The Bizarre Adventures of the Oil Man, but Starting with Warhammer 32K

But where can we find such technology?

Vashtor set his sights on several large hives on Mars - the real heart of Martian production.

The scattered sages' private forging base stations could no longer satisfy Vashtor's appetite. He could only achieve his goal by rushing into the hive and looting it wantonly.

But Kubik's forces held the hive city tightly, and more than three million Skitarii and a Titan legion gathered on the narrow battlefield.

Vashtol and Kubik had similar forces at their disposal, and were both at a critical juncture where whoever attacked first would likely suffer a crushing defeat.

Vashtor knew very well that it would be difficult to attack the hive with the limited force he had, but if he delayed it until Mars recovered its production capacity, there would be no chance of winning.

Fortunately, he had seized many production lines and had bargaining chips in hand. He promised some of the production lines to the Chaos Knight family in the Eye of Terror in exchange for their support for his career.

These Chaos Knights would arrive on Mars one after another via the Ork teleporters, and Vashtor was determined to wait until they were in place before launching the final assault on Mars.

So he also lay dormant, and both sides of the conflict waited together for the final decisive battle.

-

Unlike Mars and Vashtor, who were feeling depressed and depressed, Leon was in high spirits recently.

He was radiant with the long-awaited new technology, and the participation of some priests made him even more delighted.

Not everyone wants to seek refuge with the Casting General. Leon's existence gives a few priests a second choice besides the Casting General.

The Fists of the Paragon, the Iron Hands, and the Soul Drinkers. The three Astartes combined numbered nearly a thousand. Such a force was more than enough to protect a single forge.

Many Martian priests saw Leon's potential. These priests, who believed that investing in a third party like Leon could better preserve their interests, injected new impetus into the Moravec Foundry.

Li Ang didn't ask for their current skills, he only asked them to work on the existing assembly line to screw in screws or to plaster with the Model Fist.

He used his special abilities to clear the plague scraps that had spread to the foundry and reorganized production. The current focus of production was on the ion and heat-melting production lines he had acquired.

He expanded the production of these weapons not only in preparation for a future conflict on Mars, but also in preparation for a subsequent offensive on the Moon.

He had not forgotten the orcs still hanging high above Terra.

This approach of not depriving the priests of the knowledge they treasured won their favor. When he occasionally took these priests out to collect money, he found that these priests were more active than he was in grabbing the production line.

"This way, sir. I used to screw the sage on these production lines. I know where the most critical part is!"

Seeing these priests desperately trying to avenge the Sage through him, Leon could only sigh that the world has suffered from the Mechanicus for a long time.

The strict promotion system within the Mechanicus and the blockade of access to knowledge meant that no one had a good impression of it, even the Mechanic Priests themselves.

This made Leon realize that if he wanted to build his own forging world in the future, it would not be as simple as just having enough production lines.

He didn't want every Mechanical Priest on the Forge World to have their own agenda. If everyone's goal was to preserve their own knowledge, the entire Forge World would be as fragmented as Mars.

But even so, the Adeptus Mechanicus is already the most knowledgeable organization in the Empire.

The greed of the oilmen and the toxicity of this cosmic knowledge itself have entangled to form such a twisted organization as the Mechanicus. If you want to reform it, weapons alone will not be enough.

He had to start with technology in industry and livelihoods and come up with a completely new system for knowledge distribution. He also had to find a way to eliminate, or at least reduce, the contamination of knowledge by the subspace.

Of course, before that, he still has to take out his weapons and show his power on Mars.

Unlike Kubik's assumption that Leon was simply plundering low-value production lines, Leon wasn't simply going for volume. Possessing a knack for innovation, he dismantled each of the production lines, selecting the parts that would be useful to him and reassembling them.

In the end, what emerged from these production lines was a large entity that had no connection to the things that these production lines were supposed to produce.

Li Ang looked at the masterpiece created by his hands with satisfaction.

"Although it may have the same name, in my opinion this thing is the real Titan."

The machine before him stood about eight meters tall, its outer shell cast from a dark grey alloy, its surface covered in angular armor plates, and its head constricted into a circular shape—the part underneath was actually the cockpit of this vehicle.

Unlike the Knight Mech, which has a separate head as a cockpit, its cockpit is directly embedded in the body.

Coupled with the two sets of vector thruster nozzles on the back, this subtractive design provides this mecha, which is comparable to a cruise-class knight, with a weight far lighter than a knight mecha and unimaginable agility.

In order to make full use of this agility, Leon adopted the independent hand structure of the Viper-class Knight.

