[Warhammer: Starting as a Planetary Governor] Chapter 143 (Patreon)

Deep beneath the Spire Estate.

Prompted by Carter's reminder, Eden scoured the estate and finally discovered the secret laboratory buried several kilometers underground.

This facility had been sealed for years, its entrance layered with dust.

The Grant family had secretly conducted genetic engineering experiments here, far exceeding the limits tolerated by the Imperium.

Unfortunately, the experiments hit a bottleneck at some point, leading to the deaths of many Custodians involved in the augmentations.

To make matters worse, the matter of the tithe violations attracted the attention of Arbites judges.

The previous governor had no choice but to shut the laboratory down entirely, silencing those involved.

However, what followed was beyond anyone's expectations.

The Arbites convoy was ambushed, drawing the wrath of Inquisitors.

This brought even greater calamity to Urth, culminating in the death of the former governor.

Since then, the laboratory had been almost entirely forgotten.

As the successor, Eden knew nothing of its existence.

"Old man sure had guts…"

As more secrets unraveled, Eden realized the previous governor wasn't as simple as he'd imagined.

At the very least, he wasn't the benevolent figure Eden had assumed.

Of course, for a governor family to rule Urth for over 3,000 years, simple men were never part of the equation.

If they lacked boldness and cunning, they would have been devoured long ago.

Still, Eden saw this as a blessing—it meant he had inherited a wealth of resources.

Standing before the alloy door to the laboratory, Eden placed his hand on the biometric scanner, a device that only recognized the Grant family's bloodline.

Click.

The scanner's needle pierced his fingertip, drawing a small sample of blood.

Beep.

The green light activated, signaling approval.

Boom—

The heavy door rumbled open.

After traversing a long, trap-laden corridor, Eden finally entered the laboratory.

Inside, the expansive facility was devoid of any human presence. Only a few dozen servitors carried out basic maintenance tasks.

After questioning the servitors, Eden headed straight for the cryo-storage chamber.

What he found left him astonished.

"The Grant family had some serious nerve, stashing this many gene-seeds in secret…"

Eden stared at the sight before him, a mix of shock and admiration.

"Not bad, old man. Thanks for the inheritance—these are all mine now!"

The cryo-chamber housed rows of glandular organs resembling octopi, commonly referred to as gene-seeds.

This batch appeared to have originated from various Space Marine Chapters.

Which ones, Eden couldn't tell.

Gene-seeds, the cornerstone of genetic engineering, were essential for creating Space Marines.

At their core, they were a combination of germ cells and virus-based protein machines. Through complex engineering, they developed into specialized organs.

When implanted into a human, these seeds enabled researchers to transform ordinary individuals into genetically enhanced super-soldiers—Space Marines, or Astartes.

To Space Marine Chapters, gene-seeds were their most precious resources.

Whenever possible, Chapters would recover gene-seeds from their fallen brethren after battles.

Yet, the Imperium's current gene-seed reserves faced numerous challenges, including widespread mutations.

Some Chapters, such as the Black Dragons, had mutated so severely that their warriors grew horns.

Mutated gene-seeds were too risky to submit for tithe collection, as no one could predict whether they would be sent to supply fleets or end up in the hands of the Inquisition.

To meet their tithe quotas, some Chapters resorted to borrowing clean gene-seeds from others or purchasing them from rogue traders.

The more extreme ones went as far as raiding traitor Marines to seize their gene-seeds.

This situation only increased the value of gene-seeds, fueling an underground smuggling network.

Rogue traders, unfazed by legalities, eagerly joined the lucrative trade.

It was likely that the Grant family had acquired this batch of gene-seeds through such illicit channels.

While Chapters sourcing gene-seeds from rogue traders might be considered "official smuggling," anyone else doing so would be branded as heretical.

How the Grant family managed to evade the Inquisition's scrutiny remained a mystery.

Impressive!

Indeed, it seemed far more efficient to inherit resources than to struggle for them.

This windfall was monumental.

