In Warhammer, My System is Minecraft

Chapter 231 231: Redstone Technology Makes a Grand Entrance

Next Goal = 1000 Powerstones.

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As Primarchs were among the most powerful beings in the universe, cloning them was by no means an easy feat. However, the Chief Apothecary of the Emperor's Children, Fabius Bile, had managed to conquer this intractable problem through sheer sweat and tireless effort.

In succession, he had cloned the Primarch of the Emperor's Children, Fulgrim; the Primarch of the Iron Hands, Ferrus Manus; and even a Horus.

Of course, none of them met a good end. The Horus clone, for instance, was instantly obliterated by a furious Abaddon. This event indirectly fed Abaddon's swollen ego, leading him to falsely believe he possessed strength rivaling that of a true Primarch.

The cloned Fulgrim before them was one of the very few perfectly preserved specimens. What made it even more exceptionally rare was that the genetic material used for the clone was extracted before Fulgrim's fall to Chaos. As a result, this clone's memories and cognition remained entirely anchored in that era of absolute loyalty—which was, all things considered, a tremendous blessing.

Zeke explained the entire cause and effect of the cloned Fulgrim to Guilliman in full detail.

Upon learning that the man before him was merely a clone, the blazing fury in Guilliman's chest instantly extinguished by half. He absentmindedly rubbed the old wound on his shoulder where Fulgrim's poisoned blade had once pierced him, silently consoling himself in his heart:

It is merely a clone. It isn't worth getting angry over.

Guilliman then began to carefully observe the clone.

"So, how about it? The Imperium is in desperate need of capable hands right now, and I've just pulled another Primarch out of a vault for you. This should free you up to handle other pressing matters," Zeke said.

Guilliman nodded silently, agreeing that Zeke had done the right thing. There was undeniable strength in numbers. Sanguinius, the Lion, Malcador... reality had proven that the return of every key figure injected vital new blood into the Imperium.

However, Guilliman still cast a scrutinizing gaze at Fulgrim. Will this clone truly not walk the same path of corruption as the original?

"Is he trustworthy?" Guilliman asked, leaning close to Zeke while simultaneously dialing Malcador via the vox-caster to ask for the old man's opinion.

Surprisingly, Malcador the Sigillite, a man renowned for his extreme caution, agreed to Fulgrim's return without a moment's hesitation.

"How long do you intend to stand there discussing this?" Having listened from the sidelines for a while, Fulgrim finally couldn't hold back anymore, elegantly sweeping a hand through his snow-white hair.

"I am not like that traitor. I am absolutely flawless. How could something as base as corruption ever taint me..." Fulgrim immediately launched into a narcissistic self-praise. In his eyes, the fact that the original had chosen corruption while he remained loyal was the ultimate proof that he was far more perfect than the original ever was.

Hearing this, Guilliman felt a nameless fire instantly flare up in his heart again. This tone, this obsessive posturing over perfection... it was a carbon copy of the original Fulgrim!

Will he really not walk the same old path? Guilliman looked to Zeke with a pleading gaze. You must have a way to deal with this, right?

"You are the imperfect Fulgrim. To be precise, no one can achieve true perfection," Zeke stated bluntly, attempting a bit of verbal therapy.

"Look at Guilliman. He excels at administration and has managed the Five Hundred Worlds with impeccable order. Such talent is rare enough to be counted on one hand across the entire universe," Zeke pointed out.

Hearing this, Guilliman raised his chin slightly. Who didn't enjoy being praised, after all?

"But Guilliman is actually completely terrible at fighting; he's never won a single one-on-one duel," Zeke added, ruthlessly twisting the knife.

Hey, Zeke, I really don't like the sound of that... Guilliman grew flustered and immediately opened his mouth to defend himself.

But Zeke instantly seized the opening. "You see? Guilliman got defensive. The more desperately someone tries to deny something, the more it proves that it hit a sore spot."

