The Imperial Navy's regular patrols and port calls for resupply brought a valuable development opportunity to Rostov II.
Seizing this opportunity would be no small challenge for Rostov II itself.
For one, providing maintenance for Imperial Navy warships would first require a sufficient number of Tech-Priests.
Not just knowledgeable High-ranking Priests, but also a large number of Low-ranking Priests to perform rituals, tighten screws, and chant litanies.
In addition, Rostov II also had to provide various supplies for the Imperial Navy.
It was impossible for the Navy to dock for repairs and then have to wait several months for Alex to order adamantium armor plating from a Forge World.
Therefore, the development of mineral resources was indispensable.
Before, Alex might have had to wait for Mai Mai and Twilight to return before entrusting them with these tasks.
However, now, 32 was very happy to take on this job, and she plunged into the undeveloped planets within the Rostov System with the Forge Ship Alex had acquired for her.
The Rostov System has a total of four planets and one asteroid belt. The second planet is Rostov II, the only planet located in the habitable zone of the star, and also the only planet in this world suitable for human colonization.
Of the remaining three planets, one is a giant gas giant, one is a barren dead world, and one is a death world flowing with lava.
The Empire's definition of a death world is very broad; any planet unsuitable for human survival can be classified as a death world.
For example, Catachan, a jungle world, is lush and full of life, but even the Tyranids would be slapped around by its native creatures, so it is a standard death world.
On Fenris, oceans cover almost the entire planet, and water resources are abundant, but because of its orbital issues, the planet is frozen for half the year and experiences tsunamis for the other half, making it a less typical death world.
Krieg was bombarded by massive nuclear bombs, and the radiated wasteland is unsuitable for survival, making it an even more typical death world.
Rostov I, on the other hand, is simply too close to the star, and the planet itself experiences extremely violent geological activity, with two-thirds of its surface covered by oceans of magma.
Although the remaining one-third is land, its geology is also extremely unstable, with frequent volcanic eruptions and earthquakes.
Such a world is, of course, unsuitable for human habitation and survival, but volcanic lava can bring a large amount of rare minerals from the star's interior to the surface, accumulating them into valuable mineral veins.
And some special minerals, transformed into other minerals under the high temperature and pressure of the earth's crust, are even more valuable, their worth almost indescribable.
For example, 32 found a magma river flowing with adamantium on Rostov I. The adamantium in the river could even be extracted simply by pumping it through pipes, making the mining difficulty almost zero.
Although the adamantium reserves in this magma river were not particularly abundant, they still had very high mining value.
32 almost impatiently set up mining equipment on the planet's surface, directly extracting the magma containing various precious minerals onto the Forge Ship and refining it into various raw materials.
These materials were not sent to a warehouse but were directly used to produce new mining equipment and equipment needed for planetary development, proceeding with the development of this molten planet.
"The lava mineral extraction array has been deployed, and now all the major mineral veins detected on 'Hot Dog Planet' are in operation! This was truly hard work!" 32 wiped non-existent sweat from her forehead, very satisfied with her labor.
Hot Dog Planet was the name 32 gave to Rostov I.
This naming style, which was out of sync with others, was consistent with her usual approach.
However, although the naming style was a bit odd, she did a good job with planetary development. All the major adamantium veins and other mineral resources worth large-scale exploitation on this planet had been marked and exploited by her.
Currently, all extraction arrays are operating at full capacity. The amount of minerals extracted, calculated by 32, is roughly enough to meet the construction needs of one frigate per year.
This amount is not large, but for the output of a single planet, it is still very considerable.
After all, a warhammer frigate is 1.5 kilometers long, which in a certain space Excel spreadsheet game 32 is familiar with, is already the size of a battleship.
If it were a bit larger, it would be close to a flagship.
These extracted minerals will be stored in a storage facility in synchronous orbit around Rostov I, and a specialized transport ship will haul them away every month.
These transport ships were purchased by Alex for use as transportation for internal system logistics and do not have the ability to perform Warp travel.
However, they can still perform sub-light speed flight, and within the system, or even within a Sub-Sector, they are still quite useful.
At the same time, because they do not need to install Warp engines, a large amount of space and system redundancy are saved inside the hull, which makes the cargo hold of these freighters very large and capable of carrying a lot.
Basically, only one ship needs to make one trip a month to haul away all the extracted minerals.
"Next, as long as the remaining two planets are also covered with extraction arrays, the initial development of this system will be complete. As for the rest…" 32 flipped through the data slate in her hand, which listed her next tasks: "Build a secret space outpost within the atmosphere of the gas giant and transform it into a Chapter Monastery?
Hiding a bull in the mine? Is Alex planning to keep a secret here? If he uses cultivation pods to produce people and then trains them into canned new recruits…
Holy cow, that's a good idea! Weapons and equipment can be produced internally, and while large ships can't be made, small frigates could suffice…
Tsk tsk, I didn't expect Alex, who seems to keep a low profile, to be planning something big!"
Alex could already deploy Space Marine pieces after reaching Level III authority, but due to point limitations, the number of pieces he could deploy was still limited.
So Alex did not intend to only use his own pieces, but rather to use his pieces as a foundation to train Astartes, similar to how he trained Battle Sisters.
Of course, if he only conscripted from Rostov II, while it would be enough to meet the needs of a Chapter, he wouldn't be able to stockpile much military strength.
Therefore, after acquiring a set of Adeptus Mechanicus cultivation pods, Alex planned to hide a force of Primaris Space Marines within the atmosphere of Rostov IV, the gas giant, and secretly expand his army.
By the time Guilliman awakens and returns to the Imperium in thirty years, lifting the Codex restrictions, and Cawl also presents the Primaris Space Marines, this Chapter can be openly revealed.
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T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
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