After surveying the laboratory, Eden granted Moss access to the facility, allowing him and his team to continue developing genetic engineering technologies.

Moss organized the laboratory's data and provided an update:
"With this substantial inheritance of research data, our progress has accelerated significantly.

Preliminary estimates suggest we can conduct our first augmentation experiments within five years."

Hearing this, Eden let out a sigh of relief.

Even if it had taken ten or twenty years, he was prepared to wait. Five years was faster than he'd dared hope.

Clapping Moss on the shoulder, Eden encouraged him:
"As expected of my chief sage. Keep it up and speed things along!"

With the gene-seed issue resolved, Eden felt a weight lifted from his shoulders.

In high spirits, he returned to the estate and indulged in the luxuries of the estate's spa.

"Now this is living…"

Reclining on a poolside lounger, his face covered with a towel, Eden relished the moment.

Still, something felt missing. A thought struck him:
"Life feels a bit dull. Maybe I should organize a troupe for music and dance performances?"

Imagining a lively ensemble of music and graceful dancers, Eden felt tempted.

He called for a maid and was about to issue the order when Linda, the head maid, entered with urgency.

"Governor, there's an emergency message from Sage Kaul…"

Waving the maid away, Eden took the data pad and opened Kaul's urgent report.

The contents made his vision blur momentarily.

"Damn it, Kaul! Is this another resource request?"

It was Kaul's third request for resources, nearly depleting Urth's reserves.

Maintaining a warship was no joke.

Even with the Dream being pre-built and requiring minimal energy input thanks to its plasma fusion reactor, the repair and modifications alone were draining Eden dry.

He was grateful the Dream was only 8 kilometers long—a modest size by battleship standards.

If it had been a 50-kilometer titan like the Emperor's Dream or the colossal Mount Formation, even selling his soul wouldn't have sufficed.

Still, he couldn't deny the Dream's superiority, thanks to its Golden Age core technologies.

If only it had been equipped with temporal weaponry from that era, it would have been truly invincible.

Imagine a warship that instantly reappears in pristine condition after destruction, no matter how many times it's destroyed.

As Eden pondered ways to fund the Dream's restoration, Kaul initiated a voice call, sounding frantic:
"Governor, why haven't you approved the resources yet?

I've been waiting for an hour, forty-five minutes, and seven seconds! Without resources, we're at a standstill!"

"Is it really that urgent? Did you upgrade the repair plan again?"

"A minor improvement, that's all. I had a burst of inspiration to address several flaws in the original plan…"

Eden took a deep breath.
"Can't you stick to the original plan?"

"Don't you want a more perfect Dream?" Kaul's voice carried a subtle, almost hypnotic persuasion.

…

After a moment of silence, Eden relented:
"You win. I'll approve it shortly."

Upgrades truly bled one dry.

Eden consulted with Bayev, temporarily halting several royal district projects to redirect all resources and personnel toward the Dream's restoration.

Urth, being a mining planet with abundant reserves, could shoulder this burden—for now.

Had this been any other planet, it might have been reduced to a barren wasteland.

Finally, Eden approved Kaul's resource request and collapsed into his chair, feeling like a drained fish.

"Damn it, upgrades are a curse…"

After some contemplation, Eden canceled the plans for a dance troupe.

Such indulgences could wait. For now, the focus was on rebuilding Urth's strength and resources.

He issued new pro-natalist policies to address the planet's workforce shortages, providing incentives for families to have more children.

...

Five years later, in the Goliath Sector.

On Chak, a feudal world ruled by a local monarchy, chaos reigned.

Several city-states were engulfed in flames as the cries of the wounded echoed.

The Sector Governor's fleet descended upon the planet, punishing the monarchy for daring to question the legitimacy of the Tithe of Eleven.

After thoroughly chastising the royal family, the fleet stripped Chak of all valuable resources.

As the fleet departed, one of its divisions set its sights on Urth.

According to their records, it was a prosperous planet, ripe for exploitation.

(End of Chapter)

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