This knight mecha, a specialty of the Mechanicus, is the only one in Warhammer that has an independently designed elbow for gripping instead of using the entire weapon as an arm. It became the last piece of the puzzle for Leon to complete the reproduction.

After incorporating this design, Leon got a lightweight land combat mecha - the Tiantu-class Titan.

This mecha derived from "Titanfall" is the orthodox science fiction style that Leon has always dreamed of.

Compared to the Knight mechs in Warhammer, the Tiantu-class Titan's hands, like those of an ordinary person, allow it to freely grasp any weapon of its size. Its lighter weight and rear thrusters also allow it to perform explosive sprints that the Knight mechs cannot match.

Leon also stuffed a thermonuclear fusion reactor and an ion shield generator into the place on the top where the Titan battery was originally installed. The powerful function of the reactor allowed this Titan to be lightweight while still having a defense capability that is not inferior to that of a cruise-class knight.

These designs were not without cost. Compared to a knight with weapons on both arms, even if they could mount other weapons, a Tiantu-class Titan, which could only wield a single weapon, was undoubtedly inherently weaker in firepower.

Moreover, not everyone can control the radiation from a thermonuclear fusion reactor.

Leon retained the original knight neural access cockpit on the Tiantu-class Titan, but if ordinary knights were to drive the Tiantu-class Titan, they would quickly die from radiation during high-intensity combat.

But Leon didn't design this Titan for the Knights.

He called Captain Cooper of the Iron Hands into his laboratory and showed him the new Titan.

"What do you think of this mecha?"

Looking at the thing that Leon refurbished from the wreckage of the knight, although Cooper tried his best to remain calm, he could not hide the deep shock in his eyes.

His eyes wandered over every inch of the armor on the machine, greedily scanning every detail of the Tiantu-class Titan.

As an Iron Captain of the Iron Hands, capable of leading an entire clan, Cooper had seen countless war machines. But from the massive Knight Mechs to the massive Titans, none had the same almost instinctive attraction he felt for the Tiantu-class Titan before him.

"This... this is incredible. How did you do it? In such a short time, you created such a knight from the wreckage of a pile of knights... a knight that has never been seen before?"

He wanted to call it a miracle, but Leon responded to his doubts seriously.

"It's science, Captain. We must believe in science."

He asked the Iron Company Commander, who had a look on his face that said, "Is this considered science?" "From your professional perspective, what role can this war machine play on the battlefield?"

Cooper was silent for a moment, as if trying to form his words. His gaze remained fixed on the Titan, as if he feared the machine would vanish if he looked away.

"It's... light, agile, and its design completely subverts the traditional concept of Knight Mech. Its thruster design is simply genius. Knight Mechs simply can't achieve this level of maneuverability."

"And its arm structure—the independent hand design allows it to wield a variety of weapons flexibly, rather than being constrained by a fixed weapon system like a knight. This design makes this Titan more like a warrior like us, rather than a machine."

Cooper's voice gradually became excited. Although he tried hard to suppress his emotions, his desire and envy for the Titans could no longer be concealed.

But besides being excited, he was also confused.

"But its energy system is too unreasonable. No knight can withstand the long-term damage of radiation. And we don't have a knight family. How can this vehicle be used?"

"I didn't design this for the Knights themselves, Captain Cooper. They aren't the only ones who can wield these Titans."

Leon patted the Tiantu-class armor plate and looked at Cooper, who was confused.

"Captain Cooper, are you interested in becoming their pilot alongside your Iron Hands?"

PS1: The Tiantu-level Titan comes from "Titanfall 1" and will be gradually upgraded in the future.

Chapter 183 The Arrival of Belisarius Kaur.

Cooper's eyes widened. He looked at Leon and confirmed again:

"Leave it to us?"

"Of course, I think you and these Titans are the Best Match."

Knights are actually also cyborgs, but their transformation is completely different from that of Astartes.

Astartes often possess superhuman resolve and extraordinary endurance, but their black carapace is only compatible with power armor and does not fit the cockpit of a Knight mecha.

Except for the Iron Hands.

As a chapter that advocates for steel and bionic limbs, some of the Iron Hands' main organs have long since ceased to be natural flesh. In addition to the "Iron Hands", every warrior's spine has also been replaced with "Furnace Chains".

This is a vertebral implant that inserts complex neural circuits into the spinal cord of the recipient. While symbolizing the development of imperfect humanity into pure machinery, it also allows the prostheses of the Iron Hands to operate with greater efficiency.

As an outlier among the Iron Hands, Captain Cooper, who has always restrained the use of prostheses, has not made excessive use of their iron spine.

With a little adaptation, these lightly loaded Furnace Chains can be used as a medium for driving Titans, helping the Iron Hands become Titan pilots.

