Time passed slowly, and the super-large starch factory was gradually completed, commencing pre-production.
As a super-large starch factory integrating production lines from hundreds of starch plants, it could produce over 200 million tons of starch daily, barely enough to feed the 50 billion people on the planet Badab.
As a factory, it naturally needed raw materials; carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen sources all required specialized planning, otherwise, the appetite of this massive facility could not be satisfied.
Therefore, instead of disbanding the 200 million laborers, with the addition of a second batch of 4 million auxiliary troops, recruitment continued, aiming to increase the workforce to 2 billion, and further expanding various large-scale engineering facilities.
After about six months of observation, Huron also discovered that the system’s civilian factories improved efficiency by subtly coordinating everyone’s thinking, rather than creating something out of nothing.
Therefore, he simultaneously initiated three major projects: a super-large water purification and circulation system, an integrated air circulation and purification system, and a large plasma reactor, allocating three civilian factories to each project to accelerate production and reduce accidents.
Shortly after the commencement of the three projects, the third batch of eight million auxiliary troops was also trained and ready for deployment.
With ample manpower, and the starch factories for winning hearts and minds and 30 billion units of vitamin pills prepared, Huron planned to further strengthen his control over the lower hive.
The first step, naturally, was a thorough census.
While the underhive wasn’t as completely out of control as the lower underhive, the nobles still had little control over it, let alone the ability to conduct a detailed census.
The population of the entire Paratos Hive and even the planet Badab was an estimate; the actual population was likely much higher, a common occurrence in the Imperium.
Paratos nominally had 20 billion people, and the lower hive comprised the vast majority of that population.
A conservative estimate put the lower hive at over 16 billion, perhaps even more, possibly exceeding 20 billion.
Population was the foundation of the future.
For one thing, the Badab system had several habitable planets, but their development was extremely limited, with only a few hundred million people on each planet — a tremendous waste.
Besides clarifying the population, another purpose of the census was to define the boundaries of the lower hive and the underhive, facilitating subsequent treatment plans.
As for how to divide the lower hive and the underhive…
Those who did not cooperate with the census order, or even obstructed it, naturally belonged to the underhive areas.
With the order issued, millions of auxiliary troops entered the lower hives, registering the lower hive residents hidden in various corners with the help of local gangs.
To enhance credibility and prevent common diseases from attracting Nurgle daemons, Huron ordered everyone to receive one unit of vitamin tablets and 5 kilograms of starch, provided they came in person to collect them.
With the six-month-long starch infrastructure project as a model, especially with the two hundred million increasingly strong and rosy-cheeked laborers boasting and bragging daily, a considerable number of lower hive residents chose to believe and were very enthusiastic.
However, a large portion still resisted registration; they didn’t believe in such a windfall.
There were also those who refused to register for various other reasons.
Even if these people only make up one percent of the population, that’s still a number of hundreds of millions.
However, Huron now had enough manpower to handle these difficult cases.
If there were still those who refused to register, they would be treated as underhive scum and subjected to military control.
Lower Hive, Carter District.
A team of registrars, led by the district’s gang leader, arrived at a blocked, abandoned pipe.
“Sir, this should be the last one,” the gang leader said, knocking on the pipe wall.
He called out as he knocked, “Liam, open the door!
The boss needs you!”
A gap opened in the pipe, blocked by dilapidated plasteel, and a beautiful face appeared.
She looked around, noticed the distinguished-looking registrar behind the gang leader, her eyes lit up, and she quickly opened the plasteel block.
“Sir, are you here to try your luck too?
I promise…”
“No.” The registrar, momentarily stunned by the face, interrupted him.
“We’re here for a census to register the hive’s population.
Those people behind you need to register as well.”
As a registrar who had taken three doses of gene-enhancing drugs, he had already heard faint noises coming from the passage behind Liam.
It sounded like…
a child?
Liam’s face stiffened, then quickly regained its gentle expression: “Sir, you’re joking.
I’m all alone.
This gentleman can testify to that.”
