When the massive Forge Ark warped out of the Mandeville Point, Luka almost thought Cawl himself had truly come.
It wasn't until he saw a Forge Master of normal stature appear before him, rather than the Great Sage who was comparable to a giant beast, that Luka knew the one who came was merely a clone of Cawl.
However, Luka did not expose this point.
Luka knew that the matter of the Primaris might not be a big deal for Cawl, but if Luka knew he was playing with clones and abominable intelligences, that would be no small matter.
To maintain secrecy, Cawl would truly dare to drop atmospheric incineration torpedoes on this planet.
After all, Cawl had obtained the Gene-Seed Primarch's permission and orders for the Primaris Space Marines; if the matter were exposed, he could claim, "Guilliman told me to do it, so if you have an issue, take it up with Guilliman."
But abominable intelligence? That's a topic that truly cannot be touched.
Simply put, even in the 30K era, once research into abominable intelligence was discovered, the Emperor would come knocking to split you in half vertically like an earthworm.
The Crimson Protocol, this prohibition, was one of the few prohibitions the Emperor himself placed on the Adeptus Mechanicus, and it can also be seen as one of the Empire's only few insurmountable bottom lines.
Of course, over ten thousand years, there were always people in the Adeptus Mechanicus who courted death by researching this, and Cawl himself was one of them.
After all, the Empire's prohibition back then was against repairing or creating self-aware machines; if you found an ancient, self-aware machine, that was considered exploiting a loophole.
(Self-aware machines)
And, it's not that Chaos corrupts AI (GW has never written this); the Empire doesn't research AI simply because of Huang Lao Han's personal prohibition.
Although in M34, a Mechanical Sage spent a hundred years researching artificial intelligence, even establishing a school of thought, he was eventually dealt with by the Empire.
As for the Canrean faction, which formed under his influence and has been passed down to this day, this faction is now also being watched by the Inquisition.
"Welcome, Archmagos Cawl!" Various thoughts raced through Luka's mind, but he ultimately suppressed his urge to court death and merely offered Cawl a polite welcome.
"Hello, Governor, I received the message you sent. I want to know the veracity of this matter and its specific ins and outs," Cawl did not bother with pleasantries with Luka; he directly expressed his intention.
"Of course, Great Sage. This is precisely why we invited you here." Luka was already accustomed to the temperament of these Tech-Priests from the Adeptus Mechanicus, so he didn't beat around the bush with Cawl and immediately had Ovilia present him with detailed data.
Cawl did not delay, quickly receiving the data transmitted by Ovilia and then emitting a sharp screech.
Luka plugged his ears with two fingers, even using his psychic powers, his expression slightly pained, but the smile on his lips could not be hidden.
This was easy to understand; after all, the greater Cawl's reaction, the higher the probability of his plan succeeding.
"Without any special preparations, you performed Primaris conversion surgery on seven half-dead Space Marines just like that? And all seven succeeded? This is impossible! This is unscientific! omnissiah above, did I misjudge, did my student receive the omnissiah's blessing?" Cawl had fallen into intense self-doubt, muttering like Xianglin Sao: "Could it be that ancient relic from back then? But that only preserves the physical state… I didn't find that it could grant people the omnissiah's blessing!
What exactly is wrong? Why can't I complete the Primaris conversion of ordinary Astartes? What exactly am I doing wrong?"
"Great Sage, this is not the place to talk. How about we go to the Forge at the Starport first? You can sit there and think slowly." Luka did not intend to let Cawl continue muttering here and actively interrupted him.
Cawl looked up at Luka, seemingly deep in thought, then nodded, agreeing to Luka's suggestion.
The group arrived at Ovilia's laboratory within the Forge. Before Cawl even sat down, he began to demand more detailed data from Ovilia. He could tell that the data Ovilia had given him earlier was already processed; he wanted the most original data records.
Ovilia, of course, dared not disobey her teacher and quickly presented all the data to Cawl.
However, at this moment, Luka suddenly said again, "Sage Cawl, those seven Astartes who underwent the Primaris procedure are still on this planet. Would you like to conduct an examination on them?
Perhaps seeing some things with your own eyes might yield different insights."
Hearing Luka's words, Cawl nodded eagerly: "Please call them over. I wish to conduct a comprehensive examination on them! Preferably on my Forge Ark! I brought a full set of examination equipment."
"Understood, Sage Cawl, I will go invite them now." Luka was well-prepared for this and had communicated with the Weeping Angels beforehand, so there was no issue with this matter.
However, after sending out the invitation and making contact, he still reminded Cawl: "Respected Great Sage, although this statement may seem meaningless, I still hope you can be slightly mindful of the impact when dealing with these seven Astartes.
A colleague of mine from the Mechanical Cult of the Prefecture Magisterium will be arriving soon, so please do not cause anything that none of us wish to see."
"An Inquisitor from the Mechanical Cult of the Prefecture Magisterium? Damn it…" Cawl's expression immediately turned somewhat displeased, but he still nodded and said, "I understand, I will be careful not to leave any obvious traces."
Luka nodded slightly, clearly satisfied with Cawl's understanding.
"Then you stay busy, I'll go see if they've arrived." Luka exited Ovilia's laboratory, and after only a few steps, he saw Kristen and Cereia, the Sages of Griya, arriving together, as well as Donia, who could represent Mariupol.
(Female Mechanical Sage, trust me, her human content won't be higher than a certain Night City legend)
All the Sages gathered in front of Ovilia's laboratory, clearly there to pay their respects to the renowned Great Sage Belisarius Cawl.
"Everyone, Archmagos Cawl is currently analyzing an important research project. If you wish to visit him, please wait patiently." Luka, of course, would not let them disturb Cawl at this moment, so he proactively stopped them.
Kristen and the others were naturally unwilling to leave just like that, but they were also unwilling to be simply blocked by Luka, so Kristen asked, "Your Excellency Luka, what field is the important research project that Archmagos Cawl is currently working on? We wonder if we can be of any assistance?"
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