Starting from the Planetary Governor - Chapter 745

Chapter 741, Personal Power

Gu Hang certainly didn’t deceive the Prime Minister.

Lying about such a thing would be sheer folly. Qi Bodu had plenty of ways to verify the truth of Gu Hang’s claims.

The Psychic Order did indeed possess the technique known as the “Sixth Rejuvenation Surgery.”

However, it wasn’t widely adopted because it was too difficult.

Rejuvenation surgery can extend a person’s lifespan, up to a maximum of five times. Each time, it could add 60 to 100 years. Combined with the normal human lifespan, a fully functional rejuvenation procedure could easily allow a human noble to live to four or five hundred years.

But that was the limit.

Beyond that, the rejuvenation surgery would inevitably fail.

Mortals have their limits.

The power of psychic energy can help mortals transcend these limits.

However, this was a theoretical study. It is said that during the time of the Imperial Chancellor’s reign, he was able to personally perform the incredibly difficult Sixth Rejuvenation Surgery with a power second only to that of the Emperor.

However, no one since him has achieved a similar result.

Technology with no successful cases for ten thousand years had been sealed away.

But who could blame Gu Hang for the emergence of this era?

What ordinary S+ psychics couldn’t achieve, Gu Hang could attempt.

Did Qi Bodu care?

He cared deeply!

He was about to undergo his fifth rejuvenation surgery.

Although his lifespan was estimated at a minimum of sixty to seventy years, or even over a hundred years, there was still a limit.

Was he willing to accept this? He had served as Chancellor of the Empire for over sixty years, and in the last thirty or so, he had shed the Sun Lord who once towered over him and become the de facto supreme minister. Moreover, he was on the path to truly wielding absolute power, aiming to bring the Inquisition, the Space Marines, the Ecclesiarchy, the Mechanicus… all under his control.

How could a lifespan of a few decades, or at most a hundred years, be enough for him to accomplish such a grand undertaking?

Even if he did, how much time would he have left to enjoy the glory of his later years?

The thought of mortality filled him with sorrow.

Now, while Gu Hang hadn’t given him the immortality he’d longed for, at least the sixth rejuvenation surgery would give him another hundred years!

The allure was greater than anything else!

For the second half of their conversation, nothing else mattered, as the two of them dwelled on this matter for a long, long time.

It was primarily Qi Bo Du asking questions, Gu Hang answering.

Only at the very end did they discuss the “Alliance Plan.”

Qi Bo Du didn’t object anymore.

…

Gu Hang was relatively satisfied with the various activities on this trip to Holy Terra.

There had been difficulties and setbacks. There had been the Prime Minister’s hostility, the affairs of the Psychic Order, and even the warning from the Assassin’s Court before his arrival—it was still unclear who had commissioned the Assassin’s Court.

Gu Hang had also attempted to meet with the Assassin’s Court’s Grand Master, Clement, but he remained steadfast.

This issue, unresolved, would remain a thorn in his side.

Gu Hang always held a certain awe in the Assassin’s Court. Their conventional methods were already formidable. Gu Hang wouldn’t be so threatened by an assassination attempt of this magnitude, but that was merely conventional means.

The Assassin’s Court had a thousand-year-old legacy, and had even successfully assassinated a corrupted Son of God. Unleashing these hidden tricks might actually harm him,

especially on Holy Terra, which wasn’t his territory.

Gu Hang considered himself quite powerful by now.

But he probably wasn’t on the level of a Son of God yet… right?

He wasn’t entirely sure.

He was only certain that he had long since transcended the realm of psykers.

A psyker’s use of psychic energy was essentially a ‘loophole,’ connecting the Warp with the real universe and channeling psychic energy from within. While the many variations, techniques, and even the degree of their own power depended on the psyker themselves, that didn’t change their essence.

This was true for everyone from the lowest rank to the so-called A- and S-rank.

Even reaching the Alpha level, beyond human control, didn’t change this fundamental nature. It was simply that the Warp’s energy surged so excessively that even the most gifted, even with the most sophisticated techniques, couldn’t control it. Ultimately, they were twisted into monsters, tragically becoming the conduit between the Warp and reality.

But Gu Hang wasn’t like that.

He had long ceased to be considered a psyker.

That began many, many years ago, before he even left the Wrathful Owl Planet, when he devoured the Primordial Wrathful Owl, occupied its divine realm, and used it for his own ends.

Back then, the Primordial Wrathful Owl was considered a lesser god of the Warp, but judging by today’s standards, it wasn’t particularly formidable.

At least, it wasn’t on the same level as the various monsters Gu Hang would later encounter.

However, the assistance it provided Gu Hang was immense.

After thirty or forty years of traversing the star sea and visiting countless worlds, Gu Hang had discovered how rare it was to find a lesser god of the Warp, like the Primordial Wrathful Owl, native to a single planet. Among thousands of worlds, Gu Hang had only encountered two, and their strength and specifications were far from reaching the level of a Lesser God, barely enough to be considered a prototype.

Of course, both of these beings Gu Hang encountered ultimately ended up in his grasp.

In retrospect, Gu Hang belatedly realized that the Wrathful Owl Planet was a unique entity.

Its uniqueness was inherently due to the thin veil between it and the Warp. This had brought it rich rewards early on, with high-level energy deposits like the Spiritualization Gas Field, not readily available. However, it had also brought it profound disaster, leading to the Warp demonic invasion that nearly destroyed the entire world. Only

in such an environment could a simple individual on a single planet, driven by a love for a certain animal, forge the concept of a Warp Lesser God.

But the more crucial point lay within the system Gu Hang inherited, and the upgrade options for his personal dashboard.

Without it, even the most powerful psychic could blast a lesser god, like the Primordial Wrath Owl, to dust, but how could they inherit its kingdom?

