Starting from the Planetary Governor - Chapter 520

Chapter 518, Is it Adou?

Gu Hang no longer personally cared about what would happen to Wanmeng Star.

Just leave it to Martini. As a senior inquisitor, his status within the ranks of the Inquisition was not low, and he was a key member. Gu Hang believed he could do a good job.

This was indeed a test.

With ambition, one must naturally have the ability to match it.

Cooperation? Of course. Gu Hang was very interested in supporting a faction of the Inquisition that would obey his orders, whether that faction was the Flash Inquisition or a new one formed by Martini.

For many forces, the Inquisition was a legal white glove, capable of many things.

However, support was support, and Gu Hang did not want to support a fool. This time, he could fully mobilize resources to carry out a task, to see if it was worth supporting.

In the end, Martini’s performance… Gu Hang was not very satisfied.

The matter was not completely resolved.

As the capital of the Cosmic Realm, Wanmeng Star may not possess any core high-end industries, but its population of 30 billion and relatively high productivity make it a relatively prominent force within the entire Menghe Star Region.

A significant portion of the Menghe Star Region’s main forces—half of the Menghe Fleet and most of the mobile Star Army—are stationed on Wanmeng Star and within one or two surrounding star regions.

When Martini and Zhai Guangshan journeyed to Wanmeng Star, attempting to force the leaderless region to surrender and comply with his orders, a major problem arose.

By the time Martini arrived, rebellion had already begun on Wanmeng Star and several surrounding star regions.

Meanwhile, an incident unfolded in the northern part of the star region: Iron Armor had taken action.

A fleet from the Qunlu Star Region, bordering the Menghe Star Region, suddenly sailed south.

This immediately triggered a response.

Upon hearing this news, Gu Hang wasn’t too surprised.

It was largely expected.

Following Zhai Guangshan’s arrest, his dejected expression revealed a great deal.

His opposition to the Alliance, Gu Hang, and even the Cosmic Domain and the Imperial Center wasn’t simply due to concerns about the independence and interests of the Star Domain government.

He had indeed engaged in extensive communication and exchanges with Humphrey Paul to the north.

While he hadn’t yet clearly aligned himself, he felt deeply uneasy when Gu Hang extended his reach into the Meng River.

Would he return to the Empire’s embrace?

Would the numerous traces he had left behind, including repeated public contact with the Iron Fury Stone, become evidence of his future incrimination?

Were the Empire’s, or rather the Alliance’s, offers as attractive as the Iron Fury Stone’s?

Not by a long shot.

Iron Armor had promised him substantial benefits, and the Alliance acted arrogantly, desiring to be the master of the Meng River. Naturally, he chose Iron Armor.

However, many things were still unprepared. He had come to Grangar without a large force. Besides attempting to salvage the Shipbuilding Group, his more subtle, yet more important, objective was to paralyze Gu Hang through communication and exchange ideas, slowing the Alliance’s actions and buying time.

He knew it was a risky undertaking, but Zhai Guangshan was encouraged by the examples of Humphrey Paul single-handedly persuading Admiral Melendri to defect, and Gu Hang’s recent solo effort to persuade the Shipbuilding Group.

If they could accomplish something with just words, even if I couldn’t, I could at least achieve 30% of the same, right?

He wasn’t trying to convince the Alliance to join his side; he simply hoped to paralyze and delay the situation, which was much easier.

Furthermore, the risks were relatively manageable.

He was a legitimate, Imperial-approved star region leader, a high-ranking official. Without clear evidence, the Alliance wouldn’t directly attack him, would it?

That would be too shameless and outrageous!

He’d even planned his own show.

Unfortunately, Gu Hang gave him no room for maneuver. Without a word, he simply wiped out his guards and captured him as well.

To save his life, he demonstrated his willingness to cooperate, helping the Alliance control the forces of Wanmeng Star and the surrounding star regions.

Martini was quite hopeful, even optimistic.

But Gu Hang wasn’t quite so optimistic.

