Getting a Technology System in Modern Day
chapter-664

Even after two weeks had passed, the emperor’s speech remained a hot topic of discussion. This was remarkably long for something to stay relevant in the fast-paced world of the internet.

Far from fading into obscurity, the emperor's speech seemed to gain momentum, its importance escalating with each passing day, leaving the public increasingly intrigued.

Today was the day of the official imperial funeral for the deceased explorers, broadcast live through the imperial news channels.

The viewership was enormous, especially after the empire released video footage of the evacuation that showed the chaotic and disastrous conditions the planet was in, which had led to the scientists' deaths.

The footage seized the public's attention, as many were astounded by the fact that only a few lives were lost in the midst of such a chaotic natural disaster. The survival of the majority was a testament to the advancement of imperial technology.

The funerals took place at the new imperial cemetery grounds, designated specifically for the burial of imperial explorers who died in the line of duty. Unfortunately, these explorers were the first to be laid to rest there.

.

Mars.

“I really thought this production ground would remain dormant until wartime,” Hussein, a production military scientist, said as he watched the massive production ground in front of him coming to life.

Since Mars had been selected as the main base of the imperial military, it was expected to reach self-sufficiency and not require anything from Earth other than personnel.

Although the planet's constructions have yet to be completed, Mars has already reached and even exceeded its goal of self-sufficiency.

But despite this achievement, the majority of the atomic printers on the planet were inactive. The one currently being activated by Dr. Hussein was among them.

The empire understood that bored soldiers were not good soldiers. If everything were done with atomic printers, the majority of the military would end up sitting idly, which was quite the opposite of what was needed.

Therefore, despite having an overabundance of atomic printers, only a small number of them were kept active.

This approach ensured that soldiers had tasks to occupy them. The rest of the printers were reserved for wartime, when an immediate and massive ramp-up in production was necessary, and all available manpower would be needed on the battlefield. Only then would the remaining printers be activated.

So, when the empire, which had been carefully maintaining this balance, broke it willingly, you would know they were serious about their intentions.

“This is a special circumstance, and the order came directly from General John. What do you think he is planning to do with this?” His assistant responded, following with a question.

Although their assigned atomic printer was not among the top 20 in size, it was still as large as a city. Despite this, it was only assigned a team of a few thousand personnel responsible for production, maintenance, and inspection. Whether the printer was active or not, this team remained unchanged.

“What do you mean by that?” Hussein asked his assistant, as he was quite literal and typically had difficulty grasping the underlying meaning of words unless they were explained to him.

“Do you think he’s planning a coup or something?” his assistant asked directly, accustomed to explaining Hussein’s literal interpretations. The assistant wasn’t worried about getting in trouble, knowing that Hussein valued reasoning and wouldn’t simply accuse him of treason for voicing his curiosity.

Without waiting for a response, he continued, “I mean, look at the schematics of the ships we’re supposed to make. I’ve never seen this type of blueprint before. So, it’s either that they’re a new class of ships, or they’re existing ships that are still classified, and we’re being used to produce them as we are quite idle. Alternatively, he could be creating his private forces or something.”

“What do you do in your idle times?” Dr. Hussein asked him once he heard his reasoning.

“Play VR games,” the assistant answered immediately, tilting his head in curiosity about why he was being asked that question. He knew Dr. Hussein was genuinely curious and not playing mind games with him, as Hussein always asked questions with a straightforward intent.

“Does that mean you haven’t been using social media for the past two weeks?” Dr. Hussein asked, turning his inquiry into another question. The assistant understood that Hussein was building a hypothesis to explain why his previous conclusion might be incorrect. Realizing this, he decided to go along with it to see where the reasoning would lead.

“I’m an orphan raised by the Emperor’s House of Hope program through the Coeus Foundation, so most of my friends are in the military, universities, research and development, or awakening academies. This makes it quite hard for me to be active online since there’s no one to contact. If you add in military restrictions when we’re in restricted locations, I usually avoid using social media until my rotation comes and I return to Earth.”

He answered while anticipating any further questions, curious about why his previous conclusion was wrong as well.

“That’s why you would assume he’s planning a coup. But you’re wrong,” Dr. Hussein explained. “The fleets are being built to escort the emperor when he goes to the Proxima Centauri star system.”

Dr. Hussein then provided a summary of what had happened over the past two weeks. He explained that the printing of the ships was given to them as they were among the idle printers in order to avoid disrupting the military’s manufacturing timetable for the current active printers, which had already been scheduled a year in advance.

“Plus, do you really think the emperor wouldn’t know if something like that were to take place?” Dr. Hussein said. “If you’re from that fabled Hope program, you should be smart, but is all that genius focused solely on research that you wouldn’t realize that no one in the current military has the capability to orchestrate a coup?”

Turning his head toward the control room, which now showed that the printer was fully online and ready for operation with the raw material storage canisters already in place, Dr. Hussein pressed the start button for production without wasting any time.