Starting from the Planetary Governor - Chapter 494

Chapter 492, Identification

“Naldo Crowe? What Naldo Crowe? I don’t know him.”

At the Supreme Council, Norberto sneered, saying,

“Speak with evidence. Don’t blame me for everything that happens to Gu Hang. Who knows if he’s offended someone?”

Ou Juren felt helpless.

He brought the matter of Norberto’s illegal ordering of the Assassin’s Court to assassinate Gu Hang to the Supreme Council.

As expected, Norberto completely denied the accusations.

Furthermore, there was no sufficient, conclusive evidence to prove Norberto was responsible.

This was expected. Norberto had handled the case very cleanly. The key figure who could have pointed the finger at him, the Assassin Mentor, Naldo Crowe, had vanished, likely disappearing shortly after the mission was issued. Other evidence was either insufficient or uncollected.

In short, convicting him would be extremely difficult.

However, since this was a foregone conclusion, Ou Juren was not disappointed.

Everyone knew it was Norberto who did it, and to some extent, that was enough.

Assassinations were against the grain and violated political boundaries. The resulting anger not only inflamed opposing forces, but also angered some who were previously neutral, or even vaguely on Norberto’s side.

He hadn’t paid a price—Gu Hang had been assassinated, but he hadn’t died!

The enemy, on the other hand, had paid a huge price, exposed a huge flaw, and gained nothing!

This was a golden opportunity!

Ou Juren had already prepared a host of proposals, from reducing the authority of the Ministry of Military Affairs, to expanding the legitimacy of Gu Hang’s alliance, to deciding the vacant, yet elusive, position of Vice Premier of the Ministry of Military Affairs, to finding a way to eliminate several key figures in Norberto’s faction…

and the most important move was to use this incident to launch an investigation into Norberto. Regardless of whether or not they could find evidence to impeach Norberto, once the investigation began, as the subject of the investigation, Norberto would undoubtedly be unable to continue exercising his authority smoothly.

Norberto naturally wouldn’t yield so easily.

“Prime Minister Ou Juren’s proposal is ridiculous! With no evidence at all, they’re actually initiating such a humiliating investigation against me, a High Lord! This is simply disgraceful!”

“I can’t help but ask: if I now suspect you, Ou Juren, orchestrated all this, assassinated Gu Hang and framed me, can I also demand an investigation into Ou Juren?”

Norberto retorted, arguing, perhaps even arguing.

His objections had some effect.

The entire council erupted in a clamor.

“Tower, tower, tower…”

Heavy footsteps echoed from the doorway.

Silence quickly fell within the High Council Chamber.

It was the sound of power armor.

Inside, the Space Marine representative subconsciously reached for his waist, but found nothing.

No weapons were allowed into the meeting.

They could only watch helplessly as the conference hall’s doors were pushed open.

First in were two golden-armored warriors.

Seeing them, the High Lords breathed a sigh of relief.

The Imperial Guards, that’s all.

Throughout Imperial history, the Guards had never been involved in a palace coup.

On the contrary, in many cases, the Guards had passively played a role in ending them.

For those who claimed to be the true Emperor’s guards, even though the Emperor had ascended to godhood, didn’t the Imperial Palace still exist? While protecting the Emperor remained their primary mission, it wasn’t necessary; next, protecting the Imperial Palace was their most important task. If you want to stage a coup, go ahead. It’s none of the Guards’ business. They couldn’t care less about you mortals. But disrupting the palace was unacceptable. Whoever tried would be punished.

In the palace, there was truly no one who could rival the Guards.

The people pushing through the door now were Imperial Guards, so there shouldn’t be any worry about a group of rebels entering with bolters, wielding grenade launchers and wielding them all.

But what were these Imperial Guards, who usually showed little interest in Imperial politics, suddenly doing?

Immediately behind the two Imperial Guards came a whole column, led by a Centurion.

Surrounding these Imperial Guards were four other individuals.

Three of them stood side by side, while the third was forced in, bound and tied.

The three standing were familiar to everyone:

Borgia Gallardo, Executive Director of the Ministry of Military Affairs; Clement, Grand Master of the Assassins’ Court; and Gu Hang, leader of the Alliance.

