Chapter 308: Gene Tailoring
This new technological knowledge, Lucan discovered, had been integrated into his Authority as the God-Machine in a special way. He could now use his Authority to directly "bless" the researchers under his command.
The choice of who to bless was obvious. Lucan selected Pavian, who had always been in charge of the Dynasty's cloning program. As Lucan guided this power, Pavian suddenly felt a massive amount of knowledge flood his mind. Still focused on the Panacea, he looked up at Lucan in shock and scrambled over to his side.
"My Lord, the knowledge in my head... what is happening? It's as if it just appeared out of thin air... Gene Tailoring... by the Holy Machine!"
"Pavian, this is a blessing from the Holy Machine. Accept it."
Lucan then explained his aforementioned plan to Pavian. By this time, Cawl had nearly finished his preliminary analysis of the Panacea STC.
"Cawl, Pavian, establish a complete production line based on the Panacea as quickly as possible. Then, contact Guilliman. I trust the administrative 'Internet' on Terra is mostly established by now. Have him send over all information on incurable diseases recorded by the Administratum, the Inquisition, and the Medicae worlds, especially all information related to supernatural plagues from Nurgle. Use the Panacea to create the corresponding treatments and solutions."
"My Lord, did you say all of them?" Pavian said, worried. "That number will be too vast... Even if we find the solutions, we cannot possibly produce all of them!"
"Who told you to produce all of them?" Lucan retorted. "We don't have to produce them now, but we must have them in our database. We don't want to be wasting time finding a solution when we finally encounter one. For now, just pick the most threatening ones with the widest impact and establish production lines for those.
"As for the others that aren't as dangerous... Guilliman is the Imperial Regent. Let him figure it out. He can be responsible for those production lines. We can synchronize the solutions we find with him. But the free offer is limited to plagues related to Nurgle. For anything related to malignant genetic mutation, jack the price sky-high!
"Providing the treatments for those plagues for free is as far as my benevolence goes. After all, this was something we seized from Commorragh with the lives of Dynasty soldiers. He should have access to a lot of resources now and his pockets should be quite full. Tell him he has to trade for it with materials. With his intelligence, I'm sure he knows what a good deal this is. He can even set up a new department to sell this genetic technology to nobles or individuals on various planets. The noble houses on some of these worlds have no shortage of wealth, and there are many people who suffer from related diseases or genetic defects. For example, those filthy rich Navigator Houses. Their inbreeding gives them an extremely high chance of genetic mutation. This is the perfect chance to squeeze some fat from them! I am confident they are willing to pay any price to Guilliman in exchange for a chance to live longer."
"I understand! I'll get it done right away! And I'll be sure to tell Governor Rebecca this good news first! That way, she might bad-mouth you a little less. After all, nothing makes Governor Rebecca happier than generating revenue for the Dynasty!"
After arranging everything for the Panacea, Pavian returned to his bio-lab without delay. Using the new knowledge in his brain, he had his assistants prepare all the materials needed for the genetic enhancement. He couldn't wait to try this newly acquired knowledge.
Gabriel Angelos still had no idea what was about to happen. He only knew that Lucan had found him earlier and, looking him in the eyes, had asked, "Gabriel, do you desire power?!"
It had to be said, if anyone else had said that to him, he would have immediately suspected them of being corrupted by the Dark Gods. But since it was coming from Lucan, Gabriel found that he didn't have a single shred of doubt. Facts had proven that Lucan's existence had allowed the Blood Ravens to become great again, and they had reached a strength they had never possessed before. The endorsements from the Emperor and Guilliman also meant he had no worries.
Although Lucan hadn't explicitly told him what he was going to do, he still followed Pavian into the bio-lab. As per Pavian's request, Gabriel removed his power armor and lay down on the operating table. The bio-priests by his side were already prepared, linking life-support devices to his body.
"Magos Pavian, what exactly are you doing?"
"Chapter Master Gabriel, you don't need to worry. The Lord will not harm you. We have researched a brand-new genetic technology. If it goes smoothly, even you, who have already completed the Primaris upgrade, will be able to obtain even greater physical fitness and regenerative capabilities."
"What?!" Gabriel was shocked. He had only just completed his Primaris upgrade. Hadn't they said that this was a technology the great Archmagos Cawl had spent ten thousand years perfecting? Cawl had spent that long just to get it working, and now Pavian was saying he could improve it again? His words made Cawl's millennia of research sound like a joke.
"Are you sure this isn't some kind of blasphemous technology?!"
"Rest assured, Lord Lucan wouldn't trick you," Pavian said cheerfully. "Although... we have never actually performed this kind of enhancement before."
"Never done it?! Pavian?! Are you using me as a guinea pig?!"
Just as Gabriel tried to get up, the anesthetic from the life-support system began to inject into his body. Not even Gabriel could stand up to such a powerful anesthetic. His vision went black, and just before he lost consciousness, he had the distinct feeling that he had walked into a den of thieves.
"How could we possibly let you run away, Lord Gabriel?" Pavian mused to himself. "Although we could have used ordinary clones for the experiment, I still need a sufficiently powerful individual to properly test the upper limits of this technology. If only Lord Ferrus weren't a machine body, he would have been the most suitable candidate... Everyone, prepare! Begin the genetic modification!"
When Gabriel awoke again, he immediately leaped from the bed and into a combat stance. But he only saw Pavian standing quietly to the side, waiting.
"Your physical fitness has indeed been enhanced, Lord Gabriel. The anesthetic had much less of an effect on you. You've woken up early."
"Pavian! What in the warp did you do to me?!"
Gabriel sensed his body. He didn't feel the addition of two new organs like he had with the Primaris upgrade.
"To be honest," Pavian admitted, "I don't know either. We'll have to find out through testing."
Filled with doubt and anxiety, Gabriel walked into the testing chamber. After the experiment, he finally understood how much the genetic modification Pavian had spoken of had improved him. If he could previously lift about 1 ton without power armor, he could now lift about 1.2 tons—a nearly 20% increase. And it wasn't just raw strength. The enhancement of his physical condition had also increased his speed by about 15%. An increase in his upper limits was not a simple 1+1 improvement to his combat strength.
But it was the "Rapid Healer" trait that truly shocked Gabriel. A deep cut on his arm, made by a combat knife, healed in the blink of an eye. This wasn't the Larraman's Organ clotting a wound, or the Belisarian Furnace kicking in during severe trauma. This was instantaneous, rapid healing the moment he was injured.
However, it was not without its limits. The rapid healing consumed a massive amount of his body's stored energy. But this was not a major problem; high-energy combat rations could easily cover the caloric consumption in the short term.
"It seems this technology still has its limits... Astartes have already undergone extensive genetic modification," Pavian concluded, extremely satisfied with the technology. "But if this were used on an ordinary mortal, the improvement should be even more significant!"
He immediately began the small-scale production of the new, enhanced clone soldiers.
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