Within the Menghe Star Region government, was Zhai Guangshan the only one who chose the Iron Fury Stone over the Empire?

Gu Hang didn’t think so.

It was likely that a large number of interest groups and the ruling class had already made their decision.

After learning that Zhai Guangshan had been captured and even brought in by a high-ranking inquisitor to persuade him to surrender, these interest groups didn’t bother to care about his fate. They simply killed the Chief Justice and the Chief Taxation Officer, who had been wavering and refusing to fully align with the Iron Fury Stone. Then, they pushed the Chief Administrative Officer forward, declaring the Alliance’s actions in the Menghe Star Region illegal and the Alliance’s use of force to abduct Zhai Guangshan equally unlawful. They then declared the Alliance traitors and claimed to have received assistance from the Iron Armor Legion.

They even copied the Iron Armor Legion’s statement and declaration, claiming that the Iron Armor Legion was the true loyalists of the Empire.

This was a clear sign of rebellion.

At the same time, the rebels advancing from the Qunlu Star Region southward into northern Menghe were also responding to their actions.

The situation in the Menghe Star Region suddenly became tense.

Gu Hang had to be wary of one thing:

would the war come sooner than he had anticipated?

Would the Alliance’s entry into the Menghe Star Region have a much stronger impact on the Iron Fury Stone than he had initially anticipated?

Would the uncontrolled escalation in the Menghe Star Region cause the war to accelerate?

These were certainly not the scenarios Gu Hang had hoped for.

Yet, he had no regrets about his decision to enter the Menghe Star Region.

Would they have to wait until the entire Menghe Star Region had joined the Iron Fury Stones before fighting?

Would they have to wait until the Dragon Eagle Star Region, the Alliance’s stronghold, was used as a battlefield?

How could they alleviate the political pressure from the Empire?

Entering the Menghe Star Region early was the Alliance’s only option.

Furthermore, as things stood, the situation wasn’t as dire as it could have been.

Martini had subsequently demonstrated some abilities that finally satisfied Gu Hang.

The High Inquisitor was indeed somewhat careless and unprepared at the beginning, making a wrong judgment, which led to his disastrous encounter in the Wanmeng Sector. His vehicle, a black ship from the Shimmering Inquisition, equivalent to a fast cruiser, was almost destroyed in Wanmeng.

After escaping, he contacted Gu Hang and swore an oath, begging him for another chance.

Gu Hang agreed.

After all, the Wanmeng Sector was a must-take. He had already decided to send reinforcements from mainland China to Menghe. Meanwhile, the Alliance vanguard troops already in Menghe had assembled and were heading for Wanmeng.

So, he gave Martini one more chance.

But Gu Hang also made it clear to the vanguard’s commander, Alliance Lieutenant General Perbov, that the Alliance troops were merely cooperating with Martini, not acting in a superior-subordinate relationship. Perbov was to assess Martini’s request: if it seemed plausible, he would proceed; if it didn’t, he would refuse.

Perbov’s mission was to capture the entire Wanmeng Sector. Whether he did so with Martini or on his own, as long as the ultimate goal was accomplished, it was fine.

Martini then finally demonstrated his prowess as an Inquisitor.

It wasn’t simply about fighting or warfare.

If the Wanmeng Sector issue was ultimately resolved purely through force, Gu Hang would certainly accept it, but he would be disappointed in Martini.

If it were purely a battle, Perbov would have been enough. What would Martini

do? Martini, by leveraging the military support Perbov provided, persuaded and cajoled the indigenous forces of several planets to return to the Alliance. He used infiltration teams to assassinate and overthrow several military leaders. He accurately determined that the enemy was not a monolithic entity, identifying some less resolute elements within the opposing faction. He used both emotional and logical persuasion to persuade them, leading them to switch sides in the heat of battle…

These actions were certainly valuable.

According to Perbov’s report, if it were purely a military operation, the Alliance’s vanguard forces were somewhat understrength. It would take two months or more to capture the entire Wanmeng sector. Furthermore, there would be considerable losses, especially on the naval front. Half the Menghe Fleet would be a formidable challenge. A major defeat could mean a two-month delay, requiring reinforcements from the mainland.