There are many advantages to having Astartes pilot the Celestial Titans. For example, they can fully utilize the agility of these Titans with their amazing reflexes, and they can also speed up the production of these small Titans by eliminating the need for a specially designed armored core cockpit.

More importantly, they have strong combat capabilities and can cooperate with Titans on the battlefield to achieve a 1+1>2 combination.

Leon envisioned that such a force equipped entirely with Titans could not only use its agility to escort the flanks of the Thunder God Legion, but also possess strong independent combat capabilities.

In order to achieve this goal, the driver's own combat effectiveness and patience are also indispensable.

In Leon's opinion, Iron Hand, who is good at programming and operating machinery, is the most suitable choice.

"You will use your Forge Links to connect to these Titans and become their pilots."

Leon's tone was undeniably certain, but Cooper remained silent.

His gaze returned to the Titan, a complex wave of emotions welling up in him.

There was a rare hint of hesitation in his tone: "This Titan is indeed fascinating. But I'm not sure if I am worthy of it."

"Why do you feel unworthy?"

"We are merely the outcasts of the Iron Hands, cast aside in their pursuit of flesh and blood. The Iron Hands' extremes make us feel this is not the right path, but manipulating steel requires coldness and efficiency... I don't believe we can control the Knight's Machine Soul at this point."

"Don't rush to deny yourself, you can try it first."

Leon opened the cockpit of the Tiantu-class Titan and motioned Cooper to get in. Cooper hesitated for a moment, but finally complied with Leon's request.

He changed into a power armor with a pre-set neural interface on the back and entered the Titan's cockpit. The cockpit was a perfect size for his body, and the neural link needle pierced his forge chain from the back of the driver's seat.

As the pilot was confirmed to be in position, the originally dim cockpit became brighter and an electronic synthesized sound sounded at the same time.

"Agreement One: Connect with the Pilot."

Cooper could feel that another life sleeping in this Titan was beginning to awaken, and he could feel the machine spirit's curiosity about him.

"who are you?"

He couldn't help but ask.

"I'm the Titan's auxiliary control system. You can call me BT."

Cooper couldn't comment. He felt that this machine spirit seemed a little too intelligent. He couldn't help but confirm with Leon:

"What's going on with this machine soul?"

"I've combined the Machine Spirit with an auxiliary subroutine. Don't worry, it doesn't violate the Scarlet Protocol. It simply has a certain learning ability to help you better use this Titan."

Machine spirits and artificial intelligence are indeed difficult to distinguish to a certain extent. According to the Scarlet Protocol, which prohibits AI, the most significant difference between them is whether they have the ability to self-update and learn.

Of course, the Mechanicus itself is using the Intelligent Control Corps and the overly clever "Machine Spirits" on its warships, which are things that are stepping on the red line. Leon does not intend to follow the rules in this regard.

The Titan he used for Cooper was equipped with a semi-intelligent core, which was indeed a more powerful machine spirit in terms of its function.

"BT is an auxiliary system unique to your mech. It helps you control your Titan, assess the situation, and provide real-time feedback on the status of other Titans in your squad, aiding your decision-making on the battlefield. You don't have to worry about the Machine Spirit rejecting you. Unlike ordinary Machine Spirits, it will actively adapt to you as it learns."

Cooper didn't know what to say, but BT didn't show any sign of rejection, which meant he had successfully connected to the Titan and become its recognized driver.

He knocked on the cockpit.

"Pilot?"

"Put me down."

BT did as he was told and sent Cooper out of the cockpit. Cooper found that the Titan could still function normally after he left the cockpit, which showed that the operation of the Titan did not depend on the driver.

This autonomy, combined with BT's level of intelligence, made Cooper uneasy.

"It's a little... too advanced."

He tried to form his words. "I'm not sure we can suppress a machine spirit like this without being ruthless."

It is not uncommon for a Machine Spirit with too much emotion or autonomy to turn its pilot into a puppet.

Many knight drivers will eventually experience a drastic change in their temperament, as they are infected by the machine spirit during years of driving, leading to personality changes.

But Leon waved his hand, denying Cooper's statement.

"You're wrong, Cooper. This is what I like about you."

"Ruthlessness does not equate to strength. The more you strive for inhuman perfection, the more you become bound by steel. Stripping one of emotion does not make one the master of steel, for steel itself is an extension of human will."

Cooper fell silent, his heart deeply moved by these words. BT crouched down and opened his cockpit to Cooper again.

"Please aboard, Pilot."

Cooper looked at Leon hesitantly. Leon nodded and encouraged him, "What it needs is not a prisoner of steel, but a true partner."