The person behind them, bound and dragged in by the Imperial Guards, was a complete stranger.

Everyone looked towards Ou Juren. Gallardo and Gu Hang could now be considered members of Ou Juren’s faction.

But at this moment, Ou Juren’s expression was one of surprise, as if he hadn’t expected this.

Meanwhile, the High Lords immediately noticed that one person’s reaction was the most pronounced: Norberto.

He still tried to appear calm, but his face began to turn pale. Even in the pleasantly warm conference room, a fine bead of sweat formed on his forehead, a fact witnessed by many.

Those present were all intelligent.

From the unusual movements of the Imperial Guards, the appearance of the Grand Master of the Assassins’ Court, and the appearance of the bound man, they could all roughly guess what had happened.

Some closed their eyes, some looked amusement-minded, and some laughed unabashedly.

The High Lords all had varying expressions.

In the silence, the Imperial Guards spoke first.

The centurion announced that they had concluded their investigation of Gu Hang. Gu Hang’s status as a psychic had been recognized by the Order of Psychics, and his status had been updated to S-Class.

However, they were now arresting those who had disturbed the palace.

As he spoke, the centurion’s gaze remained fixed on Norberto.

“No, no… You misunderstood…”

The Minister of Military Affairs opened his mouth, palely attempting to defend himself.

But the centurion interrupted him.

“I would like the three witnesses involved, Clemente, Gu Hang, and Gallardo, as well as the prisoner, Naldo Crowe, to explain the situation first.”

Clement nodded slightly and began, “Gentlemen, please allow me to introduce the man behind me, Naldo Crowe. He is a Master Assassin. After the assassination, I immediately reviewed the records of the Assassin’s Court. The Assassin’s Court had never received any orders from the Supreme Council. This order was issued directly by Crowe in violation of regulations.” Gallardo

took over. “I invited Grand Master Clement to visit Gu Hang at the Imperial Guard’s base to discuss the whole incident. After learning of Crowe’s escape, Mr. Gu Hang expressed his hope as a victim to help.”

Gu Hang then said, “It just happened that I had some skills. Using my psychic abilities, I discovered Naldo Crowe’s escape method. The Imperial Guard personally attacked and captured the disguised Naldo outside the Imperial Palace at Terra 46 Starport.” “

Impossible, how did you…” Naldo Crowe couldn’t help but ask.

He was truly scratching his head and couldn’t figure it out.

He had thought his departure was seamless.

However, no one answered his question. When he was about to ask more, he was kicked by a Guard behind him.

“Shut up! You have the right to answer questions. Who ordered you to issue illegal orders?”

Despite his resentment, Naldo Crowe could only speak the truth: “It was Prime Minister Norberto.”

“You’re lying!”

Norberto roared, but it was pointless.

…

After the meeting, Ou Juren, Gallardo, and Gu Hang gathered again in a secret room.

They had won a resounding victory in the recent meeting.

Although the procedures for removing a high lord from his position and the position of Prime Minister of the Ministry of Military Affairs were not simple, the Guards did not care.

They respected the authority of the Imperial Government and followed the proper procedures.

However, they had already taken the person away.

Norberto, in the hands of the Guards, might not be able to escape.

His downfall would trigger a series of chain reactions.

The most immediate one was that Gallardo had further ambitions.

Previously, he’d been eyeing the position of Vice Prime Minister of the Ministry of Military Affairs, thinking it was the position left behind after Wang Suan retired.

But now, he actually had a chance to take the job!

He was already the highest-ranking executive minister, with only three people above him: the Prime Minister and two Vice Prime Ministers.

One, Wang Suan, had retired; one, Norberto, was investigated and executed; and the remaining Vice Prime Minister, a close confidant of Norberto, was immediately targeted after his backers fell.

That left no one above him!

Of course, the new Prime Minister of the Ministry of Military Affairs didn’t necessarily have to come from within the Ministry. Choosing someone from other high-ranking officials wasn’t impossible.

But each leader had their own position, and Gallardo believed he could still gain a certain advantage by competing against the Vice Prime Ministers of other departments.

