By the time midday rations were distributed in New Kato, the construction of the orbital shipyard had begun. Massive drone legions mobilized, their piston-limbs hauling tonnage beyond human limits. Colossal industrial lifters transported entire landmasses of alloyed metal toward the staging area. On the surface, the project seemed insane—a shipyard, not just built in planetary orbit, but designed to move with the fleet. It would not be a static dock, but a war engine— An orbital citadel that could fabricate and repair capital ships in the midst of battle. This was not Imperial doctrine. This was something else entirely. And if the Mechanicus ever learned of it, they would burn entire worlds to claim its secrets. Even the people of Tyrone Hive did not fully comprehend what they lived upon. The Hive was ancient beyond record, its metallic foundations older than the Imperium itself. Some whispered that Tyrone had once been a world-spanning city, long before the Imperium’s rise. When the Emperor first set foot upon its soil, the Hive’s structure had already been nearly identical to its present form. Qin Mo stood atop a hovering transport drone, surveying the vast sea of alloyed metal that had been gathered. He closed his eyes, calculating. This was not just a shipyard. A monument to the impossible. Qin Mo activated his internal comm-link. "You're going to shape the entire shipyard hull alone?" Gray’s voice crackled through the channel, laced with disbelief. 〈"Didn't you say my strength would only increase over time?"〉 Qin Mo ignored Gray and instead reached out to Shapeshifter, his enigmatic, semi-conscious ally. 〈"When did I say that?"〉 A faint, distorted voice replied—glitching, fractured. 〈"Apologies… My consciousness is… unstable…"〉 〈"Doesn’t matter."〉 Qin Mo dismissed the excuse. 〈"I called to ask for advice."〉 〈"No advice."〉 Shapeshifter's tone turned irritated. 〈"Just build it. I’m busy with something important—don’t bother me unless necessary."〉 Qin Mo exhaled, then added: 〈"Fine. But before you go—next time you give me a prophecy, be specific. Don’t just say ‘a Chaos worshiper’—tell me which god they serve, what their capabilities are, and when they’ll act. I want a structured report, like a data log. Understood?"〉 Qin Mo smiled faintly. Then he raised his hand— And began reshaping reality. He did not need to think. He did not need to hesitate. The knowledge of the universe was written into his very being. He extended his awareness across the entire construction zone. The metal beneath the earth, the hovering drones, the hauling transports, the piles of alloyed material stacked for assembly. All of it existed within his grasp. No impurities. No weaknesses. This was not fire-forged alloy. This was cosmic metallurgy. The laws of physics themselves obeyed his will. The metallic tides surged, forming the shipyard’s skeletal frame. He manipulated heat and energy at will—pockets of invisible fire flickered, altering the atomic bonds of the material. Light bent strangely around the colossal structure, as if unsure how to behave in the presence of such power. Some areas were pitch black, absorbing all illumination. Others glowed with eerie brilliance, as if radiating ghostly starlight. The drones' sensors malfunctioned, their optics unable to process the shifting environmental anomalies. Gravity was nullified. The shipyard’s skeletal frame floated mid-air—a colossus in the making. This gravitational distortion would remain permanent— Until the shipyard was completed and transported to orbit, It would never touch the ground. And at the center of it all— Qin Mo stood motionless, eyes glowing with crackling blue energy, molding reality itself. For a brief moment, he saw something else. A figure standing amidst the void of space. Planets floated around it, yet they did not orbit a sun. They simply existed, motionless, untouched by gravitational force. At first, Qin Mo thought it defied reason. The Star Gods were not beings bound by physics. They did not observe reality. The maelstrom of cosmic energy settled. Only then did Qin Mo see what he had created. He had made a mistake. The shipyard was not a traditional dockyard. It was a colossal, black sphere, spanning 100 kilometers in diameter. A perfectly symmetrical construct, so flawless it could serve as a scientific reference model for absolute geometric perfection. Qin Mo stared at it for a moment. He turned away, completely unbothered. This might be even better. It was no longer just a shipyard. It was a fortress, a command center, a monolithic war platform. As he left, the drones marched inside, their directives clear. The internal construction would begin immediately. Tyrone Hive would no longer just be a Hive city. It would be a capital. And for the first time in a long history— The Imperium would not be the only Human force in the void.