy circuits and control systems resembling a nerve plexus...
Everything was being constructed out of thin air, from nothing to something, defying common sense.
This sight was as if an invisible god of artisans was using pure energy as raw material and space itself as a canvas, directly "painting" a massive and precise faster-than-light engine from a design blueprint into reality.
The entire process was so quiet it made one's heart palpitate, with only the low hum emitted by Ryo's internal energy core running at full capacity—faintly audible even after being isolated by the bulkheads—and the microscopic rustling sound made by those countless energy particles organizing and converging, like billions of motes of dust flowing in absolute silence.
"This... this is impossible..." A Martian Magos on an observation ship wildly changed the focal length of his complex optical lens components, attempting to find any trace of forgery. His internal data streams showed chaotic ripples and error signals due to instantaneous overload.
"Matter reconstruction... direct energy-to-matter conversion..." Another Magos from Lucius, renowned for his calmness and precision, had an obvious, incredulous tremble in his usually smooth synthesized voice. "This technology... is only mentioned in legends of certain oldest STC fragments viewed as myth... a supreme achievement belonging to the Golden Age of Humanity... long deemed completely lost..."
Archmagos Vox gazed at the real-time footage. His sole remaining human eye widened slightly in extreme astonishment, while the mechanical eye side-by-side with it was recording every physical parameter and energy fluctuation at the highest rate.
He instantly realized that the significance and impact on the existing technological system behind this ability Ryo was demonstrating right now were perhaps even more profound and subversive than the warp engine itself.
Under the gaze of countless "eyes" mixing shock, fanaticism, greed, and disbelief, a flawless warp engine—gleaming with a cold metallic luster, its internal structure so complex it would dazzle even the most veteran engineer—completed a miraculous leap from nothingness to physical form in just a few short minutes, sitting perfectly and firmly onto the test ship's engine base.
Its entire body was seamless, its surface as smooth as a mirror, without any traces of welding, riveting, or assembly visible. It was as if it was meant to grow there naturally, naturally "growing" out of this spatial structure.
Engine installation complete, the spatial ripples calmed, and the light completely retracted. Ryo nonchalantly withdrew his arm, as if he had merely conducted a routine equipment calibration.
He turned to the internal vox, his voice as steady as ever, without the slightest ripple: "Warp engine core installation complete. Prepare for energy connection and system initialization."
The entire observation area fell into an almost solidified, deathly silence filled with a massive amount of information.
The previous fierce arguments regarding technology patents, production licenses, and profit distribution suddenly seemed insignificant, short-sighted, and even somewhat ridiculous in the face of this near-miraculous, "Genesis"-level technology.
All Magi, whether from the Martian headquarters or the alliance worlds, had their logic cores and processing units operating on overload, madly attempting to parse, understand, and re-evaluate this scene before their eyes that completely transcended their existing technological tree's comprehension.
Ryo, this mysterious Explorator Magos, not only held the key to opening a new era of the sea of stars; in his hands, it seemed he also grasped a portion of the authority that should only belong to the legendary "Creators" of the Golden Age of Humanity.
The dimensions and foundation of this gambit concerning the future direction of the Adeptus Mechanicus were completely and permanently altered at this very moment.
(End of Chapter)