While the challenge was considerable, it was unlikely that other factions would stand by and watch as this group of people directly seized two seats on the Supreme Council. But this was a matter of struggle, of exchanging interests, and of political compromise.

Yet, despite their victory, the atmosphere among the three in the secret meeting was far from joyful.

Especially Ou Juren, the Minister of Justice, whose expression was rather grim.

“Your action was so sudden! Even I wasn’t aware of it! Do you realize how much trouble this will cause?”

Ou Juren rebuked Gallardo.

Gu Hang spoke from the side, “This isn’t his fault, and of course, mine either…”

Then, Gu Hang explained the entire situation to Ou Juren.

When Gallardo brought Clement, the Grand Master of the Court of Assassins, to the Imperial Guards’ base, Gu Hang offered to help locate Naldo Crowe.

The solution to Naldo’s escape, of course, wasn’t the psychic power Gu Hang had suggested.

That guy had escaped with remarkable agility, a premeditated plan. Even Clement, the Grand Master, with the full power of the Court of Assassins at his disposal, couldn’t find Naldo, let alone rely on psychic energy alone.

The headquarters of the Order of Psychic Powers is also located on Holy Terra. While S-rank psychics are rare, a few can certainly be found there.

If psychic power alone could have been used to locate Naldo, Gu Hang wouldn’t have needed to intervene.

But who could blame Gu Hang for his cheat?

After the assassination, an activatable event titled “Revenge” appeared in Gu Hang’s [Events] panel. It only required a thousand points of grace to activate.

Gu Hang believed this was a blessing from the Emperor.

After activating it, Gu Hang immediately obtained Naldo’s whereabouts,

with coordinates updated in real time.

This made capturing him a piece of cake.

However, the problem lay elsewhere.

Capturing Naldo and knowing his location would be easy for anyone. Clement, in particular, was the leader of the Assassin’s Court. With a traitor among his men, colluding with external forces and acting on his own, causing him so much trouble, he felt an urgent need to clean up the mess.

His assassins were also well-suited for this task. Whether it was killing him outright or bringing him back alive as Gu Hang and Gallardo had requested, it was easy enough.

But they overlooked the presence of the Imperial Guards.

And no wonder, the Imperial Guards have always been aloof from politics. They were aware of the countless dirty deeds that took place behind the scenes within the palace, but they never intervened—as long as they kept it out of the public eye.

All factions had always adhered to this line.

And this time, after the unexpected breach, the Imperial Guards’ reaction surprised many.

After Gu Hang completed the Psychic Order’s review (with prior approval), the Imperial Guards demanded to join the hunt for Naldo.

Someone had to be held accountable for fouling the palace’s floor.

Who could resist the Imperial Guards? Not even Clement!

They didn’t even give Clement, Gu Hang, and Gallardo a chance to discuss matters.

No one was willing to confront these corn spirits.

So, with the Imperial Guards leading the charge and Gu Hang directing the way, Naldo was apprehended. The Supreme Council was in session, and the Centurion of the Custodian Guards, after consulting the Custodian Marshal, led his men directly to the door.

“…During this process, I really didn’t have a chance to report to you,” Gallardo concluded with a concluding explanation.

“Huh…” Ou Juren’s expression brightened slightly after hearing this.

Indeed, there hadn’t been much opportunity to report during this entire process.

But he still felt a headache: “Alas… but it’s still very troublesome… All the High Lords saw you walk in with the Custodian Guards. No one would think the Custodian Guards were on our side, but everyone would grumble that we’d broken the rules, actively using the Custodian Guards and inviting this uncontrollable force into our path. This has been the unspoken rule.”

———

4k, making up for yesterday.

Thank you to [Axe of the Mountain] for your fourth Alliance Leader reward!

Thank you to [Hu Yifan] for your second Alliance Leader reward!

Seeing the two new Alliance Leader rewards, I felt mixed emotions, like I was eating candy with a mask of pain…

Of course, I’m happy to receive a large reward! But that also means I owe another 40k.

Okay, I’ve already broken 100k…

I still owe 106k.

I’m off to write, and there’s still some work to do before dawn. Everyone, try to get up tomorrow and read it, don’t follow my example of staying up late…

(End of this chapter)