Creed was a little dumbfounded. Was this for real? The gene-primarch in front of him wanted to recruit him into the Space Marines.
Wasn't Space Marine transformation supposed to start in one's youth? How could a man like him, over 50 years old, still be eligible?
And as far as he knew, the success rate of the Space Marine surgeries was terrifyingly low. The various chapters were always extremely cautious when recruiting, requiring strict selection.
"Over 50 years old? Hahaha! You're still young! The lifespan of a Space Marine is generally several centuries. Some recruits haven't even graduated from the training camp at your age," Rhodes said.
"This is a supreme honor, my great Primarch, but I am only an old man now. I fear I cannot withstand the transformation surgeries of the Space Marines," Creed replied.
If he had a son, he would have liked to give this opportunity to him, to let him become a noble Astartes. Unfortunately, he only had a daughter.
"Who told you the Space Marine transformation surgery is so difficult? Even ten thousand years ago, the success rate was extremely high. Those who raised the Primarchs or even became friends with them, after the Primarchs returned to their legions, all underwent perfect Space Marine transformation and became noble Astartes, participating in the Great Crusade alongside the Primarchs," the Custodian standing next to Rhodes said.
Are you kidding me? Why do people think the Space Marine surgery has such a low success rate? The Emperor created the process precisely for mass-producing soldiers. If the success rate were truly that low and selection so strict, how could Mars and Holy Terra alone have produced so many superhuman Astartes armies?
Even the worlds where the Primarchs grew up became recruitment worlds, and not without reason. The surgery success rate was extremely high, even more than 90%.
And he had been imprisoned for ten thousand years. After so long, surely the Space Marine surgery should have improved by now!
These new Space Marines gave him an overwhelming sense of pressure. The Imperium had not stopped advancing!
Even the Custodian guard transformation tech must have been upgraded by now! The Emperor hated stagnation; he loved innovation.
At this moment, Rhodes didn't know the thoughts of the Custodian beside him. If he did, he would have said helplessly: "Brother, you're overthinking it. The Imperium is even more conservative than ten thousand years ago."
The old man on the Golden Throne was so angry, that he almost wanted to get up and wipe out all the High Lords, the Imperial Senate, and all the upper echelons of the Imperium in one go.
He had now become a kind of Imperial lighting tool, serving as a beacon, and even the Custodians made by the Emperor himself—compared to ten thousand years ago, it had all changed, only more conservative.
"Primarch, are you saying I have a 100% chance of success—to become a new era Astartes?" Creed asked, a little excited.
"That's right! I hope you can serve as my company commander. I give you ten thousand transformation slots. Select your ten thousand elite soldiers and have them all transformed into my gene-sons, becoming new era Astartes," Rhodes said.
This time, the rescued Astra Militarum included both men and women, with over three million men. All of them could serve as Rhodes' reserve force for Astarte's transformation.
As for the women, for certain physiological reasons, they couldn't yet undergo Space Marine transformation. But Rhodes could give them monster-strengthening drugs, so they could have physical fitness no less than a regular Firstborn Space Marine.
But you have to take things one step at a time. For now, transform ten thousand first! These Cadian soldiers were all battle-hardened veterans, and after transformation, could quickly become combat-effective.
"Primarch! Ten thousand Astartes slots—all for my soldiers?" Creed was so excited he was shaking.
Ten thousand Astartes—that's the force of ten full Space Marine chapters!
And according to the Primarch's earlier words, they would not be split into separate chapters.
"Cadia will be rebuilt in the future. You'll rebuild Cadia on a new planet, and I'll recruit from your new world," Rhodes said.
The Imperium's most elite new regiments were the Cadian units, the Cadian Shock Troops, and some Catachan fighters.
The Cadian Shock Troops, mostly clones, were not suitable for Astarte's transformation. But Cadia's brave combat spirit made them the best Astartes material.
Rhodes planned to pick a homeworld for his Astartes Legion, but this homeworld would only belong to a single company—the Cadian Company.
