Not long after, at the assembly area in front of the seventeenth spatial gate:
"All members of the 1st Company of the Thousand Sons, please prepare to cross the spatial gate."
"The joint reconnaissance unit has completed preliminary scouting. The engineering transport team is requested to prepare for the construction of the forward base."
"Investigators from the Survey Department, after completing your checks, proceed immediately to your designated positions."
"All units..."
The assembly area was filled with a busy and tense atmosphere. The broadcast system continuously issued commands and reminders, its voice loud and clear.
As the instructions gradually expanded, the entire assembly area, with its massive force of over forty thousand people, was preparing in an extremely orderly manner.
Most of them moved through the crowd, their respective unit insignias shining on their uniforms and equipment, making it easier for the smart auxiliary units to verify their identities.
Ground and aerial vehicles flowed like metallic rivers, converging into a grand spectacle.
Special squads from various departments, engineering teams, reconnaissance groups, and a contingent of Thousand Sons clad in Titan armor were all ready, eagerly awaiting the next command.
The soldiers and staff with their helmets and visors open displayed expressions of "longing," "anticipation," and "excitement" on their faces, ready to cross the spatial gate and embark on their "expedition."
However, it was understandable. The last time the Emperor opened a spatial gate was five years ago.
Since the simultaneous opening of gates to universes numbered "13" (Trench Crusade), "14" (Starship Troopers), "15" (Alien), and "16" (Red Alert), and following the chaos attacks in various regions, the Empire had focused on stabilizing and developing its territories.
Five years of development, though not lengthy, had laid a solid foundation for the Empire's "revival" and steady expansion.
Today, the Empire is in an extremely prosperous phase.
The most visible manifestation of this is the population explosion.
The Empire's birth rate has broken historical records every year.
Currently, the Empire's total population is close to 910 billion, and this number seems to be just a step away from the trillion mark.
However, compared to the human Empire in Warhammer 40k, this scale is still insignificant.
After all, in that Empire, hundreds of millions, or even billions, of casualties occur daily.
The massive losses and deaths have almost numbed the grassroots soldiers and civilians there, as if they are in a constant state of battle.
This is also why many humans easily fall to chaos, seeking true "happiness" and "freedom."
However, the growth and accumulation of the main universe's Empire, compared to other universes' civilizations, already appears overwhelmingly powerful.
Especially in the universes of Halo and Starship Troopers, the rise of the main universe's Empire undoubtedly brings an irresistible pressure.
In the eyes of those alien races, the Empire is no longer a simple entity—
It is an unbeatable hunter, equipped with advanced gear, moving stealthily, clad in heavy armor, and wielding firearms with assisted targeting, ready to face any challenge.
Overall, while the scale of the main universe's Empire still falls short of the human Empire in Warhammer 40k, its inexhaustible strength is quietly intimidating every enemy across different universes and within the warp.
As for the various changes, they seem to remind every citizen of the Empire that the future of the main universe's Empire is filled with infinite possibilities.
Moreover, the size of each Legion is steadily growing as the Empire continues to expand.
Take the Second Legion, the Blood Angels, for example. When their Primarch Sanguinius received the Emperor's decree to lead the Legion's elite to the "14" (Starship Troopers) universe to prepare for the unification war, the Legion had "only" around thirty thousand adult Astartes.
The number of auxiliary troops, who had undergone the Inquisitor serum and possessed physical abilities far surpassing ordinary humans, was approximately six million.
Including ground crew, logistics, technical staff, and even culinary units, the total number of the Blood Angels Legion was roughly between fourteen and sixteen million.
Adding in the "elite cannon fodder" clone soldiers, biological and mechanical weapons, the Legion's "numbers" would only grow larger.
Such a massive military scale places the Blood Angels Legion in a pivotal position within the Empire.
However, despite this, the Blood Angels Legion still faces a serious challenge—
At that time, most of their adult Astartes were newly transformed recruits.
While these recruits matched or even surpassed the Primaris Astartes of Warhammer 40k in strength, speed, and reaction, they lacked actual combat experience.
Compared to these recruits, the "veterans" who had undergone hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of years of battle洗礼 undoubtedly held an absolute advantage.
For example, the 2nd Company of the Sons of Humanity, which had been fighting remnants of the Covenant and dealing with small-scale Flood outbreaks, were already considered "veterans" of the main universe's Empire.
However, when the New Argo was invaded by the Emperor's Children, aside from external factors like the suddenness of the attack and insufficient preparation, the Emperor's Children veterans still "dominated" the 2nd Company of the Sons of Humanity in the overall situation.
Only champions like the Company Champion could win in one-versus-many situations, but even they ultimately fell to the sword of Lucius, the Chosen of Slaanesh.
Experienced, calm veterans could compensate for "data" shortcomings with their rich combat experience.
If they were to face the Emperor's Children veterans who invaded New Argo, the Blood Angels recruits would also suffer heavy losses.
This is why combat effectiveness is not solely determined by data; experience and mentality are equally crucial, and this is where recruits still need to hone their skills.
Now?
Now, after five "long" years of unification wars, the Blood Angels Legion has almost completely "consumed" the "14" universe, which holds one-third of the Empire's total population.
In this unification war, the Blood Angels Legion did not rush to expand recklessly but adhered to a steady and solid strategy.
Although they quickly dismantled the United Citizen Federation's regime and fleet, destroying a large number of military installations, their focus remained on ideological transformation and long-term stable development in the occupied territories.
Under this strategic layout, the Blood Angels Legion not only successfully "fed the war with war" but also avoided issues like resource depletion, constant resupply needs, and insufficient recruit sources.
More importantly, the apothecaries and technical teams accompanying the Legion could perform gene-seed implantation and subsequent transformation surgeries on suitable candidates aboard their ships.
