Ever since Gamma realized that he, a transmigrator, was incomplete, he had been constantly thinking about his "Transmigrator Adventure Plan." He had no clues to work with. He had shouted "panel" and even touched electric fences—thankfully his body was tough, or he would have been a crispy mess.
"The voltage on the Forge World is no joke!" he muttered.
Some things are fine as long as you don't think about them, but once you do, they eat at your heart. This worried him so much that he couldn't sleep. His mind was filled with wild thoughts all day long: Is it not time yet? Is a condition missing? Did the cheat run away?
"This is ridiculous!" he thought. "It's almost 42K. Everything that should have happened has happened. I can't just cross the river by feeling the stones and expect to make a splash."
Perhaps the Emperor, that old man, is about to stand up and face down Chaos at any moment. Hiss... That's possible! Otherwise, why would neither side care about me, a mere transmigrator? Could it be that my soul is no different from an ordinary person?
"I can't accept that... No! No difference is good! No difference is wonderful! Emperor above! I can be loyal! I can have faith!"
Let's leave Gamma, who was on the verge of driving himself insane, for a moment.
In the spiritual dimension known as the Warp, it has many names: the Immaterium, the Void, the Aether, the Sea of Souls, and also the Realm of Chaos. The Warp is born from the thoughts, dreams, and emotions of every psychically attuned sentient race in the galaxy. It is a mirror dimension of pure energy, a reflection of the material world, and the destination of the thoughts, emotions, and souls of all sentient beings.
Time and space are meaningless within the Warp, as they are infinite and irrelevant. Its energy is in constant chaos, subject to endless disturbances. The Chaos Gods and their daemon legions hunt the souls of mortals, which are like fireflies in the night, as well as the emotions they cherish.
In this sea of souls, where there is no time and no space, an obscure egg exists. It seems to be ignored even when seen, solid and unbreakable, with constantly swirling ripples around it.
Gamma was an egg.
(Gamma: "Who are you calling an egg?!")
Gamma always thought that the knowledge that occasionally popped into his head was unsealed, transmitted knowledge, but that wasn't entirely true. The soul of a transmigrator was, after all, quite peculiar.
Since the Warp is the destination of thoughts, emotions, and souls, as well as a mirror of the real world, knowledge created in the real world will inevitably remain in the Warp along with thoughts and emotions. While Gamma's eggshell provides him with concealment and protection, it also acts like a search engine. When Gamma focuses on something, it's like a keyword being triggered, and the eggshell searches for related information. This is currently limited to technological knowledge.
However, because the Warp is volatile, much like a network signal that is sometimes good and sometimes bad, and since Gamma was not aware of his ability to actively intervene, the passively obtained information was fragmented. Gamma, completely unaware of his ability and born on a Forge World, naturally saw things related to the Adeptus Mechanicus. He subconsciously assumed all this information was a result of his past life's memories and transmitted knowledge.
(The Emperor and Chaos truly don't know there's such a hard-to-find, peculiar egg.)
Let's return to Gamma. The days since he gave up struggling and completely settled into his new life have been quite comfortable. After half a year, he can now perform blessings on hot-shot lasguns. As for plasma cannons, it's not that his kowtowing technique is bad; it's purely because he's too short and can't reach the barrel.
To this, Gamma would say: "Boys develop slowly, what can I do?"
However, for the other Tech-Priests, everyone has been visibly more irritable lately. According to the news Gamma gathered, the Imperial Far East Joint Command is intensifying efforts against the Tau and has requested the Thedan Forge World to accelerate weapon delivery. The command somehow even obtained a personal order from Lord Regent Guilliman himself. Archmagos Will, known as the "Regent's Hound," initiated a planet-wide broadcast on the day he received the order.
The general content was: "For the Imperium, for humanity, and for Archmagos Will's image in the Regent's heart... Overtime! From the Archmagos down to the servitors, efficiency must be increased by another twenty percent."
It is said that on the day of the speech, someone launched a suicidal attack on the Great Foundry Temple and was unfortunately captured. Video data of him being personally welded to the production line by the Archmagos was leaked and widely circulated among the Tech-Priests' binary communication network.
At the same time, the prices of various prosthetics and mechanical organs on the market surged by fifty percent. Many Priests, unable to afford the exorbitant prices, had to settle for second-hand prosthetics. Anomalous workers in various factories occasionally caused disturbances, and the entire Forge World was filled with wails.
Gamma's life was also affected somewhat, but the problems were not significant. In addition to going to the warehouse for blessings and inspections every five days, he now has the title of "Lecturer" and is responsible for teaching the apprentices.