Thanks to Martini’s management, the timeline was reduced from two months to forty days; at the same time, the casualties and costs were far less than initially anticipated. Not only did they resolve the situation in the Wanmeng Sector without requiring additional reinforcements, but the advance fleet even had time to head north to meet the rebels moving south.

At this point, Martini had essentially passed his test under Gu Hang.

He had made his share of mistakes and contributions, and while he wasn’t the best or most outstanding overall, he certainly wasn’t beyond help.

Gu Hang decided to support the Shimmering Inquisition, or perhaps the new Inquisition faction Martini had created.

Of course, that was a matter for another time.

Currently, in the Menghe Sector, the Alliance must keep a close eye on the southbound rebels.

They were actually quite interesting.

Their initial goal was to march south from Qunlu, directly towards the core of the Menghe Sector, the Wanmeng Sector.

The original journey would have taken about a month and a half.

In reality, they should have barely made it in time to rescue the Wanmeng rebels.

However, they encountered some “trouble” along the way.

This was why Zhai Guangshan and his men hadn’t rebelled in the past, and their current rebellion was more passive than proactive.

They weren’t adequately prepared.

Northern Menghe was supposedly the most infiltrated region, but there were still many loyalists.

As the rebels advanced southward, some surrendered, but there were also loyalists who directly opposed them.

Although these rebels were eager to rescue their lives, they paid no attention to the surface conditions along the way. However, they were harassed by some caravans and sector-class ships.

These were small, rickety vessels, not only of poor quality but also insufficient in number.

However, this annoying harassment still slowed their progress somewhat.

Seeing that reinforcements were delayed, many of the Menghe rebels, who might have held out, became more shaken, and more defections occurred at the last minute.

When Martini and Perbov collaborated to annihilate the Wanmeng sector, the rebels were still at least twenty days away from Wanmeng.

Upon learning that Wanmeng Star was beyond saving, they immediately halted their advance and stopped moving towards it.

Instead, they dispersed their forces to expand their control. Gu Hang concluded that the rebels’ second phase wasn’t a war with the Alliance, but rather a seizure of territory within the Menghe Star Region.

This was a preparatory move for future wars.

They clearly shared the Alliance’s sentiment: no one wanted a brutal war fought in their own homeland. Naturally, they would attempt to bring the conflict to Menghe, a star region still nominally belonging to the Empire.

This rebel force was roughly the same size as the Alliance’s vanguard, and the two sides engaged in a race to seize territory across the Menghe Star Region.

In about two months, they had essentially divided up the entire region.

The Alliance controlled approximately 80% of the territory, encompassing the central and southern parts of the Menghe Star Region. Furthermore, the Alliance controlled the two main core regions of the Menghe Star Region: Granya, with its valuable shipbuilding industry, and Wanmeng, the region’s capital.

The Princess’s rebels occupied 20% of the territory, concentrated in the northern part of the star field.

Across the border, a military standoff ensued.

There were minor military clashes, but they were not intense. These occurred primarily when the enemy was spotted during military reconnaissance missions, leading to brief chases and skirmishes between small patrol ships. Alternatively, they would sneak across the planet using small spacecraft like the Traveler, hiding behind the planet and deploying special forces to lurk on the enemy’s controlled planet. However,

both sides tacitly avoided engaging in large-scale warfare.

Instead, both sides worked diligently and diligently to build extensive defenses along the border,

essentially turning the planets into fortresses.

Railguns were erected, and armed space stations were constructed from the ground and launched into space…

These minor, mild skirmishes were more like the calm before the storm.

Once both sides had accumulated sufficient strength, the scale of the war that erupted here would likely be unprecedented.

Meanwhile, Gu Hang, along with the Granya Shipbuilding Group, returned to the Tianma sector.

The people from the shipping industry group were then handed over to the corresponding personnel of the alliance for reception, while Gu Hang immersed himself in his work.

(End of this chapter)