"What an honor, great Primarch. I am willing to accept the Space Marine transformation. I will select the finest ten thousand warriors," Creed said.
"Go to the back and begin the transformation! You and your ten thousand soldiers will all be incorporated into my legion, and you'll serve as company commander," Rhodes said.
If only there were enough bio-organs! If only there were enough weapons and equipment! I'd transform you all into Primaris Super Space Marines right now.
The Sisters of Battle, some knightly families, the Ultramarines company, and Greyfax's troops were settled in the Adeptus Mechanicus Ark's cabins.
The rest were all left on Rhodes' space fortress mothership. After all, the mothership was big enough.
Some Astra Militarum soldiers didn't care much about sleeping quarters—it was enough to have space to lay down.
After settling everyone, Rhodes went to the ship's control room. It was time to spend some money.
On the trip to Macragge, Rhodes needed to further enhance his forces.
After the battles on Eliade VI, the Ork fleet, the Emperor's avatar's fight on Cadia, the Ork ranch world's harvest, and the attack on the Chaos fleet, Rhodes' reward points had reached 1.7 million.
And that was after buying an Ace Killer and upgrading the Emperor's avatar.
Rhodes didn't hesitate to use a million system credits for a hundred draws at once—he was going big this time. He had to do a hundred draws.
He'd previously done fifty draws in the medium shop each time. Who knew if this time he'd get a mystery box?
Rhodes calculated that a hundred draws gave the highest chance for a mystery box, especially the first time.
For the monster selection, Rhodes still chose Seijin (Alien). As long as it wasn't a useless alien, it would be of use.
In the system store, 110 boxes burst open, one after another, powerful monster shards appearing before Rhodes: super beasts, cosmic monsters, fusion monsters.
In the end, Rhodes obtained over 130 medium store monster shards, as well as 55 alien shards.
And the mystery box did not disappoint—it appeared! Leaving the box for last, Rhodes first checked the monster shards.
He now had 7 shards of the Yapool, just one short of fusing the guy. He'd make sure to have him create more super beasts and Ace Killers.
Besides the Yapool, another alien's shards reached 9—just 10 more regular monster shards, and he could fuse this one.
This alien was the famous Alien Babarue, whose power was not much less than a regular Ultra Warrior.
His first appearance was in the Leo TV series, impersonating Leo's brother Astra Ultraman.
Several Ultra Brothers, even Leo himself, didn't realize he was an imposter. If the Ultra King hadn't appeared, Leo would have been finished.
The Barbarue's transformation ability was much stronger than Zarab's! Rhodes planned to discuss with the Emperor about arranging a Primarch's return.
What Barbareu transformed into wasn't just the appearance—when he transformed into an Ultra Warrior, he could even use the Warrior's skills. When he became Hikari, he could use his Knight Ray.
Sending him to impersonate a gene-primarch was feasible.
Without hesitation, Rhodes selected 10 regular monster shards and fused the Alien Barbareu in the system store.
Alien Barbareu are a race—they're usually 55 to 58 meters tall.
Their weight is in the tens of tons.
The one Rhodes summoned was 58 meters tall and weighed the most.
Besides their powerful transformation abilities, Alien Barbarue can use hand energy attacks and freezing powers.
Like other aliens, they can change their body size, become a regular human over 2 meters tall, or become a giant.
Rhodes directly summoned the Alien Barbarue—a 2-meter-tall figure, clad in golden armor with blonde hair, appeared.
After a flashy hair flip, the Alien Barbarue knelt before Rhodes.
"Great master! Alien Barbarue, Babaryu, at your service."
He didn't expect to summon one with a name.
"Rise. Can you transform into a human?" Rhodes nodded and asked.
"As long as you need it, master, no problem. Our transformations can even fool DNA tests," Babaryu said, transforming into a young man in his twenties in front of Rhodes.
The Alien Babarue transformation is at the DNA level—even the Land of Light can't tell the difference.