He shifted his gaze back to Fulgrim. "Guilliman is like this, and so are you. The higher you hang the word 'perfection' on your lips, the more it usually means you know deep down in your heart that you are still far, far away from it."

"People are always most obsessed with what they lack the most."

Fulgrim merely shook his head. Zeke had no idea if the words had actually sunk in, but it was highly likely they hadn't. If he could be persuaded so easily, the original Fulgrim wouldn't have gone down the point of no return into corruption.

Zeke began to recall Fulgrim's childhood, searching for the root cause that had formed this obsessive pursuit of perfection.

As an infant, Fulgrim had been kidnapped by the four Chaos Gods and cast away to a remote planet in the galaxy. He landed on Chemos, a world extremely starved of survival resources. A group of scouts discovered the infant Fulgrim on a stormy night and sent him to a family on Chemos to be raised.

As a Primarch, Fulgrim grew at a speed far exceeding that of normal humans. However, his starting point in life was vastly different from the other Primarchs. He didn't become a warrior, a sovereign, or an idol worshipped by the locals. Instead, he simply entered a factory on Chemos and worked as an ordinary assembly line worker.

Yes, a factory worker.

Because of the severe lack of resources on Chemos, if the efficiency of the machines wasn't optimized to absolute perfection, people would literally die in droves. It was precisely that environment that forged all of Fulgrim's obsessive perfectionism.

Fulgrim displayed extraordinary talent in every aspect of his work. He constantly strove to improve the factory machines until they were more perfect and vastly more efficient. How to better construct automated machinery? How to improve the assembly line to double its efficiency? How to connect and optimize structural integrity?

Automation... Zeke suddenly thought of Redstone automation in Minecraft. It perfectly overlapped with Fulgrim's core philosophy.

Redstone automation involved using complex Redstone structures to allow certain resources in Minecraft to be produced entirely automatically. Before acquiring the Transmutation Table, Zeke honestly couldn't see much use for this. But now that he had the Table, several plans instantly blossomed in his mind.

He could build Enderman farms, ice farms, rail duplicators, and all sorts of other Redstone machinery, then feed the output directly into the Transmutation Table to convert them into whatever resources the Imperium desperately needed.

Fulgrim just so happened to be a master of automation. Give him some time to learn, and perhaps he could optimize those Redstone machines to absolute perfection!

Moreover, the study of Redstone was an endlessly deep rabbit hole. Delving into that bottomless abyss might just grind down Fulgrim's obsessive heart, teaching him a genuine sense of humility.

Here is Redstone, here is a Redstone Repeater. Alright, now go build a functional Redstone computer. That would be enough to shut anyone up real quick.

Zeke pitched the idea to Fulgrim.

Initially, Fulgrim was somewhat disdainful. He felt that his priority should be gathering the remnants of the Emperor's Children Legion, not resuming his old trade of tinkering with automation. But after hearing Zeke explain how this would alleviate a massive amount of pressure on the Imperium—and that completing this task was an indirect but absolute way to save the Imperium—Fulgrim finally nodded, deciding to give it a try.

His main motivation, however, was pure curiosity. He wanted to see exactly what this "Redstone" the mortal Zeke spoke of truly was, and whether it was as difficult as he claimed.

"You'll understand soon enough," Zeke said, nodding with deep satisfaction as he watched Fulgrim willingly step into the massive pit he had dug.

With his business in Commorragh concluded, Zeke asked Guilliman for the final two Croneswords that Yvraine had handed over. He then stepped through the Nether Portal, returning directly to the Imperium and arriving at his camp outside the Imperial Palace.

A few days prior, while flipping through the crafting recipes, Zeke had stumbled upon a formula from the Botania mod: combining Glowstone with Mana could synthesize Redstone.

It just cost a significant amount of Mana, so he hadn't put it into practice before acquiring the Transmutation Table. Now, the conditions were finally ripe.

Following the recipe, Zeke submerged a block of Glowstone into the Mana Pool. The Mana Pool churned violently, releasing a flurry of bubbles, before a pile of vibrant red powder floated to the surface.

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