He glanced at the gang leader as he spoke.
The gang leader’s face paled: “No, no, no, don’t call me ‘sir.’ But sir, there really is only Liam here.
Uh, I and the other guests can testify that we haven’t seen anyone else here for years.”
The registrar raised an eyebrow.
He had initially thought this man was controlling a group of child prostitutes, but now it seemed that wasn’t the case.
“This is an order jointly issued by the God-Emperor’s angels and the planetary governor.” He pulled out a data-slate and opened a registration form.
“No one can refuse.
Call everyone out and register them one by one.
Each registered person will receive 5 kilograms of starch and a vitamin tablet.”
“Otherwise, next time it won’t be the easygoing ones like us.”
“Sir, I…” As a lower-hiver, Liam had heard many terrifying stories about upper-hivers, which was why he didn’t want the children to come out.
Who knew how these people would treat them?
“Ahem.” The gang leader interjected at this moment, “Liam, the adults are servants of the angels, serving the angels, and are trustworthy.
You know those workers who went to build the starch factory recently, right?”
Liam nodded.
Those workers had been frequently patronizing his business lately, spending more generously than ever before, and each of them had rosy complexions and an indescribable vitality.
“These are just ordinary hivers.
You know what they were like before,” the gang leader clicked his tongue.
“The Angels give real starch and vitamin pills.”
Liam was silent for a moment before shouting into the passage, “Ramsey, bring everyone out.”
Rusting sounds came from the dark passage, and soon, a large, pale-skinned child led a group of smaller, pale-skinned children out of the passage.
“Big brother, who are they?” Ramsey, the leader, asked warily.
One of his arms had been severed, and he carried a homemade machete in his other hand.
“It’s alright, they’re here to distribute food.
Have everyone register.
Answer all their questions.” Liam gave a reassuring smile.
“Name, age, can you speak, listen, read, and write…” Ramsey led the children in answering questions from the registrars.
The head registrar turned to Liam: “Also, a word of caution.
The new Badab Code will be published in a year at most, and the work you’re doing now falls under the crackdown category.
Find something else to do as soon as possible; the new code won’t apply leniency to your work.”
Liam’s face changed: “Sir, I…
what else can I do…”
“Work,” the registrar said matter-of-factly.
“The entire hive is under massive construction right now, and it will expand to the entire planet.
There’s a shortage of people everywhere.
Can you write?
Can you do math?”
“I…
a little,” he answered instinctively, then gave a wry smile.
“Sir, my body can’t carry anything too heavy.”
“If you can’t be a porter, you can do something else.” The registrar pulled a brochure from his backpack.
“If you can write, go for registrar training, or do clerical work on a construction site.”
“If you perform well, you can also be selected for the Chapter’s auxiliary forces.
Then you can support these children even if you don’t do this work.
Right now, the Chapter can take in these children, providing food, lodging, and education.”
The registrar didn’t discriminate against Liam; he’d frequented this kind of business when he was a lower-hiver.
In the lower hive, this was considered a morally upright form of entertainment, far more normal than absorbing various chemicals and torturing lower-hivers.
Besides, this man was raising a bunch of children; Liam’s compassion was something he himself couldn’t match.
The auxiliary forces now highly valued this kind of mentality; as long as he didn’t go completely mad later, he’d eventually become a member of the auxiliary forces.
After registration, before leaving, the registrar advised Liam, “Think it over carefully.
Go to the Carter Gang’s headquarters in five days to collect your food; we’ve turned it into a distribution plaza.”
A little girl clung to Liam’s leg, drool dripping from her mouth, “Brother Liam, that person said they’d give us food, is that true?”
Liam forced a smile, “Yes, it’ll be available in a few days.”
And no one doubted how Liam, a delicate and frail person, could protect himself and these children in the lower hive.
Because he was a Theta (θ) level psyker, even without using his psychic powers, he could make others more focused, stop thinking about other things, and feel mentally and physically happy.
The registration team was also affected by this and overlooked this anomaly.