Impossible.

That was not something humans could do.

It was only after possessing this Divine Kingdom that Gu Hang truly experienced a qualitative transformation.

This qualitative transformation didn’t refer to an explosive increase in his psychic power—that was indeed the case. He became even stronger, even capable of tearing open the veil of reality, allowing the Storm Divine Kingdom to descend briefly and controllably, thus providing Gu Hang with an extremely powerful psychic boost.

But these were merely application methods, minor aspects.

The fundamental change lay in Gu Hang’s possession of a portion of the Warp’s essence.

This was the fundamental change.

With this Warp’s essence—the direct manifestation of his Storm Divine Kingdom—in the future, when he encountered great demons, other lesser god embryos, neuron worms, and similar monsters, Gu Hang could do more than just defeat and destroy them. Instead, he possessed a more crucial step: devour them.

Devour the Warp’s essence they represented.

His greatest reward came from the Queen who perished in the aftermath of the last war, when Readuches was completely destroyed by the Earthshaker.

Even now, Gu Hang had to admit that the Zerg were truly an outrageous race. They are certainly not native to the Warp; indeed, their very nature has nothing to do with it.

They exist in vast numbers, devoid of thought and emotion, driven solely by the instinct to devour. Even the more advanced Zerg possess the capacity for thought, a product of specialized evolution tailored to their needs.

To them, the brain is no different from any other organ; whenever combat demands demand, they can evolve a few in the next wave of organisms and place them in node-like formations.

The Zerg draw on combat experience and conduct targeted evolution, from weaponry to tactical thinking. This has long been a point of considerable certainty among Imperial researchers.

However, the fact that this evolution could yield psychic powers is already somewhat alarming; they can even analyze the ‘essence of the Warp’ from countless battles and evolve it to produce even more powerful psychic units!

This is simply terrifying.

Aliens like the Void Zerg… are an absolute cosmic enemy, perhaps even one of the most terrifying.

Their very existence is truly terrifying.

The Queen of Worms, in order to confront this top-tier psychic, had expended countless costs, evolving not only numerous Neuron Worms but also itself, capable of spawning Neuron Worms and even directly confronting him. What

it possessed was even a level higher than that of the Neuron Worms!

This immense tonic truly filled Gu Hang with a burst of energy.

But these nourishments gained through devouring were only secondary.

For Gu Hang, the more significant source of growth came from the Alliance itself.

As the Alliance’s controlled territory continued to expand, Gu Hang’s image as its leader inevitably gained widespread recognition, naturally strengthening the power of the Storm Kingdom. The

sentiments people held for him weren’t religious faith, but rather love, trust, and loyalty… These emotions, gradually taking root in the hearts of millions, had an impact no less potent than traditional religious beliefs.

This was his greatest base. His Storm Kingdom had also grown significantly alongside the Alliance’s growth.

Furthermore, a new path had recently emerged. As his image spread widely across Holy Terra and even throughout the Solar System, his popularity and admiration would grant him new powers. This

was a welcome surprise.

At this point, he could vaguely sense and understand why the Emperor was so powerful. Why, in the Warp, even the four greatest evil gods of the Warp dared not confront his radiant golden kingdom, dazzling and ostentatious?

He merely possessed the trust of the Alliance, but the Emperor commanded the trust of countless trillions of people throughout the Imperium.

Going even further, Gu Hang could even speculate on the origins of the four ancient evil gods.

But this was a distant prospect, unprofitable speculation.

Returning to the present, Gu Hang himself was unsure how to define his own power.

It was difficult to say.

But at least, men like Martins and Salilius, who were a step above the Chapter Champions, practically top-tier warriors chosen by the Emperor, were nothing more than stone in his grasp—it took a little effort, but Gu Hang had his hammer, and with a few more blows, even after his hand went numb, he could still shatter it.

More importantly, since it was stone, there was little worry about them being able to harm him.

Top-tier warriors could suppress the power of the Warp, slicing through spells with their fervent blades, instantly closing the distance and slaying psykers and even gods with their swords.

But that only applies to

those at the same level. Gu Hang was no longer on their level.

As for the Great Demons of the Evil Gods… all I can say is that if the Great Demons were on the level of the Great Unclean One, Gorwaja, he could slay a whole bunch of them by himself. As for

the so-called Sons of the Emperor, the Sons of God whom the Space Marines called their fathers, those figures from Imperial mythology, the former Legion leaders… Gu Hang couldn’t make any comparisons to those at that level due to a lack of observational samples.

But, thinking optimistically, perhaps he had already reached this level.

It was simply a matter of whether he was considered strong or weak within this realm.

With such strength, he actually had a hankering for a trip into the Warp to hunt down great demons and lesser evil gods, enriching himself.

However, for now, this was merely a thought.

He hadn’t forgotten that his Kingdom of Storms was protected by the Golden Kingdom. If he ventured outside that protection and entered the chaotic, unchecked waters of the true Warp, he would easily be targeted by those four terrifying creatures. Gu Hang still didn’t dare to provoke them.

As for the worry he had had when he first acquired the Kingdom of Storms, whether he would lose his true humanity by going too far down this path…

that was no longer a concern.

He had already gone far enough.

He couldn’t possibly give up this power along the way. Without it, he would face countless difficulties.

Given this, he could only hope that this path wasn’t a dead end.

No matter what, he had to keep going.

Devouring other great beings and plundering to replenish the essence of the Warp is ultimately a secondary means of replenishment. Forging a stronger alliance is the true path forward.

Now that Qi Bodu has been dealt with, the rest is no longer a problem.

Gu Hang then found Luo Fei.

The Premier, who is ostensibly the biggest obstacle to the advancement of the Alliance Plan, is completely powerless to resist under the current circumstances.

(End of this chapter)