This self-sustaining "sustainable development" model greatly ensured the Blood Angels Legion's replenishment of troops and enhancement of combat power.
At the same time, the Legion did not ignore external pressures and potential threats.
The stubborn resistance organizations supported by old-regime capital, as well as various alien civilizations like the Arachnids, were not only successfully cleared of major threats by the Blood Angels but also cleverly turned into "experience packs" for the recruits.
Although recruits might not match veterans in combat effectiveness, their accumulated practical experience from fighting various enemies and aliens has become a valuable resource for the Blood Angels Legion in future operations.
The Blood Angels today are no longer what they used to be.
Moreover, the Legion's size has significantly expanded, with the number of adult Astartes growing from the initial thirty thousand to over forty-seven thousand.
Based on the current growth rate, it won't be long before this number surpasses fifty thousand, becoming an even more formidable force.
Of course, compared to the Ultramarines Legion, the Blood Angels' expansion speed seems somewhat "slow-burning."
The total number of Astartes in the entire Empire has now stabilized at two million, a massive number that represents the Empire's significant military advantage.
It's worth noting that the main universe's Empire's resources and administrative systems have long surpassed the imagination of conventional universe civilizations, fully capable of supporting all Legions and even larger forces.
After all, the Empire's administrative system is not bloated but highly efficient.
With the Emperor leading and the Primarchs assisting in decision-making and management, the Empire could easily sustain three times the number of Legions without any concerns.
However, the five-year "rest" period has left many Legions feeling restless.
For veterans, they crave greater achievements and glory, hoping to continue proving their worth in battle;
For recruits, they are filled with more passion and fervor, eager to hone their abilities in the smoke of battle and prove themselves worthy of the love of the Emperor, the Primarchs, and the Empire's citizens.
As time passed and the intervals between wars lengthened, many Legions began to feel "itchy," longing for the war horn to sound again, to charge forward and contribute to the Empire's expansion.
This is why the 1st Company of the Thousand Sons appeared at the assembly area of the seventeenth spatial gate.
When the Emperor foresaw a large-scale chaos invasion of the Empire's territories, he ordered Magnus to dispatch various companies of the Thousand Sons to different universes to assist each Legion in preparing for the impending threats.
But the Thousand Sons companies were almost "dragged along"—
Either the universes they were in saw no chaos invasion, or by the time the Thousand Sons arrived, the battles were already over or in their final stages.
Thus, the preliminary unification matters of the "17" universe were entrusted to the 1st Company of the Thousand Sons.
If it was discovered that the human or alien forces in that universe had spread across the entire galaxy, Magnus would lead the Legion's main force to oversee the entire unification war.
Unless they encountered strong resistance, other Legions had no authority to interfere in the affairs of that universe.
At this moment, Leon had left the hovercraft parked in the lot and boarded the rail train heading to the assembly area.
Inside the train car.
Wearing his holographic glasses, Leon held onto the overhead handle with his left hand, standing near the door.
In Leon's field of vision, Ada was "standing" to his right front.
She was dressed in a red cheongsam, her soft curves and vibrant colors forming a stark contrast within the train car.
Of course, this was an image projected by the holographic glasses' AR function, making Ada appear as if she were right in front of him, sharing the same space.
The real Ada Wong was currently in her office at the Empire Palace's Survey Department headquarters.
"Hmm, even with a stern face, you're still cute."
Seeing Leon's displeased expression, Ada couldn't help but smile, her eyes filled with a hint of teasing and provocation.
Her tone was calm but carried a provocative undertone.
As these words fell, Leon didn't respond immediately, continuing to maintain a tense expression, seemingly helpless.
Ada smiled again, not continuing to tease, and instead shifted to business, uploading relevant intelligence to Leon's phone.
Soon, through the AR function of his holographic glasses, Leon saw a series of informational documents and video footage.
The intelligence included detailed geographical and environmental data, exploration reports, and on-site photos and videos.
Leon first noticed some data charts displaying basic information about the other side of the gate.
Gravity, temperature, atmospheric composition, etc., indicated that it was not Earth, but the environment was suitable for humans, requiring no protective gear to breathe and move freely.
Next, Leon turned his attention to the photos and videos taken by the joint reconnaissance unit.
Through the AR images, Leon could see vast desert landscapes, the horizon blending with the distant skyline, the blue sky above and the golden sand below, creating a desolate yet beautiful scene.
Among the photos and videos taken by the joint reconnaissance unit, Leon saw cities inhabited by both humans and aliens.
"Besides..."
Ada's voice carried a rare seriousness. She adjusted her device slightly, sending over some newly captured images and videos, then continued:
"The joint reconnaissance unit also discovered that the human or alien civilizations there possess mature interstellar travel capabilities. Based on the latest data, it can be directly concluded that the ship hovering above the city is a warship.
After all, the ship has an energy shield that cannot be seen with the naked eye, as well as numerous cannons of different calibers."
"Hmm..." Leon nodded slightly, offering his speculation:
"And it looks more advanced than the Federation ships from the 14th universe (Starship Troopers), even comparable to most of our ships."
"Therefore, the Thousand Sons need the Survey Department's assistance to obtain more detailed intelligence from that side in a short time."
Ada also nodded, her tone still calm but with a hint of worry in her eyes, saying:
"More importantly, the Thousand Sons' Librarians have also reported that upon crossing the spatial gate, they sensed an unusual energy field there.
"That energy is not a traditional technological fluctuation but more like a material fluctuation of psionic energy, and there are even indications that this universe might have a special dimension similar to the Warp."
Hearing this, Leon shifted his gaze from the data to Ada and asked:
"What does the Intelligence Department have to say about this?"
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