In the past six months at the Mechanical Temple, with his excellent memory, Gamma has been flipping through books faster and faster. He has finished all the books in the library and has mastered all the theoretical knowledge he should have. But he didn't tell Magos Lauster, seeing how miserable the other Priests were.
What's the point of a transmigrator without a cheat ?
However, perhaps seeing how leisurely Gamma was, Magos Lauster, passing by the library and seeing Gamma being served by apprentices and casually answering their questions, immediately announced that no other Priests would be assigned to teach the apprentices from now on; this kid would do it.
Gamma expressed his opposition, saying his knowledge was insufficient and he feared misleading others. Magos Lauster merely said that every circuit and every gear in the public area of this Mechanical Temple was under his surveillance, and some people shouldn't take advantage of his kindness.
Gamma immediately agreed: "Magos, you are right. I, Gamma, a 'Half-step Priest,' will do my best to cultivate qualified for the Temple."
Thinking about it, it was true. Gamma's performance could not possibly have been hidden from Magos Lauster. It was only because his body could not withstand the work intensity of a Tech-Priest that he was given a blind eye. Of course, there were benefits. Now Gamma received an additional "Lecturer's Allowance" specially approved by Magos Lauster.
Gamma did not give up the "blessing" work. Although he had "learned" the theoretical knowledge, the knowledge in his mind had not been fully absorbed. During "blessing," fragmented knowledge about the design, production, and modification of these weapons would still occasionally pop up, but it was too fragmented to form a complete system.
Gamma thought to himself: That's right. Although the Forge World was more generous to bio-engineered humans like me than I expected, it wasn't generous enough to give me complete STC templates. Scattered knowledge allows Tech-Priests like me to quickly get started, meeting the product demands for which we were created.
Kowtowing one day and teaching four days is his current routine, which can be expected to continue for several years. The apprentices' adoration has grown, and his boss status is unshakable. His relationship with the other Tech-Priests also became much more harmonious. As he mastered more knowledge, they naturally had more common ground and wouldn't be unable to connect with him like at the beginning, leading to awkward chats.
Interestingly, there were quite a few "day-to-day" people among these Tech-Priests, which completely contradicted Gamma's preconceived notions. There were tech-obsessed individuals who wholeheartedly believed in the Omnissiah and pursued knowledge with all their might, but they were few in number. Most were "day-to-day" people and "fun-seekers." In the words of these "day-to-day" people:
"My talent is my work; my interest is my life. You can't just say that making lasguns is knowledge, and studying plants is not knowledge, or that one knowledge is more sacred than another. With the accumulation of knowledge, interest can also become work." —A certain "Oil Girl"(Leia) who wished to remain anonymous.
It's easy to imagine how big a blow Archmagos Will's mandatory overtime order was to these "day-to-day" Tech-Priests. These things had nothing to do with Gamma; he was quite willing to watch them being forced into overtime for entertainment.
"Alright, that's all for today. Class dismissed."
Jumping off the raised podium, Gamma smacked his lips as he looked at the apprentices below, whose minds were dazed and eyes glazed over but still wanted more, and the non-apprentices cowering in the corner, listening in.
It's the environment that shapes people after all! What's with this damn sense of guilt?
Ignoring the heavy, potentially deadly, parchment books on the podium, Gamma, surrounded by eager apprentices, walked with them towards the Temple's main gate.
"Lecturer magos, have you heard?"
Okay, the address changed again. At least it didn't have "little" in it anymore!
"Heard what?"
"I heard the Great Foundry Temple was attacked again!"
Heh! No wonder rumors spread so fast. It happened in the morning, and by the afternoon, even the lowest-level servitors knew about it.
"Don't go digging for such news! Knowing it won't do you any good, and not knowing it won't affect you."
"Yes, yes… You're right."
"Paul, has the person you introduced arrived yet?"
Apprentice Paul, the oldest apprentice, will participate in the Tech-Priest selection in a few months. Whether he gets selected depends on the Omnissiah and his own performance. If he's not selected, he must go to work in the factory, though he can directly become a foreman. However, this would almost certainly cut off his possibility of becoming a Tech-Priest, making it nearly impossible for him to have free time to continue his studies. He now wished he could stick to Gamma 24 hours a day, desperately absorbing every piece of knowledge from Gamma's mouth.
"Of course, you might not know yet how high your prestige is in our district now!"
"Haha, as tall as several stories?" Gamma replied jokingly.
Paul, much taller than Gamma, bowed and scraped, flattering, "Haha, that's much taller than a building."
Gamma certainly knew. Apprentices used to mainly self-study, and Priests lectured only when they felt like it or had time, unlike him, who lectured four days out of five. Since he started lecturing, more and more children were sent to the Mechanical Temple by their parents.